RAILGUN
1. Thanks for agreeing to do this interview! Would you please introduce yourself and what you do in the band?
Mason: I'm the guitarist and crazy noise maker.
Avery: I scream in the microphone crazy style.
AJ: I play crazy drums.
2. How would you characterize your sound and who would you say are the band’s primary influences?
Mason: Originally we kind of just threw together whatever heavy influences we had prior to the start of Railgun. Avery and AJ were both very much into harsh and noisy grindcore at the time like Discordance Axis and Pig Destroyer, whereas I was always more into just heavy chugging (death metal, slam, beatdown, etc.), so I was bringing more of the Unit-731, Malignancy, Pyrexia influence. I think it’s funny because in retrospect now that we have finally somewhat started to figure out what we want to refer to as the “Railgun sound,” the further it seems to stray from where we began the project. Despite the different influences going into the project, we had the same goal of making the noisiest and heaviest thing we could, a harsh and groovy chaos that we could control. So as of lately bands like Discontent, Denied, and Merzbow have really been influential in helping shape what Railgun is becoming.
3. How did the band come together?
Avery: As Mason briefly mentioned, Railgun initially started out as a two piece grindcore project with AJ and I, with me on guitar, however I broke my arm, meaning I couldn’t play guitar for the time being. So from there we decided to ask our friend Mason to fill in on guitar, where we then changed the focus and direction of the sound we previously had into what we are working on now.
4. The crowd response was outstanding off the rip for you guys at the Guillotine/Satiate/Reality Denied show on Saturday, July 25th. That must have been very satisfying for you guys, especially as opening can often be a tough spot. How was your show experience?
As a group we weren’t really too nervous or intimidated to perform at the show or really any of our past shows, either. We’ve all been in the scene for a while now and have made plenty of friends who regularly go to these shows so the majority of people we saw there were homies that would be supportive and mosh hard for us, as always showing up with 207 style, going hard as fuck, no breaks between songs, nothing. Which is exactly what we wanna see in our crowd: constant movement and pure aggression, which knock on wood we have seemed to consistently achieve thus far.
5. What is the best compliment someone could pay your band?
As a collective we can say that anybody walking away from our set with a non-serious injury is the best experience. Getting a bloody nose or some nasty bruises and being able to laugh it off with your friends is the best, and it shows that everyone there was going crazy and still having a good time.
6. How did you get into heavy music in the first place? Walk us through that journey.
Avery: I have been listening to heavy music my whole life really. It started with big names like Slipknot and Pantera, but later on discovered more bands like Denied, Suffocation, just New York Hardcore in general. One band that really spoke to me and got me really into hardcore specifically was Black Flag. That band really spoke to me at a time I really needed it. Lately my rotation of bands has been Earth Crisis, Shattered Realm, and Unmoved.
Mason: I’ve also listened to metal for pretty much my whole life. My mom and dad listened to all of the more standard metal choices of the early 2000s, which in turn so did I. Bands like Korn, White Zombie, and Pantera were amongst some of the earliest bands I remember thoroughly listening to. As a young teen we had a family friend staying with us who found out I was listening to Pantera, which was one of his favorite bands, so we'd go on car rides and he’d introduce me to similar bands he liked. A lot of 90s metal and hardcore, the most impactful names to me would probably be Fear Factory, Biohazard, and Sepultura. At this point in my musical journey I just wanted to find the heaviest band possible. I wanted the low end of Fear Factory, the bounce of Biohazard, and the abrasiveness of Sepultura. I'd go on to listen to bands like Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation, Internal Bleeding, and a vast amount of NYHC bands. As I'm assuming the story goes for many people, I heard the slam part in “Liege of Inveracity” by Suffocation and after that I just wanted to listen to bands that sounded like that. Which brings us up to the present, where I've only really gone more brain dead and heavy. My current rotation lately seems to consist of Torsofuck, Artery Eruption, .357 Homicide, and Devourment always.
