{"id":8514,"date":"2012-05-04T14:38:00","date_gmt":"2012-05-04T04:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=8514"},"modified":"2012-05-04T14:38:00","modified_gmt":"2012-05-04T04:38:00","slug":"ross-farrar-of-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2012\/05\/ross-farrar-of-ceremony\/","title":{"rendered":"Ross Farrar of Ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>\u201cI guess it\u2019s just some kind of a release you know, I mean every day you\u2019ve have to walk around and you\u2019ve got to go to the supermarket and you have to pet your cats and you don\u2019t really get to freak out that much, so when I get to play a show I just get to freak out as much as I want you know?\u201d<\/p>\n

Zoo press release – Ceremony\u2019s fourth record Zoo <\/em>is out now through Matador \/ Remote Control.\u00a0 The band enlisted producer John Goodmanson (Blood Brothers, Bikini Kill, Sleater Kinney, Weezer) to work with them on this release and he helped the band refine their jagged sound while continuing to pursue themes of exurban alienation and confinement.<\/p>\n

The music of Zoo <\/em>explores punk and post-punk traditions: the rhythm section remains as tense and propulsive as ever, while guitarist Anthony Anzaldo moves with ease from ringing power chords to stealthy leads reminiscent of Gang Of Four and The Cramps. Ross Farrar\u2019s future primitive vocals sometimes recall Pink Flag or Metal Box, ranging from a melodic howl to a muttered incantation.<\/p>\n

Ceremony rate this as their \u201cfirst fully comprehensive sounding record\u201d, which the results both gripping and indelible.<\/p>\n

We chatted to Ceremony frontman Ross Farrar about touring and their live shows, their new album \u2018Zoo\u2019 and his book.\u00a0 Check out Ceremony\u2026<\/p>\n

You\u2019re headed to Australia in June \/ July for some shows and as part of Hardcore 2012.\u00a0 What can people expect from a Ceremony show?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019m gonna have a freak out at every show on stage I\u2019m gonna be in the zone, let\u2019s just say that.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t been to Australia in a really long time and I love Australia so I\u2019m really psyched to be able to come back.<\/p>\n

Watching some footage of live performances, it seems you truly get into the music, what is it about performing live you enjoy so much?<\/strong>
\nI guess it\u2019s just some kind of a release you know, I mean every day you\u2019ve have to walk around and you\u2019ve got to go to the supermarket and you have to pet your cats and you don\u2019t really get to freak out that much, so when I get to play a show I just get to freak out as much as I want you know?<\/p>\n

Is it something you do on purpose or does it just happen naturally?<\/strong>
\nI think it started as I wanted to give, you know when you perform you want to give people a show in a sense, but now it\u2019s just kind of a natural thing, it\u2019s kind of like a dance I guess, it\u2019s just a freak out.\u00a0 It\u2019s the feeling I get from a show.<\/p>\n

For those that haven\u2019t heard of Ceremony before, and with a number of genres used to describe you such as punk or my favourite powerviolence, how would you describe your sound and who you are to someone?<\/strong>
\nI don\u2019t know man, we just play fast songs.\u00a0 I mean we really love powerviolence stuff but I guess we never put ourselves to one form of genre, we just did it all.<\/p>\n

You released your newest album \u2018Zoo\u2019 earlier this year, where you\u2019ve changed up the sound a little returning to a more old school sound, what was the intention of doing that?<\/strong>
\nI don\u2019t know, it\u2019s probably a combination of stuff we\u2019ve been listening to and we just didn\u2019t want to put out fast songs our entire career, we kinda wanted to mix it up and try different things.\u00a0 When we started writing this record originally I guess we just got a little weirder, which is kinda what\u2019s gonna keep happening I think on our records, it\u2019s just going to get weirder and weirder.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Song wise, what inspired the writing process this time around for the album?<\/strong>
\nNot really, I don\u2019t know, we all listen to different music, so I think that kind of comes out in the songs.\u00a0 You can hear a lot of different stuff; I was really listening to The Fall a lot, kind of one of my big things.\u00a0 And grunge stuff like Mudhoney and Nirvana and stuff like that, always been in to that kind of stuff.<\/p>\n

