NAPALM DEATH Frontman: 'I Have Definitely Contradicted Myself Throughout The Years'

Brendan Crabb of Utopia.com.au recently conducted an interview with vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway of British grindcore pioneers NAPALM DEATH. An excerpt from the chat follows below.

Utopia.com.au: The latest album seems to have really continued the momentum the band has building again for several records now. What motivates NAPALM DEATH to keep crafting such abrasive, pissed off music after all this time?

Barney: You know, a big thing is made of being pissed off at times. But, for me, it's like I don't need to over-analyze it. Because whether it is correct, whether it's accurate to call it being pissed off, I don't know. It's just a natural feeling; sometimes it's kind of stigmatized to be pissed off and, like, shout about stuff that's… People look at you as some kind of madman, like jumping up and down and just raising your voice. But it's not about that — it's about actually being willing and able to cut through bullshit and see beneath the way that we've been conditioned to accept certain things, just blindly accept them. I think even people that do try and have a bit more insight can sometimes be caught up in that trap as well. None of us are particularly immune to it. So I don't think it's being pissed off, it's just being having your eyes fully opened. I think that comes through on the NAPALM albums. I mean, yes, they are really angry-sounding stuff, but I think we take the time to also make sure that's there… giving it a bit of flavor as well. I suppose I am over- analyzing it now, but it's really a natural thing for me, it's not something that I necessarily have to step back and go, "Fuck me, I'm really pissed off," you know? (laughs) It's just a natural state of affairs for me. As we get older, as I get older, people say you kind of get a bit more, you sort of mellow out a bit. (But) it's not the way for me.

Utopia.com.au: How does it feel to hear bands who are half your age without that same fury as yours, or perhaps who are faking it by attempting to channel NAPALM DEATH and not really pulling it off?

Barney: Yeah, well, mate, I don't like to sit on a pedestal and look down at other bands and say, you know, "I'm the authority and this is fake and this isn't." I don't think it's for me to say that. I just think that people should know themselves… I wouldn't be so arrogant as to place my own judgment on so-called younger bands or whatever, for one. And for two, I've never tied age to anything. I really can't stand it when bands get criticized just because they've been around for a certain time, the members might be of a certain age. I think that goes for whoever you'd care to consider. It all depends on your perspective and taste is relative, of course, but I've heard some pretty awful bands, in my opinion, but that have either just started out or who have been around for 20 years or 30 years, it's all relative. I'm not going to judge people. I mean, of course my tastes are my tastes and that's the same way as anybody else's tastes. I would hate to sort of sit and point the finger at other bands down below, I think that would be really fucking arrogant, actually. (laughs).

Utopia.com.au: Is politics and spreading the word in that respect still one of the major driving forces and motivations for the band?

Barney: (Pauses) I mean, people say politics, but really I mean, what is politics at the end of the day? If you take the mainstream definition of it, it's really kind of meaningless in a lot of ways because it just hinges around this kind of mainstream sort of system that's been developed over however many years. To be honest, to most of us, it don't mean shit. In NAPALM, the politics are more about just levels of humanity. I think as human beings we've lost the drive to achieve and strive for human rights. I mean, we're quite readily ticking off our rights to higher powers and governments and other people. We're very willing to do that and I just think, "What the fuck are people doing?" It's just crazy to me. I do find it strange that people argue sometimes about why we should sacrifice rights. We should never sacrifice our rights, you know? Especially in deference to another human being. That's crap (laughs); it really is on the most basic, fundamental level. So yeah, that's the core principle of NAPALM more than anything and we're trying to somehow alert people to the exploitation of people. That's the point, so politics really is a real misnomer.

Utopia.com.au: How do you look back on 20 years of putting that message across, given the worldwide political climate of recent times?

Barney: Well, I think again that everything's relative and different situations and circumstances have come along. Connecting it to the last question you asked me, I myself have definitely contradicted myself throughout the years. I may have given you a different answer if you'd asked me ten years ago and that's just because over time I sort of refined a certain perspective within myself. And also the actual world circumstances change and situations change, so whether things have got worse or better I don't think is how people should be looking at things, I think you have to say, "Well, which things are affecting people at this time?" Obviously there are hundreds of thousands of different situations, millions even. So I think the reason why can't be answered in a single paragraph of an interview. There are many, many things out there that are affecting people and the world today and the way to deal with them is not easy. But I think we can start by, again, actually understanding what it is to be a human being and to not have our natural rights taken away from us.

Read the entire interview from Utopia.com.au.