Interview with Incapacitate

Incapacitate

Interviewed by: Corix


Hello brothers, howís the band doing? Whatís spinning on your player right now while answering this?

Jason: Hails brother Corix! We are doing just fine. I got Kratornas ìThe Onslaught of Battledemonsî demo tape blasting in my walkman right now!!

Noel: The bands doing great! Weíre lazy now, but we always have beenÖso yeah weíre doing great!

Letís start the interview traditionally, your band bio? Just a short one. You guys are from the different bands when you were in the Philippines, how did you meet up there in the US?

Jason: We started around 2002 after the collapse of the 2 bands I was in. I was drinking 40ís with the former members of those bands during the coldest Chicago winter and I guess the idea was formed at that time to start anew. And yeah I guess itís been 10 years already hahaha! Our rhythm guitarist, Yno joined around 2008. In the Philippines we played as members of Bad Omen, No Pressure, Destruction of Trust, Anal Scream and Sunctum. I met Randy courtesy of Howell from Piledriver, and then he met Noel through his co-worker. Bryan, I met him when I joined his new band after his old band Sounds of Silence disbanded. Yno was in another band when we met him in 2008 and heís become a massive drunk since then hahaha!

Yno: I met Bryan first at a gathering of bands in Hooters, then from there I think I started showing up on their shows, oh and also I had to drive Bryan to his DUI Class at that time! haha! And next thing I know Iím getting drunk, getting cuts and bruises without knowing it with these guys!

Bryan: Itís a long story but it all started when my band S.O.S (Sound of Silence) went disband. I met Jason from my friend Joey (Roman) my guitar player from S.O.S That time Jason was looking for a band and he wanted to join us till we build the band called Wounded. The band is just for a while and didnít stay that long due to the hormones that become addicted to vaginal skin,,,,hahaha and we go disband again. Jason introduce me to this BigBoy at the parking lot of Wendys and his name is Noel ìThe Rasta Babyloniaî Couple of months I think Noel lost his job so he ask me if I can hook him up, then I told my supervisor to hire Noel or I will plant a bomb inside the Laboratory then Noel got hired. Then following week they invited me to a Bheday Fateh and that day I met Randy, first time I saw Randy I was like ìthis fucker think who he is bitch@#$%cocksucker!@#î and he felt the same thing at me but the good thing with all that bad thinking, we became close friends. We jammed the same day on that Bheday Fateh and Randy ask me if I could play ìThe Eliminatorî from Agnostic Front and I said Letís Fuckin Gooo!!! After we play that song theyíll laughing and screaming I thought I fuckt up or they saw my buttcrack but its not, theyíre just happy because we enjoy that first jam. I think after a week of that party we started to build and make a band called Siafu then we change it to Incapacitate. About this guy Yno or Gino, I never met this guy in person, I just talk to him by chat in some bullshit propaganda of some faggot watery mouth, Yno is from the other band call Aftersex or Aftersix donít know thu fuck is that mean but it sounds like a styrofoam dragging to the wall of China hahaha! Yup! First time I saw him, he become my driver because of my DUI bitch,,,, till we hangout, fuck bitches, smoke weeds, shabu, beating up homeless people hahaha until I drag him to join into my Satanic Kult (Incapacitate).

How did you discover metal? What kind of music you are into before you discover metal? How/when did you first get involved in the UG scene?

Noel: I was never into metal, actually I hated metal, felt like it focuses too much on public imageÖPunk and Ska were my roots and to this day I still love listening to that shitÖ I started getting involved in the UG scene ëround ë94-í95. Had a band called Anal Scream and Wattanoodle and was part of Strong South in Laguna. Thanks to Boi Piodos of ADA for getting us our first gig back then.

I think the first thing that got me interested in metal was that Black Metal bookÖat the turn of the century, somewhere in uptown Chicago I was fuckiní around at some second hand bookstore and saw the book Lords of Chaos, read a few pages of it while in the bookstore and eventually bought the book. I was thinking..shit these crazy mofuckers in Norway actually do more shit than putting up devil horns and trying to look all metal as fuckÖ.so that got me interestedÖlistening to the music followedÖand it was about the same time when we started Incapacitate. Regain the Territory is a testament to my black metal influence...we wrote that track around the same time I was into that black metal shitÖ

Yno: I am all over the place, I listened to whatever depends on my mood but Iím more into hardcore, I discovered metal from my old man who has cassettes of Testament, Overkill and more. Iím the youngest in the group (yes im rubbing it in haha!), I never really got in the UG scene, I had my first band when I was 14 but I really donít want to go in to more detailsÖ I canít find anyone who shares the same interest as I do thatís why I settled. I just wanted to play!

