Grindcore from Quezon City Philippines, COMMIT ARSON formed by officemates Jeff and Froi in early 2012. They recruited JP (a drummer from deathmetal band called Lycanthra) and Gwain (former guitarist of Brutal Punishment) to complete the first lineup of Commit Arson. The band started playing local gigs from November 2013 and recorded & released a six-track self-titled demo in March 2014. Here’s a talk made with the vocalist, Jeff Regur Jerez. – Interview by Harshziqr [04.08.2018]
Hi Commit Arson! Introduce us the band history and band members?
Hello there! We’re Commit Arson from the Philippines and the current members are Jeff on vocals, Froi on Bass and Bergs on drums. We’re planning to add a guitarist really soon but we’ve been playing as a 3-piece drum & bass for a while now since the departure of our last guitarist.
A little bit on the history, me and Froi started CxA sometime around early 2012 I think. We work on the same company and upon knowing that Froi is into punk, grind and those kinda stuff I asked him to form a band with me since I don’t play any instrument. He agreed then we looked for a drummer and a guitarist, it all started there.
What sort of Grindcore you guys played and the influences in writing music?
We’ve been playing traditional grindcore with crust/d-beat and hardcore elements since we started. There’s been a number of lineup changes within the band and all those people have influences of their own so we tried to incorporate several sounds thru the years based on that but the end result should always be grindcore.
How many releases you have so far, and give details on some of the most important releases to the band?
To list the releases so far:
– s/t demo
– split cassette & cd w/ Lung Cancer from Canada
– split cassette w/ Shitnoise Bastards from Malaysia
– split cassette w/ Disabuse from Philippines
– compilation tracks mini-cd
We’ve been in the following comp release as well:
– Ceci n'est pas une compilation cassette from Sickphoque Records
– United Nations of Grindcore 2015 from The Hills Are Dead Records
– Global Disease Destruction - comp from Indonesia
– Noise From Hell vol. 14 from Malaysia
Among those releases, I can say the demo has the biggest impact since that’s where it all began.
Any plans for the future recordings and releases?
We’ve been in a long semi hiatus so we haven’t recorded a lot of stuff but we’ve started working on an EP recently, we have now 12 tracks that we just need to record. I expect it to be done this year (hopefully).
What are your lyrics all about?
Mostly political and social issues that are happening around us. Everyday human struggles that I’ve seen from others or based on personal experiences.
Does Commit Arson active in playing gigs? What were some of the best shows?
Yes we do play gigs, we just don’t do it that much, maybe one or two shows in three months or something along those lines. For me the most memorable experience was of course all the shows during our first ever tour in 2014. We played one show in Singapore and two shows in Malaysia. All were great, met a lot of new friends and to see and meet the bands that I’ve been listening to personally is amazing.
Tell us something about Grindcore music scene in Philippines?
The punk scene here is amazing and alive. But I can’t say there’s a grindcore scene here. There are grindcore/powerviolence bands yes but there’s no dedicated grindcore scene. We play togethere with them punxx.
Thanks for your time. Last words?
Thank you for this interview and more power to your zine brother. DIY forevah!
