Interview with SCUMRIPPER
We had a conversation with Rat Pitt (vocals, guitar) and Son Stalker (drums). Enjoy!
Welcome to the FILTHY DOGS OF METAL Webzine.
Tell us a few things about SCUMRIPPER (Members, Starting Year etc).
Son Stalker: Cheers. Band was set up in 2015 in Mikkeli, Finland, and the line-up has remained the same ever since:
Rat Pitt: Guitar/vocals
Cliff Hunger – Bass
Son Stalker - Drums
Our discography so far:
Scumripper (Demo/EP, Caligari Records 2015)
All Veins Blazing (Full-Length, Hells Headbangers Records 2019)
For a Few Fixes More (Full-Length, Headsplit Records 2024)
Rat Pitt: We became good friends with Son Stalker probably around 2013-2014 and we quickly knew that we need to form a band together. We talked and found common musical ground in old clunky and punky raw death metal bands like Impetigo, Autopsy and Repulsion. We wanted to make our own mix of punk and death metal and make it rock! We needed a third member to complete the lineup and Cliff Hunger (formerly of Evilnight) was our first option so we asked him and Scumripper was born.
You have recently released your album ''For a Few Fixes More''. What is the feedback from your audience as well as from the press?
Son Stalker: Just saw the first reviews, and we had same ranks as the new Blood Incantation so we are must be doing good haha.
Rat Pitt: Early to say, but seems good. Someone in Finland said that we've always been a great live band but now the sound and energy has been captured on the record properly for the first time. Have to be happy with that!
The cover artwork has a great atmosphere! Tell us a few things about it.
Rat Pitt: The artist Ensimmäinen Kultti is our long-time friend and collaborator. This time he wanted to paint instead of just draw, so the style is much more eye-catching, expressive and he didn’t exactly hold back with the colors! We didn’t have an exact vision except that we want the cover art to scream crossover. It’s not death metal, not thrash or hardcore punk but a combination of those. He listened to the record, went through the song titles and lyrics and came up with great artwork as always! It is basically a reaper flying a waste container and shooting the rats with a drug they probably don’t need. In the back you can see our old mascot Scum-Kali etc. The meanings behind the imagery are pretty self-explanatory. But a stairway of burning books leading to nowhere… that is as literal as you can get, haha!
And what about the lyrics?
Rat Pitt: Our first release was mostly about shocking and being naively offensive in the footsteps of Impetigo, Abigail etc. The first full-length had more substance, but it was still very much draped in nihilism and dark humour. And people didn’t seem to get any of the message because of that. For A Few Fixes More is more literal and clearly present in this time. Lyric-wise it’s a punk record, but we wanted to be comprehensive with the idea of REAL crossover so I used a lot of (death) metal imagery in my choices of words and wordplay, especially in the song titles. Some themes around the songs:
Early Embittered Twilight - Animal Rights.
The Slime - Inspired by the book Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord (and the Cronenberg movie Videdrome!!!)
For a Few Fixes More - The modern way of life and the school system making children and young people illiterate.
Exhume the Body and Disturb the Peace - Rulers/people in power trying to squeeze their skeletons in a closet if it's bad for their image/business. When exposed they get behind ”free speech” argument, present themselves as victims and at the same time target their whistleblowers with death threats and smear campaigns.
I Cum Pain - Being a (sexual) beast that is man.
The rest are more or less general depictions of our time. Recurring and relatable themes are about good and kind-hearted people being indecisive and weak.
How did your cooperation with Headsplit Records occur? And what do you prefer, Label or DIY and why?
Rat Pitt: I tried to contact a dozen labels and only one of them answered that they have a one-year queue on new releases. Friends in Sadistic Drive encouraged me to contact Dylan of Headsplit and it was easy since I’ve met him personally. I asked if he wants to hear the new album and he was like ”Get the fuck outta here and send it already!” I could feel his excitement and in probably 5 minutes he messaged that he wants to release it.
Son Stalker: Headsplit have been supporting us for some time even though this is our first release with them. We also played some gigs together with the label’s main man Dylan when his old band Nekro Drunkz was touring Finland and Europe. DIY is far better than shitty label, and a quality label is better than DIY. That's why we're on Headsplit Records.
Is there any funny or weird story from the recordings or from your live shows that you would like to share with us?
Rat Pitt: The recording was as normal as it gets. Just playing all day and some more in the nightime. Our friend Jusa (Morbific, Sadistic Drive etc.) handled the recording and it was good times. On the lunchbreak he would show us some funny shit like the new Mortician interview with J-Dawg that was filmed in the gym. Stupid shit happens in almost every show. In Russia we played a punk festival in 2019 and it was literally organized in a forest. There was a tent if the bands needed sleep and I took the chance. I left my shoes outside the tent and some diligent crust punk dog came digging under the tent and in the process, buried my shoes deep in the sand. I think two hours before our given showtime the other band members came to wake me up and said that the organizers want us to play right now because one other band is missing at the moment. I put my sand-filled shoes on and staggered on the stage to set my gear up. Our bass player was laughing the whole time because I looked so goofy trying to set things up still half-asleep.
