An interview with Jeff of Birth AD

Birth AD

For those who don't know, Birth AD hails from Austin, Texas, and play pure crossover thrash that sounds straight out of the earlier days of the genre. Jeff (bass and vocals in Birth AD) was cool enough to answer some questions for us, and so without futher ado, here is the interview:

1.) How and when was Birth AD formed?

Jeff: Officially BIRTH AD formed in the Spring of 2009, though its original incarnation started as a garage band back in 1989 under the name Afterbirth. We didn't do anything notable at the time, but I always had the idea that I would go back and do more with it one day. I've actually been hatching this since 2003 but now seemed the right window of opportunity. The name BIRTH AD points to the legacy of Afterbirth, with the “AD” signifying an new era. Also it dovetails nicely as a play on the Misfits album Earth AD, which to me was an important artifact of proto-thrash metal (and a great album besides).

2.) What made you decide to play crossover thrash in this day and age, and not, say, death metal or prog?

J: I never liked prog metal, so that was out of the question, and the only worthwhile death metal bands out there are the ones who have been here since the early 90s. Everything that needs to be said in that genre has effectively been said already, though the same cannot be said with crossover thrash at all. Most of those bands put out a small body of work so there's plenty more to add, particularly in this current era of ignorance and pending collapse.

3.) How do you guys write songs? Lyrics first, or music?

J: I write all the principle material, and usually the lyrics and music materialize at the same time, just skipping merrily down the lane together. Actually, it's the song premises that come first; I have to know what it is I want to condemn before I can explore the topic further. For the most part I come to Mark and Brian with fully realized pieces and then start running through them. They're both very good players so they pick up the material quickly and don't need a lot of coaching on how it is supposed to sound.

4.) I think I hear some death metal and even black metal influence on Stillbirth of a Nation. Am I correct, and if so, what bands in these genres influence you the most?

J: I would say you're imagining that. I listen to a ton of death and black metal and always have, but our material is designed to be unadulterated in that regard. BIRTH AD is supposed to sound like all the mid-80's stuff that existed before death and black metal properly arose. We're influenced by DRI, SOD, COC (by that I mean Animosity, not that Southern-fried crap they turned into), early Prong, and Fearless Iranians from Hell, among others. All the new thrash bands that are coming out are doing misguided moves where they have a song that sounds like “The Toxic Waltz” and then they jam in a melodic Swedish death metal passage into the middle of it. That's not how thrash sounded, and it's definitely not what we're trying to do. I think the closest we get to that is a few nods to Slayer or Sodom. Anyway, the idea was to create a band that helps to properly restore crossover as a viable style of its own.

5.) Does Birth AD have a particular ideology, or is it primarily a social commentary? Something else?

J: We're not stumping for any specific political agenda. My lyrics are just a list of complaints and irritated observations about getting through life and putting up with society in general. I am a sardonic person, and I like to deal in black humor and hyperbole to discuss an actual problem. A lot of people have already told me they really agree with what I'm saying, which is hilarious since I write songs that flat-out advocate killing everyone on earth. But the greater theme should be obvious, which is that American society does a lot of things in a lame and backwards fashion, and we're in big trouble because of it. Whether you're right-wing, left-wing, or neither, that reality is hard to argue. Sometimes you just have to laugh or you're going to start crying.

Stillbirth of a Nation

6.) It looks like you guys had a blast in Japan... any highlights of the tour?

J: The whole tour was effectively a highlight, but we really liked performing so many interesting, odd, and unknown bands. The degree of musical proficiency is shockingly high, and even the bands we didn't like were still plenty talented. The best shows were the ones we did on the second weekend with Flipout AA, and then Cheerio, Mind of Asian, and a couple of others. The energy was really high and the bands were ferocious. A couple of the bands were all-girl acts, and they really gave us a run for our money. It was a great experience and I want us to go back as soon as we can.

7.) Any plans for the band's future?

J: Yes, there's a lot on the horizon. Right now we're considering label offers to license the current release and to put out a follow-up. I've got a handful of songs written already. We're also filming a video for “Parasites Die” at Headhunter's in Austin next Monday night. We'll have more shows starting in January and then more touring, depending on which label we choose.

8.) Thanks a lot for the interview. Any last words?

J: Cause problems!

For more info: Check out Birth AD's MySpace profile, and support them by buying their album Stillbirth of a Nation from the band (see MySpace for info) or from The End Records (review posted here). Recently, the band shot a Japanese music video for the song "Cause Problems," and will be shooting a new video on Monday, November 9th in Austin, Texas (there will be FREE BEER, for more info see this article).