Detritus
Mini-Issue #496.5
April 17, 2009
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*** CAST OF CHARACTERS ***
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Patrick Brower, Editor
patrickbrower@...

Sean P. Gahgan, Editor
spgahgan@...
http://www.lakeoffire.net/
http://www.myspace.com/visionlakeoffire

Tim Wadzinski, Owner
tsw512@...

Steve Shumake, Co-owner
vongoober@...
http://www.myspace.com/kdsteve

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*** LET IT BE KNOWN ***
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-Stephanie reviewed Ana Kefr's album earlier this week; now here's an
interview with main man Rhiis Lopez. - Tim

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*** SPECIAL REPORT ***
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by Stephanie Davison (Zatanna7@...)

-Interview w/ Rhiis Lopez (Ana Kefr)

Until recently, I had been accustomed to what I thought were all the
genres and subgenres of metal. That is until I got the chance to
listen to a new band -- Ana Kefr, who play what they call "Philosophy
Metal." A truly original band, they cover religious, political,
philosophical, and modern day issues, all in a thrashing, in-your-
face, and powerful way. I had the opportunity to interview the band's
vocalist/keyboardist/lyricist, Rhiis Lopez to talk about the band's
inspirations, aspirations, and everything in between. So, read on and
get to know this up and coming band a little better. You'll be
impressed!

DETRITUS: What inspired you to start this band?

RHIIS LOPEZ: The music industry targets sales to idiots and sheep --
there could be no better explanation for the quick crumble of real
creative expression over the last three decades. Personally, it was
the artistic equivalent of heartburn that nudged me towards Ana Kefr.
You find a real bitterness worming its way up your throat -- the
discomfort that comes when you attempt to swallow the sh*t-with-a-
price-tag that people presently call "art." So you try sleeping on
your left side, or you change your diet, and still the bile persists.
99% of what is excreted from the industry today is either meaningless
or ridiculous, the collective voice of mad mindlessness. Tired of that
fecal aftertaste? Quit swallowing it! Art is an ever-shifting
expression of cultural evolution, a reflection of the contemporary
mindset, and what we now witness fumbling out of radios and MTV
clearly shows that we've devolved to our Cro-Magnon days. Ana Kefr was
born out of a desire to present an alternative voice, to counteract
flockmusic with meaning and purpose. You could say that Ana Kefr is
about developing ourselves to be more effective as artistic antacids.

D: In your EPK (electronic press kit), you mentioned that you spent
some time living in Egypt. Did your experiences in Egypt influence any
ideas for Ana Kefr?

RL: Absolutely. Egypt was a catalyst for me. I stepped into Cairo as
one person and left three years later a very different personality. If
you want lasting personal transformation -- to change the absolute
core of who you are -- I highly recommend travel. I don't know of
anything else that has the potential to alter a person so thoroughly
and deeply. There is a real difference between a tourist and a
traveler -- the tourist placidly gazes out the windows of an air-
conditioned bus, failing to reach out and touch the underbelly of
society; the traveler wanders into the belly of the human condition
and risks their self to see what they may find. I dropped my personal
boundaries to see what the human world would put inside of me, and it
nearly broke me. You're arguing with a group of Arab girls your own
age. They're passionately trying to convince you that female genital
mutilation is moral because it allegedly controls their sexual
impulses, you've even had this conversation with older women, and you
fully realize that all morality is subjective. You realize that the
human condition is to be born and die in our ignorance. You're having
dinner with an older Israeli gentleman who, in a very ungentlemanly
tone, suggests that there is no tragedy in the shooting of Palestinian
school-children; that the difference between the Holocaust and
Israel's own history of ethnic cleansing is that God Himself stands
behind Israel's actions. You fully realize that we, humanity, are
royally f*cked. You realize that the human condition is to be born and
die in our arrogance.

D: How does everyone in the band know each other? How did you meet?

