Thanks to sweeneysphotography.com for their kind permission to reproduce this image
Joe Letz is good people. Note that this interview has been conducted over the last few months, so circumstances changed as we went on, and as such it may read a little strangely:
LILT: Just as an opener, what does your kit consist of, and how did you come to be in Combichrist?
JOE: my kit consists of a 22 inch kick drum, 14 inch rack tom, 16 and 18 inch floor toms a standard 14 inch snare drum, and 2 double stacked / customized drums, a 10 and 12, standing vertically on top of my 14 using a custom made stand. and 2 20 inch crash cymbals as well as 14 inch hihats, although i'm considering expanding that for the upcoming tour. all drums are made by DDRUM and are the DOMINION series, maple shells. cymbals are sabian AA, AAX and HH. i also use vic firth METAL sized wood tip sticks, and hardware from all different companies. some DW, some DDRUM, some PEARL and some TAMA. i am very particular about things and unfortunately my hardware needs have yet to be able to be met by one company all on its own.
as for coming to be in COMBICHRIST, i toured with andy and the old version of COMBICHRIST about 5 years ago. then it was just him and a keyboarder. i was into what he was doing so we talking about changing the live set-up a bit to include 2 drummers, we figured out how to do it for a tour with KMFDM we did soon after and the rest is history....LILT: The primary attraction of Combichrist for me is the percussive backbone of the music, i.e. what the drummers do. That's your point of difference. You've got a really funky line-up, with two drummers, a keyboardist, and no guitars live, so there's no traditional roles to fill. Can you give me a run-down on what each of you does, structurally? I'm wondering if one of you acts as a kind of lead drummer with the other shadowing, or if you just drive each other, or if you have something else going on...?
JOE: i play a more traditional set up, playing while sitting down. much of the time i'm carrying the main beat of the song, while trevor fills the song out with much of the drum fills. i do fills too of course, but with trevor free from having to hold down the main beat, it gives him more room to pretty much drum fill over a whole song, sort of in a heavy as fuck tribal kinda way.
LILT: Which is why you guys are stand-outs :)
Do you think, the rest of Combichrist destroyed in some freak instance of [theoretical scenario of your choice], you two would seek to work together again? You seem pretty hooked up as a team.
JOE: absolutely.
LILT: Does your kit vary much over time, or have you pretty much nailed what you need to be Combichrist's core?
JOE: the kit does change, usually from album to album. when the drums and i were added to COMBICHRIST "live", the original idea was to be as minimalistic as possible, but then as the song writing matured from album to album as a result of there being more and different live members, there has been a need for more and more drums. TODAY WE ARE ALL DEMONS tour has seen me playing on my most complicated set-up to date. i came up with the design for both trevor and my kits fully on the aesthetics', with the idea that the more cool and weird they looked, the more awkward and hard they would be to play, , and with the right people behind them trying to execute that in the best way possible, , could ultimately develop an exciting new element to the overall performance. i think it worked out rather well.... the new touring cycle that we are about to begin for MAKING MONSTERS will see an even more evolved kit. a few pieces has been removed, but some more added. can't wait for everyone to see em.
LILT: How does Combichrist's creative process work? Does one of you throw down a rail and everyone else gets on board and rides it, or do you compose by committee in jam sessions (as Rammstein apparently does), or does it work some other way?JOE: actually the albums are written AND recorded soley by andy. he's like trent reznor in that way. he definitely does the writing with the live aspect of the band in mind though, thinking of how each of our parts will translate live. if you listen to the evolution of the records from first to last you can see how much more musically diverse they are now compared to the old ones. and i think it's fantastic that he's the one coming up with the parts, cause for the most part, its not exactly what i would have come up with, and it pushes me further to expand my performance and musicality live.
LILT: Wow! I had no idea. He's a bit of a force. Do you have any side-projects that you put your own ideas into, or do you splice it all in with Andy's work? Am I remembering right that you DJ as well? Are you in other bands too?
JOE: i have a few other projects that i'm officially and a little more UN-officially involved in... one big one for RAMMSTEIN fans is EMIGRATE, which is richard's other baby. as well as a band called MORTIIS which i recorded a record with that is right now still un-released. we are bringing them on tour with us actually in europe in just a week but i simply do not have the energy to pull double duty with the way i play, so my friend tim from AESTHETIC PERFECTION will be filling in on the drum duties for them... and i also just began working on another project with a new friend who i am EXTREMELY excited about and i know that everyone will be as well once i am allowed to announce it!
LILT: Joe, you're the voice of Combichrist with the Vampire Freaks blog (which I should add is totally demented and really endearing) and now the tweeting and carry-on. How much time do you have to put into writing up events at the time, or are you one of these people with a flawless memory weeks later? How much do you play up for the fans and how much is actually you?
