PHOEBE'S
PHOBIA
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PHOEBE'S PHOBIA IS A STRANGE EXTREME
METAL BAND WITH A VERY STRANGE NAME. AND THIS ONE IS A VERY STRANGE
INTERVIEW...
1.BRIEF US ON THE BAND HISTORY. HOW
WAS IT CREATED? WHAT DID YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE WITH PHOEBE'S PHOBIA?
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1) Phoebe's Phobia was a project that
I created by myself in my bedroom. I realised that I cannot work in a democratic
band and wanted to write and perform it all myself. I bought a Four Track
Cassette Recorder and started writing and recording compositions.
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When I realised
that Phoebe's Phobia needed more personality (and not just one guy to define
the band) I recruited my best friend Jordan Watson to help shape the band
into what it is now. Thanks to a drum machine we are now also able to write
in a more complex manner.
2.HOW HAVE YOU SELECTED THIS NAME?
WHAT DOES IT MEAN? HOW IMPORTANT DO YOU THINK IS THE "CORRECT" CHOICE OF
A BAND NAME?
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2) I always thought Jane's Addiction
was a great name for a band, so I thought that I would create a similar
name. I think that the Female name Phoebe is quite unusual and mystical
so I added Phobia on the end because of the alliteration of the 'Ph.'
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I also like the
name because the image is quite fragile and sombre and also unique for
a metal band to have.
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I am aware that
there is an American Grindcore band on Relapse Records who are called Phobia,
but I don't think that it will affect us. In the 1980's you had Death Angel,
Dark Angel and of course Morbid Angel but there was never a problem there.
3.WHICH ARE YOUR INFLUENCES? ARE THERE
ANY BANDS YOU LOOK UP TO AND SOME OTHERS YOU DESPISE?
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3) The bands that Jordan and I agree
on are The Cure, Morbid Angel and My Dying bride. My personal influences
are Faith No More, Smashing Pumpkins, Celtic Frost, King's X, Voivod, Most
of the 1980's Thrash bands (Dark Angel, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax) and
a few alternative bands like Jane's Addiction and Dinosaur JR. Jordan
listens to alot of Iron Maiden, Emperor, Tori Amos and most of the current
Black Metal stuff.
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The bands that we despise
are all the false LA Nu-Metal bands, plus some of the atrocious British
bands llike Raging Speedhorn and Defenestration. They just sound like kids
who cannot play their intstruments.
4.HOW MANY DEMOS HAVE YOU RELEASED
SO FAR? WHICH ARE THE SIMILARITIES AND WHICH ARE THE DIFFERENCIES AMONG
THEM?
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4) So far we have released 2 demos.
The second one 'Curled Like An Embryo' is basically a remix of the first
one 'Dead Sea Fruit' with two new tracks. 'Dead Sea Fruit' is now deleted,
so the 7-song 'Curled Like An Embryo' is the only one available at
present. The production on 'Curled like An Embryo' is far superior
to 'Dead Sea fruit' and with the two extra tracks it sounds a lot heavier.
5.WHAT ARE YOUR LYRICS TALKING ABOUT?
WHAT INSPIRES YOU AND WHAT TAKES AWAY THE INSPIRATION FROM YOU? DO YOU
VOTE FOR REAL LIFE STORIES OR FANTASY?
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5) Most of the lyrics are inspired
by books. For instance 'Disconsolate Reality' is inspired by the book 'Temple
Of The Golden Pavilion' by Yukio Mishima. A lot of Phoebe's Phobia songs
deal with stories of Sexual Deviancy some of them are personal and some
are from another perspective. I have always been interested in Sexual deviancy
so it will come as no surprise to you that Jordan and I both own 'Psychopathia
Sexualis' by Anthony Von Kraft Ebbing. The album that conceptualised
around this topic was 'Pornography' by The Cure. The obsession with sex
and death really interested me and to this day it is still my favourite
all time album.
6.WHICH IS THE BIGGEST AIM YOU WANT
TO ACHIEVE? WHICH ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE? WHERE DO YOU FOCUS THE
MOST RIGHT NOW?
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6) My biggest aim at the moment would
be to get a good record deal with maybe a label like Peaceville. There
is also a new British label called 'House Of Stairs' which looks quite
interesting, so I might look there for a deal.
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I doubt it would
ever come true but I would love to one day work with either Robert Smith
(The Cure), Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins), Aaron Stainthorpe (My Dying
Bride) or Mike Patton. That would be a dream come true.
7.WITH WHICH OTHER MUSIC DO YOU THINK
METAL CAN BE COMBINED PERFECTLY AND WITH WHICH DO YOU THINK HAS NOTHING
TO DO?
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7) I think that some of the current
bands like Dillinger Escape Plan and Cephalic Carnage use the jazz influence
very well, so I find that quite innovative.
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Here in Phoebe's
Phobia we are trying to show metal bands that you can create melody in
a new way, without using harmonising guitar parts. I use the Smashing Pumpkins
influence here to do this by using distorted, ringing chords taken from
Major and Minor scales.
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I think that
non-metal music like The Cure, Sisters Of Mercy and Killing Joke is compatible
with metal because it is very dark. Bands like Anathema and Paradise Lost
are a testament to this.
