BURNT BY THE SUN
Soundtrack to the Permanent Evolution
By: John Gnesin
BURNT BY THE SUN's debut full-length, “Soundtrack to the Personal Revolution”, was a bonafide boundary-crossing sensation when it was first released, appealing to a wide cross-section of heavy music fans through its versatile blending of vicious riffs, pummeling percussion and incisive lyricism. In the merely 2 years since the release of that album, the world has pretty much gone to shit: an unelected president who sees war as a sport, terrorist attacks that show no sign of letting up, economy in the toilet... The result being a populace too apathetic and shell-shocked to stand up for their rights and fight back against this tide of corruption and evil. BURNT BY THE SUN 's sophomore effort, "The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good" couldn't have come at a more appropriate time. It is, dare I say, a perfect accumulation of intensity and maturity, anger and understanding -- hope within the futility of despair. Bottom line: a totally kick-ass album from a band that has raised the bar (again) for their (admittedly few) peers in the metal-core sweepstakes.
I recently had the opportunity to bounce a few of these ideas off vocalist/visionary Mike Oleander, whose insight into the band, the album, and the sorry-ass state of the world might help to clarify the confusion and fear that currently define us.
RESOUND: Where does the title "The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good" come from? What does it mean to you? Is it in any subtle way a dig at the "technical, mathcore" genre BBTS gets placed in by reviewers?
Mike Oleander: We were going to call it "Show Me Your Fucking Tits" but Relapse didn't go for it - ha ha. The album title is definitely not a reference to the music in any way. I'd be bummed if it was -- it would sound like an excuse for a sloppy record! The title is derived from an old Russian proverb, the old story of the sculptor who tried to perfect his work so much that he destroyed it. Within the concept of this record however, it refers to how people are letting their confidence in their democratic right to think for themselves get so arrogant that it is destroying itself. People have so much faith in what is being fed to them that they don't even realize that they are giving up their very ability to evaluate and ponder. On another level it also refers to how the perfection of the mass illusion that is draped over people is getting to a point where it is going to destroy itself. In other words, as world events unfold and deception is rampant, the madmen that are running this world are getting caught up in their own lies, and that is becoming truer and truer as the days go on. It may sound dramatic but we are living in interesting times.
RESOUND: Where was the album recorded and how long did the recording take? Why did you decide to go with Matt Bayles again, and what's he like to work with?
MO: We recorded this record at Trax East studio in South River, NJ. It’s loaded with pretty much everything, is conveniently located, and is very comfortable, which is important if you're going to be spending two weeks just tracking an album. We worked with Matt Bayles on this again because we really like his ear for things and his organic approach to recording and mixing. We're not a Pro-Tools band, and while we don't knock that at all, we like to work with people who rely more on getting the best performance and the best possible sounds rather than recording quickly and getting the performance fixed and manipulated afterwards on a computer. Plus, Matt was excited to do it and that meant a lot to us. Working with him is great if you're up for the challenge. Matt pushes you to do things the right way and isn't afraid to put in long nights. Fortunately, we didn't have any long nights with this record, though we did enjoy some quality time executing pedestrians on Vice City on PS2. Watching Teddy play that game was about the funniest thing I saw all year. Motherfucker just kills everybody! But anyway, we accomplished everything that we needed within the time frame. After two weeks of tracking everything, another week was spent mixing in Seattle, and then another few weeks of getting our sampling and transitions ready for the mastering session."
RESOUND: I was sort of expecting a song or two directly regarding the war in Iraq or terrorism, instead the whole of the lyrics (especially '180 Proof' and 'Revelations') seem to refer to it indirectly or at most semi-directly, assaulting the media and the apathy of the people. It almost comes off in an ambiguous way -- which I can relate to -- being righteously angry but also confused. Defiant, but scared of the way the world is going. Almost like taking a side on the issue isn't the point, but the way the issue affects you is. Would you care to comment on how the events in the world affected your lyrics and mentality as a whole during the writing process?
MO: "Wow, I hope more people are able to interpret this record the same way! I was thinking that most people would write it off as either being political or about conspiracy theories but maybe that's not the case. This record is very different lyrically from our previous records in two ways: one, we collectively decided to base the lyrics on the many discussions we had in the van on the road earlier in the year, which covered everything from ancient history to the spiritual realm to current events. The point of this record was to make an album that talked about the things that people live in denial of, the little things that occur or have occurred in the past and how that fundamentally affects us today. The layout to the record very clearly illustrates these some of these things. For example, the artwork includes a blueprint for a spacecraft found in India that dates back some 4000 years, just making the point that nothing we are doing here in the 21st Century is particularly advanced or enlightening. Two, the lyrical approach to the issues of the world today is very anti-political in the sense that focusing on the issues such as the war are irrelevant when there are other forces that very effectively dictate how the world turns. For example, arguing about the specifics of the war in Iraq is pointless without discussing how the war was literally sold to America by public relations firms. The Pentagon hired PR firms to literally sell the case for war to the American public. Over a third of the news related to Saddam Hussein and WMD's had come not from reporters but from PR firms who refer to the US government as its "client" and the war in Iraq as its "product". There are leaked memos where the date for informing the public about the decision to invade Iraq is referred to as a "product launch". You had this psychopath Rumsfeld stating that they would use "information warfare" in whatever way it needed to gain the support of the American people. Now it is emerging that it’s no surprise that no WMD's have been found because all of these reports have been exaggerated or were fictitious. What does left or right matter on an issue when the issue itself is something that is conjured out of thin air?
