EZ-Hi doc, how's life in the medical field? Any unusual disease encountered lately? Haha...What's spinning on your speakers of doom lately?
Bobby-What’s up Hammer? I’m actually on duty listening to Elder- Lore (album) while answering this interview. I’m constantly exposed to different diseases. It’s a day to day thing. But since I’m training in the specialty of Pathology, encounters with (whole) patients are rare as they usually come to us in parts (Biopsies, aspirations, etc) or when they’re dead as is the case in autopsies. Which by the way is one of the most brutal
EZ -List of bands that's spinning on your player right now
Bobby -Lately I’ve been listening to ISIS- In The Absence of Truth, COC- In The Arms of God, Deliverance, dISEMBOWELMENT, Acid Bath- When The Kite String Pops, Radioactive Sago Project-urban gulaman.
EZ -First of, please tell us the story behind "Malicious Birth".How was it formed and why choose "Malicious Birth" as the name of the band?
Bobby -Malicious Birth started as a 3 piece back in 2008. It was a time when most of the bands considered speed as king. The band that played the fastest was considered the shit. I guess forming MxBx was kind of an opposing reaction to that mentality. We wanted to show that slow tempos can be as brutal as fast tempos. Luckily, Obert, Nesty and I knew one another since we played together in another band. We all wanted to tune low and play slow. I played the bass and handled vocal duties while Nesty played drums and Obert played the guitar. Back then we would play gigs with more than 20 bands at the Center for Arts (RIP) along with bands that played fast. Only a few appreciated what we were about at the time. Most didn’t care. For a time we didn’t play gigs altogether partly because we were disgruntled at how close minded the audiences were. It was only when Berms from Tsimpayne invited us to the the 3rd world Dopesick gig held at the Light and Space gallery in 2012 in Fairview Q.C. that we were introduced to the proper underground. It was a landmark gig for us. (Thanks Berms!). I think we caught the attention of the right people finally. After that we were invited to Rural Carnage 4 by Roel Mores which was another important gig for us. The rest as they say is history. The name Malicious Birth just came to me. Sounded right so we went for it.
EZ -You've mentioned to me before that you used to play for different bands before who's catering death metal, if I am correct. So how did you end up shredding the axe under the Sludge/Doom genre?
Bobby -Obert, Nesty and I used to play death/black metal with another drummer. Nesty took care of the vocal duties. Unfortunately (or fortunately), that project never really took off. The drummer quit which was ok since his influences were mostly prog-y dream theater kind of stuff. It was during this time that we were discovering sludge acts like EHG, Iron Monkey and SLEEP and etc. Life changing shit. After the drummer left, Nesty took over drums while I took over vocals. It was natural for us to play slower. Whether it was a conscious or unconscious decision as a band, it just felt right and didn’t feel forced.
EZ -At first you were 3 ghouls serenading the ears of your listeners. Now MB is trimmed down to 2. What happened with Obert? Any plans on filling the missing slot?
Bobby -Obert decided to concentrate on his career. No bad blood whatsoever. I still smoke weed with him on a constant basis. Nesty and I have since been comfortable with our current set- up with me handling the guitars. We feel that the both of us already represent what Malicious Birth is all about at this time. So in a way I don’t think that there is any missing slot to fill but we would be open to guest collaborations and the like.
EZ -The first material that I got from you was your 2014 demo. The cover art really surprised me. For I believe it's one of those photos taken at Auschwitz where dead bodies are being disposed through a large freakin oven. So the question is, what made you decide to use this cover art for the said demo?
Bobby -It’s a disturbing image that catches your attention. We wanted an image that wasn’t blatantly “brutal” like a rotting corpse, zombies or any of those clichés and at the same time didn’t really give away what kind of music we played. We don’t own that image and we can’t find the source. Personally, it just gave off a vibe of helplessness and hopelessness which was what we were going for in our music. It was a good visual representation.
EZ -The said demo came only with the cover and on the back are the titles of each track, no lyrics included on the demo package. As I've obsereved the titles on this demo are all related to what happened during the reign of the Third Reich. So was this really done on purpose and why?
Bobby -Actually, none of the lyrics or titles in the demo were really about Hitler or the third world war in the literary sense but more in a figurative sense. We all have a Hitler in our head dictating our every move or decision, judging our actions and condemning us. We all have a war going on in our heads. An Auschwitz in our heads where what you think you are, your dreams, aspiration are extinguished completely reducing you to nothing. While nothingness for some is a scary thought, others view it as liberation from conventions making this “Mental Auschwitz” a necessity. Whether it is a necessity or not we leave to the listeners to decide.
EZ -One of the most intriguing track for me is the song titled "Inhale Death". Is this about the gas chambers that was built by the Nazis?
Bobby --It’s about taking your last breath. It’s more general than specific to the world war. In a way I wrote the lyrics/titles in a vague cryptic manner as to let the listener have an interpretation of them while listening to the music.
EZ -So how does the song writing goes? How do you stitch each track?
