The plans of Pasadena Napalm Division



Pasadena Napalm Division (PND) is a small, but strong group from Texas who recently released an EP, and currently is working hard on their upcoming full length. The band is pretty serious about their music but like to keep a real sense of humor about it with their lyrics so people can really enjoy the music for what it is- a good time. I got a chance to talk things over with Zombie Ray about the band's formation and where they wanted to be headed.

Hello there. So it's been about a year since you released your first EP & what has PND been up to since then? Any hope of a full length album coming soon?
Well all the band members have full time jobs. They will have 14 tracks on the full CD, 8 more than the EP. If you're doing the math there is a hidden track on the EP.† Even our front man Kurt Brecht has a full time job playing shows with D.R.I, and doing quite well from what I see. Pasadena Napalm Division will be finishing their full length CD soon; before Christmas I hope!

How did PND come together, and why pick a hybrid of thrash and sludge metal as your choice of genre?
The band is made up of three members of Dead Horse. Scott Sevall put the band together by calling his old band mates in Dead Horse- Ronnie Guyote and Greg Martin. They finally got together and played. The first song they played together was "100 beers with a Zombie" an old song from Scott's band Force Fed. In no time they had music for a few more songs. Scott had been talking with Kurt Brecht on the Internet and asked him if he would like to sing for this new band PND; he said yes and it took off from there. As far as the sound goes it just comes together as we play.

Any particular influences you'd like to name for your sound?
There are so many bands out there and when you have been doing this as long as we have, it comes down to this everything influences there music!

Is your music always as humorous as what you put out on your EP, or was that just for fun and now things are going to get serious?
Well I know for sure we have a sense of humor when it comes to living life. I hope we always keep it in our music.

Looking back on your EP, what do you like best about it? What do you dislike? How does it define what PND is meant to sound like?
The EP is what it is. I'm quite sure we have some likes and dislikes. PND sounds like a lot of different bands, but we hope to have a sound that is all our own at the same time. It is a tough world out there and no one has a grip on a certain songs any more.

Do you think listeners pretty much get your music, or what you're trying to go for, or does it pretty much go over their heads, according to either comments or critics from fans and non-fans?
I feel people that like heavy music like PND. As far as getting it, sure they do. I hear different things all the time when I listen to music over and over again. PND is trying to be heavy and hard in their music.

Once PND gets established more in metal, do you think a tour will commence? Who would you like to tour with in particular if you had the option?
Wow we can only hope that touring would happen for us. I do see playing in a few festivals some day. There are a lot of great bands to play with and some newer than others. I personally would like to play with The Sword.

Looking at the expectations in thrash metal/ sludge metal from the metal community currently as opposed to maybe ten years ago, do you think much has changed as far as what listeners might expect from bands such as PND, for better or worse?
I personally see that fans of this type of music have more access to music now with the Internet and file sharing. Do I think fans expect more from their bands? Well that's one area where labels could help out more and make production for the shows better. The fans do all the work they let the bands know what they want to hear. It's the band's job to bring it to life for them.

Speaking of fans, with quite a bit of time to get your music out to listeners, have you gained a strong fan base yet or is it still just kind of like picking up strays along the way?
Yes we have a strong fan base in Houston area and we're being spread by word of mouth right now. We work pretty hard at it. PND has a street team and it is growing!

Best thing a fan has done for the group, even if it's just one thing that's made a huge impact in a positive way, for good or crazy?
Well we have a lot of fans that do things for the band, this is a real band and we have hard working fans. Our street team captain works the hardest for the band: " Johnny Falcon." I would not want to say anything bad about PND around Falcon; he will let you know about it!

Metal seems like it's going to slowly lose its icon of the CD and fully go digital & your closing thoughts on that? Do you think music will be completely changed without physical copies to appreciate, or is this just another stage of evolution that will actually be something pretty cool with such wide access?
That is a good question and I feel fans like to have something to hold on to, like a CD or record something with pictures and words on it. It helps tell the story behind the music.

Again a huge thanks from BRUTALISM for taking the time to do this interview, as well as getting a chance to review your EP!
It was my pleasure to do this and thank you for working with me. "UP THE BEERS - Zombie Ray
Band:
Interviewer: devilmetal747
Aug 16, 2011

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