Pain Station -- Scott Sturgis

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Last Edit/Update
02 April, 2000

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Interview with
Scott Sturgis
conducted via email
February, 1998 by
Mike Santarpia

Last Sigh: Where are you from?

Pain Station: Originally from Michigan, but I’ve spent the majority of my life in Cincinnati, OH.

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

Pain Station: Nope, no college. I wasn’t allowed.

Last Sigh: What bands did you like while you were growing up?

Pain Station: Way too many to count, but I had a pattern of steering clear of the mainstream top 40 bands. At various points in my teens I liked Devo, Duran Duran, The Smiths, Depeche Mode, New Order, SWANS, Sputnik... You know, all the freaks.

Last Sigh: What bands do you like now?

Pain Station: Again, far too many to count on both sides. Some standouts I really dig are Suicide Commando, Haujobb, Pain Station (uh... oops), Alien Faktor, Dive, Oneiroid Psychosis, PAL, Assemblage 23... hell, it goes on and on...

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

Pain Station: As far as I know, I’ve had a drive to create music for as long as I can remember. Music has always been a huge part of my life and I suppose one day I just finally decided to give it a shot myself. Many bands have influenced me to an extent over the years. Not necessarily in sound, but as inspiration to try to create something different from anything else that I’ve heard.

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

Pain Station: I play keyboards and that’s it. I’d say out of those three, keyboards are my favorite.

Last Sigh: What other interests do you have besides music?

Pain Station: I like movies, but I tend to stay away from theaters most of the time because of the lack of social skills typical moviegoers have. Also, I’m an avid boxing fan. And I dig console video games.

Last Sigh: Do you like any other aspects of the music industry do you like? engineering or >producing etc..?

Pain Station: No, I just stick to writing the music and let the producers and engineers do their jobs.

Last Sigh: Is there anything you would like to accomplish in the music industry that you haven’t yet?

Pain Station: I’d like to be heard by more people and I’d like to get hooked up with some European distribution on this second album. Also, I wouldn’t mind getting on a soundtrack or two eventually.

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

Pain Station: In my first joint effort I was doing music with a friend in a project called S & M... The first “serious” band I joined was called Syringe. That fell apart and one guy went on to ...Of Skin & Saliva and the other started a band called Negative Feedback, which I later joined. Then I started Pain Station up again.

Last Sigh: Why did you choose your name? What does it mean? Did you have any other names in mind before choosing this one?

Pain Station: Not sure how I came about it actually. I knew that my music seemed to reflect the darker side of me and I guess Pain Station was what I came up with. That’s always been the one name for my music.

Last Sigh: What equipment do you use?

Pain Station: An Ensoniq ASR-10.

Last Sigh: Do you have any other albums that were releases on other labels? Or is the one you are on currently your first? What other labels did you pursue before signing to this one which? Did any pursue you?

Pain Station: My first album, Anxiety, was released on Decibel and my second, Disjointed, will also be on Decibel. As for other labels I sent demos to, I pretty much covered the lot of them... 21st Circuitry, C.O.P., FCR, Zoth, Re-Con... Didn’t send one to Decibel, though. The only one I heard from besides Decibel (who wrote to me after hearing a track on a compilation) was 21st Circuitry, but I got the impression my stuff wasn’t quite up Don’s alley.

Last Sigh: How long did it take to record the album?

Pain Station: We did the album in a week.

Last Sigh: Which is your favorite song on the album? Why?

Pain Station: “Empty“ is my favorite. At the time, that was the one track on the album that was the best example of what I wanted to sound like.

Last Sigh: Is your band on any soundtracks or compilations? If so which ones?

Pain Station: I’m on a few compilations. A track from my demo (“The End of You”) is on Ras Dva’s ‘There Is No Time’ compilation. That same track is on the Zoth Ommog comp. ‘A.P. - The Contest’ and I have another track from the demo (“Cringe”) on 21st Circuitry’s ‘Coldwave Breaks.’ More recently, I worked with Alien Faktor on a cover of the Laverne & Shirley theme song for Re-Constriction’s ‘TV Terror’ and I did a cover of Men Without Hats’ “The Safety Dance” that will also be released by Re-Constriction on the ‘Nod’s Tacklebox O’ Fun’ compilation sometime this year. And finally, I did a techno track for Decibel’s new comp., ‘Resonance.’

Last Sigh: Have you made any videos?

Pain Station: Nope.

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

Pain Station: The future? I don’t think that far ahead. I’m starting a new side project now and I may do an EP’s worth of material and hope it gets released sometime. As for my second album, Disjointed, it’s pretty much done on my end. I just need to schedule when I’ll be heading into the studio to record it. I’ll probably start recording in February and hope for a spring release.

Last Sigh: Do you see the band staying with the current label?

Pain Station: Definitely.

Last Sigh: Do you feel Industrial music is dead?

Pain Station: Not until bands stop making it.

Last Sigh: 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?

Pain Station: Yeah, I see a future for it, but at this point it looks pretty grim. But hey, isn’t a grim future what it’s all about? I see it becoming more popular, sure, but probably not on a mainstream level unless there’s some sort of crossover appeal somewhere. And no, I don’t think the music industry recognizes it as a whole and I don’t know that they ever will. And maybe it’s better that way.

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

Pain Station: I don’t think anything about any of them -- I don’t think about them at all.

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

Pain Station: Uh... see above.

Last Sigh: How did you become involved with the Cyberbabies comp.?

Pain Station: I met Michael Welch quite a while back in the IB chat room and he asked if I’d be interested in contributing a track. I told him “yeah“ and that’s pretty much it.

Last Sigh: Thanks.