At some point in the late Eighties, I bumped into my old friend Steve in one of Canterbury’s record shops. ‘I’ve got something for you’, he told me. As the shop was busy, we wandered over to the nearest pub and sat down with a couple of drinks, at which point he produced a copy of the first Infest 7” from his bag. He’d been trading some records and got a couple of copies, knowing that I was also looking for one, and just wanted a few pounds to cover the costs. Up to that point I’d only read about the band, probably in Maximum Rock’n’Roll, but the descriptions were very intriguing. I’m glad to say that the EP lived up to expectations, probably the most brutal hardcore sound I’d heard, at least up until that point. Some time later, I tracked down their subsequent releases, the ‘Mankind’ EP, the flexi released on Slap-a-Ham and the ‘Slave’ LP. It was all incredible stuff, but sadly we eventually heard that the band themselves had split-up, meaning we wouldn’t get to see them in the UK. Of course, little did we know back then that very few people had ever seen them in America, either.
Although several further releases did appear over the years, the band themselves never reformed and the former members remained adamant that it would never happen. It wasn’t until 2013 that I was at a Wire gig and found myself standing next to someone wearing an Infest t-shirt. I complimented him on the shirt and he commented that Infest had just played their first show in over twenty years, back in the States ! When I got home, I looked-up the details and it turned out that they were indeed playing again, albeit on a very sporadic basis. They made their first, brief visit to Europe in 2016, making their only UK appearance in Leeds (which promptly sold-out before I’d even heard about it.) All I could do was keep my fingers crossed that they would continue playing long-enough to make it to London…
Early in 2019, it was finally announced. Infest would be back in the UK for a short set of gigs, including a matinee show – on Easter Sunday ! – at Camden Underworld. I bought a ticket immediately and started trying to set-up an interview, although I did know that Infest had done very few, even when they were first together. After a few false-starts, I get in touch with Lecky from the Temple of Boom venue in Leeds and it turns out that he’s arranging the Infest dates. We arrange to meet-up at the soundcheck in London and see if something can be organised.
Although several further releases did appear over the years, the band themselves never reformed and the former members remained adamant that it would never happen. It wasn’t until 2013 that I was at a Wire gig and found myself standing next to someone wearing an Infest t-shirt. I complimented him on the shirt and he commented that Infest had just played their first show in over twenty years, back in the States ! When I got home, I looked-up the details and it turned out that they were indeed playing again, albeit on a very sporadic basis. They made their first, brief visit to Europe in 2016, making their only UK appearance in Leeds (which promptly sold-out before I’d even heard about it.) All I could do was keep my fingers crossed that they would continue playing long-enough to make it to London…
Early in 2019, it was finally announced. Infest would be back in the UK for a short set of gigs, including a matinee show – on Easter Sunday ! – at Camden Underworld. I bought a ticket immediately and started trying to set-up an interview, although I did know that Infest had done very few, even when they were first together. After a few false-starts, I get in touch with Lecky from the Temple of Boom venue in Leeds and it turns out that he’s arranging the Infest dates. We arrange to meet-up at the soundcheck in London and see if something can be organised.
So, instead of enjoying Easter eggs, I end up on a particularly warm Sunday afternoon in Camden, helping to load-in various amps and equipment. It’s the polite thing to do. I speak to the two original members, Joe Denunzio and Matt Domino, and they’re both friendly but not exactly eager to do an interview, so I decide to play it by ear… I leave a couple of fanzines with them and hope that, if they have a good time, they’ll be up for talking. Meanwhile, I get to watch the soundcheck, which is incredible in itself. This band are so tight and so powerful – this is going to be an amazing gig ! Anyway, with time to spare, I sneak around to the Black Heart for a couple of drinks before returning to the gig.
There are several support bands but I only catch State Funeral and Arms Race, both of whom sound pretty good, but it’s one of those days when I’m so intent on seeing the headliners that I don’t pay as much attention as I should. But I’ll do my best to see both of them again. Finally, it’s time for Infest and, although the gig isn’t sold-out, the room is full and the atmosphere is buzzing with anticipation. They appear onstage and waste little time before launching into the set. I’m not going to try and recall the setlist because what followed was almost one whole piece, with hardly any gap between individual songs. As befits such fast, brutal music, this was a total onslaught, battering the senses with total passion and commitment. The sound is a little murky at first, but after a few minutes, everything sounds great. The audience react in a suitably frantic manner, while Joe spends most of the set in the middle of the crowd. This is the way it should be done. Sometimes, music has to submit to instinct and it’s the overall effect rather than the individual components that count, even though each person is vitally important. What Infest succeed in producing is something that goes above and beyond the usual concept of music. Without wanting to sound pretentious (or, in the parlance of our times, full-of-crap) they produce something primal or shamanistic. Indulge yourself in this kind of performance and you can really take something from it.
Afterwards, everyone I talk to seems to have a really elated look on their faces. The total set may have lasted only just over 30 minutes, but every moment of it was special - just what we needed. I hang around for a while, chatting to friends, before heading backstage to see if there’s any chance of an interview. Fortunately for me, Matt has been checking-out the fanzines I’d left and liked them so, as he has some spare time before the band are due to leave, agrees to answer some questions. As I said before, the band don’t make a habit of doing many interviews, so I really appreciate this and promptly get down to my questions.
There are several support bands but I only catch State Funeral and Arms Race, both of whom sound pretty good, but it’s one of those days when I’m so intent on seeing the headliners that I don’t pay as much attention as I should. But I’ll do my best to see both of them again. Finally, it’s time for Infest and, although the gig isn’t sold-out, the room is full and the atmosphere is buzzing with anticipation. They appear onstage and waste little time before launching into the set. I’m not going to try and recall the setlist because what followed was almost one whole piece, with hardly any gap between individual songs. As befits such fast, brutal music, this was a total onslaught, battering the senses with total passion and commitment. The sound is a little murky at first, but after a few minutes, everything sounds great. The audience react in a suitably frantic manner, while Joe spends most of the set in the middle of the crowd. This is the way it should be done. Sometimes, music has to submit to instinct and it’s the overall effect rather than the individual components that count, even though each person is vitally important. What Infest succeed in producing is something that goes above and beyond the usual concept of music. Without wanting to sound pretentious (or, in the parlance of our times, full-of-crap) they produce something primal or shamanistic. Indulge yourself in this kind of performance and you can really take something from it.
