10.01.2007
INTOLERANT: DEATH, WAR AND KILLER GUITARS
“IF JESUS AND THE DEVIL WERE TO FORM A BAND, WE’D BE THE PERFECT OPENING ACT FOR THEM.” JOEY DIZON, GUITARIST OF INTOLERANT, HAS A WAY WITH WORDS. AND HIS NEW BAND HAS A WAY WITH MUSIC THAT KICKS YOUR SKULL IN
For the average unadventurous music listener, hearing a song by Intolerant is like unwittingly wandering into an Ultimate Fighting Championship: before you know what the fuck is going on, you’re going to get your ass kicked in so many creative, brutal ways. You won’t be able to defend yourself against being battered to a pulp by the experts, but in the end, you just might develop a taste for the blood in your mouth.
Needlessly violent imagery, perhaps—and certainly, if you are instead a longtime fan of heavy music, you'll find much that is already familiar and welcoming in Intolerant’s music. The fact is, I’m probably the last person in the world who should be writing something about a band like Intolerant, seeing as how most of the music I listen to is, for lack of a better word, pretty candy-ass. (I own almost everything the Pet Shop Boys ever recorded, for God’s sake.) But there’s something to be said about trying to go beyond your usual listening fare, and to be honest, I had reached the point where I couldn’t bear to listen to yet another blogged-about, whiny-voiced, bearded/goateed, quirky/sensitive, American/Canadian independent so-called rock band. That’s why I found songs like “God of War” and “Death Toll Rising” such a refreshing change.
Intolerant’s underground cred is impeccable, being made up as it is of members of two of the more respected heavy acts on the local scene: L.O.C. and Skychurch. Having said that, the very reason Intolerant exists is to push the boundaries a little—in other words, to break the rules of a genre that is known for breaking rules. It’s this spirit of re-creation that makes Intolerant’s music a gateway drug of sorts, which is not to say that it is in any way lacking in speed, power or aggression. Intolerant guitarist Joey Dizon, whose other bands have included Skychurch, DNYD and Moyg—and who, incidentally, is the Editor-in-Chief of PULP magazine, which often celebrates heavy music in its pages—filled us in on his new band.
PULSE.PH: When, how and why did Intolerant come together? And why the name "Intolerant?”
JOEY: Let’s see. I’d say it’s been two years since me, [vocalist/guitarist] Russell dela Cruz and [drummer] Pepo Gohu got together for a beer and started talking about putting the band together. We didn’t have any songs, we didn’t know exactly what we wanted to do, but we sort of knew that, if given the choice, we’d want to create and play music together… I guess because since we’ve always had good vibes between us since years ago, when I started sessioning for Skychurch and L.O.C. was pretty new. It seemed like a long year at first, because we were just jamming on this one song—now known as “Shift”—and just adding on to it, twisting the parts and arrangements and shit like that. We didn’t even have a bass player.
What happened was, Russell had so much riffs and was writing a lot of music which we couldn’t exactly play in Skychurch, mainly because there was a significant difference to ‘em… and we didn’t want to confine ourselves nor alienate Skychurch fans with something totally left-field. Though we’re both pretty open-minded with music, both of us weren’t too comfortable with the concept of a band—which has already established its identity/ purpose—suddenly doing a 180 for whatever the fuck reason.
So we called in Pepo, who we hadn’t seen in ages, and he seemed excited about the whole idea of sort of “breaking the rules” with heavy music… because after he left L.O.C., he pursued many other projects and had a well-rounded sense of music: he was a guitar player, sessioned for other bands and even became a DJ. He also knew his way around the studio, so we knew that he was the type of guy we wanted to work with. Then after a long time of trying out bassists (well, we only tried out one… then drew blanks the following rehearsals…), we sort of all decided to call in Mic Gallegos, who formed L.O.C. with Pepo and played bass for ‘em. He was involved with Moyg then and had his own band Man Down, but he also expressed a lot of excitement, and we found out he was on the same page as we were. I don’t know exactly “why” we came together, there was no real urgent reason to, but it sort of just worked out. What started off as a project band, became something we’re all committed to… probably because there’s a good balance in personalities and musical chemistry. It’s a pretty rare thing.
