Interview with Eulogy
Interview first featured in La Chaîne #41.
When and how did EULOGY start?
DAVE: Maybe October or November of 2024?
PASK: Eulogy started as a studio project for fun just to record some of Sticker’s songs he wrote during the pandemic but never recorded. Sticker asked Dave and me to join as drummer and bass/lead guitar to record his songs, then it became more steady. So Sticker and Dave asked Matt to join as bass so I fully can focus on leads. Then when time came to find a singer I suggested and insisted to have Vince and he nailed it right away.
MATT: When I joined they had been jamming a bit and already had 4 songs.
What were your particular inspirations or reference points when starting the band? Has that shifted at all since you’ve been playing and writing?
PASK: The inspiration of the band is pretty much swedish 80s hardcore punk such as TOTALITÄR, etc. When the band was still a studio project for Sticker’s songs / riffs it was more D-beat-ish then when Matt joined the band, bringing some of his riffs it started sounds more scandinavian hardcore and also our sounds now.
MATT: At first I was just learning the songs they had already written but when I started contributing riffs I was seeking influence from scandinavian hardcore.
DAVE: Yes, the Kängpunk influence is heavy, but I think a little bit of early POISON IDEA and BLACK FLAG sneaks in there, especially with Pask’s guitar playing.
VINCENT: I don't have a ton of experience has a singer so it took me a while to figure this out, but I'd say, that Gözzel, SVART PARAD’s vocalist, is a big influence for me, at least on our newer songs.
I’m curious to hear about your songwriting process, because I think
the songs are really well written. Can you tell me about how you write?
Is it one person bringing riffs or songs to the group, or is it more collaborative?
PASK: The songs writing is pretty much Matt, then Sticker and Dave will say their opinion and idea and they will work it. Vince and I add our spice and sauce on top.
DAVE: It’s an ever-changing process. We try to be as collaborative as possible. Every component is essential.
MATT: Sticker and I write the riffs and we all tweak and structure them together.
VINCENT: For vocals I pretty much just mumble stuff during rehearsal to figure out the structure, after I’ll write the lyrics within the patterns I’ve decided to use.
Between all the members you have a lot of collective experience playing in lots of great bands – have those experiences informed your approach? Do you have advice or hard-earned lessons to share with less experienced rockers?
DAVE: Don’t be a punker-than-thou gatekeeper to younger people, you were young and clueless at one point too. Think about your place in the world, your actions and the environment that you’re creating, and how you can maybe do something to make our increasingly shitty world a little less shitty. Don’t take your community for granted, but also remember that there are way more important things in the world than being punk.
PASK: Don’t let the bastards bring you down!
VINCENT: If you get the occasion to be part of a cool project, go for it. Especially if it’s outside your comfort zone, you’ll figure it out. And prioritize benefit gigs as much has possible.
MATT: Always try and be patient and let everyone have a voice.
Vincent, you did the artwork right? Do you have anything to say about
that process? And what’s your secret to that perfect crunchy high contrast look?
VINCENT: I really like the kind of super blown out Xerox artwork like on DISCLOSE’s ‘Nuclear Victims’ EP or the ‘Aspect of War’ 10inch, so that was the main influence.
As for the process, it’s mainly to degrade the quality of the image you’re working on, and after to find a way to lose the grey tones either through the overuse of an old and shitty Xerox printer, and if not possible via Photoshop or GIMP. Through the latter, turn your image in dynamic object (to work in a non-destructive way, only possible in Photoshop unfortunaly), add grains (to keep a bit of details), gaussian blur (degradation), apply some threshold, adjust level if needed and thats about it. Digital gives you more control over the result you’ll get, but Xerox will always get a better result in terms of texture, unfortunaly those nice old printers are sometime a bit harder to find these day.
Does the band have plans for the forseeable future Are you guys trying to tour? Cooking any new material?
PASK: Yes we’re trying go tour for sure, maybe start with east coast mini tour and eventually go do a Europe tour. Also working on an LP to release soon enough!
DAVE: We are playing with PLEKTANI from Greece in NYC (our first out of town show ever) September 26, and also playing Fragments Fest in Ottawa in October, and in Quebec City with ANÉANTIX for their LP release show. But otherwise we have been trying to focus on writing new songs for the LP. Also, our EP (which you can get now from Broken Skull or from us) will be released in Russia pretty soon on Future Extinction Records. Looking forward to getting the LP out and touring next year!
What bands are you most looking forward to seeing at Varning this year?
PASK: Oh I’m definitely excited to see MILITARY SHADOW, DESTRUCT, PLEKTANI, MOB 47, etc... pretty much every band, Varning is a great punk fest and we always got talented bands, out of town or the country and even locals!
DAVE: For me a big one is PLEKTANI and also MILITARY SHADOW. Bands I’ve seen before and am stoked to see again – SALVAJE PUNK, DESTRUCT (who absolutely killed it last time they played Varning) and MOB 47. But more than anything I am looking forward to seeing all the friends. The community is the most important part by far to me.
VINCENT: I’m looking foward to see PSYCHO TERRORIST DESPAIR SYSTEM, I really liked their demo. NY scene is really effervecent these days, it’s cool to see so many new projects. Beside that I’m very grateful that we’ll be sharing the stage with MOB 47, MILITARY SHADOW, DESTRUCT and MUECO.
MATT: I’m stoked to see PLEKTANI, MILITARY SHADOW, MOB 47, DESTRUCT, and check out bands I don’t know.
