HEALTH, Los Angeles industrial noisebrokers, are coming to obliterate some ears this summer. Nicely. But forcibly. Fresh off their pretty blistering sophomore record Get Color, packed with stop-start juggernaut riffs, pulsating electronic beats and their trademark disaffected vocals, their tour down under will see them hit up all main centres in their first visit to our shores. I talked to John Famiglietti, who plays assorted items from a lone floor tom to effects pedals to bass, about Get Color, remix projects, and their newfound penchant for the didgeridoo.
Get Color, released in August 2009, was recorded over several months in 2008 at a number of grimy spots across Los Angeles – a pretty far cry from their debuts recording process which took place at The Smell, the DIY venue that plays host to a massive collective of (predominantly fast and loud) bands such as Mika Miko (R.I.P babes), No Age, and HEALTH, who ,as it turns out, had a less than satisfactory experience recording on their home turf.
‘Oh god, we hated that so much, it was not fun. The worst experience of our lives, seriously. I would personally never, ever record there again. We had to do days from 4am until 4pm, and the worst thing was, because, you know, it’s The Smell and there are shows on every night, we had to move all our fucking recording gear in and out every day. Plus we had to tour right in the middle of recording, which just screwed everything up a bit more’
Production values seem to be an aspect of HEALTH’s career on which they want to focus more, clearly. Predominantly viewed as a band with an onus on their live show, they now seem to want to lean towards tighter production and a better sound in general, moving away from being stuck in the rut of being s phenomenal live band, but unable to commit that ferocity to record.
‘Yeah, we were recording in The Smell for a number of reasons, there was a definite sound we wanted to achieve, and I think we almost got there, but also budgetary – it was really cheap to record at The Smell, Jim, who runs it and is basically the kindest person in the world, essentially gave us the key and told us we could do what we want. That being said, we’ve started doing things for the next album, and we really want to nail it, just focus more on production, and get the sound we want. We need better production all round, I think.’
What that ‘sound’ may be is an interesting topic in terms of HEALTH as well. Having eschewed the loose, bro-fi aesthetic of their eponymous debut, Get Color takes on a far more ‘danceable’ dynamic, something they concur with.
‘Yeah, I don’t know if danceable is the right word but it’s definitely something we were aiming for, a definite groovier feel, tracks like Die Slow were pretty exemplary of that I think.’
Not that HEALTH have ever deliberately shied away from dance music, their first album spawned a whole album of remixes (DISCO) – something that looks to be replicated in the coming months.
‘Yeah definitely, DISCO II is coming out, very soon actually. We didn’t get a whole lot of input into it this time around, because we’re on this European label now (Lovepump United), and they just asked a whole lot of artists to contribute remixes to it. I can’t say exactly who because it’s all still pretty up in the air, but I think CFCF are definitely doing another one (they contributed to the original DISCO album)’.
And they are not afraid of you, if their promotional video for this Australasian tour is to be believed. Featuring the band playing didgeridoo, bushwacking through someones backyard , and failing at cricket, it is a truly terrifying statement of intent from the 4-piece. Seriously. Ish.
‘Oh, that video, ha. Yeah, I dunno, we really enjoy the visual side of things, it’s something we’ve been working on with our television show, called HEALTHivision, and just thought it’d be a nice way of showing, I guess, that even though it’s our first time down here, we’re, yeah, we’re not afraid of you guys. At all.’
So there it is. Whilst the promo video may not show them as exemplary savages, their live show promises to be an exhilirating mix of reckless pace and intensity. There’s a reason Trent Reznor selected HEALTH to open the last ever Nine Inch Nails shows, and you get your opportunity to see exactly why this Saturday you probably should go, okay.
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HEALTH play SFBH Saturday February 20 w/ support from Beast Wars. Tickets $40 from Slowboat Records and utr.co.nz . DO IT!
