Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Three Sixes (Usa)







Three Sixes (Usa)

T: Hello my brother, Damien! Why the name of the band?

D: Hails, Leo! As for the name of the band, I started Three Sixes as a horror themed “side project” a while back after doing a song for a friend of mine named Ron D.Core who is a Hardcore Techno DJ. After doing a song with him called “Fuck Deep House” I saw what the digital world offered which was something at the time I’d never seen, as the options sonically were only limited to the imagination. I was blown away. “Fuck Deep House” did well and Ron hit me up to do another tune to follow it. I then pitched the idea of a horror themed song called “Possession” to him. While Ron was supportive, it wasn’t the direction he was looking for, so I hooked up with his producer who would become my partner in Robb D’Graves and we did the song “Possession”. At the time, I was just doing it until I could find another band to join as mine had broken up. However, I loved the freedom the digital environment provided and the limitless possibilities it presented. After the song “Possession” was recorded, Robb suggested I do more, so we did. By then, the song had grown into an EP and I needed a band name to put it under. At the time, I was also writing a song called “Three Sixes”. While the song was one I’d never use, I dug the name and I thought it would fit what we were doing, so I used it. Back then, I had no idea after more than a decade the band would continue and evolve, but it has. Here we are much later after the fact and I couldn’t be more proud.

T: Three Sixes has a new CD. "Know God, No Peace"?

D: Yes, we do. This is the current version of the evolution I spoke of. As you can hear in comparison to the older material, Three Sixes have grown from a novelty “side project” into a full blown musical assault, which didn’t happen overnight. We also caught a lot of hate in the early days and pissed a lot of people off, which was my intent in the beginning, to do anything just to get attention. Then we did. I came under fire from people everywhere. It was nuts. So, long story short, I pitched the idea of “Know God, No Peace” to the other guys and they dug it, but this time around, we were going to do things differently. While sarcasm was laced throughout the older material, I didn’t want it on this record. This album was an announcement of the band we had grown into, that it isn’t a “novelty” anymore, as well as an honest middle finger to everyone who criticized us in the past. What’s cool is that people can see the growth and have embraced it, as well as the diversity of the songs, which is pretty radical. When “Know God, No Peace” first came out, there were some that thought we had “an identity crisis” as if we were grasping for straws because the songs sounded so differently from each other, but those who listened to it a few times understood what we were doing and took to it. This record is huge. There is a lot digest. We knew that it could be an issue, but we didn’t care and did it anyway.

T: How did you do with the previous CDS?

D: In the beginning, better than I expected. When I first started the band it was just a “project” that I did only for myself. I really didn’t think anyone would like it, but my partner Robb did, as did my friend Ron, and I loved it, so I pursued it. The original “Possession” CD was great because at the time, it exceeded my expectations. Then we started getting attention and playing live. We had to record something more current with the live line up and things were moving quickly. The members started to change, but we finally recorded “Salvationless” with promises of things that couldn’t be delivered and I was pissed. I’m still not pleased with that recording, but whatever. We salvaged what we could and moved forward. Luckily, the response was again, much better than expected. Then we ran out of the original “Possession” and “Salvationless” EP/CDs and had a choice to make- either reproduce both EPs or just do a few new tunes with the revamped line up, combine them and release it as a full length album simply titled “Three Sixes”, which is what we did. By this time, the lineup was much more solid and the song writing really started to grow. We went as far as we could with it at the time and stopped playing until a new full length record was completed, which brings us to where we are today.

T: The older material differed from this CD, which sounds much better than the previous one.

D: Thanks. We feel the same way. As I mentioned, the self titled “Three Sixes” CD was taken from three different recordings, with different studios and engineers with gear that collectively, was inferior to what we were able to use for “Know God, No Peace”. We did our best through re-mastering the older songs to keep them as consistent as possible to each other, but doing a whole new record with Marko using the same gear, engineer, production process and mastering made things a lot easier to retain a higher consistency and quality. Our Producer Marko has killer gear and is always up to date on everything, so we literally had the best of anything we could get regardless of budget because of him. Marko had an enormous impact in the final product- from the producing while we wrote, to the separation and clarity of all the sounds, to the mix and choice of mastering. His dedication and consistency of gear towards the end made the whole CD- despite the diversity between the songs, equally as clear as they were consistent and different. The end result of the increase in quality of the overall sonic production in comparison from the older material to what we have now was entirely from Marko.

T: We can hear a mixture of styles in the songs. Can you tell us something about this?

D: This is something that all of us take a lot of pride in. Since Three Sixes was initially started as a “side project” I really had no set design or particular genre I cared to follow. I just wanted to make something dark that I thought was different and I dug. In doing so, I thought the diversity would be really cool. Because I never cared what anyone would think, I just went for it and did whatever I wanted to do. I felt that it was different enough that probably nobody would like it anyway, so I literally had nothing to lose. When people did take to it, I was surprised and I dug it. Later, it would turn out that those who ended up joining me in Three Sixes did so specifically for that reason, would add their own elements which helped the band in continuing to evolve, grow and further diversify. Regardless of the lineup, the diversity and mixture of styles we use and combine was the one factor all members (current and past) had in common. Since the groundwork was already set for this band to do something completely different from recording to recording, we’re not pigeonholed to do anything in particular in the future, so the freedom to be diverse has already been established, and now expected. Luckily for us, it’s also been embraced.

T: The image is that the band is Satanic Black Metal. Why that image, when the music is mixture of all Hardcore, Techno, Black and others? How would you define your band?

