Last Sigh: As you know, I am a huge fan of your work, specifically of your "Take" release. I found it to be an amazing piece of art. What kind of background do you have which seems to have been brought out on "Take" in terms of your aggression towards the social issues you cover, those that range from the dogma of religion, politics and the environment, to the [dis]-organized fast food company, Burger King?

Bryan: Thanks for the big compliment! And I like the idea of my album being considered a "piece of art"! I think a lot of artists and bands tend to work on their material until they accumulate enough to stick on a CD, without giving much thought about the cohesion of the project. I'm happy that you noticed!

It's funny - I really have nothing personal against Burger King specifically; of course, just like any self-respecting critic of our corporate society, I have to lump those guys in with the general capitalist attitude of "make money now, let the world's grandchildren pay for it later". Wal-Mart, McDonald's, J.P. Morgan - it's all the same selfish, irresponsible idea, but with varying business models and products. "Ambulatory Meat Plants" is more about society's (and my own) weakness and hypocrisy when approaching these environmental issues. For example, I can't call myself a true vegetarian simply because I'll break down and get a burger once every few months when it's late at night and I know there's nothing in the fridge. Or, when I'm a guest in someone's home, I'm not going to insult them by acting like a militant animal-rights advocate when they plop a big pile of spaghetti with meat sauce in front of me. I try to be more of a realist than a pure-bred idealist.

I don't consider myself a true activist, although being so stern about social, political, and environmental issues on a published piece of work could certainly convey that idea. My manifesto, in essence, dictates that if I'm going to go through all the effort to produce music containing lyrics or samples of any kind, then I'm going to choose those lyrics and samples carefully to give meaning to each song. I leave the real hands-on activism to my worthy friends and fellow citizens, while I get my information from them and other sources and act as a sort of musical "voice" for each cause.

And that brings me to the "background" part of the question. Basically, I've spent quite a bit of time around "politically correct" people, and I agree with most of their ideals. I've been in bands with these people from an early age, and the issues seemed to always find their ways into the music. I started off listening to the Heavy Metal of the early 80's, being attracted by the heavy guitar riffs and the pubescent aggression of the whole lifestyle. As I got into my mid-twenties, however, I realized that most of the subject matter covered by that genre was pretty one-dimensional.

Last Sigh: The title: TAKE, what's the idea behind that? Do you feel most of us just take without really ever giving anything back to humanity or life on Earth? Would you also give us your philosophy or intentions behind the name: AnthroPile? Pile of what? *grin* Are you a misanthrope or?

Bryan: Exactly. Most of us take without thinking, let alone thinking about giving anything back.

I once saw this science fiction movie (I forget the name at the moment) in which an objective, alien race was told that human beings are mammals. This bunch of aliens didn't understand the description, because all of their observations and research had come to the conclusion that we were a virus. When you think about it, with the exception of a precious few civilizations and religions which preach unity with their environment, all people really do is get born, consume enormous amounts of resources, and die after leaving more than their share of offspring behind. A pile of humanity, although the notion of a "pile of shit" is kind of attractive. Seriously though, there are a lot of neat things and a lot of potential in the human race. We just can't seem to stop demonstrating that we often have this strange, irresponsible, selfish dark side.

Last Sigh: On your web site, relative to sampling what others speak, you stated: "I try to convince myself that I'm making observations of the human condition rather than directly attacking individuals and institutions, but the more I learn, the more pissed I get." What exactly are you pissed off at or about? And what human condition[s] are you concerned with here?

Bryan: As they say, if you don't like something, you're free to change the channel. Some things in our lives we can all control, like not watching stupid infomercials. Change the channel. Overzealous, overbearing evangelists? Change the channel. But a lot of people buy into it and DON'T change the channel. That's their choice, but sometimes I wonder if such people belong to the same species as I do. They probably wonder the same about folks like me, I imagine.

But a lot of things we, as individuals, don't have a much of a choice in - not a productive forum for input, anyway. Like the gun control issue or capitol punishment. Sure we can vote, and the more industrious of us can write letters to our congresspeople and such, but these are big government things, and innocent people are dying. I'd like to clarify that I'm really not an angry guy - not to the point of running down the street screaming. I just think that certain subjects are annoying enough, in my view, to warrant exposing in a five-minute song. So that maybe someday a hundred disgruntled individuals will write to their congresspeople, not just myself.

