First off let’s start with your performance in the last Pulp’s Slamfest. How did it go?
Allan: I think it went well, the audience responded well and I think our message is delivered effectively…
Sam: It went pretty well, still had some rough edges considering it was our new bassist ‘s first time with us but all in all it was a good gig.
If ever there’s gonna be a similar fest, would you do it again and why?
Allan: I think we have to focus a lot more to underground gigs. Personally, it’s enough that we had played the pulp thing 2 times.
Sam: Our main focus is playing at underground gigs as much as possible. The only problem is we seldom get any gigs anyway. If we get invited again to play at these type of events and provided we don’t have to compromise our music and our principles then why the hell not? We just wanna play as often as we can, spread the word about our scene and basically give something back to those who like what we do and also to those who hate us. It’s what we love to do.
Let’s talk about the band. You have an unreleased record. What’s the reason why you cannot release it?
Allan: Yeah, we did a 6-song demo I think last mid 2002… we were shifting our influences musically to grind back then… most of the songs of the demo was more into metal core… the reason is that we got no money for the production and of course pay the recording which was not the deal at all if you know what I’m saying.
Sam: Oh that thing, well, it was supposed to be a demo/ep of some sort but due to schedule conflicts between us and the guys who recorded us and the obvious financial crisis almost all bands face when they record independently… the record is still just stored data on a pc.
What about another record? When are you planning to release something for the grind-hungry supporters?
Allan: Hopefully, we can record our new shit this July and release it this September.
Sam: Definitely, we are actually planning to record within 2 month’s time. This time, hopefully if all goes well it’s gonna be a full length debut album featuring the old songs rearranged and the new stuff. Pepo, our former drummer will produce the album and we plan to put it out by the end of the year.
LOC used to be a hardcore band. How did you evolved into this brutal grinding machine?
Allan: I think we explored more and more and we just went back to the roots… death metal and hardcore which turns out to be grindcore eh.
Sam: The line-up changes had a lot to do with that, I always wanted to do things that the old format didn’t seem to agree with and with the change of members and the influences they brought along with them we eventually came up with our current sound.
How does the death of your former member affected you personally?
Sam: Andoni wrote some of the best lyrics I ever read. He was so effective when it came to channeling his hate and pain onto ink. He was my childhood friend too we were practically brothers and losing him really gave me a rather morbid perspective on life… we’re all just slabs of meat when we die.
Is there any lesson that you’ve learned from his sudden demise?
Sam: Yeah sure, do everything you can and you want to for that matter while you still have the chance. Life is too short to compromise just go do what you want and never look back in regret. And kids… don’t drink and drive!
Allan, your lyrics talk mainly about religion. Why?
Allan: Most of the lyrics of the songs can relate to the fraudulence of religion, but it is also about taming my personal demons and living with the fucked up society we are in. I am critical with my personal experiences in terms of the issue about religion and organized beliefs
You still go to church though. What going on in your head every time you listens to the people whom you loathe so much in your lyrics?
Allan: Yes, I do. I attend because of my parents who I think are too shallow to let me be with my beliefs, and are too brainwashed. I am still living with them, and if they learn about me with my views about their church, they will worry too much, I just keep things balanced within my family. Explaining myself won’t go anywhere with them… too tired eh... their services are too fuckin organized and brainwashed boring as well. The church choir irritates me so much and all the fuckin minister can go kiss my balls… whenever I go to church, I smoke pot to get myself in control with my anger.
What do you think they’re gonna do once they learn of the things that you’re writing about them?
Allan: exile me from the church which is good…incarcerate me… ehehehe … fuck them… it’s their problem so I say just fuck off…
How about you, Gil, Gani and Sam, What’s your stand on religion?
Sam: God has no religion I heard that once, I don’t believe in religion… I believe in you and me. Fuck those damn Jesus freaks who say otherwise.
Gani: I don’t believe in religion.
How do you guys come up with a song? Who does what when you’re writing materials?
Allan: Basically, we just jam together… we all suggest our views in terms of the riffs and the drum patterns…
Sam: Gil usually comes up with great drum riffs first then I try to come up with a riff to complement his beats most of the time riffs I’ve already written in the past then Alan critiques our work which proves to be very useful since he can play guitars and drums too.
How many original songs have you written so far? Ever written something that you wished haven’t been written or played live at all?
Allan: We have 11 originals and we are still finishing 3 more songs.
Sam: About 15 songs, and yes I have written something I hate.
Of your original songs, what are your personal favorites?
Allan: The new song, still untitled…because it’s the most brutal song we have written so far…
Sam: Loathe, Anger Unbound, Jacob’s Ladder I love almost all of them.
Allan, you’ve mentioned that if you were to expand the bands’ musical spectrum, it would be adding some black metal influence? Why Black Metal?
Allan: I want to incorporate not just black metal, but gore and sludge and some stoner feels too. I like black metal but it’s not the type of music I want to play serious with. We’re really into the gutgorebrutaldeathgrind stuff especially Disgorge, Devourment, Cephalic Carnage etc…We also listen to a lot of punk and crust. I think we just really love challenging ourselves and pushing our skills and I believe that there is no limit in anyway.
Would you guys agree with Allan’s point? Do you have any other influences that you’d like to incorporate to LOC’s music?
Sam: Yes of course, we ourselves want to do the same stuff.
How important is the band for you, personally? How’s your relationship with each other now compared to when you first started?
Allan: We see the band bigger than the members… there were hang ups in terms of our relationships but we are getting along very well these days (hopefully in the future).
Sam: It’s bigger than me or any of it’s members that’s what I always say. In all honesty I think about the band 24/7 if there’s a problem then I have a problem and I feel really restless.
Ever had any misunderstandings before? How did you get over it?