As for the name, no deep story there. We were nameless for the longest time. At first, it was Reasons for Unrest, but then, we sort of went for something simpler. We each have stories/ interpretations explaining why we’re called Intolerant, but to be honest, they probably change as often as we change socks. Which is often… I assume.
How does being in Intolerant compare to your experiences with DNYD, Moyg and Skychurch?
Personally, it’s way different, and still very rewarding. DNYD was my first serious band with close friends who were really into the hardcore thing… we managed to make a small name for ourselves, we came up with original songs that were pretty okay, but then… we just got tired of it, I guess. We joke about it to this day, because we were just some new band but we sort of acted like… jerks. We had egos and we were pretty strong personalities, so I guess it wasn’t meant to last. Besides, we’re all better off as great friends now.
Skychurch of course, will always be close to my heart… but that band was already made, and had an ethic I dared not fuck with. I was just happy to play guitar with those guys because they were my mentors, and I looked up to them so much. I was always keeping myself in check because Skychurch really is about three brothers who fucking killed any band out there. Period. I will always first be a fan of Skychurch, rather than a “real” member. And I’ll be happy to play for any of those guys any day. I also met my Moyg bandmates through Skychurch, because we were always playing these productions together (alongside Badburn, who are also close friends…), so when they needed a guitar player to fill in, they called me up and I accepted instantly. Moyg is a fun band, great guys to get wasted with, and though things can really get goofy, the band is principled; I get my punk fix with those guys. We’re actually not called Moyg anymore… we’re now called Today Arsenal, and Mic also plays bass with us.
Intolerant is my main band, and I’m really down with it because even though we’re into the heavy music thing, we’ve totally eradicated all boundaries and made it a point to come up with something fresh-sounding. I mean, I don’t want to claim that what we’re doing is totally new, but I admit that I love it when bands don’t only play, but challenge the way people think and feel about music. Also, even though Mic, Pepo and I still have high respect for Russ, the four of us agree that this band isn’t driven by just one person, or dominated by key members, like Skychurch and Moyg sort of was. It’s really about four different musicians really letting loose. I guess that’s probably why it takes us quite a while to totally finish a song… we feel there’s always something more we can add onto a simple progression, or riff. The cool thing about it is, there’s no pressure… we’re not rushing to beat a deadline or anything, though we are teaching ourselves NOT to take too long…
Intolerant is made up of members of "two genre-defining bands in the Philippine underground music scene…” what does Intolerant do that would be familiar/unfamiliar to listeners of Skychurch and L.O.C.?
Definitely, Intolerant can conveniently be tagged as a heavy band, and Skychurch and L.O.C. are pretty good primers (among many) for local heavy music. The musicianship can also be pretty demanding, and we’ve always had high standards when it came to performance… Intolerant really takes pride in playing the songs the right way: it’s loud, it’s heavy but it’s also very refined. Skychurch was very disciplined when it came to performing, and wasn’t the easiest shit to do, but it was, again, very rewarding.
On the other hand, Intolerant is a lot more mature in some aspects… I mean, we even have a ballad-type song, so you can imagine how flexible we are compared to your average metal band. Skychurch had ballads and melody and shit, but they were used as tools. With Intolerant, we wouldn’t be as afraid to use those melodies and that certain approach from start to finish… if that’s what we feel we really want to do.
In a way, Intolerant is also pretty open-minded to having people outside of the genre give a listen. So right now, we’ll play anywhere and everywhere as long as we’re down with the people we’re playing with. Our gigs don’t necessarily have to be limited to underground metal gigs.
Your Purevolume page describes the band as "Metal /Metalcore / Death Metal." For the clueless—meaning myself—please describe the qualities of these genres, and how they feed into the sound of Intolerant.
I guess those labels/sub-genres are mainly for convenience, but it’s pretty hard to take it as scripture… we’re definitely a metal band, we’re definitely willing to play something with melody and unafraid to try out new, more modern elements like progressions and arrangements, and we also won’t think twice about fucking going bonkers and pushing the limits as far as death metal does—blistering guitar work, guttural vocals, double bass drumming, extremely fast yet also extremely slow, and all. I guess it’d be safe to say that we’re all commonly rooted in our love for bands like Slayer, Pantera, Sepultura and even bands not exactly dead-center in the metal heap… bands like Earth Crisis, Strife, Sick of It All, Madball. I know it doesn’t sound pretty intelligent, but put all those influences together, add our own craziness, and that’s Intolerant.
