Interviews

Interviews: Converge

I first came across Converge by accident when Equal Vision Records sent me two of their albums for review (Petitioning The Empty Sky and When Forever Comes Crashing) along with the One King Down cd I requested. At first, I wasn't sure what to think. I thought Pantera and VOD were heavy and intense, but Converge takes being 'heavy' to a whole new, fucked up level and they do it with grace.

Converge will hit you with a brutal flurry of dynamics then suddenly sink back into the depths with unexpected quiet moments. I've wanted to see Converge live for a long time and regretted missing them the last time they were even remotely close, but being the down to the earth guys they are, I was granted an interview with the vocalist whose songwriting has become my favorite. Here's Converge through singer, Jacob Bannon's eyes.



Smother: When was the band first formed and how did you guys decide to get together and play in the first place?

We've been together since 1990ish. Converge was an adolescent fantasy of mine for quite sometime back then. I started the band with our original drummer by playing Suicidal and MOD covers and things like that. Then in a matter of a month or two Jeff, our original Bass player started playing with us as well. Then later Kurt our present guitarist joined the fold. We then quickly began writing our own songs and progressing as much as we could as kids in middle and high school. This was our creative outlet.

Smother: How did you guys first get signed?

Signed? Well I guess that sort of thing for us was a gradual thing. We self released our debut LP with a friend of ours as well as our second seven inch. We have always been firm believers in not waiting around for anyone and just being as pro active as possible as a band. Ferret then took interest after the second seven inch so that in short is how that relationship got started. We met Aaron who was beginning Hydrahead at the time as well and he pickerd up the Caring and Killing release as his own here in the US.

EVR(Equal Vision Records): Well I contacted them after talking with an old friend, Jake from Cast Iron Hike, and he championed the label to no end so I took the initiative to see what they were all about. All of us really respected what they were doing and where they stood as a label so in short we went for it.

Smother: For the people reading this who haven't heard Converge, how would you describe your music and lyrics?

They are outright personal. I like to use a metaphoric approach when I write. There's quite a bit of symbolism in there as well.

Smother: What bands have influenced your music and/or each of you as musicians?

Everything from the old Earache records releases, to obscure Dischord releases to Vio-lence and Death Angel, to Depeche Mode and The Cure. It has all played a part in helping us to expand out sound.

Smother: It seems like your songwriting has become heavier with each recording from 'Caring and Killing' and 'Petitioning The Empty Sky' to 'When Forever Comes Crashing.' Has this just been a natural progression or was this completely planned?

Our recordings have gotten heavier in time, more refined. The songwriting was as heavy and abrassive back with Caring and Killing as it is now. We just carry it better now. We have progressed to the extent where we can write dynamics into songs. Our sound expanding has been a natural progression.

Smother: What is concept for the titles from the albums "Petitioning The Empty Sky" and "When Forever Comes Crashing?"

Petitioning the empty sky: It's what the name implies. Questioning and contesting a void which is thought to be the almighty and all knowing. When Forever Comes Crashing: About a point in my life when all that I hoped for and all that I had, in my eyes, fell apart. It reads in chapters in a sense from beginning to end. A concept album? In a strange and sort of accidental way. The new album is called the Poacher Diaries. This is a split album with ANB. I wrote a great majority of the lyrics from a certain emotional perspective which led me to title the record that. The Poacher Diaries: The Diary of a person which is tired of being the hunted and becomes the hunter in a sense.

Smother: The version of "Dead" on Caring and Killing is quite a bit different than the version on Petitioning The Empty Sky. What made you decide to change it like you did?

We wrote it farily quickly and didn't have a chance to refine it in the first recording, so we went for it again on the second.

Smother: What's the story behind the songs "Antithesis" and "Down?" How did you develop the lyric writing style you have?

Anithesis is a song I wrote about double standards in love and relationships. It is some truths I found in my life at the time. Down is a song about being lost in alot of things. Lost and losing direction, about trying to find a certain something that few ever find. Just trying to write. Reading quite a bit.

Smother: What are your personal favorite Converge songs?

All of them to a degree.

Smother: What made you first try to sing like you do?

Just trying to sing really. For lack of anything else really.

Smother: What has been the most insane moment onstage at a show?

Too many to name really. We've seen some pretty crazy things go down.

Smother: How has being in Converge affected your lives?

It's more or less dictated all of our lives, It's given us some serious opportunities which we have never of had without the music and the community we are now apart of. It's been amazing. But in the same right a huge amount of hard work.

Smother: What do you want to achieve through your music?

Personal expression, that's all I could ever ask for.

Smother: When I interviewed Neurosis a couple weeks ago, they recommended listening to Cave In, so I picked up 'Until Your Heart Stops' and I was glad I did. How did you get involved with Cave In on the artwork and backup vocals on "Moral Eclipse?"

I have always done all of Cave In's graphic work since they moved into working with Hydrahead. Steve really wanted me to come in and work on that song with him, so I was glad to do it. We are all pretty close.

Smother: What bands would you recommend for someone who is looking for music in the Converge type of vein?

The Dillinger Escape Plan, Starkweather, Coalesce, Cave In, Drowning Man, Isis, Botch, among others.

Smother: What do you think of heavy music today?

Some of it is exciting, some of it fairly bland. Considering lately I have been listening to the Melvins exclusively for a few days, I don't think there is anyone at all heavier.

Smother: If you absolutely knew that the world was going to end at 2000, what would you do before it ended?

Not one thing.

Smother: What advice would you pass on to the youth of today?

No more reunions. (laughs)