I.P.: "How is the mini-CD doing?
Where do you sell it?"The band has mailed us two packages incl. T-Shirt and CD, so the lucky winners have to answer the following very simple question and post it to pages@ip-verlag.de: In which well-known US Speed Metal band have played Georg Robb and Chuck Profus before founding Obscene Gesture?
Iron Pages: "Have you signed a deal yet for your first offcicial album?"
George Robb (G.R.): "No we have not signed with any fuckin labels! As you know the world is full of new metal shit ! So it is really sad that we can't find a label that wants too work with us! We are doing some old school crossover / thrash metal stuff! I think we do it fairly well too. I really believe it will be back really soon! You know any labels that see the light as we do? It's just a matter of fuckin' time. We're working on it. We have the CD ready though...We worked with L.A. producer Rob Hill (Cypress Hill, Powerman 5000, Agent Steel, Tourettes) and it fucking kills.... 21 tracks! It's going to be called »Living In Profanity« We may just go ahead and do a self release...we'll see. "
I.P.: "How is the mini-CD doing?
Where do you sell it?"
G.R.: "We mostly sold it online... we gave away a shit load of them HA-HA! A lot of people fucking loved it though...
Chuck Profus (C.P.): "We didn't sell but a few to be real honest! Well you know how it goes these days. Burn baby burn... Ha Ha Ha... But the response over the mini demo disc was fuckin great! We only got two bad reviews and they were even cool! Why cause the two people that did not like us were the new school fags! So I guess that is good!
I.P.: "How many songs have you written so far?"
C.P.: "We have around 25 -30 songs at the moment! The new CD, if ever comes out we'll have 21 songs on it! Nine in around 30 minutes! We did record the whole demo just for the hell of it! Personally some songs were better left alone and some did better. Who cares really it's that kinda of music! Fun shit! Not to be under a microscope... Now these days drum machines and cut and paste shit is silly! Yeah we used some of the tricks these days but - please keep the stuff some what human!"
G.R.: "We wrote 15 new tracks for the new album (and re-recorded the 6 from the demo). We already wrote a whole bunch of new stuff too... I'm sure we'll have enough for another album by the time we get signed HA-HA!"
I.P.: "Where is the speech sample from the start of your mini-CD from?"
C.P.: "The opening sample is from »The Exorcist 3«"
I.P.: "The band name is a bit strange ..."
C.P.: "Yeah, it's Fuck you or Fuck off - That is strange... But you say it and I say it ! Fuck it."
I.P.: "What made you decide to put out an old-school Hardcore release? I mean lame 'Metalcore' is the order of the day, whereas you are going back to the real stuff like Crumbsuckers, S.O.D., Leeway and Agnostic Front ..."
G.R.: "Hey man, it's what we fuckin' know! Everything goes full circle right?! I think it's time to get some straight up, old-school crunch back in the scene!"
C.P.: "Cause that what we like to play! As the co-founder of Agent Steel, and coming from the 80's scene, it was a natural thing to me... And the band! The main song writer and singer Guy Green has always been into the whole hardcore scene! Also, we all were getting sick of all these bands playing in dropped tuned shit! I mean they are even playing 7 string guitars these days ! And please don't get me wrong at all! There's a lot of new school bands that are truly great. Hatebreed, Chimera, Tourett, Slipknot etc... But enough of the rip-off bands of these bands is what I'm saying!"
I.P.: "How is real Hardcore doing in L.A. at the moment?"
C.P.: "I have to tell you the truth I really don't keep up with a lot of the L.A. scene lately! I think it is time to make that effort! Yet from what I gather it is making abit of a comeback! I mean I just saw Dr. Know play a band after us at the L.A. Murder Fest and they did get a good response."
G.R.: "Yeah, the HC scene has definitely suffered there. The funny thing is though... you go to some shows and you see kids lined up outside of the venue with D.R.I. shirts and shit and you say 'FUCK YEAH', the scene is coming back. We just did the L.A. Metalfest and there were some kids there into D.R.I. and Suicidal and they were slammin' their asses off for us. It was fuckin' awesome!"
I.P.: "How often have you played live? What about live plans in Europe?"
G.R.: "Well, like I said we just did the L.A. Murderfest and did another small show a few months back. We have another co-headlining show in April in the L.A. area also. Right now we're currently setting up a small Southwest USA (California, Arizona, Nevada) tour with a couple of L.A. bands. We may be doing a few shows with the new Agent Steel too. We fucking DEFINITELY want to get to Europe either this summer or in the fall. It's one of our main goals at the moment.\ L.A. Murderfest was our true first show! We played a little show with some friends! We are now getting some more shows going! As far as Europe, all depends on if we can get a label or some promoters to help us get out there! I believe we would do fairly well out their if we had a good bill going on! You have any good friend as promoters?
