The Icarus Line Wicked Spins Radio Interview
The Icarus Line Wicked Spins Radio Interview
The Icarus Line are a band that have been through hell and back but yet bounce back every time plucking a masterpiece out of nowhere amazing their fans and people who listen to their music. Through turbulent times Joe Cardamore has kept things together. Slave Vows is the latest album to be released by The Icarus Line. Wicked Spins Radio got chance to catch up with Joe and here is how it went.
WSR – Thank you for giving Wicked Spins Radio this interview, can you tell our readers a little bit about yourselves?
The Icarus Line – The Icarus Line is a loud rock n roll noise group from Los Angeles.
WSR – You have just released Slave Vows, what is about Slave Vows that sets it apart from
the other Icarus Line releases?
The Icarus Line – I guess it feels like a more coherent work than some of the other records. For my money it’s the most exciting.
WSR – Some people have said that Penance Soiree was a true masterpiece and that Slave
Vows is even better making you one of the very few bands ever that have been able to produce 2 true masterpieces in your musical career. How does Slave Vows differ from Penance Soiree and what do you think it is about Slave Vows that makes it a masterpiece?
The Icarus Line – Masterpiece huh? One man’s masterpiece is another man’s garbage right? Slave Vows differs from Penance in the sense that what we worked very hard to manufacture on Penance we do with ease on Slave Vows. Penance wanted to sound live and immediate but Slave Vows is live and immediate. Also I can actually listen to Slave Vows so that right there sets it apart.
WSR – As a band you have been through a lot of dark times in your career, what has been
the darkest moment of The Icarus Line and how have you bounced back from those dark days?
The Icarus Line – Every day the band isn’t playing a show is a dark time or time wasted. All you can do is weather the storms and stick it out until the clouds break. The simple answer is that you just can’t stop, no matter what. If you are an artist then you have no choice in the matter. Designing your life to accommodate this compulsion is key albeit a hefty burden at times.
WSR– Rats Ass has been quoted as a switchblade shimmy that Iggy would be proud of, so
who are your influences musically?
The Icarus Line – Bad Brains, Ennio Morricone, Black Flag, Velvet Underground, early punk and underground rock n roll.
Phlis – Slave Vows is the masterpiece of the bands career, the achievement in musical form
of all those hard time The Icarus Line has survived. So what is it that has kept the band
together since you started in 1998?
The Icarus Line – I have kept it together. I made the decision to keep doing it even when it wasn’t the best idea on paper. There has been plenty of times where life has provided me an opportunity to walk away. Thanks to this group being my biggest and worst habit I have stayed the course.
WSR– Joe you write about your surroundings and the place you grew up which is of course
Los Angeles, when writing about Los Angeles what exactly do you write about?
The Icarus Line – I guess if I lived somewhere else my writing would be about wherever that is. I write about my interaction with people, characters in my life. Los Angeles just happens to be my home so by nature that is the setting. There’s no way around that.
WSR– Why did you decide to start Valley Recording Company Joe?
The Icarus Line – Around 5 years ago I started producing records for other people
WSR– What bands have you helped at Valley Recording Joe that you feel deserve a mention and why do they deserve a mention?
The Icarus Line – There has been quite a few projects over the years. Most recently Pink Mountaintops, Obliterations and Spirit Vine. Everything I work on has merit to the work or else I probably wouldn’t work on it. I tend to only be involved in productions that I have an affinity for, otherwise what help would I be?
WSR– What would you consider is the one most important piece of equipment when it
comes to the Icarus Line?
The Icarus Line – Really I don’t have gear lust. We have a bunch of great Fender, Grestch, Korg, Earthquake Devices…all kinds of stuff. The real gear is the people using it. Great gear will do nothing in the wrong hands but terrible gear in can do wonderful things in the right hands.
WSR– So what clubs have you been banned from over the years and why have you been
banned from them?
The Icarus Line – We are currently banned from every major festival worldwide but are in talks negotiating a lift on the ban.
WSR– How do you deal with hecklers and what is the worst heckling you have had?
The Icarus Line – We play very loudly and just don’t stop, on the occasion that we let a little silence break through naysayers will be dealt with in the order they are received
WSR– Thank you so much for giving Wicked Spins Radio this interview, is there anything you would like to add?
The Icarus Line – Thank You
Joe Cardamone
http://valleyrecordingcompany.com/
https://twitter.com/TheIcarusLine
