Interview circa 1997

I distinctly remember doing this interview at Gold Street....it wasnt nearly as fun as it reads!


THE___aggression ___!

Cast of Characters:

F.J. DeSanto- lead ego-maniac: in charge of all offensive manuevers, including drunken abandon, over-active but seldom assuaged libido, and general a$$holism. Vocals, programming and bass guitar

Mark Mohtashemi-(in absentia) The one member of the band who had the sense to be as far removed from the others as possible during this interview. Guitars, programming.

Tom Whitfleet-hardcore-rooted, nice-guy. Perhaps the most gracious hoodlum of the bunch, but that's not much of a challenge. Guitars, programming.

Mike "The Kid" Hess-Child, and new-comer to the band, immediately acclaimating himself to rampant alcoholism & wanton behavior. Keyboards.

The Aggression is a NYC guitar-heavy, aggro-industrial band with a recent debut CD, Whitelineoverride, out on the Tinman label. The album is quite an impressive release; the bulk of it was recorded at Warzone, & members of Sister Machine Gun, Die Warzau. Acumen, Lick, & Pigface contributed to its production &/or performance. The band has currently just returned from George Hagegeorge's Track-in-the-Box studios in Baltimore, where they recorded four new songs to appear on their follow-up remix album, Pure Liquid Ego. This up-coming remix album is also slated for release on the Tinman label.

sVIXn: How are you enjoying your debut release?

F.J.: I think Tinman's screwing us out of tons of money. I want a royalty check. I think we have thousands in royalties coming & we're getting f***ed! Seriously, though, our only problem with our label now, is that you can't walk into a Tower Records & find our stuff. I'm looking at you now as an interviewer, rather than a defender of the Tinman Empire.

sVIXn: I know nothing about it. I will mention to the appropriate person that maybe TINMAN should look into putting your album in stores. Perhaps it was never considered.

F.J.: Oh, c'mon. We don't know about how to do that. That's why we let them do it. That's why I send them three-page faxes...

Mike: It's gotta be a b!+ch to do.

F.J.: We can't even get together to do publishing or something like that. God forbid we'd have to put a disc out on our own! The only thing I'm complaining about is that it's not in stores. It's really slow. What bothers me is: I got the disc, I'm happy, I can play it; but so-&-so in Ohio, who sees me online all the time can't find it in his neighborhood record store I sent the kids a coupla free CDs, ya know, if I had my way, I'd give everyone I met a CD, but you can't, ya know what I mean? I want to see somebody buy it, I mean somebody who I haven't gone up to & been like, "Hi, I'm Frank..," ya know. Hopefully people will buy it, once they can find it. How many kids make an effort to order it, ya know what I mean? That's the point, we want it to be in the Tower. I don't care if nobody buys it. In the studio, we work. It was good to work with George [Hagegeorge] on the new record. We like the songs. The new record's gonna be the four songs I just played for you, in order. Then there's a gap. There's gonna be a bunch of remixes, all edited together, like one long DJ-mix. Mick [Hale]'s already done one for "Arena." We did one: "Disposable Memories." Acumen's doing one, BM Box is doing two, Cydonia's doing one, Howard/Terminal Sect's supposed to do one - - and right there, that's like a lot. Oh yeah, and our old keyboardist who we fired...

Tom: He now spins for raves.

F.J.: Yeah, he's techno. He's really good. He's gonna do one. You know, right there, you have a lot. We'll see what happens. We might have Van from Die Warzau do one, if our label gives us money. And that's the record right there. As much as we can squeeze on the disc, we will - - 'cause it's gonna be like a lower price: $9.99. I wouldn't've had a problem if it was just those four new songs, and it was just six or seven bucks. Plus it's fun for us to hear what people are gonna do to our songs.

sVIXn: Nice list of names you've got there.

F.J.: It's just all friend-crap. You know [In a mock conversation with an imaginary friend],"You wanna do this?" - - "Uh, yeah" [the response], and hopefully we can return the favor and do remixes for other people, if we actually have equipment.

sVIXn: What is The Aggression mindset?

F.J.: The Aggression is just a big soap opera on steroids, that's all it is.

Mike: Did you say "Soap Opera on Steroids"? Is that like a movie?

F.J.: No, I made that up. Just now. It's all about stories & waking up the next day & going "What the hell is that?"

Tom: "Damn, whose underwear is on the floor?"

F.J.: Yeah. We've lived a lot of Rock-n-Roll cliches. We do the hotel-trashing...We do other things together besides be in a band. That's why it's hard for us to get a fourth person, now to play guitar. Ya know, 'cause that person's gonna have to like, deal with the social aspect of this band...

Mike: It's like getting a new girlfriend.

F.J.: Exactly, there's a language...We have this entourage of friends called "The Idiots' Convention." It includes the four of us, [as well as others].....we went down to DC & the hotel room was utterly obliterated. Ya know, there was these underwear. It was like, "What's this?" "Not mine," "Not mine," & on down the line. We left it there, ya know, & it's been a running joke ever since.



(F.J. takes the floor & begins interviewing Mike.)

F.J.: [To Mike:] How are you handling your new sex-symbol status? [Back to the audience:] Ever since "The Kid" has become famous, he has picked up extreme womanizing ways,...

Mike: I'm not a womanizer! I've got too much class!

F.J.: Yeah, "I've-got-too-much-class-to-be-a-womanizer!" I have to admit that the whole being-in-a-band-to-get-chicks thing is really not working out for us right now. Actually, the online-getting-chicks thing works out much better for me than being in a band. That's the other reason why we have to get the disc in stores! But there's no CD in the store, ya know. We're not getting enough chicks.

Tom: Enough? We're not getting any!

F.J.: Well, not you.

Tom: Exactly. Part of the problem is that we do actually play out & people see us. & putting pictures in the disc...big mistake!

F.J.: Yeah, we may not play out again ever. To enshroud us, as the goths would say, in a veil of mystery would increase our appeal. Another option would be to tell people that Mark is dead. One of the reasons that "The Kid" is in the band, he's seventeen, is so that the older members of the band, like myself, can meet all these nice seventeen-year-old girls that he knows.

Tom: That doesn't seem to be working out either, though.

Mike: 'Cause I like them too much!

F.J.: I like little girls, but you don't have any hot friends!



The Aggression can be found stumbling like droogies through the streets of NY, or at their website (http://members.aol.com/mogproduct). Their performances inside NYC are notably abusive, while they maintain a modicom of professionalism outside city limits. Nevertheless, it's a show not to be missed: with chunky guitars, angst-ridden lyrics, & infectious melodies, The Aggression gets in your face & won't go away.