RL: Bryce Loeffler, the percussionist, is actually my brother! Bryce
and I have made music together since I bought him his first double-
bass pedals when he was about 16 years old. While I was in Egypt, he
took it to the next level and formed a death metal band, played some
great shows, got some experience. Months before I returned to the
States, Bryce began playing with a hardcore band that then included
present Ana Kefr guitarists Kyle Coughran and Trent Pichel. I came
back to the States and Bryce basically pitched the idea of forming a
band, with myself on vocals, to Kyle and Trent. The rest is history,
as they say.

D: Which musicians would you say have influenced the band?

RL: Trent picked up the guitar because of Joe Satriani; Kyle did the
same because of Oingo Boingo. Bryce comes from a technical death
metal/black metal/hardcore punk background, and I am personally
inspired to no end by Mr. Tom Waits, Jello Biafra, Mike Patton and
lots of classical music.

D: You mentioned in your EPK that you had not originally intended this
album to be a concept album. Yet, it turned out to be somewhat like
one. In what ways is this album like a concept album?

RL: All of the songs are very introspective, but I don't mean that it
is my personal self-examination. It is full of questions and points
that any rational human being must raise at some time in their life.
We originally set the track listing based off of aesthetic reasons
more than anything else, but we began examining the flow of the album
and found all sorts of different connections and correlations. I don't
really want to give any of it away, I believe the listeners can and
should discover it all for themselves, but the album is an
unintentional goldmine of patterns and connections.

D: Some of the lyrics are in Arabic. Is someone in the band fluent in
Arabic?

RL: I am semi-fluent in Arabic. I'm good at listening and speaking,
but my handwriting could use some serious improvement.

D: You write the lyrics, play keyboard, and sing lead vocals. Have you
ever been in a band before? You seem very experienced!

RL: No, I've never been in a band before. I've written music for a
long time, but never thought I'd meet anyone who I could collaborate
and creatively harmonize with. I count myself as extremely fortunate
to have found the team I have now, we so perfectly bounce and mix our
ideas together that we write extremely fast and inspire each other to
continually improve upon our skills and ideas. I can write lyrics and
music until the day I die, but without these guys, without the energy
we create together, I can't imagine it coming out nearly as well. I've
found the right combination!

D: I love hearing a keyboard in a metal song. What made you decide to
include a keyboard in your band?

RL: When we first started writing music together, we tossed around the
idea of introducing keys into the music, but it didn't happen for a
while. "The Orchid" was the first time a keyboard appeared, and the
fan response was so overwhelming on the sound of the song when it was
introduced live. It was our favorite, and may still be our favorite
today, and we realized we might have stumbled upon a path worth
exploring more thoroughly. I started writing more keyboard pieces and
our sound changed a lot. Everyone in the band is a fan of the "epic"
element in music, and bringing in the keyboard pushed us all into the
direction of writing with classical music in mind more than ordinary
rock 'n' roll.

D: What kind of equipment do you use? Are there any unconventional
instruments that you use?

RL: Kyle and Trent use Schecter, Jackson and Gibson guitars, as well
as Line 6 amps. Bryce's drum kit includes equipment from Gibraltar,
Zildjian, Paiste, Sabian and too many others to list here. The
keyboard I'm using is a big, clunky Casio that needs a modern, more
space-efficient replacement. As far as unconventional instruments, we
do have a few Eastern hand-percussion instruments -- an Egyptian tabla
drum and drum-cum-tambourine, a Hindu drum, some bongos.

D: Have you taken any writing classes, or have you studied language
extensively? Your lyrics are so well written.

RL: Thanks for the compliment! No, I've never taken formal writing
classes, apart from the required English courses one is subjected to
throughout formal education. I'm a linguophile, I love reading and
writing. The only trouble is that I'm very picky, so it is rare that I
find anything worth picking up, as it goes with any other art. I'm
also interested in different languages, learning another culture's
language really gives you a special glimpse into their mindset that
ordinarily would be inaccessible because of the barrier of tongues.

D: Your lyrics touch upon, what some may say are, controversial or
sensitive topics. These lyrics are critical of modern day society. Do
you base your lyrics off of personal observations and/or experiences?

