Crash-Scan Newsletter Interview

Breaking into the local music scene in September of 2009 with their debut album Catalyst, post-industrial metal band Crash-Scan has been a fixture in Wellington, as well as a welcome visitor to Auckland and other NZ towns and cities, for almost five years. Having made a name for themselves as entertaining and proficient performers pushing a highly individual sound, the band has taken the next step and released a follow-up to Catalyst, the punishing Repeat Until False. While Catalyst featured stompingly accessible songs to headbang to, Repeat Until False takes a more measured and layered approach, the hydraulic-powered metallic butterfly to Catalyst‘s vicious caterpillar. Thanks to Bryan for answering the following questions:

Do you have any plans for future collaborations with other musicians? Who would they be?

We’ve had some preliminary discussions with Auckland’s Dying of the Light on collaborating on a couple of tracks or something similar. We’ve also got a bunch of fellow musicians from all over NZ working on some remixes from our latest album that we plan to release along with some new originals later on in the year.

What sets you apart from other bands?

We’re one of only a few bands in NZ currently incorporating electronics and cut-up,’found sound’/noise material in the context of metal. While we have our influences, we certainly don’t sound like anything else out there.

Where do you get your inspiration to create music from?

Our inspiration to create music originated from the complete lack of anything that we wanted to hear of this type being made locally. We figured we should do it ourselves, and surely there would be others out there that shared our tastes.
To create new music? Just a desire to keep expanding and making better and more varied music. Having fans that enjoy what we create certainly makes it more appealing, but even without people to listen I think most of us would still be doing what we do because we love it.

What can we expect to see from Crash-Scan over the next year?

We’re planning a few shows around the country to showcase the new album, definitely hitting Auckland and Christchurch this year. We’ve already started work on the next EP, and this will contain 4 new tracks and however many remixes we can get done of our latest album by the time the EP is ready. We’re hoping to release this on Cassette as well as digitally. New T-shirts are being designed as we speak, and we’re hoping to have some patches available also.

What advice would you like to give to other aspiring musicians?

If you’ve got something unique you want to make or hear, then just get out there and do it. The tools to create and record music are more available than ever before, and the channels now exist to share this with anyone for free.

Photos by James Peryer