With a name like Life Assisted Suicide, it's hard not to think of good old Dr. Jack Kevorkian, flaunting man's mortality like a festering boil on a stripper's exposed leg. The self-exterminating blow in question this time, however, is the soul-squishing march of our day-to-day reality. Philly's Moros drain the boil with rumbling doses of Sludge'n'Roll and bitter violence from the gut of guitarist/vocalist J.D. I don't reference certain bands lightly when describing a new band's sound, but Grief, Iron Monkey, and Graves At Sea are fondly brought to mind here. Mortality comes to a halt at a mid-paced stomp. I exchanged questions for answers with the dudes to find out how all this came about (to end painfully).
Since this is your first authorized interview, give us the basics: how did the band come together and what influences the sound (musical or otherwise)?
Jason: Moros evolved from John and I (who play together under different roles in Occult 45) trading riffs and working on some ideas over the last couple years. We kinda always knew we wanted to start another project with each other but not until we approached Drew did it catch much traction. Personally my influences, especially for this e.p., are a mid-winter post-surgery opiate binge, busting my balls in a 130 degree kitchen, watching my neighborhood go from working class drug and hooker ghetto to white bread consumer utopia with hookers and drugs, and also not being a terribly good guitar player. I certainly listened to a lot of COFFINS, NOOTHGRUSH, GRIEF, AC/DC, MELVINS, and of course EYEHATEGOD to catch inspiration. Also, just to be generic, weed!
John: Strangely enough, we started writing songs that were supposed to come together as a Bone Awl worship band. It sounded ok, but one practice we just slowed everything down and dialed back some distortion and SWISH!
Your second show was opening up for Krieg and the newly reactivated Unearthly Trance. How was the response to your set?
Jason: Good...maybe not loud enough. We're gonna work on that part aggressively.
John: They warned us beforehand that we might wake up the neighbors or some shit. I thought we were well-perceived, but the lights were so fuckin bright I couldn't see a thing.
What's next as far as recording or shows?
Jason: October will see us in Binghamton, NY (Oct 2), Providence, RI (Oct 3), and New Brunswick, (Oct 4), and we will be playing Detest Fest here in Philly October 25th. As far as whats next for new music we already have a hand full of songs and riffs we're working on and have plans to do a split that we are very excited about that we will announce in the near future!
How did you decide on the perfect nihilism that is the title, Life Assisted Suicide?
Jason: Humanity is dumb enough to think it's invincible, we salute and praise commercial and material triumphs as human progress but still don't respect each other and aren't willing to help each other thrive. We can't help our selves, because our own life is too important in the moment, but when you die nobody is really gonna fucking care that much, and it was probably your own fucking fault anyway so fuck off. The song and title encompass those feelings to me.
In closing, your favorite reminder that humanity is an open sore on the planet?
Jason: Riding public transportation in Philly is a pretty easy one.
Thanks for your time.
