{"id":44413,"date":"2016-05-13T00:00:21","date_gmt":"2016-05-13T00:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=44413"},"modified":"2016-05-28T17:29:02","modified_gmt":"2016-05-28T17:29:02","slug":"feature-discharge-05-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-discharge-05-16\/","title":{"rendered":"DISCHARGE – Hatebombs (May 2016) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

DISCHARGE – Hatebombs<\/strong><\/span>
\nAnthony Morgan<\/span>
\nMay 2016<\/span><\/p>\n

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Discharge (l-r): Terry \u2018Tezz\u2019 Roberts, Royston \u2018Rainy\u2019 Wainwright, Jeff \u2018JJ\u2019 Janiak, Tony \u2018Bones\u2019 Roberts and David \u2018Proper\u2019 Caution<\/b><\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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\nStoke-On-Trent, England-based hardcore punk outfit Discharge recruited Jeff \u2018JJ\u2019 Janiak to its ranks during 2014, Janiak replacing the departing Tony \u2018Rat\u2019 Martin following his 11-year tenure at the helm. Sixth studio Disensitise<\/em>, issued during August 2008, was the lone studio full-length affair to feature Rat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was already in the band Broken Bones with Bones (Tony \u2018Bones\u2019 Roberts) and Tezz (Terry \u2018Tezz\u2019 Roberts), so I was already familiar with working with them,\u201d JJ remembers with respect to his joining. \u201cIt was actually six years ago when they first asked me to join, though. We talked about it but things always just fell through, so we just lost contact, really, I just continued on with Broken Bones, but as soon as Rat was gone, I was expecting to get a phone call. Sure enough, I did get the phone call asking about singing for Discharge. So, I did it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shortly prior to the frontman\u2019s entry into the Discharge ranks, Terry \u2018Tezz\u2019 Roberts returned to the fold. Previously stepping behind the drumkit, Tezz now handles rhythm guitar duties. \u201cBasically, having Tezz on rhythm guitar just fills things out as far as live shows,\u201d he observes. \u201cDischarge was always known for having a big sound, so having a second guitar in there just fills it out. Aside from that, Tezz didn\u2019t really want to play the drums any more, so he just came back on guitar. It seems to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

On November 4th, 2015, it was disclosed that Discharge had inked a record contract with Nuclear Blast. \u201cOnce we got the line-up together, we started working on some new songs,\u201d JJ shares. \u201cWe basically wanted to get some stuff recorded and get it out there, so people would hear what the new line-up is like. So, we recorded three tracks, one of them being \u2018New World Order\u2019. A friend of ours, a guy named Darren Green, just offered to make a video for us. He filmed us when we played in Stoke-On-Trent, which is where we\u2019re from. So, it was a good gig for us. He filmed that, and then we just stuck it out there on YouTube so that people have an idea of what the new line-up is like. We planned on doing a full album, and then we got contacted by Nuclear Blast. They said they wanted to work with us, and so we went with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The making of April 2016 full-length End Of Days<\/em> \u2013 their seventh overall \u2013 was \u201cfairly simple,\u201d the lyricist submits. \u201cWe\u2019d basically just book a practice in a freezing cold studio, just freezing our arses off, and we\u2019d practice for maybe two or three hours at a time. After each practice session, we\u2019d usually have one or two songs. It was fairly simple. All the music was done first, Basically, the music gets put together first. Once I heard the music, I had a better idea of how to write the lyrics and how to fit the words into the songs. <\/p>\n

\u201cNormally, I would come up with the choruses first. When I would hear the chorus, I would kind of get maybe like a phrase or a title pop into my head that would fit in with the chorus. After we\u2019d finish a song at rehearsals, we\u2019d record it on a little shitty tape recorder just so we wouldn\u2019t forget it. By the time we went into the studio to record it, all of the lyrics were literally written just minutes before going into recording \u2013 all of the verses and stuff \u2013 and then I pretty much had the choruses. All of the verses were done literally minutes before I went to record, though.\u201d<\/p>\n

End Of Days<\/em>\u2019 lyrical topics are social and political in nature. \u201cThe lyrics are a reflection of the world that we\u2019re living in today \u2013 just stuff that\u2019s happening,\u201d JJ divulges. \u201cThere are a lot of fucked up things going on. Of course, there\u2019s still always the threat of nuclear war \u2013 that is talked about. There are a lot of different topics; stuff like false flag operations, stuff like that. Stuff like the Boston bombing, 9\/11, 7\/7 \u2013 there\u2019s just all sorts of topics. \u2018New World Order\u2019 speaks for itself, really, talking about what\u2019s happening around the world today; drones, police spying on people, corruption, all sorts. This is the world that we live in, and it doesn\u2019t really seem to be getting any better. <\/p>\n

