Aftermath – Give Peace a Chance

By starrymag | April 15, 2020

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

 

Q) How would you describe your sound?

A) It depends on what era of the band you are asking about.  In the beginning we were a crossover thrash band (even before the term was coined).  We were obsessed with speed.  We wanted to be the fastest band in the world when we formed.  Every band has goals. Usually it’s fame and money, but we opted for setting the speed record. During that period, we blended hardcore punk influence, rock and thrash to create our sound.  I think we accomplished our mission on our demo called Killing the Future. It was incredibly fast and yet super catchy and you could understand the lyrics.  We added a second guitarist to the band and went from a four to five piece.  We were quickly getting bored of writing just crossover songs and with the addition of John on guitar, we started writing darker, slower, complex and technical thrash songs.  We literally transformed from a crossover band to a proto-progressive/technical thrash band in the same year we released the Killing the Future. We truly pissed off many of our original fans.

Today, I would say we are the only band that is blending crossover and progressive thrash.  We went back to our roots on our latest album in a way.  We went back to a four piece and brought back the crossover side along with it.  The times today call for it.  I could have made this a really short answer and just said we are a thrash band, but that wouldn’t tell the whole story.

Q) Who are some of your musical influences? 

A) I get asked this question all the time and I always say I really don’t have any.  I have a music collection of about seven thousand CDs and vinyls. It’s not I don’t love music, but I have no influences when it comes to the way I sing.  As for the band we have been influenced by a number of bands and genres.

Q) What made you decide to cover the classic John Lennon song “Give Peace a Chance.”

A) Our latest album is called There is Something Wrong.  When we reformed in late 2014, early 2015 we had no plan to release a song let alone an album.  We got together to play Headbangers’ Open Air in Germany.  This was meant to be a reunion to play the fest.  We added another date in Chicago our hometown.  During the rehearsals for the shows it felt like we never broke up twenty-five years prior.  It was like we had just rehearsed the week before.  It was really fun.  We said, “Let’s write a new song and see what that sounds like.” That song led to an album.  It was totally natural and stress-free.  I write all the lyrics.  I felt that the album needed to be a concept record.  I have spent several years reading and researching various subjects all about why this world is so fucked up – why things make no sense and why we seem to be unable or unwilling to fix things.  The more I researched the more I realized this planet isn’t run by the actors cast in the role of leaders.  The political parties are all for show.  The real power belongs to a select few – the power elite.  The top one percent of the one percent.  And I’m telling your they don’t care about the rest of us.  Their plans and agendas aren’t meant to benefit us.  The album was about all the various theories and their plans for the masses.  It’s a dark, angry album.  It wants the listeners to wake up and challenges them to not believe the official story.  Question everything.  The lyrics and interludes paint a horrible future unless we resist them and unify against them.  Exposing them is their weakness.

The John Lennon song “Give Peace a Chance” was also a call for action.  The lyrics are positive and were applicable then and now.  So, since the album was so dark, we felt that doing a cover of the Lennon song would be a positive call for action.  It looked like we were headed for war with a number of countries last year, doing this cover was meant to get the type of response the original got.  It was meant to be an anti-war song.  When I started researching the subjects that made up the album, it all started with the simply question I had, why has there never been a single period of peace on this planet.  I mean never.  That question led to years of research.  Covering the Lennon song brings it all back to that first question.  We were about to go to war with Iran and the timing couldn’t be more appropriate for the song.  Luckily, that didn’t happen.  But by the time the song was released this whole pandemic thing was about to erupt.  The positive message in the song now is meant to have people remain peaceful and love one another during this insanity we are living through right now.  Things will probably get worse before any sense of normal returns, and we need to remain cool to our fellow humans.

Q) How were you able to put your own spin on this well-known track?

A) We figured covering a song by one of the biggest legends in the history of the world is a hard thing to do.  We needed to make it heavier because there would be no point in trying to do a mellow acoustic version of it.  Lennon did that version.  We also didn’t want to make it a thrash version.  Ray [Schmidt], our drummer, came up with the beat and we basically built off of it.  We added Matthew, our engineer’s son, on the choruses because we felt it needed a young voice to make the message even more urgent.

Q) The video was directed by Steven Nathan. In what way does it play into the message of this single?

A) We felt like a video could either kill the song or make it even better.  The idea for the video with a little girl drawing Sinboleye (our symbol) was our manager’s idea. Sinboleye incorporates the peace sign, anarchy and the letter cross.  Having her draw that as the video progresses was a cool beginning.  Steven came up with having the girl and her mom in Central Park in New York walking to the part that Lennon loved to walk in.  Strawberry Fields is part of the park and the girl is heading there.  On the walk she actually bumps into Lennon and Yoko.  She also finds a pair of his glasses that she puts on and she is transported to this room where she draws the signs that appeared in the original video for the original track.  The glasses are her window into Lennon’s world.  She sees all these acts of human kindness (you need to slow those parts down to really see them).  She sees all this positivity.  The video is really powerful.

Q) Why is the message to this song still so important for us in 2020? 

A) Damn, I got ahead of myself and already answered this earlier.  The lyrics I think are even more relevant today.

Q) With your original music, what is your song writing process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics? 

A) It varies.  We have written songs where Steve [Nathan], our guitarist, and I sat together and we wrote an entire song in one session.  Other times I would have lyrics that they worked on and built the music around the lyrics.  On this album we did a lot of the writing at rehearsal.

Q) How much of hand do you have in the production of your music?

A) We produce the music.  Chuck Macak was the engineer on the album, but we produced it.  My brother and I are credited as producers on it.  Chuck did production on “Give Peace a Chance.”

Q) The band has been around since 1985. How has your sound evolved since your origin?

A) I touched on this earlier.  We went from a crossover band to a really progressive/technical thrash one.  Now we mix the two sub-genres.

Q) Will fans be able to expect a new album or EP dropping in 2020?

A) “Give Peace a Chance” was going to be part of a 7-inch release with new original track.  That song is being mixed now.  We plan on releasing that song and maybe some additional songs.

Q) Where are some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you? 

A) The Metro in Chicago is an amazing venue.  It was great to play in Germany. We want to play the rest of Europe and other countries outside the US.

Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?

A) No one really.  I only want to play with the three other guys in Aftermath.

Q) What album/band are you currently listening to and why do you dig them? 

A) I am listening to old 70s rock like ELO and Jethro Tull.

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans? 

A) It may be the only way to connect with them if this lockdown continues.  Social media is a great tool.  It’s instant.  It can help build a fan base.  Not every band can tour, but they can all be on Instagram.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

A) Thank you.  We appreciate the support.  We will be releasing new music, but in the meantime checkout the tracks that are already out here:

To everyone out there: don’t believe the official story – Question everything.