Interview: Season To Risk
We all come from the era when hardcore underground music was experimental and we still try to write new song parts that don’t sound like anything else.
Kansas City noise rock band Season To Risk blazed a trail in the 1990s and early 2000s with their caustic and vibrant music on their albums In a Perfect World, Men are Monkeys, Robots Win, The Shattering and their self-titled debut. Following a period of inactivity after the mid 2000s, Season To Risk sporadically got back together for live shows but now they are back again, with a recent remastered edition of their 1-800-Meltdown compilation and a brand new studio album. Gavin Brown caught up with Season To Risk members Steve Tulipana – (vocals, guitar, synthesiser) and David Silver – (drums, synth oscillator, metal, drum machine) to discuss both of these exciting prospects as well as delving into the history of Season To Risk and talking about various subjects including cover songs, movies and music from their native Kansas City.
E&D: You have recently reissued your 1-800-Meltdown compilation album with new material. What has the reaction been like this time around?
Steve: So far it seems people are very excited. I’ve seen our streaming numbers shoot up quite a bit and the vinyl is pretty much sold out at this point.
David: We’ve been active most years since we slowed down and went on hiatus 20 years ago. But having a new release seems to have energized our audience and we’ve had a lot of messages and enthusiasm from people.
E&D: Can you tell us about the new music that features on this reissue and the return to your noise rock roots?
Steve: we’ve been getting together off and on over the last few years and putting ideas down to “tape” at Duane’s Weights & Measures studio as well as David sending us beats to input and jam to. I feel like the new material continues with what we were doing on The Shattering. Driving beats with dissonant yet melodic guitars with nice synth layering to create a sound that I think is pretty unique to Season to Risk.
David: This record has some especially noisy music, but band has always intentionally avoided getting stuck with one musical genre, maybe to a fault. We all come from the era when hardcore underground music was experimental and we still try to write new song parts that don’t sound like anything else. The easier thing to do would be to write crowd-pleasing, familiar, “obvious” riffs or songs that sound like something people can identify quickly, but where’s the risk in that?
E&D: You cover songs by including Bauhaus, The Go-Gos and Killdozer on the record. Was it fun putting your own spin on those tracks?
Steve: These covers are only on the cassette and Bandcamp digital releases. They are not on the vinyl release. All of them except the Bauhaus track appeared on CD compilations in the mid to late 90’s that are impossible to find and we thought it would be nice to have them collected in the digital space. Each one of them was a unique challenge in their own right. We didn’t want to do anything that was a straight up copy. I remember a review of the Go-Go’s comp that said something to the effect of every one of these artists on this compilation has opted to destroy any bit of joy that the Go-Go’s put into their songs. Mission accomplished! And yes, it was really fun!
David: The Bauhaus cover “Double Dare” is a favorite song that ex-bass player Josh Newton used to cover with his old band Glazed Baby. I toured with them a couple years as merch guy in the early 90s. This cover just happened one day we were testing room sounds and first getting our Trainwreck Studio set up. I loved programming the drums on the GoGo’s cover to sound like a mid-90s rave. The drum machine was very basic and I had to play it live to change the tempo and twist knobs to make the malfunctioning sounds I liked.
E&D: What songs would you love Season To Risk to cover in the future?
Steve: We’ve done others that we’ve not recorded. ‘Sex Mad’ – Nomeansno, ‘Mess’ – Scratch Acid. ‘Money’s Not Our God’ by Killing Joke would be a good one.
David: Agree. Killing Joke are the pinnacle of genre-bending music. One of the very few bands that just got better and more relevant right until their end. Their live set was one of the best on Earth.
E&D: Was it difficult task selecting the material to put on the album?
Steve: We had stacks of tapes and just went through them methodically to figure out what we thought would be a good collection of outtakes that covered the whole history.
David: We knew we couldn’t include the (illegal) cover songs and after removing those and the most experimental noise from the cassette/digital variant, the album songs were left over. We wanted to include the new song ‘Echo Chamber’ to let people know we’re still writing and active.
E&D: What are your favourite noise rock albums of all time?
Steve: for me, probably Scratch Acid’s The Greatest Gift.
David: I was obsessed with Butthole Surfers in the late 80s, early 90s. The Touch and Go God’s Favorite Dog compilation might win as the best noise rock album. It changed my musical direction and my life.
E&D: Have you discussed another full length Season To Risk studio album?
Steve: Yes, it is in the works.
David: It’s half done and we expect to finish recording this year.
E&D: How did it feel to return from hiatus after being away for so long?
Steve: We’ve played a handful of shows every year since the hiatus so it isn’t totally out of the blue. But to do 11 shows in a row feels amazing and challenging. We all survived!