\u201cI wrote all of the lyrics on the album, except \u2018Accessories By Molotov (Part 2)\u2019, which was done by Cal (former vocalist Kevin \u2018Cal\u2019 Morris). \u2018Accessories By Molotov\u2019 was a song off of the 2002 self-titled album. We basically took the end riff of that song, and started messing around with that. We were planning on actually making it another song, but we just decided to keep it as \u2018Accessories By Molotov\u2019. We kept the lyrics to that, and continued with it but just made it a bit faster.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Musically speaking, End Of Days<\/em> opts not to deviate too much from previous outings. \u201cAs far as the music, we just do what we do,\u201d the composer reckons. \u201cThe only real plan we had for the album musically was just to keep it short and simple, really. Just no fucking around with it at all, and just short songs, fast songs. As far as any kind of plans though, there was really no… We didn\u2019t sit around a table and discuss how we wanted the album to sound. We didn\u2019t discuss what we wanted the topics to be about; we went in to practice, and the riffs we came up with were what we got.\u201d<\/p>\n

End Of Days<\/em> bears a greater resemblance to Discharge\u2019s earlier days, JJ views. \u201cIt\u2019s more like the earlier stuff which is, like I said, just really short,\u201d he tells. \u201cYeah, I think it stands up against a lot of the stuff. Discharge did have a run of bad albums in the mid-to-late 80s, and even into the early 90s. It\u2019s not the most memorable stuff, and so I definitely think this stands above that period of Discharge.\u201d<\/p>\n

A range of Discharge studio records figure among the vocalist\u2019s favourites. \u201cDefinitely the Why<\/em> album (1981) was great, and Hear Nothing<\/em> (Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing<\/em>, 1982) was great,\u201d he lists. \u201cAll of it, really. I\u2019d say that even the stuff after Bones left like \u2018The More I See\u2019, even though it has a different feel, I do still like that stuff. I\u2019d say pretty much everything up to Grave New World<\/em> (1986), really.\u201d<\/p>\n

As earlier referenced, End Of Days<\/em> was inaugurated courtesy of a trio of compositions. \u201cThe first session we did was with \u2018New World Order\u2019, \u2018Population Control\u2019, and \u2018The Broken Law\u2019,\u201d JJ augments. \u201cThose three songs were actually intended to be demos, but when they were finished, they came out really well. They sounded too good to be demos, so we just decided to keep them for the album. Then the rest of the album was done over a period of a week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was nothing to it. We just went in, and it was a shitty little studio in the town next to us. It\u2019s a town called Newcastle-Under-Lyme, which is right next to Stoke-On-Trent. It\u2019s a place called Tremolo Recording Studio, which is just a local studio. It wasn\u2019t anything… we didn\u2019t go into any kind of big recording studio \u2013 it\u2019s nothing fancy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took just a couple of hours a day, really. We\u2019d go in one day and maybe do just a song or two, go home, go in the next day, and that was pretty much it, really. It was just small sessions, as far as recording \u2013 just going in and nailing them. A lot of it was done in one take, really. We went in there and froze our arses off recording it, and that\u2019s what we got. We didn\u2019t have any producers doing it, or anything. We just produced it ourselves; we all knew how we wanted to sound individually, and we all put our input into it. It was just fairly simple, really. There was nothing to it. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a few issues in the end, as far as mixing the bass. We had some problems with the bass \u2013 it sounded like it was a bit all over the place on the songs. Eventually, it was sent off to Peter T\u00e4gtgren in Sweden. He ended up doing the final mix for us, just levelling everything out, so it sounded like it was all on the same album rather than like a compilation of songs. That\u2019s how it sounded after we recorded it; it sounded like it was from a bunch of different sessions, really. The mixing bit was probably the longest in the end \u2013 that probably took a couple of weeks \u2013 but as far as recording the actual music, it took no time.\u201d<\/p>\n

No leftover tracks remain from recording sessions for End Of Days<\/em>. \u201cThere were a few tracks that we weren\u2019t sure that we were gonna keep or not, but in the end, we decided to put them on the album,\u201d the singer confirms. \u201cSo, that\u2019s it as far as these sessions go. The only thing we do have really are different mixes; some of the mixes sound completely different from the album. It almost sounds like a completely different session, really. It would be interesting maybe to use them as some bonus tracks because as I said, it does sound a lot different than what you can hear on the album.\u201d<\/p>\n

JJ\u2019s approach towards his vocal work was relatively straightforward. \u201cI just do what I do,\u201d he reasons. \u201cI knew as far as going in to record the vocals, I pretty much already had the song titles and the choruses \u2013 and I left all of the verses to the songs fairly short, anyway. I left it all literally to just before I was going to record them, though; I just sat there with a notepad and wrote some thoughts down, wrote some things down, and that\u2019s what we got on the album. I didn\u2019t want to do them too far in advance. Otherwise, I\u2019d sit there over and over again, reading it in my head. I\u2019d then kind of second guess myself, and maybe decide I wanted to change it or something like that. So, what I wrote before going in to record it is what we got.\u201d<\/p>\n

