This interview with Fleshgrind
vocalist extraordinaire and United Guttural
Records head honcho, Rich Lips-cum took place on March 11, in Pennsauken, NJ
at the March Metal Meltdown...by Dea and Jenn. Mind you, Rich and I have been
good friends for about 3 years now...and not to mention that I had a bit to
drink before doing this interview, so it's not the greatest, or most
informative! (Special thanks to Matt Watson for letting me use his tape
recorder, since I was a dumbass and left mine in the car).
DEA: (referring to the tape recorder). This isn't mine...it's Matt's.
RICH: (grabs it out of my hand). Let's test it......*grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr* (in
that massively deep Fleshgrind style).
DEA: Ok, it works. Alright, Jenn, get your ass over here. First of all, how'd
you get that big gash on your head?
RICH: How did I get the big gash on my head?...ok...let's see. Thursday
night, I had way too much to drink and I was so wasted that...I couldn't even
put my arms down and I fell face first on my face and puked all over myself
in Don's room. *laughs*
DEA: In Don...
RICH: Decker's room.
DEA: Decker's room...hmmm, so, uh, looks like it kinda hurts.
RICH: At the time, I didn't feel any pain *laughs*. I didn't even remember I
did it until I work up the next morning and saw it on my head!
JENN: What do you think of your time slot you got today?
RICH: Time slot is awesome. I couldn't expect a better time slot. It's about
time they gave us some respect. That's all I gotta say about that matter.
*laughs*
DEA: What's going on with Fleshgrind now?
RICH: Just waiting on Pavement, basically, to put our CD out, since we've got
all new material and, um, just waiting for them now. And we're going to
Europe in.......(pause)
DEA: May.
RICH: In May. Yeah. For 2 weeks, so that should be fun. Other events are we
play Ohio Death Fest, May Mayhem and fuckin' Milwaukee. That's all we've got
scheduled so far for this year.
DEA: Tell us about the new material.
RICH: New material...it's a little bit different than the old shit. It's a
little more technical, the drums are a lot better and the vocals are more
diverse. It's definitely more technical. So, yeah, hopefully all the old fans
will like the new album.
DEA: I know a lot of people complained about "Destined" because of the
drums.
RICH: Oh yeah. I don't think they will complain on the next album now with
Alan drumming with us.
DEA: I know. He's really good. Are you excited about going to Europe?
RICH: Oh yeah. Yeah, we're getting to go to Europe. First time. Seven years
to get this far, so.....
JENN: Who are you playing with in Europe?
RICH: Purgatory and Resurrected. We're gonna headline a tour there for two
weeks. Play two big fests. One's, uhh, 'Fuck The Commerce Open Air Fest", which
I
am excited about and I think we're gonna gain a lot of new fans from it.
JENN: How's the label doing?
RICH: Well, the label's doing good now. I got a new pressing company. I'm not
working with ADC and I just got the new Lividity out. The new Incarrion and
Disinter will be coming out in the next month. So, yeah, everything is
looking up.
DEA: So, the label is like all you do, right?
RICH: Yeah.
DEA: It's your full time job.
RICH: My full time job is the record label and Fleshgrind. That's all I do.
Live and breathe....
SECURITY GUARD: You can't do this here!!
RICH: okayyyy??!
DEA: Are all the bands happy with you? With the label?
RICH: For the most part, I guess most of them are happy. A few of them I
don't think were happy and took off, like Ton, for one. And Devourment. I
don't know what happened with them. But, other than that, I think the
pressing thing kinda fucked me up for awhile. My bands were getting pissed at
me because the repressing were taking forever, but now that I have a new
company I think everything will look up.
DEA: What happened with Ton? Where'd they go?
RICH: Ton was mad because I didn't repress their CD right away and they ended
up going with Alabaster Records in New York. Why? I don't know, but...
DEA: That's what I was gonna ask, 'cause they ain't doin' shit!
RICH: *laughs"
DEA: When do you think the new album is gonna be out?
RICH: Hopefully by the summer!
DEA: Have a name for it?
RICH: Yeah, the name of the album is, "Seeds of Abysmal Torment".
It's all
about torture and murder.
DEA: Of course!
RICH: Of course! Right!??
DEA: How do you like not playing the guitar on stage?
RICH: Not playing the guitar on stage is fun, because I get to do a lot more
stuff and it doesn't limit me to go anywhere and I can get more crowd
participation going and everybody's more riled up. I just have more fun, I
think, now that I don't have a guitar.
DEA: I think it's a lot better that way.
RICH: I can concentrate on my vocals more and on the crowd. So, it's
great....*growls in the microphone*
DEA: You have hot breath!
RICH: *laughs"
DEA: What's this I hear about you getting naked? On stage?
RICH: Yeah! I'm gonna get naked on stage today!
DEA: Why?
RICH: For the fun of it.
DEA: Ooookkkkaaayyy
RICH: *laughs*
DEA: Is that all you have to say about getting naked??
RICH: Yeah. That's it...yeah.
DEA: You have so much energy on stage. You're always like runnin' all over
and going nuts. How do you do that?
RICH: I feed off the energy of the crowd. People like you headbangin' out
there..*in a high pitched voice, mocking me* 'Fffflllesshhhgriiinndddd'.
DEA: Fffffllllleeesssshhhhhgggggrrriiiiiiiinnnndddd!....So, you and Steve are
the only original members, right?
RICH: Yep, me and Steve.
DEA: Are you happy with the line up now?
RICH: Yeah, the lineup is stronger and better than ever with Jimmy and Alan
joining the group and shit, so yeah....*laughs*.
DEA: I think that's it...I can't think of anything else!
JENN: Say some last words!
RICH: Last words? Buy our new CD...*laughs*
DEA: That was gay!
RICH: Alright...ummmm....
JENN: Is that it????
RICH: Is that it?
JENN: That's all you're gonna say?
DEA: *in a deep voice, mocking Mr. Lipbalm* 'Buy our CD'....ohhhhhhhhh...
RICH: (Steals the tape recorder out of my hand...again)...Ok, last words,
alright....thanks for your support and everyone who supports us and come
check us out in Europe and anywhere we play...and that's it.
JENN: That's it?
DEA: That's still gay!
RICH: I don't know!...I don't know...what am I supposed to think up???
(and
from there it goes on to endless conversation)
Fleshgrind/United Guttural Records
c/o Rich Lipscomb
P.O. Box 752
Grayslake, IL
60030
Rich@UnitedGuttural.com
http://www.Fleshgrind.com
http://www.unitedguttural.com