[Corridor Of Cells - extreme/dark music webzine]
SCORN
Certainly one of the more important industrial bands of the 90's, England's
Scorn has gathered a wide following in the last couple of years with their
dark dub/industrial/ambient crossover. I had a chance to speak to the
current one & only member of the band, a very calm & quiet MickHarris about
the latest release "Gyral", the new upcoming album "LogghiBarogghi" and of
course about Mick's past with the almighty Napalm Death...
Before recording "Gyral" you parted wayswith your long-time collaborator
Nicholas Bullen, with whom you ahd created the band...What sort of
differences (musical or otherwise) lead to that event?
It was personal...I don't want to run anybody down, but Nick got a bit
involved with alcohol. I couldn't deal with that, I've got music that ismy
life, it's all I need. I don't need to be dealing with violent people. I
didn't feel like replacing him, I decided to to the next album myself.
Recording "Gyral" was definitely a very interesting record, it'sless of a
dance-floor record, more of a "listening" record for me, somethingI really
needed to make...a record with a lot of space, a certain element of
funkiness...
Yes, I noticed the new album is a lot moreminimal & even more
trance-oriented than the previous releases...
Yes, you can call it more trance, Scorn definitely has that side to it.It's
definitely more minimal, the whole thing is really stripped down.
As you admit, Nick's departure had a definiteimpact on the style of the
band. This new minimal sound of Scorn, is that something you wanted theband
to sound like all along?
Well, Scorn has always been a percussive form of music with beats &base &
loops & effects on top...really, nothing has changed that drastically.It
has just become a lot more spacious, even though I think it always had alot
of space...It's always been an essential part of Scorn's music. I'm notsure
whether you can call it a natural regresion or progression, it's simplywhat
I created and it worked, basically.
Are you planning to continue Scorn by yourselfor are you looking around for
new band members?
No, I'm probably going to continue by myself. I've already recorded thenew
album, which is going to be my final one for Earache. It's entitled "Logghi
Barogghi", it's 14 tracks and it's also gonna come out on vinyl aswell as a
double-pack around Septemeber this year. It's another Scorn record, it's
stripped down even more, it's different thatn "Gyral" but it'sstill a Scorn
record.
Are you going to keep it strictly instrumentalon the future albums or do
you intend to get back to having vocals again?
It will stay instrumental...I haven't heard any vocalists that I could
really work with.
How do you come up with some of the song titles,e.g. "Trondheim-Gavle"?
That was a train journey I did. All the titles since Nick has gone are very
personal views & ideas which are just a symbol for the pure sound...You
don't need an essay to describe it. They are just personal experinces,
things that have happened.
How did the remix album "Ellipsis"come to be? Did you actively look for
artists to remix your music or was it someone else's initiative?
A mixture of both...some of the mixes were something we did ourselves and
the others were the work of people who expressed interest in our music.We
just gave them the freedom, gave them the tapes, disks and let them create
what they wanted to. We're definitely very happy with it.
When I recently met up with the guys from Napalm Death & asked Barney
whether he was surprised by the direction you took upon leaving the band,he
answered 'no' and said you wanted to something like for quite a long timeit
seems. How long have you been interested in this type of music?
A long time, all my life...I never grew up with rock music, it all started
with punk, then went into indie, industrial, experimental, whatever. Thenof
course the whole death metal thing, hardcore, all from the heart...that's
how it came about. One thing lead to another. I'm a self-taught drummer,I
just did what I did and enjoyed it. I had done everything I could with
Napalm Death and it just wasn't going on for me anymore. Plus, there were
some personal differences, Napalm is a very hard working band so you get
that a bit. In the end I just moved on and got on with Scorn. I've been
playing with samplers for a while, making loops, recording it on a 4-track
and one thing finally lead to another.
Back in the early days of Napalm Death when you were in the original line-up
with Justin Broadrick, etc. and there were no other artists that sounded
like that, what bands really inspired you to create something as extremeas
"Scum"?
A lot of things...Celtic Frost was definitely a big influence, Siege from
Boston, Repulsion from Michigan. We just decided too go for it...just sit
behind those drums and blast it...get it out of your system.
What other projects are you involved with rightnow? I know you're still
doing Painkiller, Lull, anything else?
For Lull I just finished recording a CD, looks like Relapse will releaseit
which is good news. There some other drum/bass projects I'm involved (like
Gyral) with which I'm going to release through my own label Possible
Records. I'm going to launch it not just for releasing my own projects but
also for other people's work and collaborations involving me. There are
already some 12"s recorded and ready to go.
Speaking of Painkiller: how did you get together with John Zorn & Bill
Laswell, who come from slightly different musical circles?
I met Zorn in Japan in 1989 and we sort of kept in touch. We used to meeta
lot in New York and decided to do something. I suggested Laswell to joinus
and we just went into the studio and made the whole record. That's whatwe
do live. It's been a whole year since we've done anything with that, butI'm
sure there will be at least one final LP. Bill has a lot of ideas he wants
to realize. It's just a matter of timing and and all of us getting together.
The more ambient material that you are creatingright now is of course light
years away from what you did back in Napalm Death. Do you still feel the
urge to sometimes sit down in front of a drum kit and rip out a blast beat?
Yeah, definitely...I would like to find a local band that I could just jam
with once a week, to be honest. I really enjoy it and right now I don'tget
to play the drums, period. I don't even touch them. Sometimes in my studioI
sit down behind the drums for five minutes...I'd like to find a group of
people I could jam with, but as usual time is also a factor...
I believe you were supposed to come up withTest Department to North America
for a tour?
Yeah, but all of that got fucked up, since my label (Earache) did not putup
the support for that.
Do you still perform live as Scorn in England?
Yes, but mostly in the rest of Europe. England is a very conservative
country, so there's not much interest in music outside of London and some
other cities.
So, how does a Scorn live show look like ifyou're the only member by now?
It's very sonic, very heavy, just weighs you down, lots of bass, you just
can't escape it. It's also visually very exciting, I have a nice film that
goes along with the music. It's all half-improvised and half pre-prepared,
so it changes every night. I also take two DJs with me, one plays at the
beginning, then it's Scorn for an hour and 10 minutes or so and then the
other DJ for the rest of the evening. It's a pretty interesting show,
overall.
Since the new album "Logghi Barogghi"is going to be your last for Earache,
what other plans do you have for the future?
For the time being, I have some 12"s I want to put out through my label
Possible records. I don't want to race into anything. There's too many
sharks out there and I've experienced a lot of bullshit that I don't wantto
go through again. I just want to have a little bit more control this time
and a bit of respect and the people who are into what I do will supportit.
Thank you for the interview and looking forward to new releases in the
future. Any last words to say?
Just keep your ears up 'cause there is a lot of interesting music comingup.
Wish me luck and thanks for the support.
@1996 Corridor
