You can't keep a good band down, heck, Coalesce is living proof that even a good band with well documented inter-personal instability and tension can't keep itself down. Which is good news for anyone familiar with their groundbreaking work on records like Functioning on Impatience and Revolution in Just Listening. Coalesce are back... with a new record in the works and to kick your dick into the dirt (sarcasm) and prove once and for all that they are NOT a tech metal band.
I was ecstatic to hear the band was active with Jes in the band again, more so when I heard the newer songs. But the big question is how far are you going to take this? Will we really see a new full length? If so when and what can we expect from it? Any tentative titles or release dates?
Nathan Ellis: The new record is happening, and we’re going at it pretty full speed right now. After the release we’ll be doing some touring, but not full time as we all have full time jobs, and families. (There are freaking ten kids between the four of us!)
Jes Steineger: Yeah, given all else that we’re doing, I’d say we’re nevertheless taking coalesce as far as we can; given the constraints of responsibilities elsewhere, we are still putting all that we have into it. You’ll definitely hear a new coalesce full-length, like Nellis just said, but when you’ll hear it is totally up in the air. Much has already been done, and our wells still haven’t dried up. We expect to have the longest coalesce release to date, and everything we’ve written up to this point we consider to be to our liking. This thing is the locus of so much of our creative energies right now; everyone is involved and I can feel an increase in depth because of that. Actually, I’m not sure what I can say about what people should “expect” from it. I hope you can expect us to give you something that in doing something for us (i.e., in its being something that isn’t forced or contrived) will do something for you too.
Nathan Ellis: You can expect to have your dick kicked into the dirt. [Disclaimer: this is sarcasm]
Are there any goals you're setting out to achieve that you didn't during the band's previous years?
Nathan Ellis: We have never gone to Europe or Japan, and I think everyone has that goal in mind for sometime in 2009. But other than that we’re just thinking about how to best release a record we’re all really excited about.
Jes Steineger: No goals for me other than making and going on to play some music that feels right: expansive and raw.
From things like the Jesus Lizard cover on the myspace page from a while back to Jes selling his old Ibanez guitar because of a newly acquired love of strats, does this signal an end to the more metal oriented grooves in the new material? Or do you feel that the wiry, more angular elements of your sound that were always present have been somewhat overlooked by people who view Coalesce as primarily THE tech-metal-hardcore band.
Nathan Ellis: I personally have never thought of coalesce as a metal band. We grew up in the Kansas City music scene with bands like Season to Risk, Iron Rite Mangle, Secular Theme, Rocket Fuel is the Key, etc, and I just always assumed we were the punker more aggressive version of that stuff. We certainly ARE NOT tech metal. That connotes a concern for perfection and Jes and I have never given a fuck about playing the right notes live. We don’t have any care for having some saturated guitar sound that would put us in a category with other hardcore/metal bands that we nevertheless seem to get lumped in with. What bothers us most is that we don’t like that kind of music to begin with.
Jes Steineger: I’ve often wondered who the first person was to call us “tech-metal,” “metalcore,” “mathcore,” “noisecore,” or some likewise gay-ass category. Ultimately, I see the impetus behind introducing a category that would specify what "kind" of metal or hardcore we are. What's silly, though, is that no one can provide any set criteria for what constitutes a band in one of those categories (much less the basic categories “metal” and “hardcore”); and whenever someone tries, those criteria (or criterion) are always so trivial that it's stupid to think they do anything to delimit coalesce (or any other band). What's worse is when one of those categorizations implies elements of the (illusory or trivial) label that I probably hate (e.g., as part of a genre defined by those banal riffs and sounds that one finds at the local Guitar Center). The worst of all, though, is when I feel like one these (illusory or trivial or offensive) categories is intended to exhaust all that coalesce is. This is the worst because it’s the least tenable: coalesce, like any other band, even the unbearable tech-metal-math-core band, e.g. No Good and the Terribles as a dear friend usually refers to them, is exhaustible by a category.
To get back on track, though, my point is that there was never a faultier categorization for what we do than “tech-metal.” When have we ever been or accomplished anything “technically” proficient in the least?! Moreover, what “metal” means today, after the corruption of the genre by post-Helmet hardcore bands, is totally different than what I took “metal” to mean when we started coalesce in 1994. If by “metal” you mean Sabbath, Motörhead, Master of Puppets-era Metallica, or even a newer band like High on Fire, then it’s definitely a moniker I can live with for coalesce. If you mean by the term post-Helmet bullshit like the acclaimed “nu-metal” bands, or even the “cooler” less-acclaimed bands that have clout in the underground but still have that same polished nu-metal sound, count us the hell out.
On a similar note, my love for Strats has nothing to do with my hatred for that techy sound; it has to do with my finding (finally) the guitar that feels best; one that has all the qualities that I prefer in the shape of a woman shrunk down and appropriated in an instrument: thin from the side, wide from the front, and heavy-n-smooth-n-curvy in all the right spots. Your asking about the guitar thing, though, is a good way to further emphasize how much technical proficiency has never been a concern for coalesce at all. I’ve only had two guitars in my life that weren’t $150 or less; both could have been conceived as “metal” guitars and both failed in living up to coalesce abuse. I have an entire harem of Strat hotties now; and they like it rough.
In conclusion…haha: coalesce, not tech-metal, and certainly not like Jesus Lizard or the countless other bands that we listen to. We are the band that we are and hate it when people try and tell us what “kind” (read: “brand”) of band that is. Or, as Nellis often remarks: Give me wounds and scars, not computer chip guitars. If there were ever a mantra motivating our next record, that’s it.
To me Coalesce has always come across as a very volatile band; from your sound as well as the road stories and insane live performances and thriving on uncertainty (or functioning on impatience?) helped shape your sound. Do these tensions still exist and was it ever an issue that having grown and matured, started families etc. might actually hinder any attempts in recapturing some of that same edge and intensity?
