What is Drum Corpse?

Justin: A ritualistic celebration of freedom and fear......an unleashing of inner strengths and weaknesses.

Ned: To be literal, it is a cadaveric drum, a dead thing. To be metaphorical, it is our duty to breathe life back into this thing, a Frankensteinian act of CPR.

Bill: Drum Corpse started when the band that Justin, Peter and I were in at college (Universe!) got close to calling it quits. I really liked the idea of having a band based around two drummers and Justin and I had played together for a while and felt somewhat comfortable improvising together. I think originally it was going to just be some sort of weird all-drum band (hence the pun name), but we scrapped that and asked Ned to join in because, well, he is a great guy and does interesting stuff. So, it became all-drums and a computer. Over the course of the next few years different people joined in (but every show after the first performance included Peter, Justin, Ned and myself). We started to incorporate different visual things that we thought could make the performance more exciting to watch and listen to (projection, costumes, installation), as well and some things for people to walk away with (booklets, masks, buttons). Drum Corpse has evolved and we have found a way to include pretty much anything (any media) that we have wanted to do, that is able to be done.

Peter: Drum Corpse is the name of the group who do this multimedia performance/event thing... Drum Corpse was founded by Bill, Justin, and Ned. They have performed in every Drum Corpse. I have been a member since Drum Corpse 2, have been a part of every Drum Corpse since then. there are more answers to this question (hopefully someone else answers)...

Nick: Drum Corpse is a dead body in a big can that used to be filled with oil, or a body that was beaten to death. Seriously, I think it would be irresponsible for me to answer that question.

What is your role as a member of the group?

Justin: I play drums and try to decide whether or not I want to have a complete emotional breakdown.

Ned: As one of Drum Corpse's founding fathers, the bulk of my work has traditionally been knob-twiddling. I act as a filter for the sounds and visions induced by collisions.

Bill: My role in the group is the same as everybody else's, to be creative and have fun doing what ever it is that I decide to do. I think that certain people in the group tend to gravitate towards certain aspects of the production based on their skills (either in a creative sense or just in terms of what will expedite the process), but at some point or another Justin, Ned, Peter and I have all worked on each part of the performance.

Peter: The Drum Corpse members who have been doing this for a while know what each other like to do. Sometimes group members kind of lead an aspect of the event. But those underlying roles (or leading) aren't always permanent, we are usually working together or in small groups, roles can be shifted, etc. I help on as much as I can. I can't really think about what I consistently do. Sorry, this doesn't really answer your question!

Nick: I'm the John Entwistle, minus the bass.

What is the significance of your costumes and what is your individual character's identity?

Justin: Wearing a costume helps me get outside of the role i play in my everyday life. also, a lot of the masks I've made are hard to breathe, hear, and see out of, so the sensory/oxygen deprivation helps loosen me up a little. The identities of the characters I've played are kind of mysterious to me. They have something to do with my primal fears and desires.

Ned: Wrapping yourself inside a foreign body allows you to find places to go that your ordinary self would reject. It also masks the sensation that warns you not to make a fool of yourself and/or others. It's liberating. My most recent character is, I think, an intergalactic hooligan just trying to get along in a Star Wars-eat-Star Wars world.

Bill: The costumes are something visual we do with our bodies. I figure that people will be looking at us at some point during the performance so why not look interesting and have the way we look add to the overall atmosphere of the show. For me at least, the costume (and most of the other stuff we do in Drum Corpse) allows me to explore media that I usually don't work in. I can sew or do papier mache or anything else that strikes me. The costumes have never had identities presented with them during a show, and there usually isn't any behind-the-scenes identity either, unless we decide to talk about them in that way with each other. There is complete freedom to do what we please with the costumes. They don't require a group editing process like the video or the booklet. What ever anybody decides to do with their body is up to them (and that includes not having a costume).

Peter: Most recently, my costumes are made so I just barely fit in with the rest of the Drum Corpse group (I hope so anyway). If my costume or character had any identity, it comes from my inability to think in those terms. Creating a costume, or character for Drum Corpse.. being creative in that way, I can never be confident in doing those things.

Nick: A corpse is a costume. I am a costume, I guess.

Each performance seems to revolve around a planned concept that is built upon your music, costumes, installation and video projections. How are these concepts developed and what does each member contribute to their (the concept's) production?

Justin: The performances kind of take on a life of their own. we don't really plan what the theme will be. Each person just offers whatever they want, and the whole thing grows into something that is greater and more complicated than what we would each come up with on our own. Does that sentence make sense?

Ned: The concepts rise organically, like flowers growing from the compost heap of our collective minds. Everyone comes up with independent ideas of what they want the production to be (at least on some level) and then we just sort of let it take its own course. You end up with conflicts, of course, but I think the friction helps keep everyone sharp.

