Hi, Jeff! How're you doing after the tour, is everything OK? Hot bath and a can of beer got you healed?)
Jeff - It was a blast! Got a little bit sick after the tour but everything is back to normal and boring haha!! It was real great to play with my bro again. Missed playing those songs with him. Nice to take a hot bath to get rid of that road filth you accumulate but i think my liver suffered enough on this trip so no beer haha!!! Was awesome to tour with Trigger/Love Machine. They were some funny characters.
How did it happen that you're fan of Japanese robots? What's so attractive in them for you? Correct me if I'm wrong, but your favorite is gundam, isn't it?
Jeff - Just always had this fascination with giant Robots ever since i was a child. I would rush home after school to watch them on Television or would wake up early in the morning. It was something that i have always loved and to this day i'm still a fan. Gundams are just a part of what i get into but there's so many other ones i love as well like Macross, Mazinger, Voltron. To name a few.
Jeff - Yeah, we needed a break due to my hadicap. I had to get the surgery done before i was to venture out again and other tragedies struck us as well. Trigger/Love Machine wanted to come to the states and tour so there was the perfect opportunity to get Catheter rolling again. I guess you could say that Trigger were a blessing in diguise haha!!
How did you come up with such band's name? I assume that someone from your band got into the hospital, or maybe you looked through a lot of medical literature?
Jeff - It was a name that our old singer Justin had in his head. Rumor has it, other people had came up with the name for their own project. But you know how tall tales go. it was just a name that stuck with us. We basically slapped the name on our releases so we decided to keep it. I guess there's no really fascinating story behind it. It basically got us confused with other bands of the same name too. But we stuck to our guns and kept it.
Jeff - Me a Haroldo just love to play. We never really ever thought it would take us far but we just kept it going because we really have nothing better to do. We know the style we play will never pay the bills or put food on our table but we don't really care. We were fans of the music first getting everything Earache would release in the early days of grind and going to shows buying what a touring band would sell. We'd look through fanzines and do trading and buy releases from bands through mail.
So i guess you could say that we're fans of what we play. Me and Haroldo keep it going because we work together well and nobody else gets along together better than me and him.
Jeff - We have other bands that do Grindcore. I have another Grind band called Tree Of Woe that has a more Death Metal side than a Hardcore side. There's another long running band from Denver called Roskopp and they're really good. There's also 908 and a killer Crust band called ROAC from Denver. That's all i can think of out of the top of my head right now haha!! (don't Judge me. I hardly leave the house anymore)
Oh, by the way, tell us about how is your beard so thick? Do you smear it or something?) Does it help to write juicy grindcore riffs?)
Jeff - The heavier i play the thicker it gets. It takes a major part of my riffing!!
OK, let's fantasize a little. Imagine that you're a crazy professor. You're busy with genetic engineering. What three animals would you choose to combine so this infernal beast would kick humanity's ass?))
Jeff - Hmmmmmmm...... I would say a Whale/Squid/Bat. Then i would name it Cthulhu!!!
Jeff - Grindcore has a major part in what made me what i am today. I can't say that i kept up with what's out there nowadays. I think the reason is that maybe it has ran its course in my life that i don't need to collect it anymore. I've been listening to it since the late 80's so certain bands stay dear to me but anything new i really don't know what's out there so i just stick to my favorite three bands that got me started; Terrorizer, Napalm and Repulsion. Then I throw some Sabbath in there to even things out.
We actually never really had the intention of disbanding. It always ended up just being me and Haroldo keeping it together with or without anyone else. I can definitely say that with other long running DIY grind bands like Unholy Grave (Japan) Wojczech (Ger) and RAS (Spain) etc, we have lived Grindcore for a long time and kept it going without hardly straying away from what our bands had originally intended to do. We still love this gender it's just that we have grown into our own way of Grind through and within our own bands.
Man, I totally am thankful that you have an appreciation for Catheter. Still to this day i find it strange that there's people out in the world that like us so really, I'm greatful!!
By the way, do you go to the gigs often? What was the last gig you visited? I noticed that a lot of grind maniacs are touring in your country recently, and that's great, 'cause underground scene keeps growing!
Jeff - I'll catch some shows here and there. Most of the time i just sit at home listening to records and building my models and writing music haha!! The last gig i saw was when Tree of Woe played with Eyehategod and Today Is The Day. That was awesome!! Most of the shows i would like to see are about an hour away from me in Denver. But i never have the motivation anymore to see live shows. I think i passed that torch over a long time ago. I'm glad i have seen what i've got to see though. the 90's and early 2000's were a great time for me. I'm glad it's still going strong but i left it to carry on to the next generation. I just hope the next generation still like us haha!!
Have you ever had this feeling when you're ready to quit all these tours and gigs, sell all the instruments and to live quiet life, earn money, expand your belly (hehe) and drink whiskey at the dinner?
Jeff - Haha never!! There isn't a day that goes by without me picking up my guitar and playing. Even if i was to quit touring i would end up playing local shows but it's still in my blood. When i'm at home i want to go on tour and when i'm on tour i miss home. it's never one without the other. I'm going to always be a pirate and live the life of freedom until it kills me however, i never had a problem of growing a belly, it's the exact opposite. I was born a big person and whiskey will always be around to clean my weasly guts out!!
Do you like Triggers's stuff? I was pretty amazed when I listened to their new album, I've never heard something like that, which is a huge bonus. Are they as great on the scene as they're on the record?
Jeff - They grew on me during the tour. At first i think they were having trouble with their gear because they bought everything new when they got into the States. So they still had to fine tune everything in so by the middle of the tour they were a machine.
Jeff - Well we didn't get into this music to ever be liked by critics. We have always played this music for the fun of it and opinions are like assholes, everybody has got one. I don't really care. We just let our live shows do the talking. We have got to the age of we are out there to make ourselves be happy anymore. If you like us, we appreciate it. If not, oh well. We definitely play a genre that's not liked at all. It takes a certain taste in music to like true Grindcore. It's definitely not for everyone.
Well, I guess that's it. I hope I didn't get you bored with my questions) Thank you so much for your time, Jeff!
Thank you Alex!! Keep Grinding and keep it Wild!!!
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