Recently I reviewed the latest release from Portland’s Power Violent HONDURAN (read the review here). That spinning piece of black wax was my introduction to the these elite hit squad of brutality. The record left a mark on me and I knew immediately that I needed to reach out to these dudes to get the lowdown on all things HONDURAN. Jason, Corey and Kevin were gracious enough to lend me some of their time and insight. (JoshMosh)
Recently I reviewed the latest release from Portland’s Power Violent HONDURAN (read the review here). That spinning piece of black wax was my introduction to the these elite hit squad of brutality. The record left a mark on me and I knew immediately that I needed to reach out to these dudes to get the lowdown on all things HONDURAN. Jason, Corey and Kevin were gracious enough to lend me some of their time and insight. (JoshMosh)
ThrashPunx: Why the name HONDURAN? It gives off a cool vibe. What does it
mean to you?
Jason: Settling on the name HONDURAN was a lengthy process cause originally it was supposed to be a completely different band with different people and we had many talks about whether or not the name was “appropriate” considering we’re 3 white dudes from America. I initially just thought it sounded cool and had a kind of dark, looming effect when spoken. Then I started thinking about why I had that reaction to it and it basically boils down to fear of the unknown outside of the American bubble we all live in. Anything foreign or unknown is scary in a way or somehow presents a threat, initially. It’s all based in naivety and ignorance, of course. But yeah, the name sort of morphed into a constant reminder that there’s a world outside of the US and we need to be aware of that.
Corey: Jason had three ideas, that one was by far the best.
ThrashPunx: You’ve done some touring…Even played here in Denver
I think…What are you plans? Any future tours lined-up?
Jason: We’re heading to Seattle and British Columbia later this week for a 5 day jaunt. We’re also planning a 2-3 week US tour later this summer that we hope gets us as far as Texas and possibly the Midwest. And Denver is one of our favorite places so hopefully we’ll see you there.
Corey: ‘Sup Denver?
ThrashPunx: Define Power-Violence and how is it different from Crust or Grindcore?
Jason: Everyone has their own opinion on this but Power violence to me is Charles Bronson, MK ultra, spSzz, 97a, Crossed Out, Dropdead, Godstomper, Magnum Force, Final Draft, ACxDC…you know, hyper fast hardcore. Crust to me is mostly repetitive d-beat laden metal punk like Ictus, Pisschrist, Hellshock, Amebix, etc. grind to me is very similar to power violence but played even faster and has more metal tendencies. Bands like Discordance Axis, Noisear, Wormrot, Hutt,Superbad, PLF, etc. there are too many bands in each sub-genre to name but I’m a big fan of it all and I think our band incorporates elements of each but wouldn’t necessarily label us as one or the
other.
Corey: Iron Lung. It’s different because other bands aren’t Iron Lung.
Kevin: I don’t know. I had never even heard of power violence before
I joined this band
ThrashPunx: What were the last 5 bands played on your ipod or where ever? No
cheating, even if it was lame fess up!
Jason: I’ll list the next 5 bands that play as I finish answering these questions: Godstomper, Screeching Weasel, X, Frank Sinatra, Violence of Humanity
Corey:…And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead – Madonna,Dead Language LP, Torche – Songs for Singles, Tellusian – Scania EP (on repeat),a cassette tape of my friends’ band Emowar
Kevin: Ozzy, Kurt Vile, Arvo Part, Swans, Ice Cube.
ThrashPunx: PDX has always produced amazing bands. Why do you think that is?
Jason: It’s a very open, artsy fartsy kind of place. The town promotes and embraces the weirdest shit ever, so bands and artists in general probably feel less hindrance and more acceptance when it comes to their fucked up vision of what music is. So some gems come out of all of that experimentation. Plus there’s an abundance of amazing musicians. That always helps.
Corey: Good weed.
Kevin: I think part of the reason Portland has produced amazing bands is the variety of people who have come here from all over the country. I’ve been in a few bands here, and none of them had any members who were originally from this area. The other part might be the fact that 8 months of the year are miserable and there is nothing else to do.
ThrashPunx: With so many rad bands from so many sub-genres is there a strong sense of unity or is everything dis-jointed and cliquish?
