Interview with Sebastian Phillips of Noisem!

Interview with Sebastian Phillips of Noisem

Noisem! This young band coming from Baltimore, Maryland leaves no one indifferent. Even though they released only two albums, (Agony Defined & Blossoming Decay) Noisem will keep your ears busy for hours! Must-hear stuff for every fan of death metal/thrash/grindcore music! Their guitarist Sebastian Phillips was kind enough to answer all the nonsense I asked him. Enjoy!

Agoraphobic News:  Can you name some of your favorite metal/non-metal artists? 
SP:  I like mostly older music that I grew up listening to like Van Halen, Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy, Slayer, Metallica and Exodus, all kinds of stuff really. I try to absorb as much as I can from any type of music because anything could spark the next song.

Agoraphobic News:  Noisem is one of the youngest bands around. Your drummer, Harley Phillips recently turned 18. I mean, some of you probably didn't even start drinking, and yet Noisem sounds as one of the most promising bands around! What keeps your energy on so high level? 
SP:  Haha, our age has never been a factor for us, we were all friends/brothers that got shit faced on the weekends and played music. We enjoy playing so it's easy for us to let the energy come out.

Agoraphobic News:  I saw Max Cavalera wearing Noisem shirt and I think I've heard Jeff Waters said in an interview that he is a fan of your music. Things like that just have to make you proud! Youngsters influencing veterans? Can't be more cool!!! How you guys feel about that ? 
SP:  Its definitely a strange feeling, I think about how I look up to these people and how as fans we tend to fictionalize poeple, and then meeting them they're amazing and friendly people. Not always, but we've been lucky to meet some very cool people along the way.

Agoraphobic News:  I watched some of Noisem's live footage on youtube and I must say that your concerts are just crazy! I mean, not many bands have a frontman like Tyler Carnes who is in constant motion and who even sings from a crowd! Was there a situation where you stole the show from the main act? 
SP:  I'm really not sure. We just get out there and do our thing, no contest.

Agoraphobic News:  How big of a challenge is for you guys to play on Maryland Deathfest? 
SP:  MDF is challenging because of the festival vibe and backlining gear is always a little awkward. Its incredible getting to play to that many people but we feel more at home in a basement venue.

Agoraphobic News:  When speaking of lyrics, it is clear as a day that you are part of the gore-themed death metal revival, especially on the first record. I'm pretty sure they're influenced by 
Cannibal Corpse/Obituary to some extent, but where does the band's inspiration for these grotesque topics come from? 
SP:  Tyler Carnes is in charge of the lyrics and vocal melodies. I think he's putting more effort into making grotesque lyrics that aren't about gore but more so about psychological horrors, actually terrifying events that people experience in life and things like that.Agoraphobic News:  Agony Defined artwork is just brutal! It reminds me of Napalm Death's Scum & Terrorizer's World Downfall album covers. Who did it? 
SP:  it was done by Szymon Seich, he had done a few of our friends records and we thought it was a good fit.

Agoraphobic News:  The album already mentioned above has more of an old school edge to it when compared with Blossoming Decay where you guys definitely matured as musicians. Was the creative process easy and spontaneous? 
SP:  Writing for Agony was easy because we had all the time in the world and the only goal was to write shit we wanted to hear. We love death and thrash metal but we always wanted to blend that with more punk and grind elements.

Agoraphobic News:  The actual concept of Blossoming Decay differs from its predecessor. What was the idea behind this record? 
SP:  I think it has a theme, but you have to make your own conclusion as to what it means. 

Agoraphobic News:  The overall length of both of your records is kinda short. Why is that? 
SP:  Its how we write. We try to cut the fat and be as direct as possible with the delivery. Reign In Blood was a half hour, shorter records keep the attention and don't get too boring or repetitious.

Agoraphobic News:  Is there a main composer in the band or you guys work together? 
SP:  Tyler handles the vocal stuff, and I handle a big portion of the music. Everybody pitches in ideas and we change things as we go to make it work for everyone.

Agoraphobic News:  Consumed is absolutely one of your finest tunes. Isn't it kinda selfish to make a song of such caliber under 3 minutes long? 
SP:  When we wrote it, one day off the cuff when we played it live we started doing an improvised part that I didn't want to record, rather just play it different every night. Keeps things interesting.

Agoraphobic News:  Why did you change the band's name from Necropsy to Noisem? 
SP:  We changed it before MDF and before Agony came out to avoid any future conflicts with the other 1,000 Necropsys of the world.

Agoraphobic News:  And who designed the band's logo? 
SP:  Our good friend Joshy Brettel from Ilsa did it for us as soon as we changed the name.

Agoraphobic News:  Are you writing riffs for the upcoming album and should we expect lengthier releases in the future? 
SP:  We have some songs in the cannon that we'll most likely play this summer. And I'm not too sure haha, they might just keep getting shorter!