FJ Desanto -- The Aggression

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02 April, 2000

FJ Desanto

Mike: Where are were you raised??

FJ: Born in Brooklyn, raised on Long Island, currently living in NYC with the dream of eventually moving to Europe.

Mike: Did you go to college? If so what was your major?

FJ: NYU Film and Music.

Mike: What bands did you like growing up?

FJ: Duran Duran, Rick Springfield, George Michael

Mike: What bands do you listen to now?

FJ: The Verve, Acumen, The Mission,. John Cale, Sisters of Mercy, Ministry

Mike: What bands do you dislike?

FJ: Marilyn Manson, Rage Against the Machine.

Mike: What were your influences to want to make music? What bands influenced you?

FJ: Life, liquor, Al Jourgensen and the Sisters.

Mike: What instruments do you play if you play any? Which one(s)? Which is your favorite?

FJ: I play bass, sing, play keyboards and program. I like to play bass and wish I would play more.

Mike: What other interests do you have besides music?

FJ: Besides music, I’m a film freak, Jackie Chan movies especially, and pro- wrestling.

Mike: Do you like any other aspects of the music industry do you like? Engineering or producing etc..?

FJ: I like studio stuff a lot, I would like to really improve my studio skills.

Mike: s there anything you would like to accomplish in the music industry that you haven't yet?

FJ: I would like to find and produce new bands and do remixes. Also, I wanna be the A&R guy for Mark’s label, lol!

Mike: Have you played with any bands previous to this one? If so which ones?

FJ: I had a band called M.O.G. which morphed into the aggression so this is still my first and only band but I was exceptionally fortunate to do some time playing bass in the legendary universal discourse.

Mike: How did the band meet? And where?

FJ: The band met on Long Island, I beat Mark up the first night I met him and we decided to have a band. I knew Tom and the Kidd as I grew up with them, so
I knew them long before the aggression. I was in Little League with Tom and I used to babysit the Kidd (honest)

Mike: Why did you choose your name?

FJ: I read it in a ministry interview.

Mike: What does it mean?

FJ: I have no idea, I guess it just represents a state of mind.

Mike: Did you have any other names in mind before choosing this one?

FJ: yes but luckily Mark put his foot down and the aggression was born.

Mike: Do you have any other albums that were releases on other labels? Or is the oneyou are on currently your first?

FJ: This is the first (of several) epics.

Mike: What other labels did you pursue before signing to this one which? Did any pursue you?

FJ: We sent tapes out to everyone and a couple then came after us, most notably fifth colvmn, which for obvious reasons, didn’t work out.

Mike: How long did it take to record the album?

FJ: Too long, probably 2 years.

Mike: Which is your favorite song on the album? Why?

FJ: Airily, its just perfect.

Mike: Is that also your favorite song to perform live? if no then which one?

FJ: My favorite song to play live is Disheveled Star.

Mike: Is your band on any soundtracks or compilations? If so which ones? Were you ever asked to do participate any?

FJ: we’re on two compilations, “Awake the Machines” on Out of Line Records and “Blackout” on None of the Above, which we were asked to be on. We’ll also be on Cyberbabies if it ever comes out.

Mike: Have you made any videos?

FJ: nope.

Mike: What is you favorite city to play? Favorite venue?

FJ: The Capitol Ballroom in Washington DC is the best venue with the best crowd.

Mike: What bands have you toured with?

FJ: We haven’t toured.

Mike: Which was your favorite band to tour with?

FJ: If we did tour, it would probably be Acumen or Clay People.

Mike: What is in the future for your band? When can we expect to see another album?

FJ: The future is us putting out a really phat remix record called “Pure Liquid Ego” this spring and playing great shows.

Mike: Do you see the band staying with the current label?

FJ: I could see it happening, but you never know. If we stayed on Tinman, I wouldn’t complain one bit.

Mike: What do you think about industrial music in general? Do you feel Industrial music is dead? Do you see a future for industrial music? Do you see it
becoming more popular? Do you feel industrial music as a whole is recognized by the music industry?

FJ: Even though I like industrial music, I don’t think any of us even listen to that much industrial anymore, which is probably a good thing, cause most of it sucks. No one is trying be original. There aren’t any good new bands out there whereas when we were younger we had Ministry and Puppy when it was new and exciting. I don’t think industrial music is dead, everything goes in cycles, no genre ever truly dies. The industry knows that too and will still try to get a band to be the next NIN.

Mike: What do you think about the "mainstream" bands like NIN, Marilyn Manson, Filter, Gravity Kills and Stabbing Westward?

FJ: Nine Inch Nails is still awesome but the rest can suck it, they’re all shit songwriters though the filter song with crystal method rocked. I don’t even consider Manson to be anything plausible musically. They’re a real shit stain on the genre. I can’t resepct any band that can’t write a decent song.

Mike: What do you think about MTV and the music award shows?

FJ: I watch all award shows in hopes that either Jackie Chan or Christy Turlington are on (preferably together).

Mike: Is there anything you would like to add to any of your fans or future fans who might be reading this?

FJ: \ /

[Editor's Comment to statement above: LOL]

Mike: What equipment do you use?

FJ: I play a Gibson Thunderbird bass through crate amps and I have a phat maxed out kurzweil k-2000 and I sequence on cubase on my PC.

Mike: What equipment do you use live?

FJ: I use the bass rig listed above, my big mouth and a Tascam DAT player.