SLICES - MRR #319 (December 2009)

Collectively SLICES are the cacophonous mouthpiece of four nightmare men: a sick combination of mid-paced, murky repetition and life's less savory moments. As an ugly parallel of humanity, SLICES has steadily evolved from their embryonic stages of two-piece noise to their full-grown adult life as a full band. Consisting of two brothers and two unrelated men, SLICES has become one of the mainstays of the Pittsburgh independent music scene. At the current times, SLICES has 7"s released on 16OH and Home Invasion Records and have just finished recording for their debut 12".

Introduction by Intense Andy. Interview conducted by Ed Steck. Questions answered by SLICES.

MRR: Slices was originally an experimental noise project between the teenaged Kasunic brothers. What lead to the eventual more structured sound of Slices? What inspired the addition of a drummer and vocalist and the switch to more traditional instrumentation?

Mike: I would say boredom with what we were doing and we were getting more into guitar-based stuff. It was at the Athletic Automaton show where we first did the first guitar and drums show.

John: I felt we had been doing more rock-based thing between the two of us for about a year with me on guitar and him on drums. We took a little break and started a few years later but felt pretty limited with what we could do so we added Ovens and then Greg.

Mike: To get more of a rock song. More rock influenced music. Rock influenced music, am I right? Would you say?

All: Yes.

Ovens: Yeah. I say it is trending towards rock music.

John: Almost there.

Mantooth: The first time I heard Slices was at Joe Hammer. I was upstairs and I didn't watch you guys. I was afraid of you because I didn't know you. You were making noise.

Mike: Really?

(A general uneasiness is in the air followed by silence.)

Ovens: Next question.

MRR: Most of the Slices members hold ranks in other bands that would be packed in the same ranch. John is in the loser punk group, Rot Shit. Mike controls Tusk Lord, once an experimental one-man project that is now evolving into more straightforward pop presentations. Mike Ovens is in the hardcore punk band, Brain Handle. Mantooth is a turtle enthusiast. Can you address why Slices is the group for each of you that emits a pulsating noise rock discordance? Could Slices be anything else than what it is now?

All: Laughing.

Mantooth: This question is going to make me fucking cry. This makes me feel bad about myself. Why can't we be anything better than that?

MRR: I didn't say that.

Ovens: I'm not answering that.

Mantooth: That makes me feel bad. Give us a minute.

Mike: We are almost a rock band and we will be there soon.

John: All I know is that Slices is not only the best band that I'm in but it is also the best band.

All: That is a good point.

MRR: Mantooth, in reading your lyrics, I catch a strong conflict between urban and rural landscapes. Severing of legs. Human insides spill grotesquely in your lyrics. No excitement. There is a mundane boredom of mutilation and gore in the lyrics, but the delivery is excitable and anger-driven. Could you speak to these conflicts?

Mantooth: When I first started writing lyrics for Slices, I tried to write different lyrics from Warzone Womyn, which were very angst-driven. I wrote those when I was a teenager; I had to be a bit more introspective with the approach now that I'm mature and in my twenties. I read books sometimes. But in terms of the gore, I mean yeah, when I first started writing lyrics I tried to write more to landscapes instead of topics that were in my brain. Violence and gore are generally mundane topics, I am aware, so when you read them in lyrics, books, or newspapers, they remain mundane until you are actually propelled into a sensation upon hearing it. So when you are singing it and projecting it, there is an obvious disconnect between the presentation and the content. I'm not really enunciating. I'm screaming. I'm in a punk band so I'm not softly whispering it.

Ovens: I read books.

Mike: These guys are well read.

MRR: Tonight, Slices is playing with two experimental noise groups, Wether and Pink Desert. In November, a gig with Iron Lung is scheduled. Are there bands or performers that Slices feels most comfortable playing with? Is there ever any alienation? If so, how does the group react to this?

Mike: I think we fit in a lot of hardcore shows but that is all we get asked to play. We aren't sick of playing with hardcore bands but it is nice to play with some noise groups tonight. The Iron Lung show will be cool.

Ovens: We don't have a kind of show we prefer to play.

John: We just like to play with good bands. I;m not concerned with genre. I just like to play with musicians I'm interested in.

(Someone burps.)

All: Yeah.

MRR: Who are some of the local bands or performers that you enjoy playing with the most? Who do you detest?

(All laugh and groan.)

Mike: Virgin Birth, Trogpite, and most of the breakcore scene.

John: Dark Lingo. I like Brain Handle but if we shared members I don't know what I would think about you guys.

Ovens: Do Crimes. I enjoy Tusk Lord when he practices. I like Abysme.

(A phone rings. Wether and Pink Desert are on the line with Mike.)

Mantooth: I generally hate bands that Greg Kolls is involved with.