Afterwards, everyone I talk to seems to have a really elated look on their faces. The total set may have lasted only just over 30 minutes, but every moment of it was special - just what we needed. I hang around for a while, chatting to friends, before heading backstage to see if there’s any chance of an interview. Fortunately for me, Matt has been checking-out the fanzines I’d left and liked them so, as he has some spare time before the band are due to leave, agrees to answer some questions. As I said before, the band don’t make a habit of doing many interviews, so I really appreciate this and promptly get down to my questions.
Firstly, I wanted to ask about the bands’ original influences. I would imagine that the more extreme Hardcore bands like Negative Approach and Siege must’ve been part of the mix, but also UK bands like Discharge and Antisect… and from the kind of imagery you used, perhaps even Crass ?
‘Oh yeah… I really liked Discharge and also bands like Heresy and Ripchord. We got into things in cycles, you know, when we first got to hear certain things. So there was also a small Crass period, as well as another point where we were really into Punk Rock stuff like The Exploited. Then later on, during the mid to late Eighties, we listened to some of the English hardcore bands. Actually, I’m glad that you can see the little bit of Crass that went in to what we were doing, because that was a big thing for us for a while. I still think they released some of the best-looking record-covers, those four-panel folds, and if we had known anyone who could have figured out the graphics, we would have probably done one of those ourselves. But we could never figure it out.’
Were there any other less-likely influences going into your music ? I was thinking that, with some of the more dissonant sounds you were playing could’ve been influence by the original Industrial or experimental bands ?
‘No, not really. We were more into the kind of stuff that was coming out of LA, all the way through to the bands we were just talking about. But we were all into a lot of different stuff before we started Infest. We liked the early English Punk Rock stuff, Japanese hardcore, different bands from New York… I often thought of music in regional terms, or by countries, rather than genres. So there was that kind of SST time-period, then the Thrash Metal time-period, you know, 1984-85, plus all of the ‘Youth Crew’ stuff… The Straightedge scene was certainly a big thing. We’d all gotten into the metal bands that were coming out around 1985, bands like Dark Angel, Slayer, Venom and Destruction, you know, that whole first wave of new metal bands. But then we started to get into bands like Uniform Choice and Youth of Today and they brought us back into hardcore, away from that dark, eight-month period of evil ! We stopped drawing pentagrams on everything, hahaha ! But when Infest came together, there was all of that stuff that we could use as influences.’
Did Infest play very often, originally ?
‘No, we really just played in LA and Orange County… anywhere within 30 miles of our house. We did make two trips up to San Francisco and also down to San Diego, but that was it. We seemed to think that it was best not to play too often and just play specific shows. Looking back, I don’t really know if that was such a good idea, although at the time it seemed to be the perfect amount, just once every four or five months. I think we felt that if we played too often then everyone would know too much about us. To some extent, that’s why people are still interested in Infest now, because we didn’t play too much and it isn’t as if everyone got to see us back then. You just have the records which had very few photo’s and when there were any, it was only of Joe. So we remained this kind of obscure thing that continues to intrigue people.’
‘Oh yeah… I really liked Discharge and also bands like Heresy and Ripchord. We got into things in cycles, you know, when we first got to hear certain things. So there was also a small Crass period, as well as another point where we were really into Punk Rock stuff like The Exploited. Then later on, during the mid to late Eighties, we listened to some of the English hardcore bands. Actually, I’m glad that you can see the little bit of Crass that went in to what we were doing, because that was a big thing for us for a while. I still think they released some of the best-looking record-covers, those four-panel folds, and if we had known anyone who could have figured out the graphics, we would have probably done one of those ourselves. But we could never figure it out.’
Were there any other less-likely influences going into your music ? I was thinking that, with some of the more dissonant sounds you were playing could’ve been influence by the original Industrial or experimental bands ?
‘No, not really. We were more into the kind of stuff that was coming out of LA, all the way through to the bands we were just talking about. But we were all into a lot of different stuff before we started Infest. We liked the early English Punk Rock stuff, Japanese hardcore, different bands from New York… I often thought of music in regional terms, or by countries, rather than genres. So there was that kind of SST time-period, then the Thrash Metal time-period, you know, 1984-85, plus all of the ‘Youth Crew’ stuff… The Straightedge scene was certainly a big thing. We’d all gotten into the metal bands that were coming out around 1985, bands like Dark Angel, Slayer, Venom and Destruction, you know, that whole first wave of new metal bands. But then we started to get into bands like Uniform Choice and Youth of Today and they brought us back into hardcore, away from that dark, eight-month period of evil ! We stopped drawing pentagrams on everything, hahaha ! But when Infest came together, there was all of that stuff that we could use as influences.’
Did Infest play very often, originally ?
‘No, we really just played in LA and Orange County… anywhere within 30 miles of our house. We did make two trips up to San Francisco and also down to San Diego, but that was it. We seemed to think that it was best not to play too often and just play specific shows. Looking back, I don’t really know if that was such a good idea, although at the time it seemed to be the perfect amount, just once every four or five months. I think we felt that if we played too often then everyone would know too much about us. To some extent, that’s why people are still interested in Infest now, because we didn’t play too much and it isn’t as if everyone got to see us back then. You just have the records which had very few photo’s and when there were any, it was only of Joe. So we remained this kind of obscure thing that continues to intrigue people.’
