Why don't we start off with the formalities? Name and position in the band?

Sean Ingram. Sometimes lead vocalist.

Alright. Do you mind if I ask you some questions that deal with Coalesce prior to the break-up?

You can ask me anything you want.

Alright. Great, thanks. I remember reading on the website about some incident...

Wilkes-Barre, right?

Yeah.

Every interviewer has asked me that. Yeah, Wilkes-Barre, goddamn, when was that? (Enter Aaron Turner of Isis/Hydra Head Industries) When was Wilkes-Barre? You were there. When did the drum get thrown? What year was that? Ninety seven? Six?

Turner: Ninety eight? I can't remember.

Ingram: Anyways, it was back then. (Exchanges goodbyes with Turner and some other fellows)

Wilkes-Barre, was it?

Ingram: Yeah, Wilkes-Barre Fest. It was an emo fest with Hot Water Music and the Get Up Kids, and, man, Aaron (Turner) was there. I don't know what Aaron was doing. I don't think ISIS was around back then. Nah, I don't think ISIS was around. I think he was selling stuff as Hydra Head. Anyways, you know, we got really tired carrying around our drum kit because it was really broken, so what we did, was, we smashed it, just broke it at the end of a song, and it got picked up and got tossed back in the club, and it landed on a girl and it hurt her really bad. I never even saw that to see how bad it really was. People said it cut her head, like gashed her head and she was bleeding. And James (DeWees) offered to take her to the hospital and all that stuff. She said she was fine and cool, and all that stuff. (Exchanges more goodbyes)

Anyways, she said she was fine and everything was cool. That was like, that was when the whole emo thing was like first starting, you know what I mean? It was like Weezer "Blue" was just out, you know, they just took it too far. You know, that was the whole crying on stage. It was like "I have to cry on stage every night" emo, when it was like really, really just too much. And, you know, a lot of the kids just blew it out of proportion and stuff, and it was like a big deal for, god, for like a year-and-a-half, two years, or something. And then it disappeared. Shit like that has a shelf life of two years. You know, so, whatever.

That didn't have any affect on Coalesce and breaking up, or was that an (isolated) incident?

No, no, no, Coalesce used to break up all the time, for one reason or another, usually over money or religions. But, no, no, Stacey (Hilt) ended up leaving the band after that to pursue other, he wanted to do other music and that was kind of the clincher for him, "Nah, I don't want to do this anymore." You know, so, he left after that, and then he started playing in a band called Sunshine Vandals, and then ultimately ended up starting the band Casket Lottery after that. But, no, that didn't make the band break up at all. It was some heat, but it wasn't that bad. You know, just really serious heat.

Ok. Fast forward to your last full-length, "A Revolution in Just Listening." What was the idea behind the title? Is there any sort of revolution that you were referring to?

It's an anti-revolution record. Nobody can listen to a record. Everybody has to, you know, give their top-ten, at that time. Shit's changed in three years, rapidly. I mean, look at tonight. We could never pull more than thirty people in this club (CBGB, NYC). You know, that [tonight] was 350. That's like really good for us (laughs). But, back then it was, "Oh, we stand for this, so we're going to write this song." "Oh, we stand for that, here's a PETA flyer at our merch table. Go vegan, whatever." You know, and Coalesce has never ever been about that, ever. And we're just like, it was our last record and it was kind of like a "Fuck you" record, you know, more or less. I never expected to ever get on stage again. So, the record was written accordingly. You know, it's like "Revolution in Just Listening." Maybe you guys will get it some day. You know, and when you see bands like ISIS come around, I think fans are coming around. It's like ISIS is one of the most intense bands to listen to, you know, and just take it all in, you know. Anyways, that's basically what the whole meaning of the title meant. It was an anti-revolution. There is no revolution. It was a joke. Coming from me, to say the word revolution, if anybody knows me, they know it's a joke.

Now that recording was actually recorded after the band broke up.

It was written after the band was broken up.

Looking back, are you happy with it? Is there anything that you would've changed?

It's, you know, there are a lot of things I would change to it, but for what I was going for, it's perfect. You know, if I would've known that we were going to write another record or something like that could've happened, I probably would've let it evolve instead of letting it be a record that stood out all by itself. So, you know, it has no contingency, with the others...if that's even a word. My brain is gone. But it wasn't very continuous as far as how we were going. But other than that, I'm happy with it. It's, you know, circumstances being what they were, you know, it's exactly what I wanted.

And you mentioned that there was the whole "Fuck you" theme with "Revolution." Is there usually a theme to each Coalesce record?

Yeah, there is usually a theme to each record, but it's not obvious like a lot of bands can make them, you know what I mean? It's more like a thing that helps me write each song to go to the next song, and then the artwork, you know what I mean? It's not something, that I like, put out, like, "Ok, this is our record about, you know, whatever this is," you know. Like some bands pick, you know, "Ok, our theme is Reservoir Dogs." Or our theme is this and that. It's nothing like that. It's more like a train of thought theme. This is what I go for when I'm writing the lyrics, because I do the artwork and I do all the other stuff.

You already mentioned that being in this club (CBGB), you used to pull in around 50 people, and now there are around 300 (tonight).

Yeah, yeah.

What have you seen that has changed during your time away from Coalesce, and then coming back?

People give a shit, frankly (laughs).

Why do you think that is?

I don't know. (laughs) I don't know. I don't know if it's one of those things people started listening to the bands today and started looking at dates on the records and saying, "Oh, wait, this band was doing it first," or if it's one of those things where Relapse [Records] broke us out. I don't see how, because the record sales aren't that great. But, you know, I don't know. I would love to know. (laughs) If someone can tell me, it would be terrific.