Jason: There’s a good bit of both but I feel more unity than cliquish-ness. There are a lot of odd bills being put together here,meshing all sorts of genres out of the simple fact that everyone knows everyone else and they want their bands to play together. It’s amazing.
Corey: Flagstaff, AZ, where I’m from, is a smaller town so genre-mixing is unavoidable. I’m happy to see more of that here. We’re all in this together.
Kevin: There are certainly scenes here and certain groupings of bands that tend to happen more often, but I have never felt that it was extreme or detrimental to the music scene as a whole. As a heavy band we have played some fairly eclectic shows with other groups from different backgrounds and the response has usually been really
positive, so I think people here are willing to mix it up.
ThrashPunx: Portland is known for “hipsters”, hell they have even made a TV show about it. Is that a fair assessment?
Jason: Yes, it is a fair assessment. They’re everywhere.
Corey: It’s funny because the Portland I know is crusty basement
shows, shitty temp jobs, and endless rain. It’s a cute show but
Portland hipsters have nothing on LA/NY hipsters.
Kevin: Someone called me a hipster once when I was walking down Burnside and I thought it was strange because I was just wearing jeans and a flannel shirt, so I’m not even really sure what that word means at this point. I also heard someone refer to a Portland band as “hipster-metal”, and I just wasn’t even sure what to think. I don’t know if it is about clothing or music or what. It seems like the word has become a catch-all for various things that people dislike, and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of agreement on what it even refers to specifically. I will wear the shit out of a flannel in the winter though, sometimes the same one all winter. So I think that just makes
me a slob.
ThrashPunx: I know several people that have moved from here to Portland even. Do you welcome them with open arms or should they stay home and contribute to their own scenes?
Jason: I’m not originally from Portland, so I definitely welcome them with open arms because I was one of them 8 years ago. All 3 of us grew up somewhere else. myself in Virginia, Corey in Arizona and Kevin in Michigan. The ongoing joke here is when you meet someone the first question you ask is “where are you from?”. I can probably count all of my friends that were actually born and raised here on two hands, which is weird to say but it’s true. As for staying home and helping the local scene, I say do what you want. Some folks have wanderlust and some don’t. some People grow up in shitty places with no scene and no options, so they feel they should leave. but If you love your hometown and scene, stay. Simple as that. I’d actually like to hear an answer from a true Portlander on this question.
Corey: If some people didn’t stay put there wouldn’t be any where to
go play shows, so I guess I’m for that.
Kevin: Nobody can give anyone grief for moving to Portland since we
have almost all come here from other places anyway. It is a city of
orphans and transplants. I only know a tiny handful of people who were
born here.
ThrashPunx: Lyrically where does HONDURAN come from? What are you trying to get across in your lyrics?
Jason: The topics for me vary between historical atrocities and how
to learn from them, current events/social commentary to what the future holds for us all. Some examples are “protect the soil” which is about a pole shift and the aftermath, to “live fast, die you” about a fictitious civilization on a fictitious planet that’s been wiped out(which could be earth at some point), to “hiding from the idiots” about people that focus their intellect and efforts on trying to control everything and everyone around them because they want the world to be perfect for them and only them, to “never forget or
Benjamin Bratt was there, where were you?” which is about the native American occupation of Alcatraz from 69-71.
Corey: The music comes first and then I sit down and write the lyrics in one go based on how the song makes me feel. My lyrics tend to be more abstract, stream-of-consciousness musings on futility, working man blues, and what maybe lies in the ether.
ThrashPunx: Who is your favorite band of all time and why?
Jason: Screeching weasel with Jughead cause they were fun as shit and had the best solos ever.
Corey: Mastodon before they started singing. When I heard that first 7″ I was tripping. Heavy without being generic, technical and catchy without noodling, and just crushing overall. It was exciting. That band also comes from touring the same DIY network that friends have toured,that Black Flag started, and they hit the road hard and put in serious work. I have mad respect for that band still but I could only make it halfway through the latest album.
Kevin: My favorite band of all time is The Cure. The “why” part of that question is tough to answer, but it is mostly nostalgia.
These dudes still use myspace! http://www.myspace.com/nothonduran
Posted in Interviews
Tags: Honduran, Portland, Power Violence
ThrashPunx 