REMOTE VIEWING - Making Noise Because They Must ! (England - Post HardCore/Noise-Rock - Interview with John & Ed).

Hello ! Can you introduce yourself and tell us how it all began for you - your encounter with this musical universe, what appealed to you, what fascinated you and what made you want to get into music? 
John Atkins: Well hello there! John here, bass player.
Ed Dudley: Hi, I’m Ed, I do vocals. 
John: I was listening to all sorts of music from an early age, whatever my parents were playing at home or in the car really. Started to get into stuff that I considered "mine" around eight or so, but it was my school friends in my early teenage years who were slinging around Metallica tapes that got me really excited about music. That quickly escalated to more extreme stuff and I got heavily into hardcore punk around 16ish? I was all in from there. Hardcore shows made us realise that if you wanted to play music and be in a band then just start a band, it’s literally that easy. Pick up some instruments, play them…. you’re a band! Revelatory. 
Ed: I don’t really remember how or why I got obsessed with making music or being in a band. Resenting a catholic upbringing? The boredom of provincial English life? Either way, it’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do, really!

What if I told you that you have to leave for a desert island in 5 minutes—you have no choice… except to take three albums with you… which ones, and why? Would you say that these were game-changers at some point in your life?
Ed: Obviously this changes every day but today;
- The Inalienable Dreamless by Discordance Axis - it’s just the best grind album ever. There’s nothing wrong with it.
- Phantom Orchard by Ikue Mori and Zeena Parkins - it sounded like nothing I’d ever heard before and I still have no fucking idea how they did it. Amazing record.
- The mix CD my mate Danny gave me of Balinese gamelan - again, blew my mind. How are they doing this? How do they know when to slow down and speed up like that? Jesus!
John:
- Tori Amos – Boys for Pele. This is still my favourite album 30 years later and I’d be hard pressed to do without it. Every single track is a mini masterpiece. Is there a piano on the island? Does seem unlikely but maybe an abandoned cruise liner has washed up too perhaps? Anyway, I’m assuming there’s a piano in my vicinity and I can start to learn some Tori tunes to pass the time away. If there is a cruise liner there’s probably booze too. Bonus.
- Level 42 – Level Best. Greatest band ever. They have too many good albums so I’ll have to go with a "best of" (insert Alan Partridge joke here). I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that if there’s a piano then there’s a bass too. This scenario provides me with an excellent excuse to work on my slap technique, which is awful. I’m not allowed to do that in band practice, so I’d be happy with this outcome.
- Rowsdower – The Michael Jordans of Suicide. I was going to choose a classic heavy album (Bolt Thrower, Carcass, Napalm Death etc.) but if I chose a single album by them I’d just end up pissed that I didn’t have all the other great ones in their back catalogue. This Rowsdower record is one of my favourite albums of recent years. A gold standard album to feed all of your disgusting music needs. What an album title too.

Tell me about the band... How you met - the current line-up - past experiences - and above all - WHY the need to form THIS band?
John: The band started after a previous band Palehorse split up. We knew that we needed to continue in some form, so a few of us decided to start cobbling together some riffs and giving it a vigorous whirl. Originally Remote Viewing was myself, James, Tom [Fowler, guitar] and Nikolai, all ex-Palehorse, with the addition of Dimitris on drums. The drum stool has switched owners a couple of times since, John Breslin being the most recent occupant and this new album is our first with him. Ed joined on vocals on the third album replacing Nikolai. We did a really great tour with Ed's old band Nitkowski once.   
Ed: I met John [Atkins] and James [Bryant, guitar] when they were in Palehorse, my old band Nitkowski did a really terrible tour with them (the shows, not the people) and we became mates. When Nikolai left Remote Viewing they asked me to join. So I did. When our last drummer dipped out we all agreed John [Breslin] was mint and got him to join. I can’t say why they felt the need to form Remote Viewing but I think they’d all be fucking awful humans if they didn’t do this stuff. Real pieces of shit! [laughs]
John: Why the need to form this band? There’s not really a need to do something specific, just the need - I think I can largely speak for all of us - to do something... anything. The idea of not doing something musical is ridiculous and not worth contemplating. A noticeable lack of success will not stop us!

