Life Of Agony
A Place Where There’s
No More Pain
Napalm Records
Interview with Mina Caputo
(This album has) a lot
of intense great moments that speak of the past but in a more articulate way.
Life Of Agony has consistently melded alternative, hardcore,
metal, hard rock into emotional, groove-filled, heavy music. Each album has its
own flavor. LOA is consistently original while always penetrating a listener’s emotional
barriers. “I have always had a hard time categorically placing LOA. We always
try to redefine what music means to us as a band and individually,” Caputo
admits. She offers humbly, “I’m excited. It brings a smile to my face.” LOA
have broken up and been reunited a few times, even having different vocalists
and drummers. But this album has Caputo back on vocals, as always has been in
the studio, and drummer Sal Abruscato (Type O Negative), returning to his
rightful place behind the kit. Alan Robert, bass, and Joey Z, guitars, churn
out thick, and textured riffs for a mighty album.
Caputo is soft spoken and tending to her dog, fighting
exhaustion after a long day of consecutive interviews. Caputo still lives in
Brooklyn; other members are in NJ (Roberts), Long Island (Joey Z), and
Woodstock (Abruscato). A Place Where
There’s No More Pain was recorded in a few studios over time, Queens, Brooklyn,
etc. The band started the process of writing well over a year ago. Caputo
explains, “I was already demoing vocals last year.” The process was broken up
continually as the band has been touring frequently in this resurgence, as they
would go out to tour for three week jaunts over the last year. This was
beneficial for the band in matters of perspective and true discrimination with
what songs worked. But it was also a detriment, as Caputo appreciates momentum
when recording. Regardless, the dynamic of the group was fluid. “It was
extremely collaborative. We threw a ton of shit a way, too. There were no
bruised egos. No bullshit,” Caputo unveils. “The process was a very open, fearless
dialogue about what didn’t work. We had a priority, a focus. That was to make
the best LOA album.”
Life of Agony began in 1989, released two cassette demos and
appeared on the legendary, East Coast
Assault, on Too Damn Hype Records with early Converge, Only Living Witness,
Next Step Up, Disorder, early Merauder, Dmize and others. By 1993, Roadrunner
released the iconic, River Runs Red,
completely conceived as a concept album by Alan Robert writing and arranging
all the music and lyrics. Having played drummer roulette, they borrowed Type O
Negative’s Sal Abruscato. One song was a collaborative with Brooklyn’s surging
stars of crossover metal, and label mates, Biohazard, on “Method of Groove”.
Playing small to medium clubs, sharing a label with Obituary and Sepultura,
touring with Madball and Dog East Dog (also on Roadrunner) Life of Agony, a
‘hardcore band’ with a keyboard and a powerfully crooning Caputo, LOA was
cherished by the hardcore and metal community. The fierce exposure of
depression and suicidal ideation was a blessing for all distraught kids with
tracks like “River Runs Red”, “Through and Through”, “The Stain Remains”, and
really the entire album front to back.
By 1996, Ugly was
released with a different vibe; losing some of the fans who pined for the rage
and aggression. The ferocity and isolation was still there, but with all
members now writing, and Abruscato as full member now, the songs were softer
and more polished. New fans from outside hardcore were acquired, bigger venues
and shows followed. Certain old fans still found the isolation and depression
furrowing through with harder songs like “Damned”, “Ugly”, “Lost at 22” and
others. Soul Searching Sun followed
in 1997 with a new drummer and hippie vibe. While the single, “Weeds” was a classic
LOA song, the rest of the album was musically indulgent. Which is good for rock
bands and musicians, but lost the hardcore crowd who want monolithic rhythms
and execution. This was taking influences like The Beatles, and Led Zeppelin
and Pink Floyd. But it saw the band go worldwide and embrace many other scenes
and fans. As LOA continued, other members’ writing saw the songs get slower and
more whimsical. The band’s sound grew softer. Through break ups and other
turmoil, and leaving Roadrunner, a solo album for Caputo (which resulted with
Ugly Kid Joe’s Whitfield Crane on LOA vocals), other bands for Roberts (Among
Thieves and a rockabilly/rock and roll influenced, Spoiler NYC) and Joey Z
(Stereomud), Life Of Agony seemed to be what it was and left behind. Their
comeback album, after a few live LPs and DVDs of reunions, Broken Valley in 2005, sounded like Stone Temple Pilots. The band
seemed to rescind back again into their individual lives.
