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/
