‘PSI’ is Pitchshifter’s reaction to all things current

Pitchshifter have always had reputation for heavy and uncompromising sounds to subvert the trend-zeitgeist. That’s why they’ve had to travel through many a boardroom with their fierce and fiery combination of radical attitude and crushing, metallic aggression that has successfully mixed rock, metal and industrial scenes. Movement-setting albums such as ‘www.pitchshifter.com’ and ‘Deviant’ saw the band joining punk influences, heavy doses of techno, breakbeats and issues to keep all nu-metallists engrossed. Both albums have been hailed as “modern industrial classics”.

Although pioneers of the Industrial genre, even Nine Inch Nails owe them for an idea or few, Pitchshifter have never had anything near-due recognition… “‘PSI’ (‘Pitch Shifter Industries’) sits perfectly alongside the new crop of British rock like Lostprophets, A and Hundred Reasons as well as US triumphs P.O.D, Linkin Park and Papa Roach,” claims their label but we’d like to know whether it is because the scene finally caught up with them or they’ve started making records that are more in tune with the market demands?

“I have to admit that this album is our most accessible album yet,” JS Clayden comments, “but it is also our most intense. So, it is both, us having learnt to be better songwriters and market turning toward our corner… We’ve always done our thing and never really worried about what else is going on. I know that the new record is leaner, meaner and heavier than anything we’ve done before.”

“The new sound is full of energy and there are a lot of things to excite people. ‘P.S.I.’ is a huge rush of adrenaline from the word go. I would say we combined the best elements of the last two records and took them one step further for ‘PSI.’”

Adrenal Avenue

Pitchshifter came together at the tail end of 1990 as Nottingham based brothers JS and Mark Clayden (vocals and bass respectively) took their love of all things dark and beautiful in music and ran it through a bastard sized distortion pedal and an industrial-sized drum machine. Big Black, Dead Kennedys and The Swans provided them with pointers but Pitchshifter had their own style in mind. It got defined over six albums and plethora of exciting EP’s.

12 years is a long time in anybody’s career; what does keep the Pitchshifter machine running on overdrive?

“Our love for music,” JS states firmly; “we love to listen to and make music. It sounds simple, but that’s the crux of it. Some bands do it for the cash and some for the love of music. Every time we get into the studio we just have fun. And, each time we’ve hit the studio at least a year or so has elapsed and that means we each have new influences from bands that have inspired us. All of that inevitably makes it onto the new record.”

Unexpected subscription

“With each record we try to include new elements,” he continues as if on a racetrack, “that we’ve not used before, or push familiar elements to their limit. We did a lot of work on this record with the beats, the hip-hop and drum’n’bass elements. We make music loud enough to blow you head off but with enough flavour to keep you jumping. That’s the fun of being in a band like Pitchshifter, there are no rules, we can literally do anything we want, in fact, a lot of our fans EXPECT us to produce the unexpected.”

Is there a lesson you’ve learnt over the years that you’d gladly pass onto a fresh band?

“It would be – do your own thing. Don’t listen to anyone who tries to tell you – you can’t do it. Go with your instinct. At least try to shake things up while you have the chance. The only life waiting for you out there is the one you get out and make for yourself. None of us are concert pianists or opera stars, we don’t have special training. We’re just punk kids from working class families. We decided to go for it and put our music out there to see if anybody else was on our wavelength. Anyone reading this can do it. You’ve just got to go for it, believe in yourself.”