You released your first EP yourselves. Was that something that you felt you should do ?
‘We just wanted to be like every other band we liked, so we did our own record… Back then there was this guy called Kane who was a kind of middle-man that would help a lot of the Orange County bands. We got to know some of the people in the Orange County scene and they were all going through a similar kind of thing, so he pointed us in the right direction and maybe even skimmed a little bit off for helping us, but that’s how we did it. We figured that we’d be able to sell them even if it took a couple of years…’
Did the first EP get a good response ?
‘Yeah, some people liked it and really got it, but obviously there were others who really didn’t care for it. I guess it was something that more people began to like a bit later on. But during that time period, a lot of people were maybe a little bit meaner towards it in terms of West Coast stuff, because we were taking cues from over here. For us, it was pretty cool and we liked it, but it wasn’t something that a lot of people liked straightaway. I think people got into it through their friends… someone would hear it and like it, so they’d play it for their friends and turn them onto it, otherwise it probably would have just stayed as a local thing. But we were all going to record stores a lot and were active record traders, so once we had our own record it was the obvious thing to trade it for other stuff. With the kind of artwork we used, it was the sort of thing that would have stood-out when you were flicking through the records bins. At least, for me ! If I checked out a 7” because of the cover and then saw that it had ten songs, then it was probably going to be the sort of thing that we were into. Our first 7” looked like the kind of thing that would interest me if I was looking for a record, so we hoped it would appeal to other people who were into similar things. People started to like it, but it was a gradual thing.’
Were there any other bands in your area playing similar kinds of hardcore around that time ?
‘No… we came from a little community that was thirty miles outside of Los Angeles and there was nothing there. We never even played a local show. We had to go to somewhere like Hollywood to get a chance to play, or perhaps we’d go to Orange County or Riverside, which was quite good back then. But we never had any local bands that we were friendly with.’
Your next release was the ‘Mankind’ EP, this time released on Draw Blank records…
‘Well, Draw Blank was pretty much me and our bass player, Dave. It was the same DIY thing as the first record except that this time we gave a name to it. I think we also wanted to put out records by other bands, but that never really worked out, apart from one record we released by a band called Confrontation. We did talk to some of our friends who were in other bands about releasing stuff, but they were smart and went with other labels !’
Then you released a split flexi EP on Slap-a-Ham records, which I think was their first release…
‘Yeah, I think it was. We’d met Eric from PHC and we’d played together in at Gilman Street in San Francisco. I think Chris Dodge, who started Slap-a-Ham, was promoting that show, but no-one was there ! That’s the funny thing, he released tracks recorded live at that show but there was no-one there and it was one of our worst ! It had been a brutal trip just going up there, because there was snow on the roads, and when we played we really messed up a lot of the songs… in fact, the five songs that are on that record were probably the only ones that sounded good out of the whole set ! We made a lot of fuck-ups that night !’
‘We just wanted to be like every other band we liked, so we did our own record… Back then there was this guy called Kane who was a kind of middle-man that would help a lot of the Orange County bands. We got to know some of the people in the Orange County scene and they were all going through a similar kind of thing, so he pointed us in the right direction and maybe even skimmed a little bit off for helping us, but that’s how we did it. We figured that we’d be able to sell them even if it took a couple of years…’
Did the first EP get a good response ?
‘Yeah, some people liked it and really got it, but obviously there were others who really didn’t care for it. I guess it was something that more people began to like a bit later on. But during that time period, a lot of people were maybe a little bit meaner towards it in terms of West Coast stuff, because we were taking cues from over here. For us, it was pretty cool and we liked it, but it wasn’t something that a lot of people liked straightaway. I think people got into it through their friends… someone would hear it and like it, so they’d play it for their friends and turn them onto it, otherwise it probably would have just stayed as a local thing. But we were all going to record stores a lot and were active record traders, so once we had our own record it was the obvious thing to trade it for other stuff. With the kind of artwork we used, it was the sort of thing that would have stood-out when you were flicking through the records bins. At least, for me ! If I checked out a 7” because of the cover and then saw that it had ten songs, then it was probably going to be the sort of thing that we were into. Our first 7” looked like the kind of thing that would interest me if I was looking for a record, so we hoped it would appeal to other people who were into similar things. People started to like it, but it was a gradual thing.’
Were there any other bands in your area playing similar kinds of hardcore around that time ?
‘No… we came from a little community that was thirty miles outside of Los Angeles and there was nothing there. We never even played a local show. We had to go to somewhere like Hollywood to get a chance to play, or perhaps we’d go to Orange County or Riverside, which was quite good back then. But we never had any local bands that we were friendly with.’
Your next release was the ‘Mankind’ EP, this time released on Draw Blank records…
‘Well, Draw Blank was pretty much me and our bass player, Dave. It was the same DIY thing as the first record except that this time we gave a name to it. I think we also wanted to put out records by other bands, but that never really worked out, apart from one record we released by a band called Confrontation. We did talk to some of our friends who were in other bands about releasing stuff, but they were smart and went with other labels !’
Then you released a split flexi EP on Slap-a-Ham records, which I think was their first release…
‘Yeah, I think it was. We’d met Eric from PHC and we’d played together in at Gilman Street in San Francisco. I think Chris Dodge, who started Slap-a-Ham, was promoting that show, but no-one was there ! That’s the funny thing, he released tracks recorded live at that show but there was no-one there and it was one of our worst ! It had been a brutal trip just going up there, because there was snow on the roads, and when we played we really messed up a lot of the songs… in fact, the five songs that are on that record were probably the only ones that sounded good out of the whole set ! We made a lot of fuck-ups that night !’
