The Fist of Upsilon
Junkmedia speaks with Upsilon Acrux drummer Jesse Klecker
Upsilon Acrux have just released their third album, Last Train Out. It's a challenging album in every respect, from the technical virtue of its execution to the demands made on the listener. Recently, Junkmedia caught up with Upsilon Acrux drummer Jesse Klecker to discuss matters.
What's the story behind the band's name?
Jesse Klecker: [The name] Upsilon Acrux was given to us by a guy named Casey that our first guitar player knew. Casey was really into math and Aleister Crawley. He didn't want to tell us what the name meant, and we didn't want to know.
What are the band's major influences?
Upsilon's major influences are: progressive rock (King Crimson, Magma, Univers Zero, The Muffins, The Ruins, The Flying Luttenbachers, Zappa, Don Caballero); Krautrock (Faust, Neu!, Kraftwerk); death metal (Morbid Angel, Necrophagist, Fredrick Thordinal's Special Defects) and jazz (John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and Mahavishnu Orchestra).
All the song credits go to the entire band, so how does the group approach the composition process? Is it always a group effort?
Upsilon's composition process is always a group effort. Usually, we piece together everyone's ideas and it becomes a song. If someone does introduce most of the material that is to go into a song, then the band as a whole arranges that material. Since we are not confined to any one key or time signature in our music, each individual is free to write his own part regardless of what it is based on.
Your arrangements seem overwhelmingly complex. How the hell do you pull it off in a live setting?
Practice makes perfect. Everything on our albums (except for a few overdubs) was recorded live.
Can you talk a bit about your equipment?
My drums were made by a company called North that was in existence in the late '70s. They are made of fiberglass and plastic. The drums are unlike conventional drums in that the bottom of each drum flutes out like the end of a horn. This occurs at a 45 degree angle so that the bottom of each drum is facing the audience and can project a much louder, less resonate sound.
What made you start using the fluted drums?
I like the way fiberglass sounds. It's different than wood, so it helps me create a sound that is noticeably different. They also have a strong visual effect.
And what's the deal with the train theme? You had an inverted picture of a train station on the cover of your last album. Your latest release is called Last Train Out? There's the sound of a train leaving the station at the end of the album. What's going on here?
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I know you guys play quite a bit with other Southern California avant garde acts. Who have you been sharing the stage with recently?
In the last year we have played with The Flying Luttenbachers, The Ruins, The Nels Cline Singers, Anal Cunt, Open City, Fred Frith and The Fucking Champs.
There are some bands in Southern California that attempt to display characteristics of what the avant garde was about 20 or 30 years ago. This watered-down rehash of something that was once totally new and ground-breaking but is now accepted by the politically correct avant hierarchy/conspiracy should not be confused with those who think that beating a dead horse is wrong. If these bands want to make new music, they need to find new methods [of] obtaining their mayhem. It's unfortunate that when times change, bands don't.
What do you want the listener to take away from Last Train Out?
I hope that listeners feel excited by our music. I hope that it inspires them to look towards the abstract when creating. I want Upsilon to be a force for creativity. I feel that most of the music of today is completely void of any creativity or originality and that it relates more to materialism and consumerism than to any sense of spirituality. I want to crush the lazy musicians' sickness with the fist of Upsilon.
Robert Young
October 2001
