Gadget Hackwrench Fetish Club - THE INTERVIEW, BITCHES

Hey you guys. So here's something a little different. A while back I posted about a project under the name of Gadget Hackwrench Fetish Club. I love this project, and I frequently blast the only album from said project, "<3 Online". I love it so much, I contacted the mastermind behind the project, and asked for an interview. He has some pretty neat and interesting things to say about live shows, motivation, dealing with labels, and all manner of things. So I present to you guys my interview with Vlad of GHFC.

Enjoy!

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First off, is this a solo project, or is there a full band involved
with GHFC?

It shud be a band. Like at least 2 ppl. and when i played gigs in
Moscow i had a guitarist, we had a lot of rehearsals, like more than a
year and played together but now i just moved to another country, so,
i play tracks along on my sets. However, i think if everything will be
fine i'll find a new guitarist for gigs.

There's an obvious element of MIDI and computer controlled events
and instruments in your music. How much of the music is electronic?

Hm, GHFC supposed to be an instrumental project. So, we have live
guitars and vocals. All other instruments are electronic and
programmed. Like drumz and synths and effects. Yeah, some ppl 'd say
that it's not super 'tru' thing to use a drum machine but i can tell a
lot about it. First of all, i moved a lot in my life from place to
place and i know how difficult to find a drummer sometimes. Plus u
have to have rehearsals and if u go on gig everyone shud be ok. A real
drummer is a big plus and big minus in the same time. So, it's not
good or bad. It's just how it is. We use drum machine. And this is our
advantage. Now some ppl think that u can just "play drumz from
winamp". Fuck 'em. When drum machines appeared it was a whole
revolution. I made my own samples which sounds like real drumz but
which are really punchy when u play them live on a big sound on a
stage. Sound design is an interesting science and in future albums
drumz samples will be even better.

You mentioned performing the material live. Given the electronic
components in the music, how is it performed, and what kind of
reaction does it get?

Super simple. We play tracks from a sampler (in my case it's my PSP
with broken screen lol). And i do vocals like screaming and singing
sometimes. Guitarist play his guitar. I use some effects on vocals
when i play live, like a megaphone and some glitch effects. We wear
some weird masks and costumes sometimes.
Reaction. That's really strange but i think we have the same feedback
from ppl as a normal hardcore/mathcore band. Cuz it's the same except
drumz but we have some nice electronics, so, i think everything is
fine.

Who are some of your influences? It seems like it'd be hard to find
inspiration for a project that combines so many different genres and
styles. Also, who are some other bands you enjoy listening to?

Good question. I don't listen to much music. Usually i produce
something more than just listen to something. My favorite band is
Horse The Band. 2nd is Duck, Duck, Goose. Some others. Also i always
was between electronic and instrumental scenes and played with
electronic producers and instrumental bands a lot. In general, i just
like 'core' music with some emotions. I just tried to mix different
genres and sounds together. I spent like 6 years trying different
things before GHFC. It wasn't that new for me. I mean material. It was
just a 1st big work.

" [♥] Online" is produced wonderfully. What is your background in production?

Thank you :3 It's not perfect but I did my best. I made music for 8
years. I know a lot about mixing and i have some gears. So i decided
to do everything by myself. Sometimes it's not a best idea but it's
kool for the beginning. I only recorded vocals on a studio. Lol, btw,
that was funny. I went to some random recording studio for rappers in
prague and said like "sup i want to record some vocals". Haha, poor
rappers) But they had really good mics and preamps, so, i didn't mix
vocals much.


How would you describe the extreme music scene at the moment? Good,
bad, etc.?

Dunno dude, tbh, it's too much things all the time. I don't have time
to watch for all the changes in electronic and instrumental stage. I
always liked mathcore and hardcore. Last 2 years it's more about
post-metal, post-rock,... I'm not that much into it. I think there are
a lot good bands now. Now i'm listening War from a harlots mouth,
letlive, and a lot of random bands. So, what can i say, i'm not a
musician, not a researcher, i dunno lol)

It would seem that you haven't attempted to market this album very
much, and finding info on the band is very difficult. Any reason why?
What media outlets have you used regarding GHFC(ex. Soundcloud,
Bandcamp, etc.)?

Yea dude that's the best question. You know, i spent almost 2 years
with all the shit to make the album. And this is the story. I wanted
to release it in states cuz almost all hardcore/mathcore bands are
there (at least which i like). So, i found that label and they said
like "Dude we will print cds" and i was like "Hooray". Cuz a year ago
i worried about such stuff. So, i sent everything to the label and
deleted the album from the internets. half a year gone. No cds.
Nothing. Dude, it's always the same in underground. No responsibility.
What i think now. Fuck money and everything. I did it and i can do
whatever i want. I'm planning to share it soon. I want to make a
discography for my main project Airborne Drumz and put the album on
it. I made it for ppl and fuck everything else.

Is there going to be any new material any time soon from GHFC?

Hm, now i'm experiencing tuff times. Moving to Berlin. Everything is
unpredictable. But what i can say is that GHFC is a project which i
went to many years. So, i'm not gonna give up. It's just a question of
time. I found a guitarist now and i work on new project called Knife
Of Life. I'm not sure that it's a next step for GHFC. but who knows.
Maybe if everything will go kool in Berlin and i'll find a guitarist
there, maybe i'll write a new material for GHFC. Atm, i have a lot
things to do in my life but GHFC is my child and i'm not gonna leave
it. At least there will be a video clip i hope in a couple of months.
We filmed everything in July but, you know how it usually happen, i
can't do everything by myself lol.

What's your life outside of music like? You seem to live quite
extremely, in that you're constantly moving around and in some weird
situations.

Yea my life is fucked up cuz i born in Russia. 3rd world country. This
is how it is. Last 4 years i gave 60+ gigs in more 20 cities and 5
countries. Life of an underground musician lolz. I have to work full
time cuz i'm not a rich kid and i always had problems with visa and
shit cuz i born in wrong country but i'm fighting every single day. I
don't need any motivation or inspiration to make music. I have a lot
of ideas from my life. Maybe i'll make a movie about it one day haha.
And after all these years i still don't do drugs. That's even kinda
weird i'm not a straightedger or anything. So, yea my life is fucked
up but i keep up making music.

Any other thoughts or things you'd like to say?

Hm, yea. Gadget Hackwrench. You know this is a character from Disney
cartoon Rescue Rangers. Was quite popular in Russia when i was a kid.
I had my first sexual fantasies about her lolz and then i asked artist
to make a poster where she shoots heroin in to her leg. Like, you
know, real life Gadget. And that guy from a label asked Disney "cud we
use this poster". ahah, I never thought that it will go that far. Yea,
dude, I play some of the songs on each gig on my main project.
Sometimes i'm thinking that GHFC is f`ing awesome. So, i don't wanna
predict anything but we will see, maybe i'll make new songs laters.


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There you have it guys. Vlad's a struggling musician, and has some pretty interesting things to say, as well as some fucking awesome music to make.


I implore anyone reading this to check out GHFC, and to at least like him on Facebook.


Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ghfcband