So you shared with everyone on the Internet through your statement that your performance with the Dillinger Escape Plan was a big factor in Coalesce coming back.

It was.

Was there anything else besides that, such as missing playing live shows, touring, whatever?

You know, everyone has been wanting to do Coalesce. It's just a fact.

(A very angry Corey comes up and presents his case about being unable to get a CBGB shirt this late after the show)

Um, dude, ask me the question again. It's on the tip of my tongue.

(I laugh)

No, it's a big deal to get a CBs shirt here. That's bullshit to not get a CBs shirt.

Hold on, what was the question? Oh, you performing with DEP.

Yeah, well, you know everyone wanted to do Coalesce. Jes didn't, Jes still doesn't, he doesn't give a shit about Coalesce, he doesn't give a shit about the fans. You know, he doesn't care. It's not a bad thing. It's just the way things are, you know. He has always been a searcher, that's one of the problems we've always had with him. It's like, the band would take him to different cities, and he'd get different ideas, different things, and he would want to leave the band and go do this. You know, "Oh, it didn't work out, I'll do the band some more," and, "Ok, I'm going to go do this, it didn't work out, ok, I'll do the band some more." And, you know what I mean, it was just so frustrating. And, you know, when it ultimately broke up, you know, it's like, used to always tell myself, "man, if we just had someone else besides Jes, this band could probably do something." And as shitty as that sounds, because Jes is like one of the most amazing guitarists ever as far as I'm concerned, but you know, as far as like his personality versus our personality, versus his work ethic versus his concentration, it's like he's the worst band member. As far as a guitar writer, he was the fucking best. So, that's where it's really hard, you know what I mean? You don't want to replace like the baddest guitar player you've ever played with, but at the same time, you can't function as a band, you know? And, you know, we had talked about, after the Dillinger, we saw all the fans. They're like, "Dude, do one more show." We're like, "Ok, we'll do one more show," and of course I want to do it if we can get somebody to fill in [on guitar], you know. And, got back, I called a band meeting with all the members. James didn't want to do one last show. He's like, "I'm not doing a last show. I'm doing a fucking tour. I'm going on tour, that's fine. One shows are dumb." First show, you warm up, second show you warm up more, third show you warm up a little bit better, and then you're good. You know, one show is no good. He goes, "That's bullshit." And so that was that and we said, "Ok, let's do the tour." And then Nate didn't really want to do that. Can't leave and all that stuff, he's got a new family. And so, we're like "Ok,great, there goes that again," you know. There's our hope that it's going to happen...uhhhohhh (disappointed sound). Happened so many times over the years that we just never really told anybody about, because we're always trying to figure something out, you know, in our spare time to do. And so, finally, Andy from the Esoteric, he's like "You know what? My guitarist is really badass, you know, and he loves Coalesce. He grew up on Coalesce, and you know, got into metal because of Coalesce. Why don't you try him out and maybe he can just do the one show?" It's like, "Ok, maybe we'll just go back to one show again, you know, just for the hell of it. Just do a local show, whatever, no big deal." And, we gave him a CD, and he gave us the CD, it was like the next day, or the day after, I'm pretty sure it was the next day. Man, the shit was good. I mean, it was right on, no joke. And I gave it to James, and James is like, "That's it. We're going on tour. It's no longer a question." Talked to Stacey, Stacey's like, "I'm doing it, we're doing it" and that was that. Then we started talking to James's friend who books shows, and it was a done deal. And that's why we're here, and my voice is blown! (laughs)

Actually, I saw you guys at the Fireside Bowl (Chicago) one time...

Yeah, with Brutal Truth.

The way that Corey plays. If I didn't know better, I would've thought that it was Jes up there, you know?

It's creepy. It's creepy.

Yeah, you know, the mannerisms, the way they kneel on stage, just everything he does.

It's creepy, and it's completely unplanned. You know, we told him, "You know, it's your band now man. You don't have to do what Jes did. It's your fucking thing." And it just moves him that way, the same way it moved Jes, and that's totally cool. But it's like so weird, because we've seen some of the videos, and it's like, he looks like him! (laughs) It's so fucking creepy. We've been calling him "Bizarro Jes." I don't know if he likes that or not. Look, he's coming right now. Looks just like him. And, hey (to Corey), we're doing an interview here. Do you think that the way you move on Coalesce, you move different than Esoteric.

Corey: Yeah...

Sean: Do you think it's just the way the music moves you different, or what is it dude?

Corey: Yeah. Like, Coalesce is like spontaneous, and it like happens from within, whereas the Esoteric is like, trying to be clean and focused on the other element. It's like both worlds. It's like this one [the Esoteric], we're trying to be like, playing super tight, super crisp. The other one, I'm just trying to feel it, as well as play it. But, you know, it's the music is just that type of thing. It's really, really aggressive, like in a different way.

Yeah. I was just telling Sean, watching you on stage, you like look Jes...not to insult you...

Corey: No, that's fine. I hear that all the time.

Sean: (laughs) I know.

It's crazy.

Corey: Hey, I'm not doing it on purpose. I'm not trying to be like, I was studying Jes, although I did grow up watching Coalesce.

(laughter)

Right.

Corey: And you know like, they moved me to make, you know, all kinds of, like the teth-death metal that, or the tech-death metal, I said teth-deck...

Sean: I know, I thought you were talking about tech-deck skateboards (laughter)...

Corey: You know, if I wouldn't have watched Coalesce, or whatever, do the super intensity, I mean, I wouldn't have been able to make the other weapon. It's like a different thing, but it's from the same area.

Right.

Corey: I mean, that probably won't sound good when you write it. I couldn't speak.

No, it's ok.

(laughter)

Corey: But yeah, do you understand what I'm saying?

Yeah, definitely.

Corey: It's a big influence.

