Albums of Purgatory interview Schnauzer and Nunslaughter's Jim Konya

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

Jim:  i am in the process of hiding some goat carcasses out on my property so i can use then for some props.  then, i am going to the mall to leer at teenage girls only to wish that i was 15 again.  as far as musically, well, i have just recently joined Nine shocks Terror and we toured the west coast last April.  i am still playing in Schnauzer ,
Nunslaughter, Scarvers Calling and still singing for Spawn of Satan and All That is Evil.   thats about it right now

AoP:  you have been in a lot of bands in the past.   which ones are you involved in now?

Jim:  Schnauzer is the band the play drums for and scream in.  Nunslaughter is another that i play for and do some
occasional vocals/screams.  i just play drums for scarvers calling (which is just APT. 213 with different singers and a more death /grind approach) and 9 shocks terror.   i bang on a dryer or whatever appliance i can find for a noise band called Minch.   and i sing for 2 death-thrash bands.  Spawn of Satan is demonic death with me using just low vocals with plenty of goatheads on sticks for props.  All That is Evil has me again on just vocals using a variation of tones (highs and lows) .  both of these bands live shows are something to behold.  i am a sick fool.
then theres the schnauzer shows.  what a fuckin trainwreck.  you can see for yourself on our website which is featured at the bottom of his page.  it is at a level that even i cannot believe.  what a bunch of derelicts.  its basically a lawsuit waiting to happen.

AoP: How would you describe the Schnauzer sound?

Jim:  i think that it is a crazy ass band that is metal by nature but has a punk attitude.  you can say whatever you want to whenever and it all seems to somehow fit in.  it is pissed, happy, insane, stupid and allows the listener to be an idiot at our shows.  it deals with everyday bullshit in a fun way.  it had a different spin on it in the earlier
days than it does now.  evolution is a strange thing.

AoP: How does it compare to the nunslaughter sound?

Jim:   i wouldnt say that they are at all comparable but perhaps somewhat similar.  every band that i have done has always  had a sort of looseness to it.   i am not that polished of a musician to begin with so it works out.  NS has a rough edge to it as does Schnauzer.  they both can be sometimes comedic but also extreme.  in these instances, i would say that they are similar.  but on the flipside, they are a completely different animal ( no pun intended)
you dont see mattresses and cream pies flying around at NS shows.  NS throws out cattle bones and dead rats. 

AoP: Nunslaughter have released so many records over the last couple of years.  Hard work?

Jim:  yes and no.  thanks for keeping track by the way.    i write metal songs almost every other day.  i meet with freaks who help me put them to tape.  i write the majority of the music for all of the bands that i am in.   that is easy for me.  i used to release  a lot of my own stuff, which is fun but expensive.  the hard part is dealing with these jerkoff labels who say one thing and then do the opposite.  we can write, record, layout the artwork and then sit there and hope that somebody is going to make good on their word to us.  i must tip my hat to most of the european labels that have embraced NS and continued to release our music.  it helps when you do a tour over there as we did in late 2000. what a great time.  it is good advertisement. 

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

Jim:  when we were kids (15 / 16) we played  a few parties to loosen us up.   when you get your first gig, you are excited and a little nervous. we played in Akron Ohio when we were in Lek ( a cryptic slaughterish grind band that no one could understand) and we opened for some older guys bands and such.  ofcourse, when you're young you get fucked.  you play early and you dont get anything - no money and no respect.  you are just lucky to be there.  i have learned that you must respect everyone until they give you a reason not to.  i pay everybody that plays with us openers and closers.  unless, schnauzer heads break the club up and shit, then the door money has to cover damages.  at least everyone has fun  - it can just get a little expensive.

AoP: What are your favorite tracks from each band you've been in?

