THE EXCLUSIVE SCHEMATA INTERVIEW!! [FEB 2001]
Also scroll down to see the PROMO only artwork for "prophet sales"!

In his first full SCHEMATA interview, Mark reveals why SCHEMATA was started, when the e.p. will emerge, what exactly does SCHEMATA sound like, and lets us in on just quite how stressful the recording process has been! Rob of the SCHEMATA fan club posed the questions.

Rob: Why did you start SCHEMATA?

Mark: In my previous band, reMEdy, I didn't feel that the music we were making was going quite in the direction I wanted to go in. It was a little too calculated, a bit predictable in some ways... I still think we made some great music but I just wanted to sound a bit more unhinged... for want of a better word! Not everyone felt the same.

R: So what were the inspirations?

M: I remember discovering the Texas band At The Drive In in about September of last year and being completely transfixed by how energetic and driven they made everything they did, sound. I realised that I should be THAT excited by the music that I was making, and that I wasn't. A change of direction was needed. I wanted noise, noise and more noise. Dischords, quickly changing song structures, great melodies that are ignored by some metal bands at the minute... just a real drive.

R: You've been quoted as saying that SCHEMATA make "music not fashion". What did you mean by that?
M: I just think that a lot of metal bands have become obsessed by what they look like, what awards ceremonies they're seen at, who sponsors them etc. instead of making sure that the music they're making sounds vital and fresh. I mean without naming names, I think we could all think of certain bands who fall into that kind of category.

R: So apart from At The Drive-In, who are your biggest musical influences?

M: Well sometimes I wonder about influences. When I listen to SCHEMATA music sometimes, I worry that my influences are too obvious... but then someone else listens to it and tells me we sound really original! Perhaps the problem only lies in my head! There are loads of bands who I could say have influenced me, but whether they come out in the music of SCHEMATA is less certain: Alice In Chains, Pantera, Soundgarden... these bands are all bands that I'll love till the day I die, but I don't think SCHEMATA sounds anything like any of them. Then you add bands like Fugazi, Faith No More, Tool, the Pixies, and newer bands like Deftones and Incubus, and even stuff like Mr Bungle... these are people who I think you could actually point to as being reference points for the sound of SCHEMATA.

R: So when can we expect to hear the e.p. "never our world"?

M: Well, the recording process has been fraught with technical glitches to say the least. I can comfortably say that the recording of "prophet sales" has been the hardest musical recording process I have ever gone through. Asides from suddenly having to play all the instruments myself after people had to leave the line up, we've had computers going mental, the desk crashing just as the final track had been laid down (which led to the whole of "prophet sales" having to be re-done), and a mixing process which has now involved three separate mixes. At least I think it's pretty much done now. The whole e.p. should be ready by April 2001, with copies and mp3s available from this site, as well as downloads being available on the usual mp3 sites such as peoplesound and vitaminic. We should be able to give you guys an mp3 by next week [second week of February].

R: What about the new SCHEMATA subscriptions that are available?

M: Well it was a just an idea that someone suggested to me that he'd heard about an idependently-funded brass band doing!! It seemed like a good idea. Basically, anyone who fancies sending in a fiver can gain unlimited free access to the SCHEMATA live gigs when they start (which should be around the release time of the e.p.), and a special promo-only CD once a year. Also, they will be guaranteed to receive all the latest news first via e mail or whatever they fancy! I just want to say thanks to all the people who have already signed up. Your support is truly appreciated. Let's get rid of all this fashion obsessed crap and rediscover why we all got into this noisy stuff in the first place!... to annoy our parents of course!!

That's gonna be our new (unofficial) battle-cry! I've just decided...

DOWN WITH THE BIZKIT!!!!!!