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An Interview with Tony Smith and Jason Prost of mindFluxFuneral
Posted: Saturday, July 21, 2007
By: Ilker Yücel
Editor

The duo of Tony Smith and Jason Prost, better known as mindFluxFuneral, may not be one of the most well known industrial acts around, but they are certainly proving to be one of the more adventurous. Beginning in 1993, mindFluxFuneral has spent the better part of their career honing their craft, pushing for a sound and style that encompassed a wide range of influences, culminating in their first release, the revenant EP, in 1994. Following up over the years were multiple EP releases and appearances on numerous compilations, as well as a plethora of performances across the country. In 1997, the band released their debut full-length album, birthMark, a collection of various tracks assembled during the years since revenant. Now, a full decade later, mindFluxFuneral has returned with a new record label and a new album. Signing to Bit Riot Records, a new subsidiary of WTII Records and also home to Cyanotic, with whom mindFluxFuneral has both collaborated and performed with, Smith and Prost unleash in 2007 their second album, Teatro de Revelacion. Compiling tracks the band has been working on since their debut, Teatro de Revelacion launches a full frontal assault of blistering beats and scathing textures of synths and guitars. Now celebrating the release of their new album, Smith and Prost discuss with ReGen the 10-year gestation process of Teatro de Revelacion, as well as their new label and collaborations with Cyanotic. They even manage to fit in a critique of the current wave of laptop musicians and performers, and just how much a video projector costs for a concert.

mindFluxFuneral was originally formed in 1993, releasing the revenant EP in 1994 and your debut full-length album, birthMark, in 1997. As it's been a full decade since the release of your last album, what would you say are the major changes the band has gone through since then, stylistically, musically, lyrically, personally, or otherwise?

Smith: I'm older.

Prost: One of the major elements of growth between birthMark and Teatro de Revelacion was the development of our live show, coupled with the growth in our engineering and producing skills. Teatro de Revelacion had to carry quite a lot in terms of development. And not to make T's comment seem serious, but we are older.

Smith: I wasn't kidding.

Prost: We are looking at the world with older eyes and a greater appreciation for life's circumstances.

Smith: I have more to say now that I know the bigger picture. More emotions, more anger, really.

Prost: Certainly more reflection.

Smith: Not really a lot going on making me happy, except for getting married and my cat coming back to life. But besides that, there is a lot more to write about. And the live show has come a long, long way.

Prost: Well, there is certainly a difference between personal happiness and satisfaction and one's happiness and satisfaction with the world, country, etc.

That's interesting that you said 'more emotions' and 'more anger,' because there's always this perception that as time goes on, people mellow out and the music becomes lesser over time.

Smith: Yeah, that's what they say.

Prost: Well, I would put it this way: When you are 19, it's easy to look at someone and blurt out, 'Fuck you!' When you are 35, you take a bit more mature approach to saying 'Fuck you.' Like maybe, 'Fuck you and your brother.'

Smith: Like, now I don't like to stand for things. Maybe it's the angry old man syndrome.

Prost: Personally, I think that I'm less apt to judge. However, that doesn't mean that I'm not angry. I'm actually far less concerned and disappointed now that I have two kids than I was when I only had a girlfriend.

Smith: I'm apt to judge on the spot. [Laughs.]

I have no more tolerance.

Prost: My life has quite a bit more at stake than it did 10 years ago.

Well, there is a fine line between judgment and simple observation of what's right in front of you.

Prost: And I'm not suggesting that I don't criticize. However, I am less apt to jump to judgment without actually taking some time to learn something. I think that vanity diminishes as you get older.

Smith: All situations are different, but what I'm saying is now that I'm older, I will call it out for some odd reason.

Prost: Well, that comes from greater self-confidence.

Smith: Maybe so, yes. Bigger balls.

Prost: And a better understanding of just how much smaller the division is between all of us. I like to say, 'We all wipe our asses, so fuck you.'

Smith: Not me. [Laughs.]

mindFluxFuneral is primarily the two of you, with several individuals assisting in live production, and you did mention that the live show has developed considerably. How has the show evolved over time? What distinguishes a mindFluxFuneral live show?

Prost: In the beginning, T and I had a very specific vision for our show. I wanted to have a fairly multimedia event. I wanted to have visuals and lighting, smoke and other elements that brought the show beyond the music. I came into mindFluxFuneral during college while studying video production, so I wanted to bring the visual aspect of my artistic expression to bear. The issue back then was that video and lighting were very expensive.

Smith: Still is. Well, maybe not video, being that we don't have to pay for it.

Prost: However, we also wanted to ensure that we were doing something on stage.

I was about to ask about if it's less expensive now, because it didn't seem to be the case from what I've observed.

