Interview: Blizzard

What is the meaning behind the name Malefaction?

The word Malefaction means a criminal act or offence against the law. Our guitarist Clint thought it would be a good name for the band and I guess the rest of us agreed.

Since Malefaction is not very well known in Europe, is it possible to give an introduction of the band and releases so far?

Our line up so far is Clint on guitar and high back up vocals; Cory on drums; Mike plays bass and oes the low back up vocals, and me (Travis) on main vocals. Our first release was the 1995 "Smothered" CD which I put on my label called Out of Enslavement. The next year our "Divisions" 7" came out and was a split label release between Bad Food for Thought and Commode which are both Canadian labels. That same year we did a split 7" with an US band, So I Had To Shoot Him from New Jersey. Our most recent release, "Man Grows Cold" was also released through Out of Enslavement. We've also been on two compilations. The first was a 7" called "Systematic Destruction" and the other was a CD titled "All Power to the People, Not the State." The song we have on this CD comp is called "Image Assembly" and hasn't been released on anything else.

How would you describe the difference in musical style between "Smothered" and "Man Grows Cold?" "Man Grows Cold" seems to be at a more extreme level.

"Smothered" is a lot slower and more melodic than "Man Grows Cold." When "Smothered" came out we got compared to Unbroken, Chokehold, and Earth Crisis-that wholes sxe chug chug metal movement. I really did not think we were similar to those bands and though the comparisons helped to sell "Smothered", they kind of annoyed me. The reason "Smothered" came out the way it did had a lot to do with the loss of our main song writer, Kent. He quit the band previous to the recording for personal reasons. Though half of the songs on "Smothered" were written by Kent, the other half were a toss up between what Clint was writing and what our old bass player Jahmeel was writing. Clint tended to write songs that were aggressive whereas Jahmeel wanted melody and catch riffs. There is nothing more annoying than two songwriters who can't agree on a direction. A year after "Smothered" came out Jahmeel wasn't in the band so Clint was able to write music he wanted. As it turned out Cory and myself really wanted to play extreme music, and Mike was the perfect addition to the band because he understood what we wanted to do musically and has contributed a great deal. As a band we are only trying to please ourselves and that is very liberating. I've never been more excited about being in this band.

In the song "Fuck the League for Life" (Man Grows Cold) you talk about the pro-life movement. Is it right of me to conclude that you don't agree with what they are saying, and can you explain it?

Yes, we are totally against the pro-life movement. We all believe that all women have the right to make all decisions concerning their bodies. The League for Life is a local anti-abortion group which feels that the world would be a better place if everyone believed in God and read the bible. They even run a TV commercial which states that teen pregnancies wouldn't happen if everyone waited until marriage to have sex. I'm not sure whether any news about the shooting of abortion doctors in North America reached Europe but there have been five incidents; two in Canada and three in the US. The fifth shooting actually resulted in the murder of a New York abortion doctor. In November 1997 a doctor was shot while at home here in Winnipeg. It is believed that this right wing Christian group called "The Army of God" is responsible for these shootings. The Army of God even has a website with a hit list of all abortion doctors in North America. Though the system for abortions is far from perfect, the alternative would be worse.

How do you feel about the equality between men and women? (Real Beauty cannot be Photographed)

The song "Real Beauty..." deals with pornography, sexism, and how the media influences the way women feel about their bodies. In North America too much emphasis is placed on trying to attain the skinny model appearance. But at the same time, models only represent a small percentage of what women actually look like. Because the image of the perfect woman is always rammed down the throats of the rest of society, it creates a feeling of bodily inferiority which is unfair. Men do not have this pressure to look a certain way placed on them in the media so this is definitely an inequality between the sexes.

A lot of songs seem to be politically oriented. Is this a correct assumption and can you explain your answer?

The lyrics to our songs all deal with something that is important to Mike or me because we write all the lyrics. I would go so far to say that all the songs are political though the lyrics may not come across that way.

I couldn't help noticing the pentagram on "Man Grows Cold." Does it have a meaning?

It is hard to miss the pentagrams on our new record, isn't it? Yes, there are reasons behind us using it. For some reason or other there an awful lot fo Christian HC kids and band around here. It's really quite depressing and this has only begun to happen in the last year or so. This one Christian HC band from here believe that animal rights are a joke because god gave humans animals to do with as they please and also preach that homosexuality is a sin. So basically the Christian HC scene is full of shitheads. While dealing with this mentality is very tiring it does make me laugh. By putting the pentagram on our new record we are trying to ensure that no Christian kid buys it, or if they do they will have to hide it from their parents. I guess it's also possible that a Christian kid could read the lyrics and actually start thinking for her/himself. We also have shirts with the pentagram on them. It amazes me that in this day and age and inverted pentagram can still upset people. We are not Satanists but we are atheists.

Can you give a short description of your local scene?

As I mentioned in the previous question there is a large Christian HC scene here. We do not play with these bands and it's gettingmore and more difficult to find bands in Winnipeg that I respect as people and musicians. Most all ages shows do well depending on what time of year it is. Winter is usually best cause it gets real cold and kids have nothing better to do. All in all I'd have to say our scene is a joke. And to be honest I could care less if we ever played another show in Winnipeg.

HC is all about unity, but there's still a lot backstabbing going on. People seem to be jelous of one another, mostly for no reason. Have you had any experience with that?

There used to be this death metal band from here that was jelous of us and would talk shit about me. But to my face they were polite. I kind of found it amusing when I would hear the things they said about me. The truth is they were never my friends, their band was terrible and their opinion meant less than nothing to me. I know that some kids don't get along in our scene but whatever they're fighting about has nothing to do with me and frankly I could care less. I've never been upset with what other people thought of me cause it doesn't matter. I know what I'm all about and that's what is important.

Do you have any plans for the future? Touring?

In 1999 we should have two new 7"s out. One on Commode as well as one on Denied a Custom from Japan. As for touring I'm sure we'll return to the US and most of Canada should see us again sometime soon. Living in Winnipeg isolates you from a lot of places. Because we are located in the center of Canada we have to drive at least 5 hours to get to the nearest large city. If we lived in Southern Ontario or Quebec we could play all over the eastern US more frequently. And if we lived in southern BC we could always head down to California. We would all love to tour Europe, Japan and Australia. That would rock.

A lot of bands that are coming over here like touring Europe because of the hospitality (food at gigs, sleeping places,...). Can you give a description of what it is like in Canada?

For us touring in Canada has been really good when the shows don't fall through. We've always had places to stay and usually one meal - in most cases pasta. We know enough people that we are generally treated very well.

Is it true that it is possible for bands in Canada to get financial aid from the government? If so, and you explain how it works?

Yes it is possible for bands in Canada to get financial aid. The aid can range from loans or grants to record demos, records or videos. There's even a package that can help you while on tour. Crazy isn't it? The problem is that you have to follow certain guidlelines. The Canadian government isn't going to support a band that sings about how corrupt the politicians are, or that cops are scumbags. So not all Canadian bands will be able to make use of these aid programs. I'm sure our lyrics would offend many of people handing out the loans. But if you were a pop band that was radio friendly I'm sure you would have no problem getting the government to help foot the bill.

Thanks for answering these questions. Do you have any last remarks?

Thanks for making Malefaction a part of your zine. I would request that everyone think for themselves. And please question everything. If any of the above answers were not clear please don't hesitate to write for a better explanation.