Sean: He'll make sure you look really, like a total pompous ass.

(laughter)

Corey: I know. That's why it's comfortable. It's because, that's why, I'm not watching the tape and doing it like that. It just feels natural because of watching them so many times before.

Right.

Corey: That's the basic thing. It feels like what I should be doing out there. I'm not faking it by any means, you know? I genuinely get off on it, hardcore.

Sean: (laughs) You get off on it, huh?

Corey: Yeah, don't you?

Sean: Not like, ever pop a woody...(laughs)

Corey: Not like that, but you know what I mean. From a different approach.

Sean: Yeah.

So how long did it take you guys to break in Corey with all the music and prepare for the tour?

Sean: No, dude, you don't understand. The guy listens to a song once, and we play it with him for like 10 to 15 minutes.

Really?

Yeah, and then we get it tight after that. That was the weirdest thing, it's because we're playing the songs, you know, Stacey's, dude, he didn't play on the last two records, so he [Corey] is like, teaching us how to play the songs. (Sean's Corey impersonation) "No. No, you don't understand. This is the way it goes. You know what I always hated about Coalesce? I go to the shows and I couldn't hear the fucking riff! We're going to hear the riffs now!" So, he kind of broke us in, in a way, you know? Here's the riffs, you know, he's like, "Ok, here's the riffs we played," and so, that's the way it goes. And that's pretty much the way it went. It was so cool, you know. It's like, not once did I ever worry, "Is he going to show up today?" Not once did I every worry, you know, am I going to have to be like nice to him so he feels good about what he's doing, or anything like that. He just showed up and said, "Bam! Where's the beer, where's the smokes, where's my guitar? We're going to have fun!" And that's the way we did it. You know, for every practice was like, we were hanging out, and it has never, ever, been like that with Coalesce. It's always been, "Oh, we signed this record deal, so we need to do this. And we need to go on this tour to push this record," and this and that. It's fun, because doing a band is fun, but at the same time it isn't fun in a way, you know what I mean?

Right.

And now, it's just totally opposite, and it's like "Man, this is the way it's supposed to be," you know? So it's really good.

Were you guys specifically just practicing for the tour, or did you play around and write some new material?

Uh, we've played with new riffs. I think we're definitely going to something else. It's just, right now, it just all depends on James and what he's doing. He's in the Get Up Kids and Reggie and the Full Effect. The kid is busy eight months out of the year. It just depends on what he's comfortable with us doing, and what he's comfortable with doing, and all that, you know. We'll deal with that as it comes, but we'll definitely be doing something else...unless we break up again (laughs). It always happens.

So you guys have been on tour for what, about three days?

Oh no, we've been on tour for probably a week?

How has it been?

It's been amazing. Seriously. It's been a draw out from, from like I said, 30 kids. It's been like our worst draw was like 200. And kids were like saying like, "Oh, it was a shitty draw and nobody was there." And I was like, "What are you talking about? It's awesome!" And we've been playing these shows that are like sold out, or almost sold out, and it's like, you know, it just makes things easier, you know what I mean? Nobody arguing about money. Nobody arguing about, "Oh, I've got to pay this bill," "No, you can't because we've only got $10 to split between us," and all that. In that aspect, it just makes things easier, and we get to meet so many freaking cool people. Look down there. See all those people at the end of the hall?

Yeah.

All of those kids are from our bulletin board.

Really?

But eight of them have been traveling and following us from Lawrence, Kansas.

Wow!

A lot of those kids live in Detroit. There's a kid from Belgium, flew from Belgium today to see the show.

Yeah, I heard him talking to Aaron from Hydra Head.

It's insane. It's totally insane, you know? I mean, maybe the fact that we did break up all the time had something to do with it. (laughs) It's like, "See them quick before they break up again! They'll fucking do it!"

(laughs) Maybe it's part of the whole Coalesce mystique?

Exactly. They're not afraid to fucking break up.

So you brought The Esoteric along on tour. Aside from the fact that Corey is in both bands, why else did you decide to bring them along?

Because we thought they're fucking awesome, and we're loyal. That's why.

For those who are unable to see you on tour, how far back are you going in the Coalesce catalog during the live set? What songs are you playing?

The only thing we're not really playing a lot from is "Give Them Rope," because a lot of the songs aren't, like, we're playing the songs we like. We play like two songs off that record. They're the two songs that we thought were the coolest. Like a lot of it is like, really, you know, sit down, we like the songs (indecipherable). Basically, it boils down to this: We have this whole back catalog. It's like, "What songs did you have the most fun playing?" "I like this one, this one, this one, and this one." And that's what we do, you know. It's like, if you want to hear those other songs, "Sorry." We'll write new ones. But we want to play what we like. You know, if we get up there and all of the sudden we're playing shit that, you know, wasn't really our most fun song to write or play, you know, then it's defeating the purpose of leaving our house in a van. That's how we're kind of looking at it.

So now that the band is together again, what kind of purpose does Coalesce serve versus its past incarnations? Is there any [purpose]?

