Live-Metal.Net - Interviews: Poison the Well

Starting as more of a traditional hardcore act, South Florida's Poison the Well have been active since 1998. They released their debut full-length, The Opposite of December, in 1999, and it has been looked upon as classic hardcore ever since. Now 10 years, a few record labels (including a stint on a major label), more than a dozen members and session players and four albums later, the band is back with their newest release, The Tropic Rot. The album follows 2007's Versions, a record many dubbed a “heavy spaghetti western” due to its experimental nature, twangy guitars, unique instrumentation and lyrical content.

From one listen to the full album stream via the band's MySpace (prior to release), The Tropic Rot is a more straightforward post-hardcore record, making Poison the Well a perfect fit to co-headline the 2009 U.S. summer jaunt called the 10 for $10 hardcore tour. When the third show of the tour stopped at Sonar in Baltimore, Md., Live-Metal.net's Jeff Maki and Ryan Mavity sat down with guitarist Ryan Primack to discuss the tour, The Tropic Rot and the band's experimental style.

Live-Metal.net: How did you get involved with the tour? And for those who haven't heard of the 10 for $10, tell us what it's all about.

Ryan Primack: A lot of bands go out and do their own shows throughout the year, so we tried to pack everybody together and have a really cool, really stacked bill—a lot of fun, but really inexpensive to go to. And to try to make it sort of the opposite of what a lot of summer tours really are—and that's a big money pit. We're real down to earth and street level, and it's been really cool.

You guys are headlining the tour some nights, but what other bands do you really admire on this tour?

Obviously Madball. This is their 20th anniversary. The band is incredible. And there's a couple of younger bands—This Is Hell, and I really like The Ghost Inside, as well. There's another band on here called Vision that's another really sorta seminal hardcore band—mid-'80s[style]. A really, really good band.

You guys have a new album, The Tropic Rot. So what exactly is “the tropic rot"?

That's what happens when you stay in Florida for too long. It's sorta like being stuck in a swamp.

Tell us some basic background on the album. You're last album was Versions, which I really liked. I really like the songs "Nagaina" and “Slow Good Morning.” There was a lot of different experimental stuff on there. Is the new album along the same lines as this?

It's experimental but definitely a little more direct than the last record. It's a little heavier and the approach is a little less cerebral and more just right in your face, which is nice and it was a good change of pace from doing the last one. The last one somehow swallowed up most of my life for a good period of time—just arranging everything and going through all the layers and everything. And trying to figure out what I did when I wasn't thinking.

Talking about Versions being experimental, that was the first album I heard from you guys. But have you always been this way or was that a big change of direction from the band? Were you originally a more traditional type of hardcore?

Yeah, when we started out. But ever since our first record we've been trying to find a new way to sound. But Versions was definitely a major, major departure, which I like. I like keeping people on their toes.

The Tropic Rot was just released, so how have the reviews and fan reaction been so far?

It's been the best that we've had in a long time, the most well received in a really long time.

When you guys first started experimenting with different material were you worried about alienating your original fan base?

It was a concern, but I always figured that my favorite part about being in a hardcore band is that you're supposed to push the boundaries and not really care about what people thought about anything. You're supposed to do what honestly came from your heart. So as much as I might have been concerned for a minute, I was able to quickly quell those concerns. The fact that I knew I needed to do what was in my heart, I felt it was the right thing to do.

Most every hardcore band relays a message through their music or lifestyle. What is the message that Poison the Well would relay?

Definitely the concept of being an average person. And maybe the concept of self-realization, the idea that being honest with yourself is probably the most important thing that you could do with your life. To face your personal issues, somehow with self-expression