Cyanotic Live

For any live band, there are some nights that everything runs smoothly. And then there are those nights where your guitarist breaks a string a few songs into your set and has to spend the rest of the night rockin out from the side of the stage. But if you're a band like Cyanotic, even on just that kind of night, you still find a way to put on a show that lets the EBM kids know exactly how an aggressive industrial band brings it live. With a full touring line up of vocalist/programmer Sean, guitarist Chris, Drew on recorded guitar and samples, and Jan on live drums, Cyanotic managed to prove themselves despite the technical difficulties at the Baltimore date of their Transhuman tour. Having last spoken with us just prior to the release of their first full-length, the guys took a break after their set to discuss the many wonders of industrial touring, graver chicks and Jersey hookers...

Rock Star Journalism: Now that you've done a few shows on this tour, how has it been going?

Sean: Honestly, it's been a lot better than we were anticipating. For us to see 30 to 50 kids there to see Cyanotic is like woooo! And to see people that know our songs just makes us feel that much better and gives us that much more intensity in the live set. I think the live set has been way more intense than anything we've ever played before.

RSJ: Has anything come as a surprise to you on this tour?

Chris: We had a broken string tonight and a lot of technical difficulties, but we've had fun, so it's been okay.

Sean: We've had technical difficulties at pretty much every show, but we've pulled through. I hope we've persevered like every good hardcore band out of New Jersey.

(Laughter all around)

Drew: We had a hooker incident the other night. A sound guy ordered a hooker for us. It was in Jersey, and we were like, yeah, we definitely don't want you in our room at all.

Sean: (laughs) A prostitute comes up to our room at about 4:30 in the morning and is like, (does Jersey accent) "Hey, you's guys order an escort?"

RSJ: Are you happy with the reaction you've been getting from the crowds?

Sean: Abso-fucking-lutely. We've hung out with some of the coolest people on this tour. All of our forum people have been coming out; all of our mailing list people have been coming out. It's great to see people supporting the underground cause we are an underground band. We're so far underground it's subterranean.

RSJ: What's your favorite song to perform live?

Sean: Probably "Beta Blocker" or "Transhuman." "Deface," though, you notice it's 125 BPM, it gets all little graver chicks going with their glow stick dance.

Jan: I like "Order Out Of Chaos" -- that's my favorite.

RSJ: Have you come across anything that you've found doesn't really work well live?

Sean: Honestly, no.

Drew: We had to cut the dildos after the first show.

Sean: And the go-go dancers and the latex robots. They put a big dent in our checkbook.

RSJ: Do you think Dismantled has been a good match for you as a touring partner?

Sean: Dismantled is a great touring partner. The drummer, Adrian White, was the drummer on the Front Line Assembly Live Wired tour. Live Wired is better than Hard Wired, Caustic Grip, and Gashed Senses combined. A guy that's toured with Front Line, that's played with Strapping Young Lad -- for him to say, "man, you guys are really angry!" -- that means a lot to me.

Jan: That, and they're just fantastic fucking guys.

Sean: We could not ask for a cooler band to tour with.

Jan: And they use the fucking keetar!

RSJ: Do you plan to tour any more this year after these dates with Dismantled?

Sean: We are looking for any tour possible. I'm hoping we can prove we're really intense live. No matter what -- if the sound is bad, if a guitar string breaks, if a synth doesn't play right, we still get up there and try to give everybody the best show possible. And that's all we care about.

RSJ: Now that there's been some time since Transhuman came out, is there anything you would change or do differently for the next album?

Sean: More robot go-go dancers.

Drew: More breakbeats, more bass drops.

Sean: More everything. The next album will be all of that plus ten.

RSJ: Less hard drive crashes?

Sean: (laughs) Hey -- don't jinx us!

RSJ: Are you happy with how the album's been selling? It seems like you've had more promotion for this one, I know you had an ad in Industrial Nation.

Sean: I'm ecstatic! The cd's been selling very well. We're more than half sold out of our first pressing and it's been out for three months. And that's great in the era of downloading, for people to buy it and show support. We really appreciate all the support we've been getting.

RSJ: You're having a remix contest -- how's the response been to that been?

Sean: Thus far, we've gotten about 24 remixes. They've all been ranging marginal to awesome. We're thinking we're either going to release a remix EP in the future or just repress Transhuman as a two disc set.

RSJ: Having done so many remixes yourself, do you think you're especially critical of those remixing your work?

Sean: No, people do what they do. It may not be our style, but I'm never gonna hate on somebody that's actually going out of their way to make music. Not be a scenester, not be attractive and fashionable, but to be dead set about making music -- I respect that more than anything.

RSJ: What would you say is the biggest goal for Cyanotic right now?

Sean: Just to get out and do more touring. Spread the audio like a plague. Because I think it's something. Without sounding egotistical, I think it's something that's been lacking the past few years. Guitar industrial -- loud, angry, abrasive stuff. Not synthpop, not EBM, not dancefloor material that you would hear on a pop radio station. Loud and abrasive electronics is making a comeback.