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An Interview with Matt Fanale of Caustic
Posted: Sunday, February 08, 2009
By: Lola Babalon
Writer

Having unleashed Pre-Jizz on the world over the holiday season, Caustic is ready to unload This Is Jizzcore, the project's most cohesive and aggressive album so far, for the money shot. Matt Fanale began Caustic in 2002 "as a means for me to start making the music I liked to listen to." The ever-humble artist continues, "Unfortunately, I wasn't talented enough to do that, so Caustic's music sounds like it sounds now, but luckily for me people seem to like it."

After getting a hand from some friends he met promoting his local club scene, Caustic first released Unicorns, Kittens and Shit, then Booze Up and Riot, all the while remixing, performing, and collaborating with artists such as Combichrist, The Gothsicles, Everything Goes Cold, and many more. Fanale was kind enough to share some insights in to his world with ReGen, and it seems the inmate has indeed taken over the asylum.

For those unlucky enough to have never heard your musical stylings, describe your sound in five words.

Fanale: 'Music to fuck yourself to' or 'Kein Mehrheit für Die Mitleid.'

People seem to be very divided about your music; they either really love it or really don't. Why do you think that is?

Fanale: People think what they want. The fact that I make fun of aspects of this scene and genre and criticize the creative laziness of a lot of the artists for not pushing themselves beyond industrial and EBM clichés may piss people off. I mean, I did 'Mutilate' as a response to how most terror EBM sounds to me, and instead of making up actual words, I just screamed gibberish and tried to sound as angry as possible for no good reason. It's all in good fun, though, and most people get it and what I try and do to whatever level of success. Mostly people who don't get it also have dick for a sense of humor, but a lot of the people I actually respect and look up to like what I do, and that matters more to me than a couple über-douches who wonder why I'd rather piss on the altar of thee industrial god than blindly follow it (which, to me, is what industrial always has been about anyway). Most of my fans are either jaded industrial people who have been around forever and like someone not taking it completely seriously or kids who just want to have fun and get drunk at a show. All in all, I'd rather be a polarizing artist and have someone either really get it – as most seem to, in my opinion – or really don't. If you don't get the joke, then you're a part of the punchline. Fuck 'em.

What's the best compliment and the worst insult Caustic has ever received?

Fanale: The first one, in terms of compliments that came to mind was when we played Blacksun in 2006; I asked Jared from Chemlab to come check out our show, and not only did he, but he went out of his way to let us know how much he loved it. That was the first time I ever hung out with the guy after seeing Chemlab a ton in the '90s, and getting recognized by someone with as many tour miles logged in and as many awesome shows as he's seen? Yeah, that meant a lot to me.

The worst? I usually criticize my own shit more than anyone else, but I remember some magazine review of my first album which picked on it more for being by an American artist and said the whole thing sounded the same, which is odd when it really didn't, and the same twit jizzed over the new Suicide Commando album, saying there was a lot of variety on that (no offense to Suicide Commando, as I'm a big fan, but come on now). Another review for the album on the same page called it a 'a will of true individualism and welcome originality,' so you can guess which one we used in the ads.

For your upcoming album, This Is Jizzcore, you decided to release a series of Pre-Jizz FreEPs. What was the reasoning behind releasing your remixes before the album hit the shelves?

Fanale: Because I'd never really seen it done that way before and thought it would be a fun teaser to the actual tracks. A good idea can make up for complete lack of advertising budget, and since we're all used to remixes coming out with singles or whatever, I thought it'd be fun to just say 'Screw the real tracks! Let's showcase them with some great remixes instead!' Luckily, VampireFreaks.com was down with hosting them, and a lot of people seemed to check them out. The idea wasn't really revolutionary or anything, but it helped spread the word on the CD, got some freebies out to people, and hopefully got the ears of some people who haven't really listened to Caustic or the remixers before and got them something they could get into.

How did you choose the bands involved?

