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An interview with Jason Novak of Acumen Nation
Posted: Sunday, April 02, 2006
By: Ilker Yücel
Editor

In 1995, industrial rock was the big thing. Groups like 16 Volt, Chemlab, Sister Machine Gun, Die Warzau, Filter, Cubanate, Hate Dept., and even Nine Inch Nails were following the example of groups like KMFDM and Ministry, fusing cutting-edge electronics and programming with heavy metal guitars, and showing a full range of emotions and musical styles, ultimately known as “coldwave.” It was a time of extreme angst and musical creativity in a climate where the mainstream was taking over the airwaves and sinking its teeth into anything it could assimilate, a time in which the musical revolution was poised to confront and conquer… and for a brief time it did, but with the coming and going of Record Labels like WaxTrax! and Fifth Column, it seemed that industrial rock was in the midst of turmoil.

Enter Chicago’s Acumen, later to be known as Acumen Nation. Founded by Jason Novak, the band formed the basis of all that would eventually become Cracknation. Releasing two albums on Fifth Column Records, and touring with The Claypeople, the band’s beginnings were turbulent at best, shifting focus to the more electronic DJ? Acucrack, changing record labels, and inevitably a change in lineup with the departure of original members Ethan Novak and Greg Lopez. With Jamie Duffy stepping up as Novak’s production partner, the two released a multitude of records with Acucrack, scoring commercial spots for several big name companies, and eventually forming Cracknation Records, with Underground, Inc. serving as distribution. With a new lineup, and releasing The 5ifth Column in 2002, Lord of the Cynics in 2003, as well as the Artifacts album in 2004, and collaborating with Jared Louche for Chemlab’s Oxidizer, Acumen Nation once again came to the forefront, standing tall as the unabashed heroes of coldwave. At the tail end of 2005, the band celebrated their 10th Anniversary by touring with Cyanotic and Stromkern, and releasing What the F**k? on WTII Records, a retrospective album of rare remixes and alternate versions of several of the band’s best-loved songs.

As of January 2006, Acumen Nation continues in the studio hard at work on the impending Anticore album, which the band promises will be a major event in both the industrial rock and heavy metal communities. Jason Novak took some time out from his busy schedule to reflect on the last decade with ReGen. He speaks about the progress of Anticore and just what kind of kickasserole the band has in store for the upcoming album, the tribulations of recording Oxidizer with Jared Louche, new Cracknation releases, their departure from Underground, Inc., and the consequences of calling his mother a whore.

What happened to Iron Lung Corp. and The Claypeople? They were originally on the bill, but disappeared a few weeks ago, and it has been three years since the last release from ILC. Are they still active?

Novak: I think we just hit a wall with our relationship, and there are other things they want to pursue as far as the business goes, and I wish the Claypeople luck. As far as the ILC goes, I wouldn’t rule out another album someday in the future, but the last one was kind of a disappointment in how poorly it sold. We really loved the album, thought there was some killer material on it, but it just didn’t connect, and sometimes that can take the wind out of the sails.

It’s been 10 years since Cracknation’s inception, and you’ve crossed over into various scenes, from industrial to jungle/drum ‘n’ bass to metal, etc. What changes have you noticed in the music scene as a whole in the last 10 years? How have you adapted to these changes as a person as a musician?

Novak: Good question. I have always felt like I am on the outside looking in, especially where these musical ‘scenes’ are concerned. There is always some problem with an element in our music, either the industrial past keeps us out of the drum 'n’ bass respect circle, or the industrial fans thought we used too much guitar, or the fucking metalheads thought we were techno… it never mattered, we always offended some staunch ‘scene’ supporter. We never set out to be part of any scene though; we just wanted to make music we thought was interesting and not part of the mainstream, bottom line. However, I think a lot of these fringe scenes have also taken a hit in the past few years. There just isn’t enough new blood and fire to sustain it, even the club culture, which is why I think punk is, was, and always will be so cool, because it constantly breeds new blood. Much of the industrial scene is comprised of older, more cynical fans who live in the past, metal got sold to corporate, and the electronic thing took a huge hit from the anti-drug legislation, and the emergence of band-in-a-box software that took some of the magic away.