The ‘Slave’ album was released in 1988 by the Swiss label, Off The Disk…
‘Yeah, but it was really just the tracks from the first EP, plus eight more songs from the same session. But it was mastered differently, a lot better. I think I just saw an advert for the label in some magazine or something. When I used to trade records, people would throw in little flyers for labels or other records… I think I got a copy of their ‘Megawimp’ magazine and sent them a copy of our demo, together with some newer songs from a practice… I included songs from our practice recordings because, by then, we were starting to move away from the sound on the demos and were becoming a little more aggressive. When we’d recorded the demo, we’d actually been a five-piece, but once the other guitarist left, we were no longer having to play stuff that the other guy liked. Once he was gone, we didn’t have to play that shit anymore ! Anyway, I just sent a tape to Megawimp for them to review. They liked it and later on offered to release something on their label, Of The Disk…’
The artwork for the ‘Slave’ record was very different to anything else that you used…
‘Yeah… he had that artwork already and described it to me during a telephone call. I don’t think we actually saw it prior to the record coming out, but it sounded cool from his description and, initially, we were only going to do a thousand copies, so it didn’t matter too much. But I liked the look of it when I finally saw it, especially those figures with their eyes sort of covered-up… Actually, that was the reason why, when we reissued it on Deep Six with different artwork, the faces in the crowd on the back of the sleeve have their eyes covered as well… I’m glad they used that artwork originally because it looked good and it was something different. Of course, the very first pressing had that white strip down one side of the sleeve, which was a clear mistake by the printers. But it’s funny because, at first, it kind of looked weird, but now, it just seems normal and I like that cover better than the one that was corrected.’
You mentioned that, initially, there was just going to be a one-off pressing of the ‘Slave’ record, but it ended-up being re-pressed several times in Europe, before eventually be officially reissued by Deep Six in America. Were you happy with the way things worked-out with Off The Disk ?
‘At first there were only supposed to be 1000 copies on Off The Disk, but there seems to have been some confusion because they later said that we told them they could press more, after the first lot sold out. I don’t really remember it that way and as far as I know, they just went ahead and did it and then sent us some copies when it was done. But if you’re doing a record with someone, you start out by agreeing how many you’re going to press and then, if you later decide that you want to press some more, you ought to discuss it with the band. In their case, I think they thought they had some sort of strange ownership of the songs, which in our minds wasn’t the case at all. It was great when they wanted to release a thousand copies because, at that time, we would have never been able to afford to press that many ourselves. Plus we knew that it would be available out here in Europe. So that was all good, plus they did do a really good job on it and I’ve always thought it sounds and looks cool… The one thing I’ve always though was funny was that, when they asked me what I wanted on the back of the sleeve, I just said that I wanted it to look like the back of ‘The Kids Will Have Their Say’ by SS Decontrol. So that’s what they tried to do and I guess it kind of does, in a weird way… But I don’t think the sleeve would have looked that way at all if I had done it. I’m sure it would have been totally different, probably just using the same cover as the 7” on the front and maybe something similar on the back…’
‘Yeah, but it was really just the tracks from the first EP, plus eight more songs from the same session. But it was mastered differently, a lot better. I think I just saw an advert for the label in some magazine or something. When I used to trade records, people would throw in little flyers for labels or other records… I think I got a copy of their ‘Megawimp’ magazine and sent them a copy of our demo, together with some newer songs from a practice… I included songs from our practice recordings because, by then, we were starting to move away from the sound on the demos and were becoming a little more aggressive. When we’d recorded the demo, we’d actually been a five-piece, but once the other guitarist left, we were no longer having to play stuff that the other guy liked. Once he was gone, we didn’t have to play that shit anymore ! Anyway, I just sent a tape to Megawimp for them to review. They liked it and later on offered to release something on their label, Of The Disk…’
The artwork for the ‘Slave’ record was very different to anything else that you used…
‘Yeah… he had that artwork already and described it to me during a telephone call. I don’t think we actually saw it prior to the record coming out, but it sounded cool from his description and, initially, we were only going to do a thousand copies, so it didn’t matter too much. But I liked the look of it when I finally saw it, especially those figures with their eyes sort of covered-up… Actually, that was the reason why, when we reissued it on Deep Six with different artwork, the faces in the crowd on the back of the sleeve have their eyes covered as well… I’m glad they used that artwork originally because it looked good and it was something different. Of course, the very first pressing had that white strip down one side of the sleeve, which was a clear mistake by the printers. But it’s funny because, at first, it kind of looked weird, but now, it just seems normal and I like that cover better than the one that was corrected.’
You mentioned that, initially, there was just going to be a one-off pressing of the ‘Slave’ record, but it ended-up being re-pressed several times in Europe, before eventually be officially reissued by Deep Six in America. Were you happy with the way things worked-out with Off The Disk ?
