This interview was conducted by Philip A. Wickstrand with bass guitarist Firas Al-Lateef at the East End in Portland, OR on July 18, 2011.

A lot of bands talk about paying dues. Spending years toiling in the underground can be uncomfortable for some but it's not like it's a life or death struggle. But for ACRASSICAUDA, paying their dues has been. Having to flee from their native Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein's government due to threats against their lives for playing Heavy Metal, making their way to Syria, Turkey and finally the United States, ACRASSICAUDA have sure as hell paid their dues, as anyone who has seen Heavy Metal In Baghdad can tell you. Not only that, but they're a talented band and down to earth guys who haven't let any of the media attention go to their heads. If any band deserves to make it, it's ACRASSICAUDA.

Phil: This is what, your second U.S. tour so far?

Firas: No, it's not our second; it's actually kinda like the second part of the tour. We've played shows in different places before, like different states and so on, but it wasn't like a tour kind of thing - just shows. The first part of the tour started mid-May pretty much all the way to 'til now and it's going to continue on 'til the first week of August pretty much. Hopefully no more shows 'cause it's kind of getting a little exhausting. [laughs]

Phil: Are you finding audiences reactions to be usually rabid like they were tonight?

Firas: Yeah. Every show it's getting more and more… crazier in a way. It's like people more into it, more raving and all that, which is pretty cool actually; this is the energy that we look for - hardcore people, hardcore fans and so on.

Phil: Would you say that the audiences that you've played for in the U.S. were more physically active than at the shows you played in Europe?

Firas: I would say kind of because… I mean, the band, in a way, since we got to the States it's kind of like we gained that experience through going to Europe. I mean, the Metal scene in Europe is bigger, definitely bigger than the States in the meantime, while the States used to host the biggest audience for Metal in the world. I mean, after Japan, of course. But in the meantime I think it's coming back up. That's what I'm feeling because through the tour that's what we've noticed, like every show after the other people are more actively reacting with the band and everything and taking that energy and feeding it back and so on. I think now we are more musically mature and we came out basically in Europe… we weren't yet in a way, let's say, we hadn't decided the style yet or the line that we wanted to follow. But since we got to the States we kind of picked the line that we wanted to follow and that's what we're doing. So people can understand it a lot better and interact with it a lot better than before, which is cool - we're totally loving it.

Phil: Would you say the ease of access to different bands has helped you kind of discover…

Firas: Yeah, yeah, definitely. And since we got here, we got help through the Metal community, like TESTAMENT; Alex Skolnick, he produced our EP and while we were in the studio he gave us a lot of keys and through his experience, he's a great player. Everybody worked with us in the studio, plus Alex Skolnick, and all the people who worked with us pretty much gave us the keys to how to be better. And of course we've grown up musically by listening to a lot of bands, a lot of music since we got to the States. Theatrically and musically, we've developed a lot better and we're still developing some more.

Phil: When can we expect a follow-up to the Only the Dead See the End of War EP?

Firas: This is the idea of the tour; we took the tour all the way from the East Coast, New York, going through the Midwest to California and the California stop, it was the idea of working on the new material for the album, so let's hope by the new year, maybe January, February… I cannot promise yet, but let's hope for that.

Phil: Going to be working with the same label again or fishing around for someone else?

Firas: Fishing around. With the label when we first ran into, it was great, but now, as we said, we're looking for something better for the band, for us, for the music and everything.

Phil: I don't think it should be too difficult for you guys to find a pretty big label.

Firas: It is not difficult, but in the meantime… I mean, before labels supported music, now they're more kinda like into investments. So they want to invest their money more… like an investment; they want more income. Not like before. Before they used to support every band until they get there, they would invest their money and wait for it to grow and everything and then they get their money back, but in the meantime… it's either they don't have the resources or they want bands that are already up there so they don't really work on them a lot and spend a lot of resources and time on it.

Phil: That's why I figured it'd be easy for you guys to get a fairly decent label because you've already got that built-in audience from the exposure of the movie.

Firas: Until now, we haven't had that good luck yet, but hopefully. You never know. I mean hopefully something soon, I don't know. I cannot predict, but we're hoping for something better.

