NO BARBEQUE Will Have Their Say

My first proper dig into unpublished dirty alley’s, is this compact questionnaire with Sydney’s wonderful XNoBBQX. This i/v was conducted shortly after the Siltbreeze licensed vinyl reissue of their “Sunshine of Your Love” release was made publically available for a well-deserved & mostly unprepared international audience. It were a record as apt for that label post-Harry Pussy/Shadow Ring etc. as it were on Matt’s own Breakdance the Dawn.... Proving once again of Silt’s iron-like vice grip on the best of esoteric and exp. sounds from across the glowbe. I was floored by XNoBBQX’s heavy n’ LOUD guitar/drum lunge from-first-listen, a band as musically confounding/ excitin’ as they were flat out HILARIOUS, man; with the citing of Clapton as a primary influence and operating under the auspice of “militant straight edge vegans constipated on McDonalds”. I knew these two must’ve been a couple characters, so I got into contact pronto… Originally intended for inclusion in the shit-canned DA/DM #2.

Matt Earle: Guitar
Nick Dan: Drums

Firstly, could you tell us abit about yrselves and about the band?

N: Nick plays the drums, Matt plays the guitar. We've played previously in Antipan but both have been making music for years gradually heading in a more abstract direction. It's shambolic trashy rock n roll really at the spur of the moment, nothing more cerebral.

What recordings have XnobbqX to date released -do any of these stand out or hold special significance and for what reason(s)?

N: Sunshine of Your Love (Breakdance the Dawn/ Siltbreeze), A World Without Elbows (Smell the Stench), Roast Spit Sessions (Breakdance the Dawn), Roast Spit Single (Root Done Lonie for Cash), Blues (The Seedy R!), BBQ Nite (Diagnosis Don't), s/t xNoBBQx picture disc (Pulled Out).. I like them all, maybe the more spaced out ones like Blues..

Matt, can you tell us about this scene of sorts, currently being cultivated in the Blue Mountains region of NSW, and how this ties into yr 'Breakdance the Dawn' record label?

M: It’s all about space and time, alot of musicians have moved from Sydney to the blue mountains over the past few years, mainly because it is so expensive in Sydney, all culture is outlawed (except mass culture), its a money town, it is very hard to find a space, venues are continually shut down because of noise complaints or financial impossibility, in the mountains it is still possible to find an affordable space without noise restrictions & have the time to use it. BREAKDANCE THE DAWN was established in 2004, there is 57 titles in the catalogue at present, mostly on recycled tapes.. These are available at http://breakdancethedawn.com/

Siltbreeze; How did you come into contact with this label and what recordings have you allowed for release from them? I've already spotted comparisons to early Siltbreeze groups, Harry Pussy, Un etc... do these claims ring true?

N: Only insofar as that it shifts the goal posts

M: Brian Turner at WFMU played some of our music led to the interest from Siltbreeze to do a reissue.. they contacted us on myspace. I think there was a Harry Pussy CD lying around when we recorded Sunshine of Your Love and one of my friends said we sound like them but they're not a direct influence.

What are the influences?

N: Not Harry Pussy and Mouthus, they're just reference points for hipsters. Probably each other and the musicians around us. I don't think xNoBBQx really gels with bands that play on bills where they all seem to sound the same. Punk is fuck you and fuck you to that. It's better when people are trying new stuff.

M: PSF stuff from the early - mid nineties mostly.

Matt, your guitar sound is heavy on feedback, and not “traditionally structured”.. How important is it that you develop different moods & patterns; are there any specific influences on your playing?

Jimi Hendrix, Masayuki Takayanagi, Otomo Yoshihide, Tetuzi Akiyama, Keiji Haino, Taku Sugimoto, NanjoAsahito, Kojo Hiroshi, Adam Sussmann... 'different' patterns are not so important, it's faith and danger that’s important, the weightless joy and the heavy sadness; 'the gift of life/the gift of loving death' .

N: We are neither 'traditional' nor 'authentic'.

And Nick, drums. What equipment do/have you use(d)?.. Video shows you beating a fallen drum kit with what appears to be a pool cue…Is this typical behavior?

N: Mostly regular drum bits, I built my own kick drum out of a washing machine, cymbals with holes grinded/drilled out, lots of tambourines/ things that rattle, threaded metal rods as sticks,.. started getting into bells.. The big sticks are actually real drum sticks, I think pool cues would be broken by now. I try and use things that won't break but something usually does...the kit or me. I just play on feeling.

Do XnobbqX prefer the studio-recording or live setting and for what reasons?

N: Both are good...I like drawing off the energy of the crowd... Keeping people on their toes and confused at the same time as getting the ladies back on the dance floor.

You present yrsleves as militantly straight edge; to what extent do drugs and stimulants lend themselves to rock and roll?

M: When Keiji Haino (fushitsusha) said 'I don't need to take drugs, the music I play is more psychedelic than any drugs' I agree with him... shit man try the new xBoBBQx LP, it will fry your brain. Better than any acid!

Lastly, what is the goals of XNoBBQX?

M: Destroy rock'n'roll !!