Originally published in ‘zine issue #8, 1993
Spine is formerly Oblivion, a heavy technical thrash band from Maryland. The band has been around for a long while and has put out several demos under various lineups. Here guitarist Mike Bossier, who has been there all along, I think, and does a lot of the writing, talks about his band.
D.U.: First off, how does it feel to finally have an album deal? How did this come about? Was Relativity looking to sign some metal bands and you’re one of them?
Mike: The deal with Relativity is on hold. We have interest from other labels, including a major.
And what’s up with the album?
We will have to wait and see.
What would you be doing now if you didn’t get signed? Were you looking to get signed or does it not matter that much, as far as the goals of the band are concerned?
I think any band would love to get signed and get out on the road and play your music in front of as many people as possible to sell your product well. That’s what we are always going to do, whether it’s on a demo scale or a label scale. We love to get out on the road and just play. It’s what we want to do.
The opinion has been stated, even in this very ‘zine, that thrash is dead. What do you think of that opinion?
A lot of thrash bands are not trying to break new ground with their music. That’s where I would say it’s dead.
“You see girls slammin’ just as hard and diving just as high as guys.”
You’ve said that you think of your band as a heavy heavy metal band. How do you take the thrash tag?
If you walked into a record store, you would find thrash/death metal/speed metal/hardcore music probably under the title “heavy metal.” So you would go to the heavy metal section to find it. If you wanted all the aggressions of the above, you would get our tape.
How are bands like yours treated by the death metal bands and people in the scene?
We are treated great by the death metal scene.
Do you see technical bands trying to be more technical than each other in their arrangements, riffings, etc.? Is there a danger of going over people’s heads with the songs?
Yes, there is a danger. We write some complex stuff, but also keep it under a tight rein so the non-musicians will like it just as much.
Do you think there is any crossover as far as show lineups are concerned, apart from the odd one here and there, in the scene? Is this a good thing or a bad thing?
I think it’s great. There should be more of it. We play as many as we can. You win over new audiences as well. You’re just going to sell better. There is going to be more people at the show, you’re still gonna get your own crowd there plus the other crowds the other bands pull in, which in turn will build the scene.
Is there any sexism in the scene that you can detect, or do you not pay attention? Is this an issue of concern to you?
I think there is less sexism in the underground scene than any other scene. You see girls slammin’ just as hard and diving just as high as guys. We play our music because we enjoy it, and it gets our aggressions out. If we wanted to just get chicks we would be playing glam, and our time wouldn’t be spent practicing and improving ourselves but spent on teasing our hair and posing. That’s where sexism is.
Will you be selling any of your demos anymore?
Yes, we will be selling our demos at our shows and a few area music stores, mail order, and record stores.
Last words?
There are a lot of lazy fucks out there who need to get off their asses and come check out some shows in the scene. Too many band cliques and backstabbers. We all need to support each other. It’s slowly starting to happen. Support the scene.
Contact Mike’s cool band and ask about what demos are still available by writing Coble Management. ■