RL: I do base the lyrics I write off of my observations and
experiences, as well as plenty of opinions and rants with my band
mates and my muse. What I find particularly depressing, but a telling
trademark of humanity, is that our lyrics would be interpreted as
controversial. Being honest and open about what is wrong with modern
society shouldn't be something labeled as controversial, truthfulness
and open-mindedness are necessary for our development into better
human beings. Criticism of social injustice should be a warmly-
welcomed element, a necessary part of the movement towards true
justice and common good -- at least that is what I believe. I guess
one easy way you can spot the people who are a part of the problem we
have with injustice is by seeing who is really offended with what I
write about. I don't hold the absolute definition of "good" and
"right" in my hands, but I do strive to be as real and straightforward
with what I set out to discuss. If someone is offended with the
unpleasant truth, they should be more concerned with turning that ugly
truth into a better thing instead of despising those who point out
that something needs to change.

D: There are philosophical references in your lyrics. What first got
you interested in philosophy?

RL: Religion, which is something like the Kids' Meal version of
philosophy -- you've got a whole package of ethics, beliefs and
traditions tossed into a seemingly simple box, and the toy inside is
always a cheap, convoluted version of personal salvation. Bryce and I
grew up in an extreme religious household. Our parents were once over-
zealous in their "born again" Christianity, though they have calmed
down with the passage of time. As we got older, we both began noticing
the internal conflicts of organized religion in general and outgrew
the infantile mythologies. For me, growing out of the religious
mentality meant a lot of research -- I've read the Bible, Torah,
Quran, Bhagavad-Gita and various Buddhist scriptures more than I can
count. The questions that religion does attempt and fail to answer are
ancient but still important, and this just pointed me in the general
direction of philosophy to find answers, or at least small logical
certainties. As Socrates succinctly put it, "The unexamined life is
not worth living."

D: You mention the philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, as a source of
inspiration. Is this because you see a lot (or at least a little) of
yourself in him?

RL: What an awesome question. I consider Nietzsche far ahead of me
intellectually. I do disagree with many of his ideas, but have nothing
but admiration for his creativity, vision and mind. I do see a lot of
myself in him. We both were born into religious families and
ultimately rejected religion as a source of morality after coming into
contact with an influential philosophy. For him, the men who sparked
this undying flame were David Strauss and Arthur Schopenhauer. For me,
it was Nietzsche. Over the course of two weeks, with only brief
intermissions for food and shower, I locked myself in a small, closet-
like, cement-walled, mosquito-infested bedroom in Cairo and read every
single thing that Nietzsche had ever written -- his early essays, his
books, his journal and letters to correspondents. It was inspiring and
fascinating. He was a musician and traveler, as am I. He favors what I
would call a very brutal, provocative approach to writing, delivering
line after line like a boot to the teeth. I, too, am a fan of this
approach. I think what particularly attracted me to Nietzsche, and
still attracts me, is his undisguised contempt for flagrant, willful
ignorance. There is nothing quite as refreshing to me as an
intelligent and open attack on common idiocy (and there's plenty of
that about).

D: You told me that you have studied Islam, Christianity, and Judaism
extensively. What piqued your interest in religion and how have your
studies shaped the person you are today?