D: It goes back to the roots I spoke of earlier as a horror themed “side project” that grew into its own entity. It wasn’t intended to be deemed as anything in particular when I started it. I just thought the name fit. When Three Sixes started getting noticed, the name spread and it has grown into what it has. The evolution of the band since the inception has been natural and organic. It was never some manufactured product from a record company to fit a particular genre. Because we are not under a contractual obligation of any sort, we had the freedom to do literally anything we wanted to, so we did. While the songs on our new CD “Know God, No Peace” are collectively very diverse, all of them have a common thread of truth from all of us as human beings, as well as either with darkness and aggression in various doses which tie them all together and make them one in the same. So to define Three Sixes is complicated, but if you need a quick, definitive answer, I simply refer to us as “Trainwreck Metal” which in my opinion encompasses all of the styles you mentioned in a huge collision and is delivered from the same band. Because the content of what we do has always been dark, combining it with our name would be easy to misconstrue us simply as a Satanic Black Metal band. While I am down with the imagery and intent behind the Satanic Black Metal appearance, any research into the history of the band Three Sixes would say otherwise.

T: The presentation and art on the t-shirt and CD is flawless. Whose idea was that and the creation of a promo pack inside a copy of the Bible? This was sincerely a very good presentation.

D: Thank you. As for the t-shirt and CD artwork, the original idea was mine. I met with the artist, Jack Van Gossen and gave him my ideas for the artwork. While the final product was not what I had originally envisioned at all, the artwork (like our songs) evolved over time and brainstorming together. The original concept for the artwork itself took several months to create. I talked to Jack a few times a week before we settled on the final design. He then sketched it out and brought it to life. I originally thought the ideas of Bibles as a promo would be really cool, but the cost and time to do so as the real thing would be too expensive and impractical from a reproduction standpoint. After I pitched the idea to the other guys, we decided that the best way to do this was to create a box that looked like a Bible which could be big enough to act as a press kit and hold a t-shirt. I then kicked around ideas of how it should look, ran it by our graphics guy and he put all of the ideas together to what you received. We are proud of the overall finished product and are glad you feel the same.

T: Where do your influences come from? Maybe reading, movies, every day life?

D: The influences come from everywhere, from movies, books, life or even a song I’ve heard from someone else that sparks an idea which turns into something completely different. There really isn’t a single source in particular. Whatever it is, it needs to be something that makes me want to write it down. If the idea won’t leave until I do, it’s got a chance. If it sticks afterward, I’ll hit everyone else with it and see where it goes. Sometimes it works and other times they might not. That doesn’t just apply to me. Kill and Marko have done the same and they have their own reasons and influences as well. Needless to say, the majority of the ideas from all of us never make it because there have been so many, but all that have survived and made it into the songs we recorded were due to the fact that all of us agreed on them. Since there is no lack of ideas, all of us need to agree completely or we won’t use them, regardless of who initiated the idea or what the source from the idea was.

T: Do you think that your voice is similar to Petrozza of Kreator? I find a bit of similarity. What do you think?

D: I’ve heard this a few times since this record was finished and if someone had never heard us before, I could understand why it would be said. Mille Petrozza has been a huge influence on me for a very long time. However, there have also been others in the past which I could agree with, where I’d been compared to Kurt from D.R.I. and even Tom from Slayer, both of which were major influences, lyrically and vocally as well. Some have also likened me to Bobby from Overkill, as well as Marilyn Manson and even Peter from Type O Negative, all of which I can understand too. Because a reference point is typically warranted in explaining to someone a sound or style who has never heard a band before, I get why people would use these names- which I couldn’t be more proud to be associated with. I do the same in describing other bands. That said, while I have heard the Mille reference, I have heard the others too, so I think it requires the listener of Three Sixes to make their own determination as to who they feel I am identified with or not.

T: Do you have any preferences of favorite bands that influence the sound of music?

D: Not really. Although we’re all Metal based, everyone else and I listen to a lot of different genres, so it just depends of what mood I’m in while listening and writing, as it is with them. While influences in every band are inevitable, I prefer not to lean on a particular band or genre for too long and I like variety. The other guys would say the same. While I love hearing new music and the ideas I can get from it, I don’t want to lock onto one thing in particular for too long and become single minded. Like the songs I listen to, I prefer the songs we write to be equally as diverse and stand on their own. In doing so, the same, typical homogenized sound throughout a record is avoided. While all of us have similar influences, we are all also equally as diverse from each other, but this is where chemistry and a common goal come in. Don’t get me wrong, there have been plenty of disagreements in the writing process, but that’s natural. In the end, we all have something we agree with and are proud of, which in my opinion, matters the most

T: How you are running your record label Universal Records? Need serious distributors? Or maybe want to be something very underground?

D: We are currently distributed electronically through Tunecore, who has definitely done their job. Because of them, you can literally find us anywhere through almost any digital and streaming formats (iTunes, Spotify, iHeart radio and many more online). We were also recently picked up by Pandora too, which is really cool. We are physically distributed through CD Baby right now. I’m also down with the underground too, so if there are any legit, non exclusive distros that are interested, I am as well. Just contact me with the details and we can go from there.

T: Any last words to our readers and where they can get their Three Sixes merchandise?

D: Yes. If you’d like to know more about us, we have a website at http://threesixes.com with photos, news, song samples, videos, lyrics, free porn links, the infamous “Gross Page” and anything else you could possibly think of. It’s pretty easy to spend some time there. As for our merchandise, all of our CDs, shirts and anything else can be ordered directly through our merch page from our website at http://threesixes.com/store as well as CD Baby as mentioned before at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/threesixes1 and http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/threesixes . We can also be found pretty much anywhere digitally, but the most common is through iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/know-god-no-peace/id918838575 Thank you for supporting us and hopefully we’ll see each other sooner than later! \m/