If Jesus and the Devil were to form a band, we’d be the perfect opening act for them.
How does the songwriting in Intolerant work? Please describe the process/inspirations behind some of the songs. ("God of War" is my current favorite).
It either starts with a riff or a drum pattern. Like I mentioned, Russell had all these leftover riffs and what would happen was, we’d tie ‘em together and slave over them for hours in the studio. We’d all add onto those few riffs and play it until we felt it sounded right. It was a very meticulous process, considering we’re four critical personalities… but for some reason, whenever something worked, we were all unanimous in deciding it was the way we heard it in our heads. Pretty cosmic… and funny because we don’t really share the same vices or habits. Or whatever the fuck it is that causes musical inspiration.
Is that a second vocalist on "Left Standing," doing the 'cleaner' vocals? And why does "Shift" sound so different from the other songs so far?
On the recorded songs, Russ sings all the vocals so on “Left Standing,” that’s both his vocals. He’s a pretty well-rounded singer, and we are all proud to say that he has a powerful voice and a fine sense of pitch. No studio trickery at all, what you’ll hear on disc is what you’ll hear live… we guarantee it. I mean, there are singers these days who sound bad on their album! (It’s pretty dumb, granted there are so many ways to sound good in the studio… cheating or not). “Shift” is also a really good song that shows how dynamic he can be, and it’s also a very personal song for us. It was the song that sort of defined us during the beginning: it was one thing, but it was also something else… minus the compromise a normal band on the radio would have to undergo. “My Demise” is also pretty complex, yet it’s as brutal as “Shift” is subtle.
“God of War” is also currently my favorite, because it’s really just a mean motherfucker (yes, inspired by the video game, because Russell was hooked!). It’s an all-out, no bullshit, metal-as-fuck track that we all enjoy playing live. Just like “Death Toll Rising…” when we play those two songs live, I think that’s when we’re pulling out the big guns.
There's a lot of great guitar work on these songs—the searing solos are what a listener inexperienced with this genre (again, such as myself) latch on to first. As a guitarist, who are your heroes/influences?
As a guitarist, there are so many guitar players I look up to. I divide them into groups because it’s sort of like comparing apples to oranges whenever people ask me who I think the better guitar hero is. For downright shredding, my faves are the usual: Satriani, Vai, Paul Gilbert, Marty Friedman. But as far as heavy metal and rock goes, you can’t go wrong with the late, great Dimebag Darrell… he was the true example of what it meant to be a well-rounded musician: he could shred, but he also had attitude and kicked ass onstage, and was an impressive rhythm player. That’s very important to me… before you become a shredder, you gotta know how to play rhythm… you gotta know your timing. That’s why I really admire guitarists like Eddie Van Halen, James Hetfield and Kirk Hammet, Scott Ian. They’re not necessarily shredders, and probably not the fastest guys around, but they’ve got personality and they fucking respect the musicians around them and know that the spotlight’s not always on them. Yngwie Malmsteen and John Petrucci can fucking suck sheep balls for all I care. Yeah they’re good, but sometimes there’s a fine line between tasty and just wanking at 500mph. Plus, I’m pretty sure if Dimebag was to ever get in a fight with Malmsteen or Petrucci, he’d kick their asses with one hand tied behind his back. Even if it was a beer-drinking contest he’d win… even non-guitarists who’d listen to the albums all three of them played on would probably agree that Darrell’s playing has the most impact. Because it’s not only technical… it, er… rocks. Really.
How do you build on/develop your guitar-playing?
I’m actually guilty of not always “building/developing” my chops. I got a day job, so I guess that’s my excuse for not always being able to go through the proper rudiments and exercises and whatever. But my technique to keep myself from rusting has always been picking up the guitar at least once a day, and playing entire songs from start to finish instead of just the same licks and exercises over and over again. I also reserve certain days for jamming with other guitar players… usually on weekends, I get together with two buddies and we just crank the amps and go solo-crazy! Sort of like a G3, only goofier and a little crappier, and we’re all Filipino and nobody’s filming the shit. Nobody should.
