On the last Misery Index tour I again tried to get a hold of bassist/vocalist Jason Netherton to ask him some questions. Unfortunately the man was out to get some more tattoos on him, so this attempt to talk to him failed. So we hooked up via mail and I got him to answer my questions after all. Here is the result.
 

So, how was this European trek? I sort of noticed that the hip kids slowly left when you guys took the stage, guess they ain’t so tough after all haha! 

’Ha ha, yeah I suppose we are not the main attraction for the scene kids, but that’s ok, we have seen them come and go before, the core of the death metal underground supports itself through various trends and despite that we had a blast playing the shows with Despised Icon and Beneath the Massacre, we made some new friends, and some of their fans liked us too.’

What exactly were you studying when you left Dying Fetus? How much do you still put it to use?

’I studied international communication, or media studies/critical theory... I use it in everyday life a lot, although I have only being doing music since I finished that up, so perhaps one day, I will go back and get my hands a bit more dirty with the books, but for now Misery Index is doing fine and it’s a lot of fun.’ 

What do you think you would be doing if you hadn’t become a musician?

’I probably would be either teaching, or doing some kind of social work, anything where I could help people out, rather than working for some company or helping my boss to get rich.’

How the hell did you guys end up doing a split record with Bathtub Shitter?!?

’They wrote us an email and were interested, it was after we played the same stage back in 2003 at the Fuck the Commerce festival... it was just one day I got home and got the email and was like “why not”? plus they have the best band name in the world! We even played a few shows with them in 2006 on their US tour, and got to hang out with them a little bit, great guys.’

What do you think are the main differences between American and European metal crowds?

’Not too much, I know that metal and death metal are a lot more popular in Europe, and the US and the UK tend to follow trends in extreme music a lot more easily, but we love Europe and touring bands especially get a lot better treatment over there. I think it’s the culture 'cause in Europe it's more like the band is the reason for the show and the promoters give them more respect, but in the US some promoters have the attitude like “I am the guy doing the band a favour, if it was not for me the band would not have a show” - so the bands at the lower touring club levels have a much harder time getting respectable, reliable tours, however, the DIY network is very good here, as long as you love the basement and house shows (and we do!).’

You’re about to enter the studio in May, can you tell the people what to expect from these new recordings?

’The album is likely to have 10 songs, and it's tentatively going to be called “Traitors”, and like Discordia, it will feature a slight variety of tunes including the grinders (like the title track is straight-up Nasum worship ha ha!), the slower numbers and the straight early-90's death metal rippers. We are going to record it at Kurt Ballou’s God City Studio, and that starts in 2 weeks, so needless to say, we are all a bit stressed right now (sorry it took so long to do this interview!).’

Bullshit question; in movies, who do you prefer, Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone? Motivation?

’Well I think they are both unintentionally hilarious actors, and have funny one-liners in all their horrible 80's movies. BUT the one exception is ARNOLD in the first CONAN the Barbarian, that was a REAL movie and he was perfectly cast, and the story and music are timeless... so Arnold all the way, and I will give SLY some credit for the first Rocky, and for Rocky 4 for its uber-American wonderland vs Russian patriotic stupidity.’

Extra bullshit question; what do you think of Arnold’s political career?

’I don’t know enough about it to comment, but politicians are such puppets anyway, that I am sure he does not have to think too much, party advisors and committee’s make all the decisions. Although he does seem to be more of an environmentalist than most Republicans.’

You’ve probably seen the documentary Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey. Why do you think metal music is constantly being stereotyped, dismissed and condemned?

’Yeah it was fun... I am not sure, but probably because metal is (at least used to be) on the fringe and underground and associated with social outcasts, but these days its drifted pretty close to mainstream circles and where “extreme” bands like Slayer used to play clubs in the 80's they are playing arenas now, so I really don’t see much any condemnation or dismissal anymore.’

Do you have anything to add to this interview?

”Thanks and look for the new album TRAITORS in September, and see ya on tour later this year!”