Bill: There has never been a planned concept for any of the performances. I think it is more appropriate to call it "collecting and editing" more than "planning". When we decide that we are going to do a performance there is a lot of collecting and doodling and list making. We will get together and just draw together or talk about things that we have been finding interesting lately. We talk about these things but not really in a critique sort of way, we get excited together and it helps the creative process. Then we start the editing process. We look at what everybody turns in for the booklet and figure out how it could go together. And we do pretty much the same thing for the projection, although recently we have started to shoot more video together. I think that the time leading up to the performance is more individual than it might seem during the final show, but we enjoy working close to each other.

Peter: Early on, we get together and talk about what we all want to do, what video stuff we want to do, what costume ideas we have, etc... We work individually and together on video, ideas, etc.. As things progress, we get together more frequently, show each other what we have, let each other know what we have left to do... Costume's are worked on and finished on an individual basis, usually.. Some video is shot individually, some of it is done in groups.. I could go on and on about who does what, it matters... but its hard to write about, and must be sort of boring to read since I am sort of bored writing and thinking about it! BUT, I can say a few things about the music aspect. We do not practice any specific music for the event. It is improvised-based music. For some performances the group has not played together other than the actual performance. I know for at least Drum Corpse 3, 6 and 7 there was some playing prior to the event. The practicing before Drum Corpse 7 was the most we had ever done, getting together 3 or 4 times. We have had some opening sort of music, or theme, for a few of the performances (which is nice to have). On Drum Corpse 3 there was a sort of planned song (which I had no idea about), which was sung at the end of the performance and it was really good. During the more recent performances it has been hard to be subtle with the music (for me at least). This comes from not having monitors so everyone can hear what everyone is doing, and also because the amount of people in the room absorbs the sound (thats a guess anyway). For Drum Corpse 7 the drummers had monitors, so things worked out better, as far as hearing each other goes. Anyway we talk about the music, we talk about what we can talk about and then it goes how it goes. Usually there are some nice parts to all the performances.

Nick: I'm not sure I can answer that since I wasn't part of the group for any prior shows. But it seems to me, from this show, that everyone comes up with a title together and the imagery created by that title loosely dictates the theme of everything else. Everyone works separately as well as in a group making posters, videos, book drawings, costumes, and then brings it all together at the end. As for the music, more than anything that seems dictated by the video as it plays. The whole thing is a series of barely controlled and then collected reactions. Previous Drum Corpse shows may have, and probably did come about in a different way. This is just what I gathered from this last one. If I was to guess about past ones, I would say that the music came first, which influenced the title, which influenced everything else, including the video, which then influenced the music.

What is the most important happening in present day music and art?

Justin: I don't know...present day? Music and art? I don't know... I think a lot of what's good right now is heavily influenced by older stuff...but that's okay. I think it's great that people have more access to "undiscovered" artists, through the internet...

Ned: I don't think I'm really qualified to answer a question like that.

Bill: I think that fun and excitement is pretty important.

Peter: No answer for this question.

Nick: The dismantling of authorship through automation. I wonder if anyone has ever coined the term autoship. Maybe it would be a good band name.

What do you see for the future of Drum Corpse?

Justin: I'd love to be able to invest more of my time and my self into these performances. Even if the name changes, or some of the elements, I feel like this is only the tip of our iceberg. Does that sound dirty?

Ned: I recently read that the F.A.A. is trying to make sure that it can enforce a law that prohibits, for example, low-orbit billboards that could appear as large as the moon in the night sky. This may or may not have an impact on the future of the Drum Corpse.

Bill: All of the members are officially graduates of Montserrat so I think that we might try to venture outside of the campus to hold a performance. That would be nice.

Peter: I see fun in the future for the people involved with Drum Corpse!

Nick: I see a bunch of people in a room doing things, give or take the people and or the room. Really, I'm not the person to ask.

Who or what are you most influenced by as an artist/performer?

Justin: Netflix is great. I like to watch movies. My favorite song recently has been "Close to the Edge" by Yes. also, before this last show, we kept watching a live performance of "Otis" by Magma. It's like something from another planet. Amazing!

Ned: If I had to choose only one influence, I'd say the internet.

Bill: Influences are everywhere. I can't really say that I have direct influences for Drum Corpse. I absorb stuff constantly and can't really say where it comes out. When we do Drum Corpse we talk about so many different things, movies that we liked when we were kids, the old introduction to CBS Special Presentations, little parts of Led Zeppelin songs that fascinate us, but I don't think that these may be obvious to somebody that looks at the work. My friends are huge influences, there influences indirectly become my influences. There is also just imagination, I don't know where most of the stuff that I think up comes from. It just bubbles up and is there and then I play off of myself and distort an idea and then think about something else and that gets added in too.

Peter: No answer for this question.

Nick: Movies influence me more than anything else, in all aspects of life. Sometimes I think it's a serious problem.

What are your hobbies and involvements outside of the group?

Justin: I have a high-maintenance relationship with food that keeps evolving. I like going to Barnes & Noble to read magazines. I make other music and art besides Drum Corpse, too.

Ned: I work at an art gallery, and enjoy downloading.

Bill: My wife and I are trying to watch every episode of Dark Shadows.

Peter: No answer for this question.

Nick: Making movies, to name a few.

Further Information...

Official Drum Corpse Website