‘At first there were only supposed to be 1000 copies on Off The Disk, but there seems to have been some confusion because they later said that we told them they could press more, after the first lot sold out. I don’t really remember it that way and as far as I know, they just went ahead and did it and then sent us some copies when it was done. But if you’re doing a record with someone, you start out by agreeing how many you’re going to press and then, if you later decide that you want to press some more, you ought to discuss it with the band. In their case, I think they thought they had some sort of strange ownership of the songs, which in our minds wasn’t the case at all. It was great when they wanted to release a thousand copies because, at that time, we would have never been able to afford to press that many ourselves. Plus we knew that it would be available out here in Europe. So that was all good, plus they did do a really good job on it and I’ve always thought it sounds and looks cool… The one thing I’ve always though was funny was that, when they asked me what I wanted on the back of the sleeve, I just said that I wanted it to look like the back of ‘The Kids Will Have Their Say’ by SS Decontrol. So that’s what they tried to do and I guess it kind of does, in a weird way… But I don’t think the sleeve would have looked that way at all if I had done it. I’m sure it would have been totally different, probably just using the same cover as the 7” on the front and maybe something similar on the back…’
Infest originally split in 1991, even though things seemed to be going well and gradually building-up for the band…
‘I started playing in another band, Manpig, as I wanted to do something different. Infest had needed to get a new drummer, so we tried out our friend RD Davies, who played in the band Visual Discrimination. But it just didn’t seem right so we decided, okay, let’s kill this and start something different. Although RD did play on ‘No Man’s Slave’ a few years later, so it’s ironic that he appears on that record… But I think Infest had just run its’ course. It seems funny that we’re now playing these shows with Joe again, as we kind of thought back then that we were getting too old to play this stuff ! I had also been listening to a bunch of Swedish bands and I wanted to get into that kind of sound a bit more. I don’t like it when bands keep the same name but go through a series of different sounds, so I’d much rather kill it off and move onto something new. Manpig was originally supposed to be me, RD, Dave Ring from Infest and Andy Beattie from No Comment. That’s what the line-up was meant to be, but Andy kind of lost his mind and backed away from it. We had intended to start playing shows straight away but were never able to nail down a singer, so it only really lasted around a year. We recorded a record about ten months down the line, but just the guitar, bass and drums. We left the tapes at the studio while I was writing the lyrics for it, but when I contacted the studio to say that we were ready to complete the recordings, they had to call me back and say that they couldn’t find the reel. I mean, the tapes had been there for six months or even maybe nearly a year, but they should still have been there. At first, the studio said they thought that someone came and picked them up, but they weren’t really sure and I kind of think that maybe they just let someone else record over the tape. So that was when we decided to stop doing Manpig. It wasn’t until a lot later that I decided to go back and re-record the songs, which is what eventually came out as the record.’
But before you did those recordings for the Manpig album, Infest regrouped in 1995 to begin recording what would eventually be released as the ‘No Man’s Slave’ LP…
‘Well, me and RD had kept playing together after Manpig. We’d had a couple of projects that never really went anywhere, but after a few years we had about ten songs ready to go, so we decided to write a few more and then go in and record them. It didn’t get completed for a few years because Joe was away in Arizona by then and it was just the way it panned out. He first came out about a year later and tried to do all of the vocals in just one day, but he wasn’t able to do it. Basically, it was recorded in a garage and then we recorded the vocals in a studio, but there was a lot of bleed-through. We’d be recording something but you could also hear people talking in the background so we had to wait until we found someone who could clean-up all the background noise… like, whenever there was a drum-fill, it would be bleeding into the guitar mics, or the guitar would be bleeding into the drum-mics… It sounded really weird, so we had to wait until we were able to clean it up properly before it was worth doing the vocals again. And that point, Joe came out again and did it over a two-day period. We’d also re-written some of the lyrics as well, so it all came out much better.’
‘I started playing in another band, Manpig, as I wanted to do something different. Infest had needed to get a new drummer, so we tried out our friend RD Davies, who played in the band Visual Discrimination. But it just didn’t seem right so we decided, okay, let’s kill this and start something different. Although RD did play on ‘No Man’s Slave’ a few years later, so it’s ironic that he appears on that record… But I think Infest had just run its’ course. It seems funny that we’re now playing these shows with Joe again, as we kind of thought back then that we were getting too old to play this stuff ! I had also been listening to a bunch of Swedish bands and I wanted to get into that kind of sound a bit more. I don’t like it when bands keep the same name but go through a series of different sounds, so I’d much rather kill it off and move onto something new. Manpig was originally supposed to be me, RD, Dave Ring from Infest and Andy Beattie from No Comment. That’s what the line-up was meant to be, but Andy kind of lost his mind and backed away from it. We had intended to start playing shows straight away but were never able to nail down a singer, so it only really lasted around a year. We recorded a record about ten months down the line, but just the guitar, bass and drums. We left the tapes at the studio while I was writing the lyrics for it, but when I contacted the studio to say that we were ready to complete the recordings, they had to call me back and say that they couldn’t find the reel. I mean, the tapes had been there for six months or even maybe nearly a year, but they should still have been there. At first, the studio said they thought that someone came and picked them up, but they weren’t really sure and I kind of think that maybe they just let someone else record over the tape. So that was when we decided to stop doing Manpig. It wasn’t until a lot later that I decided to go back and re-record the songs, which is what eventually came out as the record.’
But before you did those recordings for the Manpig album, Infest regrouped in 1995 to begin recording what would eventually be released as the ‘No Man’s Slave’ LP…
‘Well, me and RD had kept playing together after Manpig. We’d had a couple of projects that never really went anywhere, but after a few years we had about ten songs ready to go, so we decided to write a few more and then go in and record them. It didn’t get completed for a few years because Joe was away in Arizona by then and it was just the way it panned out. He first came out about a year later and tried to do all of the vocals in just one day, but he wasn’t able to do it. Basically, it was recorded in a garage and then we recorded the vocals in a studio, but there was a lot of bleed-through. We’d be recording something but you could also hear people talking in the background so we had to wait until we found someone who could clean-up all the background noise… like, whenever there was a drum-fill, it would be bleeding into the guitar mics, or the guitar would be bleeding into the drum-mics… It sounded really weird, so we had to wait until we were able to clean it up properly before it was worth doing the vocals again. And that point, Joe came out again and did it over a two-day period. We’d also re-written some of the lyrics as well, so it all came out much better.’
But even though you completed those recordings, you didn’t have any plans for Infest to play live again…
‘No, never. I ended-up doing Low Threat Profile, which was me, Bob Kasitz who runs Deep Six records and Andy Beattie again. That was something that we continued with for years, but at a very leisurely, gentlemans’ pace. We put our own records out and we just carried on doing stuff. We were always doing something and there were always a lot of other little projects that didn’t necessarily go anywhere…’
As the years moved on, were you aware of the high regard people had for Infest and the influence they’d had on other bands ?
