• Home
• News
• Features
• Reviews
• TV
• Photos
• Win
• Blog
• Magazine
• Merch
• Festivals

Band of the Week: Trap Them

Vicious brutality, just the way we like it.

Make no bones about it, Trap Them are a nasty, nasty band. Not personally, of course - our money's on them being the sort of people who never forget to phone their nan to say thank you for the $10 folded in their birthday card each year - but they make the sort of acidic racket that takes all the most vicious parts of hardcore, punk and metal and leaves out everything palatable for the weak-hearted.

Basically, they're brilliant - new album 'Darker Handcraft' never fails to make us want to stand on our desks and kick our computers over and is exactly the sort of record that will doubtless end up on all sorts of 'Best Of 2011' lists. And deservedly so.

We're streaming two tracks from it, 'Evictionaries' and 'Damage Prose' via the player below, and we also caught up with vocalist Ryan McKenney to find out why he'll never let his poor mum come to a show.

When did Trap Them start? And when did it go from something fun you did with your friends to something that monopolised your life?
"The actual attempt at being a band that can play live came about in early 2006. Before that time Brian [Izzi, guitar] and I had done a few very grindcore-influenced tracks with a drum machine. Once we decided to make the band a priority, we dove in head first and toured as much as we could without freaking out. It's definitely taken a big part of our lives, but we've slowly started to balance between the band and the need to have a normal existence."

What was your first tour like?
"It wasn't a nightmare scenario. We went out for a week and a half around the time "Sleepwell Deconstructor" was released. We kept it simple and didn't try to tour the earth ten times on a 7". Baby steps. That being said, the shows were well received and we came home excited to push forward."

What’s the band’s process for writing songs?
"The last songwriting process seemed to be the most straight forward and positive attempt we've had so far as a band. Brian and Chris [Maggio drums] spent the summer of 2010 in Louisville, writing and practicing every day. Whenever a song was close to being fully fleshed out, I was emailed a rough version so that I could begin matching words to music. Compared to what we used to have to do, this was extremely easy. Of course, I'm just the singer and didn't have to write any music, so I'm also just talking out my ass."

When you’re playing a show what are your criteria for calling it a good or a bad one?
"I don't really have a gauge for that. I enjoy the live aspect of the band and get off stage (or floor) 99 per cent of the time feeling I, and we, did what we came to do. There are obviously shitty situations sometimes, but I've never left a venue and carried any disappointment with me out the door."

What do your parents think of Trap Them? And how do you describe what you do to family members you don’t see very often?
"My mom is supportive in many ways... she does internet investigations of the band, but I'll never let her come to a show. I do things while we play that I would never do in normal, everyday life and I don't want her to see her son like that. My dad is just as supportive, but really has no idea what to make of it, which is probably best. Under the circumstances, I think both of them handle their 33-year-old son acting like a man-boy pretty well. At least my sister is responsible... they've got that."

What’s the worst thing about being in Trap Them? And the best?
"The worst thing is that our van only has one speaker, and it's almost blown out. I do a lot of driving, and this situation drives me insane. The best part is that I'm in a band that makes music that I'm proud of. As long as we can keep doing that, there's not much room for complaining.'

Ben Patashnik