Sean Ingram: My take is that conflict will always exist; it’s just that where that conflict manifests evolves over time. No one cares about straight edge or veganism anymore (if ever), but commerce, and how our lives are ruled and dictated by it? That was a source of conflict then, and remains so now. There will always be conflict to fuel one's creativity; it's just a question of whether you are able to channel it effectively. We'll see how we do on that front as the year progresses.
Nathan Ellis: Growing old and settling into full time jobs can put you on edge quicker than when I was living in my parents’ basement at the age of 15. I think our motives and inspirations are all very different than when we were writing records like Functioning on Impatience, but the same thread connects our newer songs and those written a decade ago. We’re still pushing ourselves and looking to create something unexpected and catchy, no matter how ugly or harsh it might come across. We definitely don’t have the inner-band tension that we had in the past, but in all fairness, we’re not around each other enough these days to piss one another off either.
Jes Steineger: You want volatile? Tell us we’re a tech-metal band…haha.
With your previous drummer James Dewees touring with My Chemical Romance and Sean's appearance on the Used record a couple of years ago I was wondering if you felt a connection with newer acts coming out and getting big that years ago would have most likely not had a chance of cracking the mainstream the same way?
Nathan Ellis: None.
Jes Steineger: None.
Sean Ingram: I sang on the Used record simply because I was asked to do so. I got to hang out with the My Chem guys when I toured with Reggie. I have always done guest appearances on records due to the fact that I had no band of my own, and it was simply something to do. Maybe I would have had some arrogant underground deity attitude if I hadn’t been humbled so well by coalesce’s demise. But that’s all the thought I put into working with the Used. All those guys in all those bands are good peoples.
I was wondering if you could talk a bit about some of the other projects that were started by Coalesce's members (Able Baker Fox, Casket Lottery etc.) what is the status of these projects and are there any new ones in the works?
Nathan Ellis: The Casket Lottery is on an indefinite hiatus, and Able Baker Fox will be booking some dates in late 2008.
I remember growing up with bands like Coalesce and The Get Up Kids definitely setting a precedent and I feel this has had a significant influence on newer bands making their mark today. Do you feel this time was a high point for your local music community? Nowadays are there any bands from your area that could break out and have such an impact?
Sean Ingram: Yeah, I think you can look at that era as a high time for the Kansas City scene. Not only did you have The Get-Up Kids, but you had The Anniversary, and Appleseed Cast. It’s gnarly to look back at flyers for those shows back then; I would kill to go back in time and see some of those. I guess all places have bands that can break out at any time, but you know, the industry is so much different today, who knows what breaking out really means anymore. I used to think getting on a label was a sign of success. We all know that not to be true. I guess maybe I'm too far removed to answer this question properly.
There was a lot of controversy in the past regarding Sean's lyrics which I felt brought up really valid issues (dealing with “the scene” and so forth). Do any of the newer lyrics provide the same sort of commentary? What are some of the new themes and their inspirations?
Sean Ingram: None of the newer lyrics will be like what you have mentioned. I want to keep the newer lyrical themes under wraps until the record comes out, but I will say that they are more focused than in the past.
Do you plan to perform or record any more covers? The last release you guys did on Hydrahead was awesome and I've always admired the fact that a lot of the Coalesce covers were never what people would expect. Heck, I have a vcd of the Dillinger Escape Plan at Krazyfest with Sean singing and I remember thinking that Breed by Nirvana would be such an obvious cover in other situations but in these circumstances it was truly something else.
Sean Ingram: DEP decided to cover that song the day of the show. I wish there had been more time for me to prepare. I was barely able to memorize the 10 originals they gave me, which ended up being played live 3 times faster than what I had prepared for on the cd!
Jes Steineger: We love to play cover songs. It gives us the chance to put our own touch to songs that we like. We probably played too many covers last August during some shows, but that was only because we were so sick of playing the older songs. The next cover we do, most people will probably not be familiar with.
There's probably a ton of people over the moon that Coalesce is a band once again. In some cases, a band breaking up at their peak is the good way to go. But are there bands that you feel called it quits too soon and that you would like to see back together?
Nathan Ellis: I had someone tell me once that they thought every band should break up after the third full length and that if they kept going they would never make anyone happy again. I think that the second half of that theory is correct.
Sean Ingram: Oh, I don’t know; I think Quicksand could probably still be putting out amazing records.
Jes Steineger: Unfortunately, I hardly ever get out to see a band live. So even if I wished a band back into existence, I’d probably be swamped down with something or other that prevented me from seeing them. If I could bring Stevie Ray Vaughan back to life, however, I’d go into debt thrice over my school debt to see him. Same goes for Bill Monroe or 1950s-era Stanley Brothers.
Coalesce – There is Nothing New Under the Sun
This is actually a re-release of an old ep of Led Zeppelin covers with eight (!) bonus tracks. Alas this isn't the new album that the kids functioning on their impatience (I've milked that gag way too many times in this feature) have been waiting for. Yet it has got everything you could ask for in a coalesce record, grooves, riffs and a cathartic unhinged rawness that grabs your very soul by the throat and shakes it. It's an especially satisfying listen since most of their releases, I feel at least, haven't had nearly enough tracks. Aside from the Zeppelin covers there's quirkier choices such as a Get Up Kids cover (I'm Giving Up on This One) and two Boysetsfire covers which they make their own (I prefer Coalesce's version of Vehicle to the original). Even though they manage to out-Sabbath Black Sabbath on Supernaut, the highlight is still hearing Sean Ingram, who possesses one of music's most intense and downright frightening growls in music singing Hey, hey, mama, said the way you move Gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove!
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