Australia's Blood Duster, with their new album _Yeest_, has enabled them to reach North American audiences with their uncompromising grind and catchy groove that has made it one of my favorite albums as of late. After interviewing Blood Duster's vocalist Tony over the phone, I experienced every writer's nightmare: my recorder didn't tape it!!! Luckily I was able to do an e-mail interview with guitarist Fin Allman. One of the two parties was calm and serious, the other was, well, the opposite. I'll let you guess which one was which.
CoC: So tell me about the band's origins/history/musical background, how you guys started out?
Fin Allman: Tony and Jason met in a peep show booth when Tony had masturbated himself into dehydration. I met Jason through a friend, who he was rooting at the time, and Matt came to us on a cloud from heaven.
CoC: Where did the name Blood Duster come from?
FA: Naked City. I am not sure why, the original name was Analdreadlock.
CoC: What musical influences do Blood Duster draw from?
FA: Well we all have different influences. My favorite band is the Allman Brothers, but we cannot use their kind of music in BD. I get my riffs from rockabilly stuff, Charlie Daniels band, Melvins, Primus. Jason p.c. gets his ideas from psychedelic 70s bands such as the Edgar Winter Group, Abba, and Kiss. Matt gets his drumming influences from drummers such as Pete Sandoval and Malevolent Creation, and he also likes jungle drumming. Tony does not own a stereo.
CoC: Tell me how Blood Duster came to meet Relapse and sign with them?
FA: They approached us after hearing the _Fisting the Dead_ CD. Then we sent them _Yeest_ and they creamed. We are fucking great.
CoC: Now about your new album, _Yeest_. Isn't it comprised of two CD singles?
FA: Yep. _Fisting the Dead_ was released in '94 and _Yeest_ was done and released in 95. We then had the dance track done. And like I said, we are ace.
CoC: My introduction to you was your song off the _Death Is Just the Beginning III_ Relapse compilation. How did that turn out for you and in getting the band's name around?
FA: Oh yeah. Dunno really. I get a lot of e-mail from the U.S.A. but not Europe. We were already well known in the underground.
CoC: Tell me about your choice for cover art for _Yeest_. It's pretty sick!! Where did you get the pics?
FA: We got a call from Dr. Jim himself, who actually is a practicing doctor with surgery and all, and he said "Where the fuck is the artwork you virgins?" And we had to do it all in one night. So we pulled out this VD dictionary and said "THAT WILL DO," (it was a 1-inch square) and then when it was blown up to CD size we thought "shit" and then they did full size posters and we screamed. It did not look that full on when it was just 1 inch big.
CoC: On _Yeest_ you have a number of sound bytes from various movies. Tell me about those.
FA: Yes, they are sound bites from various movies.
CoC: Hmmmm... could you be just a little more specific?
FA: On _Fisting..._ (trax 8-2?) they were from the New Zealand film maker Peter Jason's "Braindead" which was released as "Dead Alive" in the US, and from his earlier film "Bad Taste" and "Meet the Feebles" plus a few from "Necromantic". The _Yeest_ samples are Dr. Dre, the farty noise before "muthafuckkin'" was from the Bugs Bunny show, and is the Wile E. Coyote riding a motor bike through mud. And some (other) film.
CoC: How is _Yeest_ selling, by the way?
FA: They have not been able to tell us yet, but they did say it sold more than expected. We are discussing a triple live album now.
CoC: How is the metal scene right now in Australia?
FA: Pretty slow. But there are a few big bands up and coming. One release which is out next month and will be available from Relapse is the new Christbait album. DISEMBOWELMENT ARE DEAD AND THANK GOD COZ THEY ARE POX. We are one of the only countries who can live off the government, but no one bothers to get off their asses. Pretty sad really. Aussies are so lazy.
CoC: What are you up to now? Are you touring? Recording for the next album?
FA: Writing the new album, and I have run out of ideas this week so we are touring a bit.
CoC: So you're going to have a full-length album coming out in the future? How does it differ from _Yeest_?
FA: A big surprise in which it rocks more, yet is much heavier, and we pissed off most of the blast bollocks. Blast beats should be left for the gods such as Napalm Death. Think of your own beats, that's what I say.
CoC: Have your lyrics created any controversy over in Australia?
FA: Not really, just a few POLITICALLY CORRECT CUNTS having a winge. They were taken as being humorous and taken quite lightly.
CoC: Does the band have any outside influences other than music, such as reading?
FA: I read a lot of artistic books. Jason p.c. has a wide range of reading, mostly unusual stuff like, he has a book full of pranks people have done. I play Skermish (paintball) whenever I can. And I used to play a lot of Games Workshop stuff, which I found through Bolt Thrower. I also have a workshop where I build guitars and restore old ones. As for influences, we just want to jam. Touring is one of my favorite things in the world.
CoC: Any plans to tour North America?
FA: Yeah, we want to tour with Brutal Truth, but they are busy. Perhaps when the new album is out. Brutal Truth are doing a full-length too, you see, and we love them so dearly and we want to be with them at all times.
CoC: And finally, since this interview is for the Internet 'zine Chronicles of Chaos, what are your thoughts on the Internet?
FA: I have been subscribed to CoC for ages now and I think the free news which the people from CoC slave over their computers to bring you is a credit to the underground music scene. It is one of the best ways to keep up with what the metal world is up to. Usually I have to fork out a heap of money to some gay corporation who runs a metal mag, and only puts what they want in it. CoC is run by the people who are a part of the metal family, and therefore are unbiased and are doing it for their love of the music, not for the money. I mean you did not pay for this to show up on your screen, apart from your server. I think the Internet is one of the best ways to unite the world wide metal family, and to stay in touch with our international brothers of grind.
FA: Blood Duster would like to thank all at Chronicles of Chaos for their efforts in supporting underground music, and it should be known that without the support of people like these, Blood Duster would not be on your stereo and in the stores of the United States of America. We dedicate our music to these kinds of people.