Fanale: I made a list of bands I thought deserved more exposure; some were friends, some were bands I'd played gigs with, and some were just Internet pals I knew in passing whose styles I admired. I knew who I wanted for the second actual disc of remixers for This Is Jizzcore, but I thought more people would check out the free stuff first, and hopefully if they liked the mixes, they'd check out the remixers' own work in the process, so win-win.

Whose work were you most surprised by?

Fanale: I generally get pretty stoked hearing what people do with my stuff, as I just ask them to have fun with it and not necessarily make a mix they'd normally feel obligated to make. Hell, the Iris mix I got back for the last CD is a fucking drum 'n bass breakcore mix, and I doubt many people would expect that from Iris, but to me that's just fun. I've always felt I was more the music people seem to listen to getting drunk and ready for the clubs and not what's played in the clubs as much, although a few Caustic tracks and remixes seem to hit the clubs, and that's pretty awesome as well.

To answer your question, though, I think I was most surprised by what Unwoman and XUBERX did with the mixes, as I know both of their styles, which is why I asked them, but they definitely did something different than I expected, which was awesome. I love hearing a remix someone obviously had a party with and really did something inspired. Luckily, most all of the mixes hit the mark with that.

How long did the album take to make?

Fanale: Pretty much most of 2008, although I was pleasantly sidetracked by the Savage Lands split I did with Coreline, PCP Principle, and Hypnoskull, as well as the re-release of my original EP. I had a ton of stuff I was working on, but it really started to gel in that weird Caustic album way about halfway through the year stylistically, and, if you can believe it, philosophically. I had lyrics and some basic music in my head right after Booze Up and Riot, but it took me a bit to push myself hard enough to get some really interesting shit out of my head. Certain songs just came to me, and others were ideas that I had a dozen false starts on. 'Redneck Pussyhouse' and 'Pull the Pin' are two examples there. Others, like 'I Wanna Stay Wasted,' were just me saying 'Fuck all your preconceptions about what I do and what industrial should be; here's a song a capella,' but what's funny is I doubt that'll really surprise anyone who knows Caustic or how I am. It makes me laugh and scares me at the same time, so I figure it's got to be at least interesting, you know?

And really, is it in fact 'Jizzcore?'

Fanale: Oh yes, jizzcore is a completely new style that sounds completely different than all the other sub-sub-subgenres of industrial. Sure, some may think it sounds like a style they've heard before, but it's truly both an evolution and a revolution, much like all the other styles invented by artists trying to stand out instead of just making awesome music and letting it speak for itself.

Tracks like 'Agent of Chaos' and 'Pull the Pin' seem more aggressive than the usual Caustic. Did you want to be more aggressive?

Fanale: 'Agent of Chaos' and 'Pull the Pin' to me aren't much more aggressive than 'Booze Up and Riot' in terms of tone. Basically, I like playing live, and I love big fun scream-along tracks that the audience can get into. I listened to a ton of metal and hardcore while making this CD, amongst the other usual suspects, and thought a few more confrontational tracks were in order, as I've gotten sick of the complacency that a lot of people seemed to have regarding music and its importance in life and wanted to say 'You know what? Up yours. Music means a lot to me and so does performing it. If it's as important in your life as mine get the fuck up and stomp.' Basically they're rally-cries.

I read an interview with Ian MacKaye from Fugazi, Minor Threat, and The Wrens where he said he really enjoyed writing songs people would want to sing along with live, and that resonated with me. A live show should have a sense of connectedness and community to me, and there's not much of a better way to do that than with everyone singing along and partying together. Some of these songs were my humble attempts at that; I hate a bored and boring audience. Incidentally, I asked Ian MacKaye to tell me off on this CD, and he unfortunately turned me down. Apparently every time he tries to show he has a sense of humor, which he does, his fans get confused. Very nice, kind reply though, and I totally understand. Doug Stanhope luckily obliged, though.

Were there things in your day to day life or the world in general that you were consciously reacting to?

