“Sometimes, your fans want to hurt you. I really don’t understand it.”
Pain and anger are nothing new to Weinman, who as a member of Dillinger Escape Plan for 15 years now, has often turned to the band as not just a creative outlet, but an outlet for the frustration he feels emerge from time to time.
“We’re a heavy band, and it’s an outlet for our frustration,” says Weinman of the overall intensity of the band’s aesthetic, most notably on their latest full-length, One Of Us Is The Killer, their first in over three years. “It can come off like anger management, but it’s cathartic. It’s something we don’t take for granted.”
If Dillinger Escape Plan has always thought of themselves as a heavy band, one pre-destined to deal with the collective frustrations of the band members, then on One Of Us Is The Killer they’ve gone one step further by adding an often terrifying visual aspect to the eleven tracks. When I Lost My Bet, the first track released from One Of Us Is The Killer, is brought to life with a demonic, bloody video that many would imagine to be their version of hell.
Weinman appreciates the graphic nature of the video and how well it brings the band’s vision to life. But for Weinman, the importance of a visual element for Dillinger Escape Plan is only the beginning of what they consider to be their overall goal as a band.
“This day in age, anything that feels tangible is good,” he notes pointedly. “We’re in a time when people need constant sensory overload. Nobody knows what to pay attention to. For us, it’s never been just music. There’s the music, the shows, the community we’re a part of, that’s a huge part of what we do.”
Though Weinman now considers Dillinger Escape Plan to be a contributing member of a community of musicians, this wasn’t always the case. A six-song EP released in 1997 got the band’s foot in the door, though they weren’t getting much help.
“When we started it wasn’t easy, because we didn’t have any friends in bands or anything so it was difficult to get involved,” he says of the band’s early days. “And when we started (Dillinger Escape Plan) we actually didn’t have big hopes for the band. We were responsible for almost everything that happened to us.”
Instead of relying on connections, they continued to forge ahead with intense and often violent live shows. Eventually, the band signed to Relapse Records and released their debut, Calculating Infinity. It was a bold debut for a band that was largely unheard of out of their New Jersey stronghold. What many took note of was not only how their recorded output accurately represented their live shows, but also the complexity of their song-writing.
As the band continued, not releasing their follow-up for five years, tension was continuing to build not only within the band, but with their surroundings. The band would lose six members before the release of 2004’s Miss Machine.
Instead of succumb to the tension the band was experiencing (Weinman doesn’t elaborate much on what led to many of the original band members parting ways, but rumours about creative differences abound) Weinman decided to explore the tension. The results were largely fruitful.
“We were frustrated that no one was pushing boundaries,” he says. “We were frustrated that no one was exploring tension, and eventually we found ourselves with a niche fanbase.”
That niche fanbase grew, eventually making Dillinger Escape Plan one of the more heralded hardcore acts on the planet. They haven’t lost their progressive touch on One Of Us Is The Killer, an album wrought with deft nuances that manage to pop their head up at the most opportune times throughout the thrashing madness.
Still, Weinman acknowledges that it hasn’t been easy for the band to get where they are today. Enduring frequent line-up changes has become old hat for the band. Risking personal injury onstage might be a new one, but they’ve become adept at dealing with setbacks in the band.
“Sometimes it feels like you’re taking one step forward and two steps back,” he admits. “You can’t go over the past too much; we’ve had the same line-up for the last two records and we’re in a good place right now.”
Meticulous and layered, it would seem that One Of Us Is The Killer is Dillinger Escape Plan showcasing how to take their time, planning every move with precision and detail.
Weinman, however, has another opinion.
“I actually think it’s the opposite,” he says of my theory. “We’ve become such a well-oiled machine that whatever we do ends up sounds like Dillinger Escape Plan. Yet it’s still those happy accidents that still work for us from time to time. We took a lot of time on One Of Us Is The Killer, but the chemistry’s really good, better than it’s ever been.”
BY JOSHUA KLOKE
