Violent Scene From A Film

I always thought that VSFAF was just an average band. I had heard their mp3s, thought the music was good (not exceptional, but good) and the vocals were terrible... And that was about all I thought of them... however I recently had the privilege of seeing them live for the first time. The band flat out blew me away. I became an instant fan. VSFAF is a must see live band. The following is a short interview conducted with the band.

Joel: What's your band's name?
Amber- Violent Scene From A Film

Joel: What's your function in the band?
A- I play bass, singing saw, and do occasional vocals.
Patrick- I play guitar and sing.
Jeremy- I play the drums 		Violent Scene From A Film
and should start to scream.

Joel: Briefly describe your music?
A- Melodic indie-hardcore sounding stuff with lots of screaming.
P- I never know how to answer that question.
J- Heartfelt emotional rock and roll.

Joel: Why should people listen to your band?
P- I don't know. I don't really want to have to sell this band. If people like the music, that's great. If they're into the political and social opinions and situations we sing about, that's even better; but as far as why someone should listen to us? I don't know, that's up to them.

Joel: How long has Violent Scene From A Film been a band?
P- Since February of 2002. So, about eight months, now?
J - I have been in the band for around 2 months. Maybe a little less.

Joel: Where did you get your name from?
P- Con, our original drummer, wrote a short story called Violent Scene From A Film about the CEO of General Motors walking around one of the factories he was about to close, so that the workers would feel secure in their jobs, and work at optimum efficiency until the day it shut down. One of the workers caught wind of this, and smashed a huge wrench into the heads of the CEO and his assistants. Anyhow, the last line is something along the lines of, "The factory was theirs, they would never live in fear again." I mean, it's not to be taken literally, and this band does not promote violent revolution as a solution to our economic and political problems, but we thought it was an excellent story and wanted the band to be somehow tied to it.

Joel: What makes Violent Scene From A Film different from every other band out there?
P- We're honest. We scream because we're angry, not because it's some stupid cliché in hardcore. And, along the same lines, we’re not really a “political band." I mean, I guess we are, but it’s not because we think we have some great insight to the inner workings of the machine, or anything like that, we just sing about the things we see going on around us, and the things we would like to see going on around us. We sing about the things we care about, just like any other band. The difference, I guess, is that we care about important things… As self righteous as that sounds. [Laughs]
J - We're not just one style , we're not afraid to cross boundaries musically and we're more focused on writing music we like rather than sounding a certain way.

Joel: What messages do you try to get across through your music?
P- Animal liberation, equal rights, questioning things that have become institutions like organized religion, capitalism, and consumption.

Joel: Do you have a single song that has a special meaning to you?
A- For me, the song that means the most is "Taking Comfort In Bloodshed And Slaughter;" which was written for Tobias James, a girl who was raped and beaten to death by her boyfriend.
P- "Drinking Blood And Eating Flesh" was inspired by my mom. She's a single, working class, Christian mother who juggles three jobs and somehow thinks God is going to do anything about it to help her out... Or to reward her for all the years she's wasted worshiping him. I just hate seeing working class people voluntarily forfeit their power as an individual to some silly myth. God is not going to break the poverty cycle; but organization, education, and rejecting our submissive tradition is.

Joel: What bands, people, books, etc have had the biggest influence on your band?
A- The biggest influences for this band, for me, come from bands like Bikini Kill and Refused; books like Cunt: A Declaration of Independence by Inga Muscio, Where We Stand: Class Matters by Bell Hooks, Killing Rage by Bell Hooks, A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America by Ronald T. Takaki, and Without Marx or Jesus by Jean-Francois Revel; and people like Kathleen Hanna, Ralph Nader, and Emma Goldman.

Joel: What about Violent Scene From A Film are you most proud of?
A- The fact that we play music we like, sing about things that are important to us, and have a good fucking time doing it.
P- We don’t have one single love song! I fucking hate love songs.

Joel: What is the biggest thing about Violent Scene From A Film you want to improve?
A- I want us to play more shows...that's about it.
P- I want to start having free literature available at shows. Free pamphlets about animal rights, the evils of capitalism, why you should burn your flag…
J- More shows and a very good recording.

Joel: What CDs are currently in your stereo?
A- Bright Eyes- Fevers & Mirrors, Bikini Kill- The C.D. Version of the first two records, Refused- The Shape Of Punk To Come, and Desaparecidos- Read Music/Speak Spanish.
P- Public Enemy- It Takes A Nation Of Millions..., and Refused- The Shape Of Punk To Come.
J- Knives Out-......Unearth e.p. and Iron Maiden - Best of the Beast.

Joel: Do you have any closing comments?
A- Patrick and I are organizing a benefit show, with Christopher from The Cause and Spencer from Find Him And Kill Him, scheduled for October. October is domestic violence awareness month and it's something that we feel is a pressing issue, so we're using what we have to help make kids more conscious about it. The money will be going to a local charity, instead of a national charity, so we can make a bigger dent .
P- There are a few people I'd like to thank who've been really helpful and/or supportive. First of all, Con Ruiz and Fred Robinson, Andrew, Christopher Greenslate, Mike and Spence at the Che, Doreen at the Epicentre, Brandon at Caffiends, Gary at Accident Prone, Mike at SDHC.net, Jesse and Sean from Esco., Thor Andersen!, A Rose For Ona, The Cause, Tear It Down Records, every single band we've played with so far... and I think that's it. Oh, and of course Joel from SanDiegoPunk.com.

MP3 Site: http:www.mp3.com/vsfaf
Website: http://www.vsfaf.com

Back to Band of the Month

Help keep sandiegopunk alive by visiting our sponsors!