Randy: I started listening to metal when I was in highschool. I loved thrash from the 80ís and early nineties. I then joined a band in college to play punk, that progressed into hardcore. During the time I listened to Minor threat, Youth of today, Exploited, GBH and none of that metal from the 80ís thing. After forming a hardcore band I discovered the music of D.R.I. and Agnostic Front which led me to listen to crossover. Which I still love to this day. My first underground gig was a show in Marikina which I believe was back in 94 with ADA, Philippine Violators, Putang-I-nas, Cantoots, Social Outrage and many more. After that, it was followed by a ton more shows in Manila and all over central Luzon.

Bryan: Back in the grade school when I was in 6 grade my classmate share his walkman in our recess time and thatís the first time I heard The Cure, Bolshoi, The Church,,,,,, then I started to buy my own New Wave cassette tapes. Year of 91 I discover Metal from these Skateboard event in our street of Equintos, Sampaloc Manila when Alex ëíBarangî promotes the ìSkate and Destroyî a skateboard competition in front of the Church while playing Slayer, Sodom, D.R.I, Sadus, Testament, Death Angel, Vio-lence, Kreator and lots of speed pounding sound that Iíve never heard in my life, that day change my fuckin life, from fuckin slacks pants to skinny jeans, from topsider shoes to vision street wear and vans shoes FUCKIN HEYYYAH!!! I tell myself that I gotta have those thrash metal tapes too, the very first metal tape that I borrowed from my friends cousins is Slayer ìLive of Aggressionî and that voice of evil Tom Araya makes me grow my hair and become a sinner inside of me. Back in 1993 when I was in high school I started to build my own thrash metal band with my street skateboard friends and the band was called Sanctum and Aklas, first gig we played was in Pateros with Tribal Fish, Drastik Noise and Death After Birth. I have this good friend of mine (Kumpare) his name is Jessie a.k.a ìPingsî this is person that brings me to the Pinoy UG scene, he introduce me to the death metal crew of Manila like Barang, KNK, Bubonic Plague and Deiphago. Another change of dimension from Thrash to Death Metal but we can call them both as a Death Thrash Metal!!! Salute to those days and Iím proud of experiencing all that shit into my life, so thanks to my friends Jessie Liwanag, Reed Parinas and Joel Parinas without those thrashers Iím probably listening to Country now hahahaha! Hails!!!

Jason: I grew up in the nineties, so yeah I caught a little bit of glam metal before grunge killed it off the airwaves. Appetite for Destruction was the first album Iíve ever bought, followed by Nevermind. I wanted more, so I explored whatever hidden music shops can be found in Manila. Iíd literally walk all day. I didnít have any friends or anyone else to give me pointers. I guess I was lucky or maybe really good at doing this shit that I found local UG tapes in Cubao or Quiapo. The shops at Tandem were a sanctuary for kids like me at the time. This was before foreign death metal releases got licensed locally at which point I had to re-buy some shit. There was a flyer posted at Nizzle Dazzle about Downtown Sampcore, a collective right in my backyard so yeah I quickly got in touch to hangout. Thatís where I learned more about the UG scene and crust punx. I absolutely fuckiní miss the Sampcore crew. Hails to all my brothers in Sampcore!!!

Incapacitate existed quite long in the scene already, is the EP Regain the Territory was the first ever release of the band? And it was 2004 or 5, I guess, what made you the delay on releasing the follow up on the March To The Death album?

Noel: Life happenedÖ.some members of the band started having kids, got married and all kinds of shit. And we have a track record of being lazy and shit hahahaÖso thatís that.

Randy: After Regain the Territory, the band felt a sense of hibernation. Nobody really got into writing new material and playing new tunes. It wasnít until Noel went to a guitar school that the members felt a need to breath life into the band again. We wrote a lot of new material and experimented with a lot of tunes. The resultÖMarch to the Death.

Jason: Seriously, itís gotta be because we drink too motherfuckiní much!!

Howís the response of the Americans of your latest release March To The Death? How about the promotion? Is it really intended for tape only?

