Albums of Purgatory Interview Antiseen's Doug Canipe

Albums of Purgatory: Firstly, what are you up to?

Doug Canipe: Right now, Cronic Disorder is getting ready to go into the studio and record a 3 song demo that we're going to shop to some labels. We were working with Denmark's Mighty Music on our last release but we both decided that it would be better for us to look into getting someone here in the US to work with us. I don't think we really sold shit with them.....maybe 5 or 600 copies. They had no US distribution and that hurt us. Plus I think we winded up getting lumped in with some other bands that we had nothing in common with and got kind of lost in the shuffle. They did do some good things for us though and go us some much needed exposure in Europe.....but I think we'd be better off working with someone here in the US if at all possible.
If we can't find anyone, we'll just put it out by ourselves. They way the new stuff is shaping up though, I think we'll find someone we can work with.
As for ANTiSEEN, we just got back for doing a month long tour of Europe and now we're doing a few shows in the US and getting ready to go into the studio and record songs for a few different split 7" releases and a 10" of Ramones covers, there are also several reissues of out of print albums coming out on a few different labels.......once that is all out of the way we're going to start working on material for the next all-new ANTiSEEN album. If you want the latest and up to date news, check out cronic3.com and antiseen.com

AoP: how would you describe the antiseen sound?

DC: good ol' fashioned 3-chord heavy punk rock and roll.....not just punk rock......punk rock and roll.....with a little southern rock/country/blues/and metal thrown into the mix from time to time.

AoP: How would you describe the Cronic Disorder sound in comparison?

DC: Two different things, although not as different as you would think. Cronic Disorder is generally a little more technical and maybe a little faster...but both bands songs are very riff oriented. Also, neither band is really caught up in the current music scene. We just play what we play and don't really pay attention to what radio and Mtv is force feeding the masses or what type of music is currently rolling off the cookie cutter corporate rock conveyor belt.

AoP: Who are your influences?

DC: Musically.....I would say Sabbath, Slayer, 80's thrash.....
Inspirationally......KISS, Frank Zappa, Johnny Cash, The Who....anything good.

AoP: How did you get involved with Antiseen?

DC: I'd known Jeff Clayton and Sir Barry for a long time.....10 years or more. I used to go see them play clubs before Cronic was together. Barry was in a thrash band called Bloody Mary who were my favorite local band. Plus Jeff worked at a record store that I would visit every once in a while and we'd talk shit about KISS and stuff. ANTiSEEN had just lost their bass player and Sir Barry gave me a call and asked if I could learn 20 songs in 3 weeks and fill in for a show they had scheduled. I said sure and rehearsed with them 4 or 5 times and did the show.

AoP: Can you remember your first gig (how did it go)?

DC: Yeah, I remember. It was in a small club in Hickory, NC. It went pretty well. I made it though the show without any major fuckups. I guess they thought I was at least halfway worth a damn because that was almost 2 years ago and I'm still in the band.

AoP: What is the Klown (http://hometown.aol.com/klownband) thing all about?

DC: They're a KISS cover band that I am a fan of.  I'm not really sure who is in that band but they kick ass. It's just something that is meant to be fun and looked at in a humorous light. Some of the more anal-retentive KISS dweebs don't seem to get the joke though. Check out the website and judge for yourself.

AoP: What are your favorite Antiseen tracks?

DC: I would say Kill The Business, Fuck All Ya'll, Ugly Americans, Watch The Bastard Fry, Animals(Eat 'Em)......just to name a few.

AoP: What are your favorite Cronic Disorder tracks?

DC: With Reckless Abandon, Reduced To Ruins, Culture Of Violence, and the new stuff that we're working on.

AoP: What are your favorite all time songs?

DC: Damn.....that's a tough one. I'll just pull these out of my ass and say
100,000 Years by KISS
Won't Get Fooled Again by The Who
ah hell, I can't think.....there are just too many great songs by too many great bands.
I listen to all kinds of stuff.....any and everything. It would take me forever to come up with a list and I'd be wanting to change it as soon as I was finished making it. I just like good songs.

AoP: What was the first record you bought?

