Dreams of Consciousness

Here is the 53rd installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Joe Casey of Detroit-based post-punk band Protomartyr. I'm not going to lie, I dropped the ball on this one. My buddy Stephen told me about Protomartyr and their show at Live Fact in KL weeks before we were set to go there; but due to work and other commitments, I wasn't able to do much in the way of r...

Here is the 52nd installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Brandon Evans, Ryan Parrish and Kevin Longendyke of seminal screamo band City of Caterpillar. The announcement that City of Caterpillar were coming to Malaysia was a big deal - big enough for me to consider putting off a trip back to Brooklyn. [It turned out that work and finances made those plans moot...

Here is the 51st installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Singapore-based power violence group Reyerta. I interviewed the band at the end of March, when they headlined a show at Rumah Api. I didn't know much about them, but their story fascinated me - two people from Spain and two from the Philippines who somehow all met in Singapore and decided to play power...

Here is the 50th installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Maxwell Gravelle of Setentia. I took a short trip to New Zealand in early April, scheduling my trip to coincide with Impetuous Ritual's gig at Whammy Bar in Auckland. As readers of the blog may have noticed, I'm somewhat obsessed with New Zealand's metal scene, and I was eager to interview a few bands...

Here is the 49th installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Arif Rot about his new grindcore supergroup Code Error. When I interviewed Arif back in Janaury, the topic of Code Error only came up at the very end - I didn't ask many questions at the time, because I knew very little about the project. It's the closest this podcast has come to a "tease". Fast forwar...

Here is the 48th installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Keijo Niinimaa and Mika Aalto of Rotten Sound. I caught up with the band when they played Rumah Api on the 17th of March. This was the culmination of years of work by the show's organizers, who had attempted to get the band to play KL after their appearance at Obscene Extreme Asia back in 2013. Their e...

Here is the 47th installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Swiss hardcore punk trio Heckler. I was hipped to the fact that Heckler was coming to town by their fellow Swiss punks Überyou, who had played KL a few weeks prior. I contacted Heckler (bassist/vocalist Timo, guitarist/vocalist Sandro, and drummer Raphi) as they made their way through South East Asia,...

Here is the 46th installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Oslo trio MoE. Despite not coming from a traditional "metal" or "hardcore" background, MoE make tremendously heavy music - the kind that Swans or Zeni Geva would be proud to call their own. Interestingly, the band (comprised of bassist/vocalist Guro Skumsnes Moe, guitarist Håvard Skaset, and drummer Jo...

Here is the 45th installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Jan Johansen and Alap Momin of Third Culture Kids. A little while ago I ran into my buddy Alak (from Pusher and Tandang Store) on the train coming back from work. He told me that Third Culture Kings were booked to play Tandang over the Chinese New Year holiday. I reached out to the band about doing an...

Here is the 44th installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Zurich punks Überyou. The band played Rumah Api on a Tuesday night. We did the interview downstairs from the venue while they waited for their drummer to arrive from the airport. It was a fairly tense situation - he had missed a previous flight, and the band were concerned that he might not arrive in t...

Here is the 43rd installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Lan of Singapore hardcore veterans Protest. We conducted the interview downstairs from Rumah Api, where Protest were playing their first KL show in more than 20 years. It was part of a short Malaysia tour in support of their new EP Moral Injustice. We discussed the history of Protest, the circumstances...

Here is the 42nd installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Arif of Singapore grinders Wormrot. I caught up with Arif when Wormrot played Mamatfest 2018 at Black Box in the Publika mall. We talked about how their new drummer Vijesh became part of the band, in addition to their experiences playing Vietnam and touring the U.S. I got to tell my story about sitting...

Here is the 41st installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with my buddies Qadir and Aditya of Singapore thrashers Bloodstone. I hung out with and interviewed the Bloodstone guys when they played Rumah Api back in September of 2017. I hadn't seen them in about a year. We talked about the writing process for their first full length F.T.W., their upcoming 7" split wi...

Here is the 40th installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Matthew Weed and Eric Jernigan of Rosetta. I snagged Rosetta's guitarists just before their set at Rumah Api on December 3rd. We discussed their Asia-Pacific tour, as well as the concept and writing process behind their latest album Utopioid. We also talked about the "pay what you want" model that Rose...

Here is the 39th installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Montréal punks Parasytes. The band were playing a Not A Fest show as part of their extensive South East Asia and Australia tour. We conducted the interview downstairs from Rumah Api's new location at Menara MPAJ while the opening acts were finishing up. We discussed their tour schedule, their feelings...

Here is the 38th installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Come to Grief. This podcast came as a surprise even to me. I got in touch with the band to do a Q+A interview and fired off an e-mail to drummer Chuck Conlon; little did I know that he would assemble the entire band and record their answers. The audio was so good it seemed like a waste to merely transc...

Here is the 37th installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Joe "Joey Shithead" Keithley of Canadian punk legends D.O.A. I met Joe when D.O.A. was scheduled to play Rumah Api, and snagged him for an interview during the opening bands' sets. We discussed D.O.A.'s recent Asia tour, their reputation as one of the hardest touring hardcore bands, the nature of "hard...

Here is the 36th installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Boston punks Sadist. I met Sadist at Rumah Api, where they were headlining one of Ci Chaan's regular Not-A-Fest shows. I asked if they wanted to do an interview and the whole band (bassist Stormcloud, vocalist Ghost, guitarist Mimic, and drummer TPP) agreed. We did the interview upstairs behind Tandang...

Here is the 35th installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Tessa Tribe of Melbourne band Masses. Enjoy. I caught up with Tessa when Masses played Rumah Api last week. We discussed their South East Asian tour, the history of the band, their upcoming EP, and her label Lost in Fog Records, among other things. My thanks to Tessa for taking the time to talk to me,...

Here is the 34th installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Avi Kulawy of Magrudergrind.

Here is the 33rd installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Drew Brown of Weekend Nachos. I met Drew when Weekend Nachos played Rumah Api with Primitive Man back in April. We talked about doing an interview that night, but my recorder crapped out on me. Luckily, I was able to catch them again when Nachos played Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn on May 20th - the same...

Here is the 32nd installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Shawn Haché of Mitochondrion. The interview took place at Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn, where Mitochondrion played a show with Phobocosm, Auroch, and Artificial Brain (featured on the last podcast, and interviewed the same night). Mitochondrion is a band that has both fascinated and bewildered me since...

Here is the 31st installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring interviews with Black Fast's Aaron Akin, Artificial Brain's William Smith, and Topsy and Holm of Sanitys Dawn. These were recorded over three different nights during three different shows at Saint Vitus Bar in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Black Fast shared a bill with Hate Eternal and Vital Remains, and kicked major ass. I tal...

Here is the 30th installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Doktor Ross Sewage of Impaled. Impaled is a band I've been a huge fan of since my college days. I had their debut album The Dead Shall Dead Remain in heavy rotation back then, and caught them multiple times as they toured in support of it. I was able to catch Ross in NY last summer while he was in town...

Here is the 29th installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with illustrator and podcaster Mark Rudolph. Mark is half the team behind the Requiem Metal Podcast, which he does with his friend Jason Hundey. I've been a fan of their podcast for years, and it's no secret that Requiem provided the blueprint for this one. In addition to that, Mark provides art for Decibel...