Friday, November 18, 2011

You Grind…But Why?: Wake

For Wake’s Sergey Jmourovski, grindcore has been a lifelong, bi-continental journey through sonic oblivion, culminating in the Canadian band’s impressive death/grind/violence brew of brutality. As he tells it, grindcore is something that has traveled with him from his native Russia, evolving with him as his musical aspirations matured.

“[F]irst of all, I'm a firm believer that music should always be an expression/extension of what one is going through in their life, anything but that comes off contrived,” he said. “My first encounter with grindcore with hearing Napalm Death, off the Mortal Kombat soundtrack, back in 1995, at 13 years old, right before I left Russia. As you can imagine, grindcore wasn't all that readily available in the middle of Siberia, so it definitely left an impact on me. However, it took me awhile to really get into it. I didn't begin grinding until I was in my mid-20's (I'm 29 now). Having ‘done time’ in punk, thrash/death, atmospheric sludge metal bands prior to that, I was always looking for something that was more true to what my vision of uncompromising heavy music was. Guess I was growing older and becoming more and more frustrated with the state of the world, my own personal failures etc. Grindcore, to me, is the purest expression of whatever dissatisfaction I have; it is a way for me to channel my hate, stay sane if you will. In an age where music is mass produced, this is one of the few genres that is still full of passion and without compromise. I don't imagine any grinders get into it to get rich. As a matter of fact, it is a point of pride for me to be a part of something that I know will never be accepted by the ‘norm.’ At this point in my life, I want to keep creating crushing, fast music that combines my love of punk, metal and hardcore. I think, in the end, grindcore chose me.”

2 comments:

Unknown said...

This is a popular theme. That was also my first exposure to grind. I was too young to get it then.

Unknown said...

Ditto. I went out and bought Fear, Emptiness, Despair after that.