Atlanta’s supercharged grind practitioners, Primate, are premiering brand new song, “Silence of Violence,” exclusively on Blow The Scene today! This new song is taken from Primate‘s forthcoming LP on Relapse Records, Draw Back A Stump (+3 Songs), slated for a July 3rd release. Drummer Shayne Huff also talks with Blow The Scene in this exclusive interview, sharing insight on the writing and recording processes behind the album, formation of the band, future plans, and much more. We recenlty reviewed this re-issue of Draw Back a Stump, which has seen an additional guitar track added by newest member Mike Brennan, along with the inclusion of three previously unreleased tracks, with one debuting with us today!
If you are just tuning into Primate, hold on tight, as these veteran players deliver a scorching new effort, chock full of blazing punk-rock-flavored, d-beat-induced grindcore that is fresh and exciting while giving nod to the glory days.
We know you are here for the “Silence of Violence” track premiere and interview, so without further ado..
Joshua BTS: Greetings! Thank you for taking time to answer a few questions for Blow The Scene readers around the World! Today will be debuting a new song from the forthcoming Primate re-issue by Relapse Records, Draw Back a Stump, slated for a July 3rd release! But before we get there- Please introduce yourself to Blow The Scene readers around the world and declare your on-stage weapon of choice.
Hey man, Shayne here from Primate. My on-stage weapon of choice would be the drums. My apologies to those hoping to hear back from Bill or Kevin, but as they’re currently on tour, you get me!
Joshua BTS: Take us back to the formative stages- How did you come to link up
with this eclectic mix of grinders that comprise Primate?
Shayne: It started on two fronts: Kevin and our original guitarist Evan were looking to start a band and needed a drummer and bass player. Dave (bass) and I had started a two-piece grind band after our old band broke up. Dave and Kevin go way back to their teenage years and we both knew and had played with Evan in a former band several years ago so it was a slam-dunk. We merged the projects and formed Primate. Bill and Kevin had been trying to start something for a while and when Bill heard what we were doing he came down to the rehearsal space and sat in on a practice. He asked if we wanted a second guitarist and voila, Bill was in the band. A year or so later we parted ways with Evan and joined up with our current rhythm guitarist Mike. He was an old friend and former band-mate of Dave and I so it was a great fit.
Joshua BTS: What does the writing and recording process look like for the band? Is there a captain that steers the direction of the ship or is this a fully collective effort?
Shayne: It’s a pretty collective effort overall. Dave and I wrote a bunch of the original material and then Bill added parts as needed to enhance and add dimension to the songs. Kevin would add his vocal styling and you’d have a song. Lately each of us comes to practice with a part or riff and then we put the song structure together there. Everyone is part of the writing process, which keeps everything from sounding the same. We keep a little recorder handy to make sure we don’t lose the ideas and then use that to complete the songs.
Joshua BTS: With the name Primate and stark imagery and song themes to match,
I got to ask – Is there a political motive behind the band name and
art? Are you making a comment on animal rights? Please bring us up
to speed on the band name and the relevance of the art and lyrical
contexts.
Shayne: Don’t read too much into it, there’s no political motive or statement here. The name just seemed to fit a bunch of dumb apes grinding out hardcore. As for the lyrical content, that’s a little more pointed. Kevin writes the lyrics and takes a look at the state of the world; the economic and social collapses that are happening all around us, the political posturing and police-state mentality and social unrest; and puts his thoughts in the songs.
Joshua BTS: You’ve revamped Draw Back A Stump with new mixing and mastering and included three previously unreleased tracks, “Silence of Violence,” “March of the Curmudgeon,” “Get The Fuck Off My Lawn”, one of which, we are debuting today. How did you come to the decision to re-release an “amped up” version of this EP with Relapse Records? And are these 3 unreleased tracks new material, or were they too, recorded with the original release and just left off of the original EP?
Shayne: When we recorded the EP originally, Scion was going to put it out. They looked at a list of song titles and picked the ones they wanted on the EP. We went into the studio to record the EP songs only but we ended up with a little extra time so we went ahead and tracked the other three songs just because we liked them. Then due to some issue in the Scion contract Warner Brothers stepped in a said that Scion couldn’t put it out due to something in Bill’s Mastodon contract with WB. So we put it out on our own as an EP. When we signed with Relapse they wanted to release the EP but asked if there were any more songs so they could release it as an LP. That’s what prompted us to put the other three songs on the record. To drag this answer out even more…in the interim between releasing the EP and signing with Relapse we had added Mike to the band so we felt it best to have him record guitar tracks on the songs so that the record would come out with the full/current band. So hence the new mix and master.
Joshua BTS: What is in store for Primate as we head into the latter part of
2012? Tours? New material?
Shayne: Hopefully both! We’re working on putting together some dates for early fall of 2012 and we’re writing new material. I don’t see anything new coming out in 2012 but we’ll be writing it for the next release.
Joshua BTS: Favorite Primate?
Shayne: Bonzo the chimp from the old Ronald Reagan movies.
Joshua BTS: With such a rich history in the punk community, I am interested to know- Any current punk or grind bands that are really exciting you right now? Or do you prefer to stick with the old-school?
Shayne: I would have to say Off! for current punk. Those guys kick ass. Otherwise there hasn’t been much new stuff that’s stood out to me in the punk world. Grind would have to go with Napalm Death as they are consistently amazing. But yeah, I stick to the old-school punk and hardcore end of things. But a couple faves there would be current hardcore bands like Reproach (Belgium), Double Negative (Raleigh) and Bukkake Boys (Atlanta.) These guys are still killing it just like it was 1986.
Joshua BTS: Thank you kindly for taking a few moments with Blow The Scene readers from around the world, as we look forward to keeping up with your future endeavors. Any final thoughts?
Shayne: Thanks for taking your time to help us promote Primate! And a big thanks to everyone out there who’s been listening to us and supporting us from around the world! Hopefully we’ll be able to get out on the road soon and bring you all some good live shows!
Blow The Scene Exclusive Premiere of unreleased PRIMATE song “Silence of Violence” – One of 3 new songs added to the “Draw Back A Stump” expanded re-release by Relapse Records.
[wpaudio url=”https://blowthescene.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/testing.mp3″ text=”Primate – The Silence of Violence” dl=”0″]
Buy Draw Back A Stump (+3 Songs) Re-Issue at Relapse Records
Primate is:
Kevin Sharp (Brutal Truth, Venomous Concept) – vox
Bill Kelliher (Mastodon) – guitars
Dave Whitworth (Timebomb77, The Despised, Otophobia) – bass
Mike Brennan (The Despised, Otophobia, Javelina) – guitars
Shayne Huff (The Despised, Bloody Sods, Virulent Strain) – drums
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