What purpose does any band serve, other than what we talked about earlier, you know, to spread this message (laughs), you know, spread the word of Hare Krishna. I'm going to spread the word of straight-edge. I'm going to do this and that. And then when I'm 21, I'm going to sell out. You know, we're here to rock, and we're here for the kids to have a good time. You know, I mean, something I've noticed about Coalesce, that I've never noticed about this band, and I don't know if it's because I'm on stage or what; we've been watching hardcore bands. I don't know if we're really a hardcore band when the way it feels. Because we've been seeing all these bands, you know, they're like "Hi, we're so-and-so. These are songs off our next EP. It's about this. It really sucks. Da-da-da-da-da. Here we go. One, two, three!" And they don't even break a sweat! I don't understand how kids can't break a sweat when they're on stage? It's like, when we get on stage, I don't know what the fuck to say to people. Just like, "Hey, it's been three years. Great. I don't know what to say to you, so I'm going to say it with whatever shitty voice I have at the time. We're going to say it like that." When I did Dillinger...this is how I'm comparing it. When I did Dillinger, it was one, two, three, four, da-da-da. One, two, da-da-da-da. One, two, three, da-da-da-da. It was very mathematical, it was very calculated, no pun intended. But, like with this one, it's like, click-click-click blllarrgghhh (explosion sound), you know. It's just gone, you know, and it just seems so different, you know. So, I guess the purpose is to just like, an honest emotional outlet. Because that's what I'm using it as. You know what, I sleep so good. I sleep good! (laughs) When I'm done after a show, I feel great, you know? And, when I, we, had those years off, I've been a stress-case, you know. So, other kids can just fucking scream along, and you know, read the lyrics. And maybe they felt that way too, and maybe the way the words move with the music, moves them in that way too, that's great. That's the only purpose I think a band can really hope to achieve, you know, other than being a gimmick band, you know what I mean?

Right.

And that's not our style, so...

So what are your plans following the tour?

I'm going to take a week off from work, hang out with my wife and kids, and we're going to go to Chuck E. Cheese, and we're going to go to the malls, and I'm going to let them ride the rides. I'm going to bring lots of quarters, and we're going to go to all the parks and I'm going to do all the crap that I put off, trying to build businesses and trying to put this thing together. Because, this thing was successful, my wife is totally 100% behind this band now when she wasn't before, and you know, it's just going to be great, you know, because there is no stress. I don't have to sell. I don't have to meet a quota of record sales. I don't have to do anything, you know? Just do what we want. It's going to be great.

In terms of a record label, are you still on Relapse?

Yeah, as far as we know.

They seemed kind of slow to announce the reunion tour. Everyone knew about it, but their website didn't have an official announcement.

Man, I don't know dude. I can't even get into that without possibly pissing someone off. I don't even know. You know, I think...here's how it goes. I'm going into my spiel here. I'm going to get on my soapbox. Bands treat record labels like skateboarders treat skateboard companies. I'm sponsored, you know. I'm on this team. And like, you've heard of stories of bands, you know, a guy quits a band, he calls the fucking label right away and, "Man, I quit this band, sorry." Why are you sorry? A label is a bank at 90% interest. It's exactly what a label is. They're there to promote you, and they're there to make money off you. And hopefully you'll make them a couple of bucks too, and you'll get 100 free CDs, you know what I mean? And it's like, I just can't have my feelings hurt, you know what I mean? A label isn't going to help us. So, Coalesce's attitude was like, "You know what? You fucking care." We'll book the tour, we'll go out and do word-of-mouth with the Internet. We'll do everything we can. If you want to help, that's great, you know what I mean? But we're not relying on you in any way, shape, or form. That goes for all the labels that still have records active with us. It's just not Relapse. I'm not singling Relapse out, because they were great. They came out to the shows. They're super cool guys. They helped us out with posters, you know, but it's like, our attitude is if you want to be successful, you have to do it. Don't rely on your label. They're not going to do it. Labels have their baby at the moment, and if you're not their baby at the moment, and you know who the baby is. You know, they've got the ego ads, you know, the big full page. They've got the banners everywhere, you know. If you're not that baby band, you know, you're going to be disappointed and get disgruntled, you know? Like it's just silly, you know? Like, when you start a band, your band is for you, it's not your label, you know what I mean? And if your band is truly badass, it doesn't fucking matter if you have an Earache logo, or a Second Nature logo, or a Hydra Head logo, or a Relapse logo. It doesn't matter. You're still the same band, you know what I mean? And you should treat your band with respect, and make the right decisions that are good for your band, not good for your band's ego, you know what I mean? And that's it. And that will totally came out wrong, but that's the way, my eye is opening. My third eye is opening, so...(laughs)

So if you're writing new material for a new record on Relapse, what does Corey bring to Coalesce, aside from his enthusiasm and commitment to the band?

Dude, he's good. His stuff is good. It's exactly the direction we want to go. You know, because, I'm finding that, even though I'm like what, almost 27, it's not old at all, but I feel old up here considering like 14 year olds are coming who were seven years old when we wrote our first song. And, it's like, we like to rock, you know what I meant? We like to be aggressive, we like to rock. And we like the grooves that we did on 0:12, and we'd like to expand on that. His head is in the exact same place in what we've written so far, is progressive. It's not regressing, it's not rewriting the same record we've already done. It's moving forward. It's not moving right or left. It's moving forward, and that's, you know, a done deal. It's going to happen, it's good. And we're not worried about him at all. Just like we weren't even worried about him on tour. We heard and read some shit on the net, "It's not Jes, it can't be considered Coalesce." You know, well, then I guess you can't consider Dillinger, Dillinger anymore, now can you? You know what I mean? I guess you can't consider Napalm Death, Napalm Death for the last what, about eight records? Or whatever, you know what I mean? So, anyways, that's what the deal is. He brings a lot. He brings everything that was missing on the table, and we're not worried at all, you know. And I think he's going to show people...he's not even trying to show anybody. He's just doing his thing. But I think seeing it and hearing it, "Yeah, I think it's Coalesce." It's not, you know, they're not doing space rock now. They're not doing an indie band now using the same name. Or they're not hardcore like chugga-chugga, or whatever. It's progressive for us, so all you can hope for from the band is keep moving forward instead of backwards and left and right.

In terms of Coalesce's lyrics, you've never pulled any punches in terms of the subject matter, whether it be the scene, straight-edge, or religion. Have you ever taken a lot of flak or heat about that?

