Oran Canfield- DRUMS
Luke Calzonetti- KEYBOARDS, VOCALS
Tim Dahl-BASS
"Child Abuse is logical result of an entire generation raised by Nintendo and overbearing, Tipper Gore-admiring moms. "Reading is for people who don't vomit, and Morbid Angel lives in my closet next to my porno!" the band seems to shout with its avalanche of Casio squeals, death-metal percussion, and forgot-to-take-my-Thorazine howls."- Flavorpill
New York's Post-millennial mathemagicians Child Abuse do not listen to their own jazz and metal fusion during sex which is good to know.
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Preemptive Priapism
Post-millennial mathemagicians Child Abuse simultaneously confuse and stimulate audiences with their unique fusion of progressive-rock, jazz, and metal. The group's sound can be likened to listening to Eric Dolpy's Out There while smoking speed and being sodomized by Captain Beefheart. And while the music is intricate when performed live, Child Abuse make it all seem like child's play. Drummer Oran Canfield's deadpan style anchors the spastic contortions of bassist Tim Dahl and keyboardist/vocalist Luke Calzonetti.
Canfield and Calzonetti migrated from San Francisco to Brooklyn, New York, taking the name Child Abuse with them. Once in Brooklyn the duo added Dahl, who has solidified the group's reign of aural terror.
Unfortunately this interview had to happen by email, and it took the article's holiday-depressed writer weeks to get it live, but here is the interview in all its glory and brevity.
Do you condone the abuse of children?
Tim: Only if there's something in it for me.
Luke: Absolutely not. Boring answer, I know... but who does condone abusing children?
Oran: No
Would you consider your music an appropriate soundtrack during the abuse of children, whether you condone the act or not?
Tim: Not really. I think Radiohead would be better. Actually no... Vampire Weekend.
Luke: Hmm good question... .I think the most perverse soundtrack would have to be something from the bel canto tradition...something light and airy...maybe a piece from a Verdi opera.
Oran: I don't think it's appropriate to abuse children to any music.
Is Child Abuse the next level of fusion music?
Tim: I sure hope so. Otherwise all of those years studying Eric Marienthal, Frank Gambale, and Eberhard Weber would be out the door.
Luke: I don't know if its 'next level' fusion, and it could be a step down honestly. I'm thinking something more like idiot-savant fusion, or severely impaired fusion, but I sure as shit can't play as well as Chick Corea, or Mahavishnu-era Jan Hammer. I like to think of myself as the bastard child of both- someone who was locked in a dungeon and left to his own devices. That said, I still think I have more soul than Jordan Rudess.
Oran: Yes. I think if Weather Report were still together, they would sound like us.
What musical elements are funneled into your sound?
Tim: All that we know of, and some that we don't. We're maximalists.
Luke: Tons, everything. I really love the baroque period- the balance- the constant bass figures. And even some of the piano miniatures of Schumann, or Schubert. Messian's organ works are exciting. Also dudes like Mort Garson, Raymond Scott, and most of the early electronic guys are influences. But I also enjoy the 'classics' such as Man is the Bastard, G.I.S.M., and Siege.
Oran: A bit of everything. So much so, that it's probably hard to tell exactly what we are taking from. I personally think of it as mostly stemming from the lineage of Monk, Dolphy, and Beefheart, just a hell of a lot louder.
Are all lyrics improvised, and if so are there particular lines that seem to repeatedly seep in during performances?
Luke: Most of the lyrics are improvised, and sometimes when I am not thinking I come out with things in French, or some line off the top of my head. There is a "lyric" sheet floating around that you can order from us... if you want.
Child Abuse was once a bassless project - has adding this additional instrument changed the sound?
Tim: Sure, although Luke's timbre, and my timbre are not radically different considering I play bas,s and he plays synth. We both play within a large range, we both love clusters, we both use ring modulators, and distortion etc. A lot of times people can't tell who is doing what. Even at live shows when they are looking at us. Of course I am not speaking for everyone.
Luke: Oh definitely. Tim has brought a sense of composition, and depth that we didn't have before. There's tons of cross frequencies going on, and I think that contributes to the "what the fuck-ness" of the music.
Oran: It's bassier.
Please give a run down of your current releases, and what we can expect in the near future.
Tim: Zum just released a split we did with Zs. For the most part we are writing our new album. Hope to be in the studio in a couple of months. I am very excited about this album. On our first album about half of the songs were written as a trio, and the other half were older material that I wrote bass parts for. I think the new material captures our trio sound and represents what the group has become over the last two years.
Luke: A new album is in the works, along with a collaboration with Australian artist Tony Garifalakis.
Would you recommend Child Abuses' music for intimate moments such as love making?
Tim: I don't think so. Child Abuse is definitely not background music. To enjoy it, you have to listen to it. If you are listening to it, you are not concentrating on the fucking.
Luke: I wouldn't personally. Although we are all extremely sexy individuals, I would not call child abuse a sexy band.
Oran: No. I think it's more appropriate for masturbation.
Have any of the bands members ever listened to Child Abuse while making love?
Tim: Classified info.
Luke: I wouldn't subject my girlfriend to such a deranged soundtrack. I prefer SILENCE.
Oran: I have not. Nor would I want to.
Can you please explain the history behind the name Child Abuse?
Luke: there is a lot of history to the name actually. There was a band from LA in 1979 called Child Abuse that morphed into The Simpletons who were on Posh Boy Records. Then there was this NJ hardcore band called Child Abuse from 82. We are continuing on with the tradition. Personally, it describes the music pretty well, and I wanted something kind of generic sounding and vague. Eric Bauer actually came up with the name. It's also very confrontational, much like our music.
President-elect Obama was voted into office on the promise of hope, and change to America. What promises can Child Abuse make to the American people?
Tim: You'll never get a refund from us.
Luke: That we will keep on trucking through the good and bad.
Any closing thoughts?
Tim: Diphallic terata
Oran: No.
Luke: Thanks Chris!
Interview conducted by Fecal Face's music editor: Chris Rolls chris(at)fecalface.com
"Child Abuse" my beige ass, this is listener abuse. Of all the records I've ever listened to or reviewed, none caused me the actual physical pain and discomfort I experienced while enduring this assault. Unlistenable and downright migraine inducing, I cannot in any way recommend this to anyone other than professional torturers who seek to add a new form of torment to their inhuman bag of tricks. Seriously, this is the aural equivalent of a root canal." Steve Bunche, Piercingmetal.com
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