Hard Talk |
INSIDE THE WAITING ROOM with ARMSBENDBACKby Don Sill "I feel like I know her, but sometimes my arms bend back," says Laura Palmer via dream sequence in episode #2 of the 1990 cult TV show, Twin Peaks. The twisted and bizarre creation of director David Lynch in which an FBI agent investigates the mysterious murder of Laura Palmer, has become a cult classic and nearly 14 years since it's inception the show is still striking chords amongst many. "Movies is what really gets ideas flowing in my head," admits guitarist, Carson Slovak, "David Lynch is a very big influence for both me and Mike [Coasey, vocalist]." Lynch and his work influenced the two musicians so much that they named their emo/hardcore band "ArmsBendBack" after a clue left by Palmer in the above mentioned dream sequence. "The clue is a reference to her being tied up to a chair," Slovak explained. "We're really into Twin Peaks and there's a lot of cinematic stuff about it that really influences our music. Just the whole atmosphere and the whole feeling with the cinematic's and everything going on." Slovak, who attended film school for two years, is a huge fan of film scores and cinematic music of all kinds. "Music and film have always been my two biggest interests and what I always wanted to put my life into," he said passionately. "That's the kind of art that I always gravitated towards. Film definitely has been a huge influence in the way I go about writing my music." The Philadelphia based band, who also includes Andrew Kegerise and Brad Sloan, broke onto the scene in 2002 with the release of their 5 song CD "Even Though I'll Hurt You." Recorded at Big Blue Meanie (Thursday, This Day Forward), and partly produced by Chad Taylor from the band Live. "Me and Chad go way back," Slovak says of Taylor who lived next door to him for eight years. "He taught me a whole lot and he's been a huge influence on me and really made me want to get out there and play music. He was a very influential part in getting this band going." The band has been going strong and earning a solid buzz within underground hardcore circles. This past summer the band played Hellfest '03, Skatefeast and the Warped Tour '03 in which they watched their fan base grow and expand. Now ArmsBendBack are releasing their full-length album, The Waiting Room, off Trustkill Records. 'We are so stoked that this is out there," says Slovak, "It really means a lot to us." The Waiting Room, which is said to symbolize a sort of purgatory, is also a reference from the Twin Peaks series. "Yes," Slovak says with a chuckle, "that's actually another nerdy Twin Peaks reference too. "In the FBI agents dream sequences he goes into this room with red curtains and a black and white tiled floor and that room is called 'The Waiting Room.' And in that dream the dead girl, Laura Palmer, gives him clues and stuff. We thought it would only be appropriate to name the album after something from that show also." The Waiting Room features 12 catchy emo tracks in the spirit of Thursday and Thrice which displays the bands dynamic and emotional musical style. "We're just straight-ahead rock," says Slovak, "There's a harder influence and we get 'screamy' at times, but all in all, we're just a rock band." Their sound rides high and low through a mesh of heavy, passionate and melodic sounds delivered through fierce intensity to calm melancholy. Tracks such as "Red Ceiling," "Watermark," "Terms and Conditions" and first single "Primera (Last Goodbye)" really capture the very essence of ArmsBendBack's overall vibe. "We're just trying to play good rock music and fun doing it," says the guitarist. "There was never any specific thing we're trying to say or anything like that." ArmsBendBack are riding high and earning their bones as they unleash their musical assault into the country while on tour with Poison The Well and Every Time I Die. "We're just a good rock band," Slovak said. "We're totally sincere with our music and we don't do anything fabricated. All we like to do is get up on stage and rock out the best we can." As the Twin Peaks character known as "the little man from another place" would say, "Where we're from, the birds sing a pretty song and there's always music in the air." |