Gary Dassing interview cont.
Ian - How do you and Dwayne go about writing songs? Do you have any particular approach or method?
GD- Every album has been really different. Our last actual full-length came out about 3 years ago, almost 4. I think people had the misconception that we were working on music that whole time, which wasn’t the case. Dwayne and I were just taking a break. It’s hard for me to whip out music if I’m not inspired by anything. After "Angels" we got Mike (Greene) and did Mainesthai, because I just didn’t have anything else to say at the time, and what’s the point in putting out something that’s going to be totally disposable? I’d like to think that at least some of our songs pass the test of time. I’d like to be able to listen to some of our songs ten years down the road from now and say "yeah, it still stands up to today’s music."
*I think you can say that is true, because there are a lot of current bands which would include Mentallo as an influence.
GD- That’s what they were telling me in Germany, and I was just really shocked by that. Everybody says "you’re one of the staple bands". I can only take it as a form of flattery. I was obviously influenced by certain bands in the genre, and other types of music as well, so I’m definitely flattered by it.
*Is it true that you have a tendency to like the more analog equipment, while Dwayne tends to prefer digital equipment?
GD- Yeah, it’s easier for me. I don’t have patience to look at a screen and try to go through all these parameters and pages. With the analog equipment it’s all hands on with sliders and knobs. Actually, anybody can sit behind an analog keyboard, anybody, and have a few hours of fun, just twitching knobs. That’s how it sort of all started for me.
*So how would you say that affects your music?
GD- If I’m working on a song, that’s one big thing :sound programming: layering, finding textures. Our music has gotten a lot more dense because we’ve gotten a bigger studio mixer, and the EQ is much more professional. I spent more time on the production of the album. I wanted people to not necessarily pay attention to the songwriting, but to actually listen to the album sonically, pay attention to the sounds as they come in. I just want them to pay attention to the idiosynchracies . Some of it is music to ponder over. That’s why we put the instrumentals in there. I’d like people to think, come up with their own thoughts for the song. People usually come up and ask me "What are your songs about?" Some of them are a little bit too personal to actually tell people about, so I say "well, why don’t you come up with your own conclusion on it" If you listen to a song, it’s almost like reminiscing. It takes you back to a certain place in time. That’s what music does for me. If I hear a song it’s like, "God, I remember that moment so clear". I think that’s what I want people to do with my music instead.
*Do you feel comfortable with the label "industrial" to describe your music?
GD-Well...when people ask me that aren’t in the genre, I can’t necessarily tell them "industrial", because it’s far beyond them, and if you tell a mainstream person "industrial", that can range anywhere from the Smiths to Erasure for them, they have no clue. I generally tell people it’s just electronic-based music, and it can go from one extreme to the other, sounding from something that’s really nice to something that’s really mean and raw. I’d rather have people take each song on its own. I don’t expect the fans to like all of my music: take some, leave some. Hopefully, that’s the way it will be for people that don’t know anything about the genre. I think there’s enough variety on our albums that there’s at least a couple of songs that maybe your average Joe may say "hey...that sounds pretty cool" And then you start leading them on to the distortion., later.. Sometimes it can be too much information and elements, and they just can’t process it all. It turns people off, and I don’t want to turn people off by my music. I just do what comes naturally.
*I did notice that the music does have a real range. Where Angels Fear to Tread starts off with all noise, yet there are other instrumentals which are just much softer..
GD- We like diversity. Industrial music today has really cornered itself into one type of sound. When I was growing up, the first time I heard Official Version by Front 242 I was blown away. That was ages ago. Ministry did not sound like 242 at the time, 242 didn’t sound like early Frontline. There was a lot more diversity back then. I’m about pushing the envelope, not just in getting "heavier" but in different forms. I’m about breaking stereotypes too. Somebody has got to pave the way. I hope we’re doing the same for industrial music, at least put a little fresh air into it.
*You do hear a lot of talk about how industrial is a dying genre, and that it’s running out of creativity. Would you agree with that?
GD - Yeah, even though I don’t listen to industrial music today, I’ve got to agree on it for the fact that I’ve traveled around, and I’ve seen the crowds dwindle. I’ve seen the scenes dwindle. That’s why I’m telling people that you’ve got to go out and support your bands. If you want it around, support them.
*What bands would you say that you’re currently listening to?
GD - I’m listening to stuff like the Cocteau Twins and the Sundays, stuff like that. If most of my fans say my CD collection, they’d probably laugh. The closest thing to this genre that I’ve listen to in this past year- there’s Diatribe, which I like a lot. I’ve been listening to Talk Talk, new wave music from the 80’s, it’s whatever gets me at the moment.
*Who would you say is your most significant musical influence?
GD - I’d probably have to say my sister, because if it wasn’t for her playing music to me all the time, I wouldn’t be in to bands like Gary Numan or Kraftwerk. If she had never played me that stuff, who knows what I’d be doing, I could have been a rocker!
*You recently put out a new Benestrophe release, entitled Auric Fires, was that new material?
GD - The first seven or eight songs were recorded between 89-90, and the rest was recorded in ’95 in my apartment in a sketch studio. We’re going to record new Benestrophe tracks at our studio, but it’s really hard to work with Rich (Mendez) because he lives a hundred miles away.
*What about any new Mainesthai material?
GD - Actually, we’re working on it right now. We were in pre-production right before we left. We plan to have a full-length out by September. We’re going to be putting out a Mentallo EP in August of 5 or 6 new tracks. It’s going to be a different turn for Mentallo. I’ve been learning guitar, but it’s not like you’re going to hear power chords. It’s going to be more sonic and ethereal sounding , over the keyboards. I wanted to add it because I think that acoustics and electronics compliment each other.
*Are you planning on any solo projects?
GD - I did stuff in’95 when Rich was coming up for the Benestrophe stuff. I had all this other music I had done in my sketch studio. Rik Laciak (RAS DVA) said he wanted to release it. He didn’t want it going under the Benestrophe name, because it’s all instrumental, and it just didn’t fit with the theme of the Benestrophe material. It’s called "Diamethal Tryptamine". That will be out this year, but I couldn’t tell you when. It’s 75 minutes of music. It’s conceptual also. It’s actually going to only be 5 songs on the album, but 3 or 4 songs fused together actually make one song.
*Musically, where do you see yourself 10 years from now?
GD - Musically, I hope I’m still sustaining myself from my music. That’s all I hope. I’m always going to be doing music. Even if I wasn’t selling records, I’d still be doing music just for my own personal enjoyment.
*What is your favorite movie?
Gary- I’ll say The Wizard Of Oz. It’s one of my favorites. I like vintage movies. Like I said, I’m somewhat of an old-fashioned person, not like Dwayne. Dwayne and I are two opposite people. Going out on the road with him two weeks at a time, that’s a task for us. I don’t go and hang out with Dwayne or Mike in my spare time. When we work together on music it’s more of an arrangement.
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