Prost: Well, a projector now can cost about $1,000-2,000, and video production certainly costs far less than it did 10 years ago. 10 years ago, projectors were way expensive, at least $3,000. But the video production costs have come way, way down. Software is one 10th the cost of what it was 10 years ago. An Avid system was well over $80,000. But back to the answer, we wanted to bring performance to the show, i.e. actually play instruments. This may seem an off answer, because it's something that one would expect from a performance. However, in the mid '90s, we were losing the performance. We were moving (as a scene) to the DJ who stood in a booth and made people dance. And we slowly changed to laptop bands that stood on stage and moved their fingers, which we still have. But the audience has grown to accept it. Those that support the scene support it regardless of how good the artist is as a performer. They go to be nice. I myself am getting quite tired of it.

Smith: Amen. Some of these laptop artists make incredible music, but they should probably stay home and do it and just let me listen.

Prost: I am a huge fan of many types of music. However, some simply do not translate to a performance paradigm. My point is that those that are laptop bands should play to an audience that way. Go do a rave. Go perform like Hardfloor or Plastikman. They don't have a big stage show, but the audience could give a fuck about the stage show. They are about the energy and the dance. We, however, as a band were looking to bring to the stage the same type of energy and performance that you get from Puppy or FLA or many of the earlier bands, bring to the stage what the punk movement brought to the underground: energy and bonding between performer and audience. This took time to develop. We started as two people on stage and hoped that we could carry the stage.

Smith: One of which hated singing in front of people...that being me.

Prost: However, what I learned—and I say 'I' deliberately—was that other artists sharing the stage with us would help. In the last two years, we have grown considerably. By bringing video, lights, smoke, and guest musicians to the stage, we now have a very dynamic, powerful show. You are engaged in many aspects of the show, rather than sitting there saying, 'Ooh, that asshole is still playing the drums.' I think that is part of what differentiates us now.

It's great that you mention sharing the stage with other artists, because my next question was going to be about your association with Cyanotic.

Smith: We don't really get along with Cyanotic. They are weird...long feud between us. I won't get into it; very embarrassing.

Prost: Rape.

Smith: Yeah. Mike. I won't say names, but Mike...yeah, I raped him. [Laughs.]

You're both on BitRiot Records, you worked with Cyanotic on Transhuman 2.0, and you performed on stage with them. How did you come to work with them in the first place, and what more can we all expect to see of this collaboration?

Smith: Nothing! Thank God that shit's done, huh? [Laughs.]

Prost: We met Cyanotic many years ago at one of our better shows at the CCC in Chicago. The CCC is a community church in Chicago where they had wonderful small shows. Many Thirdwave Collective bands performed there. Sean was out trying to perform as a two-piece, literally going from town to town looking for shows. Sean is a very industrious character, always working three times as hard as anyone else. Our show had three bands performing, and Sean simply came up and asked to open. The promoter couldn't have it, but that was when we met. We maintained a relationship through Thirdwave Collective and PTI, whom I also play drums with. PTI and Cyanotic go way, way back. Phil and Eric both helped produce Cyanotic's first demo, so needless to say, we kept in touch and became entwined. Two years ago, Sean saw me perform with PTI, and he started bugging me to play drums for him. Timing and such didn't allow me to do it at the time. However, midyear last year, they came off tour and were looking to start working on new material. We talked about developing a dialect/syntax between he and I that would allow us to work fluently as artists rather than just engineers, so I started working on Transhuman 2.0 with him. Six months later, we finished it. During that process, T and Sean started to become friends and we became part of the Glitch Mode Squad. As for working with them in the future, well, we are label mates. I hope that we have a long and fruitful collaboration with Sean and crew.

Smith: They will be working on an mindFluxFuneral remix if I'm not mistaken, also.

Prost: I would hope so. Sean has promised.

So it's safe to say that time will tell?

Smith: Yes.

Prost: But hopefully a short amount of time. I am quite proud of the work that we did on Transhuman 2.0, as well as the remix. I think that the last year has helped to solidify the relationship between Cyanotic and mindFluxFuneral. We will continue to work and grow together as artists and such.

So, Bit Riot Records is a new subsidiary of WTII, and as you said, you used to drum for PTI. Was this the main impetus for signing with them?

Prost: No, not at all.

To put it in another way, how do you feel that signing to BitRiot as opposed to some other label will ultimately benefit mindFluxFuneral?