But here, on A Place
Where There’s No More Pain, a harsher, combative, heavier Life Of Agony
returns. The album shows growth and the band indulging into an artistic freedom
that only maturity and tenacity can birth. “This is an album of the best of
Life Of Agony’s moments,” asserts Caputo. The production is big; big sound, big
thick riffs, big grooves. This is the pure LOA sound. 1993’s River Runs Red is an undeniable classic,
in the eyes of punk and metal fans, and in Decibel’s Hall of Fame. It was the
fourth installment of the heralded honor. We get echoes of that here. A Place Where There’s No More Pain was produced
my Matt Brown. Caputo exclaims, “We’ve been friends with him since fifteen. He
played in and produced Sal’s other band, A Pale Horse Named Death”. After the
year plus of recording, the album was handed to and mastered by Ted Jensen (Chi-Lites
to Dead Boys to Alan Parsons to Billy Joel, etc) at Sterling Sound, a NYC
powerhouse since 1968.
A Place Where There’s
No More Pain showcases LOA’s defining attributes. Joey Z is known for his
Hammett-esque wailing, piercing leads. Robert’s low end thunder and unique
groove looms heavy while Sal Abruscato’s entrenched, pounding drums push songs.
There are even the slower like “Bag of Bones”, where the album’s title is
derived. There is a low-tuned grit to the guitars and a faster part for the
bridge, finally more Anthrax than Velvet Revolver. But, there is support for Caputo’s
statement of a mix of all LOA. “A New Low” embraces a dark and atmospheric
thunder, a real ugly (a-hem…), gnarly sound; sludgy and reminiscent of Type O
Negative, or even Corrosion of Conformity, but definitively LOA. It again
gathers speed in the middle before reeling in a churning riff. Caputo boasts,
“Each song has a different dynamic,” as I inquire about the lyric on “Right
This Wrong”: “My wrath will come for you all”; Caputo comments, “There is
anger, forgiveness, and sadness in the record.”
This the first Life Of Agony in twelve years. The elephant
in the room is that this is the first Life Of Agony album with Mina Caputo, as
opposed to Keith Caputo, singing on this record. Keith began his transition in
2008. His tumultuous struggle, from depression to drugs to sexual identity is
reflected here. But again, all members contribute, so this is not solely
Caputo’s strain exhibited on the album. Referring to the comparison of the
ferocity of River Runs Red to this
album, Caputo adds, “I definitely think there are bone-crushing moments, but the
intention is different. This is dark lyrically, a kaleidoscope of emotions. The
only thing which has changed is us; our musicianship, our experiences. I would
hate to have the same tone on every record. That would be a fail.”
Again, as the intense emotions, which is Life Of Agony’s
strongest trait, is addressed, with a hint of losing some edge. Caputo defies
this claim ardently. “Just because I’m a transsexual doesn’t mean I don’t get
angry.” The aforementioned soft spoken Mina recoils into the Brooklyn bred
upstart that lies within her core. “(being transsexual doesn’t mean) I won’t want
to punch you in the fucking face. I don’t follow any cliché stereotypes. (mocks
a comment) ‘I don’t think that’s very womanly of you.’ Well, I don’t really give
a fuck.” Mina laughs. Without restraint, she continues, slightly riled, “I can
be very angry. I am a human being. I experience a slew of emotions in one day.
Just because I’m feminine doesn’t mean I won’t grab my mic cord and choke you,
cuz I will if I have to.”
Caputo continues her defiance of feminine clichés as she
establishes her individuality in these tumultuous times, relating to everyone’s
stress and gender politics. “I don’t ‘stand against’ bullying. I bully the fucking
bullies, ok? That’s the difference between me and a lot of other people.”
Translating that to her vocals on A Place
Where There’s No More Pain, “There are a lot moments of angst of the
record. Vocally, I get brutal as fuck. I out sing all the boys. And all the
girls. I get as real and as bloody as emotion can get.”
As certain elements of Life Of Agony’s are gathered to this
album, a new fresh feeling is portrayed here. The anticipation from fans,
balanced with their own personal expectations, is cherished by Caputo as
quickly as she excuses them. “People want LOA to be their own little secret.
That’s sweet, that’s special. I love our fans. But, it’s nice to share things
with the world.” The metal fans seem to be more forgiving of change and growth
than the hardcore kids, (writer included). Hardcore and punk expect bands to
stay the same, to remain niche. But Caputo thinks beyond those terms, obviously
since it is 25 years since the first album. “You can’t drag the past into the
present. People need to really listen with an open heart. Things are always
changing, things are always new. People shouldn’t have expectations on how the
band should sound. That’s obnoxious. Just because we spoke to them on one level
(years ago).” But Caputo is quick to bridge the sound of A Place… to the early records, and deservedly so. This could be
seen as tougher Ugly in some aspects.
“(This album has) a lot of intense
great moments that speak of the past but in a more articulate way. We didn’t
reach every destination we tried to musically (in the past). People miss out
with expectations. People are too dismissive too fast. It’s a sin. I would never
do that to one of the bands I listen to, like Radiohead. What motherfucker is
going to tell Thom Yorke what to do.” Caputo expands on these thoughts,
relating the audacity of fans in the tighter knit, underground genres. “Time
owns us. People that lack creativity don’t understand that. These songs were already
written and were filtered out through us. I have some peculiar beliefs, I know.
