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Local band addicted to Speed
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We’ve all wondered at some point or another over our afternoon tea, “Just who IS the fastest band in Boise?” and “Which band has a bass player who flops around like an epileptic eel on stage but also gets excited for elk season?”
There is but one answer, and it is Art of Colonoscopy.
This trio of young men is Boise’s premier, if not only, thrash/grind/hardcore punk outfit. They’re also one of the few groups who consistently address political issues.
They agreed to answer these questions under threat of watching 24-consecutive hours of White House press conferences.
Arbiter: So, who’s in the band and what do you do?
AOC: Cory: Bass, Growls; Josef: Guitar, Lead Yells; Mikhail: Drizzums, Backup Yells.
Arbiter: How old are you guys?
AOC: Cory 17; Joe 16; Mike 20.
Arbiter: Do your parents approve of the name “Art of Colonoscopy”?
AOC: Never been an issue.
Arbiter: How and when did the band get started?
Joe: It just kind of started. Mike and I were bored; he could play drums, I wanted to play guitar. Bam. We coined our band name around May 2001. We initiated Cory around October.
Cory: Of course, I really couldn’t play a song till about a month before our first show, but I still can’t play worth a crap.
Arbiter: Other than one or two bands, Boise has never really had much of a thrash/grindcore scene. Those styles haven’t even been widely popular here until recently. So how did you “discover” this genre of music and what made it so attractive that you wanted to play it?
Mike: I got into fast punk stuff in high school and kept learning about faster and faster bands that were less and less marketable.
Joe: I pretty much just followed Mike, and Cory was already a metal-head in junior high – so it was almost natural for him to get into it.
Arbiter: What are your impressions of the local scene? Is it getting stronger, weaker?
Joe: I think that the local scene has always been active; I’ve just only begun to realize its depths and bands. Everything in music to me grows, and the local scene for me seems to be getting larger and larger each day.
Mike: I can appreciate the diversity of the general music scene, but I wish there were more bands like us. Nobody comes to a show ready to thrash!
Cory: Yeah, thrash bands are pretty scant in this neck of the woods … I feel lonely.
Joe: Musically, I’d like the band to sound more like Propagandhi, but it ain’t for me to decide. In the band, I think our influences are mostly Seein’ Red, perhaps some Intensity. Lyrically for me, Intensity is a big influence. Some Propagandhi doesn’t hurt either.
Mike: More recently, I’ve been really inspired by Stack, Hellnation and Yacopsae.
Cory: My main influences are the satanic metal bands of the 80’s such as Venom, Possessed and Slayer. His Hero Is Gone also plays an important role in my writing.
Arbiter: What do you think about the disappearance of castle Legos(tm)? I mean, you can’t hardly find them anymore at Fred Meyer or Toys R’ Us.
Joe: K, I’ve got this one. Dude castle Legos(tm) are bomb and Fred Meyer and Toys R’ Us suck and can go to hell if they want to be that chintzy, mmk?
Cory: I have some castle Legos(tm) … for a price.
Arbiter: I know you address political issues in your lyrics. Can you explain some of these issues and your feelings toward them? Does the band as a whole have a political agenda or ideology, or do you agree to disagree on what your songs address? Do you think your music can be a vehicle for political change here in Idaho?
Joe: Largely, I have a real big problem with the government and how they’re assholes and the like. Y’know? Just sticking their wangs in everyone’s ear. American civilians wouldn’t suffer and be killed by terrorists if our government didn’t incite so much hatred. We’re basically paying for the actions of a government who doesn’t even represent us.
Mike: It’s not like we make this crap up. When Nate Williams rails against Bush in his Arbiter columns, he’s not just pulling things out of his arse. He’s stating facts I’ve already read from places like Z Magazine and Indy Media Center and from recognized experts such as Robert Fisk on the Middle East and Ted Rall on Afghanistan.
Joe: As a band, I’d say we do have a political agenda. And that’s to bring some form of better life to this nation, because we’re dissatisfied with the workings of it. Hopefully, if we can at least get ONE person to think to themselves, “Does the US really need to dominate the planet? Do we really want corporate injustice everywhere, as opposed to just mostofwhere?” then hell, we’re already winning.
Arbiter: Why is your drummer such a badass? How did he get that way?
Joe: It all started with Grand Funk Railroad. Then again, don’t all stories start out that way?
Mike: I always had good coordination. I can’t play 690 beats per minute like Hoffi from Quattro Stagioni though. I really couldn’t tell you [about Cory], all I know is he is alone a lot.
Arbiter: What’s on the agenda as far as recording or touring? When’s your limited edition DVD with bonus nude videos coming out? What are your visions for the band?
Joe: We have two releases in the works. A split 7″ with Torn Anus, and our own little demo CD entitled “Manifest Destiny: Part Deux,” plus a song on a Boise compilation that Bug is churning out. The DVD is due out about 2006, and the nude section will be entitled “It’s Cory Time.” We might try to scrounge together a small tour this next summer. When we wrap up the first two releases, we’ll start working on a full 7″.
Arbiter: Can you guys be approached for autographs?
Joe: Yeah we don’t care. Go right ahead. Watch out for Cory’s ass. He might try and grab your junk.
Interviewed by Jim Toweill, The Arbiter
