Updated: 06/26/01

Don't be fooled by the tranquil space cadet album cover! Origin play grindcore that will kick your wimpy butt into another galaxy! Their debut CD on Relapse was unleased about a year ago, and they continue to tour, impressing metal fans all over the galaxy. After seeing Origin perform at metal festivals in Milwaukee and Los Angeles and being thoroughly impressed with their out of this world music, it was time do to an interview with an Origin musician type.

Highwire Daze: Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Origin, and how long the band has been together.

Jeremy Turner: My name is Jeremy Turner - I do guitar and vocals for Origin. Me and Paul Ryan, the other guitarist and vocalist, started jamming together in July of 97. And the whole band was formed in January of 98.

HD: Where is the band based out of and what is the music scene like there?

Jeremy: Well, Paul and I live in Topeka, Kansas. Our drummer John lives in Lawrence. Our bass player lives in Independence, Missouri. And right now our vocalist lives in Minnesota. So it's kind of spread out. The scene here is alright, it's not really any worse than anywhere else in the country, but it's not any better either.

HD: With all of the members so spread out, doesn't it make rehearsal a little difficult?

Jeremy: Kind of, but everybody seems to be able to make it pretty regularly. Our vocalist comes down every other weekend until he can move down. We practice three times a week.

HD: Who thought of the tranquil cover artwork, which is in direct contrast to your music?

Jeremy: We all had the idea, but I think our original vocalist had it first. But we all went with it because it seemed kind of fitting - with the name and then it being our first album - kind of the inception thing.

HD: Is Mark Manning your vocalist now?

Jeremy: No, our vocalist is James Lee. Mark Manning was on the CD and he was our original vocalist, but during the first tour, we had problems with him, so we parted ways with him.

HD: Which vocalist performed with you in Milwaukee last year?

Jeremy: That would be Mark.

HD: And then who performed here in California for November To Dismember?

Jeremy: In November, that was James.

HD: How did your show at the California Metalfest go and what were your impressions of the fest overall?

Jeremy: My impression was that it could be a lot more organized. There were a lot of things that were chaotic about it. We had to go through three different gates just to get into the damn parking lot because nobody knew which one was for the band to come into. And we finally get there, and we're suppose to play an hour before we were originally scheduled to. That's the way metalfests are - time slots change. Well, we got in there and it was pretty cool.

HD: Describe a live Origin show for those who haven't seen you play live yet.

Jeremy: A lot more aggressive than the CD. A lot faster than the CD, although our new vocalist goes completely apesh*t! It's pretty chaotic onstage.

HD: There are going to be people who have heard your CD who say "A lot more chaotic? Faster? Is that possible?"

Jeremy: Oh yeah! I listen to the CD and I think it's slow. We've toured and practiced a lot more and have gotten better as musicians, so we're able to play our music a lot faster. The next CD is gonna be a lot faster, a lot more brutal and have a lot more going on.

HD: How close are you to recording another CD?

Jeremy: Oh, it probably won't be for another year. We'd like to get in there by the end of this year, but we're not sure how things are going to go.

HD: Any strange things happen to you guys while out on the road?

Jeremy: We got stranded in Reno, Nevada because of van problems. That's not really strange. Kerry King showed up at the Cleveland Show for the Death Across America. He was just there getting drunk with his girlfriend.

HD: What was he like? Did you get to meet him?

Jeremy: He was just drunk. He was kinda "Yeah, this is alright I guess." I know that Slayer aren't really into death metal or anything - calling it Cookie Monster vocals and crap like that. Kerry King made fun of Dying Fetus' logo and said it looked tribal - like his tattoos or some crap like that. I guess Zack from Cephalic Carnage went out back with him and Kerry taught him how to play Jesus Saves on guitar.

HD: Sounds like a pretty interesting evening.

Jeremy: Every evening was pretty interesting on that tour.

HD: Do you write any of the song lyrics?

Jeremy: I helped out with a couple of songs. Mark wrote most of the lyrics on the album. Now we're going to have James do most of them. We just kind of let Mark go with what he wanted to, and we're going to work more with James on the lyrics.

HD: Is it kind of strange having the new vocalist singing the lyrics that the old one wrote?

Jeremy: Not really. It kind of is, and it took him a little while to get use to it because of Mark's style. He sounds better I think. He's got kind of the Corspegrinder thing going, to where he can get almost as low as I can, and go from there to almost as high as Paul's scratch. That's another thing - we didn't want to have a monotonous same voice throughout the whole thing.

HD: If President Bush had invited Origin to play two songs at his inaugural ball, what two songs would you play and why?

Jeremy: Probably Sociocide and Disease Called Man because those are almost political lyrical content songs I think. Both are dealing with the downfall of man with the way men act. Disease Called Man is basically about a virus that takes over and consumes the host that it's in - like cancer can kill somebody. Well, the human is basically the same way with the consumption of the Earth.

HD: What are some of the other Origin lyrics about?

Jeremy: It just has to do with what makes people hate. Lethal Manipulation is basically about beating the hell out of somebody. It just basically deals with hate. The lyrical content is gonna change for the next album - it's going to mature along with our musical ability.

HD: Ultimately, what do you think makes Origin stand apart from other grindcore bands?

Jeremy: The drumming has a lot to do with it. I haven't heard any drumming like that. We have three different vocalists that all have different vocal styles - and we all interact with each other doing a lot of vocals. I think that's what makes us stand out. I mean, we're fast and heavy and aggressive and all that, but there's a lot of bands like that. The way we go about writing is a lot different than most bands.

HD: Prior to Origin, had you been in any other bands?

Jeremy: This was my first band. John's been in a few bands, one of which was Angelcorpse - he was the drummer for that band. And our bass player was in Cephalic Carnage. Paul has been in a couple of local bands which really didn't do anything. He's jammed with Mark before. And James was in a band in Minnesota which wasn't really doing anything. John was basically the only one who was in a signed band before and toured Europe. Doug was in Cephalic before they were signed.

HD: If there was one thing you'd like a listener to remember after hearing your music, what would it be?

Jeremy: Hell, I don't know - there's a lot going on in our music. Most people remember how fast it is and I've gotten a lot of people who remember how low my voice is. But if just one thing - probably John's drumming because he's doing a lot of stuff back there.

HD: Do you have any messages for Origin fans or people who might be interested in checking out your music?

Jeremy: Just look for us on tour. Come check out the show. Those of you who have heard the CD - come check it out live because it's faster and more aggressive. Those who haven't - if you're into anything brutal, I don't think we'll disappoint you.