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Finally I
think that amalgamating Metal and Hip Hop is an abysmal idea. When Faith
No More and Anthrax did this it was fresh and also satirical. Now thanks
to Korn and Limp Bizkit the idea has been distorted and shamed forever.
8.MANY METAL MUSICIANS ACCUSE POP STARS
FOR THEIR LIFE STYLE, YET WE SEE SUCH BEHAVIOURS IN THE METAL SCENE AS
WELL (BANDS PAYING TO MAKE A COVER FOR SUCCESFUL MAGAZINES, HAVING A GOOD
REVIEW, METAL LABELS PROMOTING SPECIFIC BANDS AND GENRES EACH EPOCH,ETC).IS
IT MAYBE AFTER ALL TRUE THAT THE METAL INDUSTRY DOESN'T DIFFER FROM THE
POP? WHICH ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT?
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8) True metal is still a reaction to
the Pop Music industry and bands like Morbid Angel have shown that if you
do your own thing then an audience will always be there.
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False Metal,
or the sub-genre known as Nu-Metal was created by Westernised magasines
like Kerrang! who were looking for a name to describe the explosion of
Rap Metal bands. Major Labels picked up on it and now everybody wants to
sign a Linkin Park type of band. It is obvious that magasines like
Kerrang! receive money to put unknown American bands on the front cover
and it doesn't stop there. If you watch MTV 2 now you will just see the
same dozen videos that the major labels have forced the channel to air
over and over again. It is killing British Metal, because the young impressionable
kids all want to live in LA!!!
9.WHICH QUESTION WOULD YOU LIKE TO
BE ASKED AND NO ONE EVER DID? ANSWER IT.
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9) I would like to be asked am I still
a virgin. The answer is yes, Both Jordan and I are virgins, which is the
ultimate paradox considering the nature of our music and the content of
the lyrics. I guess that we have spent too much time reading books and
staying in our bedrooms listening to Metal!!!
10.WHAT MADE YOU START INVOLVING AND
COMPOSING MUSIC?
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10) When I was 14 I heard 'Siamese
Dream' by the Smashing Pumpkins and I had never heard anything like it.
Within a week I had bought a guitar and wanted to play guitar solos like
Billy Corgan.
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When I was 15 I became passionate about music and realised that it was
the only way I could reveal something about myself. When I was in my first
band I was dissapointed because the drummer could never remember what to
do, because I wrote complex songs. That is when I decided to take on the
Dave Mustaine/Billy Corgan role and do it all myself.
11.WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU WEREN'T
ABLE TO COMPOSE MUSIC?
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11) Stay in my room and listen to The
Cure 24 hours a day!!! I honestly cannot imagine because music has dominated
my life for 5 years.
12.WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'D MISS THE
MOST IF SUDDENLY YOU SUFFERED FROM A SEVERE AMNESIA?
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12) Amnesia would severely paralyse
me. The worst thing would be not knowing my major scales!!! No, sriously
it would be not knowing anything about my last two years which have been
dedicated to writing music. I would not remember the songs and that would
be a calamity.
13.IF YOU HAD THE MONEY TO MAKE A PROPER
VIDEOCLIP, HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT TO BE? IMAGINE IT AND DESCRIBE IT TO US.
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13) If I had the budget I would probably
make a video like 'The Hanging Garden' by The Cure. It would be set
in a desolate location, probably in the woods and the lighting would be
an incandescent green smothered by the black swollen sky. Jordan and I
would be hidden behind trees occasionally mouthing the words and there
would be a sub-plot going on as well involving a woman being followed home
by another fiendish woman. Does it sound interesting?
14.WHICH ARE YOUR THOUGHTS FOR THE
EVENTS WE SEE EVERY DAY IN THE EUROPEAN COUNTRIES? FOR EXAMPLE IN FRANCE
AND AUSTRIA, WHERE WE SEE FASCISTS WINNING THE ELECTIONS? WHICH ARE YOUR
THOUGHTS?
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14) I am right in the middle of this
Fascist rising. A town about 15 miles away has just voted in 3 local Mp's
from the British National Party. It seems that rascism is the only issue
in politics at the moment which is intolerable. It does not surprise
me that Facism still exists because it is a product of chaos and political
unrest. Fascism is a reactionary regime that has no particular doctrine
unless you count Mein Kampf.
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The
events that I hear about every day like the Isreal and Palestinian conflict
perturb me heavily. Who is to say that Isreal is not conducting a mini
Holocaust and erasing identities of Palestinians?
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The
people I feel sorry for in My country are the Asians who are coming under
intense scrutiny. It seems that they cannot walk the streets at night in
some areas like Oldham and Burnley, in case they are attacked by whites.
It is no wonder that occasionally you hear of an Asian person attacking
a white person. There Grandparents and parents have had to endure 50 years
of abuse in Britain.
15.IF TIME TRAVEL WAS POSSIBLE, WHICH
HISTORICAL PERIOD WOULD YOU LIKE TO VISIT AND WHY? WHAT WOULD YOU MISS
THE MOST FROM OUR TIME?
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15) I would actually travel back to
1938, around the time of the Munich Conference so I could see the rise
and fall of Hilter's Germany. Maybe then I would see a society of people,
no mater what creed or colour help each other out.
16.THANK YOU!THESE LINES BELONG TO
YOU...