E X I T 1 3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Entering In A New Age
by: Adrian Bromley
Bill Yurkiewicz has a very hectic lifestyle. Between his
extensive work as co-owner of Relapse Records, and his continuous
work with numerous side-projects, it is a wonder that he finds time
to do anything with his band Exit-13. But he does, and he does it
well.
Hailed as one of the most metal/death/grind/extreme music
experimental projects out there, Exit-13 refuses to be lumped into
any genre specific category. It isn't in their mind sets. Yurkiewicz
explains.
"Some people have come to expect that Exit-13 is weird and they
don't know what they are going to get," he says about their music.
"And then others will get into one phase of the band and then want us
to stay that way forever." He notes confidently, "maybe this is some
sort of elitist geek at a record label thing to say but we are doing
what we like. If you like it you are a true Exit-13 fan. If you think
we suck and think we are doing something that isn't as good as what
we have done before then you missed the boat." He adds, "There is
never one thing that is going to do it for me. I like so many types
of music. To describe it, I would say I couldn't just eat veggie
burgers everyday. I like Indian food, Chinese food, etc ... I
couldn't say I would eat Indian food for the rest of my life."
And how does he find time to juggle between record label duties
and band/tour time? Laughing, he says, "I have no personal life at
all. We have so many recordings going at once, all in the works. We
are doing three EP sessions with three drummers and then the full
album by January, tentatively entitled _Didactic Grind_. It has been,
and still is crazy for us. And on top of that, I have to deal with
stuff at the record label level." With some frustration in his voice,
he says, "Whenever I work with the band, it is when I am not busy
with the label. Exit-13 has lost a lot of its impetus because I am
here all of the time."
With numerous projects on the go, not to mention the band's
latest release _...Just A Few More Hits_, a kind of collection of
material from 1994's _Ethos Musick_ recording sessions, many would
fear that Yurkiewicz would be on a crash course to burn out. "I'll
just keep wanting to do more and more," he says passionately. "I keep
having more and more ideas for stuff. If we decide we want to do a
new record and I have no idea, then it is time to call it quits. As
long as I have ideas for this band, I can't see myself being burned
out."
To simplify things, here is a (hopefully accurate) list of the
projects Bill and Exit-13 are involved in:
- _Didactic Grind_ (January): with guitarist Steve O'Donnell, new
bassist Terry Sherry, and session drummer Dave Witte
- _Smoking Songs_: with Brutal Truth's rhythym section Danny Lilker
(bass) and Rich Hoak (drums), and Pain Teens vocalist Bliss Blood.
It has a cover version of classic numbers from the 30's and 40's,
including Ella Fitzgerald's "When I Get High, I Get Low" and Bea
Foote's "Weed"
- 7" Ep, _Whacked Metal_ (on Grinding Death Records): recording
several tracks with Deceased's King Fowley covering Venom's
"Bursting Out" and Riot's "Hard Loving Man" - not to mention a few
original tracks
- a 10" Napalm Death tribute album
- a Beatles compilation
- will perform theme from "The Benny Hill Show" on T.V. theme song
compilation on Slap A Ham label
- a 7" split with Hemdale on Visceral Productions
- a song/track on upcoming Bovine Records crust/grind compilation
It is obvious he has a lot of work put into the band - he knows
what he likes to play and to be a part of. Does that same thought
process carry over into the record label side of his work? "I want to
be successful by putting out the music we (Relapse) like. I don't
want to sign bands to make money, to sell out or rip people off. I
just want to make an honest living, which is putting out extreme
music, whether it be grindcore or noise. When we (him and Matt
Jacobson) jumped into it, we were so naive, and never knew what was
going to come of it. As it progressed and reponsibility reared its
head, we were like 'Oh my God. What are we doing?' We started off
with no real education. We just did it and learned along the way."
About the rapid start the label got by joining both Jacobson's and
his own 7" labels, he cites this being the turning point: "After a
month or so we opened up the offices for Germany-based Nuclear Blast
Records in the U.S., so because they were bigger and established, it
gave us a lot of credibility from the start."
"I think we have a good edge doing the mail order catalog. We
see what stuff people are interested in. We get inside knowledge on
how things are progressing and what poeople are getting into, and
then we apply that to our label. I think Relapse has positioned
itself to have its hands in several cookie jars and not just one. It
is what I like in a band as well. I like all kinds of music and why
would I just want to release one kind of music? It would be boring."
And the good thing about his dual work with the label and the
band? "It enables us to do 100% of the music we want to do without
sucking anyone's ass at a record label."
Having been a true believer in making music that can really
retain no boundaries, what is Yurkiewicz's view on the metal scene of
the 90's? "I think it went through its commercial phase, and now it
is going back into the underground where it belongs. I see a lot of
labels who put out death metal to cash in biting the dust, and I love
to see that because if you are fake from the beginning, then you are
getting what you deserve." He snickers.
Can't say he doesn't have the right to snicker. Both his label
and Exit-13 have been able to go with the trends as well as focus on
originality - and in the long run remain true to their goals they
have set out to achieve. See, determination can bring success.
...get me back!