Do you all come in with different ideas and put them all together?<\/strong>
\nYeah we all come in to a room and play different stuff.\u00a0 I\u2019ve kind of been messing with the bass lately and Jake plays drums and he plays guitar, all of us kind of do something, so we try to piece together songs like that.<\/p>\n

The title itself, why call the album \u2018Zoo\u2019?\u00a0 Is there a meaning behind it?<\/strong>
\nNo not really, it was just kind of an idea I had about people in general and our weird voyeuristic pleasures, it\u2019s kind of like being in a zoo how you\u2019re watching a TV program, we kind of have this obsession with watching people. It\u2019s also the same way with music, we\u2019re very interested in the interior things that people are thinking all the time.<\/p>\n

What did bringing John Goodmanson in to produce the record allow the band to do?<\/strong>
\nWe we\u2019d never had a producer, so this was our first time having a producer where he came to the Bay Area, he lives in Seattle, so he came to the Bay Area for a week and listened to our songs and did pre-production which was really interesting, I\u2019ve never had to deal with that before.\u00a0 It was kind of nice having an outsider come in and say \u2018Hey, this is really good, maybe you should try and change this, think about this\u2019 so that was kind of a fresh new thing, it was awesome, I enjoyed it.<\/p>\n

Would you continue on now using a producer?<\/strong>
\nI don\u2019t know if we\u2019d do it again, who knows?\u00a0 It just kind of depends how we\u2019re feeling I guess when we\u2019re in the studio writing again.\u00a0 I mean I kind of liked it, and I think Anthony liked it a lot, but, I don\u2019t know, Jake wasn\u2019t sure if he liked it or not and if it helped, so we\u2019ll see next time.<\/p>\n

Do you constantly keep writing while you\u2019re on the road or do you wait until you\u2019re off tour?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019m always writing lyrics and stuff but we take a break from writing music as a group which *I* am kind of bummed about, I wish we could just be writing not just in the studio all the time, I think that\u2019s how bands should work, but I don\u2019t know for some reason, we write the record, we tour on it and we go back in to the studio, which is kind of a bummer but whatever\u2026<\/p>\n

So can we expect another album in a year or so?<\/strong>
\nYeah, in about another year and a half or so we\u2019re going to do another record on Matador.<\/p>\n

Looking back over your four albums released how do you feel you\u2019ve grown as a band over these releases?<\/strong>
\nI think that kind of comes out if you listen to \u2018Violence Violence\u2019 and then you listen to \u2018Ruined\u2019 and then \u2018Zoo\u2019 I mean it\u2019s a very very drastic change you know.\u00a0 People argue that it\u2019s uphill and downhill but I think it\u2019s a nice change, I think if you looked at me when I was in my \u2018Violence Violence\u2019 era, if you just looked at me on the street you\u2019d say \u2018Oh yeah, OK there\u2019s that\u2019 and if you looked at me now, you\u2019d say \u2018Oh yeah, Zoo, there it is.\u2019\u00a0 He\u2019s weak, he\u2019s drinking coffee, no, I\u2019m drinking tea in a car right now, I\u2019m driving in a car, drinking green tea on the way to an art show, so you can take that as whatever you think ha ha but it\u2019s kind of weird I guess.<\/p>\n

I saw that\u2019d you\u2019d released a book, can you tell us a little about that?<\/strong>
\nYeah I did this thing called \u2018Society Verse\u2019 it was like a discography of the lyrics I\u2019d written thus far, it\u2019s everything from \u2018Ruined\u2019 to \u2018Rohnert Park\u2019 released on Bridge 9 and the way it was made was it was lyrics put in to poem form rather than the way it looks on the record per se.\u00a0 It was kinda like a poem \/ lyric project I was doing for fun and then I pitched it to Bridge 9 and they were like \u2018totally, yeah we\u2019ll put it out\u2019 and I think they\u2019re going to try and repress it soon, I don\u2019t know exactly when it\u2019s going to come out.<\/p>\n

