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The Dillinger Escape Plan: I'm not into people just going nuts in the pit

The Dillinger Escape Plan, the extravagant New Jersey mathcore combo, are really making a name for themselves. After a couple of stunning releases and several European tours, the band recently released an EP with wonderboy Mike Patton on vocals. Prior to their show at De Melkweg (Amsterdam), KindaMuzik spoke to singer Greg and guitar player Brian about what's going on with DEP.

Tekst: Ruud van Esch

Beeld: Ron van Rutten

Publicatiedatum: 05 oktober 2002

How did you guys end up with Mike Patton? He was always mentioning DEP in interviews and stuff, but who contacted who for the EP?
Brian: "It dated back to our first tour that we did with Mr. Bungle. We've always been in contact with Mike ever since that tour. And around the transition where we lost our first singer, we got in touch with him. He saw what we were working on, we sent him a tape, and he was really into it. We were always talking about a collaboration, you know, maybe do a split with Fantômas. For this particular situation, it just made sense to him to offer us his services."

And how was it for you Greg? Around the time the Irony Is A Dead Scene EP came out, you did your first Dillinger shows. Wasn't that weird?
Greg: "Well, first of all, I don't have a problem with that at all. I know we can play the songs, and, vocally, there's no problem for me in the songs off of the EP. When people come to see us, expecting to hear the songs done like they are done on the EP, then that's what they're going to get. Currently, I'm only singing songs that were originally sung by either Mike or Dimitri [Minakakis, DEP's first singer]. So I'm anxious to record a release, to show people what I sound like. We've got so much new stuff and we're ready to go. After this tour, we're going to do a three-week tour in America, and after that we won't do anything until the album's out. A third of it is done, and another part of it is loosely done, as far as the songwriting goes."

Apart from screaming, you can actually sing, can't you?
Greg: "Yeah, that's right. The funny thing is that a lot of people ask me if it isn't hard to match up to Mike Patton, but honestly, it couldn't have been easier for me. I've been listening to him from when I was nine years old: He's always been an example for me. It's nice to be affiliated with a guy that is, for what he does, one of the best singers of the last ten years. And for me personally, it sets the watermark high. My studio debut being right after the EP. People are going to be like: 'Mike Patton is awesome. Who's this new clown?' That's gonna get the best out of me."

Is there any chance Patton might collaborate on the new album, as well?
Greg: "On the new album, no. But after the EP, we left all options open for the future. We've talked about nothing concrete so far, but it could be that another collaboration is going to take place under another name than DEP."

You were on tour with System Of A Down a couple of months ago — the one band that rises above the field of the nu-metal frenzy. How did the SOAD crowd react to your music?
Greg: "Actually, it went better then we thought it would go. We thought we were gonna go up onstage and get rallied or something. There were definitely a fair share of people who were like, 'Fuck you, get offstage! We don't want you up here!' But the tour actually did a lot for us over here. Out of that group that is considered new metal, System Of A Down was the only band we felt comfortable touring with, apart from maybe Tool or Deftones."

The size of the crowd must have been something else.
Greg:"Yeah, we never expected to be affiliated with anything that size. It was overwhelming to see how big the crowds and the stages were."

Would you rather be in a conversation about heavy music or in one about jazz?
Greg: "We don't really listen to a lot of heavy music. We try to be as open for different influences as possible. Also, to keep things balanced, it's better to listen to some mellow stuff after we come offstage. It surprises a lot of people we don't listen to tons of heavy music. Heavy music, on the whole, puts out a lot more garbage than other genres. You can play simple stuff and it can either sound like crap or be great. It's a weird balance."
Brian: "We're all into a jazz and lot of vocal-oriented music, and we try to throw as much in your face as we can. "

Are you familiar with the North Sea Jazz festival, and would you be interested in playing there?
Greg: "Yeah, we've heard of it. After our Dutch show with Candiria, there was even a guy approaching us asking if we would be interested in playing there. We don't know too much about the festival, but playing there sounds awesome. Jazz freaks might like us, though there are a lot of snobs in those audiences."
Brian: "I think they could listen to it with an open mind but wouldn't be into the vocals so much. That's the main reason people turn us down. We're not an easy-listening band."

I've heard you guys talk about being inspired not only by music, but by a lot of other things. Have DEP ever engaged in a soundtrack or a collaboration with another art form?
Brian: "We would love to do that stuff. But I don't know if it would be as DEP. Maybe on a more individual basis. We did play at an art gallery opening of some friends of ours. Artists were painting while we played. There was some crazy shit going on there. Visual arts are definitely an inspiration to us."
Greg: "Visually, we would like to do a lot more with our live show, but it's mainly a matter of budget. A band like Tool has amazing stuff going on during a show. That's something we would like to do, but we just don't have the money for it. Our vision is a lot greater than what we financially are capable of doing."

Do your audiences mainly consist of musicians or pit bosses?
Brian: "We do get a lot of musicians that come to see us. For one, they come to see if we can pull it off live, but also just to see what we're like onstage. And then you have people into metal, people into hardcore, and people into whatever. Though I behave similarly onstage, I'm not into people just going nuts in the pit, without looking at us."
Greg: "Over here, we have a lot more people staring [at] Brian's fingers or whatever, because of the musicianship. In the States there are lot more kids just going nuts in the pit. I'm fine with that. But dudes that comes to the show with the intent of hurting people should be shot in the face."

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Meer The Dillinger Escape Plan op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/the-dillinger-escape-plan