Sweet Cyanide interview w/ Angelo

by Adam Warner – 2009

 

Hi Angelo
How you doing Adam

I’m well, how are you?
Not too bad, not too bad

So how’s New York treating you guys today?
Ahh well it’s not raining for one, for the first time in a couple weeks, not too bad, can’t complain.

Yeah, does it get real crazy hot down there at all?
Yeah actually summer, we are actually I don’t know if you could say  blessed or cursed with like all 4 seasons you know so it does actually get really, really hot over the summer.

If you guys are, well I know a lot of times whatever weather we have here in MN, you guys will usually get it about 2-3 days later.
Ooh ok so what are guy’s experiencing now?

A heat index of 105
Ok *laughs*

So needless to say it sucks.
That’s not bad I would rather have the heat then the cold to be honest with ya, I am a summer guy.

Yep, I gotta admit that too I much prefer the warm than the cold, but being in MN you can’t really fight that very well.
Right 105 is a little hot!

Yeah and the thing is it’s not like Arizona where it is dry heat, you know up here it is just really humid and just awful. Well alright let’s go ahead and get some pressing questions out of you guys.
Of course, sure

Sweet Cyanide is the merger of two bands, tell us a little bit about how those two bands came together.
Well it was Crashbox , the band that myself and Sal the lead singer and guitar player, we where a band called Crashbox and for a while we toured regionally.  Joe and Mike the other guitar player and drummer from a band called  Moment Theory  that we toured with a couple of times in the tri-region down the east coast besides working together professionally we where friends for quite some time.  We always wanted to work together so when Sal and I branched off and began the Sweet Cyanide project we had asked Mike to come in and play some drums on the record and it was like an instant chemistry so we kinda merged the two bands and we always wanted to work together and so we finally got started and it was kind like cool it was instant chemistry right off the bat, it was cool, things just flowed nicely from there.

So how would you describe your fellow band mates?
They are all insane; the funny thing about the four of us together is, like I said before we are all crazy in totally different ways.  You know you see a guy like Sal and you see him and you think a little rocker guy, but when it comes to song writing, he is a musical genius.   I would call him, the guy he’s got like writers schizophrenia.  He is like that kind of guy, he is a people watcher you know.  He’ll observe for example a situation that myself or another band mate are in and he will come to practice the next day with a new idea, which turns into a new song.  He is the main songwriter, Sal, and then you get the other guys that.  Mike is an asshole have you ever heard the band Live.    Mike, he’s the show, he goes crazy on the drums, a party animal.  Joe is our wizard that is what we call him.  He is insanely intelligent but crazy and weird, he is our Sid Baren. That is his nickname from us.  All four of us together is kind of entertainment when we are all together.

That’s awesome, did you guys grow up together, or did you meet in the past few years?
Um, the four of us, well I have known Sal for quite some time, not sure exactly how long, But we have always been in rivaling bands or on the same circuit.  I have always been a fan of his bands for years.  So we have been friends for a long time, but we really became closer friends obviously when I joined Crashbox from the beginning.  Now with Joe & Mike I have been friends with them for over 5 years now.  We have been close for awhile.

Now the CD looks like it lists 9 members, is that just additional contributions to the songs?
A lot of contributions from other musicians actually.  We had a couple of girl singers on it, a couple of guest musicians.  Our good friend Billy Childs from Ricky Foxx played on a track.  That was a lot of fun to get him in the studio and hang with the guy.  He has been a big supporter of us for awhile so he happened to be in town hanging out while we where doing our record.    Doing the record was kind of like handing over the lease to my buddy Billy. There is a lot of collaboration on that from friends and fellow musicians.

So this was kind of a family project than really?
Yeah definitely, it was a lot of fun having everyone in there, everyone did there little part.  Everyone contributed to the ultimate sounds which made us all pretty happy.

Needless to say you guys have a very eclectic style, is there kind of a constructive method behind the madness?
No, not so to speak, that is the thing we kind of wanted not to have any kind of formula or method.  For this project basically what happened was with Sal and I discussing it we wanted to create a package, a band, a product that we would be psyched about as music fans and music lovers.  We where waiting for a record to come out that we where like, we wanna go out and buy this and would wanna see live.  We kind of wanted to give that to people who wanted the same thing.  As far as influence and sound of the music go we took everything we loved from sounds of T Rexx to Guns and Roses to Black Sabbath and Motley Crew and just pretty much threw it all of that stuff into a pot and mixed it up and see what comes out of it.  I think we achieved it, to some level on the record.  That is where I get the Schizophrenia reference as well.  One day on the table, it was all just like crash theory and it’s heavy and it will punch you in the face and will come out with a song like Certain Shadows on the wall which is like a Queenish, Beatley influence song.  We like to hit all ends of the spectrum.

Well you mentioned Crash Theory, I am not real certain about this, but does that pale mosh to the two previous bands.
Yeah the name itself, exactly that is how we first got the name, the idea to create that.  It is what we call, what the song is about basically is not sure how to put this but the idea of self destructing for the sake of entertaining.  Keeping things interesting in life so we kind of accidentally or subconsciously mess things up.  It can be in reference to relationships or a girl or anything.  We kind of call it the crash theory.  So when Sal asked my why I cheated on a girl that was his best friend, I said you know it’s the crash theory.  We just wanted to mix it up a little bit.

