Psychosexuality swimming in a sea of horrid mental imagery capturing the fundamental nature of erotic industrialized metal music the band THREE SIXES unveils perversely extreme musical topics covered in their current self titled release. Showing the worlds of the uncanny sadistic side of THREE SIXES lead vocalist Damien LaVey conveys his input to a band verging on various leaps into the metal scene raising a few eyebrows along the way.

Three Sixes

Jussi: Wanted to say hello first and foremost and thanks for putting out a great album. Was wondering how the response has been so far with the current band release? (heard that it received some pretty great reviews)
Damien:
Hello to you too. Thanks. I’m glad you dig it. The response has been killer.

Jussi: With the previous releases this current self-entitled CD is more of a combination of songs from prior albums with three new songs and video’s. Why is that considering most bands would create something different?
Damien:
Because we were again running out of copies of both the original Possession and our second Salvationless CDs that were both EP’s. We figured that it would be easier and more economical for everyone to combine them and package them as one instead of constantly repressing 2 less than full length discs. Since the first CD, the music of THREE SIXES has grown and changed. We had a few new songs we were working on that went over well live and people wanted copies of them too. So we figured instead of doing a third EP, we’d combine everything and just make it into a full-length release. It worked well because the songs, videos and even the pictures inside the disc encapsulates everything we’ve done so far. The band, music and direction are more focused now too. Because we were able to put all of the old stuff into one disc as well as giving people an idea of where we’re going with the new, it makes it easier to move forward… and we are. Not to mention, it saves people money when they go to buy the one disc and they always have everything. More than a few times people went to buy both CDs and we were out of one. That sucked. We’re in the process of writing an all-new full length record right now.

Jussi: With such influences of Rob Zombie, Ministry and Fear Factory to name a few and the element of horror added to the twist, how does the band do it? (in contrast to the musical style that seems to be in a league of it’s own entirely)
Damien:
Thank you. We think it’s different too and pride ourselves in that. I listen to many, many different styles of music. I’ll listen to Venom, The Sex Pistols, NWA, hardcore and jungle beats, D.R.I., old Kiss and The Eagles all in one day if that’s what I’m feeling. One way or another, those influences find their way into what I’m thinking at the time and it’s reflected in the music. The other guys in THREE SIXES are that way too. Musically, we’re all pretty diverse. In the end though, it’s always Metal based. We also all love horror movies… and women. Speaking for myself, I’m also intrigued with religion of all kinds. Especially so with the effect that it has on society in general as well as it has in my personal life from people trying to preach it to me. Take that, along with a nice injection of aggression, throw all of that in a blender and you have THREE SIXES.

Jussi: The band seems to have a large fan base within the states and it slowly rising abroad, do you think that the group has something horrifically energizing to offer new listeners out there?
Damien:
Definitely. We have a lot to offer for sure. If you’ve never heard us before, just listen with an open mind. We’ll kick your ass. The aggression behind what we do is 100% genuine. Luckily, it was able to translate onto a recording and people can feel it. The live version is even more powerful. It sounds cliché, but you really have to be there and see it live to believe it. It’s pretty intense.

Jussi: Some can label the band Pornographic Industrial Shock Metal, there are others out there that might fall on the same view as California’s own Meat Shits and Impaled but are more in the aspects of the gruesome part of the musical element. Do you find that THREE SIXES offers something entirely different considering the band is more sexually oriented than most bands?
Damien:
Thanks. I haven’t heard that one before. I like it. Yes, I do find that we offer something entirely different. I think the biggest compliment that we get (and get often) is that no two people have the same ideas of what we sound like. Sure, there are basic references. But to be more detailed is all in the eye of the beholder. Look at the reviews on our site. None of them mention the bands you did, yet, I’m sure there are elements to them that sound like us. The sexual element does add a bit of a twist to it. It wasn’t planned that way. When I started THREE SIXES, I just put everything into THREE SIXES that I’m into. Sex is one of them. The music has a lot to offer as it is. Personally, I look at the sexual element as being more the icing on the cake though. Coincidently, people gravitated towards it.

Jussi: Can you tell me more about the current band video Possession and the concept behind it?
Damien:
My friend Nick Griffo who did our other videos always wanted to do a video for that song. He loves the way it sounds now even more than how it did when I originally recorded it. Surprisingly, it has also become a crowd favorite when we play live. He hit us up with the whole thing…with the nudity, movie clips and everything else. It was all him. He wanted us to re-record the audio, but I was against it as I want to just move forward and write new material. So we compromised and used the sound from a live recording. The live video footage was taken from several shows that we played over the last 2 years. I thought the timing on it was good. It coincides with the collection of older and newer songs on our current CD. The most important thing of this video is that was truly done for the fans of THREE SIXES who love that song. We’re always being requested to play it and people dig this version of it. It’s the least we can do for everyone who supports us and we like it. I think it’s the only video that we have that I would say is “fun”. It’s heavy and all, but it has that camp, horror vibe from the movies that I have been into since I was a kid mixed with us playing live. It’s pretty cool.