AJ: I grew up with a very different taste, being raised on country and oldies music. One day my dad showed me Metallica and I instantly fell in love. From there, I got into all the stereotypical intro metal bands, especially nu-metal, bands like System of a Down, Pantera, Slipknot (who I was overly obsessed with) and Metallica just to name a few. Going into high school, I started getting into heavier bands like Suicide Silence and old Bring Me the Horizon. I discovered hardcore my senior year of high school when Mason showed me Knocked Loose for the first time in school and it completely altered my heavy music taste. Over the years since then, it’s gotten me into more beatdown and grindcore. I had a huge mathcore phase with bands like The Dillinger Escape Plan, Converge, and Botch. Even bands like the Sawtooth Grin, xClocktowerx, and Destroyer Destroyer.
7. Are there other projects you’re involved in, friends you’d like to shout out, anything coming up you want to plug…? [ed. note: you can view my interviews with the respective bands where relevant at the hyperlinks below]
Mason: I’m always trying to cook up something new. Aside from Railgun and TucoxRamierz, I have an old school hardcore project with Avery and another buddy called MEDICINESTICK, which I play bass in. I also have a slam project with Gavin, the vocalist of End Your Life, and Avery called Anthropocide. In terms of solo work, I’ve been working on a black metal/noise solo project called Kaushatar similar to Xasthur and Portal. Assuming everything continues on track I'm hoping to have 3-5 tracks E.P. for October.
Avery: I am in TucoxRamierz and we will soon be having stuff coming so be on the lookout for that. I am also in End Your Life, we just had our first show and it went incredibly well! I don’t have any other projects at the moment, but at some point in the future I would love to do an old school/fast hardcore style of band. Some bands I would like to shout out in the scene are Mortar, Guillotine, Retract, Mankala, and Zinc.
AJ: I also play drums in Floor 13 and TucoXRamirez which is Railgun’s powerviolence side project. Definitely wanna shout out all the homies bands Mortar, End Your Life, Bite the Bullet, Guillotine, and xbeaconx. Not bands we know personally but some I’d like to shout out cause they deserve more recognition and I’d like to see in Maine are Sound Out the Braille, LUNCHBOXBANDIT, Too Pure to Die, and The Sawtooth Grin. BIG shoutout to Dying Mind just because they’re an insanely good local band who deserves way more hype and recognition.
8. Okay, last question: a promoter with unlimited funds and artist access is putting together a one-night-only show with you on the bill. You get to choose the other four artists you’ll be sharing the stage with. Who are you picking?
Mason: For me, I've gotta go with Guillotine, we’ve been homies since our first gig, so if we’re playing on our dream bill we’re playing with a band that was in from day one. Unit-731/Recon, I mean I don’t need to comment much about the pick—both of those bands get the crowd moving. What else could an extreme band ask for? Riffs for days and breakdowns that feel wicked, it’s too hard to choose between the two so I'm gonna use a mulligan and say both. Gotta have Final Resting Place on the bill, as a massive slam fan I love seeing a band that's not only relevant but heavy as hell return to the more raw and disgusting style of production. And for a purely self indulgent pick I’d have to go with either Devourment or Internal Bleeding, to me they are the sun and moon of slam. I personally like Devourment more but I think the more hardcore adjacent writing of Internal Bleeding would fit the bill better.
Avery: I would have to agree with Mason about Guillotine, they were on our first show and they are some of the best to do it right now. For bigger names I would put Discontent as one of them, they are some of the best doing that style right now. The next band I’d say would have to be Big Boy, the energy from them is unmatched currently, they bring a crowd together like no other. It’s truly magical. The next band would be Pig Destroyer. The riffs are unrelenting but right when you need them they can get this insane groove going. Truly one of my inspirations from when it comes to playing guitar. The last band I’ll choose is Hatebreed. I don’t need to say anything more about that.
AJ: If we're talking big name bands, the first one has gotta be Mongrel, it was one of the first that the three of us really bonded over and took inspiration from when we first started jamming. Fatal Realm AND Shattered Realm are both on that list. Both bands are doing some sick genre blending that definitely doesn’t go unnoticed. Lastly I’d have to say Sin Against Sin, we are so lucky to have them playing with Outta Pocket at Geno’s coming up, so maybe not too soon, but someday in the future it doesn’t seem too unrealistic to get a show with them. As for local bands, a lineup I’ve been thinking about a lot that personally I think would be bonkers is Railgun, Buck 50, Dying Mind, and LNTRNS.