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Misery Index - Jason Netherton

23/02/06 || Global Domination

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This interview was done by ex-staffer Fishermane.

A few weeks ago, I decided to get in touch with one of my all-time favourite bands to see if they were interested in doing an interview for the site. In fact, I consider these guys to be one of the hardest working bands out there in the underground scene, judging from the way they’ve put out release after release of solid material independently, and from the way they’ve been touring as much as they can to promote their music. Unfortunately, the band in question told me to fuck off so I eventually had to settle for an interview with Misery Index instead. Jason Netherton was cool enough to put in some serious time to answer the questions, and had some very interesting shit to say. In case you’ve never heard of them, the boys play some brutal grind/death with a political twist, and fuck it’s good. Almost as good as The Smiths. Right. So sit back, shoot up, and enjoy the knowledge and wisdom Jason was willing to share with us.

Alright Mr. Netherton, as traditional interviews usually begin, give us a quick update as to what’s up with Misery Index. You guys just signed with Relapse for a possible release in May, there’s more gigs booked for March, etc. Basically, tell those of us who’re too lazy to read the news section on the website what’s new these days.

Jason Netherton: Yes we are preparing for a busy year ahead, with some dates in Puerto Rico and Japan in March, and then a short 3 week tour with Disfear and Phobia in May, and then after that it’s open, however we assume since our record is coming out in late May, that we will be busy for the rest of the year touring in support of that. We are in discussions now about where and when we will be going, but it looks like we will be playing many shows in the next 18 months or so.

Hey, I got an idea, how about Montreal for all 18 months? You guys can all sleep on my couch. I’ve got Doritos!!! Right. Now one thing I’d like to clear up before I go any further: “Misery Index”. For you ignorant bastards who don’t know, there was an economist in the 70’s called Robert Barro who described the misery index as a way to measure economic deterioration by adding the unemployment and inflation rates together. Then there was Assuck who released an album in 1996 called Misery Index. There’s obviously a relation here, so why did you go ahead and choose such a name?

I was familiar with both, the term from some economics classes I had some years ago, and the Assuck record as I was an Assuck fan throughout the 90s and simply love the lyrics and music. They were a groundbreaking act that really started to influence my more death metal approach to music and lyrics in the late 90s, and as such the name stuck with me and was an obvious choice when I was looking for a name in 2001 after the Dying Fetus years.

Speaking of which, I don’t want to dwell on the past and usually hate these kind of questions, but many people are still curious as to what went on with your departure from Dying Fetus. You can tell us everything and don’t worry, we won’t tell anybody. I’m pretty sure I’ve read that you guys were still cool and all which is good, but feel free to let us know what really went down (and don’t worry, those fuckers still haven’t answered my interview request, so I’m cool if you badmouth them. Just kidding. Sort of.)

Nothing big, I just got tired of it. It was in its 9th year at that point (we started the band in its nascent form in 91) and I was on a long tour at the end of 2000 and realized I was just not having fun. So I left. At the time I was trying to finish grad school and during that in 2001 I just started Misery Index for fun (for the studio primarily), but it sort of took on a life of its own at that point and here I am today. Sure beats the office life I tell ya.

Office life rules, Dying Fetus sucks. Ok, “Overthrow” is still one of my all-time favourite releases, and although it was only an EP, it was clearly a great piece of work (so I didn’t mind paying 25$ for it). Are you guys selling a decent amount of cd’s at least? Don’t worry, you can give us numbers and it’ll stay between us and the 4 readers we get annually. We all know death metal doesn’t sell that well, but are you able to make a decent living off music, or do you have to work some shit job on the side?

Wow, who the hell is selling that for 25$? What the hell? I guess that might be CAN $ but still… It’s on our website for 8$. Anyways, we have sold a modest amount of them through our mail-order and through License deals to Japan and Europe, and it’s on its 3rd pressing here so I guess that’s about 3000 in the US. And no we can not live off of our music, we make some change to get by while we are on tour, but when we are home we must go back to our jobs. I work on construction (electrician work) and it’s not much fun, but it pays the bills and lets me come and go on tours.

Don’t worry, I was just lying about the 25$ part, haha. I downloaded it for nothing. Just kidding. Sort of. Ok, let’s switch it up a bit. Please comment on this quote:

“Critics of U.S. statecraft often seem to inhabit a fictitious world wherein foreign policy is, or should be, a form or missionary activity, undertaken simply because is it virtuous. Those critics, domestic and foreign, need to step up to the reality that the sheriff role is frequently going to be unpopular, is always going to be more or less costly, and is occasionally going to be painfully unsuccessful.”