But that’s what makes me me.”
Caputo reports feeling liberated and easier to access these
days. She acknowledges her quirks and spirit are sometimes shown through mood
swings. She is sensitive in a world of hate and friction which impacts her
easily. However, new coping skills and the appropriate body free her in a
manner which past drugs and booze did not allay. “I still get depressed. I
still get anxiety. Music is the best drug for me. If I don’t pick up the guitar
or sit down with the piano, I get very depressed. Songwriting is my ultimate
high. (All the peripheral responsibilities of music) are completely irrelevant;
the shows, the tours, the interviews. I am here to write music.” The music ties
in to Mina’s ability to cope with the stress of life, again, granted to her by
her gender transition. “I knew it and felt it. I can feel the wholeness of me
now.”
The other aspect of finding relief from depression is the
drive to want to. “I care about how I feel now. I care so much about feeling
good. That’s where it starts and ends. Once you focus on and hone in on that –
those two feelings – you have to go for the things that bring you good feelings
and fun times in life. My anxiety comes from confusion. Politicians, bombings,
people trying to blow us up, all this drives people beserk. And the regular
people do not get the credit for it. (But) we are holding it down and they keep
on fucking things up. We are confronted with infantile people running the
world. It drives kids and parents crazy. Then, parents take it out on kids and
that’s how it all starts, the cycle. A lot of people don’t acknowledge how they
feel so low. They ignore the pain.”
Caputo delves into the obvious trauma of her childhood. “I
came from, well, I lived with my grandparents, a major generation gap. My
grandparents were Italian, in Brooklyn. I lived that stereotype, right out of Raging Bull. The shit I saw as I kid, my
father drugged up, falling down flights of stairs; my grandfather beating up my
father, beating up my grandmother. I can’t believe I made it his far. I can’t
believe I survived all those beatings. I could remember how it scarred me,
changed me. It made me depressed, made me feel unworthy. Some things in my life
trigger me to go back into that childhood momentum. But, you have to be your
own pill, forget all the pharmaceuticals. That stuff will hurt your nervous
system and your brain and your soul.”
Adding a confused adolescent to this environment must
produce PTSD. Growing up around this masculinity drenched environment impacts
fear and trepidation on a young kid. “I was afraid my entire life to come out
to family. People knew I was eccentric. People maybe assumed I was bi-sexual.
They always saw Keith with a girl by his side. But I was very feminine. I was
never a masculine man. I could not cover up my femininity.
“It took my whole life to get to the point where I had to
stop feeling responsible for other people’s feelings. That was my breaking
point. I just can’t give a fuck what other people think or say, even if I lose
my career. I’ll throw everything away to be happy. I need to be open. I was too
busy dying, not living. I need a happy being. That’s when I am most productive.
I’m most productive when I’m happy, for no reason, just from living.”
Caputo is frank in her realization of her struggles with
gender. “I couldn’t deal with playing this male role. I couldn’t take it
anymore. It sucked. I hated living as a guy.” This conflict of innate feelings
and outer presentation devoured Keith and was a vortex of self-destruction. “I
thought, ‘I’d rather be dead, let’s start consuming lots of drugs and harming
myself’. I was not facing what I knew I had to face. I was afraid. There is no
time table on when one should be expressive or transsexual or homosexual. Or
even if you want to put a loop in your lip. Whatever. Expression is such a part
of people’s humanity and experience here on the planet. A lot of people are
living, they don’t remember their origin. We’ve been derailed. So, when someone
like me pops up in their lives, it connects them to their own nature. And it
frightens them.”
Caputo quickly appends these thoughts to the stress of our
society. She testifies to this separation of individuals and their feelings,
their realities, as significant chasm in society. “Pretty soon women will give
birth to babies with a phone in their hand.” While the hyperbole is amusing,
Caputo brings it back to a truth. “People are disconnected. Which I also see
the other half. I think a lot of people are awakening on the planet and tasting
the true mystery of why we are here. It’s not to observe and ridicule. Society
has it all wrong. As do our politicians and institutions, religions, food
companies, corporations. Some kid has to die cuz some CEO wants to make another
100 grand.” Her frustration is palpable and commendable.
Life Of Agony adds a significant new chapter in their
history, and consequently, there present. There will be tours and festivals
around the globe. As soon as the Brooklyn and Boston shows were announced, they
were sold out. Fans are rabid for new material. A Place Where There’s No More Pain is vibrant and confrontational,
grinding and liberating. The rage and disgust are ever present, sure to appease
older fans. The sound has returned to a heavy groove. The album cultivates Life
Of Agony’s best qualities and presents them from a new perspective of freedom
and truth without losing the members’ intrinsic bite and snarl.
Thanks to Mina and Jon Freeman PR for the interview
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