The Dillinger Escape Plan - Greg Puciato
Questions: Adam Parry
Known for their intense live shows, the Dillinger Escape Plan will be returning to Australia’s east coast this August for a quick-fire tour taking in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. Hailing form Morris Plains, New Jersey, the band formed in 1997 and have released five studio albums and four EPs, toured the world multiple times and suffered numerous self-inflicted injuries in the name of live performances.
Vocalist Greg Puciato took time out of his busy schedule to talk to Caught in the Mosh about what the band’s been up to, forgetting songs mid-show and, for a supposed “mathcore” band, how shit at math they are.
Hello Greg. Thank you for joining us here at Caught in the Mosh.
Are you caught in a mosh, right now, as we speak?
I am, it’s quite early over here, but my breakfast bowl resembles something like a mosh!
If you’re caught, how do we get you out of there, out of the mosh? That’s my mission right now.
It’ll be pretty difficult where you are and where I am, but I am hoping I can claw my way out.
We need to send some C.I.A. guys in there to get you outta the mosh (laughs).
Ok, we last saw Dillinger here in Australia as part of the Soundwave festival in 2014. What has the band been up to since that tour?
We kinda took a little bit of a break. But we have recently started writing pretty heavily. Last year we did the Nine Inch Nails and Soundgarden tour in the U.S. and since then we haven’t really done any heavy touring, just shows here and there. Just to remind us that we’re in a band (laughs), coz you start to forget. When you play a show you get so much energy, like a jolt of fuel, that you always come out of it like “All right, we gotta write more”. So I think over the last two months or so we have got down and started cranking the gears again to be able to tolerate being around each other again. Because the touring cycle is so fucking long, you’re around each other for so long, playing those same songs over and over again, by the end of it, you just don’t want to see each other. So now I think we are over the hump and are like “Fuck yeah, let’s write another record and spend a bunch of time together again”. So it’s all good.
It was 2013 when you released your last album One of Us is the Killer. Were you happy with how the album was received?
Yeah! That’s my favourite! If I had put one Dillinger album in a time capsule for people, that would be the one. We really put so much into that album. Personally, I think we got through a lot of stuff within the band, like a lot of long standing hurdles we had, we kinda got over it doing that album. Internally and externally, not just musically and outwardly, internally as a band I fell the last record was a really giant record for us. It has kinda allowed us to move forward in a healthy way. I think we purged a lot of negativity. But I think on the flip side of that, I think it really is the highest mark that we could have made. So it’s a little bit of a daunting prospect to write another record, because when I listen to that record I think “Fuck man, I don’t even know if we can top that.” Fuck, I guess we’re gonna try (laughs).
Vocalist Greg Puciato took time out of his busy schedule to talk to Caught in the Mosh about what the band’s been up to, forgetting songs mid-show and, for a supposed “mathcore” band, how shit at math they are.
Hello Greg. Thank you for joining us here at Caught in the Mosh.
Are you caught in a mosh, right now, as we speak?
I am, it’s quite early over here, but my breakfast bowl resembles something like a mosh!
If you’re caught, how do we get you out of there, out of the mosh? That’s my mission right now.
It’ll be pretty difficult where you are and where I am, but I am hoping I can claw my way out.
We need to send some C.I.A. guys in there to get you outta the mosh (laughs).
Ok, we last saw Dillinger here in Australia as part of the Soundwave festival in 2014. What has the band been up to since that tour?
We kinda took a little bit of a break. But we have recently started writing pretty heavily. Last year we did the Nine Inch Nails and Soundgarden tour in the U.S. and since then we haven’t really done any heavy touring, just shows here and there. Just to remind us that we’re in a band (laughs), coz you start to forget. When you play a show you get so much energy, like a jolt of fuel, that you always come out of it like “All right, we gotta write more”. So I think over the last two months or so we have got down and started cranking the gears again to be able to tolerate being around each other again. Because the touring cycle is so fucking long, you’re around each other for so long, playing those same songs over and over again, by the end of it, you just don’t want to see each other. So now I think we are over the hump and are like “Fuck yeah, let’s write another record and spend a bunch of time together again”. So it’s all good.
It was 2013 when you released your last album One of Us is the Killer. Were you happy with how the album was received?