Describe your sound and explain why I should listen to YOUR band at all cost ?
Ed: I’m gonna go with densely heavy, desperately miserable but with a mouthful of beautiful teeth. I’m not gonna tell you to do anything at all cost, I don't want that sort of responsibility.
John: I think our sound is relatively hard to pin down. A bit of noise rock, a splash of sludge, a soupçon of shoegaze. None of those feel quite right though. We tend to get compared to loads of different things in reviews, some of them frankly baffling. Luckily you don’t have to listen to us at all cost, it’s largely cost free, unless you’re paying for the record however. Which I definitely urge you to do because we’re fucking broke!

Lyrical and musical inspirations/influences ? How important are the lyrics for you? Are there any specific messages or thoughts you try to develop and share through your lyrics?
Ed: Lyrics are the most important thing for me, really. I guess the inspiration is mostly books. I really like a few screaming vocalists; Keith [Buckley] from Every Time I Die has great lyrics, Johnny Morrow [of Iron Monkey fame] (RIP) had great lyrics but mostly it’s books. My lyrics are all personal but in relatively oblique ways. They’re also mostly fucking miserable. And angry. 

About the band's discography... Imagine someone who doesn't know your band at all and wants to get interested in.. Which release would you recommend to start with, and why?
John: Honestly, I think all the records hold a very similar style and intent. I’d suggest starting with something arbitrary like which album cover you like the best or whatever song title you think is most ridiculous. If you like that one then you’ll probably be partial to the rest too.
Ed: Start with this one but tell everyone you heard the others first, that’ll make you look cool.

About your latest release ?
John: The new album "State Violence" was recorded with long time collaborator Wayne Adams at Bear Bites Horse studios in East London.
Ed: We recorded it in two chunks cuz we didn’t have enough material and didn't want to rush it. 
John: It's available from Human Worth on vinyl, CD and digital. Or you might be able to buy it from us at a show and impress randoms on the bus on the way home. People seem to like it and that makes us happy.

Future plans?
Ed: Play some more shows, start writing new stuff, avoid falling headlong into various pits of despair.
John: There’s some chat about maybe doing some splits in the near future rather than a full length, but nothing concrete yet.

Your most insane dream with the band would be ?
John: Personally, I’d love to play shows outside the UK. US would be a dream, Japan would be amazing too. I don’t think we’re in any position to make that happen at the moment but if anyone has any cost-effective solutions then get in touch.
Ed: I’m a bit too old and jaded for dreams We’re all pretty busy so organising that stuff so we don’t come away totally skint is pretty hard!

Your BEST & WORST concert - as a band - and why?
John: My favourite gigs are always ones where you can really feel the weight of the music, we’re all playing as a tight unit, and there’s some people in the room who appreciate it.
Ed: I don’t think we’ve had a shit show since I joined. I kind of don't have a favourite one either, I like them all, I get to just shout and lose my mind. They’re all fun.
John: Worst gigs are the ones where you can’t hear shit and you’re going through the motions, rather than feeling in the moment and loving the unholy racket you’re all making.

Next live-appearance(s) ?
John: We’ve got one in Hackey coming up, which should be interesting because we’re the only traditional guitar band set-up on the bill. One in Brighton with label mates Black Groove, which will be pretty sweaty I imagine. We’re doing ArcTanGent Festival next year which will be a very new experience for us, and hopefully a good one.

Some words on your local scene - bands you're friends with and you'd like to name ? 
Ed: Alright then; The Eurosuite, IAN, Pleb, These Towns, Helpless, Abigail Snail, Hands Up Who Wants To Die…..I’m forgetting loads, I’m a fucking idiot.
John: We’re not too much of a "scene" band to be honest. Pascagoula are great, one of the most underrated bands in the UK. Care Home have some old mates in them and are banging too. Honestly, I’m probably not the best person to ask, I’m mostly listening to yacht rock and '90s hardcore bands, not checking out the bright young things on the scene. 

What’s the question you’ve always dreamed of answering but have never been asked? Just a heads-up: I’m also waiting for the answer that goes with it...
Ed:
Question: "D’you want six million quid to set up your own rehearsal/recording studio/venue and sack off working?"
Answer: "Yes"
John:
Question: "Would you like to take ownership of this splitter van at absolutely no cost with a lifetime of free diesel included?"
Answer: "How funny you should ask, yes I would like that, I would like that very much indeed!"

Well, the interview is coming to an end… Is there anything else you’d like to add? Anything I didn’t think of? Something important, funny, silly… It doesn’t matter!
John: Come On You Spurs!
Ed: If John doesn’t mention Level 42 or dungeon synth in any of his answers he’s a fucking liar !