While many bands clamor to get attention from record labels, Sacramento’s Trash Talk decided they were better off on their own. After recording with Steve Albini earlier this year, this fall found the hardcore quartet releasing their stark, magnificently abrasive self-titled second album on their own Trash Talk Collective label.
How did you decide to release the new record on your own?
We came to the realization that we wanted to do this record on our own because of the way things were going with our label. The final product, in this case Plagues… should represent the creative vision of the artist and not the label. So when we had to fight to get our creative input heard by the owners of the label the gears started turning in our heads. Why not do the next one ourselves? It can’t be that hard, can it? It was difficult, but it came out relatively on time and we couldn’t be happier with the way it turned out.
Luckily we were able to lasso distribution through Revelation Records gaining us equal distribution to that of our former label. So in the end our efforts paid off and we didn’t have to compromise anything in the process.
How do you feel the new album differs from your previous material? It certainly sounds more brutal, is this Albini’s influence?
The new album is a huge step in a more progressive direction. The heaviness threw some people for a loop when they compared this release to our second [EP], Walking Disease, but if they were able to stand the two albums side by side without discernable difference then we didn’t do our job. We pride ourselves on recreating our sound and in essence transforming our overall dynamic on each record.
Some of the “brutality” of this record can be attributed to the fact that many of the riffs and lyrics were written mid-tour in the midst of an East Coast winter. We’re not used to that kind of cold being from California and I think that the climate had a little influence over the general feel of this record.
This record was also recorded straight to tape, that is to say that it didn’t go digital until after we were completely done with recording and mixing. Steve Albini is an amazing producer and the sound that you hear on the record is exactly how we sounded in the studio. He does a great job of recording instruments as they are and that was a huge factor in choosing in him to take on the project.
You guys tour pretty constantly. How much time do you typically spend on the road each year? What are some of the pros and cons of this lifestyle?
Honestly? I don’t know. An easier question would be to ask how much time we spend at home to which the answer would be: Not much at all. We’re living this life by choice so the cons are few and far between. Eating off of the dollar menu once a day sucks, but if that’s what it’s going to take to keep playing every night, so be it.
I personally enjoy the feeling of being on the road. Tour almost feels like being aboard an asteroid hurtling towards earth with a whole lotta alcohol and weed thrown on board landing in every city that houses a club and a few kids.
– Jamie Ludwig
Trash Talk: www.trashtalkhc.com