Mike: Fuck Massdippah. Fuck Baby Dino.

Ovens: Bar bands play too long. I hate that.

Mike: If you like them then that is good.

MRR: Slices have two seven inch records released, one on Home Invasion and other on 16OH. The 16OH release is illustrated with a turtle shell buried or surrounded by leaves forming the shape of the once living turtle. The Home Invasion release is illustrated with a curious depiction of Pavaratti with big, red puckered lips. What relation do these images hold to the band and the particular releases? If there is no exact relation between the artwork and the records, then why were these images chosen or depicted?

Mike: I think it is pretty arbitrary. At this point, we haven't done anything conceptual. We basically have just drawn things we like. With the LP, I think we will take a more conceptual approach. Maybe a more conceptual approach to the artwork, I think? More of a consistent aesthetic, maybe? More thought out.

John: Not as much a conceptual approach related ot the music itself, but I feel that it will be less directly tied to the music itself and not so representative of the type of vibe we are going for. More confused. More representative of us as people and not the band itself.

Mike: We aren't dark people.

Ovens: The music generally suggests one visual idea.

John: I feel that many people will see the artwork and think we are some distressed group of angst-driven people who have really gone to dark places but we are just trying to have a good time.

Ovens: I think you would be surprised about how social we are.

Mantooth: Mike, you have friends waiting for you down the street.

(Greg pours wax from my spell candle in Mike Kasunic's hands. Mike burns the bike lock and wax.)

MRR: Bottles breaking around violent communal behavioral exhibitions. Boredom and apathy confronted by wild headbangers. Slam pits and slam dancing. People crashing through equipment. Upset humans leave the room. This is a Slices gig. There is always an interesting dynamic between the audience and the band at Slices performances. Are there any specific moments during a liev show that you remember the most? Why?

Ovens: We played at Romeo Street, a basement in town, and the only amplifier for vocals was a small practice amp. Mantooth was carrying it and jangling it in front of his face. Screaming into it.

John: We aren't fun to watch except for Mantooth. He spits on himself.

Mantooth: I get a lot of mucous. I don't want it on the floor so I spit on myself.

Mike: Mantooth choke slammed someone once.

Ovens: Manhood is stupid. Fuck you.

Mantooth: Don't throw beer on me. Don't fuck with us.

John: Last time we played New York, our friend, Urban John, was slam-dancing and dipping in the pit. This one guy was wearing a stupid shirt with broken hearts all over it. He fucked with Urban John. Ovens was going to fuck that guy up for messing with Urban John in New York City.

All: Everyone in New York sucks.

Mantooth: It was great to see Infest Nick but he had bad breath.

John: Everyone in New York is afraid of us.

Ovens: I like looking around when I'm drumming. It is really fun to scan the audience. I can't really do anything because I'm the drummer. I just like to look at people when we play.

MRR: Would you say there is a high level camaraderie in the group? When do conflicts arise? Don't be bashful in your responses.

Mike: It is really easy being in this band. I don't really hang out with these guys that much.

John: I spent a lot of time with my brother for eighteen years or so. This is the most comfortable I've ever been in a band. We've never had any major difficulties with writing songs or where we were headed with the music.

Mike: Songs are usually written in about twenty minutes/

John: Or a few minutes actually...

Mantooth: Those are really good songs, too.

MRR: I've heard masked talk from loose lips that the members of Slices have "changed". Some naysayer has even said that the members of Slices were never even who they said they were, that "like hot water set out to cool, Slices turned their backs on sentimentality and have left me with only a cold nostalgia." Now confront the people that speak ill of your group.

Mantooth: Did fucking F. Scott Fitzgerald write this question?

Ovens: As a group, we are more sentimental and more in-tuned with emotions than ever before. Before I joined the band, they were more intellectual but now the group is more emotional.

Mantooth: We are pretty well adjusted guys. We deal with our emotions pretty well.

Mike: Also, we don't have a MySpace or a Facebook.

Ovens: Don't try to put our videos on YouTube. We will take it down. Don't try it. They will be removed.

Mantooth: Just don't. Seriously.

Mike: Don't bootleg our shit.

Ovens: Don't even dub it for a friend.

Mike: Don't even download it.

MRR: Please, closing comments from the band.

Mike: We have some MP3s on some blogs you should definitely download.

Mantooth: If you are interested what our band sounds like look up "Slices Pittsburgh" on Google.

Ovens: Look up "Nub City" on Google.

Mike: We have 650 viewers on last.fm.

Ovens: That would be a pretty good show if they all showed up. We are going to try to get it together so they all show up. We are excited about the new album on Iron Lung Records. Thanks to Iron Lung Records.

Mantooth: You should e-mail us about releasing our radio set. We will tell you no thanks.