Dry Rot Interview

Dry Rot came through town the other week. Personally, I have some issues with the band being Christians. However, objectively, it is quality music and I decided to interview them anyways. They were nice guys and I got a free CD out of it. This interview was quite lengthy but in an attempt to keep it interesting I've edited it down quite a bit. My friend David helped me out on this one. Drew (vocals), Javier (drums), Adam (bass), Jordon (guitar)

INFORMATION: Marx once said that to demand a world with no spiritual illusions is to demand a world that needs no illusions. How would you guys respond to that?

Drew: That guy was a red right?

INFORMATION: Yes.

Drew: There ya go. I don't know if that quote has any relevence to me. I take issue with what he might have defined as "spiritual illusion". I think Marx is pretty intelligent but that statement doesn't mean anything to me. It's sort of arrogant.

INFORMATION: But either way, christianity is a political force in the U.S... I would assume you guys probably disavow that entirely but how do you reconcile yourself with the fact that your religion is a major current in the right wing?

Drew: You know what happens when you assume right? I personally don't think that politics and religion should mix in any form. It's an unrealistic ideal, but it's how I feel...I really don't like politics.

Adam: When you ask a question like that, there's some things that need to be defined.

Drew: I believe that religion, as said in the book of James, is caring for orphans and widows. So when I see someone on TV preaching, of course I think it's bogus.

Adam: Where we're coming from is this. We're believers in the spirit of the bible...A lot of what people view as christianity are aspects of it that have been socially manipulated.

INFORMATION: What are your guys' connection to Roderick McClain?

Drew: We went up with him to see Threatener at Burnt Ramen in 2005 and he got absolutely wasted and kept shouting that there were "no rules" here. Oh yeah, and he's an artistic genius.

INFORMATION: Is there a concept behind the new LP "Phillistine"?

Drew: Well, the lyrics I improvised between takes and incidentally a lot of the songs ended up being about birds -

Adam: If you listen closely on the record you can hear him eating (corn dogs) and popping cans of soda.

Drew: There's an overall theme of love throughout the record. Though a lot of bad things have happened in my life, at the same time I was graduating from college, got married. It ended up being very hard to write negative lyrics so there ends up being a very positive aspect to the whole record I think.

INFORMATION: What about the cover?

Drew: Originally it was just going to be a picture of my face really big.

Adam: We did it in my parents pool...we found a dead bird on the ground and decided to use it. My sister took the photo, and it's a re-enactment of the baptism of Christ.

INFORMATION: Upcoming plans, final comments?

Drew: We're not going to record until we're on Sub-Pop or higher. We're down with small fries, it's time to get up there! We have no plans to do any really extensive touring in the future. You can't play the music we play every night for very long, but we might fly out to the east coast if we can get the money together.