RESOUND: In the song "Pentagons and Pentagrams" you make reference to the Trilateral Commission and the Council on Foreign Relations, which while real existing things, are usually referred to only by conspiracy theorists. How would you describe these institutions, especially in the context of current events? Do you feel they are/were really purposefully evil organizations, or do you feel our current world is a result of their well-intentioned mistakes? Do you consider yourself a "Conspiracy theorist (or lyricist)"? And what about this line:
"Cause all your politics argue on the shadow and not on the substance"?
MO: "I'm about the farthest thing from being a "conspiracy theorist" that you can find and I think I speak for everyone else in the band as well. There's a huge difference between a conspiracy theory and what is called an institutional analysis. Theories are used to fill in the gaps while an analysis makes no assumptions but relies only on facts that can be proved or disproved. The CFR and the TLC openly advocate the new world order in their literature. That's a fact. My father subscribed to Foreign Affairs (the official journal of the CFR) for years and it’s amazing to read what they openly advocate. Likewise, groups like the Trilateral Commission discuss global market manipulations and blatantly coordinate what are obvious violations of "free trade". These are very influential groups seated by extremely wealthy people and families who are in positions to make huge decisions that affect our lives. This is a fact. If you're in doubt, consider that this includes all of the families that own the Federal Reserve, which is a private bank that lends the US Treasury money at interest. The more money they lend, the more money they make in interest. Now look at the costs for this so-called War on Terror and think of the money that will be made in loans to the government. Now are the bankers conspiring in some evil plot because they literally "own" all of the money? No, I would say instead that their institutions are taking full advantage of the business opportunity that comes with the deficit spending that comes with a war, though I wouldn't hesitate to say that these kinds of people who profit from war are certainly suffering spiritually. You can't be in that kind of business and say you're contributing to the betterment of mankind. Oddly enough, many of the members of these groups are members of so-called secret societies, which are shrouded in secrecy and use symbolism that is also used by the occult, which is where the "pentagrams" part of the song title comes in. Most of our presidents have been members of such organizations, though when you start talking about that you can't help but slide into theories because they are secret societies with little "fact" to actually go on. It is interesting to note that groups like the CFR are also seated with high-ranking officials in the government so they all kind of tie their interests together. It’s amazing to see the literature of the CFR advocate for a certain policy and then the next thing you know, the government is doing it
As far as the line in Pentagons and Pentagrams goes, it was inspired from the social philosopher John Dewey, who wrote that politics is the shadow cast on society by big business. The more you focus on the shadow, the more lost you will be because it is business that truly dictates policy.
RESOUND: It seems like on this album, everyone stepped it up a level and added more layers to their performances, especially in the more prevalent use of melody, with your vocal patterns becoming looser, yet more diverse and intricate. While the foundation developed on your previous recordings seems intact, it seems you guys have really fattened up the sound making the music more versatile and enigmatic. Was this a conscious decision? What inspired it and are you pleased with the results?
MO: The funny thing about your observation is that this record is our first release as a 4-piece. When we made the transition to being a 4-piece, we realized that we would need to add certain elements to not only fill in the gaps that we would be missing without a second guitar player, but other elements that would take us to the next level. We were excited that John would be pretty much exclusively writing the melodies and riffs and with some added stomp pedals and more amplifiers we felt that we would be able to reinvent ourselves in a certain sense. We did not set out to make a record like this or like that, but rather felt that we would just "wing it" and see what happened. As it turns out, we are very happy with the results.
As far as the vocals go, I basically stuck with phrasings that worked best with each song, which meant that while some were more intricate, others were very straightforward and focused on the "less is more" principle. For actual recording, I was very intent on making a record where the vocals were clearer and more precise. I didn't want to slur anything for the sake of vocal tone, so I basically tried to learn how to sing in a clear manner without compromising the raw energy that I wanted. When it came time to record I opted to record the tracks using a standard Shure 58 instead of an expensive condenser mic so I could jump around and give my best performance. Mics on stands keep you locked into one space and having the freedom to move around the booth really made a difference.
RESOUND: How badly are we as citizens, missing the point, when it comes to modern political discourse? what problems should we be focusing on, and what can we do about them?
MO: "Shit, man, its one of those things that you can't really do much about. I think our modern political discourse is a joke because the mainstream dialogue is in serious self-denial. Try calling up Rush Limbaugh and talk about the influence of the Federal Reserve and he'll call you a fruit cake and hang up on, and that's pretty much what you see down the line except when you meet or read people who have had actual experience in deep political circles. On a state level I've personally witnessed a Congressional representative ask "What are you going to do for me if I vote this way", and there are few things more disheartening than that. I deal with it by putting my faith in things above human frailty and being satisfied with the little ways that I make people's lives better."
....and one of the most effective ways is through the international language of music. BURNT BY THE SUN's "The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good" will be released September 23rd.
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