Fanale: I wouldn't say there was necessarily anything in my day to day life that was affecting things. I guess with 2008 being a huge year politically I was thinking more about how the government has fucked us all, hence 'The Bible, the Bottle, the Bomb,' and how it's important to do your best and follow your creative vision whether anyone likes it or not. Most of the artists that really impress me aren't doing what all the big sellers are doing. I'm not as attracted to that. Anyone with enough time on their hands can make a decent sounding club track or well-produced album; not enough people are pushing the envelope of what 'industrial' is or what it can be. I believe we should move forward while remembering and embracing the past, and I want to encourage other people to do that. All these kinds of music have their place, but it's more fun trying to be forward-thinking and creative than relying on what's hot now to determine your goals. Whether or not I'm successful at that is the listener's decision, but I'm happy with what I've done and think this is the first Caustic CD I really pushed myself on in terms of the variety I wanted to show.

Truth be told, and I don't say this with anything but humility, I know Caustic is what it is. I'm not necessarily some incredible musician, but I try and do what I do well and bring others along for the ride, and during the making of This Is Jizzcore I realized that in a lot of ways, through my attempts to be accessible to fans, blogs, etc., that I'd rather try and be a catalyst for others wanting to make music. More along the lines of 'Look at me and what I did: you can do this too, but do your own thing!' Very DIY, very punk, but also extremely 'industrial' to me, as industrial originally more or less came out of the punk scene. I figure that's a more noble goal than seeing how many people I can spit beer on during a show. OK, I still want to do that too, but there's gotta be some nobility in what I do, right? Right?

If you could erase one sample from electronic music forever, which one would it be and why?

Fanale: Could I just erase one sample from one song? If yes, then I want to take out the 'Jesus Christ died with a hard-on' sample from Seabound's 'Exorcist.' Amazing song from an amazing band, but a weirdly misplaced sample that always makes me wince. I don't know; maybe I'm just jealous I didn't use it in a Caustic track first.

What are your views on the Prude project with Sean Payne from Cyanotic and Jared Louche from Chemlab?

Fanale: Prude has been a long time in the making. It started off with Jared, and he recruited Sean and I to do it, more or less. What we've been trying to do is really tap the mid to late '70s punk rock sound that Jared and I originally bonded over and combine it with industrial today, like if we had a time machine and brought all of our gear to 1977 to make an album then. Phil from Infocollapse, Marc Plastic from Plastic Heroes, and Jason from SMP have all stepped into the picture and are contributing in different ways as well, so it's been a really great experience. The only drawback of it is that the main players are all in three separate locations and two continents, and with our own projects all being their own things, it's been pretty slow, but we're very excited about what we're doing and think it'll really rub off on people. Stay tuned, as we're going to try and finally get shit out this year.

If you could pick the perfect bill for a Caustic show, who would be on it?

Fanale: Hell, that's not fair. It'd have to be a festival of some sort and a real mish-mash of styles; I'd want everyone from The Gothsicles, Everything Goes Cold, Boole, Babyland, Mindless Self Indulgence (to ensure a sell-out crowd), Doormouse, Drumcorps, Coreline, Keef Baker, Prometheus Burning, Alter Der Ruine, Converter (just to finally see him live), Hypnoskull, 13th Monkey, and probably another dozen bands I can't even think of right now. In my dream of dream shows, I'd love to share a stage with Revolting Cocks in 1990, Ministry in the same time period, Hank III now, Mr. Bungle, and Big Black and The Butthole Surfers circa 1987. Yeah, that'd be fun, too.

If you woke up, completely deaf, and could no longer make music, how would you express yourself?

Fanale: I'd be the most annoying fucking mime in the world.

Do you have any upcoming news you'd like to share?

Fanale: Caustic will be on tour this spring on the It Ain't Dead Yet Tour with Prometheus Burning and the ever-awesome Gothsicles, so if you're in the Midwest or on the East Coast look for us in late March and early April. It's going to be a gloriously fun mess, and we’re all touring on new albums, so check it out! Oh, and I'm getting a sex change. I think I'm finally ready to be the ugliest woman alive.