Prost: Well, when T and I talked about shopping around our disc, we wanted to find a label that was interested in working with us. We have signed to small labels that worked hard at selling the disc, and we have signed to labels that were run by friends, both of which were fruitful for certain reasons. However, this time, we wanted to find a label that was going to work with us to revive the kind of label/band vibe that Wax Trax! and Nettwerk had, a label that shared with the band a common goal rather than just selling CDs. Fortunately for us, Eric started Bit Riot and pushed us hard to sign with him. Eric and Tonya have been tremendous support and wonderful colleagues, and I think that what they are doing with Bit Riot and helping us to do will revive people's faith in the record label and the artists on it.

Smith: They have a lot of passion with what they do.

Prost: I could go on about how they are artists too and such. However, the truth is that there are plenty of labels out there that are run by fellow musicians and such. The truth is that what makes a label valuable to us is how they are going to work with us to become affecting nationally and globally.

Teatro de Revelacion translates to 'Theater of Revelation.' How does this describe the album concept and the lyrics presented in the songs?

Prost: Well, it encompasses the concept within the album. Three years ago, when T and I started to assemble the tracks we were to use on the album, we pulled and developed tracks that would allow me to lay in my drum work, as well as having guests join in and perform guitar and such. T would lay a guitar track, or we would invite Nikk from Marazene in to lay some tracks. We discovered early on that the inclusion of these performed instruments created a far more live feel to the tracks. They are not simply programmed. birthMark was programmed. Teatro de Revelacion was performed. So that was one dimension of the theater. We also felt that the tracks speak and reveal aspects of our ideas and feelings about the world around us, current events, and future elements. That was a second dimension. The last dimension is that our shows have become far more theatrical.

Smith: On the video end and lights and such.

Prost: We actually get done up in face paint, or stage the shows so that there is performance going on.

Smith: Not like I dress like a grape and do mime.

Prost: Right. However, if you look at the video for 'No Man' on YouTube, you will see that there is a very theatrical aspect to it.

Smith: The video does a lot to translate what I'm saying in the music.

Prost: It's the live video from the Delancy show in New York. However, we brought performance to all aspects of this release, in music and show. One of the aspects of our music that seems to rise to the surface on each disc is that we seem to have very personal and spiritual overtones about our music. It's about personal struggle and personal observation, power and emotion. We are not in front of a classroom lecturing. Rather, it's far more like a journal. The idea of revelation is something that is very spiritual, regardless of faith.

Which brings us right back to what you saying in the first question, about how you've grown since you first started, 'more emotions' and anger being a very powerful emotion. About the working dynamic between you two, what is the creative process like for the two of you and how have you maintained it for so many years?

Smith: Fuck! You have no idea. Jason is an asshole!

Prost: Yes, I am.

Smith: I think we respect each other considerably. Jason is like my creative twin.

Prost: Honestly, I'm dogged about my feelings when it comes to art. I treasure my reactions and try to hold them tight. However, with Tony, I have learned to expose and let go of those feelings.

Smith: Sometimes he tries to hold me tight, too, but I have to remind him I'm married. [Laughs.]

Prost: In this way, I think that we complement each other. As far as compositionally, I think that Tony is very natural with his music. He brings me tracks that are very organic and very free-form. They are filled with wonderful shit all the fuck over. My tracks, on the other hand, are structured and very logical.

Smith: Thank god!

Prost: Which comes from my computer and programming background. This is what allows us to work well together. I love to hear what he brings to the table.

Smith: And being that I'm usually getting stoned while writing, my stuff is very unorganized.

Prost: In terms of process, well, it's about laying our shit on the table. We all bring our ideas to the table and exchange. We get the tracks to a certain point where they are now needing to be produced, which is where they are broken apart in the main studio across the big board. It's here that I spend quite a lot of time tweaking and refining. Then T will come out and adjust. He helps correct my production choices and steers me in other directions. But it's a lot of engineering and production. At this point, the arrangements are usually done and parts laid in. This is when T starts to work on the art and video.

Smith: It's all part of the whole process: the art, video, and audio. It's all done around the same time.

Prost: Again, T brings an organic element to the visuals that I then engineer. The main point, though, is that he and I do not and never have sat down together to start something. We start by sharing our personal sparks.

Smith: Yeah, although we can and have jammed.

Prost: Well, we jam all the time.

Smith: But nothing on the disc is from a jam. The next one, on the other hand…

Prost: Exactly. This is where we are moving to. I am tired of form-fitting songs. It's part of why Teatro de Revelacion took so long to finish.

What's next for mindFluxFuneral?

Prost: We already have a new album in the works. We are working on material for the next two albums at the same time. We are also gearing up for our record release party this month, and several festivals this year. We also have several exciting ideas that we are going to bring to bear with Bit Riot in the coming months. We want to share our music with people. We don't want to wait another 10 years to release stuff. So look for singles and full releases sooner than later.