The New Noise

by robert macmanus

Without a single release to their name and only a handful of shows under their belts, a brand-spanking new trio from Providence, Rhode Island have been creating a crazy frenzy in the North East. Their shows are like anarchist induced guerilla warfare and their blend of sonic punk is quite literally like shock treatment. Seriously, it’s brutal. Who is this band I hear you ask? They’re called Lightning Bolt and their drummer Brian Chipendale, who also kind of sings, is here to give us a little insight into the new world of a band worth noting. The future is now and these guys are rewriting history!

Vice: So, Kurt Cobain is dead and took grunge to the grave with him, but are you guys still inspired at all by its punk rock ethos?

Brian Chipendale: Three years ago, in my first year at college, I was one of maybe ten people in my freshman class who listened to Nirvana. I saw them for the first and last time in a tiny club with the Melvins opening up. Skinheads were throwing cigarettes at the Melvins. Nirvana were awesome. Four weeks later the record came out and I listened and listened and listened to it but then within a year I had to stop cause so many jackasses like them now. But now, with him dead, it’s weird, again. If this were 91, I would be stricken, but I don’t really listen to them anymore. Is

In Utero

even any good? I listen to Merbow, the Boredoms and Ruins, and, of course, Crash Worship.

So the three of you, Brian, Brian and Hisham, met at the Rhode Island School of Design recently, are you taking the same classes?

We’re in different years, so we can’t really take the same classes. Plus Gibson’s doing illustration, Hisham’s in photography and I am in printmaking. I just came back to school after taking a year off. School is easier than the real world.

What inspired you to start the band?

Ignoring art classes inspired us to form Lightning Bolt. If we went to music school we would probably be in a secret after school drawing club. I play drums cause it’s fun. I’m in a good class called Primitivism in Art where we talk about people making these huge junk pile homes and things like Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty in Utah. Lots of information it’s unlikely I’ll need to use in the future.

You haven’t released anything officially yet, have you recorded anything? When can we expect something?

We are about to go into a studio at Brown University with this kid Lee. Maybe it will come out OK. We have like 8 songs ready to go so we might make a tape.

You’ve just set up a new music venue in an old factory right? What are your intentions for the space?

Yeah a couple friends and I, one being my roommate from freshman year, Mat Brinkman, just rented a really cool huge space across town. It is awesome. We just want to have parties with weird people sitting around listening to weird music. It’s going to be music 24 hours a day in there. No sleep till 2010! Our first show is going to be with Karp. Unreal!

What’s the music scene like generally in Providence?

Local bands here just like the Stooges and Suicide. And school kids are all over the place. I don’t think musicians like grunge. People who like listening to music like grunge and people who make music listen to Japanese noise. I mean, Mudhoney is awesome but I think I am growing out of it.

Where do you see yourselves in 15 years?

I have bad eyesight so I can only really see about six months down the road.