Interview - Brainpan

1.Morbid and noisy greetings from Perú,Tommy! How going the things at Brainpan? 

Saludos desde Washington, DC! Things are great with Brainpan right now. We just played the amazing Rapid Decay Fest up in Binghamton, NY and are currently resting up before playing again with our good buddies in Bleeding Out and Skullshitter. Also getting ready to record a few tracks for some splits.

2.Hows been the bestial beggings at Brainpan? 

Brainpan has been an idea our singer Pat and guitarist Rob had for years (I think) before we all met. I think it got off the ground when I just got back from living in New York in 2015 and was looking to start more bands, since my main one wasn’t as active as I wanted. I knew Rob from him playing in the sick local band Thrain and Pat’s label put out my band’s tape at the time, so we joined forces. Our drummer Wendel came into the picture when he just moved up from Florida and our friend recommended him to us. I got to know him playing a Halloween cover show where we learned Metallica and Cryptic Slaughter songs together, so I knew he was a badass. From there, it’s been nonstop violence.

3.Twisted discography of Brainpan? 

Right now we’ve only got our full length debut “Turn On, Tune In, Drop Dead” and a demo. We’ve been featured on some compilations as well. Fingers crossed you’ll see more splits from us soon.

4.Influences of devastation at Brainpan? 

Me, Pat, and Rob all started talking with a mutual love for Iron Lung, Entombed, and Excruciating Terror. Grindcore like Enemy Soil, In Disgust, and Cloud Rat are huge for us, as well as Powerviolence like Crom, Spazz, and Sex Prisoner. Outside of those two genres that most associate with us, we love bands like Noothgrush, Brainoil, Sentenced, Adramelech, Converge, Cro Mags, Bad Brains, and Botch.

5.Some members of Brainpan have another proyect paralell? 

Wendel used to have an awesome metallic hardcore band Será, but I think they’ve recently broken up. Rob plays in this black metal band Griefloss, but it seems to be active pretty rarely. I start bands too often, according to everyone haha. My other most active ones are Tomb Warden (deathgrind), Acquisition (D-beat/thrash/crust), and Secular Media (fastcore/thrashcore). 

6.Tommy explain some more about actual grindcore powerviolence scene from your city and recommend some bands. 

DC’s DIY scene has always been active in some capacity thanks to early hardcore bands like Minor Threat and Government Issue. I think the most successful bands always have their ethics in mind when it comes to supporting each other and the scene at large. If you ask me we’re in the most successful and active period for extreme music in the District. We’ve got veterans like DOC, Triac, Mind as Prison (RIP, but still a personal favorite) and Coke Bust in terms of fast hardcore/grindcore who paved the way for the current scene. Newer bands to watch out for would be Needle, Brain Tourniquet, Ixias, and No/Mas. Baltimore also tends to spill over here so bands like Uncle Buck, Crawler, and Neckbreather are worth mentioning as well. 

7.Brainpan knows grindcore powerviolence scene of Southamerica? 

I have family in Lima, but haven’t spent too much time around the scene there to be honest. I’m familiar with SxFxCx, but besides them it’s mainly older hardcore stuff like Dios Hastio and Ataque Frontal (who are one of my favorite bands ever). Other bands like Raw Brigade from Colombia, Squad from Chile, and Boom Boom Kid from Argentina are ones I’m most familiar with, besides all the huge Brazilian bands. Powerviolence from Perú PLEASE get in touch! We’d love to hear it.

8.Stuff avaliable of Brainpan at the moment? where noisy maniacs can find the stuff? 

All our merchandise can be found at our bandcamp! https://brainpan.bandcamp.com/album/turn-on-tune-in-drop-dead

9.Gruesome future plans at Brainpan? 

Right now, the next tentative plan is to record a few songs for around 2 or 3 splits. Got a few more shows in DC and then after that, hopefully some shows out of town. No big plans…. Yet.

10.Last words Tommy and thanks for your time in this interview! Keep loud!

Shout out to all the South American PV fans! Ojala que podemos conocerlos pronto! Start bands, listen to powerviolence and grindcore, and play fast!

https://brainpan.bandcamp.com/