Are you going to continue on with that sort of stuff?<\/strong>
\nYeah yeah, I love doing stuff like that, making zines, doing books, putting art out in to the world that people can see, I mean it\u2019s cool if you have an audience, you have a base of people or fans or whatever, I think it\u2019s nice for them to get the other side that\u2019s not just music you know?\u00a0 They can see it and other things you\u2019re doing and other genres you know?<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your take on the punk genre today?\u00a0 Do you feel it\u2019s still alive and well?<\/strong>
\nYeah definitely, there\u2019s always going to be punk and hardcore bands no matter what, I think.\u00a0 I think that\u2019s just an inevitable thing as you grow up, you hate your parents, you hate cops, you\u2019re not in to any of that stuff, so naturally you want to rebel against that and I think punk music is one of the most important things.<\/p>\n

I like your bold statement on your website that you do not have a twitter, myspace or facebook, are you anti social media?<\/strong>
\nNo, not at all, I do tumblr and Instagram and I have a Gmail account, we just don\u2019t do facebook or twitter because don\u2019t have time to do it, that\u2019s the reason why.\u00a0 We have to answer a whole bunch of emails and shit so it\u2019s not like we want to do four more things you know?\u00a0 It gets out there in to the Internet that we\u2019re playing a show.<\/p>\n

What does the rest of 2012 have in store for Ceremony?<\/strong>
\nWe\u2019re going to try and go to Europe for two weeks after Australia and we\u2019re going to try to be going to South America but we don\u2019t have the Ok on that yet, we\u2019re still kind of in the making.\u00a0 Never been there and it\u2019s kind of like a dream to go all over the place, try to get the main countries under our belt.<\/p>\n

Lastly, do you have a message for your Australian fans?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019m really excited to come to Australia and I love them all and I love you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Essential Information<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n

From:<\/strong> USA<\/p>\n

Band members: <\/strong>Ross Farrar, Anthony Anzaldo, Andy Nelson, Justin Davis, Jake Casarotti<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong> http:\/\/www.ceremonyhc.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Latest release:<\/strong> Zoo<\/em> (Matador Records \/ Remote Control Records, 2012)<\/p>\n

CEREMONY AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES<\/strong><\/p>\n

Resist Presents: From Rohnert Park, CA, Ceremony.<\/p>\n

Fri 29th June Melb AA \u2013 Irenes Warehouse
\nTickets at the door<\/p>\n

Sat 30th June Melb 18+ \u2013 Bendigo Hotel
\nTickets from the venue, Oztix outlets and oztix.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Sun 1st July Adelaide AA \u2013 Animal House
\nTickets at the door<\/p>\n

Tues 3rd July Perth 18+ \u2013 The Den
\nTickets from Moshtix outlets and moshtix.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Wed 4th July Perth AA \u2013 YMCA HQ
\nTickets from Moshtix outlets and moshtix.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Thurs 5th July Bris AA \u2013 Between The Walls
\nTickets from Kill The Music, Oztix outlets and oztix.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Fri 6th July Bris 18+ \u2013 Basement 243
\nTickets from Kill The Music, Oztix outlets and oztix.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Sat 7th July Syd 18+ \u2013 Hardcore 2012
\nTickets from www.thehifi.com.au<\/a>, tel 1300-THEHIFI (8434434), Resist Records, Red Eye Records and Utopia.<\/p>\n

Sun 8th July Syd AA \u2013 Hardcore 2012
\nTickets from www.thehifi.com.au<\/a>, tel 1300-THEHIFI (8434434), Resist Records, Red Eye Records and Utopia.<\/p>\n

Tickets on sale NOW<\/p>\n

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