Last Sigh: Educating others about the ill state of affairs of life on Earth is one thing. What if I wanted to make this world a better place for all life, what would you suggest I do to help out, short of dying in the mountains and being eaten by a Grizzly Bear or Vultures?

Bryan: I wish I had more to offer this question than just my semi-informed opinion. There are so many different factors that mess up the world, but I think the main one is overpopulation. If you're going to procreate, have no more than two kids. And parent them responsibly. It drives me crazy when I see some hippie/yuppie couple shopping around in the local food co-op thinking they're saving the world by buying organic vegetables, only to notice the three or four kids trailing behind them. Sorry folks, but the damage is done. Those kids and their next few generations of offspring are going to amount to hundreds of people over the next century. Recycling, buying organic foods, and spending a weekend every month picking up garbage in the community are all a great place to start and get everyone thinking about conservation, but the root of the problem is that people won't make the BIG sacrifices of population control, world-wide education reform, and corporate resource-grabbing to begin with. That Coke can we recycled last night still takes land, a building, oil, and on and on to get it to the point where we can make another Coke can. And the more damn people we have that drink Coke, the more cans we'll need. We seem to be comfortable wearing the blinders, convincing ourselves that as long as we eat a free-range chicken and not a factory-grown one, everything is okay and we've done our part. But we, as an American population and a World population, adamantly refuse to tackle the roots of the problem. At this point it's like the planet has this cancerous tumor, but it doesn't matter yet because it's not very visable. If nobody catches it soon enough, one day we're going to keel over and take a trip to the E.R., but by then it will have been too late.

Have as few children as you can, not as many as you can afford (or as many as your culture or religion say you should have!). Once you've had them, educate them, and educate them well. The U.S. and Europe are actually not the big offenders here, but we have so many resources to assist everywhere else...

Another big problem is governments, corporations, and religions who just don't (or won't) give a shit. Who don't understand that the whole thing will be completely hopeless within 150 years, and that there won't be a twig left to eat unless a huge war or epidemic wipes most of us out.

Good ghod, somebody shut me up...

Last Sigh: How do you feel about the recent Presidential elections in the USA? Bush? Organized religion? Are you a vegetarian, if so, why?

Bryan: Oh, now you've done it.

High school popularity contest, plain and simple. Asinine. How fucking likely is it that two men with the same name, no, excuse me, from the SAME IMMEDIATE FAMILY, could both be president of the most powerful nation history has ever known? Democracy my ass.

George W. somebody's-making-me-talk-with-their-hand-up-my-butt Bush. Sorry, sore subject. At least the whole Florida thing got a few people thinking about voting for once in their lives.

Organized religion. That's a fascinating topic, but I won't bore you with what I think on each and every aspect of the subject. I think religion and spirituality are healthy, good, and natural for us human beings. It makes us who we are and codifies our places in the universe. I'm not a religious kinda guy, mind you, but I understand the value in it. I do, however, think it gets overdone a lot. It leads to a lot of hate and inability to make the world work together. So I guess even though I'm an agnostic bordering on atheism, I'm all for cooling your jets with a little spirituality if you need it. But once you start ganging up on people who don't share your little fantasy or have a different version of it, you need to be put in the penalty box.

Unfortunately, there's no referee to put anyone in the penalty box. That's one of those subjects that's fun to talk about, but in the end nobody can win their argument. Not me, not you, not some Shiite Muslim with an AK-47, and certainly not Pat Buchanan. Although if the four of us were forced to argue about it in a closed room, Allah might win because he's armed.

Last Sigh: What type of gear are you using to create your music? Have you played your music as AnthroPile live? Where, when, with whom and how were you received?

Bryan: AnthroPile is, at present, strictly a solo studio undertaking. If I get a lot of free time someday and bump into the right people, I might try to get a stage presentation together. I've had some pretty good musicians offer to get some sessions going, but I simply don't have the time right now. Boo, hiss.