‘Well, I was still involved in buying and trading records, so I would see Infest starting to creep-up on lists and things like that. Sometimes, people would get in touch to ask me about the band and occasionally I might throw something on Ebay and it usually surprised me how much these things would sell for. So I was always kind of aware that people were interested, but it was still a bit weird to see a band that we had done start to be referenced as a style…’
I saw an article which said that you had originally coined the phrase ‘power violence’…
‘I think it was actually when we were at an Infest practice and I had a rough mix of the first ‘Neanderthal’ record, which Joe and I had just done. We were sitting there listening to the tape and it was just a phrase that we came up with. Dave would say something like, ‘it sounds like violence’ and I said, ‘yeah, power-violence…’, but, you know, it was just word-play. But when it was time to release the record we had no artwork so we just stuck ‘West Coast Power Violence’ beneath the band logo. Some people have said that’s how the ‘scene’ got started, but really it was just something we made up to put on a record sleeve. There was never any intention to try and start a new scene as we never even remotely thought that other bands would want to play like that. I mean, when people refer to ‘power-violence’ now, I sometimes don’t get it because to me, Infest was a hardcore band and it was the same with Neanderthal, Manpig and Low Threat Profile. They were all hardcore bands and it was just another little evolution of the style… or maybe a regression, hahaha ! It’s interesting to me because ‘power violence’ was just something we put on a record sleeve because it sounded funny. It’s really what people did with it afterwards that made it a scene and we had nothing to do with the bands who created that.’
‘No, never. I ended-up doing Low Threat Profile, which was me, Bob Kasitz who runs Deep Six records and Andy Beattie again. That was something that we continued with for years, but at a very leisurely, gentlemans’ pace. We put our own records out and we just carried on doing stuff. We were always doing something and there were always a lot of other little projects that didn’t necessarily go anywhere…’
As the years moved on, were you aware of the high regard people had for Infest and the influence they’d had on other bands ?
‘Well, I was still involved in buying and trading records, so I would see Infest starting to creep-up on lists and things like that. Sometimes, people would get in touch to ask me about the band and occasionally I might throw something on Ebay and it usually surprised me how much these things would sell for. So I was always kind of aware that people were interested, but it was still a bit weird to see a band that we had done start to be referenced as a style…’
I saw an article which said that you had originally coined the phrase ‘power violence’…
‘I think it was actually when we were at an Infest practice and I had a rough mix of the first ‘Neanderthal’ record, which Joe and I had just done. We were sitting there listening to the tape and it was just a phrase that we came up with. Dave would say something like, ‘it sounds like violence’ and I said, ‘yeah, power-violence…’, but, you know, it was just word-play. But when it was time to release the record we had no artwork so we just stuck ‘West Coast Power Violence’ beneath the band logo. Some people have said that’s how the ‘scene’ got started, but really it was just something we made up to put on a record sleeve. There was never any intention to try and start a new scene as we never even remotely thought that other bands would want to play like that. I mean, when people refer to ‘power-violence’ now, I sometimes don’t get it because to me, Infest was a hardcore band and it was the same with Neanderthal, Manpig and Low Threat Profile. They were all hardcore bands and it was just another little evolution of the style… or maybe a regression, hahaha ! It’s interesting to me because ‘power violence’ was just something we put on a record sleeve because it sounded funny. It’s really what people did with it afterwards that made it a scene and we had nothing to do with the bands who created that.’
When Infest did eventually reform to play live again in 2013, I think it came as a surprise to a lot of fans. What made you decide to do it again after so many years ?
‘For years, whenever anyone asked us, we’d always said no, never ! But in 2011, Low Threat Profile played a couple of shows with Weekend Nachos and I think Extortion were also coming out, so we were going to do a couple more with them. But, once again, Andy lost his mind for, like, the thousand and first time, so we had to stop doing it. Joe had been out of town but when he came back we were hanging out and we went to see Negative Approach. I’d never got to see them when they were first around, but the new line-up were playing in LA and San Diego, so we went down there and, for me, it was perfect for a reunion-thing. They just played the 7”, the 12”, two covers and that was it. The new guys were the proper guys to do it and I thought it was pretty bad-ass, even though I’d half-expected to be horrified. So, the next day I’m having lunch with Joe and my buddy Will, and all I said was, ‘that’s the way you do a reunion’. Around the same time we were starting to put together a new band called ‘Exit Unit’ and we’d arranged a rehearsal so Joe could break his voice into it. When we were ready to start, we decided to play something that we all knew and ended-up playing an Infest song. That sounded good so we did another one and we were all looking at each other, thinking that it sounded pretty damn cool. So we hit-up Chris Dodge and Bob from Lack of Interest and we got together for a couple of practices. We decided to run straight through the set, like, back-to-back songs, rather than having any breaks. It just sounded right and I think the main reason it does is because of Joe. It doesn’t really have anything to do with me because if he didn’t still act the way he acts, I don’t think it would work. If it was just some old dudes up there playing something from their past, then it would be kind of weird. The other thing was that we had the right guys to play with, as Chris had originally released the flexi and then Bob had done all of our reissues on Deep Six, so they were already a part of what Infest had done. I think everything that we’ve ever done has been organic like that and I’ve always thought that whatever a band does should flow in a natural way. All the songs we’ve ever written have come together really quickly and even something like the logo, it was just something we came up with, like, there’s the name, just draw two lines under it and that looks cool !’
Since you played those first few shows, you’ve continued to play one-off gigs or just a few at a time, rather than touring on a more regular basis. Was that how you decided to do things right from the outset ?
‘When we decided to play again, we only thought that we’d play five or six shows and we didn’t really intend to do anything any further than that. We really didn’t think that many people would be into it, or even if there’d be any interest at all. So we started out by just playing one show and then found out that more people were interested, so we agreed to play at a couple of festivals and we’ve just continued to do things that way. We came over here a couple of years ago, but only played in Leeds, so we kind of felt that we should come out here again. It’s almost a joke… we’ll suddenly decide, yeah, let’s go and play, and then we contact someone to set it up… Easter weekend in England ! We also got asked to play in Japan and Malaysia. The guy got in touch with Joe and we just said, yeah, let’s do it. Those places usually want a lot of time in advance to promote things, but we said, no, let’s do it now, and it still worked out cool.’