Phil: With the movie, Heavy Metal in Baghdad, have you found that you're getting a lot of fans that think they know you because of what they saw in the movie?

Firas: Oh yeah. Like fans are right now "this is what we feel" and the way they approach us, it makes us feel pretty much like we are family, like we know these people, they know us, we lived with them even before we are here and that's kind of interesting. It's very cool because every place you go, you feel very intimate, you feel very welcomed and understood, you know what I mean? So it's pretty cool. It's awesome, like awesome turnout. Since we started this touring, it's our first experience touring, it's been going well. We didn't have high expectations to start with but it's above our expectations even if we had some, which is pretty cool - that's what we wanted.

Phil: Since getting out of Iraq, obviously you've had greater access to new bands and more music - what are some of your favorite bands that you have discovered since then?

Firas: Well, in Iraq I wouldn't say we didn't have access but had a limited kind of access to music.

Phil: Greater difficulty is what I meant.

Firas: Yeah. And then once we hit Europe we discovered a lot of bands, whether from Europe, whether from the States, even through touring we found a lot of good bands that played with us or performed. I mean, it was a great experience, seriously. If I were to name them, it would be a long list of names. Seriously. Because if you want to ask me about bands, don't ask me about bands [laughs] 'cause I'm a technical kind of guy, like I love everything in general. I listen as long as I like the music. So for me, I like a lot of bands. Seriously, like a long list I couldn't even name, so I'm sorry. [laughs]

Phil: Quite alright. Recommend a book for our readers and then explain why you recommend why you recommend that particular work.

Firas: Hmmm… I don't know… [pauses] seriously, I don't have anything in my mind right now but I would like people to know a little bit more about the Middle East. Not just the Middle East, Iraq and everything, but culture and history in general. I think that's what they need to know.

Phil: There seems to be a lot of ignorance about that.

Firas: I wouldn't call them ignorant but I would call them mislead, you know what I mean? People are not ignorant, there are no dumb people - it's choice; either you focus on your life and forget about everything or focus on different things and… I've been living here in the States for awhile, you cannot really focus on multiple things at the same time, you get distracted really easy - TV, news, commercial lies, everything, you know what I mean? So I would recommend that people know little bit more about the Middle East and Middle Eastern culture because through the tour I've met some people who still had the wrong idea about the Middle East and everything. I mean, I don't know if our DVD or the movie opened their mind or opened their eyes to different perspectives, but I hope they… whoever, even if they haven't seen the DVD, I mean if they know a little bit about Middle Eastern culture and what's going on there, it would be a lot… it's not necessarily they have to know but I would suggest something like that, which is kind of cool. I mean, it's an eye opener. Like even when we got here - it's not like we expected a different thing but we expected a lot of what you hear here and there about American culture and everything, but when we got here we got to the ground and we found everything different because each country has a specific or let's say a different taste of whatever and the United States is one of the countries that has a different taste in everything, in food and fashion and music and so on, you know what I mean? So that's what I would recommend. I don't have anything on the top of my head to tell you the name of a book. Sorry.

Phil: Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Firas: What I want to tell everybody is to stay Metal and keep it real and rock on. Metal up yours! [laughter]

Acrassicauda's Firas Al-Lateef

Interviewer: Philip A. Wickstrand

July 29, 2011

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TO THE TOP

(Click on Photo to Enlarge)

Formed: 2000
Baghdad, Iraq (early) /
New York, USA (now)
Label: Vice Records
Genre: Groove/Thrash Metal

CURRENT LINE-UP:

Faisal Talal Mustafa:  Lead Vocals
                                 & Rhythm Guitars
Tony Aziz Yaqoo:  Lead Guitars
Firas Al-Lateef:  Bass
Marwan Hussein Riyadh:  Drums

DISCOGRAPHY:

The Black Scorpion Demo (2004)
The Damascus Demos (2006)
Only the Dead See the End
                            of the War EP (2010)

PHOTOS BY PHIL A. WICKSTRAND

(Click on Photos to Enlarge)

Check out Chris' review of Only the Dead See the End of War EP here