What's the line between a good solo and a bad one?
A good solo? I guess a good solo makes a good song even better. A good solo can highlight a song, it can also take you to a different place, or it can simply blow you away. You feel a good solo, not hear it. It’s because it’s the perfect balance with, again, melody and technical skill. That’s what I think, at least… there have been many debates over what the perfect solo is. Many people say that Kurt Cobain’s solos were genius because they were pure emotion, but I, on the other hand think they were just plain crap. It was right for the music, I guess, but in no way would I refer to those solos as “influential” or “essential.” I am one of the very few people, I guess, who doesn’t give a shit about Nirvana or sees them as a great band. I wasn’t happy when Cobain blew his brains out, but I also wasn’t sad. I think I was busy practicing my chops.
I look at guitar solos in a way that it’s sort of like when you’re eating the perfect pizza, then adding another layer of mozzarella: you don’t really need it, but if you do it right, it’ll make it extra special, say on an all-meat kind. But in that regard, it can also backfire… like when you realize that what you’ve got is a cheese pizza… it’s a plus, but it doesn’t really do or mean anything. (I’m hungry.)
Do you personally have any favorite songs among Intolerant's output so far? Which one/s and why?
They’re all my favorites… all five songs, though I do joke a lot about how much I “hate ’Shift.’” I guess it’s because, like I mentioned previously, we played it for the longest time over and over again in the studio. I have to admit though that I’m pretty biased when it comes to the songs with guitar solos… they keep me on my feet when I’m playing live, because I definitely don’t want to screw up the parts of songs I was given free reign to write. “God of War” and “Death Toll Rising” are current faves because they just make me want to bash somebody’s head in whenever I hear/play them.
In your opinion, what does each member of Intolerant bring to the band, in terms of musical ability and personal qualities?
Well for one, I like to think that we’re no slouches when it comes to our individual instruments/ immediate roles in the band. I’ve been fortunate to play with many musicians from college and afterwards, but the thing I love about the guys in Intolerant is that they all know what they want/want to do and how to get/do it. Though we’d sometimes coach each other in the studio and suggest ideas and shit, we’re all very secure with the fact that we can individually hold our own and don’t need to be told what to do. It’s very liberating.
With Russ, I guess he’s pretty much the most seasoned musician since he was doing the Skychurch thing as early as high school. I mean, he was a fucking influential musician way before he knew shit about calculus or whatever. And our personalities match, because we’re brutally honest even if it means we come off as assholes. Pepo, I’m also proud to say, has such a wide vocabulary of knowledge when it comes to music, and he’s always willing to learn. It really shows in his playing, because it’s pretty well-rounded and unpredictable as far as metal drummers go. He’s got a great attitude too, very sociable but he also knows when it’s time to speak up and fucking pound somebody in the face with the truth. Again, the three of us are pretty extreme personalities, and Mic balances all that out, even though he definitely has his crazy moments too. But yeah, he’s the most grounded guy, and he’s always great company on or off the stage… because he lets us pick on him. Ha!
Seriously, we’ve all been through some pretty crazy shit individually and collectively, but there’s a fine sense of balance among us. I guess I’ve used that word a lot—balance—so it’s pretty important to me personally, be it musically, or within the band. That’s where the dynamic comes from… a sense of balance.
How have the reactions to Intolerant from audiences been, both the underground/ hardcore community and the more mainstream crowds that may have heard you? What do Skychurch and L.O.C. fans think?
I honestly don’t know, and to some extent, I don’t really think about it as much. I’m happy that we’ve gotten a lot of positive vibes from the people who go to the gigs, of course, but even if we didn’t get as much good feedback, it probably wouldn’t interfere with what we’re doing. I was expecting a lot of reactions especially since our first song was “Shift,” but surprisingly, nobody actually went up to our faces and said “Dude? What the fuck?!!” I think Skychurch fans and original-lineup-L.O.C. fans also have a more mature attitude towards music now, just like us. The great thing about it is, there’s quite a number of non-Skychurch fans who actually dig what Intolerant is doing. So I’m pretty sure we’re doing something, or a lot of things, right. We’ve changed and evolved, but we’ve also maintained some aspects and principles worth sticking to as to who we are as musicians and as people.
