Corrosion of Conformity play the Roxy Aug. 27
Over three decades ago, Corrosion of Conformity (COC) was born in Raleigh, North Carolina. COC initially started as an underground band that was founded by three teenagers and now are on a full US tour with a stop in LA The Roxy on Aug. 27.
COC eventually transformed and influenced heavy music making it what it is today. The band is making a comeback with their latest album IX. The group has toured throughout the U.S. and Europe with bands from Cluth to Goatsnake. They’ve even made appearances at music festivals such as Roadburn and Deathfest.
The OC Concert Guide had the opportunity to speak with Corrosion of Conformity’s very own Matt Dean about the band’s origin, career path, and their latest album.
OCCG: How did you come up with “Corrosion of Conformity?” What’s the story behind it?
MD: If you could journey back in time a quarter of a century you could ask 15-year-old Reed Mullin what he was thinking as he daydreamed in study hall about what would be a good name for a hardcore band. The reason it resonated with the rest of us is because we were a bunch of punks noticing how conformist the hardcore subculture was when we went to a place like the fabled Washington DC scene and for all it’s creativity and good stuff, to some degree it was superficial and a like a microcosm of the high school.
OCCG: What is your main purpose with your music? What do you want your families to gain out of it?
MD: The main purpose of our music is self-expression and musical exploration and to create something that conjures up the spirit of all of the intense heavy rock and really agile hard core and metal when we first heard it as kids.
If doing this can gain us some economic enrichment to provide for our families, so much the better.
OCCG: How did you get started with your career? Was there a pivotal moment or was it an ongoing process?
MD: It’s an ongoing process of pivotal moments and pivotal blunders, ha ha.
Pivotal moments include discovering the Black Sabbath song ” Electric Funeral” when I was seven years old and being obsessed with the wah-wah, Being fortunate enough to see the Bad Brains and Black Flag when I was a teenager and deciding: “hey that’s what I want to do” and meeting some other people crazy enough to thing the same ridiculous thought.
OCCG: What is the meaning behind your latest album IX?
MD: There is no direct literal, linear narrative or meaning behind it but there is a lot of meaning in experiencing music and I think this album turned out more profound than most because we didn’t force it. There are layers of existence in there and I think it will resonate with a lot of people.
As for the title it refers to this being our ninth studio LP.
OCCG: What are you most looking forward to touring Australia and New Zealand?
MD: Australia is a special and discerning audience for rock music in general and it’s a place I fell in love with play with Vista Chino… and New Zealand is a place we hadn’t played for over 14 years. It’s very green and beautiful.
OCCG: How do you feel about your drummer Reed Mullin not being able to join you on your tour?
MD: Well, you heard it here first: while Reed was unable to make the Australia trip he will be joining us on the tour with Bl’ast and Brant Bjork.
He will be getting repairs to his shoulder in September and has decided to play through pain until then. Eric Hernandez did and awesome job filling in for Reed in NZ and Australia and he may be helping us out during October while Reed recovers from the rotator cuff surgery.
OCCG: What are you most looking forward to your show at The Roxy in LA on Aug. 27?
MD: I’m looking forward to all of our family in Southern California coming out and seeing this traveling circus we’ve assembled with all of the desert folks: Nick Oliveri and Brant Bjork and all of their people coming out and having a good time. Maybe a taco truck is in our future… that always gets Woody excited.
OCCG: What’s next on your agenda in terms of your career?
MD: Well, I think we just put one foot in front of the other. We are going to be announcing some east coast, Texas and mid western dates and be thinking about Europe again.
In the new year there IS talk about playing some shows as a four piece with Pepper and depending on Down’s timeframe, we are looking into making a record with that line up.
Right now, like I said we are in the moment with this awesome traveling circus of Brant Bjork and Low Desert Punk. They have the incomparable Bubba Dupree on guitar from Hater and my favorite DC hardcore band Void… and Bl’ast! are retooled with Nick Oliveri on bass and Joey Castillo on drums and Lord Dying are just so heavy it’s ridiculous so we are focused on bringing it every night because we are in epic company. And that’s a good moment to be in.