is led by former Gorrilla Biscuits guitarist, Walter Schreifels.
GB were a huge influence on the East Coast hardcore scene
before they split up. Unfortunately, I didn't get to speak
with Walter, but I did get to speak with Quicksand's drummer,
Alan Cage, who proved to be more then cool. The interview
took place in their tour bus outside the Cattle Club before
their show there with Seaweed.
Heckler: So what are you guys up to as of now? How far into
this tour are you?
Quicksand: This one, I guess about two and a half weeks, but
we've been out pretty much since June.
H: You went out with Anthrax, right?
Q: This summer, yeah, Anthrax and White Zombie.
H: How was that?
Q: It was weird. We've never really done anything like that
before. It wasn't really our crowd, but it was good. They(Anthrax
and White Zombie) were really nice people.
H: How were the crowds? Did they dig you guys?
Q: Yeah, yeah..., for the most part, definitely. I think we
went over really good but I don't know if it was an exact
match of the kind of people who can really get into us in
the long run.
H: Do you think it helped you guys?
Q: Yeah, I think it helped in some ways. Some places more
than others. It depended alot on the show because we were
going on first. Sometimes they were just starting to let people
in and we were just going on so we didn't end up playing to
that many people and other times we'd be playing to a packed
house.
H: What was the idea behind the video for "Dine Alone" ? Was
it the band's or...?
Q: Not really, no. As a band we kind of look at it as... it's
not like it's our art, we're not video makers, we make music.
Unfortunately, that's where people see music now, on MTV.
If you want alot of people to hear your music you've gotta
put out a video. If you want people to hear it ,you do it
so we just got video directors. We like the videos for the
most part and tried to make something we can live with. I
think that's all we were really hoping for, something that
they
would play and didn't make us look too stupid.
H: Why did you re-record "Unfulfilled" and "Omission" (originally
released on a single by Revelation Records) for "Slip"?
Q: For a couple of reasons. For one, we needed the songs.
Unfortunately, at the time we were really slow writing, and
also because I think that not many people got the Revelation
record. I thought they were good songs...
H: So you wanted to keep them around?
Q: Yeah, because it gives people a chance to hear those songs.
Even the people that kind of knew who we were didn't have
the single because it wasn't that easy to find.
H: Also, the versions of those songs on the single have more
of a hardcore feel to them than the versions recorded for
"Slip". Was that a conscious decision?
Q: No... It was just that we recorded at a different place
with different people. That was just the way they came out.
H: You recorded "Slip" with Stephen Haigler (Pixies), right?
Q: Yeah, I think that has alot to do with the sound. Obviously
it's not going to be the same kind of dry, hardcore recording
that we did with Don Fury.
H: Do you think that it's a good representation of what you
do live?
Q: I don't know, it's hard to say. I think it's more energetic,
and more abrasive live. But it's a different thing in the
studio. It's not like a live show, you don't have the same
elements, so it makes sense that you sound different in the
studio than you do live. But I think that it's a good sounding
record, all the instruments sound good and stuff.
H: I noticed when the album came out that there were alot
of reviews that compared you to Fugazi. I didn't see the comparison,
but...
Q: Yeah, I just think it's something writers like to do when
they're lazy, they will just compare you to something whether
you sound like that or not. It's the most convenient way to
categorize a band and write it off. Otherwise you have to
try and be creative to make people understand what the band
is about. I like them alot so it's not that terrible a comparison.
H: But does the comparison make sense to you?
Q: There are a couple of things I would say are similarities,
but I think we sound more like other things than we do like
that. The D.C. punk scene was a big influence on us, vocally.
Probably bands like Minor Threat and Scream rather than Fugazi,
but it's hard to say.
H: Now, I know Walter was in Gorilla Biscuits... what other
bands did the rest of you play in?
Q: Sergio was in a band called Collapse, and another band
called Absolution. Tom played in a band called Beyond that
I played with him in, and he played in Bold for awhile. I
was playing in this band Burn before this.
H: Before I forget, do any of you skate or snowboard?
Q: Ummm...no. I think Walter used to skate when he was younger
but I haven't seen him out cruising around on a skateboard
lately. I'd like to try snowboarding though. Actually, we
were just in Salt Lake two days ago and we came to San Francisco
instead but if we stayed there the promoter there was like
"I have these friends who work at these ski places and I totally
could've got you free passes and snowboards". It would've
been fun but I guess we'll just do it next time.
H: Are you going to take a break before you strart recording
again?
Q: Well, we've got some more songs to write. We,ve already
done some demos of some new stuff. But, we've got some more
songs to write before we have an albums worth. Hopefully we'll
be able to knock it out in a couple of months.
H: Do you think it will be out by Fall?
Q: That's what were aiming for, late Summer, early Fall.
-Sean Schroeder