Noel: White people liked ëem! HahahaÖ.but seriously so far weíve been getting good reception in regards to the album. ShitÖ.so good of a reception mother fuckers are torrenting itÖ.itís all goodÖthe cassette tape route Iím not sure how we got thereÖalthough I think itís awesome that it the album is only in cassette and digital formatÖmaybe Jason can expand more on how we got to thatÖ

Randy: Actually the cassette release was more popular than the first cdr release. When Jason released the material in tape format, we got a ton of response from a lot of peopleÖpeople that we havenít got in touch with in years! So things kind of turned out great after the cassette release. The band really doesnít have enough resources to release an actual pressed cd. Hopefully some independent music company helps us out to produce the album in cd format. But for now, the tape format will work.

Jason: Weíre still looking for a label to release a cd version. I released the tape on my label because thatís all I can afford, and I wanted the cd to be handled by someone else who has the resources to do so. Release distribution is way different these days. I made cdr versions but it was ignored. As someone who runs a cdr-based label, believe me when I tell you that metal on the cdr format is dead especially here in the States. Itís ignored I guess because cdrs had become this disposable plastic thing. And cdr releases, somehow they feel incomplete unlike a real cd or cassette release. Itís fine for harsh noise. But I will still support cdrs because Iím all for the music and supporting the people involved. Itís sad because they are inexpensive to both produce and to ship out, especially internationally.

How did you guys write songs? Whatís the writing process like? Who mostly writes the lyrics? And what topics you mostly deliver in every songs?

Noel: Usually somebody would bring in a riff and weíll work off of that during practice till we end up with an actual song. Jason and Randy does the lyrics to our songs.

Randy: Writing for the band has become a great responsibility for me and Jason. I usually write the songs when I have a great idea about a certain topic. I love writing about War. Itís a topic that Iím always interested about. Watching a lot of documentaries about war helps out a lot when writing songs.

Any underground Pinoy bands in Chicago? How the underground scene look like there? Is the DIY ethics alive there? How about the printed zines there?

Noel: nahÖim speaking for myself and Iím not familiar with the UG scene in ChicagoÖmaybe the rest of the band can chime in here.

Randy: For me all I can say is that the UG scene in the Philippines is a lot better than here. We really miss the hospitality of us Filipinos. You know itís all worth it even though you are hungry and tired to play in front of the people who invited you to play in their area. The thing about here is that everybodyís busy. I rarely see printed zines, and DIY made stuff. Although the shirts that we printed the first time were all DIY made.

Bryan: Pinoy Metal scene in Chicago? When I saw this question I laugh and farted myself hahaha! Nope I donít think so, mmmmhmm! Weíre probably the only Pinoy Metal heads here in Chicago. Iíve met and played in some Pinoy bands here in Chicago but itís like aaaah Nope* you guys are not Metal for me so donít act like you guys are or I will slap all your faces with my wet and wild wedgies hahaha!

I heard some hardcore influence on some of the tracks on March to the Death album, how would you personally describe your music?

Noel: I donít knowÖitís a mix of all our influences...punk, hardcore, metal and all kinds of shitÖhell one of the licks I used in one of our songs was a rip off from Sublimeís Santeria hahahaÖtry to see if you can figure out which song and what partÖ

Randy: There was actually a site that reviewed our album and I guess the reviewer didnít really get the mix of hardcore, thrash and power violence vocals in the album. Some people donít get it and some do. As what Noel said itís all a mixture of our influences.

Jason: Yeah that metal-archives review was recent and it still annoys the batshit out of me. It didnít say anything bad really, except for calling our music gimmicky. I hold offense to that. We do what we do, what comes out naturally. A gimmick is something premeditated or something that doesnít have anything to do with the music. Die hard releases are a gimmick. Slipknot and their masks are a gimmick. Triggered drum sample replacement is a gimmick. Anything that sound engineer Andy Sneap and his adherents would do to ìdoctorî your music is a total fucking lame ass gimmick.

I wanna see Incapicitate live in Manila, any plan in going back home?

Noel: YehÖwe wanna see Incapacitate Live in Manila tooÖwe need monies

Randy: Iíd love to if we have the cash. Right now the cash is being used somewhere elseÖhahahaha.

Bryan: Fuck Yeah!!!! But Niggah were broke than Mr. T and MC Hammer!!!


What can you say about the Philippine underground scene in general?

Noel: As always the Philippine underground scene is amazing. Itís so rich and diverse and we fucking miss it.

Randy: Like I said in my answer before, Itís the friendship and hospitality of the pinoys which makes it awesome.

Bryan: P.U.G. S still the best and they become more great when you met some chick after the gigs HotDamn! Slap that biatch!!!