JOE: this part of my job in combichrist can get pretty tedious, but i welcome it. i think i'm rather good at keeping on top of it, and there's something really satisfying about documenting everything that we go through and sharing it with everybody. in the recent past i've gotten SO far behind on the blog, and with such a workload on the RAMMSTEIN tours especially, , i was only able to take pictures and write an outline for each day as it happened. i really only had the time to fully write and edit and post all the photos once i was home. to be honest right now is the first time in about 2 years that i am actually caught up with the blog, and i've made a personal commitment to try and stay on top of it daily from now on. its going to be hard, each one takes about 3 hours total to finish and to get up and live online, but i would much rather share our stories with our fans in real time than weeks or months later. i think it will be more exciting for people coming to our shows that way too. as for how much is "actually me", i am the one doing the writing and can say with confidence that anyone who knows me well enough will agree that it is all pretty honest as far as my character and sense of humor goes. for example i obviously did not chop off z_marr's penis and feed it to trevor cause we ran out of food. that could have given trevor an STD in his throat. i merely chopped off some of his elbow fat and fed it to him, AAAAND i cooked it first. i just said it was his penis cause it sounded better. and i didn't talk about cooking it cause i figured it would make some people think about germs and shit like that.
LILT: The blog is awesome. It's entertaining, endearing, and very funny. It's also nice to get the insight it offers. I do wonder how many people take everything literally though. I'm sure some of your readers think you're way less rational than you are. Have you ever found yourself with someone who has totally the wrong idea on your hands, at an after-function or similar?JOE: yea one time this girl hit on my cause she thought i actually liked girls cause i'm in so many pictures with them. REDICULOUS... she should have known... if it doesn't have boobs, AND A PENIS! then i'm not interested... come on now....
LILT: You pay homage to your drum techs in your blog, and talk about the damage you do to yourself and your kit extensively in the blog. You're obviously a bit bonkers when you play. Is this just because you're always a bit bonkers, or do you just love what you do that much?
JOE: i suppose the correct answer to that question would be " ALL OF THE ABOVE"? you have to be a bit bonkers and also love what you do to live a fucking crazy life like this. i have definitely come pretty close to having permanent serious damage to my body or death a few times while performing with this band. but for some reason that element of danger really gets me off. its definitely put me in check each time something really bad happened, but i'm not sure how comfortable i would actually feel in a more "safe" environment. i think its important to live like your ready to die at times, otherwise you don't really appreciate living as much. its just all about pushing that envelope and making it out to talk about it i guess...
LILT: You have a very powerful band vibe. It's very different to the mystique of Rammstein, who are aloof and detached, where you are affectionate and in the thick of your fans. Were you inspired by anyone else in your approach to working yourself into the niche you own, or did it just happen organically? Did you enjoy the machine and feeling surrounding Rammstein as tourmates, or was it just not 'you'?
JOE: we are still at a level where we can be personable with our fans, and i really appreciate that and i think the feeling is mutual. there might be a day when we just cannot handle that anymore, so i think it's really great to get as much of that in as possible before it's too late. and as far as touring with RAMMSTEIN goes, we were still able to enjoy alot of our fans, as well as RAMMSTEIN's even on such a large scale.... things just have to happen a bit differently. but it was definitely awesome.
LILT: Your blog gives the impression that touring is pretty much a long party of bad food, no sleep, self-indulgence, and making do. Obviously it's more good than bad or you'd be doing something else, but does this kind of schedule get to you? What do you do to get over it in your down-time?
JOE: of course it does. people bitch at me for complaining alot u know. i'll hear "STOP BITCHING ABOUT NOT EATING LUNCH, I WOULD NOT EAT FOR 2 MONTHS TO DO WHAT YOU DO". to be honest, i felt that way for a little bit when i first started touring when i was like 22, but after a while, when something becomes routine, its not AS special anymore. YES, i have the best job in the world. i am stoked that i get to do what i do every single second of everyday that i do it, but that doesn't mean that you don't get used to it and the "honeymoon period" doesn't eventually end. i just found out the other day that i'm playing MADISON SQUARE GARDEN in NY. i was pretty stoked for about 5 minutes. now i'm just stressed more than anything cause about 600 people have asked me to put them on the guest list.... but i'll be pretty happy when i'm up there knowing that my family is finally getting to really see a bit of what i do with my life in person. :-) but i guess what im saying is, that there are pluses and minuses to everything. i was married and have a wonderful son and not only has not being around completely dissolved my marriage, but i am away from my son when i am on tour. and that is just not easy no matter what. i might get off of a stage playing in front of a sold out crowd of 60,000 people and cry myself to sleep 2 hours later cause i can't hold him and hear him tell me he loves me. that just fucking sucks no matter how you cut it.
