Document #3
I had the chance to interview a friend of mine who is responsible for //†▲▲▲▲▲†\\ (Haunted Houses), a really cool witch-house/dream-pop project and of course he is half of the ultra-rad digi-grind project ZombieShark!. He is also the artist behind the artwork for The Strange Days - I Killed Techno! // ZOMBIESHARK! split & Fuck Net Splits - I Killed Techno! // RedSK split. The following questions and answers have not been edited, what you see is what you get.
Ducky: Whats your name and where are you from?
Cory: Cory Swope from Reading, PA
Ducky: Welcome, to my knowledge you are in a witch-house project as well as a digi-grind project. can we get some info and a short history on the two?
Cory: weeeeel there were a lot of failed projects before the main one (ZOMBIESHARK!) such as FIRE! in the house of agustine, I take acid with pink rhino, mybeartrapsmile, ect. ZS was the only one that i could constantly make music for and be happy with... the actual ZS launch happened in the end of 2010, there was a 4 song ep that was made on garage band, my friend Lee at the time was on backing vocals until time constrains...it was then upon getting my first job that i met my best friend Ryan and thus In the court of the shark king was born and from there its been magic... as for the witch house....that was more of a creative outlet/dumping ground for everything in-between ZS albums...basically i just love music and want to experiment with all sounds.
Ducky: I personally am a fan of your witch-house material and a big fan of ZS. Who/what influenced you and Ryan when it came to writing songs?
Cory: Thank you sir, as for inspiration....we take it from a lot of aspects....more less what we're both listening to at the time...a lot of math core/death/grind elements..then we just slap it down with some happy 8 bit melodies.
Ducky: A lot of people tend to not focus on lyrics and instead write off most digi-grind bands as typical 'Nintendocore'. Do you guys put meaning or thought into your lyrics?
Cory: Our songs didn't start having meaning until A sinking ship... Ryan tends to write most of our lyrics and he writes with such passion...a lot of the songs on A sinking ship have a very deep sentimental value. every song off that album was about something critical that happened in both our lives during that summer, we're gonna need a bigger raft, car crash, and A sinking ship are the most sentimental to me...same goes for Bridge burner, not a single song on that album isn't serious in some way...even rule #5, that album was basically our anthem to how much people suck were we live...which was also kind of sad because its the last album we wrote before Ryan started his career and me going to college. The two secret tracks at the end sort of sum the whole departure thing up.
Ducky: Bridge Burner & A Sinking Ship were my two favorites. That was good work, in my opinion. Have you guys played any live shows? if so do you have any interesting stories?
Cory: Unfortunately we have only ever played one show..and we opened for our friends band A Scent Like Wolves in the basement of the guitarist house, it was huge flop because no one showed up but there are better venues where I'm at now in Delaware so we might try and hook some shows up..we might have a couple this summer so we'll see.
Ducky: yeah I've had my fair share of show flops but at the end of the day its about having fun even if you're playing to two people.
Cory: Agreed
Ducky: Any bands you'd wanna play a show with or any artists you'd like to meet?
Cory: I always wanted to have a show with I Killed Techno!, that guy is a straight baller , id really wanna do a show with Bubblegum Octopus, or Dental Work...probably Vernal Equinox too...basically anyone, doesn't matter to me.
it'd be mad cool to do a reunion show with Heavy Heavy Low Low
that would be a dream come true.
Ducky: Favorite food? (any answer other than pizza is invalid)
Cory: Tacos for days
Ducky: I will accept that cos tacos are great. Shout outs?
Cory: IKT!, A Scent Like Wolves, JBeanz, Lee Jcrag Epler, The Ghosts At The Bernville Bridge. yeah babbyyy.
Ducky: Final question, one good reason why people should care about or listen to ZS?
Cory: Because we care about what we write and care more about the people who listen.
Ducky: Love that answer, that is why you guys kick ass and that's the mentality more artists should have. Fuck the mainstream and thank you for your time. Keep it real or die!