Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Ceremony Interview






Ceremony is a band that needs no introduction.  Since their debut EP "Ruined" dropped on Malfunction Records in '05, Ceremony have been a household name for modern day hardcore. With their release the "Violence Violence" LP, also on Malfunction, and their most recent effort, the "Scared People" 7" on Bridge Nine, they have only solidified their spot on the top. With an unmatched war-like energy on stage, Ceremony have left quite an impression on the hardcore scene today. They have a new record coming out August 5th on Bridge Nine called "Still Nothing Moves You". Be on the lookout for that. What follows is a quick interview with guitarist, Ryan Mattos. 



FU: Alright, who are you, what do you play, and what food best describes you as a whole?
CY: I am Toast, I play guitar, sometimes bass, never drums. I am a cyberdog.

FU: Ceremony is hitting the road with Life Long Tragedy and Sabertooth Zombie for a full US, I know that one of the dudes in your band has toured with LLT before, are you guys good friends? Any revealing stories between the two bands?
CY: Yeah, pretty much all of those dudes went to the same schools together growing up in Rohnert Park. I'm a little older and from a different town, I originally met them when I had been briefly working as a janitor at Rancho Cotati High School in RP. I wouldnt be one to reveal any revealing stories, theyve all known each other so long that I can barely keep up with the jokes.

FU: California is delivering some pretty solid bands as of late. What up and comers should we keep our eyes on?
CY: Crucified,Skin LIke Iron, Wolves & Thieves, Cinnamon, Foreign Nature. 5 is enough for now, look into those and you'll find more.

FU: Ceremony has a new LP coming out at the beginning of August called “Still Nothing Moves You”, Ross posted a bulletin about this record,calling it “the record” for you guys, are you all as confident in this release as he is? What can we expect to hear coming out of the “Scared People” EP?
CY: That was me. I think a lot of people confuse us because our names are Ryan and Ross, and I'm kinda a mouthpiece for the band, and most people assume that's going to be the singer. I mean my REAL name is Ryan, but everyone calls me toast at this point.

FU: I know you guys have a two song 7” with you on this tour, whats the info on this release?
CY: I have no idea. B9's helicopter crashed while they were taking it to the plant, so it got delayed and we don't have it yet. eventually we will and it'll have 2 songs, one's on the LP, one's not.


FU: I heard talks of this record being self-titled before the name was picked. Am I an idiot basing a question off of false information, or is this true? If so, why the name change?
CY: You're not an idiot, don't beat yourself up. We were going to have it be self-titled, but then we decided we didn't want people to confuse it with The Cult's record called "Ceremony."


FU: What would you say are your favorite things about living in the Bay area?
CY: Lake Merritt, good vegan food, weather, people, the Rose Garden, shows, Sabertooth Zombie.

FU: I recently stumbled across a number on the net for the Ceremony Info-line( Call [510]350-7360 and check it out for yourself). I called it up and it hit me with some upcoming tour dates, record info, and other Ceremony related news. This is definitely a pretty different way of promoting, whats the deal with this for those not in the know, and whose idea was it to get this thing started up?
CY: Well information is power, and with so much stuff on the information superhighway, it's pretty much the power superhighway. We're trying to get that power back from the hands of the upper class, internet-enabled techno poseurs, and back to the payphone punx where it belongs.

FU: Since the “Ruined” EP, Ceremony has kept a pretty hectic touring schedule, are there any memorable oddball dates that stick out in your mind? What’s the story behind it?
CY: Oh man, uh, there was this one that happened forever ago. We were staying at a hotel and there was a door on either end, right. And one opened up to the hallway and the other opened up onto the beach. And if you opened both of them it created like this crazy wind tunnel. So, like first of all we experimented by opening both doors and just like throwing shit into the path of the wind as it rushed through. So it would all like fly out into the hallway. Then, apparently there were a bunch of seagulls outside and next thing we know there is a bunch of seagulls flying at the open door. So we slammed the door closed and all we hear for like the next half hour is just seagulls like slamming into the door. (laughs) It was really kind of scary.


FU: Alright, thanks for the interview dude, it’s time for the ever-so-awkward last words portion of the interview. Leave us with some words to live by, a plug for the new record, or some shout outs.
CY: Dan, I know you're super bored and hot right now, just hang in there.



Ceremony will be stopping in Tampa with Life Long Tragedy and Sabertooth Zombie in a few weeks. Don't be a dummy and miss this gig.

-JP

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey is it possible for me to translate your ceremony interview and post it on my blog? I'll translate it to spanish

Blog: bajopresion.wordpress.com
Band: myspace.com/residentescontag
Label: myspace.com/bajopresionrecords

Face Up Collective said...

Yo thats cool with me dude.

Anonymous said...

I used to speak spanish a lot. But then i decided that it wasn't hardcore enough. So I started screaming spanish instead!