Letz & Son
LILT: I'm guessing breaking between Combichrist runs gives you the chance to spend quality time with your boy. Do you get real downtime, or is there a lot of band business to deal with between tours?
JOE: i feel like i always have something to do and never a free moment to myself. which is good and bad at the same time. it keeps me really busy and as long as i can stay focused i feel really accomplished most of the time as i have a ton to do, but then i definitly have times where i reach a breaking point and just wish i could crawl into a hole and just fucking veg out and watch TV for a whole day and not answer emails or phone calls..... but i do get to spend as much time with my son as possible, , and that is relaly grounding and amazing for me...
LILT: BTW, I've seen the griefers commenting on your blog posts. I've even responded to one or two myself. I guess they're inevitable, especially online, where expressing negativity has been elevated to an art-form.
JOE: there's always gotta be someone bitching about something... whatever.
LILT: Are you able to comment at all on the possibility of Combichrist supporting Rammstein in NY, or at any of their other booked shows in the next six months?
JOE: already anounced
LILT: Do you feel like Combichrist is something that will peak and wane, or does it just keep escalating from one album to the next?
JOE: you know, there is a few ways that i think one can try and gauge an answer to that question. i like to think of it like this: we are an industrial band, that has almost NO mainstream marketing going on at all, and are still playing and selling out venues that bands who are shoved down everyones' throats via the covers of mainstream magazines and some radio stations are playing. i think that really speaks for what sort of following we actually have. imagine if we DID have that kind of a push in the media, or if we were around 10 years ago when radio, MTV and everything was the way it was when MARILYN MANSONs' or NINE INCH NAILS' career's were flourishing. i think we might be a bit bigger if we had a go at it back then, , but the fact that we have this crazy hard core / underground following without any of that compared to what alot of other bands get, is pretty special and holds alot of security for me. i do have a feeling that our fans will welcome us to be around for quite a while, and i'm really excited about the evolution of the band from record to record, let alone where we will be in 5-10 years from now. hopefully still challenging ourselves to keep what we are doing to be new and exciting, having fun, and still not dying.
LILT: If you weren't a crazy drum-bunny what would you like to be doing with your life? I guess I'm asking what else you're into, and what you'd do if your arms fell off. That's not just aimed at your malfunctioning limb, Joe.
JOE: i think i'd be doing something to help out kids. i came from a really solid family unit, but for some reason got a bit confused and off track as a kid and got into alot of drugs and other shit when i was way to young to even begin to try to understand what being responsible or moderation meant. it got even worse as time went on because my parents had a hard time finding someone that could really relate to me or understand what i was going through. in fact, i pretty much have my drums to thank for my still being alive today i'd say. but there are kids out there who don't have that kind of outlet / release, and it would be really satisfying to me to be able to really try to relate to what they were going through and to be a positive influence on them and help to get their lives back on track.
LILT: In that case I really hope you get what you want, if the worst should come to the worst. Was there someone special who pulled you out of the mire, or did you just have a moment of clarity and save yourself?JOE: actually yes. i was about 22 years old. my best friend had commited suicide, and i found myself using tons of cocaine and opiates like heroin, oxy's, percocets and stuff like that. i had reached a point of psycosis with my drug abuse where i was seeing people walk around my house who weren't there, and i began freaking out. i had one friend who had a few years of sobriety under his belt who i had ben reaching out to over the period of a few years when i was feeling like shit. i called him and he explained to me that if i didn't get some help RIGHT THEN that i could permenantly damage my brain and have such hallucinations for the rest of my life. his name is KEVIN CAPUTO and he used to sing for a hardcore band that i was really into when i was a kid called SOUL SICK. he took me to my first NARCOTICS ANNONYMOUS MEETING and i had wound up getting sober for almost 3 years at that point. i got SOUL SICK tattooed on my knuckles as a tribute to him. as i see it he helped save my life, and i wanted to put that on my hands so that i could look at it every single day and be reminded of it. im very proud to have gotten that tattoo and to have him as such a positive force in my life otherwise i would probably be dead right now.
LILT: Okay, time for the really boring question: I'm aware of you performing in the US and Europe. Do you travel further afield, and can those of us in more remote geography hope to experience the real body beat any time soon?
JOE: there have been talks of going to some really interesting and obscure places. some places that i might say im even a little nervous to visit, but will for sure be stoked to have gone to and experienced. i'd rather not get any more specific than that rather then to just suggest to everyone to stay tuned for some cool announcements, hopefully in the near future!
Thank you for that, Joe. You're a gent'.
You can find Joe on Twitter and Facebook. Also, thanks to Joe for letting me raid his photo albums.
I was hoping to post a parallel interview with Trevor Friedrich, the other drummer in Combichrist, at the same time, but I pushed out another round of questions to Trevor, so it's incomplete, and patience is one of the virtues I lack. Hopefully that won't be too far away though!
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