Jussi: Heard that the band is seeking a bassist? Why is that?
Damien:
Aleister (Bass) has other things in his life that he wants to do outside of playing music. He feels that doing those things and being in THREE SIXES would do nothing but slow the band down. So he quit. He’s not leaving us high and dry or anything like that. If something comes up, we’re not going to miss any big opportunities because he’ll be there when and if we need him… but he needs to move on. We think we found his replacement. We’re working with a guy right now that we like a lot, but we’ll see. If something fell in our lap right now though, the new guy wouldn’t be ready. But Aleister would be and we’d go do whatever it was that we’re being offered. Once the new guy is ready, it will be time for us to move forward without Aleister. We wish Aleister the best of luck. I’m sure we’ll see him around after he’s gone. We’ll probably get hammered together again with him too.

Jussi: For someone that has not heard of the group, what can one expect when hearing something from the band for the first time?
Damien:
Great question. The hardest thing about being in this band is trying to describe it to someone because like I said earlier, everyone has their own ideas and none of them are the same. But since you’re asking, I would tell them to expect heavy music that can be considered by many to be extremely offensive. Expect to hear a lot of pure aggression. Expect to feel a lot of energy. Expect to listen more than once because the first time you hear it, you’ll want to compare it to someone, but you won’t know who to compare us to. Expect to read the lyrics a few times. Because you’ll shake your head and think you’d heard something lyrically so out of bounds and over the top that you’re imagining it. You’ll find out that you actually did hear that, and then some. Expect to hear something very different that you’ve never heard before. To make matters more complicated, listen to several of our tunes. Because once you think you have your finger on what we sound like, another song comes up that sounds nothing like the last-but it’s still the same band. Expect to be blown away.

Jussi: There was mention that the live shows of THREE SIXES is an intensity driven musical environment filled with raw metal ecstasy. Is this true considering the band gives a 110% of its energy to stage performances?
Damien:
Absolutely. You have to actually be there to feel it. It gets pretty violent down there on the floor sometimes. The live video footage of us is pretty cool, but the vibe on the floor is just insane. No video can give you that feeling. No way. The live shows are indescribable. We’ll blow you away. Guaranteed. We do every time we play. We don’t just walk onto a stage and perform, we OWN whatever venue it is that we’re playing at and take it the fuck over.

Jussi: There is apart of the band site that is interesting in an erotic sense A Day With Damien, basically true stories of personal encounters/insights? Whose idea was that to have it there? (Entries of The Mission and Lesbians and Stray Vibrators are interesting ones :)
Damien:
That’s funny. (Laughing) Yes, they are all true. Only the names were changed to protect the guilty. My personal favorite was the last one up there called “Stoney’s Big Night” which has pictures of Stoney’s uh, “Lady” of the evening (for lack of better terms). It was originally the idea of our first webmaster, Lord Xerxes. He would follow me around and watch all of these situations that I’d wind up in. He said that one day he was going to write a book about all of it and how funny it would be. Then he asked if we could just put them up on the site from time to time and we did. I was pretty surprised to see how popular that part of the site has become. There have been plenty more situations that we could put up there, but it would pretty much be just more of the same stuff that’s already there so I don’t bother. I do have another party I’m planning right now though. If it goes as planned, this one will be nothing like anything I’ve done before and will hit the site for sure. It will be wild. Like the other stories, all of the details will be completely true. Stay tuned.

Jussi: Any shows planned for the band in the near future?
Damien:
Nothing currently. We’re breaking in the new guy. Once that hurdle is cleared, we’ll start booking again. If something big finds us and falls in our lap, we’ll be there with Aleister. Keep checking our site for upcoming shows. There will be more soon.

Jussi: Any band news and final comments?
Damien:
Yeah, go to our site and check it out. If not for the free music, videos, stories, info, pics of us, or the free porn links, go for the Gross Page. It’s easily the most disgusting video and pic page on the planet. Nothing compares to it anywhere. I’d also like to thank all our fans and street teamers worldwide who support us, along with of the companies that endorse us and welcome the newest as we’ve just been picked up by Rotten Cotton t-shirts. Check them at www.rottencotton.com . Lastly to Metallian.com, Nocturnal Hall.com and most of all to you Jussi for giving us this interview and helping spread our name. You rock, thanks.

Jussi: Would like to thank you Damien for taking the time for this interview. Also, thank you for enlightening me of the ways of the THREE SIXES world of horror.
Damien:
Thank you. It was a pleasure. Anytime.

 

5/2005 © Jessie Gough • Three Sixes