Personally, I don’t know if we have adapted well at all. We are currently working on our heaviest, most aggressive album yet, when metal is a hard sell. The minute we felt like we captured and tamed drum 'n’ bass, the scene starts to tire and look elsewhere for the rush. So I don’t know… it’s such a different game nowadays; distribution is awful, the Internet and file sharing is king, and it’s tough to feel like you can make a difference. Unless of course, you donate to Hurricane Katrina or can cure cancer or can get close enough to Bush to fart in his fucking face.

Sharing the bill with you is Cyanotic, whose debut album you co-produced with Chris Cozort of Iammynewt. How does producing another artist’s work compare to producing your own? What differences and similarities are there?

Novak: Sometimes it’s favorable because you are not so close to the material. You can try some things or go in a weird direction without fearing you are messing with your own baby. I don’t do it often, but the few times (Pigface, Chemlab, Cyanotic) we have produced other albums, it has been interesting. Deep down, I know we have too much material of our own to work into a frenzy, that unless it’s really worth it, I don’t see us doing it too much (i.e. pay us now, bitches).

You’ve just released What the F**k? on WTII Records, your first on that label. What led to your association with WTII Records? Will there be further releases on this label?

Novak: Jamie and I have known the guys at WTII for a while and we always wanted to work with them, and this retro album was a good experiment to try. I think it has worked out well, and I really have enjoyed the positive response and their attitude towards working on a record. They are doing a lot of it for the love of the music, which is something we haven’t been around in awhile. Plus, Bart has the sexiest ponytail this side of Jersey and I know he still has a couple Acid Horse 12” records hidden somewhere.

Does your association with WTII Records mean you are no longer associated with Invisible Records/Underground, Inc.?

Novak: Not by the association with WTII, but I think that relationship has run its course. We both have been disappointed by the other in the recent past, however we still respect each other and had some good moments. After the Acucrack Mako vs. Geist record didn’t sell very well, we realized things weren’t going to progress with Underground, Inc. Here we were, busting our asses on a 45-day tour with KMFDM, hiring press, running ads, and really feeling it, and distribution just didn’t happen. There was also a lot of pressure to focus solely on Acucrack and ignore Acumen, and we just didn’t agree with that at all. There is just no way to justify touring like we are 18 and don’t have shit to live for and starve, and I firmly believe there are other ways to get your music out to the people that will ultimately support it. So I think we will be both be better off in the future without the other, and no bad blood I hope… except for that Curse Mackey, I hear he likes to punch cats.

What about Anticore? Are we still looking at a release this year?

Novak: Yes Anticore will come out this year. We just can’t stop working on it! It really is close to us, and everything we have been disappointed with on every record we have ever produced is slowly being eradicated on this one. Plus, we don’t want it to fall on deaf ears. So many of our albums come out and nobody even knows. I can’t tell you how many people came up to us when we were out with KMFDM and were like, ‘Wow, I didn’t even know you guys were still around!’ We want Anticore to kill… kill in the metal community and in the industrial community. It is our best effort to combine both and we don’t have to rush it, right? Not like some huge-ass label is tapping their watch!

The Cracknation crew was pretty much responsible for the music on Chemlab’s Oxidizer. How pleased are you with the results of this collaboration with Jared?

Novak: Man, it’s been a while since I have talked about that! I have had some time to reflect on it, but I can’t say I was super pleased with the results. Jared and I are still friends, and I think our experience and age has allowed us to be cool with everything, but it got hot for awhile. Without too much detail, Jamie and I built that entire record from scratch, almost every verse, every melody, except for a couple bass lines and samples. Towards the end, I think we got too close to the project and started butting heads with Jared, forgetting that he really is Chemlab, you know? However, we created this wonderful thing that felt like a worthy coldwave monster, and had a hard time shifting gears toward the end when Jared suddenly wanted to change things. I was under the impression we had a serious deadline to meet. But that proved to be false, because once we turned in the masters and the sessions, Jared bought a couple extra months on the release and remixed the whole record! Damn!