How about our current government, what can you say? Philippine election is approaching, if you were here, will you vote?

Noel: Iím not into politics, never been into itÖ.so I have no fuckin clueÖ

Randy: Iíd vote, but for now I really donít have any clue of whatís going on there either.

Bryan: when we say government, Iíll say BULLCRAP! Years and Years just died and its all the same shit that rotates in every cock sucker that run for a candidate, look at all those movie stars that now is a governor, mayor, senator of some shit! for fucksake! We used to laugh on them while watching them doing stupid things on the t.v screen and now people wanna vote for him? What a baloneypigfuck LMAO

Jason: I donít vote. Voting changes nothing. It doesnít matter whoís in office, it will be someone who can serve the interests of US-Imperialism better. All the presidents, even all the way to the first have been subservient to the whims of US-backed corporations. They are traitors and their names should be dragged into the mud. Who murdered the true leader of the first united Filipino revolution Bonifacio? Someone called Macapagal, an ancestor to two of our past presidents. And who ordered the assassination? Aguinaldo, our first president who secretly sold the Philippines to the Americans who were picking up former Spanish colonies left and right. The same ruling class and their childrenís children in office control policies to preserve the status quo. Keep the country in debt, no thanks to the IMF-World Bank, and keep the semi-colonial, semi-feudal nature of the country because it serves US-Imperialism. That is the presidentís number one job. Second is to keep everyone dumb or pre-occupied with stupid meaningless shit so no one will raise a hand and question the system. How am I sure of this? These US corporations do a pretty fucking good job at doing it to their own people. Except here they donít keep you in the dark, they just blast you with a fuck-ton of useless and conflicting information that you end up unable to filter out the truth and just wanting fanatically to fucking watch Sunday football or turn to Jesus and tune out.

Yno: letís go BULLS!

Nowadays, access of music and gigs is so easy; do you think you still feel the feeling of true Underground? Do you think the Underground scene in general is Dead? If so, who do you think killed it? Why?

Noel: Speaking for myself againÖIíve always thought that when I left the Philippines I left the underground. Although I canít say the underground is dead, it has evolved into a different form but its definitely alive and kicking.

Randy: From what I see online, I donít think itís dead. Itís actually more alive than ever. I see a lot of band and scene resurgences. A good example is the Notorious scene in Pampanga. I saw the articles about the gigs there and I suppose things are amazing back there. Istukas over Disneyland and Tomador Crew (whoís members are my friends) are more alive than before. Plus I see other bands like Red Corpse, Bad Omen, Ada and a lot more still at it.

Bryan: U.G scene never dies in Philippines, some people are just easy to be influenced in other genre or letís say they go with the trend thatís why we think its dead but its not. I think the U.G scene now is more aggressive and were getting more support from other countries, I just heard that Cannibal Corpse will play there, fuckin badass!

Jason: This is a hard question. Thatís true itís so much easier nowadays. The ìfeelingî for the most part is totally gone. There is no longer any sense of belonging to a sort of exclusive scene where people in it are only in it because they wanted to. Posers everywhere can easily fake their ticket to the UG these days. Even the most obscure releases can be downloaded easily. With that said, the UG for me was never about that in the first place. Underground to me is DIY. No one else will do it for you the way you wanted thatís why you resort to doing it yourself. I do not fault advances in technology for overwhelming the underground. It is a tool and itís up to you if you want to use it. I have friends who are still offline and doing just fine with snail mail only communication. I also have friends and more of them using both, email after all have the upper hand in terms of speed, ease, and cost. I personally take full advantage of it. It was harder back then to communicate overseas and it was also riskier to send money in an envelope. There was no way to sample tracks before purchase as well, now you have a myriad of resources to do this. The downside to all this is the less personal communication, especially in social networking which is really ironic. Now that the underground and its meaning had been blurred because of the great equalizer that is the internet, itís much harder to separate the wheat from the chaff. Clicking ìlikeî on facebook doesnít constitute real support. But on the other hand, you now have scenes popping out of places where you never thought possible. This is because of the internet. Who could have imagined a Syrian black metal band like Nokturnal Forest can exist back then?

To Jason, when did you start Mandarangan Recordings? How did you come up in the idea of releasing Industrial Noise and experimental music? Who was the first Noise/experimental band that you heard that inspires you?