The frontman is conscious of placing his stamp on Discharge\u2019s musical sound, however minute. \u201cThe thing is, me and Cal vocally are very similar,\u201d he recognises. \u201cIt\u2019s just the same kind of gruff voice, although like I said, all I have is my voice. If it sounds like Cal, then it sounds like Cal \u2013 there\u2019s nothing I can do about that. All I have is my voice, but it fits the mould of the band. <\/p>\n

\u201cNormally, the voice of the band is a defining part of the band, and the voice is what makes Discharge Discharge. The same with the guitar work; you can kind of pick out Bones\u2019 guitar. It\u2019s a big stamp on the band and it\u2019s what makes it that band, and that goes for every band. Every band has got their own unique stamp, and so if you go in sounding completely different from how fans know the band to sound, then it no longer sounds like that band. So, we just put our stamp on it, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Performing live, JJ respects the source material. \u201cAs far as playing live and playing the old tracks, I just sing them the way they were sung,\u201d he explains. \u201cIf you change it, it doesn\u2019t sound like the same song any more. If I came into the band as a guitarist playing the guitar, I\u2019d have to play the same notes, wouldn\u2019t I? Otherwise, if you play something else, it\u2019s not that song \u2013 it becomes something else. As far as vocally, I just sing it the way it\u2019s supposed to be sung as far as the classic stuff and playing live.\u201d<\/p>\n

And as well, a range of Discharge tracks figure among the wordsmith\u2019s favourites. \u201cIt\u2019s funny, because some of my favourite Discharge songs aren\u2019t necessarily my favourite ones to sing,\u201d he notes. \u201cThere\u2019s quite a few I like to do live though, like \u2018A Hell On Earth\u2019. \u2018Cries Of Help\u2019, I love doing that. \u2018Corpse Of Decadence\u2019, \u2018Never Again\u2019, \u2018Fight Back\u2019. A lot of them I do enjoy playing live.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several tracks from End Of Days<\/em> will emerge in Discharge\u2019s live setlist. \u201cWe\u2019re gonna go for about five, probably,\u201d JJ figures. \u201cWe\u2019re on our way there (laughs). We\u2019re still working on getting them perfect, as far as playing live. We\u2019re gonna see what feels best as far as playing the songs live. We\u2019ll still do \u2018New World Order\u2019, and \u2018Hatebomb\u2019 of course. We\u2019re gonna be doing \u2018Raped And Pillaged\u2019, and possibly \u2018Meet Your Maker\u2019 and \u2018Infected\u2019. Sometimes the songs that sound good recorded on the album aren\u2019t always the easiest or the best to play live, so we\u2019re going to go into rehearsals and see how we feel really.\u201d<\/p>\n

Future plans within the Discharge camp aren\u2019t crystal clear, at the time of writing. \u201cWe don\u2019t really make big plans with this band,\u201d the songwriter surmises. \u201cWe just kind of see where things take us. As far as shows, gigs, and tours, we\u2019ll see what we get offered. If we can do it, we\u2019ll do it. If we can\u2019t do it, then we can\u2019t do it for whatever reason. We just take things as they come, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Broken Bones has embarked on a hiatus. \u201cAt the minute, Broken Bones has been put on the back-burner,\u201d JJ concurs. \u201cWe\u2019ve got too much happening with Discharge at the moment, so Broken Bones was just kind of put on the side. If things die down with Discharge, maybe we\u2019ll do some Broken Bones gigs again. At the moment, we\u2019re a bit busy with Discharge though, so that\u2019s what we\u2019re focusing on.\u201d<\/p>\n

End Of Days<\/em> was released on April 29th, 2016 in Europe and subsequently on May 13th in North America, all via Nuclear Blast Records.<\/p>\n

Interview published in May 2016. All promotional photographs by Fabiola Santini.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DISCHARGE – Hatebombs Anthony Morgan May 2016 Discharge (l-r): Terry \u2018Tezz\u2019 Roberts, Royston \u2018Rainy\u2019 Wainwright, Jeff \u2018JJ\u2019 Janiak, Tony \u2018Bones\u2019 Roberts and David \u2018Proper\u2019 Caution Stoke-On-Trent, England-based hardcore punk outfit Discharge recruited Jeff \u2018JJ\u2019 Janiak to its ranks during 2014, Janiak replacing the departing Tony \u2018Rat\u2019 Martin following his 11-year tenure at the helm. Sixth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2977,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discharge","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44413"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44460,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44413\/revisions\/44460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}