RL: As I said before, growing up in a religious household began a
lifelong interest in religion in general. However, differing from the
typical blind follower, I wanted to know what religion was really
trying to tell me. I started with reading the Bible seven times in
different translations, discussing the original Torah and Quran texts
with Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians and Egyptians while I spent a
fair amount of time traveling the Middle Eastern region. Lots of
research and study went into what I call the Three Cults of Armageddon
-- Judaism, Christianity and Islam. I have studied Hinduism, Buddhism,
Zoroastrianism, ancient Greek and Egyptian religions -- plenty others
-- but no other religions so openly embrace the obliteration and
destruction of humanity and the world in general than these lethal
three. My study of religion shaped me insofar as it brought me to the
logical conclusion that we, humanity, are stark raving mad. We're born
tyrannically selfish, psychotic and vicious, we kill for nothing, eat
what we don't need, destroy and plague and violate...and then we
justify ourselves. We are herpes on the lips of a pretty blue-and-
green planet. I am not a misanthrope; I just do my best to be honest
about what we are. To study religion is basically to study general
humanity because an enormous amount of people on planet Earth believe
in this awful intellectual pollution. Having learnt so much about
human nature from religion, it is actually really humbling. I am but a
flicker in the eternal flow of time, I am practically nothing. This is
not depressing in any way, it is honest. Recognizing this, as well as
confronting the ultimately selfish and vicious parts of our nature, it
helps me realize what I must strive against -- my own personal beast.
It is an endless and, ultimately, fruitless struggle, but it's the
least I can do for myself and for those who deserve better than
vicious stupidity.

D: Are you trying to send a message through your lyrics? If so, what
do you hope the listener takes away from it?

RL: The message of Ana Kefr is complicated. More important than
anything else, though, to me, would be that listeners would be
inspired to action from what we bring to the artistic table -- whether
that be doubt, bold questioning and pride in difference from the
lyrics, or the creativity and effort we invest into the music itself.
Ultimately, we represent individuality at all costs, the refusal to
bow down to the gods of the flock, a real interest in expressing
oneself regardless of whether you neatly fit into someone else's ideal
or not. Society feeds us so many distorted images and messages on what
we are meant to be, all of them are most likely wrong. Beauty,
intelligence, meaning, morality, life, good, evil, love, hate, right,
wrong, art, and many more -- these belong to the individual, not to
religion or government or anyone else. These are ours to discover, to
define and uphold, to keep to ourselves and not force onto others. It
takes courage to be yourself, to create change; we need more
courageous individuals in the world. I would love if the listener
could be inspired to become the influence they had always wished they
had.

D: Tell me a little bit about your live performances. Are you
theatrical?

RL: The live experience is something like a cross between a religio-
political rally and a musical performance. We're not overly
theatrical; we basically step onstage and are possessed by the spirit
of the music and message. I implement a megaphone into our shows,
which does lend a kind of mockery of fascism to our performances. The
audience enjoys participating, I'll hold the microphone out and have
the whole room sing or scream with me. What I find particularly
interesting is that we attract a primarily female audience. You don't
usually see a venue packed with ladies when any kind of metal band is
going to perform.

D: So, I see that that you founded your own record label. What made
you decide to do that? (By the way, I like the name.)

RL: Muse Sick Records is basically our way of establishing that we
want to walk this path on our own terms. While we are open to outside
advice and recommendations, none of us can imagine allowing anyone to
compromise what Ana Kefr is really about. So, we're building our
imprint label from the ground up in hopes that, in the future, we can
help other bands who stand for something positive rise to a place
where they can also cause change.

D: At the end of the disc, it says to please insert VOLUME 2. Is this
a prelude to your next album?

RL: Ana Kefr is something like a concept-band, everything is tied into
the other -- we come as a complete presentation of music, message and
aim. VOLUME 1 being just our first musical offering, the closing words
serve two purposes -- 1) to close the concept-album's book-like feel,
and 2) to tease our listeners, who have to wait another year or so
with us before VOLUME 2 is even complete. We're building an entire
catalog of music; it starts with VOLUME 1 and counting...

D: Are you planning on touring anytime soon?

RL: We're planning on touring to support our debut after the album is
released, but we're still working out the details on that.

D: Just for fun, are there any bands out there that you hope to work
with one day?

RL: I would love to have Jello Biafra of Dead Kennedys come in and
guest on a track, as well as Mike Patton. I feel blessed to have
Tairrie B and Mick Murphy of My Ruin guest on VOLUME 1, working with
them was great and I'd do it again and again in a heartbeat.

D: Thank you very much!

Relevant links:

Ana Kefr
http://www.myspace.com/anakefr

Muse Sick Records
http://www.myspace.com/musesickrecords

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*** OUT ***
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