Jason: I started Mandarangan in 2000, but before that I was running OWL Records which was a tape label. I started it because I wanted to move on to cdrs. I figured since I grew up with cassettes and knew all of its limitations that cdr is where everyone else will move on to. Funny how after 12 years Iím focusing on tapes once again. I recorded my noise project Insomnia back in 1996, I didnít really knew noise was a genre. It came out because it had to. Itís a product of my intense feeling of isolation. I had a lot of friends, and I mean real good friends but yeah even though I was in the company of good people and family I would still feel deeply isolated like an alien really. Lito Sional of Noise Attack Zine included 1 of my tracks in his noise compilation Six OíClock Noise and thatís how I really knew noise as a genre. Thatís also where I heard other noise artists. To this day they remain my favorites, Outermost from Japan, Napalmed from Czech Republic, Hermit from Canada, and Sonic Disorder from USA.

Your top 5 local bands playing on your stereo these days? And top 5 fanzines youíve been reading these days?

Noel: Not sure what you mean by local so hereís my current playlist (not in any particular order):
ï American Football ñ self titled
ï Municipal Waste ñ Art of Partying
ï Operation Ivy - Energy
ï Owen ñ in shuffle mode
ï Kreator ñ Hordes of Chaos
not into any fanzines at the momentÖ..

Randy: Bands/albums in my playlist right now:
ï P.O.T. - remastered
ï What do you want for Christmas? ñ V/A
ï Private Stock ñ Hypeís cool
ï Radio active sago project ñ Urban Gulaman
ï Insect Warfare ñ World Extermination

Bryan: My type of Question hehehe!
ï Malevolent Creation - Ten Commandments
ï Sepultura ñ Beneath the Remains
ï Deicide ñ Legion
ï Samael-Blood Ritual
ï Angel Corpse ñ Hammer of Gods

Jason: My top 5 ever
ï Dead Can Dance ñ Into The Labyrinth
ï Impiety ñ Formidonis Nex Cultus
ï Paradise Lost ñ Draconian Times
ï Type O Negative ñ October Rust
ï Vociferation Eternity ñ Ocean Myth

Paper Fanzines:
ï Metal Storm ñ the gig review for Possessed backed by Sadistic Intent members is priceless
ï Die You Poser ñ gets better every issue
ï Trident Nation ñ very well written, as good as the editorís past zine Necromancy
ï Convivial Hermit ñ the lay-out job is terrific, very good all-around
ï As Loud As Possible ñ best noise zine so far.. yeah better than Freak Animal!

Do you guys believe in the concept of God and Satan? Heaven and Hell?

Noel: I donít knowÖ.maybeÖ..

Randy: same answer

Bryan: for me thereís no God and thereís no Satan but there is always you that can be God and Satan.

Jason: Iím atheist.

Word Association:

Brutal Death ñ
Jason: Indonesia
Noel: Richard Merck
Randy: Misery Index
Bryan: Suffocation

Black Metal ñ
Jason: Bathory;
Noel; Norway
Randy: Emperor
Bryan: Bathory

Thrash Metal ñ
Jason: Nuclear Assault
Noel: Kreator
Yno: Exodus
Randy: Warbringer
Bryan: Sodom

Rakista.com ñ
Jason: donít care
Noel: dongker
Randy: Flashy
Bryan: Dandoy

Filipino Metal ñ
Jason: good
Noel: good din
Yno: I,,/,
Randy: Better
Bryan: Hello

Pulp Magazine ñ
Jason: donít know
Noel: donít know dongker
Randy: ewan
Bryan: John Travolta

Alcohol ñ
Jason: want
Noel: mahapdi
Yno: awesome
Randy: Gin pomelo
Bryan: puriin at landiin

Marijuana ñ
Jason: rarely
Noel: bad
Yno: nakakataba
Randy: tawa
Bryan: yoko

Grind ñ
Jason: Catasexual Urge Motivation
Noel: Joey Albert
Randy: Insect Warfare
Bryan: Napalm Death

Punk ñ
Jason: Dead Kennedys
Noel: The Sex Pistols
Randy: Stiff little fingers
Bryan: GBH

Alright brothers, thanx for sharing your thoughts and views and giving time answering this shits! Your last messageÖ
Noel: Maraming maraming salamat sa suporta!!!!

Bryan: Maraming salamat!!!

Jason: Support the underground bands, labels, and publications. Donít be a jerk and just download everything. None of these can survive without support from the true fans. Salamat pareng Corix!!!

Contact: c/o Jason Vizmanos manrecs@gmail.com