That about sums up in a single paragraph the basic tenant of ‘Realpolitik’ as it stretches from Bismarck to Kissinger, to the Neo-Cons of today’s Bush administration. It embraces an essential realism in politics that sees the fundamental unit of analysis as the nation state, and the fundamental variable in play among nation states is the ability for each to exercise weight in terms of military and economic power. I will admit that this is how global politics works itself out among many of the world’s actors, but such realism is always tempered and moulded by an infinite number of other external influences, which usually fall under the umbrella of thought espoused by “idealists”, and who do offer genuine and valid criticisms of past and current policy. The “critics” the person is referring to are everywhere, and serve to keep such rabid realism from becoming a monstrous political beast in itself, as “reason without compassion is Hitler”. Additionally the important question in reference to this quote is, “what is this sheriff’s mandate, who gave the sheriff this mandate, and finally who will sheriff the sheriff?”

Did you just call me whore? Ok, more pseudo-political shite. The income earnings of the top 1% of the US population have risen to around 17% of the total income in ‘99, up from around 8% in the early 80’s. While probably not as drastic as some would like us to believe, income inequality is still somewhat of an important issue to discuss these days, especially since the bottom 20% of the population still receives less than 5% of total income. However, the education premium has risen significantly over the past 30 years, which basically means that better education equals higher income. Taking this into consideration, do you believe that although the system isn’t perfect and has many flaws, it is still somewhat fair for those who work hard? (Basically, does hard work = success, or is that all bullshit?)

I believe that some people do work hard, play the game correctly, and get ahead, be it through individual drive, circumstance, or luck, but the vast majority of working people stagnate or become worse of. I see this in my everyday life, talking to people in each city we play in, and as well as see firsthand the oceans of blight that extend from Appalachia to dying urban city sections from Baltimore, to Detroit, to Atlanta. I read in detail about it daily in numerous reliable media outlets, and for every beloved success story about a kid getting out of the ghetto, proving it’s “possible”, there are a hundred other kids left behind in dead end minimum wage jobs, stemming from miserable school environments and crime ridden communities. Read books like Ehrenreich’s “Nickel and Dimed,” or David Shipler’s “The Working Poor” for lucid and powerful stories about what its like to live among those who barely get by, while others at the top ponder how to dispose of their wealth. So, yes, in general, the old Horatio Alger myths are bullshit and stand among a million myths this culture feeds into us daily from birth that somehow its all just, and the honest working man will someday attain some great wealth. Additionally, most of the people who think its possible to work hard and get ahead come from comfortable middle class backgrounds, and have no idea what its like to grow up as one of the 30 million people in poverty in the United States today.

Ok, I KNOW you just called me a whore this time. But fuck it. Staying somewhat on the same idea, we all know that C.E.O.’s of large corporations earn ridiculous annual salaries. However, as easy as it is to point fingers and constantly bitch at this idea, isn’t it somewhat normal for the people on top to want to stay on top? Not to be an ass, but I know that I would. Yea, it might sound morally wrong, but we all know most people would do the same if they were in that position. Sure, from a utopian perspective, I truly believe in fairness and equality, but in real life, I’m out to fend for myself and my family just like the next man.

Yes, what you are alluding to is one of the demons we all must face in making decisions about what kind of a nation, culture, or community we want to live in. I think the idea of being in a position of great power and wealth is one we all tend to identify with in a curious way, as it is socially embedded in our culture. And if said wealth is attained through whatever means, one will therefore seek ways in which to preserve that position of power and wealth. As a rich man however, we are only rich because we reside in a society and culture that places a value and certain moral sanctity upon the wealthy. We codify and create an entire system of laws and principles extending to everything from the rights of private property and the individual, to the culturally ingrained work ethics we spoke of before. These written and unwritten cultural laws normalize the idea that the rich are deserved and admirable citizens in our society, and that they can and should justly accumulate vast amounts of wealth for themselves to dispose of. This would be the story our culture tells about itself if an alien was to come and ask “why is there so much inequality”? This idea is a myth itself, and one that we embrace, as such we wash over and ignore the basic underlying point of being rich – every rich man is only rich because of the social conditions that underlie (and underwrite!) his wealth – without a social system from which to exploit wealth, there is no wealth. So the final point here is, of course we might do the same if we were in such a privileged position, but we must realize it is not a position of our creation from our own “heads”, it is a socially created situation, born from and mediated by the social relations that define production and culture around us. At our most primal level we will always fight for and defend what is dear to us, however at the social and cultural level, we must acknowledge the material conditions from which all reality is defined, material conditions which will either deem inequality as an acceptable or unacceptable condition of everyday life.