So in the end, the album gets released, lists us as co-producers when we were very uncomfortable with the final mixes… but fails to mention that we wrote every song on the record, all vocals aside of course. It was tough to read any criticism of the production or final sound knowing that we had constructed a much rougher, tougher, electronics-heavy album, and also being very proud of the songs we wrote, but not getting the proper credit. So in the end, there is a different version of Oxidizer completed, one that we felt reflected the proper spirit of Chemlab, but since we are not Chemlab, it really wasn’t our place to dictate that, even though we created the album. I understand why Jared did what he did to protect what was ultimately his album, not mine. It might have seemed like we hijacked his record, but what a fucking record it was. I only wish we could have worked it out better. There were a couple others involved who really showed their true colors, and it ended up being a hurtful experience. But I digress… let’s get back to talking about HOT ASS ACUMEN!

This tour also marks the retirement of much of your back catalog as part of the live show. Does this mean you’ll no longer perform material prior to Anticore? No more “Gun Lover?”

Novak: Nah, of course we will still play a little old stuff, but it’s really hard to play stuff we don’t feel. We aren’t filling stadiums, it’s not a business for us, so we want to enjoy every second. A lot of people could feel it during the shows on our last tour. They liked hearing the oldies, but there was some serious shit going on with the new material, and the energy and attitude really made the crowds notice at those moments. And really, 122 BPM? I can’t even shit that slow anymore.

With Acumen Nation, as well as DJ? Acucrack, there has always been a steady undercurrent of sarcasm and humor. Why is that, and what impact do you think it has had on your music?

Novak: Sense of humor? Don’t ever call my mother a whore again, this fucking interview is over! Wait, sorry, that’s another interview with another magazine I am doing at precisely the same time, with some ass rag called AP or BP or ICUP or something…

You know, we are who we are. We are sarcastic and we laugh a lot. My love of dark music, movies, and the subculture is kind of like my penchant for years of smoking and drinking. I’m not addicted, not hiding, not drowning sorrows, I like to get fucked up and have a good time! Same with this music… nobody touched my peepee when I was a kid, I don’t have the need to modify my body with stainless steel and wear goggles because I hate my OG self, and I don’t need to sing and groan about how much I want to be in the grave. If I do write a song about that, it’s gotta’ be able to laugh at itself and do it with a sneer, not a tear. Real emotion wins the battles. That is why Trent Reznor was successful and a slew of Ogre rip-offs were not. I love dark, heavy shit, but I don’t bleed it. All Acumen listens to these days is the most bile-inducing death metal and hardcore we can get our hands on, and we laugh the whole fucking time!

Everything before Strike 4 seems to be out of print. What will become of those discs? Will they ever be re-released?

Novak: We will eventually do small-run reissues of our back catalog, and then put bullets in our heads and call it a day. One thing I would seriously like to do is package two double-CD packages together. One will be Transmissions and Territory, and the other will be More Human Heart and the two remix CDs together. Sell ‘em at normal price, but cut down on pressing so many titles. I’d like to see that happen within a year’s time.

We are also really excited about a digital distribution deal we just signed that will take our entire catalog, even the out of print titles, and put them on iTunes, Napster, Yahoo, etc… so the whole bloody world can listen to ‘FWM’ and talk about the movie Crash, or listen to ‘Father in the Wall,’ read this interview and realize nobody touched my peepers, and figure out that it’s all about Leland Palmer from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.

Speaking of Strike 4, I was under the impression that Acumen Nation was going to go into retirement. What changed your minds?

Novak: Too much left to say, too many tunes to write. That downtime allowed us to focus on Acucrack, I had my first kid, and we needed to find a studio to call home. Things were in total disarray. Plus after S4, we really needed to find our voice again, and I think we definitely brought back the real deal on The 5ifth Column… right? Anyone? Bueller? I’m afraid I am going to do this ‘til they make me stop. It’s in my brain now… anyone?

