INTERVIEW mit CALICO SYSTEM


TL2IN: Hello Guys! How are you and what is going on on tour?
CALICO SYSTEM: We're are doing fucking awesome. We're on tour right now with our bros
in CHIODOS and the tour is going great. Having a blast!!
 
TL2IN: Can you Please introduce yourselves and tell us something about the history
of Calico System?
CALICO SYSTEM: Rick, guitar... Erik, drum.... Nick, bass... Shawn, guitar,... Mark, vocals.
The band has been around for over 7 years. We just released our second album "The Live"
through Eulogy recordings in the states and Alveran overseas.

TL2IN: Your new record "They Live" is out now on Alveran Records in Europa and on Eulogy Recordings in the US. Can you tell us something about the studio work and the new songs? What was all different between the recording to your old records and the new one?
CALICO SYSTEM: The new record is much different. It is basically the idea of the old one but taken up a few notches. Beauty and brutality meeting in a blender.
 
TL2IN: What stands behind the titel "They Live" in combination with the artwork and what was the main idea?
CALICO SYSTEM: They Live is about our survival as a band as as people. It's alot harder than most people think to live the lives we lead, and this album is about getting through all the hard times, embracing the good times, and coming out on top.

TL2IN: Can you give the kids an insight into the lyrics and tell them something about the shouted words and your message?
CALICO SYSTEM: Read the lyrics kids. It's not a fucking HP Lovecraft novel, you can figure it out.
 
TL2IN: Do you have any favourite song which you like to play in reference to the lyrics and a special background or something like that?
CALICO SYSTEM: "The Apparition" is a great song because it was written about a ghost that we saw during the writing of this record.

TL2IN: How do you write new songs? I think it is not easy to write songs which sound so aggressive, brutal and so round and melodic at the same time!
CALICO SYSTEM: I ususally drink way too much coffee and turn up my guitar too loud and start cranking out riffs. Then I present those riffs to the rest of the guys. We figure out what we like and what works where. Each song is rewritten a million times before the vocals even touch it.

TL2IN: You are on tour with the new stuff and you will play alot of shows in the next month with Chiodos, Love Hate Hero, Odd Project, Hand To Hand and many more. Will you visit us for some shows in germany, too. What can a visitor of a Calico System show expect?
CALICO SYSTEM: We are working on a European tour for this April. You can expect your face to get ripped off your skull.

TL2IN: What kind of music do you listen to and which are your favourite records at the moment?
CALICO SYSTEM: I listen to alot of old metal like King Diamond, Slayer, old Megadeth, Cannibal Corpse, shit like that. Other guys in the band will listen to NOFX, Circa Survive, some more poppy stuff or more upbeat stuff. I think that's how we end up with the sound we do. Some listen to the heaviest most satanic shit ever and some listen to Justin Timberlake.

TL2IN: What do you think about straight edge?
CALICO SYSTEM: I think it's a good thing for someone if they are doing it for their own reasons, not to be a part of a scene. I'm all for keeping a healthy mind and body. But I think alot of kids do it for the wrong reasons. Alot of sxe kids are like gang bangers and anyone not in thier gang is an enemy. Fuck those kids. I'm vegan and I don't go around beating the shit out of people or making people feel uncomfortable or unwelcome because they are NOT vegan. Fuck that elitist shit.

TL2IN: What distinguish you from other modern HC and Metalcore acts?
CALICO SYSTEM: We are Calico System.

TL2IN: What do you think about violent dancing at hardcore shows?
CALICO SYSTEM: I think it's great fun. More please.

TL2IN: Do you have any concrete plans for the future which you can tell us right now?
CALICO SYSTEM: To take over the world.

TL2IN: Thanks for your time and the interview. I wish you all the best for the future and hope to see you soon on a stage nearby and you burning it down. Do you have any final comments?
CALICO SYSTEM: If you don't pick up the new album may a swarm of wasps nest in your anus of all eternity.