Yeah, I've had a lot of issues with a lot of...you know, I've had death threats. We've had clubs that we couldn't play because promoters were being harrassed and being told that they'd be stabbed and that if Sean even shows up in town, I was going to get my throat slashed. And shit like that. But, you know, it's just one of those things, you know, it's...

Where is there so much animosity towards...

Because I'm the poster boy for fucking selling out I guess. Because I was in a straight-edge band, and I had a skateboard company called Reaction. That's what I was into. I was 17, 18 years old. Big fucking deal, you know? I was "Sean Reaction," and "Sean Restrain," you know. They gave me those names, I didn't take those, I didn't give myself those names. I was Sean Ingram. And, it's just one of things. Something gets popular, kids just take it too far, you know what I mean? It's like, I can't be straight-edge. I have to be the baddest motherfucking straight-edge guy to ever walk the face of earth. I have to be fucking "Mr. Straight-edge." When I walk into the room, everybody has to fucking turn their head and go, "Don't fuck with him," you know. And, we're going to get some friends and start a gang, a.k.a. crew, you know. And it's just fucking retarded. I can't put it any other way. It's just ridiculous. And those, back in the day, those kids say they're cool now, that's all I hear, and I don't have any beef with them, whatever. But you know, back in the day, we had major problems, you know, because of "Harvest of Maturity," or because of some song off "Give Them Rope," was always an issue, you know. It even got so far that in Thousand Oaks, California, some fucking meathead comes up to me, grabs my shoulder, takes me outside, and is sitting there threatening to kick my ass. And I had to explain myself to this fucking meathead why I wrote this song. And here comes Eighteen Visions coming around, because they're into it back then and they're like, "Sean Ingram is here. We're going to kick his ass." It's like, whatever man. You know what? Your ass is going to sell out in two years. That's exactly what's going to happen. That's exactly how long straight-edge shelf life is, it's two to three years. Because I hear from kids every, single, date on this tour coming up, "I'm so fucking sorry I gave you a hard time, you know, man, I'm so sorry. I was such an idiot." It's like, "Dude, worry about it." Because I know how it is! Because I used to be "Mr. Straight-edge" too (laughs), you know what I mean? It's not a big deal. When you're slashing "x's" in peoples' backs and blowing up McDonald's, and you're doing all the other shit, go to jail, you know what I mean? What's next, you know? What's coming after straight-edge? What's the next cool thing that you're going to take too far, you know? It's just the catch-22, you know. It's just, and I don't know any of those kids. I don't know if any of that shit still exists anymore, but you know, just judging from back in the day, what we dealt with, you know, that's the way it was. And this kid at this Thousand Oaks, you know, we heard he committed suicide. This is the story we heard. I don't know if this is true and I want to stress that, but these are the stories we got back, and this kid got into an accident. He was in a wheelchair. Apparently, he was such a total jackass that a lot of other people, that he would show up to shows in a wheelchair, and kids would be like, "Hey, yo, what's up?" (Pop/Punch noise) Right in the face. Punching a guy right in the fucking face in a wheelchair. That's what kind of person he was, that nobody would even pull any punches on that. And the guy got bummed out and depressed. I mean, who wouldn't? That's really tough dude. You know, too proud to admit you're wrong, too proud to admit you're an asshole, you know. And that's what that song "Harvest" was about. It's just admitting I was an asshole to a lot of people, including my parents, you know. And, yeah, I don't even know if that story is true or not, but that's what we always hear. But you know, it's just sad how shit like that ends up. Some kid's dead, supposedly, because of that. So...

I remember reading that Jes went to Seminary, and there was a whole angle with Coalesce about Christianity, your views. What was that all about?

Jes will always be a searcher. He's really into religion. And he's actually, I don't know if he's going to Seminary. He might be going to Seminary now, but I talked to him the other, actually, we saw him the day, he's like a banker. I have a company called the Bear Press. We make like t-shirts and pins and crap like that for bands, and he [Jes] works in Commerce Bank, and I see him every time I make a deposit. You know, "Hey man, what's up?" you know. Last I heard, he was graduating K.U. and he's going to go somewhere to be a professor of theology. I don't think he's going to be like a preacher anymore. That's the last I heard, and that was like a couple of weeks ago. Stuff like that changes with him as rapidly as it does with us.

I notice the new design on the t-shirt and the website, something that looks like a Jesus fish?

Yeah, yeah, the wrong one got on. I haven't changed it yet.

Is it supposed to be the Darwin fish?

It's the Darwin fish. It's just a joke. I thought it was the funniest thing, ever. You get these ideas that things evolve from really silly, I mean, Darwin is such a silly character, you know. If a bear lives long enough by a river, it'll grow fins and swim, you know what I mean? You always see these things there, like Darwin's fish walking. The Jesus fish eating Darwin's fish (laughs). Darwin's fish eating Jesus's fish, eating Darwin's fish. You know, it's kind of like another "Fuck you" thing. "You know what? Fuck you!" (laughs). Eat that shit up. You guys eat that shit up. Doesn't matter what it is, you'll eat it up, you know. And it's just so silly. And I thought it was a really powerful statement because everybody is asking about it. It's like, there's no deep, you know, methodical reason behind it other than, you know, it's just a statement, of like, you know. We could've done Calvin pissing on himself, you know what I mean? It's one of those kind of statements. And shirts are supposed to be fun. You're supposed to want to wear them because they're cool and they're conversation starters, you know what I mean? So that's why we chose that.

It wasn't ready for the tour yet, but you reissued "Give Them Rope" with all new artwork and you modified the title ("she said"). I remember reading that you weren't happy the layout and the production. Are you happy with the way it is now?

It's exactly what I wanted.

How does the new artwork better represent the record?