Alright, fuck my ranting, let‘s go back to the band. When I initially contacted you about for this interview, you mentioned you guys were in the studio. Tell us about the new material and how the recording is going so far. Do you and Sparky share the song-writing process, or is it more one-sided? Are you guys sticking to the same formula (which is excellent, might I add), or are you guys trying any new twists this time around?

Yes we worked much more as a band in the writing process this time, our newest guitarist who joined us about one year ago, Mark Kloppel, and drummer Adam Jarvis, who has been with us for a year and half, were both very instrumental in injecting a youthful drive and energy into the process. I, Sparky, and Mark all worked out riffs directly with Adam, and as such it was a very intensive 4-5 month writing process that has resulted in 10 songs of new Misery Index material that is perhaps more rooted in the death-grind styling of “Overthrow”. We had a blast writing them all, and it came out quite good, presently its being mixed and as I mentioned we are shooting for a May 16 release date on Relapse.

Had a “blast”, har har, good one. Alright, If you were to select any one specific song for a new listener to truly represent what Misery Index is about, (musically & lyrically) which one would you pick and why?

I would say “Manufacturing Greed” the first track from “Overthrow”, or “Exception to The Ruled” from “Dissent”. Both simply have the elements of what misery index is about musically – blast beat and breakdown structures rooted in death metal, and the punk energy and critical lyrical content that sums up all of our endeavours in one. Everything we write to an extent is an exposition and extension of these songs, so they are both a good introduction.

“Manufacturing Greed” is one of my favorite songs, period. Incidentally, we’re halfway done here. Are you bored yet? Do you like answering interviews? Is this causing you to miss any “Golden Girls” re-runs on TV? I sure as fuck hope not, haha… As for interviews, what’s the worst question you’ve ever had to answer? (And no, you can’t mention any of mine. Not even the ones still to come in case you’ve read ahead.)

I am not bored, and I can think of nothing more boring than sitting around and watching TV, so thanks for making my evening so exciting (so far!). Most boring questions are interviews that start off with “please give us a history of the band”, nobody ever likes to go through that.

Which is why we are the fucking best. Go ahead and comment on the music scene these days, whether it be metal, mainstream, or just the scene as a whole. Is it just me or are there too many fucking lame-ass bands out there? Any bands these days that you’re really feeling? How do you compare things today as to how things were when you initially started out, and what’s your outlook for the future?

Well, I dunno, in metal the fashion priorities and the amount of scene-driven posturing and trend-hopping from this and that core is very analogous to the late 80s hair metal boom, in which so many bands tried to jump on the metal band wagon, and so many of them were obviously insincere, that the entire “scene” caved in on itself. I like some bands out there, but I like the honest and sincere ones the best, and you can tell who they are cause they will be around when the dust clouds settle, for years to come.

I fucking love Hair Metal. Ratt, anybody? “You’re in love, bitch!” Right. So who would win a drunken fistfight between Misery Index and Dying Fetus? Nothing too serious here since I love both bands for releasing killer music, but elaborate just for the sake of it, so I know who to put my money on in case it were to go down.

I don’t know, I think we would all end up drinking more than fighting.

So Dying Fetus would kick your asses, huh? Shame. So tell me about Montreal, and Quebec in general. How do you enjoy the city as a whole, whether it be for leisure or business? I know you guys have actually came up here to record some material, and from what I’ve seen, you guys seem to enjoy playing here live. In other words, do you love me, and can we please get drunk and go see strippers next time you come down?

I have been to Montreal, probably 25 times since 1993, I have many friends there, and I always enjoy the laid back and fun atmosphere of the people. I like the culture, how its very mixed and there is always something different around each corner, and of course the girls are beautiful. The summertime is the best, just a great city in a great Province in a great land. we love to perform there as metal is well known to be so much more popular in Quebec than in anywhere else in North America, so the crowds are always welcoming and fun. So yes, I love you, we can drink, and look at strippers.

Who said anything about just “looking”? Ok, now go ahead and finish off these 10 sentences and remember, feel free to swear as much as you think is necessary:

Misery Index will never… be a guest at a White House dinner.

Computers and technology… is a double edged sword.

Doing interviews for Global Domination… is something I am glad to do.

(Haha, take that fuckers!)

The U.S. Army… is full of good people, unfortunately following the orders of chicken hawk politicians.

