What does the term grindcore mean to you? If you’re over the age of thirty probably early Napalm Death albums. If not, probably Suicide Silence. Either way, Planet Loud sat down and had a chat to self-confessed elitist assholes, Insect Warfare to find out what grindcore really is all about.

Planet Loud – So, how are things with you today?
Insect Warfare – Things are good. Just taking a break from work and recovering from watching Swedish band Mass Hysteri play last night in Houston.

Planet Loud – For the uneducated out there, could you explain who Insect Warfare are?
Insect Warfare – To keep things interesting for myself I will say that Insect Warfare are three guys who played in an awful grindcore band and now do equally awful things post break up.

Planet Loud – A lot of people feel that Insect Warfare are as close to the definition of grindcore as possible. Would you agree with this?
Insect Warfare – I am not sure. If I agree then I would come off as some kind of self worshipping dickhead. All I know is I grew up listening to all the harsh classics and when I did my own band I just wanted to emulate those bands. Maybe that’s why it sounds like that. I wasn’t out on a mission to be the “definition” of grindcore.

Planet Loud – What is your definition of grindcore?
Insect Warfare – When I check out new grindcore bands I look for raw production, primitive song writing and to be as noisy and fast as possible. When bands start throwing in too many elements outside of this realm I quickly pull the record off the player and move on. I am an elitist.

Planet Loud – In a couple of interviews recently the band have been fairly vocal about what gets labelled “grindcore” these days. Do you feel that the true grindcore sound can be recaptured?
Insect Warfare – I think it can be captured. A lot of bands in Australia and Japan have a really good grasp on what grindcore should be like. Take the band RED for instance. They nailed that shit on the head. They took all the best parts of Napalm Death and updated it without making it sound terrible and over complicated. I love them.

Planet Loud – How do you try to capture the feel of the true grindcore sound?
Insect Warfare – I don’t really try, I just do what feels natural. I like the way From Enslavement To Obliteration sounds and I want to imitate that. It just kind of comes out that way. You can’t put too much thought into the shit. That’s when you hear all these terrible mathrock style grind bands that suck ass.

Planet Loud – If you had to tell a modern “grindcore” band to pick up five albums that sum up grindcore, which albums would you get them to pick?
Insect Warfare – I guess I would say Napalm Death “FETO”, Discordance Axis “JouHou”, Arsedestroyer “Teen Ass Revolt”, Assuck “Misery Index”, and Terrorizer’s “World Downfall”.

Planet Loud – Do you remember which band made an impact on your life?
Insect Warfare – Probably Napalm Death. For this kind of music anyways.

Planet Loud – In an interview online you said youd didn’t care about whether people knew you were in Insect Warfare or not. Can you explain to us what you got out of Insect Warfare?
Insect Warfare – A lot of stress, loss of money, and frustration. I do the band for myself and sometimes it’s frustrating making it happen. That’s why I stopped doing it. Just got bored with the whole mess really.

Planet Loud – The writing process for Insect Warfare seemed as chaotic as the music. Do you have to be in a particular mindset to write?
Insect Warfare – Of course. If the day is going great there is no reason to write such terrible music. I usually would write if I was having a fucked up day or was really angry with something. If I was happy I’d rather be doing more fun things than sitting in my house being a loser. That’s why I hate all this happy party fist-banging grindcore bullshit. Fuck circle pits and fuck breakdowns. Shit should just be fast and blurred and leave the listener pinned against the wall.

Planet Loud – Did you rehearse as a band or do you just get together and write when it suits you?
Insect Warfare – We never rehearsed on a steady basis. We would get together when there was a show or a recording. I prefer to spend my time doing other stuff than locking myself in a practice space and trying to create some illusion of a “tight” band.

Planet Loud – You’ve said the songs are born out of frustration and anger, what is it that makes you angry? Is it things on a large scale or just day to day bullshit?
Insect Warfare – Just day to day bullshit. Dipshit people. Fake motherfuckers. You know the drill.

Planet Loud – How much did Insect Warfare help vent that anger and frustration?
Insect Warfare – It did a pretty good job at the time. It was a nice outlet. I have other outlets these days.

Planet Loud – From reading up on the band it seemed the process was you write, record then move onto the next record. How important to you is promoting what you do or is this purely done for personal satisfaction?
Insect Warfare – Done mostly for personal gratification. I mean, I like people to know we have a new record out, but I could also really not care less. I do this for me.

Planet Loud – Would it be fair to say that Insect Warfare don’t sit comfortably in the modern extreme music scene and is that something that is fine by you?
Insect Warfare – Yeah, there are very few bands I feel aligned with. I don’t like scenes and I hate the concept of some fake ass image of a world grindcore alliance or whatever. No thank you. I feel really close with bands like Iron Lung, Hatred Surge, Unholy Grave, and other bands in Australia and Japan. Those people are actual friends.

Planet Loud – You come across in interviews as not really caring what people think about your views or what you do. Does this cause problems?
Insect Warfare – Yeah, people think I’m a big dick. I am. I can live with that.

Planet Loud – Do you think it gives people a bad impression of you as individual people? Do you care?
Insect Warfare – Oh yeah, of course. Once again, I make no bones about it. I’m a great person to the people who deserve it.

Planet Loud – Bearing in mind your antagonistic attitude in interviews, did it cause problems when you play live?
Insect Warfare – Some people relate to our outlook and those are the people I care about it. I do not have any desire to “bro down” with some jackass in a flip bill hat, high tops, and a band new SOB t shirt. Get out of my life.

Planet Loud – Outside Insect Warfare, do you mind telling us a bit about your life?
Insect Warfare – I am just a regular guy who works at a record store, bartends, and likes leather/levi bars. That’s about it really.

Planet Loud – Okay, thanks for your time, anything else you want to say?
Insect Warfare – Yeah. Thanks and party thrashers can get fucked.

Interview by Graham Finney