The artwork is exactly what I originally planned for the record. Got a really amazing artist by the name of Matt Daly (sp?) from Canada. He's awesome. He basically took my idea and made it exactly what I wanted, and I didn't have to advise anything, I didn't have to change anything, I didn't have to say "Hey, do this." I just said, "Hey. This is what I think about this record. This is what I want." And he delivered it. We took the original reels and we started from scratch. We literally just dumped everything onto the reels and started re-cueing drums, re-cueing guitars, everything from scratch. We did effects on vocals that I wanted to do, that I just thought were dumb. The same type of effects that I use later, like panning, and stuff like that that I always thought made a record more interesting, instead of "ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra" all the way through the middle. Break it up, you know. And we did all of that stuff to it, so it sounds different, and we had somebody different master it, so it's not all super muddy. It's clean. It's clean as it can be. It's exactly what we wanted, so I'm really happy with it, and I'm glad I did it, because that's like one of our best records, you know. And, it was just shit on by being rushed, because we have to go on tour. Because we have to do this and have to do that. I mean, I've been unhappy with it for years, and finally I said, "You know, my band's broken up, it's out of press, I'm going to fucking re-do it. I don't give a shit if anybody buys it or not. As long as I can pay for it, I'll do it." You know, and we did it. So it worked out good.

Is the artwork supposed to invoke some message for the listener or is it subjective?

"Give Them Rope" was a weird record, because, usually I come up with titles, and this is my title, this is where I want to go with this record. "Give Them Rope" was kind of like a dream I would consistently have over, and over, and over, and over, and over again, as I was writing the record. I would always walk into the basement of my house I used to live in, that I wrote the last song of the last record about. And I would walk into my basement, and there would always be this naked women, a girl, in her twenties, that was like kind of blue and crusty with, you know, like dust had been settling, you know, or she had baking soda on her and it dried and moved and cracked. And she'd be covered in burlap and freezing on the floor. And then like, I'd go down and say, "What the fuck is going on?" and she'd say, whisper, "Give them rope," and then I would wake up, all the time. It was like stupid. I was like, "What the fuck is this thing?" So just started, like, trying to remember dreams, which is extremely hard.

Right.

It's extremely hard. Started trying to remember dreams, incorporate it and stuff. I'm sure it's just something subconscious. The best I can figure, is that you know, in everyone's life, what they do for other people, what they say to other people, how they treat other people, can be symbolized as rope. And you can either help people up, or you can hang them, or yourself. And that's, I've always tried to live that way, as far as how I treat people, that's always what I've tried to do, you know, as far as life. Religious? I don't know, I'm not even going to go there. It's just something that I felt moved, and it kept haunting me. And then when I got the record done, it was over with. Never had another dream. Never had this thing again. It was kind of cool, you know. Get some sleep (laughs), you know? Sleeping through all the way through the night.

So I guess that kind of explains why the title was modified to "Give Them Rope (she said)," representing the girl in the basement.

Yeah. Originally, that's what I wanted to have as the title. And, you know, "Give Them Rope" is a better title. It's like, "Whatever." If it'll keep you in the band, you know what I mean? That kind of thing.

You guys did the Led Zeppelin cover album.

Yeah.

Are you guys planning to do any other concept album going forward?

No, that was Jes's idea. That was like what he kind of wanted to be the last record. It was, he kind of always said he wrote it for his dad because his dad is an old Zeppelin fan. It's like, "Here's me, playing the licks, making it my style." It was a fun record, it was a goof-off record, you know. It's so weird, because people always say, "Yeah, the first time I got into you was with the Zeppelin record." Because it's like, are you kidding me? Ok, that's cool I guess. It got us some fans, so whatever (laughs). But it was just a fun record. It was just a fluff, you know. And the title, was just, you know, kind of a statement at the same time. All the shit people are doing now, Dillinger is doing, Coalesce is doing, Deadguy was doing, Rorschach was doing, you know. It all comes from something else. There's nothing new under the sun. It's what you do with it that makes it badass on your own, you know what I mean? We're just doing that and showing how all these old school riffs sound like hardcore riffs, with distortion and drop them to C#, you know what I mean. So, it was fun. That was my touch to the record.

So what would say is the key to Coalesce's longevity now that you're back together?

What, longevity by keep doing it?

Yeah, keeping the band fresh and being able to stay together as a unit without breaking up.

Being honest, and absolutely, positively rejecting image and star fucking websites and what they think, and all that kind of thing. It's like, if a website, ‘zine, other people are interested just interested in music and want to have a good time and see something that people actually care about, instead of, "Well, we have to have this certain stage presence, and I have to wear these certain clothes. I have to do this and that," you know what I mean. That shit gets old, and disappears. As much as I love Slipknot, you know what I mean, I love listening to the records, but masks and make-up aren't always going to last forever, you know what I mean? And I'm not bagging them at all, because I love that band and they're fucking awesome. But as far as Coalesce and what we want to do, we see ourselves surviving for another two years, or whatever our shelf life is starting today, you know, it's just being honest about what we're doing, like actually being honest. Not telling ‘zines we're honest, actually doing it. If that means not having the coolest haircut, or not having this backdrop, or that kind of thing, or are we going to write certain songs because this is what's in now, these certain topics, you know, then so be it. Because that's, you know, one of the things I was hearing is that, a lot of people (laughs) always told me this when they're drunk. I've heard this at least five different times on this tour so far from different bands, straight-edge bands we used to play with that are now old and drinking and stuff like that. You know, they'll say "I want to thank you for writing "Harvest," because you wrote that song at a time when it was so fucking un-cool to write a song like that. And you took the heat and it wasn't so bad for us when we sold out! (laughs) You know what I mean? It's like we hear that a lot. It's like, that song is honest, and it was written at an honest time, you know, and that's what was cool about it. And that song is what, six years old? And kids, still want to hear it. There's kids here today that were seven years old when we wrote that song, and they're here today at CBGBs, rocking out to that song, and they were probably playing with freaking Power Rangers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when I was writing that song, when I was going through that shit. And it's always a two to three year cycle. It's always two to three years. It always comes around. And that's what's so cool about it. And that's what I want to do. I want to capture that, you know. I want to keep approaching it that way. As soon as I'm approaching it a different way, or feel pressure, the band's gone. We're not going to do it. We're not going to be up there getting into the cool metal label or major label at the time wants to mold us into because we would do better in this market, you know, or whatever. It's like (noise). It's not Coalesce. We're not a fest band, you know. We're a fucking CBs band, you know. We're a basement band. That's what we want to do.