Bobby -We usually hammer out the songs by jamming. Most of the songs especially the ones we wrote as a two piece had little to no planning. There would be times when I would bring a riff to practice and it would grow into this song naturally. Coincidentally our song writing process is catalyzed by upcoming shows. When we get invited to play live, we usually jam as much as we can. In the process we’d be able to come up with a few ideas and even a song that we’d debut on that upcoming show.
EZ -MB was able to give birth to 2 eargasmic demos, both recorded live with a sadistic impact to its listeners. Any plans on recording them on a professional studio? Any labels that you contact lately for releasing your materials?
Bobby -There are plans of stepping inside a studio but we have yet to pick which studio we’d do it in. I don’t think the usual tracking would work with our style. It might hinder us from playing naturally. Live recording will be the way to do it we just have to find the right engineer who would understand our approach. (Anyone interested? Contact us. Hehe). As for labels, Alvin from One-A-Records has expressed his interest in us. Hopefully we can manage our times well enough to put out a decent record. Until then we’d still independently release material even if it’s raw. We don’t want to feel constipated in that way. As long as there are songs written we’d like to let others hear them in one form or another.
EZ -You're invovled in other projects that caters the same kind of mu-sick. Can you tell us more about those projects?
Bobby -Well there’s Shaman’s Bud where we both play in. hehe. In late 2014, I was asked to play 2nd guitars for Surrogate Prey which was a huge honor for me since I’m big fan of the band. Being able to appreciate SxPx from both sides of the fence as a listener and player has been a trip. And there’s this project Chester, Jay Gonzales (Deadflesh Architect) and I are working on named Kushagra where I play drums and Chester and Jay handle guitar duties. Still a very young outfit. No gigs or demos yet. Just a lot of jamming.
EZ -Being involved on those projects, how do you manage to practice knowing that you have a very tight schedule on your profession?
Bobby -I’m compelled to do it. The power of the riff compels me!! Haha. If I don’t play music, I’d lose my mind. With all the stress that would screw you up, you’d need to recalibrate your center. Others find it in sports, religion, drugs and whatever. I find it in Music (and weed). Time management is key, of course.
EZ -How do you manage to provide a different identity on each band knowing that they all serve the same kind mu-sick? Aside from Doom and Sludge, what other genres are you listening to?
Bobby -I’m fan of music in general whether it’s Sludge, Thrash, Death, Glam, 70’s prog rock, Blues, Jazz, Tribal music, Indian, Japanese music. If it resonates something in me I like it. All these influences I try to incorporate in every musical project I delve into. For Shaman’s Bud, I borrow a lot of elements from prog rock, the blues and a lot of Hendrix. Some may remember Shaman’s Bud as a Sludge band. But seeing as I play in Surrogate Prey, I felt that Shaman’s Bud needed to take on another route. A much playful route I might add. Hehe. Surrogate Prey already had their own identity before I joined them. I felt I fit right it since there are a lot of parallels between Surrogate Prey and Malicious Birth. But in contrast, Surrogate Prey’s music is in your face
pummeling with an anvil while Malicious Birth’s music tends to be more insidious in its approach.
EZ -Every musician has their poison. A posion that will make them have a better grip and vision on executing their mu-sick... So Doc, what's your choice of toxic before writing or going on stage? HAha
Bobby -Only weed and alcohol for me. I just take enough of both before hitting the stage and leave it to the natural stage “high” to take me further. After the set I’m high as a kite. There have been instances though where I’ve done too much before going on stage. It took me forever to set up my gear and standing really took additional effort. (You’ve seen me this way. Haha)
EZ -Aside from strangling the axe, what other stuff do you guys do on the outside world?
Bobby -Aside from career, I like having something on my plate at all times whether it be writing, drawing, photography, DIY-ing the shit out of things or whatever. Idle hands are the Devil’s playground. Haha. Both Nesty and I also enjoy riding bikes.
EZ -Your thoughts:
Possible War/Conflict in the Pacific- Fuck ‘Em ALL… It’s all about greed.
Legalization of Marijuana in the PH-I’m all for it but I don’t see it becoming a reality in our country, yet. Maybe in a few more decades. Filipinos are, in general, very close-minded and traditional. Not until we’re the last ones to still have it illegal. Global “peer pressure”.
"Elite" people on the so called UG Scene-They’re limiting themselves.
Death Penalty- Some people really have to die.
Indie Bands – Check out Phonic Dialog!
Local UG scene – To each his own. Elitists, non-elitists, posers, non-posers, etc are all different sides of the same coin. Walang basagan ng trip.
Sleep Paralysis- I hardly experience this. This usually happens when there’s an uncoordinated firing of brain signals. Essentially the brain wakes itself up while the body stays in sleep mode. Hence the feeling of paralysis.
Lucid Dreaming- A step from astral projection. Insidious (movie) kind of shit. hehe
Religion-Helpful for some. Not my cup of tea.
EZ -Well that will be all man, hope to share a bottle or 2 with you basterds again....Last words for the ghouls and goblins?
Bobby -Stay healthy! Smoke the Dope!
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