Globalization is… unfolding on the terms of the elite, for their interest, but it does not have to be that way.

On the Misery Index, watching any movie by Kevin Costner rates… in the negative.

Aside from not being metal at all, the nickname Sparky… is one of a kind in metal.

Oprah needs to just… give her money to charity and retire.

In 10 years from now… the economy will be in shambles.

If I could smack the shit out of one person/band/politician, I’d pick… the collective DC political elites because… they do not represent the interests of real working people.

In contrast to us here at Global Domination. We care. So what do you think of black metal as a whole? Whether it be the ideologies, the “lifestyle”, the corpse paint, the tight spandex, the cemeteries, the wolves, moons, black cats, caves, or more importantly, the actual music itself?

I think it can be cool, fun, and intense. I admire the use of melody combined with absolutely ferocious vocals and drum work, and really dig the punk vibe in some of the classic stuff (like old Bathory)... However, I am NOT a fan of the right wing fascist trends in Black metal.

Yea, Burzum sucks. And so do people who review their cd’s. Throw in a few quick comments on these 10 bands:

Opeth: Great musicians, who have worked hard for a long time and deserve everything they have attained. “Still Life” is still my favourite.

Decapitated: Great musicians, and stunningly adept songwriting and performance, although I am more into punk and grind these days, I completely respect these guys.

Atheist: One of the first tech-death bands I ever heard, I and my high school band were floored by the drumming and musicianship on “Piece of Time” in the late 80s, so we knew we had to practice more!

Suffocation: The kings of death metal in my opinion, after “Effigy of the Forgotten” they set a standard, which has yet to be matched. Something about it is just untouchable, even though modern bands play faster and heavier, Suffocation are nevertheless an icon.

Aborted: My favourite death metal band in recent years, great vocals and great songwriting, that takes me back to the classic approach of what death metal is supposed to be.

The Smiths: I never listened to the much, but when I hear a song it sounds cool, I just know the song called “Panic” and I thought the lyrics were great… “They say nothing to me about my life…” in fact I don’t even know if that’s Morrissey or the Smiths.

(I. LOVE. YOU. JASON.)

Brutal Truth: The band that brought grindcore upon the masses, this is another huge influence on Misery Index since day one, and the reality-based lyrics gave us death metal kids something to think about besides killing people.

Dark Funeral: Great band, I have their last 3 albums and wow, the drummer, the drummer , the drummer…

Panzerchrist: (In the event that you’ve never heard of PZ, go for IllDisposed. In the event that you’ve never heard of ID, we might as well stop right now): I have not heard Panzerchrist, but I know Illdisposed and of course “Submit” is in my top ten all time.

Good fucking call. I tried telling everyone else that “Submit” was bliss. Whatever… Anyone who remotely follows world politics right now can obviously tell that the world is rather fucked up right now. What’s your take on the future of the human race as a whole? Are we inherently evil in nature and seek power at the expense of others, or can peace and efficiency be achieved under an honest and just government? Go ahead and let us know where we would find Jason Netherton on a political spectrum and how you would run things if you were in charge.

I think perhaps the world is not really anymore fucked up than previously in history, its just that we know more about all the little fuck ups in every corner a lot faster, as they tend to make fascinating media selling points, and are therefore shoved down our throats ad infinitum, also, the fuck ups have in this way the ability to affect the entire globe at once, as a media event “happens” in one place and is immediately exploded across space and time to create an instant impact on the those planetary denizens that tune into the global chaos network… I also do not believe in “inherent evil”, I believe in materialism, and as such I see social conditions conditioning all but the most primal human urges (sexuality, hunger, etc), so once we can progress, as slowly as it goes, towards a social, material environment that mediates the positive aspects of humanity, perhaps then some honesty can come from governance, however my understanding is that it will never come at the nation state level, and can only be attained under non-exploitative, non-hierarchical local orders at the village-town-hood level, where people can decide what is best for themselves and their communities – without the influence of concentrated wealth and power as it manifests itself in nations and national governments… So, as it might be indicated, I am perhaps left of left and an advocate of anarcho-syndicalist thought in principle, whereby local worker groups and committees organize tasks locally, for the local good. This is of course an ideal, and one that is far removed from modern mainstream political thought, but its something I think is necessary to hold on to as an option, somewhere, someday.

Haha, fucking commie, I knew it. Ok, here’s a good one. If everyone in the band was a flower, who would be what and why? Ok, just kidding, haha… So what’s the most fucked up porn you’ve ever seen? And incidentally, how hot do you think Ryan Butler from Structure of Lies is on a scale from 1 to 10?

