E X I T   T O   E U P H O R I A 
                   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                      An interview with Exit-13
                           by: Adam Wasylyk

     Exit-13 have always been on the experimental side. On both prior
albums, _Don't Spare the Green Love_ and _Ethos Musick_, the  use  of
pro-pot lyrics and their jazzy-grindcore sound  separated  them  from
the horde  of  generic  grindcore  bands.  With  their  latest  opus,
_Smoking Songs_, Exit-13 have further experimented with  their  sound
by dropping the blast beat drumming and grinding guitars, and instead
playing the trombone and piano! What can be heard on  the  album  are
jazz/blues cover tunes of 1920s, 30s, and 40s marijuana  anthems.  On
my first listen, I didn't quite understand what I was hearing, but  I
soon found myself snapping my fingers and  tapping  my  toes  to  the
music.
     I had a pleasant chat with Bliss Blood,  better  known  for  her
work in Pain Teens, from her New York home. Bliss contributed all  of
the female vocals that can be  heard  on  _Smoking  Songs_,  and  the
amazing kazoo playing on the track "1'1 (Thirteen  Inches  of  Fun)",
which was on the _UHF/VHF_ Relapse compilation.  Her  vocal  work  is
definitely one of the outstanding points on the record, which  really
complements the jazzy music.
     First off, Bliss explained how she came to meet up with a couple
of the members of Exit-13 and how she ended up  singing  on  _Smoking
Songs_. "I've known Dan (Lilker) and Rich (Hoak)  from  Brutal  Truth
since 1993 when my band Pain Teens did  a  tour  with  them  and  the
Boredoms. Danny  had  been  playing  on  Exit-13  records  with  Bill
(Yurkiewicz) and Steve (O'Donnell),  so  when  they  started  kicking
around this idea to do this record, Danny immediately thought  of  me
as far as a female vocalist that sang jazz. Although that's not  what
the Pain Teens was about, he knew I was into jazz. I talked  to  Bill
and we clicked as far as our aesthetics of what we wanted to do, so I
just flew up and we did some sections [of  songs]".  When  recording,
Bliss did have some choice as to which songs were going to be covered
for the album. "I picked out the songs with the female vocals that  I
liked, and they had already picked out some  other  songs  that  they
wanted to do, like "Hemp Cake". We basically all agreed on the  songs
that we were covering, as there weren't that many to choose from,  so
it was pretty easy".
     On my first listen to _Smoking Songs_, I truly wondered if  this
was some sort of joke or gag. Was this album a serious one? I  shared
my feelings with Bliss, who answered, "It's sort of a novelty  album,
compared to the grindy stuff. But most of Exit-13's albums have  been
thematically along the same lines, like "smoke a lot of pot." In that
sense, it was a continuation of their ideas with a  different  format
for it. It's pretty adventurous of them to even think of  doing  what
they did".
     On listening to all 13 tracks, what is evident is each track had
been modernized to a more 1990s sound, while still sounding  true  to
the original. Bliss acknowledged this and also  informed  me  on  her
involvement in the studio. "I had a little bit of influence as far as
ideas  for  the  arrangement  of  some  of  the  songs,"  she  began,
"especially when the trombone player came in. I was giving  him  some
ideas as far as  the  parts  that  he  was  playing.  He  could  play
Dixieland music anyway, but I did help him  with  specific  licks.  I
thought that the guys were going to modernize [the songs] a lot  more
when they mixed them down, like add lots of weird, tripped-out stuff.
Like the mix that I did on "If You're a Viper", you can hear the bass
[which was] a later re-mix that they did. I suggested that they  make
it sound like it was in a big room, like Carnegie Hall. I was  pretty
surprised when I got the tape later on, and that they mixed it really
straight. I wish I would have had more imput if I had been here  when
they mixed it. It would have been a little different".
     Will older fans like _Smoking Songs_? "What Bill told me is that
the fans of Exit-13 were intelligent and open minded enough to  check
out different things. But basically,  they're  not  really  concerned
with doing music for the fans, they're  concerned  with  doing  music
they dig. I'm sure a lot people who just like grindcore  won't  check
it out, but you'd be surprised, a lot of  people  like  variety,  and
especially if they're big pot smokers they're going to like it."
     And finally, I asked Bliss if she'll record with Exit-13  again,
and if she knew where the band was headed next. "I don't know.  We've
been talking about maybe doing a series of these records. Like  doing
one record about getting drunk, and one record of  sexy  blues  songs
from the '30s, because there's ton's of those. We may do  some  other
projects, it just depends on how busy everyone is."  I  wondered  out
loud if perhaps some of the attraction to Exit-13 is not knowing what
they'll do next? "They definitely  are  looking  for  ways  to  amuse
themselves, as far as sheer variety [goes]. They  want  to  keep  the
audience on their toes".

...get me back!