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Vice Blog

LONDON - COSMIC NODDING FOR HOURS

Earthless play endless riffs with the grip of a Firestone on new pavement. We only use that terrible metaphor as a clever way to tell you that at Roadburn last year they were due to play to about three people on whatever stage that not many people would go to, but ended up pretty much headlining the whole shebang after Isis pulled out. They're now in the process converted thousands of Dutch guys to their infinite jams.

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Vice: You guys play realllly long songs. What's your record?
Mario Rubalcaba: The longest set we have played was for two hours. Dead Meadow was supposed to play that night but they had van troubles so we just had a go at it. The Roadburn set was the second longest. That one clocked in at about 90 minutes. To us, it is one piece, but there are different riffs that we will play around with and improvise on.

Wow. Just how much is made up on the spot and how much is planned out?
We tend to feel it is 50-50 structure and improvisation. It's just really loose at times and there is a lot of room to let things take shape, then turn into something else. Before you know it, 45 minutes to an hour has gone by.

Can you explain the "cosmic nod" to the people reading this who might never have encountered it?
The "cosmic nod" basically means the "eye of communication." Or just eye reading. It's a signal to change onto the next movement or mind state of the music. It can be a blink, it can be the bursting bubble eye face, or it can be a casual squint. But whatever it is, something will be getting thrown out loudly.

Everyone talks about the Roadburn show. Is it all true? It sounds like one of those stories you read as a kid where one day a team is playing in the Vauxhall Conference, then all of a sudden they're playing the FA Cup.
Yes, it's true. We were meant to be headlining the Batcave, which is possibly the best name ever for a small club. That stage has like a 200-people capacity, and suddenly we were playing the Main Hall, which has a 2,000-person capacity. Actually, we were super thankful. A) We played to 2,000 stoney and chuffed-out freakheads and B) we got a double live commemorative LP/CD release out of it. That equals some ultra chuffage there. Thanks Isis!

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I am guessing that you guys are pretty heavily into your psyche and kraut records. What specifically?
In the begining there was a bunch of Flower Travelin' Band, Blues Creation, Hairy Chapter, Guru Guru and Hawkwind.

You've played in more amazing bands than is healthy for one person. Hot Snakes, Clikatat Ikatowi, Sea Of Tombs. How does all of that feed into Earthless?
Well, the drumming aspect of it is very free and open to whatever. Nothing is ever exactly the same at each show. I really like the spontaneity aspect of it a lot. It's not as song-oriented, obviously, but we like to just let the music take its course a lot.

Is it true you were also a pro for Alva?
Yeah. When I rode for Alva it was still the dreads and leather era: Fred Smith, Craig Johnson, and Tex Gibson were on; Hartsel, J Thomas, Cooksie, Reatigui, all those guys. But I grew up with Matt Hensley and Danny and Damon Way in Vista. That was a sick time in skating. I still skate a bunch through my working at Black Box distribution. We have a really fun indoor park to skate in everyday at lunch time.

How did you end up playing in the Battalion Of Saints reunion?
Well I used to play guitar in a band called Mannekin Piss and we covered a Bats song live a lot. Word got back to the Bats singer, who is pretty much the only surviving member of that band, and we ended up playing those old songs with him. It was only for fun. The Bats are a very legendary San Diego band who kicked much ass when they were around and were way ahead of the whole fusing a more metallic feel into the rawness of Hardcore. R.I.P. Chris Smith, guitarist for the Bats. You are irreplaceable!

JAMES KNIGHT