Yeah! That’s my favourite! If I had put one Dillinger album in a time capsule for people, that would be the one. We really put so much into that album. Personally, I think we got through a lot of stuff within the band, like a lot of long standing hurdles we had, we kinda got over it doing that album. Internally and externally, not just musically and outwardly, internally as a band I fell the last record was a really giant record for us. It has kinda allowed us to move forward in a healthy way. I think we purged a lot of negativity. But I think on the flip side of that, I think it really is the highest mark that we could have made. So it’s a little bit of a daunting prospect to write another record, because when I listen to that record I think “Fuck man, I don’t even know if we can top that.” Fuck, I guess we’re gonna try (laughs).
With the kind of complex music like The Dillinger Escape Plan, how does the writing process work within the band?
Well, when we start out, we get a lot of the explosive, fast, crazy, heavy shit out of the way pretty early. Just because when you start writing, you’re so pent up. When you start, you just want to scream as much as possible, you wanna play drums fast as possible and you wanna make the most crushing riffs. So all that stuff comes out really early. Once the explosion is starting to slow down then we look through everything and think how can we make this part crazier? Can we make this part trickier? Is there something we can add that can make it more interesting? You try and trick everything out a little bit and that process just keeps going and going and going, until we make ourselves stop. Usually what we do is we get about 80% through the record and then we just book studio time, because if we don’t, we will just keep on going on forever. You get really numb to your own material to the point where you really can’t tell how it sounds anymore. So I think it’s really important to give yourself a deadline because if you don’t you’ll just go further and further down the rabbit hole. You just won’t ever come out.
With the music that you write, having such complex time signatures, have you ever found yourself at a gig, in the middle of a song and forgot what number you were up to?
Yes! But it didn’t start happening till maybe the last couple of years. I think you get to a point where there are only so many different parts in songs that you can handle (laughs). It never happened before but within the last couple of years there have been a couple parts where in the middle of a song I’ve played 2000 times, I have just realized I have no fucking idea what’s going on! Then I have to wait; I think it happens to everybody, you have to kinda wait until the rest of the guys get to a part where you’re like “oh right, yeah, yeah, yeah I remember” and then you jump back in. It’s completely random man. I don’t think it has anything to do with how well we’ve played the song, how many times we’ve played the song. Every now and then it’s the equivalent of like, a car overheating or like your computer doing to much and just freezes. I think sometimes all of us just have a blackout moment, where you’re like “fuck, what’s happening” and everything is just going so fast. At that point you just gotta wait for the clearing or part change so you can get back in.
Your music is a style that is often called “math-core” or “math-metal”. Were you a good math student in high school?
No! I was awful! We were awful, like Ben and I were both awful at math. I don’t think any of us were any good at anything math related. I was terrible at it then and I’m terrible at it now. I was always much better at any kind of art or writing or English based class. Anything on the side of the brain that controls music and art and writing, that was the side I did well with. We always joked about that when people started calling us “math-metal” or any of that stuff. It was just hilarious because we’re really fucking bad at math (laughs). But hey, whatever people wanna say.
Well, when we start out, we get a lot of the explosive, fast, crazy, heavy shit out of the way pretty early. Just because when you start writing, you’re so pent up. When you start, you just want to scream as much as possible, you wanna play drums fast as possible and you wanna make the most crushing riffs. So all that stuff comes out really early. Once the explosion is starting to slow down then we look through everything and think how can we make this part crazier? Can we make this part trickier? Is there something we can add that can make it more interesting? You try and trick everything out a little bit and that process just keeps going and going and going, until we make ourselves stop. Usually what we do is we get about 80% through the record and then we just book studio time, because if we don’t, we will just keep on going on forever. You get really numb to your own material to the point where you really can’t tell how it sounds anymore. So I think it’s really important to give yourself a deadline because if you don’t you’ll just go further and further down the rabbit hole. You just won’t ever come out.
With the music that you write, having such complex time signatures, have you ever found yourself at a gig, in the middle of a song and forgot what number you were up to?
Yes! But it didn’t start happening till maybe the last couple of years. I think you get to a point where there are only so many different parts in songs that you can handle (laughs). It never happened before but within the last couple of years there have been a couple parts where in the middle of a song I’ve played 2000 times, I have just realized I have no fucking idea what’s going on! Then I have to wait; I think it happens to everybody, you have to kinda wait until the rest of the guys get to a part where you’re like “oh right, yeah, yeah, yeah I remember” and then you jump back in. It’s completely random man. I don’t think it has anything to do with how well we’ve played the song, how many times we’ve played the song. Every now and then it’s the equivalent of like, a car overheating or like your computer doing to much and just freezes. I think sometimes all of us just have a blackout moment, where you’re like “fuck, what’s happening” and everything is just going so fast. At that point you just gotta wait for the clearing or part change so you can get back in.
