Interview: Professional Murder Music

Professional Murder Music Questions Answered By Brian Harrah (Guitars). 02/26/00 Interviewed by wookubus

Related Links: Official Website

PRP: Let's start with the basics, how did the band get together?
Brian: The band got together when Roman and Jeff started working together when Jeff was still forming Human waste. Actually Roman was a guitarist in Human waste for a while before they began PMM. Justin had been playing around in other bands for a long time. He played in alot of underground Gothic style of bands. He worked with Rozz Wiliiams and Gitane Dimone at one point. I was in Tura and starting doing PMM as a side thing and then when Tura failed, I joined full time.

PRP: The group features former members of Human Waste Project and Tura Satana, do Roman or Justin come from any known previous bands?
Brian: Like I said above, Justin was working with Rozz and Gitane and Roman was basically doing PMM.

PRP: With former members of Tura Satana and Human Waste Project, bands that were both fronted by females, does the band ever tell Roman to sound more girlish?
Brian: We never tell Roman to sound girlish. We like the way he is just like we both liked the way Tarrie and Aimee sounded. He is who he is. And personally working with a girl or a guy singer makes no difference to me.

PRP: Rumor has it that back in the day Coal Chamber frontman Dez Fafara was very interested in possibly producing you guys, was this true?
Brian: Yeah Dez was interested in us for a while, but we mutually agreed that we weren't really interested in producing together. He was really busy and was recording their 2nd album, and we had our own agenda.

PRP: Ever considered changing the band name to Pokemon Murder Music?
Brian: Actually no, I think that anything involving Pokeman is sick, satanic and should be burned, and I would never want to be involved with it.

PRP: There's been quite a few delays for you guys to get into the studio, has this benefited the writing period or is the band going nuts waiting to hit the studio?
Brian: A little bit of both. It definitely has benefited us because we have way more songs now, and we were able to kind go over the old stuff a little better, but at the same time we are going crazy and really want to get things going!!!

PRP: Does writing go smoothly with both Roman and Jeff doing programming, or do they just pick apart each others work?
Brian: Jeff and Roman actually compliment each other really well when programming, but things always change. They will have an idea and bring it to the band and it will change or get better, or sometimes Roman and I will write something and Jeff and Justin will change some stuff around or come up with another part. Most of the time it goes really smoothly.

PRP: If you were stuck in a timewarp in the 80's and had to choose to either be in Duran Duran or the Culture Club, which would it be and why?
Brian: Probably Duran Duran just because they had a little more substance than Culture Club. They were also cuter.

PRP: Can we expect to see the tracks from the demo EP show up on the new album?
Brian: Some of the tracks from the demo will make it and some might not. It just depends. We have alot of new material.

PRP: Was the demo self titled or actually called "Wormhole"?
Brian: The demo was actually called Wormhole. There were several versions of the demo though. We kept selling different ones with different songs. Some are really rare now.

PRP: You guys got to take an opening slot on the Kid Rock/Powerman 5000 tour which I think was your first national tour slot, how was that?
Brian: That tour was absolutely amazing!!!! Everyone was so cool and it gave us great exposure before the album comes out. It also let us really see how the crowd would react to the new stuff. It was really great and we made alot of new friends.

PRP: Your music has a very dark feel to it, would you guys consider yourself a dark band?
Brian: Yes we are a dark band, but don't get that confused with evil. People sometimes think we are evil because of the name.

PRP: When picking your nose, do you roll and flick or wipe it off with a Kleenex?
Brian: Roll and flick the booger is the correct way that we were taught.

PRP: With a somewhat extensive history of other bands can we expect any guest appearances on the new album?
Brian: Maybe we will have guests, maybe we won't. It just depends who is around and who we want to put on there.

PRP: Did you guys find it hard coming up in the Los Angeles area where bands are a dime a dozen?
Brian: Not really, L.A. is a fucked up place but lately all bands have become kind of a community instead a enemies. Everyone is basically cool with each other. As far as getting caught up with all the other bands, you just have to find ways to continue to change your shit and make yourself stick out.

PRP: You guys have had some mp3's on mp3.com, how do you feel about mp3's and web promotion in general?
Brian: MP3.com is a great thing. We have been using it for like a year and a half. It is great for bands trying to gain fans and a name.

PRP: Do you go to any lengths to avoid using public bathrooms?
Brian: No not really. There are worse things to avoid than public bathrooms.

PRP: Any story behind the band name, perhaps you guys watched too many hitman movies?
Brian: We want to people to figure out the name by themselves so I won't give any hints.

PRP: How do you guys feel about being lumped together with bands like Fear Factory and Static-X who have been finding alot of popularity recently and hail from the same general scene?
Brian: we like both of those bands and respect them both highly for what they do and the way they do it. I am sure you see us on tour at one point with both of them. If people who like those two bands are into us, then great. The more the merrier.

PRP: Anyone in the band avid Oprah or Ricki Lake fans?
Brian: We hate both Oprah and Ricki Lake.

PRP: How do you feel about the current state of heavy music?
Brian: I think heavy music is starting to do really well. I just hope that I doesn't get to repetitive like the OLD heavy metal did.

PRP: Have you guys noticed a growing buzz since your track "Slow" was included on the "End Of Days" Soundtrack?
Brian: Of course we noticed a bigger buzz because of the soundtrack. There are 500,000 new people who now know who we are.

PRP: Are there any bands you could list as influences as a whole for the band?
Brian: Definitely The Cure, Portishead, Sinead O'Connor, Dr. Dre, Public Enemy, Radiohead, Depeche Mode, Skinny Puppy, etc.

PRP: What can we expect this year from the band?
Brian: You can expect this year from us the debut album, and a shitload of touring. We plan on being everywhere as many times as possible.

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