A New York State of Mind

It's tough enough keeping a band going playing original, uncompromising music without ever mellowing out or a writing a dud tune. For 20 years, Unsane has had amazing consistency, even after lineup changes, a dance with the major label devils, a vicious attack on frontman Chris Spencer in Austria and the band's subsequent breaking up for several years. Unsane got back together a couple of years ago, and not only do they still put on one of the most intense live shows, their last album 'Visqueen' ranks among their best work. Chris answered a few of my questions about the new record, the Cutthroats 9, the band he did during Unsane's downtime and what he thinks of Unsane becoming a toy.

Your last album Visqueen stays true to the sound that you've developed over the last 20 years but there's a definite sense of progression, I think it's your best work! What were some of the goals you had going into recording? How successful do you think you were in achieving them?

When we were writing "Visqueen" there were some new ideas that we wanted to incorporate into the record without changing our basic "live" sound. Songs like "Only Pain" are a good example of this. We also wanted to use more recordings of things that we hear everyday in New York without completely overpowering the "live" sound. I think we were able to get exactly what we wanted with this record. The production had a lot to do with it too. Andrew Schneider did a fantastic job.

How were things different from the time you broke up to when you started playing again and how is it doing Unsane now? And was there any difficulty getting back to touring after the time off?

The major difference was that we wanted to make being in a band fun again. We had been doing so much touring that we were burning ourselves out. It has been really great to be touring with that attitude.

What was the story behind Cutthroats 9? What differences were there in the way you approached that band and the approach to your work with Unsane?

The "Cutthroats 9" was a band that was formed out in California during Unsane's break. The people that I was playing with had a more "rock" sensibility. We really did it just to have fun. We started breaking equipment at the end of live shows just so that I would have something to do the next day repairing stuff. That made touring a lot more fun for me. I hate sitting around a club all day waiting to play.

How do you feel about the folding of Man's Ruin, the label that put out Cutthroats 9's records?

That was really too bad. Man's Ruin was a great label run by a friend (Frank Kozik). I think they made the mistake that a lot of indie labels make and over extended themselves.

I started playing harmonica because of how awesome it sounded on your song 'Alleged'. What made you decide to incorporate it into some of your songs? I was also stoked to hear more harmonica and slide guitar work on newer songs like 'This Stops at the River'. Are these things you would like to do more of in future?

I have been playing harmonica since I was a kid, but was never quite sure how to incorporate it into our music. I realized that keeping it simple was the best way to approach it. I would definitely like to use more of it in the future.

Much has been said about the scene that you came from, how it spawned bands like Helmet and Blues Explosion, did it feel like a particularly creative time for that scene? Did it even feel like a “scene” where the bands supported one another?

I think that that scene was a very creative time in New York. We would all see each other at shows, play shows together and share practice spaces. I didn't realize it at the time, but it was a very positive, fun, nurturing scene for all of us.

I remember a while back you expressed interest in collaborating with other artists or having other people work on Unsane material to put their own spin on the tracks. Can you elaborate on this and has there been any progress?

I am actually hoping to spend some time in Berlin this summer working on that project. I am not sure how many other people will be involved, but we'll see... more news later...

Unsane has been cited as a major influence by a lot of newer acts. What do you think the band brought that wasn't around before it? What do you think about bands that have been influenced by your music and what do you feel most of them have picked up from you?

I'm really not sure how to answer that. It's great if bands have been influenced by us, but I think that you would have to ask them what they thought we brought that no one else had. We are really just the product of our three musical styles.

What can we expect from the next Unsane record and when can we expect it?

To be honest, I'm not sure. I have been writing for the Berlin recordings lately and would like to get that done before beginning work on the next one.

What do you think about the Unsane toy figurine that Ipecac put out with UNKL?

I think it's amazing that Unsane have a toy out there! I would have like to have had more to do with the design so that it maybe could have been more like our visual stuff.

Unsane – 'Scattered, Smothered and Covered'
Sure, a band can be heavy by playing super fast, diming the distortion and having several layers of drums, bass and guitars diving in to a chugging, thugged-out groove. A power trio, the twang of a fender telecaster and harmonicas aren't the ingredients you would expect to move you if you like it loud and heavy. Unsane is one of the premier noise rock bands - influential but unparalleled, 'Scattered, Smothered and Covered' has plenty of volume, visceral grooves and anguished screams but throws in a few surprises such as the aforementioned harmonica, which makes an appearance on 'Alleged', parping over a sinister bassline before the band kicks in together. The opening track 'Scrape' was an unexpected MTV hit thanks to a low-budget video with live shots of the band spliced with gnarly skateboard wipeouts. Of course this album is killer from beginning to end, but then again, Unsane's work has been amazingly consistent for the last two decades.