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you must obey

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PHOTO BY JERAMI JOHNSON cover

obedience training

PHOTO BY JERAMI JOHNSON

by JJ Koczan couple tours and it kind of fizzled out of a way of keeping momentum going sive, fastest thing we’ve done. And we everybody’s more laid back and It’s hard to believe, but upon issuing from there. It didn’t seem like a lot of for the full-length? wanted to match the songs, get a friendly, but they don’t really mean We Must Obey this week through help from the label. What it was, was that we were in the fuzzier, dirtier guitar tone, and Bob and it. Century Media’s rock imprint, Liquor At first it was cool, but we’re used studio doing the new record and the I both pulled out the old fuzz pedals, That’s kind of a good description. & Poker Music, SoCal hard rock quartet to staying out on the road for a year or guys from the label came down and we plugged in and there you go. There is a lot of good laid back stuff Fu Manchu have reached the mile- so for a record, and I think they were were talking to them and they said they’d Was that something that, when you here on the West Coast, but when we stone of their 10th album. The full- just kind of like, ‘Put the record out, get been wanting to do a gatefold seven sat down and started writing, you say ‘Fuck you,’I guess we actually mean length comes on the heels of the Hung the guys out there on tour and see how inch/CD release. And we were like, said,‘Okay, let’s take this direction,’ fuck you. (laughs) Our record, I guess Out To Dry EP released late last year. it does.’ At least that’s how we felt. ‘Yeah, that sounds cool, we’re totally or was it just how it came out? you could say, is a big ‘fuck you.’ It’s What began in simpler times (1994) So, at the end of a few tours, it really into that kind of stuff,’and they said, ‘You It’s just kind of how it came out. I a pretty good description. with No One Rides For Free on Bong wasn’t as much support as we needed, guys are the perfect band we’d like to think the last couple records, Start The We all live right at the beach. I pretty Load Records has carried the band you could say. do it with.’ Machine especially, were kind of veering much surf all day, come home and across the world and down through Start The Machine was your ninth And they took two songs from the towards a more aggressive sound, practice, go on tour, write songs. So, such post-grunge rock classics as King record. One would think they’d be record, and we went back in the studio sludgier, mid-tempo stuff, and I remem- you know, it is kind of laid back, but at Of The Road and California Crossing, able to get a feel for your touring and recorded another song just for the ber I just kept coming to practice with the same time, our record and songs each maintaining a sound at once laid cycle. EP, and we covered ‘DOA’ by Van Halen all these aggressive, kind of weird are anything but laid back. back and driving, evident of the band’s Yeah, we can pretty much tour and just for the EP. But it was just like, ‘Here’s breaks, stops and starts songs, and Again, we didn’t set out to write a Golden State home. be self-sufficient and stuff, but we do a couple new songs from the record that’s just how it developed. real aggressive record, but I think a lot For We Must Obey, however, the need some tour support sometimes. that’s coming out and a couple more It’s just what we were into writing at of influences come from the ’80s punk band (Scott Hill on vocals/guitar, Brad It’s just that we didn’t feel that we were that you can only get here.’ the time, and like I said, we just wanted rock stuff mixed with the old ’70s stuff. Davis on bass, Bob Balch on guitar and getting the kind of support we needed A gatefold CD/vinyl combo is a pretty to match the songs with a fuzzier, dirtier Is there something in your music Scott Reeder—no, not that Scott from the label. They’re all cool and stuff, unique idea. guitar tone. I’m a big fan of old, early- that you feel is specifically Cali- Reeder—on drums) have upped the but at the end of the day it just wasn’t I’ve never seen it. We’re big fans of ’80s hardcore punk rock stuff. That’s fornian, aside from that punk influ- aggression factor, drawing inspiration what we were looking for. vinyl, we like to release all our stuff on kind of all I listen to, so I kind of infused ence? from their roots in the early west coast And making the jump to Century vinyl, and when they came to us, we that Black Flag, Minor Threat and Blue I don’t know if it’s specifically in our hardcore scene. Of course, it’s all Media—were there other candidates were all, ‘Yeah, let’s do it. If we’ve got Cheer, I kind of mixed all that together. music. It might be in some of our channeled through the band’s signature there, or was it just like,‘These guys to go back and record a couple songs How do you feel about hitting the artwork. We’ve done cars at the beach, fuzz-laden tone, which is even more have it down, let’s go’? for it, let’s do it.’ 10th record mark? skateboarding, muscle cars, choppers. present now than on their last offering, When we were talking with DRT, The album is back to your roots too, I didn’t even know it was our 10th Some of the artwork is definitely 2004’s Start The Machine, their first Century Media were talking with us as in terms of sound. (laughs), but I feel very fortunate that Southern California. and only album on DRT Entertainment well back then. They wanted to sign us Bob and I pulled out the old fuzz we’re even around still playing, still able People say I have a laid back style (Clutch, Powerman 5000). to Liquor & Poker, which was kind of pedals we hadn’t used for a while. to put out records, people still coming of singing, so that might be evident of They’ll be at the Knitting Factory in a new label at the time—so was DRT— Things are a little dirtier sounding, a out to the shows. We’re setting up tours a more laid back Southern California NYC on Monday, March 19, but when but we went with DRT because our little heavier. I guess it’s going back right now and we’ve got tours in the feel in our music. But I don’t know if I spoke to Hill, the plans for the tour friends Clutch were on that and they a little. We try to go forward as much works for US, Europe and Australia. there’s specifically one type of thing. had not yet been finalized. He was had good things to say about the label. as possible, but sometimes you’ve got Feel very lucky that we’re even able to excited, however, about the band’s shift So we did that, and as soon as we to take a step back, I suppose. still do this. We Must Obey is available in sound and louder, meatier direction. got off DRT, we got contacted by Century The last one was very slick sounding, I talked to Finn Ryan from The Atomic now via Century Media. Catch What happened with DRT? Media/Liquor & Poker, and they have had very clean tone, so coming off Bitchwax not too long ago. He says Fu Manchu live at the Knitting It just kind of wasn’t what we their stuff down when it comes to hard that, it’s not surprising you might hi. I asked him if there was some- Factory in NYC March 19. For expected. When we first signed to them, rock and heavy music in general, so it want to move it in a different direc- thing in the music that was specific- more info and updated tour it was a lot of, ‘Yeah, we’ll do what we was a no-brainer just to go with them. tion. ally NJ, and he told me that, the way schedules, check out gotta do to keep you guys out on the Since you guys weren’t touring as Yeah, we definitely wanted to change he put it was that when the East fu-manchu.com and road and we’ll push the record.’ Then, much, putting out the Hung Out To up some guitar tones and I think the Coast says ‘fuck you,’it means they myspace.com/fumanchu when the record came out, we did a Dry seven inch and EP,was that kind new record is easily the most aggres- like you, and on the West Coast,

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