‘For years, whenever anyone asked us, we’d always said no, never ! But in 2011, Low Threat Profile played a couple of shows with Weekend Nachos and I think Extortion were also coming out, so we were going to do a couple more with them. But, once again, Andy lost his mind for, like, the thousand and first time, so we had to stop doing it. Joe had been out of town but when he came back we were hanging out and we went to see Negative Approach. I’d never got to see them when they were first around, but the new line-up were playing in LA and San Diego, so we went down there and, for me, it was perfect for a reunion-thing. They just played the 7”, the 12”, two covers and that was it. The new guys were the proper guys to do it and I thought it was pretty bad-ass, even though I’d half-expected to be horrified. So, the next day I’m having lunch with Joe and my buddy Will, and all I said was, ‘that’s the way you do a reunion’. Around the same time we were starting to put together a new band called ‘Exit Unit’ and we’d arranged a rehearsal so Joe could break his voice into it. When we were ready to start, we decided to play something that we all knew and ended-up playing an Infest song. That sounded good so we did another one and we were all looking at each other, thinking that it sounded pretty damn cool. So we hit-up Chris Dodge and Bob from Lack of Interest and we got together for a couple of practices. We decided to run straight through the set, like, back-to-back songs, rather than having any breaks. It just sounded right and I think the main reason it does is because of Joe. It doesn’t really have anything to do with me because if he didn’t still act the way he acts, I don’t think it would work. If it was just some old dudes up there playing something from their past, then it would be kind of weird. The other thing was that we had the right guys to play with, as Chris had originally released the flexi and then Bob had done all of our reissues on Deep Six, so they were already a part of what Infest had done. I think everything that we’ve ever done has been organic like that and I’ve always thought that whatever a band does should flow in a natural way. All the songs we’ve ever written have come together really quickly and even something like the logo, it was just something we came up with, like, there’s the name, just draw two lines under it and that looks cool !’
Since you played those first few shows, you’ve continued to play one-off gigs or just a few at a time, rather than touring on a more regular basis. Was that how you decided to do things right from the outset ?
‘When we decided to play again, we only thought that we’d play five or six shows and we didn’t really intend to do anything any further than that. We really didn’t think that many people would be into it, or even if there’d be any interest at all. So we started out by just playing one show and then found out that more people were interested, so we agreed to play at a couple of festivals and we’ve just continued to do things that way. We came over here a couple of years ago, but only played in Leeds, so we kind of felt that we should come out here again. It’s almost a joke… we’ll suddenly decide, yeah, let’s go and play, and then we contact someone to set it up… Easter weekend in England ! We also got asked to play in Japan and Malaysia. The guy got in touch with Joe and we just said, yeah, let’s do it. Those places usually want a lot of time in advance to promote things, but we said, no, let’s do it now, and it still worked out cool.’
It must feel good to be getting the opportunities to play in all these different places where Infest never had a chance to play first time around…
‘That’s the thing, because back then, Infest pretty much just played shows with the same group of bands and, if we were setting-up a show, we tightened it up even more and just played with bands that we wanted to hear and it became even more closed-off. So that’s been one of the more interesting things about the shows we’ve been playing recently. I still try to arrange it so that we get to play with bands that we want to hear, because I still try to follow things.’
There was always a kind of mystique about Infest, especially as so few people actually got to see you first time around…
‘Yeah, but we ruined that mystique as soon as we started playing again. The mystique was over ! The thing was, apart from the records, there were only ever a few super-grainy videos that anyone might get to see and even live photo’s tended to be only of Joe… Which was because his girlfriend had a camera and, if she was going to take photo’s at a show, it was only ever going to be of her boyfriend, right ? So there was this kind of mystery about Infest and I can get that, because there are bands that I like but I never saw, and in some ways I’d like them to stay a mystery. I’m sure there are some people who feel that way about Infest, although to me, this is actually a better version. The old band always seemed to be out of tune, there was so much trouble with distortion, the drummer would sometimes forget songs, the clubs could sometimes be weird with us. Back then, people would just look at us as if we were something strange, but now there always seems to be a crowd who are into it and who actually come to see us. Which is much better than when we used to play at, say, a straight edge show and we’d play our kind of mutant music in front of a whole group of people who didn’t really want to see us. So I really think, if you ever liked the band, then it’s much cooler to see us now.’
One of the things that’s been strange about the punk and hardcore scenes is how so many of the original lyrics remain valid even thirty or forty years later. Do you feel that way about any of the original Infest songs ?
‘Yeah, there’s certainly a few of them that still work like that, although there are others that were really more about the mindset we had when we were 18 or 19 years old. You know, things like ‘Where’s The Unity’ or ‘Sick-o’… those were written very early on and I don’t think we’d write anything like those songs now. I wouldn’t even play guitar like that now... It’s as if, as you get older, you’re in a different place.’
‘That’s the thing, because back then, Infest pretty much just played shows with the same group of bands and, if we were setting-up a show, we tightened it up even more and just played with bands that we wanted to hear and it became even more closed-off. So that’s been one of the more interesting things about the shows we’ve been playing recently. I still try to arrange it so that we get to play with bands that we want to hear, because I still try to follow things.’