David: I live on the East coast with a full time “day job” and these shows are a rare chance to hang with my Kansas City family and see friends on tour. After a few challenging days at first, my body memory kicked in and I clicked back into the mode of sleeping in a weird place every night, driving 5+ hours to the next city, and loading gear in and out, all for that one cathartic hour we’re on stage.
E&D: How easy was it for you to rejoin your musical landscape and did you just want to do your own thing upon your return?
Steve: We all are involved with other musical projects and businesses that are part of the music scene so it wasn’t that strange. Just feels like picking up that different guitar that you don’t use that often and then all of a sudden new creative ideas appear.
David: In Kansas City, there is an amazing music scene and all the band members have a dozen interesting things to see every week in great clubs and multiple other bands to play with. I come from a small town out East with zero clubs, mostly cover bands and street punk, and the most interesting side project was to drum in a polka band. So it’s especially gratifying for me to get back to playing our weird post hardcore noise.
E&D: Can you tell us about the experience of featuring in the movie Strange Days and how that came about?
Steve: I’ve told this story a bunch in the past. We were in NY recording In A Perfect World at Martin Bisi’s B.C. Studios when we got the ask. IAPW was on Columbia and at the same time, Juliette Lewis was in the studios in LA recording the PJ Harvey songs. The music director was there chatting up a friend of ours that worked at the studio. He said he was looking for something “apocalyptic” and she said she had the perfect thing. Our rough mixes had just been delivered for the A&R team to listen to and she shared it with him. He requested for us to give him something not on the forthcoming album, so we spent the next weekend writing and recording the song that appears in the film. I may or may not have been on LSD, as it was the 4th of July and the skies of Brooklyn are insane on that night. Total psychedelic warzone.
David: That song ‘Undone’ was done in 1994 before I joined the band by drummer Chad Sabin of Libido Boyz. It was too ahead of its time and was rejected from the soundtrack album. To me it sounds like that song by Converge ‘I Won’t Let You Go’ from the Cyberpunk 2077 soundtrack in 2021.
E&D: If you could feature in any movie from the past, which one would you choose?
Steve: Decline of Western Civilization or Blade Runner.
David: URGH! A Music War.
E&D: Who are the biggest influences on the sound and outlook of Season To Risk?
Steve: I’d say each of us bring different influences to the band and we try really hard not to wear them too prominently on our sleeve. For me it is Iggy, Bowie, Birthday Party and Einsturzende Neubauten.
David: Nomeansno, Killing Joke, Big Black, SWANS.
E&D: What are your memories of making your self titled debut album?
Steve: Fading fast! We were staying in our drummer’s living room in Chicago. He roomed with our engineer Kerry Brown and his then partner D’arcy from Smashing Pumpkins. We didn’t have any money. We were hungry and sober the whole time. I remember trying to get Billy Corgan to help produce, he was there working on demos for their major label debut. He declined but was nice about it. I remember the other engineer Jeff Molesky (sp) being incredibly funny. We were young and naive. The A&R guy wanted us to add a vibro-slap to a song. That track never made it to the record though. I guess I still remember some stuff. Ha!
E&D: It has been 30 years since your second album In A Perfect World was released. What are your main memories of that time and does it seem like 30 years has passed since then?
Steve: It was life-changing to live in NYC that summer. Martin Bisi was a champion. We learned so much from him. I could write a book about it. We recorded to 2 inch tape. Martin is a master splicer and since there was material we were writing in the studio we were doing crazy stuff that now with digital technology only takes a second to do. I can still hear the sound of that machine rewinding over and over again. That space has so much energy and crazy cool history. It really doesn’t feel like 30 years.15 tops! Ha!
David: I was a fan and collector of everything coming out of Bisi Studios at the time; Cop Shoot Cop, Jim Thirlwell, Angels of Light… So it was a shocking honour to suddenly get a call to audition there, after they had tracked the drums with Jason Gerken, who they borrowed from Molly McGuire. I knew I was in the right place with the right people.
E&D: What was it like working with Martin Bisi on that album and what did he bring to the Season To Risk sound?
Steve: That space def added some cacophony and intensity to the sound. Columbia tried really hard to clean it up in post. At one point hiring some guys that worked with Ministry to try and trigger all the drum sounds but the technology just wasn’t there at the time. Those guys put in a ton of hard work and I think it would be cool to hear what they had in mind. We would’ve sounded way more industrial though and I think the STR sound is more suited to the organic.
David: I’m a fan of that record, which a lot of people consider to be the “best” Season to Risk album. Of course that’s subjective. That killer rhythm section of Malinowski and Gerken have been writing together ever since in Shiner.