Take. was actually made with a bare-bones setup. When I listen to it now and compare it to my current stuff, I realize just how much I was going out on a limb by releasing the album. Not that I don't like it - it's just real edgy and low-tech. I did the whole thing using Cakewalk, a couple of synth modules, a bunch of effects boxes and pedals, and ran everything through a Mackie board to DAT.

Nowadays I'm working with digital audio much more. Take. got my foot in the door at the local pro recording studio, and the work and interning has taught me a lot. Before I was just a dude who got tired of trying to organize bands and decided to take matters into my own hands, and now I feel like I've got a serious grasp on the whole process of recording, mixing, etc. My home setup has expanded into the realm of full digital control, not just MIDI.

Last Sigh: If you could pick one artist to record a CD with, who would that be and why?

Bryan: It would probably be someone like Enya - well, obviously not her, but a female vocalist who has a haunting, beautiful voice but who wouldn't mind me taking the ball and running with it on the composition, mixing, and production end of things. I'm sure you've heard of Collide - I like stuff like that, a duality between harshness and mildness that meshes into a complete environment.

Right now I'm almost finished with an album which is more gothic or new-age in nature, and I'm using a percussionist and a female voice, but not to carry the meat and potatos of the material.

Last Sigh: What do you do when you aren't in the process of making music?

Bryan:

I have a day job helping developmentally disabled people. Low-end health care for the time being, but I like it. Keeps the bills paid and keeps the music gear coming in. As far as hobbies, I like camping, traveling, and primitive art.

Last Sigh: What bands have influenced or inspired your music and lyrics?

Bryan: Strangely enough, I don't listen to much Industrial music. When I buy music, it's generally in an ethnic or ambient vein. As far as actual influences for AnthroPile, that goes back to everything from classical piano lessons as a kid, to Heavy Metal, to Punk, to 1980's Eurodance and techno, all the way up to the present-day rap/metal sound. And I definitely have to admit that I've listened to some Ministry, Butthole surfers, White Zombie, Plasmatics, and so-on. I guess the common thread is minor chords and progressions. It's funny because I can't pin my tastes on one or two genres. I used to be fairly close-minded about listening to Heavy Metal, then Punk; back in those early '80's you either listened to Metal or you were an idiot who couldn't make a commitment. Then I started working at my college's open-format radio station, and slowly began to realize that there are good artists in every genre. AnthroPile would have to be a combination of all the ones I perceived to be good. From Black Flag, the Cro-Mags and The Cramps right on down to New Order, Cabaret Voltaire, Depeche Mode, and Kate Bush.

Last Sigh: If there was one piece of advice you could give an aspiring musician who wants to release his/her material as an independent artist, what would that be?

Bryan: Unless you got money from the lottery or an inheritance or something, be prepared to work your way through it. Don't take out loans, and don't get yourself into a record contract before you understand every little detail of the fine print. And have a promotion engine in place BEFORE you get millions of copies duped.

Last Sigh: What can we expect from AnthroPile in the future? Any new releases coming out or live performances?

Bryan: AnthroPile has developed a weird kind of underground fan base, and I feel bad that I haven't kept the ball rolling with an immediate follow-up release. I've spent the past year or two concentrating on honing my technical skills and working on the album I mentioned before, titled Memories of the Elder, which will be released under my real name (the style bears no resemblance to AnthroPile). I have plenty of AnthroPile material in skeletal form waiting for me to get busy with it, and that work will begin once I've sent Memories of the Elder on its way. Believe it or not, there's an extended "Meat Market Mix" of Ambulatory Meat Plants on my hard drive. Maybe I'll stick an MP3 of that on the website for public dining.

Last Sigh: Thanks for letting us take a look into your life and your music. Is there anything else you'd like to relay to our readers?

Bryan: Thanks for the opportunity and the great website!


Visit The Anthropile Official Website
http://fp.netos.com/xon/AnthroPages/entrance.htm
e-mail Bryan Tewell Hughes at
12ton (at) netos.com
Listen to Anthropile at
http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/30/anthropile.html
Read our review of "Take" at
http://www.lastsigh.com/reviews99/anthropile.htm