Limbs Bin Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the musical project these days?

I just relocated from Brooklyn to Cleveland, so Limbs Bin is in an exciting moment of reconfiguration and growth. Having released "Bliss Tech", I feel freed to renegotiate the boundaries of the band. Expanding the band beyond just my soft, soft hands and terrible throat to include other people on heavy electronics- and get this, maybe even a bassist. We're in talks. That's all I can say right now. Also I'm recording for splits with Paraplegic Erection, Crowhurst, Masturbatory Disfunction, and more.

2.Recently you have released your new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

"Bliss Tech" is the leanest, heaviest, most hypnotic presentation of Limbs Bin to date. I've spent years consolidating the sound into a powerful stream, and the recent addition of a new homemade oscillator to the fold that my friend Serge built for me gave me a chance to play off a new dynamic. I recorded it in one take in my semi-nightmarish basement apartment that I just left behind in Bushwick last winter, and it definitely captures an anxious man hiding underground in a city that beats the living shit out of you on a daily basis while it simultaneously rewards your darkest fantasies. Its unedited form captures the vibe of the live shows, and that second-to-second negotiation of space, timing, and release needed to remain intact for the record to sound honest. Limbs Bin is many things, but in its song-based form- previously best exemplified on the Sete Star Sept split- "Bliss Tech" is the band in its most direct full realization.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects that you explore with your music?

"Bliss Tech" has a lot to do with sex, the internet, a general sense of horror at how numb our culture has become and how little empathy people show for for each other, the feeling of confinement in New York where you work incredibly long days just to see your income immediately melt back into the city, and the endless rushing pace of life there. Reality seemed spliced between screens, and I began to act like a person I didn't recognize. Typical stuff for a bumpkin from Western Mass to get overwhelmed by.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Limbs Bin'?

I spent four months living in Israel in high school- I've spent a lot of time talking about this in the past, but suffice to say, I had an encounter with an actual box of severed arms and legs in the basement anatomy lab at Tel Aviv University that capped off a truly mind melting experience exploring human corpses with a little person surgical student trying to freak out some impressionable teens.

5.With this project you record everything by yourself, are you open to working with other musicians or do you prefer to work by yourself?

Many people have contributed to Limbs Bin shows or releases in the past. As a rule, I operate alone so I can maneuver with ease and not filter my inspirations through other people. Being able to shoot from the hip is sort of the doubled edged blade of doing it alone, but I like to think it's mostly served as a valuable tool over the years. The band has only flourished from the love and support of a vast network of incredibly hardworking DIY enthusiasts, and I would be nowhere without my friends.

6.What are some of the best shows that you have played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

I'm typing out these answers seven years to the day of the first Limbs Bin gig, when I was 19 and some older friends who play in a great indie pop band called Ten Minute Turns suggested I play a surprise set while they took a break during a Halloween gig at a little inn up in the wooded hills of Western Mass. The crowd was drunk middle aged artsy types, wholly unprepared for about two minutes (if that) of a ski masked child screaming over prerecorded drum machine blasts. I managed to bust my lip almost immediately, cleared the room within seconds, and was seriously a persona non grata for the rest of the night. I had brought all these friends from college out for it, and it was just a total mess. People were begging for it to stop, and I can't stress enough that this was in the middle of a two minute set. I don't know if it got better than that. Playing shows in Israel in 2012 was unreal and an absolute thrill, and I always miss the comfort of playing a nice intimate Western Mass basement show with other jammers trying out new styles and bouncing energy off each other. Gigs with Excruciating Terror, Gay Kiss, Realicide, Skin Graft, Container, and Cloud Rat all stand out. This year, blasting outside on a deck over a river in Ithaca at One Fest on a solid gold bill of friends was a dream come true, as was opening the Full Of Hell/The Body show at Market Hotel.

The live style has gotten much less performative and much more about playing hard over the years- I wanted to run around and stir shit up when I was younger, but now I'm focusing on playing everything with as much emotion and focus as I can muster.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

I have a couple local gigs in Cleveland coming up. First is November 10th at Maple Lanes with ultimate homie Sunken Cheek, Cleveland legend Collapsed Arc, and my beloved fiancee Di Pic. Second is November 18th at the Yellow Ghetto with VAAULTS, Pillars of Ash, and Rubbermate. Other than that, I'm still getting used to life in a new city and a new job, so I'm keeping my touring plans modest for now.

8.On a worldwide level how has been the feedback been to your music by fans of harsh noise and grindcore?

Thanks to heroes like Vinod Karki, who runs a truly incredible YouTube channel of grind/noisecore/PV/etc. out of his home in Nepal, and J Randall and his Grindcore Karaoke bandcamp label, Limbs Bin has gotten out of its immediate surroundings a lot more. Huge shout out to Epul Rikard with his Repulsive Regurgitation zine in Malaysia as well. Some people like it, some people hate it. It's good to absorb the nice stuff so you have some fodder to thrive on, accept reasonable criticism, filter out the small minded, and most of all, keep playing for yourself. As long as I'm making the sounds I want to hear, I can't be bothered that much by how others respond to it. I listen to Limbs Bin because it's a band I'd want to listen to.

9.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician in the future?

Into woodwinds for sure.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

The timeless influences are bands like Infest, Napalm Death, Black Flag, Nine Shocks Terror, Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana, An Albatross, Enemy Soil, Bastard Noise/Man Is The Bastard, Whitehouse, Consumer Electronics, Masonna, Hanatarash, Hijokaidan, Suppression, and other bands that capture that white hot line where everything is hanging in the balance and about to collapse, drawn forward by sheer determination alone.

Recently, I've just gotten through my annual "obsessively listening to Joanna Newsom and crying constantly" period of the fall, and I'm back in a rich diet of live recordings- the new Bloodyminded live record, the Butthole Surfers' "Double Live", Miles Davis "Live at Newport", Wolf Eyes' "Live Scum", and more. Kiyasu from Sete Star Sept has a brilliant solo tape out on Utech Records that's just him and a snare drum, and it's totally captivating. Finally catching up on some Gong records.


11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Big fan of science fiction, specifically authors who write about perception and the fragile nature of consensus reality like Philip K Dick and Christopher Priest (I suggest "Flow My Tears, Said The Policeman" and "Inverted World" by those two respectively). I love long walks and drives in solitude, they help me focus the more ethereal feelings and reflections into an actionable idea.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

No matter what your political ideology is, projecting it onto other people without soliciting their voice in a conversation is cynical, dehumanizing, and bad. The world doesn't exist to reflect your beliefs- it mostly exists to test them. Don't hide behind them. Learning how to grow and change isn't betrayal, it's nature taking its course. It's important to be truthful to yourself, and that can be very hard. Don't run away from the fear.