Hmm flowers… I don’t even know what most flowers are called… just the popular ones, and we are not popular, so I guess we would be the unpopular flowers that are not that pretty, no girls like, and shift through the undergrowth, coming out for light only periodically… I avoid “fucked up” porn because I find it very unappealing… and Ryan Butler is the hottest thing to hit Phoenix since Rob Halford moved there back in the late 80s, so he is an 11. He goes to all the way to 11.

I’d bang Rob in a second. Just kidding, haha. Sort of. So read any books recently? Damn, that sounds corny. But seriously, what is the band into when it comes to reading material, and if applicable, try to link this to band’s lyrics. Speaking of reading, how about what went on in Denmark with those Muhammed cartoons? (Damn I’m good at linking 2 irrelevant subjects together). Anyhow, if there’s anything you want to say about religion while you’re at it, go for it. (Is it that obvious that I didn’t want to add another question, so I tried to relate the religion issue to reading? Yeah, it’s terrible, but I write the questions, so fuck me).

Yes, I have read some books, presently its Alterman’s “What Liberal Media” wherein he uses volumes of careful evidence and sources to crush the constant pervasive myth that there is a liberal bias in the mainstream media. I also read the Nation every week (political periodical), and various news sources. As far as the Cartoon fiasco, its amazingly indicative of the shrinking of the planet, and the way through which little fires in mediated form on the internet can simply take off on the other side of the world into a movement. So, as the world gets smaller, so comes closer all the wonderful, and horrible, things we may or may not like about the “other”... the entire world has become each other’s next-door neighbour in the span on say 15 world wide web years, and the social implications have not yet caught up with the simultaneous crunching of space and time into databytes. The main point is, all societies and cultures are going to have to formulate a new understanding and tolerance of the “other” if they are going to exist under this new framework of instant communications… The only thing the Muslim world might say is that they did ask to be so intimately connected with the West, as the internet is an inherent part of modernity, and modernity is a Western project. We opened the door to ourselves, and as such we should not be surprised that reactions might occur… violent or otherwise.

Internet’s for suckers, anyways. Real men watch Oprah. Ok, to finish things off, give us a quick outlook for the future of Misery Index. Have you ever woken up one day and said “Man, I just need to quit this metal shit and get a regular career.”? I sure as fuck hope not, since in my opinion, you guys are one of the most talented bands out there and I’m expecting nothing less than the best from you, so let us know in your words what you have in store for us.

I have a few other long term goals, a few of which is to get my PhD and also to be a writer. I am presently working on my first novel, its a science fiction type thing, but on future earth, maybe 50 years fore. But presently, its the band and will be the band until the flame burns out. I feel we have a lot more to do, say, and accomplish before its over. But we shall see…

PhD? I truly respect that, sincerely. And by the way, I lied about 20 questions, so here’s another one. What would be your all-time favourite and least favourite moment playing in a band, regardless of it being now or even back in the Dying Fetus days. Whether it be on stage, in the studio, a strip club, an enchanted meadow, etc.

I guess my all time favourite was in summer of 1998 when Dying Fetus first played the Milwaukee metal fest. We had 3 self released albums of material out in the US, were still unsigned, and had been doing it for nearly 6 years. Somehow we got booked there playing at 10pm opposite Emperor, and to our amazement the room we played was packed and people seemed like they knew who we were. Towards the end of our set, we were getting an increasingly better reaction, and the people in the front of the stage ripped down the barricade and stormed the stage. It was incredible and it felt like all our hard work had finally paid off. Yet even after that still no label wanted to sign us until Relapse stepped up in 2000. The worst moment(s), I guess is when on the X-Mass festival tours of Dec 2003 in Europe, we (Misery Index) were the first of 6 bands, and we had to start our set a few times when the doors of the venue opened and there was hardly anyone in the place. We really got fucked on that tour several times, and it was a just a waste.

That is a fucking waste. Really. Well Jason, thank you very much for taking the time & effort to deal with this “interview”, we really appreciate it. You did a great job of handling the questions and for that we love you. You also knew “Panic” from The Smiths, which means that after 8 beers, I would probably sleep with you. Just kidding, haha. No really, I am kidding, seriously. So good luck with everything, remember to say you love Global Domination, and when you guys come back up to Montreal, it’s fucking on!

It was my pleasure. Cheers to all fans and cheers to Global fucking Domination for the great interview!!!

Interviews