Allan: Yeah, the worst thing that had happened was that a member didn’t show up in a gig for what ever reason it was, it sucked anyway, like every one in the band was really pissed off with each other that time… now, we try to understand each other’s situation because most of us are doing day jobs and everything else… we just made a deal that we should always have time for the band.
Sam: Everyone has misunderstandings, I mean we are human and it’ only natural. Just talking about it, a few beers, contraband hehehe good music and we’re all set.
Gani: I think everybody experiences misunderstandings as a group or a team.
It’s just a matter of communicating properly to settle things. With us it’s a couple of beers, some weed and Cephalic Carnage: everything falls right into place.
Other bands in the scene label you as “kupaw or konyo”. What do you think is the reason?
Allan: I think they are too ignorant to see that it is so obvious to realize the difference between a true scene and the false scene. We are not definitely into the kupaw scene… who the fuck will think that a grindcore band, like us, are into this nonsense (scene).. and everyone who calls us konyo are just plain narrow minded fags for their purpose is not to help but to fuck with us or probably the scene itself.
Sam: I haven’t heard us be labeled as kupaw before, and as for the conyo shit I think that has something to do with the former members which I still don’t understand. Should a person be hated just coz’ his parents are rich? I don’t know man think about it.
Gani: That’s a flawed question and I cannot answer that for it caters not to the people who support us or the growing scene. It would be nice to find out who these “bands” are though…
How do you think this kind of attitude (backstabbing) will affect the bands and the scene in general?
Allan: It will never affect the band… as for the scene, it will do no good. This persons are the trendsetters and the posers…You can easily see them, try to fit in clowns, they are the ones who just do what they think is the current fad. Fuck off trends….
Sam: Well it doesn’t affect me as much as it should but what the hell man … fuck em’ all.
Gani: It’s just plain sad that happens. It’s heartbreaking because a lot of people including us really believe in the scene and this attitude doesn’t help affirm its strength and growth.
It’s bad news not just for us but for everyone else. Bands who are just starting up will not have it any easier to get an audience, and older bands won’t have it any simpler playing it well with this attitude which I honestly think is not inevitable.
Sam, you used to play with Skychurch. Why did you leave the band? Do you have any regret in leaving that band?
Sam: I basically filled in for kuya Rommel while he was busy with his studies, I played with them for almost 2 years as his steady replacement that’s all.
You sometimes play with well-known bands that are getting paid every time they play. How does it feel, especially when you knew that you’re just as competitive musically?
Sam: The latter part of your question says it all man. We don’t care about money and they do that’s as plain as I can put it, we all have day jobs and I personally think that they’re just too damn lazy to get a real job.
Gani: Sometimes it’s not easy. I’m everything but jealous in a situation like that. We all quite understand what we’re in. The scene and this music does not pay at all and you’d be lucky if it did in a gig, let alone if you could break even. It’s safe to say we never do this for money, but its nice to get something back to pay for the ride home or not to have an empty stomach just to play well.
I won’t complain to these other bands that get the dough, as long as they don’t fuck up the lineup playing in a gig, it’s never a problem.
Ever thought of making commercial music to make money and have all the pretty girls screaming after you?
Allan: We don’t do this for the money and all that commercial shit… this is the underground. We know that in this type of music, it is hard to think that you can get any money unless you are signed in Relapse. Never to commercialism. D.I.Y.
Sam: Maybe when I was a lot younger, but then I was always struggling against my parents to let me have my way with my music and I spent almost all my time learning to play by ear coz they didn’t like the idea of paying for guitar lessons. My main goal was to play… plain and simple.
Gani: If your question is about any of us to consider to play music for pay like a job, I honestly don’t know. The thought itself seems afar for me to be a career in the local sense.
But if you’re asking about LOC’s music to compromise with a contract to befriend what people hear on the radio so it could be more marketable, No. That will never happen. It’s totally a different thing if you want your band to be your job. It’s also a very different thing if you play for reasons beside being in a band to play, like to be famous. And with this music you can’t have it any other way but play it for the true love it.
As for the screaming girls to be on shows, that's a fantasy but not an aspiration of ours. It's a glass wine next to my T-Bone, y'know what I mean?
How do you see the current state of the Philippine underground scene?
Allan: It’s spreading and getting stronger… there are many new sick bands. Constant productions (gigs) supporting metal and hardcore bands like “sickfest”, and “disnormal night” really help it grow.
Sam: Alive and kicking, we just need to get along and help each other out… fuck that sounded so hippie-ish like John fucking Lennon and that damn Jap bitch who fucked it all up hehehe but seriously man we need to work together. UNITY
Any other local bands that you would recommend to our readers?
Allan: There are many good bands, Mortal Grudge, Power Tools – they play brutalgrind, As Angels Fall, Disabuse, End of Man, Human Combustion, Extreme Response, to name a few…
Sam: Powertools, As Angels Fall, Sin, Mortal Grudge, Resurrected, Tame the Tikbalang, Loads of Motherhood, COG, Whorelocke, Mortal Fear, End of Man, Valley of Chrome… I can’t remember them all sorry.
Gani: I’m a big fan of PowerTools; I think they’re more extreme than ever. Mortal grudge, Mortal Fear, As Angels Fall; they play serious tough shit!. Extreme Response; I saw them at Brannigan’s once, and they kick ass.
Where do you think LOC’s heading in the next couple of years?
Allan: Hope it would be fine… as of now we will record our EP. We will just play and write better stuff.
Sam: I’ll cross the bridge when I get there but I promise you we’ll be around… so to everyone who loves us thank you so much for everything you helped us become and to those who think otherwise… deal with it.
Thanx a lot guys for your time. Hope to hear your complete demo sooner.
Allan: Salamat sa interview!!! More gore to you and your zine!!!
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