E&D: How was the experience of working with Bill Stevenson and Jason Livermore on your 2001 album The Shattering?
Steve: We’ve been so lucky to work with all these great engineers and producers. We definitely have learned so much from these guys. Also, all of Bill’s farts on Enjoy are real! He showed us his technique for maximum reflection! That aside, Jason and Bill are consummate pros. They know how to get the perfect sounds. I think The Shattering is our best sounding record for sure. I think Duane replicated it on ‘Echo Chamber’ very well.
David: Our band members love a lot of the same music, both current and going back early punk / hardcore. But at one point, we realized that our common denominator was Descendents 1987. We ALL saw that tour (which is recorded on the Liveage! album). At the time we were tired of the increasingly tough guy hardcore scene and typical drumbeats on every song, and Descendents raised the bar with insane musicianship and math rock on the ALL record. That plus Bill’s drumming in later Black Flag set the standard 100%. He and Livermore are great producers also, with crucial advice to make songs better.
E&D: How was the experience of working with Frank Kozik and Derek Hess on the bands artwork?
Steve: We are big fans of both artists. Rest in peace, Frank. The biggest thing about that artwork that I remember is that at the time they could not color match to Frank’s vibrant colors. We are hoping to rectify that on an upcoming remaster re-release. We got to hang out with Derek in Cleveland recently. It was great to catch up. He’s the reason we even went to Cleveland the first time. He did so many flyers for us. Apparently he has an upcoming book with all his flyers. I can’t wait to see that.
David: Both genius artists. The new direct-to-garment shirt printing technology has finally made it possible to print all of the correct insane colors of Kozik’s work, so we’ve finally done that with recent merch. It looks amazing.
E&D: How did the recent run of live shows you mentioned go and what were some of the highlights?
Steve: Like any underground touring band that has to play cities on off nights to keep gas in the tank, we had a few lower attendances but overall it was great to see some faces we’d not seen in years. We sold out so much of the merch. Highlights for me. Getting to see A Deer A Horse’s last show at TV Eye (what a killer venue), Plaque Marx taking us back to 80’s Butthole Surfers’ style acid brain melt in Philly, reconnecting with so many old friends in Cleveland. The burger at Zhora Darling in Minneapolis. Man, I’m still unpacking it all. It was a whirlwind.
David: Seeing BirdHands and Electric Hawk live in Chicago was amazing. And a young new band in Omaha Pagan Athletes are pretty special, two brothers doing demented DEVO math noise.
E&D: What are some of the other standout shows that Season To Risk have done in the past?
Steve: I’ll let the other guys take this one. So many to mention. We’ve been so lucky to have toured with so many brilliant bands. Unsane, 7 Year Bitch, Barkmarket, COC, Babes In Toyland.
David: Summer 1995 tour with Corrosion of Conformity was a cool experience, playing huge venues and watching Reed Mullin and Mike Dean every night! Unsane with Pete Shore and after, Cherubs tour was a blast, All, Toadies, and epic prank battles our friends in CRAW. We actually have a list of past bands we’ve played with on our site RobotsWin.com
E&D: What shows have you got coming up for the rest of this year and will you be making it over to the UK and Europe at any point?
Steve: We are playing a fans 50th birthday celebration in Emporia, KS in late June then going into the studio to record more. We hope to do some West Coast dates in the fall / winter and we are definitely fishing for tours in the UK and EU right now. Got any tips?
David: In a Perfect World vinyl remaster is releasing this Fall. And in the Spring 2026, another release will happen, too soon to share,
E&D: As you say, Season To Risk have toured and played shows with many great bands from Fugazi and Killing Joke to Monster Magnet, Prong and Unsane. Who have you loved playing with the most?
Steve: Killing Joke was epic. That show was a turning point for us for sure.
David: Aside from huge shows with those famous bands, sometimes you play with bands year after year or do longer runs with bands that you get to know well as friends, playing every night and hanging out for weeks at a time. We got close with Unsane, 7 Year Bitch, Babes in Toyland, Idiot Flesh, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Scrid, ALL, Toadies, and our homies in KC.
E&D: What is your favourite season and why?
Steve: Fall. Jackets.
David: Summer. Swimming!
E&D: What has been the biggest risk you have ever taken?
Steve: Opening a music venue in Kansas City. We turn 20 this year, www.therecordbar.com.
David: Getting in the van with total strangers in 1994 and leaving my life behind to go on tour for 10 years.
E&D: Who are your favourite ever artists from Kansas City?
Steve: Charlie Parker is the answer.
David: Giants Chair, Shiner, Boys Life, Quitters Club, Stella Link, Roman Numerals, Dirtnap, Sie Lieben Maschinen, I can keep going.
Photo by Todd Zimmer