I.P.: "In how far is Juan Garcia a part of OBSCENE GESTURE?"
C.P.: "At this point Juan is basically the live person! He was busy writting and recording the new Agent Steel CD. While we were doing our writing and recording... Hopefully he will be part of some our writting process... Time will tell!"
G.R.: "Right now Juan is splitting time with us and Agent Steel. We're all cool with it. He hasn't been involved in any writting yet but I'm sure he will in the future. He's definitly a hardcore at heart!"
I.P.: "When you still played in Agent Steel, did you listen to Hardcore back then also? Which bands did influence you? Did the Hardcore influence show in early Agent Steel?"
G.R.: "I always loved D.R.I. and Suicidal Tendencies... and when S.O.D. came out fuckin' forget it! I don't think it influenced Agent Steel at all... I wish it had though. It was definitely a big influence in L.S.N. (my project after Agent Steel)."
C.P.: "Great question! When John Cyriis came too me to play with this band called Agent Steel I was really not into any of this new music called Speed Metal! I was playing in a Power Rock band ! I never even heard of the bands called Slayer or Metallica ... I really had no idea of this style of music! I played with John Cyriis when we were high school kids, he was not a singer but a guitar player! And he was sick good! We played Priest/Maiden/UFO type bands! John really loved my playing and was always asking me too play with him! So he gave me a bunch of these new bands to listen to, and I was like how the fuck AM I going to play this shit! I did not play double bass at all! So I was learning too play as fast as I could with one foot! That's is when I started playing this John Bonham beat in triple time! So that's how i came up with my style ! I slowly learned double bass while recording »Skeptics Apocalypse«. In time I completely went nuts over the crossover bands and punk! Crumbsuckers, D.R.I., Biohazard, Germs, Wasted Youth and many many."
I.P.: "When and why did you leave Agent Steel?"
G.R.: "To make a long story short, I was fed up with the drama in the band and surrounding John. Towards the end of 1985 I just started avoiding the band and at the end of the year I stopped communicating with them all together. They decided to get someone else and I decided to go my own way. Pretty simple. I knew of Mike Z. but didn't know him personally. "
C.P.: "I left Agent Steel after writting most of the
»Illuminati« CD! I had a hand problem and Rigo filled in
for me at the Milwaukee Festival! I was thinking a lot with the down
time! Writting that CD was very hard on me! I was fighting about the
style! I never was a fan of the dropped tuned style and slower songs!
And Bruce was slowly getting away from the high pitch vocals that
were a main factor of Agent Steel! At least that's my take on it! I
mean the »Omega« CD was pretty fuckin good! I was not happy
writting the new stuff! It did not seem like the old Agent Steel! I
have no hard feeling at all with the guys! I do talk 
with
them! And I really think Rigo does a great fuckin job playing all the
old stuff."
I.P.: "What did you do in between Agent Steel and Obscene Gesture, a long time?"
G.R.: "Well, like I mentioned I had a band called L.S.N. after Agent Steel and was also in Detente for a small ammount of time. I also did a crossover punk project in the late 1980's for a few years. I finally left Los Angeles in late 1990 and kind of left the music scene behind with it. I've been playing again for the last 6-7 years in the San Diego area but nothing major... just small shit here and there."
C.P.: "As I said earlier »Omega« was a pretty fuckin good CD! Yet you hear the style was slowly going in a more modern style! When we got the band back together in 1999 I was really - REALLY - trying to get all the guys to call the band 'Agents of Steel'! They did! Yet the fuckin money hungry pigs called record labels would NOT sign the band if we did not Call it AGENT STEEL! And then kill them by not promoting it correctly. Thought the name itself would make them $. And yes I do agree John Cyriis was pretty much a main factor of the band! Yet Bernie and Juan's style of Harmony's is also a main factor of the band."
I.P.: "What is your opinion on the 'new' Agent Steel? I think the band die when John Cyriis left, with him there can be no Agent Steel ..."
G.R.: "I like it... it's diferent... and it SHOULD be."
C.P.: "I personally think that if me/Juan/George/Kurt and Cyriis did something it would be good! Yet it will never happen! Cyriis was and will always be way too hard to work with! I would love to re-record the first album... With the new way of recording it would be fuckin great!"
Interview: Matthias Mader
