Please tell us how Funeral Age came to be?

It used to be a 3 piece doom/thrash band called Suicide Culture. We
put out 2 CDs and played many shows around the northwest. Through line-up
changes, the course of events and a progression in the music it just
evolved into Funeral Age.


Heaviness is very apparent in your latest release "Fistful of Christ".  What was the journey like to arrive where you are today? Did you start with mom and dad's rock and roll and eventually evolve, did you see a metal show that changed your life forever?

It's been the usual ups and downs just like any other band. No it wasn't anything like mom & dad's rock n' roll because I grew up with an ordained minister-schizophrenic step-dad. They used to burn my shit.


At what point did you decided to dedicate your life to music?

Around 1983 when I first got into Van Halen and Judas Priest. It was just a dream but still to this day I can find nothing that I'd rather do more other than porn of course and even then I'd still get tired of the daily grind (pun intended).


Funeral Age is a 3 piece, is it challenging playing live? What are some
of the benefits of a 3 piece?

We added a 2nd guitarist so we have our live situation taken care of.  You can see the pictures of it at our website FuneralAge.com. If you are a band that likes writing huge, mountainous riffs then a 3 piece lends itself to that situation very well. Other than that, I've always preferred 2 guitars. You can do a world more and I hate guitar solos with just bass guitar underneath.


Internet file sharing has become an issue not only with musicians, but also with the film industry. What are your thoughts on the subject?

I don't care.


What is it like in the Pacific Northwest? What is the music scene like there currently?

A lot of coffee houses, Bush-lickers, Bush-haters, rock-climbing hippies, vegetarian whiners, fat chicks and For Rent signs. The scenery is pretty awesome when the sun does shine but other than that it's a shit-hole. The only reason I still live here is this band. The metal scene here is actually pretty fucking killer now. Serpens Aeon, Drawn & Quartered, In Memorium, Inqinok, Sol Negro, Sin Dios, Scorched Earth are all worth checking out.


Where do you pull your influences from?

Possessed, Dark Angel through Emperor, Dissection, old Slayer, Kreator, Death, Coroner, the list has no end.


Do you have a favorite movie? Video games?

The Exorcist. When 8 or 9 people died during the making, that's a serious fucking movie.


What is in your CD player right now?

Dark Funeral: Vobiscum Satanas, Dissection: Storm of the Light's Bane and King's Evil: Deletion of Humanoise.


Care to share your views on the current state of rock and roll?

Not very demanding. I can't think of any band on the radio that makes me stop and think, "Wow, what a great band, full of great musicians." Not once have I ever had the thought, "Kid Rock, wow, he's in a league of his own and I'll never be THAT good."


"Fistful of Christ" was well produced and engineered. What was the recording process like? Did you spend too much time and money making the E.P.?

The recording process was frustrating but the main thing is that we got it done and it sounds killer. We've gotten a lot of compliments on the production. I gave a CD to Alex Webster and he said, "This is killer, good production too". We remixed it probably 4 times and re-did vocals.
It was a challenge. It's funny you mention spending too much money because yes, I probably did but I knew that I was going to have to live with it and I can't put out a recording if it doesn't excite me. So in that context, I knew that no amount of money was too much.


Are you currently shopping around for record deal? How has that been going?

We've sent CDs out. We haven't been shopping for a deal. We need to gather more people in our circle such as management and what-not. We believe, from the feedback we've received both live and from the CD that we're onto something here, and we just want to constantly improve. We're
in no hurry, either. We don't want to flush all this work down the toilet of a bad record deal. As for labels, you can contact us through the website.


What are some of the highs and lows of being a musician?

The highs are playing in front of 300 screaming people into metal. The lows are trying to fight off all the chicks and dodging all those flying panties, deciding which christian to kill. You know, the usual rockstardom stuff. That, the usual band arguments mostly, and the occasional ED of course. One fuck-stick can only do so much, you know.


How does the band view religion?

Now I know that your readers are frothing at the mouth to hear some diatribe about enslavement and systematic desecration of all that is holy and generally happy with a little nun-porking for good measure. I am not a religious person but by the same token, I do not subscribe to the belief that all of the problems in the world have been caused by organized religion. People invented religion. If there was no religion, people would be freaking out about something else. I've seen religious people that actually practice what they preach and help people unconditionally and those are some of the richest people in the world. They generally aren't out to hurt people. I've seen non-religious people do the same. I think in life, it matters more what you do rather than what you think, feel or believe. Some people use religion to enhance their life and others use it to beat people over the head. It all boils down to this, when you look in the mirror, do you like what you see? If you don't really like that answer then go with the "nun-porking" one.


What was the best live show you have ever seen?

Of the shows that really stand out, Mercyful Fate in 1999. That is the best band I've ever seen. Second was Death in 1993 for Symbolic with Gene Hoglan on drums. Slayer with Testament in 1990 was pretty amazing too.
 

What is next for Funeral Age? How can someone get a hold of your music?

We're working on new songs and playing shows when we can. We played at the Northwest Death fest with 17 other bands from up and down the west coast. We're playing a 14 band open air Death-Fest in Ceres, CA on July. That's going to be fucking awesome. The info is at www.freekshowpromotions.com  . For CDs send $7 cash or money order to: Kevin Bedra 3847 24th Ave. W., Seattle, WA 98199 USA You can get a full list of our merchandise at www.funeralage.com  or you can contact me directly at: FuneralAge666@juno.com
 

Care to add any final thoughts?

Thanks for your time and pork a nun for fun.
 

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