A few years ago i was playing through some new records by various acts and Annihilation Time was thrown in to the CD player and seemed to blow everything else away.
Ever since then we have followed their releases and grown with them and their beer bellies over 3 albums so this interview was way overdue. In May 08 AT were supposed to cruise into the UK, play some shows, blow the joint up and get back on the road to Oakland, California. Unfortunately, they were stopped at customs and turned back to France. The Old Blue Last in London was full of people gutted but c’est la vie, sometimes you are the pigeon, sometimes you are the statue. Regardless of the disappointment of not making it, Zac shared words with AT guitarist Graham and shot the shit on why and how Annihilation Time stoke the fire to keep the the good times of heavy metal and punk alive. Photo’s courtesy of Sebastian Gondek who shot the band at the Sputnik Cafe, Münster.
Who the fuck are Annihilation Time?
Graham – guitar, Wess – guitar, Noel – drums Chris – bass and Jimmy – vocals. Together we make …just some dudes.
You are from Oakland yeah? What’s the scene there like? Do you play with the likes of Drunk Horse etc?
Yeah Oakland’s cool. It a scummy shit hole town in northern california that breeds all kinds of human filth, violence, drug abuse, transexual activities, and general uglyness. Which is a sorce of insperation for music. Drunkhores is awsome. We were suposed to play with them at this roller derby thing, but a bunch of crazy drunk assholes got the whole show shut down within 5 minutes of us playing. So they never got to play.
Oakland is linked to SF by a huge bridge, does your sound bridge the gap between hardcore and metal?
No, I don’t think so. I’d say we would like to think of our selves as creep rock. Like the lewd or something..
Your previous release ‘2’ has a rip roaring sound and brings up comparisons to the good old days of hardcore and metal, how does the new record III – Tales of the Ancient Age compare?
The new one is much more brutal than the second one. I don’t know how you would describe it!
Tracks from your new album sound like you are more out of control with more sneer – were you guys more wasted when this was being written?
No, I think I was meditating on a hill side and it all came to me at once.
Lyrically you seem to cover politics, fun times and much more, write us some lyrics with 4 lines for this interview..
“Huffed my share of solvents, I know I’ll probobly die. Quick pass me that shit, Ill give it a try.”
What lyrics are your all time faves across the albums?
Germ freak for sure. It’s “pervert music”
How do guys write/record?
Jimmy writes all the lyrics. And me and wess write all the music. The other dudes throw in suggestions and other ideas.
Do you write your shit on the road?
No, on the road i’m either sleeping, drinking or playing gigs. There’s not time for much else.
You tour a lot, how has Europe treated you on the 2008 tour?
Killer! Other than the UK for not letting us in the country!
Best show on the tour?
Stockholm Sweden was fun. We got hammered and after our real gig, we went and played on this crazy boat and hung out with some awesome folks.
Best tour story?
If I told you some of the ones i’m thinking about, we would be in deep shit!
How much of an influence was the UK hardcore and punk scene to you guys?
Big time! We all freak out over the late 70’s early 80’s punk. The pistols were the first punk band I ever heard. We all love that stuff, in addition to all the old English rock bands. It’s safe to say we wouldn’t be a band without those influences.
How did you completely manage to fuck up the UK dates?
It was your asshole customs douche bags! Next time those clowns aren’t going to stop us, we’re gonna get work permits!
No one was crying but we are all pissed off with your lack of organisation you knobheads! ;)
Dude, we have always been fuckups, but we are getting our shit together a little more each year (not that im trying to say we will ever have all our shit figured out).
What did you miss out on most by completely fucking up the UK tour?
We wanted to go to Philo’s grave in Dubland and rage it up with some bro’s we have over there.
It must have cost you a packet huh?
Yeah, I think all our best shows were going to be in the UK. Not only that but we already paid for this like £500 ferry from the UK to Norway that we had to just skip out on, and then drive from France to Norway in a day and a half all because some joker says we can infect your country. We lost our asses on that one.
What would you have spent the money on?
English rock artifacts and over priced warm beer. haha!
Haha! – Your artwork reminds us of the good times of thrash and metal from the 80’s, who is responsible for your sleeves?
Sean Filley (he used to be in the band). The guy’s a bad ass artist, guitar player and all around dude.
Who were you fave skateboard graphics artists?
Vernon Johnson. All the old Powell art is killer.
You have all grown through the skate scene I believe, who skates in the band?
Me, Jimmy and Wess. I don’t skate as much anymore ever sense I shattered my hand and thought I wasn’t going to be able to play guitar again. Made me kind of paranoid.
Do you travel with a deck on board or is it too risky getting served?
We always bring at least two skate boards on tour with us.
How much is skateboarding an influence on AT?
As a kid, nothing was more important. That and surfing. It’s a big influence on our sound. I don’t know how to describe it, but some music actually has that sound in it. If you don’t skate, then you won’t understand what i’m talking about.
I heard you guys are like most British people when it comes to getting wasted, gimme your best acid or mushrooms story?
Me and Noel were in Den Hagg, Holland and on lot of really strong acid. We were just kinda walking around town tripping or what ever. Next thing I know, we walk over this military barricade without even realising what we were doing. Turns out we had walked into this restricted area of some foreign Embassy. There were all these military with machine guns and military jeeps and shit, I freaked out! We had been watching a World War II special on TV before we left the house for like 3 hours before. All of a sudden we were both convinced we were in occupied Nazi Germany, and they we going to gun us down! I was seeing like tanks and shit coming at us! We like freaked out and started running for our lives half way across the city before we pulled our heads together. It was great!
You have the chance to Annihilate 3 people in the World…
My landlord, Lars Ulrich and last but not least that scum sucking bitch Arnold Schwarzenegger!
Final words bitches…
Thus three so far shooter…
Find Annihilation Time at www.myspace.com/annihilationtime and www.annihilationtime.net
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