What, for you, are the band's most memorable moments/ achievements thus far?
Fete Dela Musique 2007 was definitely memorable because even though we were a new band, things went extremely well. It was a pretty tight set, if I may say so, and that’s when we all realized that all the work and sleepless nights were very much worth it. Our Purple Haze gigs are always memorable because there’s a great vibe to that place, it has great gear which they allow us to crank and we’re almost always playing with our buddies from Badburn and Today Arsenal. We had a pretty great gig in Caloocan a few months ago when this Hong Kong-based metalcore act Shepherds The Weak came and played a show. And our recent out of town trip to Pampanga was a blast because we all got really drunk but still played an amazingly tight set. Same thing with the Olongapo gigs we played in early ’07. Always a great crowd, always really, really loud.
Of course, recording the demo/EP we’re currently giving away was pretty awesome in my book as far as achievements are concerned, because for a rough recording, we all could hear that there was so much potential within the group. I don’t want to sound arrogant about it, but we all pretty much achieved what we wanted to do at that point in time. Right, in the sense, that we got the respect from people whose opinions mattered to us: the cool guys who catch the shows and support us, and our friends from the other bands we play with.
Where can people watch/listen to Intolerant?
Our skeds are pretty tricky by choice, because we all got priorities and we understand that priorities come first. But we’re pretty much playing at least twice a week, most of the time either at Purple Haze, Mayric’s, or whichever venue where the people are cool with our music. There’s also a handful of out of town gigs every now and then. People can reach us through Friendster or MySpace, or email us directly at intolerantmetal666@yahoo.com if they want to ask where we’re playing.
We’re still giving away free copies of the demo/EP at the gigs, and if people want to hear the songs, we’ll be more than happy to email ‘em mp3s of whatever rough recordings we have at the moment.
Is the full-length still set to come out before year's end?
Right now, it’s the next step for us, we’re totally redoing everything and have new songs, and we’re slowly but surely figuring out how to achieve the sound we want to be heard on our full-length. Studio recording is a whole different beast, but we’re really pushing to get the album out by the end of the year.
What's right and what's wrong about the music industry right now?
Hmmm… a lot if it’s wrong. There’s so much useless shit on the air and on the radio, and rock is in a sad, sad state… call me a dick or whatever, but in my opinion, so many bands these days just deserve to beaten to shit. I mean, I’m a music fan, and so many people are bastardizing and making money out of this whole “band” thing. And so many great, great bands are going unnoticed because of this whole slew of untalented wankers “dominating the airwaves.” So many artists aren’t getting the credit they deserve. I’m saddened by the fact that venues would rather choose a namby-pamby G-rated pop/ showband-type/ formulaic group over a band that really has something to offer, or over what an artist like Noel Cabangon or Skarlet has to offer. I mean, I know it’s really the nature of the industry to support anything that sells, but why not extend the other hand to people who deserve it? And it wasn’t as obvious, and as hard-sell compared to a few years ago… now, a majority (not all, mind you) of the industry still supports crap and doesn’t even have the courtesy to, at the very least, choose the most decent artist in the crap pile. Anyone can get a record deal now, even if they’re totally retarded and can’t sing a note to save their life, as long as they’re part of a trend and have the right look. At least a few years ago, Alamid had chops even though they were kind of cheesy… they knew how to tune their guitars and the guy could sing the right notes. But now, any honest musician can instantly name ten bands who deserve to be fucking dragged out in the streets and shot for being so fucking lame.
It’s not totally hopeless though… I still believe that a lot of companies really want to get their shit together, and that a lot of the younger guys are really coming up with great stuff. But I’m not holding my breath and waiting for it to happen… Intolerant isn’t either. We’re just going to keep doing what we do best.
Listen to Intolerant’s songs on their Purevolume page. And visit them on MySpace and Friendster.
TAGS: intolerant
