Napa is for lovers
A close shave with
the nature boys of Burmese.
By Mike McGuirk
LOCAL ROCK BAND Burmese have been a favorite of mine since
I caught their act at Kimo's one night back in early 2000. Their
brand of high-energy metalcore, as well as their practice of attacking
the crowd, really got my blood pumping. One time when I saw them,
members of the opening band, Face down in Shit (great name), were
so incensed by singer-bassist Mike G.'s antics (which included walking
on top of their girlfriends' heads about two seconds into the set)
that they punched him square in the face and sent him sprawling.
Another time I saw Burmese, the first thing they did was
turn these 10,000-watt white lights on the crowd, which practically
burned everybody's eyebrows off. The other great detail about Burmese
is that they have had, like, 10 different drummers over the years.
One of them was local publicity magnet and simulated-leather-boy
rock star John Dwyer. As the story goes, Dwyer got his ass kicked
out of the band while they were on tour. For the record, there is
no bad blood today between the parties involved, as both Mikes mentioned
during this interview that "Dwyer was an incredible drummer"
who "brought a real intensity to the music."
I have seen Burmese evolve from total spazz rock to their current
incarnation as a heavy metal superfunk power violence four-piece
in which a two-headed, four-armed rhythm unit lays down beats for
the sweaty interaction of the group's two bass players. There is
no guitar. Sometimes one of the drummers plays tape loops. The vocals
are either growled or screeched.
Burmese's shows have always been exciting, both for the antics
they display and the style of music they deliver. Also my full-length
Burmese CD, Monkeys Tear Man To Shreds, Man Never Forgives Ape,
Man Destroys Environment (2001), has plenty of great songs that
I like to listen to again and again. Now the group is planning on
releasing two albums on the same day, June 13 – Friday the
13th, in fact – much the same way Guns N' unleashed both volumes
of Use Your Illusion on the public back in 1991. They are
celebrating the event with a party at the Hemlock Tavern on that
very night. You should go to it. A Mere Shadow and Reminiscence
of Humanity is a sludgy new full-length release on local label
tUMULt. The other, White, is a collection of interpretations
of songs by obscuro destructo-power electronics band Whitehouse
and is put out by the good folks at Planaria.
Nice and menacing
One of the interesting things about Burmese is that although they
present a very violent and menacing image onstage, offstage they
are among the sweetest and nicest young men anyone could want to
meet. I learned this recently when I interviewed the band about
their music and the things that drive them.
When I contacted bass player Mike G. about doing the interview,
I mentioned that I hate doing interviews and that I would like to
do something different with this one. He suggested I go with the
band on one of their frequent day trips up to Napa Valley. "We
go up there once or twice a month," he said. "Just to
clear our heads and breathe some fresh air."
This sounded like a great idea to me, so I went with drummers Mark
S. and Mark S. and bass players Mike G. and Mike G. up to Napa Valley
State Park in Calistoga, where we spent the day sitting in the sun
and talking about all sorts of things, but mostly music.
Once we were settled in a nice clearing, I got out my tape recorder
and we began discussing the band's influences, the reactions they
seek from crowds, and the way they've evolved in the last five years
or so.
Brutal sound effects
Burmese's music is pure brutality, both sonically and lyrically,
although you can't really understand any of the lyrics. What you
get is a feeling, especially live. I don't know why it is that I
am drawn to bands like this, and more important, why bands are inspired
to make such music, so I put the question to the group. Bassist
Mike G., chewing on a long blade of grass, offered, "For me,
I want to show people something so terrible that they have to reject
it. Also it's just fun as shit to be loud and really annoying and
disgusting."
As the sun broke through a passing cloud and bathed us all in a
warm golden glow, other bass player Mike G. said, "I like to
say the word 'fuck' in public. I like to read Marquis de Sade. I
like to watch horror movies. I like to read horror books, and about
sadism. I like pornography."
He continued, "Music that has the power and the intensity
of fucking and killing, like you can feel that – you're fucking
... killing ..."
He was interrupted as a beautiful orange-and-black monarch butterfly
landed on his shoulder, and I asked him why he would want to kill
people with his music. As the butterfly crawled up his arm, he explained,
"There are things you can't actually demonstrate in society,
and since we're still like ... apes, we want to tear things apart,
go nuts. So to have an outlet for that, passive people play video
games. But music is somewhere on a more intellectual level, and
it can be on a physical, animal level.
"But most music is weak. No one ever wants to address sexuality
except through innuendo. People talk about war in music and sexuality
and war in music, and they skirt the issues of what people really
do. Sexuality and violence – when they mix, it's just ..."
He gets really excited, "They fuck each other's babies. You
know, they slit the baby out and fuck the mother and fuck the baby
..."
Drummer Mark S., holding a bunny rabbit that had hopped into his
arms, added, "And then they kill them both."
Reaching over to feed the rabbit some pellets of food he had in
a plastic bag labeled "For Bunnies" in his pants pocket,
the still visibly excited Mike G. summed it up: "That's what's
in our music. We like to mix that with music. And why not? There's
these boundaries. That's we want to do – push those boundaries
out."
The next thing he did left me a bit disturbed. He pulled a Leg
Show magazine out of his back pocket, spread a picture of a
naked young girl before him on the ground, pulled a three-inch braid
of pubic hair from his pants, placed it strategically on the girl's
body in front of him, and moaned, "It looks so real, so real."
It was creepy as hell, but I didn't let it spoil the beautiful day
we were having, or my impression of these fine young men.
Burmese play a CD-release party June 13, 10 p.m., Hemlock
Tavern, 1131 Polk, S.F. $6. (415) 923-0923.
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