The two new songs on What the F**K? feature Eric Powell of 16 Volt and Lucia of KMFDM. Will they also be featured on Anticore? Will any other guests or other sorts of surprises be found on the album?

Novak: Probably not. The Lucia track will definitely be on Anticore in its original bloody metal version. The idea behind What the F**k? was to celebrate the past, push the boat out to sea with a couple new tracks that can bridge the gap, but then set that boat on fire with a couple land missiles, and get wasted on the beach while we built a meaner, sicker, uglier, and faster boat to launch… as long as Hoops can shoot the wench through the jib hole on the starboard side or something, and if Ak Ak remembers to save the drowning Australian so we can take the trophy from Teddy.

What about Fawn, your solo project? It took you four years to produce the first EP, which is now available. How does the material on Fawn differ from that of Acumen Nation or DJ? Acucrack? Why did it take so long to produce an EP? When can we expect to hear more from Fawn?

Novak: Fawn is like a sin eater or an effigy, in that it takes any swoon or heartache that might find its way into Acumen Nation and channels it into something pure in its own right, and does not taint the original beast… or something. Fawn is all the lush, sad, melancholy ideas I have musically that need a place to live. When we put a lot of mush on More Human Heart—songs I love to death—they started to seem out of place, even though they made sense. And I knew I wanted to continue writing this material, but didn’t want to force it into Acumen’s evil jaws. So I created Fawn to exist on its own. I always thought it would be a nice big thing when it came out, but it kept on stalling and stalling, so finally we released an EP for the patient people. We will probably release another EP later this year, and then we will have two short records that some people might say could be one long record, but it would still take two CDs to put it on, so there.

What is the word on Ahnüsse? There’s no info other than the name on the Cracknation Web site. Who or what is it?

Novak: Ahnüsse is very scary. They are from Estonia where they enjoy free Internet access. They are not pop stars. They are megalomaniacs who feel that that the spirit of true industrial dance music died in 1997, and they are not taking no for an answer. Very little is known about them, but if we are lucky they will have more music for us to release later this year. You will be sorry.

You produced a video as DJ? Acucrack for ‘So to Speak,’ which was released on DVD. Do you have any plans to produce any more videos or DVDs in the future?

Novak: As the sands fall through the hourglass, I am sure we will compile one giant Acumen Nation DVD as we reach the end of our rope. When that will be, I don’t know, but we have so much footage dating back to the 1800s that we must bestow it on our dozens of fans. Short films, college music video projects and other weird shit.

Having been making music for more than a decade, and being at the forefront of the industrial rock scene in all that time, as well as having so many projects and bands under your belt, what advice would you give to the burgeoning number of bands and artists looking to make a dent in the industrial and electronic scenes today?

Novak: Don’t.

P.S. - But if you have to, if you absolutely must, then make sure you really believe you are creating music from your soul, and not because you like The Process a lot and your older brother once saw Nitzer Ebb. You must embrace your position on the lowest rung of the music business totem poll and accept it. There was only one Trent Reznor, only one Sascha, only one Al, and only one Ogre. That quad was never breached again, and look how many years it has been! (Rob Zombie does NOT count!) And make your songs matter… don’t rely on presets and movie samples; make sure there is something fresh to your tracks! And finally, get your music into the hands of the small, smelly, and wonderful community of DJs, labels, webzines, and distributors who like and support industrial underground music. Give it to them, send it out, don’t be stingy, because the record deals are harder to find, CDs are losing value, and what used to be measured in thousands can now sometimes only be in the hundreds. You will never make a living putting out industrial albums, so try to find comfort in anyone digging your shit, talking about it, playing it out and spreading the word about Silexia27, Celebrex9, or whatever your band is called. Find a new way to produce it live and create a show that makes people wonder what the fuck is wrong with you, not a show that looks like a Hot Topic store with instruments. Crossbreed, stray from the path, make noise, rinse out boring beats with breaks and time shifts, and DON’T. BE. PREDICTABLE.

Oh, and then send us your stuff so we can sell it and eat your candy.