The Cancer Conspiracy (12.02.00)
........................
SS Bogan
Very few bands have a claim to originality. This band stands out as the exception. Before this show, I had heard lots of buzz about The Cancer Conspiracy. However, I could have never had imagined they would have been as amazing as they were. They easily hold the title as the best band at Circvs fest and possibly the most original I have heard in years.
Brent: Are you going to be asking me questions I don't know?
SS: I don't think so. Does something British come out of your mouth every once in a while?
Brent: Probably. I am from Vermont.
SS: Which is basically...
Brent: Which is basically British. About how many words would you say is British?
SS: About every 15-20 words.
Brent: Let me know when I do it.
SS: OK. How long have you been around?
Brent: Greg, you wanna get in on this?
Greg: Sure.
Brent: Last October was our first show. Before that, these two had jammed maybe a year before that. They had played one show with the intention of moving out west. That fell through how many times? Several.
Greg: Really only once that matters.
Brent: Bullshit. Pretty much monthly for like six months. I remember running into Daryl and he would be like, "we're moving", and you never moved. Well, anyway, I ended up jamming with them. And, from then on out, we were a band.
SS: I know everyone hates genres and labeling. But if you had to label your sound, it would be?
Greg: Modern progressive rock.
SS: I was thinking something along those lines, maybe with a little math rock influence. Is there any reason you chose to go without a vocalist?
Brent: Beside it being a good idea, we have really grown to love the no vocal attitude. But, the band fell together as it is. Originally we thought that if we found someone else that could sing and play guitar or sing and play keyboards he was in, but after a while we had written enough songs that didn't need vocals.
Greg: After we had written so many songs as instrumentals, there really wasn't any room left for vocals. And we come from an area where there aren't very many vocalists available.
Brent: There really isn't anything at all.
Greg: So we make up for it with a lot of instrumentals.
SS: How often do you guys practice? It must require a lot.
Brent: Usually three or four times a week. Sometimes more.
(At this point Walls of Jericho start playing. It's loud. So, we going outside to subzero weather)
Greg: You wanna tell him about our influences?
Brent: I have listened to a wide variety of music ever since I was little. A few years ago I was really into hardcore. I have always been into really instrumental stuff. Indie Rock. Anything kind of left of center. The past few years I have been into a lot of older stuff. A lot of old 70's progressive rock. Then, I started playing with these guys. Then we started trading records. We have a lot of similar tastes. Greg?
Greg: I am a little older than this guy, so I evolved more with the decades. I grew up with Rush, The Police, and Genesis.
SS: Rush was my first guess.
Brent: I have older sisters so I wasn't quite on the wave. I knew at least all the hits of those bands. Then, later on, I would go through my families old records and be like, "Oh shit, I can't believe we have this. I would have never had guessed."
Greg: I am definitely having a lot of trouble finding modern stuff out there that excites me.
Brent: Records that really blow my mind are so few and far between that there is nothing really left to choose from. It's all going back to that stuff that has already been out for years.
Greg: Back then bands pretty much branded their sound and their style. And now it is all so overrun.
Brent: I mean, even us. We aren't doing anything new. We are different now but you can relate it all to shit that come out 30 years ago.
Greg: We definitely put our modern twist to it.
SS: Is it hard to get shows when you are a band that is, as you put it, a little left of center?
Brent: Where we are from, there is really no scene at all. So, we usually end up hooking up with bands that are a little more our style. This tonight is pretty much out of our league. We have all played in hardcore bands before, so it's not too odd. We don't really fit. This definitely is not our scene.
Greg: Kids are usually pretty respectful and we love doing it. If we can reach a new or different audience then that is great. I think there are definitely people who are ready for something. I think they are getting tired of what's out there now.
SS: What would you suggest for someone who is looking for something new or different or tasteful.
Greg: I would suggest they go back to the old stuff. Old King Crimson, old Yes, ect...
SS: Definitely OLD Yes.
Brent:(laughter) That's the shit I'm talking about. I have been the owner of a Lonely Hearts seven inch for years because of my sister. Then when I started getting into them I was like, "Damn, of all the Yes albums that my sister could have chosen to listen to..."
