Pretty Little Flower (24.06.16)

Hi Dave! How are you doing? Having some rest after an exhausting tour? 

Hey Alex, thanks for writing! Doing well here. Exhausting is a good word -- Coming back from Japan was the only time I really have experienced jetlag (for like 2 weeks!) -- a 14 hour time difference is no joke....

Speaking of the tour. It's no secret that tour in Japan is a dream of every band, so how was it? Do you feel satisfied with it? 

I can truly say that our Japanese tour was completely awesome! It was organized in a relatively short time for a number of reasons, but everyone we dealt with was totally professional, well-organized, and extremely helpful and nice. Personally, getting a chance to go to a country that I had wanted to visit since I was a child was a dream come true! The cities, the language, and the social infrastructure are all so different from those in the West, it was really interesting. I can't wait to go back.

How do you prepare before going on stage? Do you have your own recipe of a good gig? 

I usually drink something with a lot of caffeine, like coffee or red bull, and try to 'warm up' on the guitar for a little while -- I'm too sloppy to play our songs well after drinking first, haha. A perfect gig, for me, is any one where we play powerfully, and people go totally crazy. As the years go by, and my hearing gets worse, being able to hear the snare drum and my vocals well during the gig also gets more crucial.

Dave, is it hard for you to find time for family? After all these tours, rehearsals, work and a lot of other things that take a lot of time ... 

Yeah, it's really hard balancing work, university, music, and being a single parent. I wish I could say that playing grindcore was the biggest thing which prevented me from spending enough time from my son, but it's not. Maybe I can start selling fruit on the side of the highway out of the back of my truck for a living, and practice the guitar while my kid talks to the customers.... Good family time, and good practice time.

Is PLF working on something new? Do you have any drafts for new records and releases? 

Yes, we are working on our 5th LP, actually! The drums and guitars are done, I just have to lay down the bass tracks and record the vocals. It's really fast and aggressive (obviously), and I think that it will be one of the strongest and best records that the band has ever done. We have been recording it with Garry Brents, who recorded "Devious Persecution...", so we're aiming for a similar production sound.

I can not get around the fact that you guys are very active and play in a bunch of bands. Please, tell something about the other bands where you play.

Right now, my only other band is a death/thrash band called Oath of Cruelty. It's kind of like early Kreator or Sodom, but with some blast beat parts, and some influences by early death metal bands like Agressor or Merciless. It's alot of fun, we have two demos, one 7", and are also working on our first LP.

In which moments of life you say: "Yes! This is great!" and in which "Oh! This fucking sucks!" ...? 

Good question. Any time I can drink vodka and beer, while blasting bands like Regurgitate, Angelcorpse, or (early) Arsedestroyer, I know that things are well. On the flipside, when I have to dig ditches, or crawl in an attic during the Summer in Texas.....I am less enthusiastic.

Did the band become your second family so that you can not live without it? 

For me, yes, things would be strangely empty without PLF. The band has been around for more than half of my life!

You started P.L.F. in 2000, so what motivated you at that time? Some desire to express yourself or you just wanted to have some fun? 

We actually started in January of 1999. The band was completely not serious at the time, but merely another way for some dumb teenagers to spend our afternoons...For me, it was initially just a side project for another short-lived grindcore band I had called Nervous Wrecktum. Ha! In terms of lyrical expression, it was all about politics / social awareness for me in the first several years of the band.

Which of the following do you think is the greatest evil for a person: religion, money, computer, politics? 

I think the easy answer is, a combination of all of them! But maybe, to pick just one -- Money. All other evil deeds in the modern age can be traced to the lust for money.

Do you have any thoughts to give up on everything, all this gigs and record sessions, all this underground stuff and start to live like other simple people? 

I definitely understand the appeal of wanting to have 'normal' pursuits in life, but for people like us, it will sadly never be an option... The need for the enjoyment and the creation of intense, insane music is relentless! I was born an outsider, and will probably always remain one.

Finally, guys, do you grow some Pretty Little Flowers in front of your houses?) 

Only the ones that grow over the corpses in my back yard!

Well that's all, thank you for this interview, I hope that once I will be moshing on your gig!))

Thanks so much for the great questions, Alex! Keep up the good work, and grind 'til death!


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