Triac is a maryland based grindcore band who've been playing in the extreme music circuit for over 10 years.They've released two albums,a split and were a main highlight included in Scott Hull's masterpiece compilation This Comp Kills Fascists Vol.2.still going in 2012,the band has become a three piece,signed to Forcefield and are working on a new split with DOC.this shit is raw heavy and fast.definently check it out.
36:how and when did TRIAC form?
JAKE: That is a good question. Possibly 2003 or 4 or 5, but the band has really evolved in so many ways and has almost folded many times before stabilizing as it has recently. It has changed a ton over the years but it has always been fulfilling and fun the whole time with the goal of at first just putting out fast music. As the new people joined, things got faster, and different personnel made it less death metal influenced and it got slowly more primitive and now I think it is far more interesting personally because its just music for mongoloids, but it has always been fun. If we didn’t enjoy the process we wouldn’t still be crawling into the practice space every week.
CHADD: I personally like to say we started in 2007. We had just lost an original member and the writing shifted. Jake and I wanted our sound on the more punk side of grindcore as opposed to the more death/grind sound that was going on prior to that. That's when we started writing songs that would be on "The Blue Room" e.p.
To me, that's when TRIAC formed.
how did the baltimore music scene treat you guys when you first started?
JAKE: I think at the time there was just a good crew of bands that were very supportive of each other. There weren't tons of bands but the bands that were active were very into being out there for the other bands. We were received well i suppose but I think it was regarded as “Those triac dudes are doing that and its cool” but there other bands doing different things and the different bands were like fingers on a hand. It all composed a general scene as opposed to us really jumping out as being particularly bad ass because that was not the case.
Where do you draw infulences from?
JAKE: We draw from so many sources and force it all into what we do. Triac is like a big smelly jambalaya made up of a large amount of fast grind or thrashy bands like 324, Assuck, Mortalized and Cryptic Slaughter; classic punk bands like Black Flag, Bad Brains, The Dicks, and The Stooges. Then there is a big part of it that comes from noise rock bands like Unsane, Cherubs, The Jesus Lizard. as well as bands like Godflesh and Slowworm. Weird rhythmic rock stuff really creates a great vibe with our sound too. With all of that slopped together I generally regard Triac as just a fast traditional punk band. The goal is to make it ugly and driving forward with little regard for doing it “correctly” as long as the energy is present.
What subject matter do you cover in your songs?
CHADD: . Kevin and I very recently took over on vocals, so there are only a handful of new songs that we've written lyrics for.
They range from being fairly abstract to pretty straight forward. We'll get inspired by movies, books, things we see going on around the world and around us.
"Tick" is about how crazy I think all religions are.
"Engine Kopf" is an anti-bullying song about how at some point those people being bullied may lose all hope and pull a Columbine like massacre and how you can't really blame them.
"Hellbreaker" is about the huge amount of people overdosing on heroin and oxycoden and the like as of late. Over the past Summer there were quite a few friends and acquaintances of ours in Baltimore who died from them as well as all over.
how did you guys get on "this comp kills facists vol.2" ?
JAKE: It was very basic. We’ve known Scott for years and have played shows with him and he just sent me an text asking if we wanted to do the comp. Even though the cultural context is so different from when the old now iconic comps came out, thanks to the Internet changing how people encounter new music, it seemed like a laudable effort on his behalf and we sent some tracks. Wam bam thank you Scott.
how was the a389 fest?see any great performances?
JAKE: The fest was really solid. A389 attracts a good blend of people and the fest turned out really well for us. I think a good chunk of people saw us for the first time and hopefully dug it. The fest functioned far smoother than I thought it would thanks to Dom’s planning and it was an all around good time. I like hot dogs and fast music so it worked out well for me. Weekend Nachos was a highlight because they were such a honed machine that knows exactly what they are doing and it was good to see a band just walk on stage and casually bulldoze a packed room of flannel shirts.
what are youre plans as a band for the future?
JAKE: We’ve got a split lp with DOC that RSR is putting out. We need to write some tunes for a split with Amputee and are talking about splits with a few other bands we dig and are pals with. Other than that we’ll do what has become the norm over the past few years which is just keep our heads down, play loud music on huge gear and use our chipotle app when we go out of town.
what are some of your favorite up and coming grindcore groups?
JAKE: As far as current groups, we really dig and want to support the bands we have played with and gotten along with really well that rip like DOC, Backslider, Amputee, Callous, Mind As Prison, Defeatist, Lie Still, etc... I’m sure there are a few bands that I should mention that we have really dug playing with but as far as other cool grind bands I’m currently digging The Kill, P.L.F., Sete-Star-Sept, Psudoku and Parlamentarisk Sodomi, Gride, Low Threat Profile, Shitstorm, Noisear, Sulaco and a ton more.