Your music is a style that is often called “math-core” or “math-metal”. Were you a good math student in high school?
No! I was awful! We were awful, like Ben and I were both awful at math. I don’t think any of us were any good at anything math related. I was terrible at it then and I’m terrible at it now. I was always much better at any kind of art or writing or English based class. Anything on the side of the brain that controls music and art and writing, that was the side I did well with. We always joked about that when people started calling us “math-metal” or any of that stuff. It was just hilarious because we’re really fucking bad at math (laughs). But hey, whatever people wanna say.
Your live shows, for anyone who has been lucky enough to witness, are utter chaos and carnage. Have you ever suffered a decent injury due to the craziness of a Dillinger live show?
Yeah, people ask us this all the time. It’s not something we’re stoked about like “hey man this one time..” because it happens all the time. I mean, I’ve had teeth knocked out, I’ve had every finger broken, my wrist has been broken, I’ve got cuts all over the back of my head. We’ve had concussions, I’ve broken ribs, Ben has torn ligaments and shit like that. But that’s the only thing I know. We’ve been doing it for so long. They don’t feel like injuries to me, they feel like part of the job. Same way like someone who does roofing or pours concrete, like his back probably hurts a lot, but he probably doesn’t know any different because that’s what he’s done his entire life. I can’t compare it to being a school teacher or a librarian, I have no idea what that feels like. I know right now, while I’m talking to you, if I open and close my hand that I’m not holding my phone with, it fucking hurts. I can feel like all the Arthritis in my fingers and shit from having my hand broken and fingers broken so many times. It’s just part of my daily life, I don’t really think about it anymore.
You’ve been doing this for a long time now and the shows haven’t become any less crazy or less physical. How do you feel your body keeps up with the physicality of the shows? Do you think you could still be 50-60 years old, like The Rolling Stones, but still diving into crowds and jumping off speaker stacks?
Dude, I’ve thought about that recently, because I don’t feel any different. I feel like I’m just getting more... turbo, you know, for lack of a better work. As time goes on, my big fear is that at some point in time, something drastic is going to happen that I can’t anticipate. It’s like a professional athlete; at some point in their career, a knee just blows out or something crazy happens that they never fully recover from. They never see it happening. I think about that, like one day am I gonna jump off a P.A. or like a speaker and my knee is gonna shoot out of my leg? I’m also pretty aware we are in uncharted territory as far as a band who performs the way we do - I don’t think anyone has really gone on that long. In punk rock and hardcore, most of the bands that were around when it started, like Black Flag or Bad Brains, are not bands anymore. Or they really have completely slowed down and don’t really move a lot, like Iggy Pop who took a lot of time off, or Mick Jagger. I don’t even understand how he is even still going! He is a phenome to me. But it’s still not the same. I really don’t know. When I was 21 years old, if you asked me if I’d still be able to do this at 35, I wouldn’t even have been able to comprehend what 35 in general would feel like. So I hope so, but who fucking knows man.
Now you guys are no strangers to Australia. You’ve been here a bunch of times. I’d like to know what are your fondest or least fond memories of Australia?
Well, I particularly love it down there. I live in L.A. and if I had live anywhere else in the world, I would probably pick Sydney or Melbourne. I just really enjoy the culture down there. It just has a good vibe. Always has, since the first time we went there. As far as best memories? For me, the first time we went was really crazy for us. It’s really far away and when you’re really young, you can’t even believe that when you go to different states or different countries, they know who you are. For our first time in Australia we were like “We’re gonna fly 20 hours and there are gonna be like four people to see us. We’re gonna lose a fuck tonne of money. No one’s gonna care about us” This was back before high speed internet too; there was no gauge or no social network to get any feedback. When we got there, the first show we played had a couple hundred people there who clearly knew who we were. It was the most surreal feeling. We may have just landed on the moon and had people who knew us. It was just a really fucking cool feeling. Then, when we played Soundwave with Nine Inch Nails, they got us on stage with them to do Wish with them during their set. I think it was 2009. That was really cool.
One last thing... You guys are coming back to Australia very soon. Do you have a message to the Dillinger fans Down Under?
