Malice in Leatherland interview :: 6 December 2003
Malice in Leatherland is a new dark underground band gaining a lot of attention for their heavy "splatter-funk" style. The band hasn't released any LP's yet however a couple MP'3 can be found on their mp3 site located here. Little else is known about Malice in Leatherland so let's begin our interrogation... xgn (Zak & Adrya): So, let's get the basics out of the way... What is Malice in Leatherland's hometown? How did you come to know one another? And where are each of you from individually? Basim : To simplify things, I guess you could say we're based in Boston. I've moved around tons, I was born in NYC, but I've also lived in San Carlos - CA, Lahore - Pakistan among other places... When I moved to Lexington, MA (where I currently live), I felt like a generic outcast, isolated, blah blah. Mike was one of my first friends here, and remains among my closest. That was in 1998, and we didn't form Malice in Leatherland until 2003, when I got in touch with Lindsay over the Internet. She said she'd like to play drums with us, and when we jammed for the first time she beat the living daylights out of her set! It was nigh spiritual... Once she said she dug Christian Death, and Primus it was clear we had to play in a band together. xgn : I've had the pleasure of listening to your two mp3's on IUMA and I'm really impressed with your unique brand of dark-funk. What are your musical backgrounds? Is there a primary songwriter in the group or do you guys collaborate in writing new material?
Lindsay : to make it easier, I just say we're from the Boston area. Even though I’m from Manchester, NH. I met up with Basim on a message board and drove down to meet them (Basim and Mike) and it just took off from there.
Mike : Yeah.
Basim : We collaborate a lot on our newer material, because if I wrote all the music, we'd be a third rate Bauhaus cover band. Does the world really need that? Most of my jazz/funk playing style grew out of my highschool Jazz class. I played bass in some combos, and got severely obsessed with Thelonious Monk, Coltrane, and Duke Ellington. Thelonious Monk and Rozz Williams are the masters of crafting beautiful, dissonant melodic figures!
Lindsay : it's funny because we all like really different music. So when we write together, it kinda surprises me sometimes what we end up with.
Mike : Basim and I have been jamming since we know each other, so we definitely click musically, even though he’s more into goth and funk and I’m a prog/metal freak. It’s all rock n’ roll anyways.
xgn : Does Malice in Leatherland have plans to enter the studio soon?
Basim : We enter it now and then. We've been snowed in lately, and our digital fetishist (Mike) is pistol whipped by the holy Douche Bags of Circuit City! We will have more mp3s up over the next few weeks, I assure you.
Lindsay : Yeah, we went to a studio at Mike's school.... Only got one song done. I think our winter plans are focusing on recording and writing.
Mike : We’re pretty much fucked for the time being. Plus my car has pretty much had it; I can’t drive around much. Matthew from Twelfth of Never (who recorded Suburban Holocaust) may be able to help us out in the near future.
xgn : So have you toured outside of the northeast yet? What is your favorite thing about playing live? Least favorite? Any upcoming tours we should know about?
Basim : We haven't toured outside the MA/NH area yet, but are eager to do so. My favorite thing about playing live is horrifying emokids, but thrashing about maniacally plays a close second. Other highlights? Diving off the stage and biting audience members in the skull during "Send More Paramedics".
Lindsay : My favorite thing about playing live is getting to hit my drums really hard, watching Basim attack audience members, and shaking my head until I get dizzy. Least favorite would definitely be when equipment breaks mid song and screws stuff up!
xgn : Malice in Leatherland's lyrics aren't your typical blood, guts, & horror fare.. These aren't exactly political lyrics, but they were written with passion and definitely offer commentary on events happening in our world today. Where do your lyrical ideas come from?
Basim : Thanks so much on taking the time to read them, it really means the world to me. My main influences are South Asian Ghazal poets (Agha Shahid Ali being the most accessible - google search for him), Gothic authors (Sheridan LeFanu, Walpole, Byron) and Political commentators like Chomsky, Edward Said and the immortal Arundhati Roy. So I guess I feel like an anarchist, heart broken South Asian roaming decrepit Gothic ruins!
The inspiration comes from reading about the state of the world. Black carbon and apocalyptic slogans, really. When it isn't from there, it's often something personal, like heart break, or the resentment I feel knowing that close family members have been abducted for questioning by the FBI. Quaint little things like that.
xgn : Many people believe that the US invasion of Iraq is a blatant act of aggression, however the government claims it's actions were designed to stop potential terrorist acts. This seems to me to be a short-sighted approach to a long-standing issue of political and religious strife between several differing points of view. Obviously the US hasn't made the peace process any easier, but was there any good to come from the government's overseas decisions in the last couple of years?
Basim : Did you know that Dan Rather was interviewing Hussein a week before our "Showdown with Saddam"? If this press pundit could gain access to Saddam so easily, why do we need to wage a war with the entire country just to take him out? My take is that it's actually not too hard to get a hold of Saddam, and the only reason we're waging a war is to help the President and his droogies chum up to old partners in crime. Halliburton (the defense contractor) cashed in on this war wicked hard, and it comes to no surprise that Cheney is a former CEO there. To make matters worse, Cheney was doing business with Saddam when he chaired Halliburton - he's like a snake with its balls chopped off.