Jim:  hmmm.  thats a tricky one.  i really dont listen to most of the stuff that i have released.  there are songs that are more fun to play than others.   there are some songs that when someone announces it or you come to it on the set list you say  " oh fuck.."  i like the death thrash stuff like ATIE or SOS more than the others.  sometimes i'll
listen back to some of the records and say "what the fuck was i thinking, what a jackass!!"   i guess i like it all and i hate it all equally.  it isnt something that i give a lot of thought to.  if i had favorites, i think that they would change from time to time.

AoP: What are your favorite all time songs?

Jim:  i have lately been going back to the music that i ignored for a long time.   i really enjoy old 70's easy listening love songs and 80's pop stuff.   i will always love metal but, because of its recent offerings as a movement (which i will get to in a later question) i have turned to other forms of the art to seek fulfillment.   any song by Heart, Foreigner, ELO, Firefall, England Dan & John Ford Coley, Fleetwood Mac (the Stevie era), Chicago, Kansas, BOC, Pat Benatar, Tom Petty and many others.  i have so many favorite songs, its not even funny.  i just love music.   then there is metal: the reason i have lived this long.  without it i would be dead.

AoP: What was the first record you bought?

Jim:  i think it was Foreigner  "double vision" i love that record.   the first satanic record i bought was Black
Sabbath's debut.  i was 12 years old and i had no business buying that record.   i was entranced by that witch on the cover.  i had dreamt that i was meeting her in the woods and i was freaked.  i would put the record against the wall at night right under my night light and then i would stare at it until i would get spooked and look away.  what power and  magnetism that satanic imagery has over me.  if i saw a demon, i would follow it everywere,

AoP: what would be your dream band line-up?

Jim:  actually, my dream lineup is a band that i am not even in.  my dream band has a sick fuckin giant ape playing guitar with a huge rhino singing standing up and an orge deformed playing bass with  a disgusting fat pig playing drums.  they would be making the worst music ever heard and the crowd would be flinging shit at them.   if i saw this happen i would run in front of a bus.  when you listen to metal with a dude who has his vocals pitched down -  picture a fucking bullfrog sitting there or a fuckin gator chewing on bodies singing that shit.  you will lose
your goddamn mind.  that would be my dream lineup.

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

JIm:  Honestly, i hate the business aspect of anything especially music.  when we play shows, we have to make sure that we pack the place so the bar can make its money.   if you bring drinkers and the bar make 1000's,
then they love you.  they dont give a fuck about your band.  being a straight edge person like myself, what the fuck do i care about what a bar makes on its alcohol sales?   as far as metal in the industry is concerned, i dont even know the status of anything.  the shit that i see making it big so to speak sucks.  and i feel sorry for the fans and performers of this stuff.  it will not survive the test of time.  the best music has already been made.  metal is always trying to be more extreme than the last band.  its all been done before and been done a lot better than  a lot of the bands that are doing it now.  metal will ultimately and hopefully return to the the underground where only the few and the proud can find it.   i dont even know what is popular or selling at this point and i dont care.
Once in a while i'll hear a metal record that i like.   it has become a rare occurence.
 
AoP: Do you have any funny or unusual stories about the band you can share with us?

Jim:  there is the story of how schnauzer got its name.  it is able to be read on our website.  it is too long to get into now,  the gist of it is that i was chased and tormented by the bass players family Schnauzer.  he was the evilest dog i had ever encountered.  check it out at www.schnauzerfu.com.   then there is nunslaughter.  every time we try to record, something happens of a strange nature.   everything from lights going out to things appearing on tape whose source is uncertain.  it is the devil for sure, he told me so. 

AoP: and finally, what do you see in your future?

Jim:  there is of course the inevitability of old age, the sorrows of loosing your loved ones and then your own death.  these things for sure will be there.    as long as there is the music that has made me happier than happiness itself, i will survive and have many good days ahead of me.  and as long as there are people like you that show an interest in our music, there will be reasons to carry on and for that i thank you. I have had a lot fun answering your questions today.

AoP: hanks for your time and good luck

Jim:  thanks to you both and best wishes to all.