Greg: I also grew up on old metal. I am a huge KISS fan. I grew up on Black Sabbath and I was rocking out to Loverboy. I'll even chill to Journey. I'm not ashamed to admit it.
SS: How old are you guys?
Greg: I'm 26, he's 20, and Daryl is 24.
SS: You guys aren't THAT old.
Greg: I just feel old.
SS: You guys totally independent, or do you have a label?
Brent: We have our EP out on a very small label that just started. It's actually just a friend of ours and another guy from Canada. Maybe that will bloom into something. It is a very small label. I don't even know if you could call it a label. We are shopping around. We have another disk that we are finishing. We are shopping it around trying to get picked up.
SS: I enjoyed your pissed off attitude as you kicked your pedals across the floor.
Brent: Well, how many times can your shit fail before you get pissed.
SS: It was humorous. I enjoyed it. I would guess that you are more of a musician's band than anything.
Brent: We have definitely had our share of people who didn't get it. We don't play radio hits. Don't expect to be seeing us on MTV any time soon. The most frequently asked question is "What's up with the vocals?" People don't understand that you can have a band without singing.
SS: Outside of being in a band, what do you do?
Greg: Shitty-ass jobs.
Brent: I think we can all vouch for horrible jobs.
Greg: Gas stations, grocery stores, and retail world.
SS: Which do you fit into?
Brent: He pumps gas.
Greg: I don't pump gas.
Brent: Yeah. You don't pump gas.. And I don't stock shelves either (sarcastic).
Greg: I actually stock coolers. I am a cooler guy.
Brent: He is the head honcho.
SS: It's not that bad of a job is it?
Brent: It's not a bad job at all. It allows us to do this. That is something that I have come to appreciate in the past few years. I used to get so down on my job. I still hate it but it allows me to be here, right now. The flexibility is definitely there.
SS: What other shows do you have lined up?
Greg: We have a show tomorrow night in Pittsburgh, and then we are going home. We are trying to book a week in the Midwest in the spring and then do some east coast stuff with like, Cave In.
SS: Cave In is awesome.
Greg: Cave In is awesome. They are really cool guys. They have actually helped our name out a lot. They have thrown it around every chance they have gotten. We have definitely appreciated that.
SS: What is the future?
Brent: To release the long song and piss everyone off with it.
SS: Does the song have a name?
Brent: The Audio Medium.
SS: Do you guys read much?
Brent: I have been reading a lot lately.
SS: What have you been reading?
Greg: I am a magazine junky.
Brent: That's not reading.
Greg: All right man... So I don't read.
Brent: We have been reading a lot more now that we have been on the road. There is a lot of time to kill. That, and we don't have a tape player in the car, which indirectly inspired the title of the new song, and it's what the concept of the album is built around. There is nothing on the radio. And, when we are not on the road, there is not time… just work, practice, sleeping, and drinking.
SS: Water of course. You don't want to be a bad influence on the kids.
Brent: Fuck the kids. We live in a small town and there is nothing to do. I am proud of my drinking habit.
Greg: When you live in Vermont you either drink or milk cows.
Brent: We live far enough away to avoid the Phish comments. You guys know about Phish, right?
SS: Yeah.
Brent: The heroes of Burlington, Vermont. Every time we play outside of Burlington, Vermont people always mention Phish.
SS: Is there any significance to your name?
Brent: It came out of Playboy Magazine. But, it is much deeper than that. In so many words, it was the title of an article in Playboy Magazine. It was about how the government has found a cure for cancer, but didn't release it to keep money coming into the hospitals. In an odd way we have related that to the music industry. In other words, the radio, big business or government, allows you to have what they want you to have. Any cure or decent music is something that someone has to search out. There is hope out there.
SS: Last words?
Greg: www.thecancerconspiracy.com
Brent: The kids in La Porte love the metal. Stay out of La Porte, IN if you don't like the metal.
Picture by of John Nolte, courtesy of Ball Bearings
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