You've already mentioned that James is in Coalesce, the Get Up Kids, and Reggie and the Full Effect. You have him for the tour now, but do you see his other commitments getting in the way of Coalesce, or is that something you're just going to deal with down the road?

Yeah, Coalesce is low priority compared to those bands for him. I mean, it has to be. He lives off the others, so I mean, the thing we decided to do is whatever everyone's comfortable with. You know, it's like, "Hey, what do you think about his?" or "Hey, what do you think about that?" I don't know. I don't even think about it because I'm on a high right now (laughs). We'll deal with that when the day comes, you know.

What would you think would cause the current line-up to break up again? Not that I'd ever want that to happen!

If it's not fun, basically. That's how we're doing it. I'm away from my wife and kids right now, you know. Granted, I'm doing something that they think is terrific and they're really behind, but if I was having a really horrible time, (laughs) I'd go home right now. I wouldn't give a shit about those other shows, you know. Because it's, you know, if you're having a bad time, you're doing something wrong, you know. And it's not right. This band has felt right since the first day we stepped into the Frik-and-Frat Restaurant and said, "Yeah, we're going to do it," and got Corey. It's been right ever since. No bad feelings, no misgivings, no nothing. So, luckily, we have haven't had to think about it.

And on the subject of the side projects you've been involved with, you did Miasis (Bob Jr.) CD. I remember you saying that you weren't very happy with it because of the vocals.

Yeah. Oh dude, my vocals. You know, I went up there and had jet lag, and I just, I didn't deliver what I should have delivered. Everybody's like, "Oh no, it sounds great," but it's like, I'm one of those people who can do something really cool, and then be like, "Oh no, it's this and that." And I didn't have much time there, because I had to take care, I combined the trip with other business for the DVD, and it was my fault and I dropped the ball. And, you know, they're happy with it, so that's cool. I guess they're just going to go ahead and release it so people can find it, but I get hella emails about it.

Yeah, I was actually going to ask you that. I remember there were only a few hundred printed.

Only 200. Yeah, 200 CD-Rs and I screen-printed some covers for it, and gave them to sell (unclear, noise from truck driving by) at Krazy Fest. It's just a fun thing. It's like, "Hey, here it is."

Was there any specific impetus behind it?

Those kids are just really cool. They're awesome. I really like their band. We actually played with them in Merrick. They're a really good live band, you know. They don't even need a vocalist, (laughs) you know what I mean? They're literally fun to watch live, so it was just this kind of a fun thing. I wouldn't do anything, I was like, "Yeah, I'll scream on your record for you." I like the songs, you know, so let's do it, you know. I wanted to do more, but as things started progressing, it's like, "Dude, I'm going to need time." So we just, had to do a two-songer.

And you're also doing the American Spectator with guys from Training for Utopia and Zao. What was the idea behind that project?

I just think those guys are cool and they got cool, I guess. And so they're like, "Hey, let's just goof around and make some songs," you know, and it's like "That sounds fun." You know, because it's always fun to write songs and listen to it. "Hey (wife's name, indecipherable)." That's my wife. "Check this out. I'm playing with all these Christian kids and it's fucking awesome," you know. I dig those bands. I dig the Christian hardcore scene. It gets a bad rap, I don't care. I think it's badass shit dude. I don't care what anybody says (laughs). Dude, Zao kicked my ass. When I got that record, even the first one, I was like, "This is not Christian. I don't give a shit what you say. This is not Christian." I don't even care what the lyrics say. You know, it's like, this record moves, and it rocked, and I've always been into it. Especially Training for Utopia. They used to send us demos before they even got signed. And like, way back in the day, their very first demos, I remember Jes saying, "Dude, check out this band Training for Utopia. It's fucking badass!" Like a little cassette tape, with a little thing on it way back in the day. And I've always liked those guys even since then, you know.

Are you guys still writing?

They're going to be writing. I'm writing on my own and I've got this really cool idea of how to, like, I can't really talk about it because I couldn't put it into words. I've got this really cool idea, alright think, like, mixing those people and me. You know, I'm like, I believe in God. I'm not like, anti-Christian, like a lot of these kids wear "God Free Youth" and all that stuff. I'm not like that at all. But I think I'm really going to play on peoples' preconceived notions. I think it'll be really cool and I'm really happy, with like, where it's heading, so...

You're also doing the Bear Press that is kind of like your design label?

No, it's a blue-collar screen print press. I love to screen print. I've always wanted to screen-print since I was like 12 years old. I've wanted to screen-print shirts. And me and Andy Fisher, the singer from the Esoteric, we partnered up and started the Bear Press, and we make pins for bands and labels and stuff like that. And we've got some pretty big clients which is really cool. And basically, we're finding out that the t-shirt business is extremely cut-throat. So we focus on smaller bands that don't want 36 black XL only shirts, you know. "I want 36 shirts. Can I get 2 XX, can I get 3 XL, can I mix colors?" And we worked out a deal with our distributor. "We can't offer that to people." And that's like a dream come true. Five dollar t-shirts cost four. It's a good deal and that's what we did. We're still building it and making it the way it should be, but it's been fun. It's a really cool business. It's just cool just wanting to go to work, you know what I mean? It's the coolest feeling.