By and large, our government acts according to the whims of special interest groups and lobbies like AIPAC and the Christian Coalition. Also the US can profit from keeping the Mid.East unstable, why do you think we didn't take Saddam out in the Gulf War part 1 with daddy Bush? Having him there gives us an excuse to brush up against various Arab Dictators, who let us build military bases all along the Persian Gulf. This is to ensure a steady flow of oil, in other words a way for the elite 1% of America to shaft the rest of the world (including many poor Americans!). The problem of Terrorism is rooted in secular issues. Ariel Sharon, Arab Dictators, and a bunch of militant Zionists need to be rounded up and left to starve on the Gaza Strip. Their decisions lead to the 80+% malnutrition rate on the strip, and they should be paying for it, not innocent children!
xgn : What scares me about this is we've committed ourselves to a problem that won't be resolved by outside intervention. And as a result of our government's actions, peace-loving Muslim people of this country have been placed in a very difficult position. Is there any correlation between, let's say groups such as the KKK, who publicly identify as Christian yet commit atrocious acts of hatred, and fringe factions of the Muslim faith who do the same? Are those examples too different to be compared?
Basim : Sure there's a correlation. But there's a difference between the callous puppeteering of Osama, and a Palestinian kid that blows himself up on a tank. Who wouldn't blow themselves up if their life was shackled by military check points, cross firing between various organizations and an incredibly high malnutrition rate. If you're gonna go, make it meaningful. Osama is more like the KKK. The Palestinian kid is a victim of circumstance.
xgn : Can we ever realistically hope for peace in the Middle East? What do you think will help bring about true, lasting peace?
Basim : Stop NeoCons and Zionists from getting within smelling distance of the White House. Also, keep backwoods retards stuck in the backwoods.
xgn : Agreed! Speaking of backwood retards, so many Americans have a view of Islam which is based mostly in ignorance. What can each of us do to help promote better understanding between our faiths? I must admit my own ignorance because I didn't think it was possible to follow Islam and be into deathrock at the same time; i mean mohawks, dark makeup and underground rock music (or drag queens) is the last thing that comes to mind when I try to picture an "average" Muslim.
Basim : To get a clearer understanding, open a dialogue. Don't believe everything you hear, and realize that Islam, like Xianity, has many traditions in it. Among them are Cultural Relativist positions (as taken by Moghul Akbar), and artistic/mystical traditions like the Sufi tradition. Sufi-ism is a Goths wet dream - it's all about morbid poetry, delirium and progressive heresy.
About Muslim Dragqueens: there are plenty of cross dressers in Pakistan. They clap outside weddings and sing in falsetto voices to panhandle cash. They refer to each other as "Roo" (the Urdu term for "soul"), and have their own subculture. Oh, and there are definitely some Arab punker/gother/headbangers out here in the USA. If people are gonna look at you like a criminal anyways, might as well doll up - no?
xgn : haha of course! So what would we hear playing on your stereo as you're getting ready for a gig?
Basim : Sex Gang Children's "Arms of Cicero" because it's the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. Also, Zombina and the Skeletones, UK Decay, 45Grave's "Violent World", Parliament and Bauhaus.
Lindsay : probably orgy, coal chamber, Primus, or christian death.
Mike : Listening to "The Leper Affinity" by Opeth, off Blackwater Park, is like having my own soundtrack before any event. Children of Bodom, Shadows Fall, or Nevermore also get the adrenaline surging.
xgn : What past or present band, be it deathrock or not, would you give anything to play with?
Basim : Either UK Decay, Specimen, Zombina and the Skeletones (I LOVE THEM).. oh wait? Only one band? Shit... I'm gonna go with Get Hustle, because they're an INCREDIBLE Goth/Jazz band that I think everyone should get to hear.
Lindsay : i really like Cinema Strange and we got to open up for them.
Mike : Black Sabbath!
xgn : Any thoughts on filesharing?
Basim : Pirate our music, burn it for friends and blare at strangers. We're a punk band at heart.
Lindsay : Pirating music is great and i encourage you to do it.
Mike : As long as you actually buy a cd, go to a show, or get some merch once in a while to show support for what you appreciate, I don’t give a shit. It’s the shitstains who pirate EVERYTHING, including entire indie records, will pay for a cable internet connection every month but not a CD; those people suck. Especially because some of those people will download a mp3 that sounds like ass just because they can, it’s like saying screw the sound engineers! (Yes, I’m a little biased on this issue) I’ll fight ‘em!
xgn : Ok I'm just about out of questions.. Any news you'd like to pass along to your fans?
Basim : CHECK OUT OUR SITE AT sinsanctuary.com/mil AND WATCH REANIMATOR TILL YOUR EYES EXPLODE!
Lindsay : yeah, what he said.....
Mike : To all the ladies out there, don’t despair, I’ll be on stage and hotter than ever before you know it. Oh, for godsakes, you’re so excited, look what you’ve done to yourself! Clean up that mess!
xgn : Right on, thanks so much for your time today, I look forward to hearing new material from Malice in Leatherland soon!.
Official Malice in Leatherland website featuring bios, show calendar, music, lyrics, photos, and more! http://www.sinsanctuary.com/mil
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