That’s awesome! The new self titled debut CD hits stores July 7.  How was the recording process for it?
Well the recording process was a lot of fun actually.  We had the bulk of each song written.  When we went into record them we recorded all the songs in demo form.  We locked ourselves in this what you think is a hole in the wall studio.  We just built and built and went nuts.  We just got in there and anything went, we didn’t want to create any song like we where use to doing.  We wanted to shorten the songs and make them more radio friendly or whatever.  We let the creative juices flow.  In about 15 days we had the whole record recorded.  It was like mastering the mixing process and it took about 15 days and the process of the writing.  Sal kind of writes his songs in the order they appear on the record.  He wants the song with a big opening track so that the whole thing is in order.  So that it tells the story you know the flow of the record.  That’s what it is, we want to make it listenable from the beginning to the end.  So that was another part of the process as well, the whole arrangement and what not. The track listing.

As far as the tracks go, I would have to say Heartbreaker is honestly my hands down favorite.  I love how it kind of has that radio friendly feel to it, but at the same time it has a very personal touch to it.  Do all of your songs, most of them have this feel, but do all of your songs have personal flare to them or are they fictitious stories?
No they are all based on actual events.  Whether they are experiences that the band has dealt with or from the people around us, people we grew up with or former band members or things like that.  We basically grab influence from everywhere.  All of the songs on that record are based on personal experiences whether it is from us or others.  Sal and I we will steal experiences from each other whether it was a break up I had or a relationship with someone.  The next day he will call me up and say what do you think of this, and I will be like using phrases or statements I made in a previous conversation.  Then I will say you wrote a song about what I told you last night.  He gets inspired by things that happen to other people that is where the heart of the song usually comes from.
A lot of the songs that are on the new album, they range from everything from a borderline pop-pop to obviously as we mentioned radio friendly to one track that is almost Pantera reminiscent with how the riff goes.

So because of all that big variety of music what genre do you guys place yourselves in?
I guess I would put us in the same genre as like a retro to straight rock and roll.  Like Motley Crew and bands like that.  Our sound is a little more vast.  We did that on purpose.   We didn’t want to be pigeon holed into a specific genre.  Hopefully it will open up doors to wider band dates.  Hopefully we can get like the guys that like heavier stuff like the Pantera-esque rif.  Then we can grab the girls with songs like heartbreaker, the sexier groovier songs.  As far as genre I would say straight up rock and roll.  It’s not specific it has been that way on purpose.  It’s actually cool that people ask us what we consider ourselves.  We really don’t even know.

Yeah it is kind of better to have a wider range of weapons if you will.   That way no matter who you are touring with or who is supporting you, you will always have that set of songs that you can make everybody happy.
Right, right exactly we want somebody to go to the store and buy the cd and realize this is what they have been looking for; this is what I have been wanting to hear for awhile.   People aren’t really doing it anymore.  At least not popular bands it is not typical for them to have such a diverse record.  It is usually their sound.

Well you know there is one track, I apologize I can’t remember the exact name of it, I believe it is #7, it almost starts out with a 1950’s or 1960’s bee bop sort of theme.
Ahh yes I think that is I wish you where.   Kind of like the raspberries sort of thing.

I have to admit that was like a refreshing twist on the whole thing.  You listen to all the other songs and it is like, rock, rock, rock, and then you get to that and it’s like this makes me want to shake my ass a little bit.
Yes that is the intention there that is great that that is the vibe you got.   That one is actually really fun to play, that is one of the tunes that when we play it live it’s a little more rocked out, I wouldn’t say heavier but kind of played with a little bit more.  That is definitely a fun track to play and we throw that in a set as often as we can.

Sweet Cyanide and the bands that you have all previously been in, you have done a handful of shows from regional touring and things like that to.  Is there a full U.S. tour on the horizon for you guys?
It’s looking that way there are not too many details at the moment, but I can say that there are some things on the horizon that we are looking forward to and that will involve a lot of traveling.   Places I haven’t seen.   Once the single is released in the middle of July I think that is when all the radio stuff will start to happen.   Once that happens we will go and support and start to play in some of those areas.   There is some spots that I know we will play in like Maryland, Cincinnati, obviously the tri state area.   About half of the west.   Doing some stuff out in LA.  So that is what we can look forward to for the time being

If you could hand pick who you would tour with, who would your dream tour mates be?
Ahhh, that is easy either Guns and Roses or Motley Crew.   Even the new Guns and Roses and their new lineup I am such a fun of.   Playing on the same stage with those guys would be beyond a dream come true for any of us.

What would be the take away for your fans?
For our fans I would like them to love every track or at least enjoy it enough to keep it in their rotation.   As far as a live performance I want people to leave feeling like they just got punched in the face.   I want the same vibe that people would get like you said after seeing a band like Pantera, any band that knows how to put on that tense live act.   I would love to give that seem feeling to a fan or a potential fan.   I like the explosive energy a band gives off on stage; especially in our home city in New York we are pretty well received.

Well that is about for me Angelo, I definitely appreciate you taking the time to chat with us.   I definitely look forward to you guys hitting MN.
I am too that would be great.   If you are ever in the area, if you are ever in New York you gotta stop by and check out a gig.

I hope so.   I hope to get out east probably next summer I would like to visit New York and Syracuse sometime.  Hopefully if I can get out I will give you guys a holler and we can shoot the breeze and grab a beer.   Hit a show and tear up the mosh pit.
That would be awesome

Alright Angelo you enjoy the rest of your afternoon and we will talk to you real soon. Thanks a lot have a great afternoon.
Anytime talk to you soon, bye!