Definitely, definitely. It's not good when you hate your job and go to it everyday.

You see, I hang wallpaper to support my family. I hate it. Can't stand to get up, can't stand to go to work and hear some fucking lady in a goddamn 2 million dollar house, bitching because there's like some little tiny corner peeling up. That's like, wallpaper stretches, it shrinks, it lifts up, you know. It's not a perfect medium, you know what I mean? These people are insane. They bitch about the dumbest shit. And I'm just like, "Whatever." But I do that like every single day, and I hate it. I totally hate it. I hate getting yelled at, and I hate being treated like the hired help, you know what I mean? You know, whatever. It's always cool going to the Bear Press.

How about going forward, are there any particular bands that you're looking forward to touring with?

I'd like to play a show with Every Time I Die. I really like that band.

They're fun.

That is a really cool band. (laughs) We actually played that kid's basement on this tour. It was his birthday, Ratboy.

Right.

He tried to get us on the bill with Nora, and he had that birthday show. Couldn't make it, you know, booking agent wouldn't book it with them, timing was bad. We got done at the Agora, we were like, "You know what? Let's go fucking find that kid, and let's go fucking play his birthday show." And it was too late by the time we got there, and we said, "Hey, you know, sorry." He's like, "No, no, no, you can play my basement." They're like, "Fuck yeah, call some kids." There were like 100-something kids there. It was fucking nuts. We played this basement, and that's why my voice is trashed, because I couldn't hear myself, and it was just so much fun in there, and I was like "Ahhhh!" And I totally blew my voice out. After that show, I knew I was in trouble. But, yeah, we played that kid's show, it was like a free show. It's like, we wouldn't let anybody charge any money, no, no, no. It's a punk show, a basement show. That's the way it should be, that's the way we started. It was just like, one of the coolest things ever, man. Kid's like, stoked for life, you know (laughs). He's like, "You're my favorite band," and then he give us their CD. And I don't mean to sound like a dick, but we get so many CDs and demos on the road, and we listen to them when we're tired of Björk, and all them, all the van mix tapes. Put it in, and I was like "Holy, fucking, shit. I'm keeping this one. Nobody else gets this one. It's mine." And then I saw it was on Ferret, and I was like, "Of course, Carl [Severson] signs good bands." And it was so cool. It was a lot of fun too.

Any particular records that you're looking forward to for the rest of the year?

I just got the new Lisa Loeb. It's pretty good. I think Dweezil [Zappa] put too much of his own name on that record though. It sounds like Dweezil. It's like, (pop noise), Dweezil, stamped right on the cover. And like, I don' know, I think it kind of contaminated the record a little bit, but I left it at home. I didn't bring it with me. Man, I don't know of any other bands that I can think of that are putting, that I'm even interested in, that's coming out this year that I even know of. I mean, there's a lot of bands I like, but I don't even know if, Tool came out last year, that was a big one for me. I was way into that.

I think ETID is coming out with a split with Premonitions of War.

Yeah, I want to hear that band. No, no, we played with them! That band's badass, dude. That band takes no prisoners. That band's fucking tough. Dude, they were strong from the first note to the last. They were good. We played with them at the Agora Ballroom. I was really impressed with them. It's like one of the bands, I was like, "Holy shit! That band's going places." They put on a really terrific show. It wasn't the same old run-of-the-mill shit. It was good.

Well, that pretty much does it in terms of questions. I don't know if there is anything else you want to mention or plug?

Visit our website [coalescemusic.com]. We do lots of things for our fans. See all these people out here? You know who, these fucking people?

No.

Those are members from our message board that have been following us since Lawrence, Kansas. They're from all over. Bunch of kids are from Colorado. It's insane dude, but it's like a community on our message board, and they all like have their names and they all have their quirks, and they're awesome! And, like, it's like one of the few message boards that I've ever seen, it's like, half of them don't even give a shit about our band (laughs)! You know what I mean? But they love the community. That's such a cool thing to actually accomplish on the Internet, you know, when it's the shit-talking forum, you know. A message board, you know? And our message board isn't like that. And at Krazy Fest, we hooked them up with free shirts. And you know, at Lawrence, we organized a get-together. My wife organized the get-together. And they all went on a scavenger hunt, and then like, we made food for them at the show and treat them like family, because they are. I mean, you know (laughs), those kids, they sought out our website. We never advertised our website, you know? It's, never done anything for the website, and it's really choppy, (laughs) it's not super fancy, it's a punk rock website! You know what I mean? It's HTML. And they love it, you know, and it's just cool that they follow us. You know, and they're like, "No, no, no, I can't just see you once. I've got to see you ten times," you know, and hang out. We do everything we can, you know, to make them feel at home, and they really appreciate it, and we really appreciate them coming. So, it's just really cool. It's a really cool feeling. I mean, look at them. They're not going anywhere? They're going to talk my ear off before we get home! (laughs) But it's really man. Everything is just so cool. It's really working out. You always have this idea of what you wish your band can be like, and then when you get into, you fucking play in front of five people that just stare at you, you know. And you just don't feel the energy, and then you're a performer. You're not a conduit anymore, you know. And then like, when it actually happens, you're like, "Goddamn. I'm really glad I put up with all that bullshit over the years, and I'm done with all that stuff." (laughs) It's just a great feeling. Totally high life right now, really, I am.

Awesome. Thanks for the interview. I really appreciate it.

No problem man.

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