Interview: I Eat Rocks

I EAT ROCKS

 I was given the pleasure to interview one of my old high school friends, David, and his band,

  I Eat Rocks. The band consists of three guys. 

      Eddie who is 27 and plays drums

     David (in the middle) who is 18 and plays Bass.

    Ben (in the middle)  who is 18 and does most of                                                                                      the vocals for the band through instrumentals and effects.

What's the origin of that name? Have you changed the band's name before? 

E - No we never changed the name before

D – Eddie came up with the name mostly


What genre of music do you consider your work to be? Who are your major influences? 

E - I would call our music like Noise Punk if that makes sense and major influences would be early post hardcore bands like Thursday, The Matches, Armor For Sleep, Billy Talent, The Used, Poison The Well

B – I consider us to be a mix of early 2000's Providence noise rock, sludge metal, and hardcore punk music but we kind of got our own sound. Influences for me would be Lightning Bolt, The White Mice, Arab on Radar, White Suns, Electric Wizard, and The Jesus Lizard to be influences of mine.

D – I agree with Eddie, Noise Punk or even Noise Rock if your kind. And the Crab people, Providence, Food are my influences

How long have you all known each other? How did you meet? When did you form your band?

E – I’ve known Ben longer than David probably. Ben and I a year and a half we had this really shitty band we were in before IER called Shipwrecks & Anchors but we don't speak of that. I met David through Ben and we have known each other for what like 2 years now, more if that. We formed IER like a year ago, we started it out just a two piece with just Ben and I and then added David and put Ben on vocals. It fit better that way and sounded better that way I think.

B – I met Eddie in like March 2014 doing the other band thing and I've known David since our freshmen year of high school when we worked on some power pop project that never really took off.

D – I've known Ben since about freshmen year in high school. We had a band that wasn't a band. We'd just meet in this space about twice a week that my close friend Antonio and I put together. It was the second floor of his house. It had no electricity. There were dirty clothes and needles everywhere. We cleaned it and etc and did music in that space. I've known Eddie for a year this month I believe. Ben and I stopped working together for a bit. And I went to his house to grab some stuff. Eddie and Ben were making music. So I just joined them and was part of IER

What inspired you to make music together? 

E – What inspired us to make music I think for me I'd say is how all our influences came together through the music we played and created. It just wasn't something we heard before or that was being made so it was different so we gravitated to that sound and made it work well!

D – For me is was more frustration, noise and Providence.


Where have you performed? What are your favorite and least favorite venues?
Which songs do you perform most frequently? Do you ever play any covers?

E – Mostly performed in RI and MA. My favorite venue we have played is AS220 and least favorite is this place called Simons 677. We don't really do covers we usually just play our own stuff. We pretty much perform the whole EP frequently and throw in others here and there!

B – My favorite places we've played are Dusk, The Funky Jungle, and AS220. Least fave was Simon's 677.

D – We've performed at most places in providence. AS220, Firehouse 13, The Columbus club, funky jungle. I loved playing at Dusk. It was one of our best shows so far. And we are fairly new. So our material isn't the longest at the moment. So almost everything is played. But soon I hope that our material grows. We did one cover of Black Pus.

Who writes your songs?

E – We all write the songs musically together and Ben comes up with the lyrics! Very interesting lyrics I must add

B - I kinda write about stuff like historical events, police, people I don't like, more songs about how I don't like the police, etc.

D – We all contribute. Ben does his lyrics. I do most bass, Ben helps a lot though. And Eddie is the master of his throne.

What has been your biggest challenge as a band? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how? 

E – I think the biggest challenge is getting everyone together for practices and/or to hangout as friends we all have very busy lives and me being much older than the other two, I have all this other stuff going on and the guys have their jobs and stuff so it's just hard getting everyone together sometimes! We are currently working on that more 

D - Practicing. Our schedules are so shitty. But we have overcome the problem. I am renting an open studio in Providence where we can work, anytime of day.


How has your music evolved since you first began playing music together? 

E – We definitely have grown musically together and it's definitely changed a lot since the beginning of IER!

D – We sucked before. We suck less now.

What's your ultimate direction for your band? Are you seeking fame and fortune? 

E – I am not seeking fame and or fortune I think it's overrated. Too many people are famous for such little talent it's funny actually. My direction for the band is to just have fun and make a name for ourselves so people could be like "Hey that's so and so from IER." That'll be cool

B – My personal goal is to become well known, have a following, and have people like our music (also to have crazy shows). That's pretty much it for me.

D – All I want, is to make music that makes me happy. We aren't seeing fame, nor fortune.

What advice do you have for people who want to form their own bands? 

E - Advice I could give people who are starting a band in RI? (long pause) Watch who you book your band with.

D- It's a lot of work. Practicing is hard work. As well as networking.

It was fun talking to these guys and getting to know them more.

 Go check out their work and get a chance to meet them in person! 

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Upcoming Shows

June 6th in Providence @ AS220

July 4th @ Libertyfest 

July 13th in MA @ O'briens Pub
July 15th in Providence @ Psychic Readings
July 20th in New Bedford MA