Yeah, just that we’re really fucking excited. It’s been a few years now since we have played headlining shows down there and we miss you guys and we can’t wait to see you.
Yeah, people ask us this all the time. It’s not something we’re stoked about like “hey man this one time..” because it happens all the time. I mean, I’ve had teeth knocked out, I’ve had every finger broken, my wrist has been broken, I’ve got cuts all over the back of my head. We’ve had concussions, I’ve broken ribs, Ben has torn ligaments and shit like that. But that’s the only thing I know. We’ve been doing it for so long. They don’t feel like injuries to me, they feel like part of the job. Same way like someone who does roofing or pours concrete, like his back probably hurts a lot, but he probably doesn’t know any different because that’s what he’s done his entire life. I can’t compare it to being a school teacher or a librarian, I have no idea what that feels like. I know right now, while I’m talking to you, if I open and close my hand that I’m not holding my phone with, it fucking hurts. I can feel like all the Arthritis in my fingers and shit from having my hand broken and fingers broken so many times. It’s just part of my daily life, I don’t really think about it anymore.
You’ve been doing this for a long time now and the shows haven’t become any less crazy or less physical. How do you feel your body keeps up with the physicality of the shows? Do you think you could still be 50-60 years old, like The Rolling Stones, but still diving into crowds and jumping off speaker stacks?
Dude, I’ve thought about that recently, because I don’t feel any different. I feel like I’m just getting more... turbo, you know, for lack of a better work. As time goes on, my big fear is that at some point in time, something drastic is going to happen that I can’t anticipate. It’s like a professional athlete; at some point in their career, a knee just blows out or something crazy happens that they never fully recover from. They never see it happening. I think about that, like one day am I gonna jump off a P.A. or like a speaker and my knee is gonna shoot out of my leg? I’m also pretty aware we are in uncharted territory as far as a band who performs the way we do - I don’t think anyone has really gone on that long. In punk rock and hardcore, most of the bands that were around when it started, like Black Flag or Bad Brains, are not bands anymore. Or they really have completely slowed down and don’t really move a lot, like Iggy Pop who took a lot of time off, or Mick Jagger. I don’t even understand how he is even still going! He is a phenome to me. But it’s still not the same. I really don’t know. When I was 21 years old, if you asked me if I’d still be able to do this at 35, I wouldn’t even have been able to comprehend what 35 in general would feel like. So I hope so, but who fucking knows man.
Now you guys are no strangers to Australia. You’ve been here a bunch of times. I’d like to know what are your fondest or least fond memories of Australia?
Well, I particularly love it down there. I live in L.A. and if I had live anywhere else in the world, I would probably pick Sydney or Melbourne. I just really enjoy the culture down there. It just has a good vibe. Always has, since the first time we went there. As far as best memories? For me, the first time we went was really crazy for us. It’s really far away and when you’re really young, you can’t even believe that when you go to different states or different countries, they know who you are. For our first time in Australia we were like “We’re gonna fly 20 hours and there are gonna be like four people to see us. We’re gonna lose a fuck tonne of money. No one’s gonna care about us” This was back before high speed internet too; there was no gauge or no social network to get any feedback. When we got there, the first show we played had a couple hundred people there who clearly knew who we were. It was the most surreal feeling. We may have just landed on the moon and had people who knew us. It was just a really fucking cool feeling. Then, when we played Soundwave with Nine Inch Nails, they got us on stage with them to do Wish with them during their set. I think it was 2009. That was really cool.
One last thing... You guys are coming back to Australia very soon. Do you have a message to the Dillinger fans Down Under?
Yeah, just that we’re really fucking excited. It’s been a few years now since we have played headlining shows down there and we miss you guys and we can’t wait to see you.
Catch the Dillinger Escape Plan at three special shows this August. Tickets on sale now. All shows 18+.
Fri 28th Aug - Melbourne, the Prince Bandroom - tickets from Oztix
Sat 29th Aug - Sydney, Max Watts - tickets from Oztix, Max Watts and Eventopia
Sun 30th Aug - Brisbane, Max Watts - tickets from Oztix, Max Watts and Eventopia
Fri 28th Aug - Melbourne, the Prince Bandroom - tickets from Oztix
Sat 29th Aug - Sydney, Max Watts - tickets from Oztix, Max Watts and Eventopia
Sun 30th Aug - Brisbane, Max Watts - tickets from Oztix, Max Watts and Eventopia