There was always a kind of mystique about Infest, especially as so few people actually got to see you first time around…
‘Yeah, but we ruined that mystique as soon as we started playing again. The mystique was over ! The thing was, apart from the records, there were only ever a few super-grainy videos that anyone might get to see and even live photo’s tended to be only of Joe… Which was because his girlfriend had a camera and, if she was going to take photo’s at a show, it was only ever going to be of her boyfriend, right ? So there was this kind of mystery about Infest and I can get that, because there are bands that I like but I never saw, and in some ways I’d like them to stay a mystery. I’m sure there are some people who feel that way about Infest, although to me, this is actually a better version. The old band always seemed to be out of tune, there was so much trouble with distortion, the drummer would sometimes forget songs, the clubs could sometimes be weird with us. Back then, people would just look at us as if we were something strange, but now there always seems to be a crowd who are into it and who actually come to see us. Which is much better than when we used to play at, say, a straight edge show and we’d play our kind of mutant music in front of a whole group of people who didn’t really want to see us. So I really think, if you ever liked the band, then it’s much cooler to see us now.’
One of the things that’s been strange about the punk and hardcore scenes is how so many of the original lyrics remain valid even thirty or forty years later. Do you feel that way about any of the original Infest songs ?
‘Yeah, there’s certainly a few of them that still work like that, although there are others that were really more about the mindset we had when we were 18 or 19 years old. You know, things like ‘Where’s The Unity’ or ‘Sick-o’… those were written very early on and I don’t think we’d write anything like those songs now. I wouldn’t even play guitar like that now... It’s as if, as you get older, you’re in a different place.’
As far as I know, you were the first band to use the name ‘Infest’, but if you look online, there are at least several others who have also used the name in recent years. Have you ever come across any of those bands ?
‘Yeah, I think there’s a Serbian Death Metal band and another band in Spain. It’s funny because, when things like Google first came out, the only thing you’d find would be the dictionary definition of ‘infest’. But then if you tried a little bit later on, maybe you’d find something about us but you’d really have to search for it. But now, there’s at least three bands using that name and there’s also an album by Papa Roach called ‘Infest’. Joe was actually looking online when they first started selling tickets for this event, and he found that one website was using the info for the Serbian Infest ! That was pretty funny… they had our logo, but all the information about the band was different ! But it was cool. I mean, we stole everything from someone else and those bands stole from somewhere else, so you can’t get too precious about it. But I would always advise any band to Google your choice of name before you start using it. Maybe we should get the other two Infests to come and play a show with us !’
Finally, do you think you’d ever be interested in writing and releasing any new material as Infest ?
‘No… we’re also doing this thing Exit Unit and before that, it was Low Threat Profile, so there’s always been something else happening where we can work on new material. Exit Unit is the outlet for me, Joe and Bob when we want to do something new. I’m not sure I’d even know how to write something as an Infest song, now. I mean, we could probably have released the Exit Unit 7” as an Infest record, but it’s not really the same thing. If I thought we’d written something and it really felt like an Infest song, maybe we could do that, but at the same time, I’d probably just over-think about it and end up having some reason not to do it. Actually, I was thinking about this when we saw Negative Approach. They haven’t tried to write anything new, maybe because they have their other band, Easy Action, where they can write and play new songs. But if they ever thought about making a new Negative Approach record, maybe they should get everybody else who likes Negative Approach to write songs for them… I mean, I’d love to write a song for Negative Approach ! It’s a great idea, although I’m sure it would still be the worst Negative Approach record ever, regardless of how good those guys are now. In the same way, I’m sure the Infest line-up we have now could make a good new record, but I’m not sure if it would really be an Infest record and I don’t feel that there’s any need for it.’
‘Yeah, I think there’s a Serbian Death Metal band and another band in Spain. It’s funny because, when things like Google first came out, the only thing you’d find would be the dictionary definition of ‘infest’. But then if you tried a little bit later on, maybe you’d find something about us but you’d really have to search for it. But now, there’s at least three bands using that name and there’s also an album by Papa Roach called ‘Infest’. Joe was actually looking online when they first started selling tickets for this event, and he found that one website was using the info for the Serbian Infest ! That was pretty funny… they had our logo, but all the information about the band was different ! But it was cool. I mean, we stole everything from someone else and those bands stole from somewhere else, so you can’t get too precious about it. But I would always advise any band to Google your choice of name before you start using it. Maybe we should get the other two Infests to come and play a show with us !’
Finally, do you think you’d ever be interested in writing and releasing any new material as Infest ?
‘No… we’re also doing this thing Exit Unit and before that, it was Low Threat Profile, so there’s always been something else happening where we can work on new material. Exit Unit is the outlet for me, Joe and Bob when we want to do something new. I’m not sure I’d even know how to write something as an Infest song, now. I mean, we could probably have released the Exit Unit 7” as an Infest record, but it’s not really the same thing. If I thought we’d written something and it really felt like an Infest song, maybe we could do that, but at the same time, I’d probably just over-think about it and end up having some reason not to do it. Actually, I was thinking about this when we saw Negative Approach. They haven’t tried to write anything new, maybe because they have their other band, Easy Action, where they can write and play new songs. But if they ever thought about making a new Negative Approach record, maybe they should get everybody else who likes Negative Approach to write songs for them… I mean, I’d love to write a song for Negative Approach ! It’s a great idea, although I’m sure it would still be the worst Negative Approach record ever, regardless of how good those guys are now. In the same way, I’m sure the Infest line-up we have now could make a good new record, but I’m not sure if it would really be an Infest record and I don’t feel that there’s any need for it.’
With the rest of the band getting ready to leave (they’ve got a long drive back to Leeds) we end the interview there, but I think it’s come out really well and I’m grateful to Matt for taking the time.
You won’t find any Infest websites or facebook pages online but do your best to watch out for any gigs that they might play in your area. This is a band who are really something special. Any band can play fast and distorted, but you really need to know what you’re doing and have genuine intent to do this kind of thing properly. Infest were and remain the real deal. If you get the chance to see them live, you would be a fool to miss it.
You won’t find any Infest websites or facebook pages online but do your best to watch out for any gigs that they might play in your area. This is a band who are really something special. Any band can play fast and distorted, but you really need to know what you’re doing and have genuine intent to do this kind of thing properly. Infest were and remain the real deal. If you get the chance to see them live, you would be a fool to miss it.