DC: I had Elvis' Blue Hawaii and Johnny Cash's Greatest Hits when I was about 4 or 5 years old...my parents let me have those out of their collection because I would always sing along when they we're plaything them. Then my aunt gave me a big stack of 45's that she had as a teenager.....The Beatles "I Wanna Hold Your Hand/I Saw Her Standing There, Fats Domino's "Blueberry Hill, " The Coasters doing "Youngblood" and a lot of 50's bands and novelty records like David Seville's "Witch Doctor."
But the first records I could really call my own were KISS Alive II which I got as a present for Christmas, and KISS Alive and KISS--The Originals that I bought with my own money the day after Christmas.

AoP: What would be your dream bandline-up?

DC: I wish Frank Zappa were still alive so he could work with whomever he wanted.

AoP: What do you think of the position of metal and music in general today?

DC: It's the same as ever......you've got a lot of great and underappreciated bands and then you've got that never ending cycle of one hit wonders and disposable pop stars who pollute the airwaves with their generic and soulless crap. I would say that right now though......the crap is far outnumbering the good and it's harder than ever to wade through it all and come up with something new that is worth listening to. I will admit to liking some of the disposable ear candy.....but it's the good and well crafted poppy songs and not this white bread hip-hop or Britney Spears and N' Sync trash. I can dig some of Pink's songs and some of the pop/punk bands like Green Day and Blink 182. To me, they're just Cheap Trick without the solos. It's not awe-inspiring or anything.....but it's fun. I've said this about 1000 times, but the one main ingredient that is missing from today's heavy music scene is a sense of humor and the ability for people to laugh at themselves. People take shit way to seriously. It's all about being the evilest, being the fastest, being the truest, wearing the right t-shirt.....all that shit is fucking stupid. If people would just shut up and listen and not worry about why some other band did this, or why that band said that, things would be a lot better. And then you've got the whole punk scene that ANTiSEEN gets thrown into where you've got all these clueless, self-righteous, PC fucks running around judging bands by what they perceive to be their political views instead of bothering to listen to the music they play. That's all a big joke to me. The people that want to call us racist and shit like that.....they can all pretty much go fuck themselves. To sum all that all up.....everything has to be a clique' to most people these days......everyone wants to slap a label on something and say, "this is what it is and it can't be anything else." That's all just so narrow-minded and so elitist that I want no part of it. Cronic Disorder doesn't care about it one bit.......and as for ANTiSEEN.....the name says it all.

AoP: Which bands do you think stand out more than others for you at the moment?

DC: Metal-wise....I like The Crown a lot. I also like System Of A Down for one of the newer bands. They do some interesting stuff that reminds me of what would happen if Zappa and The Dead Kennedy's had a kid. Some of their stuff borders on generic nu-metal but when they're good, they're damn good. Hank III is putting out some great country albums. To tell you the truth though.....I never ever go to a record store and buy anything new so I'm really not up on a lot of the newer bands. It has to be played for me by someone else, or sometimes I tune into the Direct TV Metal radio station and listen for a while and see if anything new and interesting comes on. I'm not willing to chance my money for an overpriced CD that is going to have one good song and 9 pieces of shit. I just play it safe and pick up old stuff that I need.

AoP: Do you have any funny stories about the bands you can share with us?

DC: For most of the funny stuff, you would have had to of been there to get it. Both bands have fucked up senses of humor and most of it is inside jokes that I can't explain by typing on a computer. Sorry to be a party-pooper but I really can't think of anything that I would be allowed to elaborate on. Most of the good stuff is top-secret..... you know.....code of the road and all that crap.....haha!!!

AoP: and finally what do you see in the future for Antiseen and Cronic Disorder?

DC: Just to keep playing and recording and performing. We've got the Confederacy Of Scum Supershow coming up in New Orleans. (www.confederacyofscum.com) We've got a few surprises in the works. ANTiSEEN and Cronic Disorder have recently been acting in an independent horror/comedy/zombie/gore movie called "Come Get Some" that should be ready for release sometime in the fall so keep an eye out for that. We all appear in the film and also have some songs on the soundtrack......we're also working on scoring the movie as well. Just another thing to add to the growing list of credits for our major multimedia conglomerate...haha!!!! You can check out all the info for that on yet another website that I would like to plug (www.comegetsomethefilm.com)
Other that that....we'll just have to wait and see what happens.