Do you prefer Vinyl, Tape, CD or Digital Format and why is that?
Son Stalker: Tapes are good for demos etc. since you can dub those easily and at cheap cost. Also they rule because when you are at a bar and someone hands you a cassette it fits easily in to your pocket unlike vinyls. As a kid of the 90’s my heart always has a soft spot for CD. Nowadays I’m buying mostly used CDs since vinyls cost like hell and many represses are just pain in the ass with all the 3LP gatefold ritual candle live at OEF 2006 recorded with a potato bonus features.
Rat Pitt: I love ’em all but CDs I have the most, because like my friend said, that was THE format when we discovered music as a kids/pre-teens. All the formats have their own attractive qualities and streaming/digital is convenient when checking out new music.
Your music style is Black/Thrash Metal. Which are your main influences (Favourite Artists / Bands etc.)
Rat Pitt: Since the first demo, many people have took us as black/thrash but that really wasn’t what we were going for, haha. But it’s understandable, because my vocals are quite unusual for death metal or hardcore punk. Slayer is obviously a huge influence for us and their style of evil riffing is what makes the basis of all black/thrash music in my opinion. Out of newer bands, Nekrofilth was important when we started. How they combined death metal and punk was a illuminative experience. ”So you can do it like that, wow…” It was familiar and the ingredients were traditional but the combination was still something I had not heard before.
Son Stalker: Akitsa, Bathory, Darkthrone/Isengard, Last Resort, Oxblood, Combat 84, Cold as Life, Negative Approach, Motörhead, Bolt Thrower, Power Trip, Thin Lizzy...you know this listing will never stop so I cut it here. Everyone compares us to Repulsion, but if one band deserves to be mentioned when we talk about the birth of Scumripper, that would definitely be Hail of Bullets.
Rat Pitt: Yes, hearing Martin Van Drunen in HoB, Pestilence and Asphyx really helped me find my vocal style. I probably don’t sound a lot like him anymore but his thing was something I was sort of able to do pretty fast. And it was a huge discovery back then because creating that more ”standard” type of low growling (heard on most death metal records) I couldn’t do one bit.
Which things do you think a band should sacrifice in order to succeed? Have you ever sacrificed anything in your life for a better future for your band?
Son Stalker: Besides supporting MP Mikkeli (local mighty football club) and band/music activities, there ain't much spare time for anything else because you have to work too and so on. But it's fine.
Rat Pitt: The biggest ”sacrifice” would be time, but how big of a sacrifice is it really? You are working on something you actually like and spending time with your best friends. Travel is probably the most grueling aspect. Financially it doesn’t make sense to sacrifice much. It doesn’t require much cash to record nowadays and putting lots of cash on marketing in this kind of music would be just lame. This kind of music is not meant to be shoved down the throat of everyone walking down the street. If the record is actually good, the underground community will find it and nurture it. If it’s great, people will be talking about it even years after.
Describe your ideal live show as a performance band. Have you already experienced that?
Son Stalker: In January we were playing in Tallinn. Other bands (Sadistic Drive, Humanity, Eradication of the Unworthy Infants) were top notch, the venue that was some abandoned soviet-era abattoir occupied by local punks. The room was so full of people that in one point I could not leave the backstage room to the main hall because there was no room for the door to open. The venue was at the same time freezing cold and hot as hell. Hosting hospitality and even the backline/technics for the gig were superior. It was pretty much everything you can ask for a gig.
What attributes do you think that a new Black/Thrash Metal Band should have in order to gain identity and be unique?
Son Stalker: Work hard and stay humble I guess. Do no let piss get in our head. You're not a rock star, but a margin band in a margin scene. Making good songs helps you getting forward too.
Rat Pitt: Good songwriting. Bands like Nifelheim, Deströyer 666 and Midnight all have their own emphasis on their sound, but what makes those bands popular is their top-quality songwriting. Some of the best metal done in the 2000s.
Do you believe that Digital Platforms help the new Black/Thrash Metal Bands? Which, do you think, is the ideal way for a band to promote its work?
Son Stalker: You can do what you like. It's your band and music. Witchcraft for example, what I know has not ever uploaded any given songs online, but they've still achieved a lot. Personally I don't use Spotify or such, but I’m not against it either. Bandcamp is a good way to support bands I think.
Rat Pitt: Promotion is another beast, but if you make a record and want people to hear it, I think it’s just decency to put it out there on the popular services or whatever so they can access it fairly easily. If someone wants to show more support, they’ll also buy a physical copy, buy other merch, come to shows or just buy the digital on Bandcamp on support purposes. We’re not on any big playlists or anything so I don’t think it automatically helps anything. People need to hear about the band first before they search the music on any of the services.
Tell us a few things about the New Underground Metal Scene in Finland (Bands, Fanzines, Webzines, Metal Clubs etc.)
Rat: Lots of great bands in almost every underground metal subgenre you can think of. Not many fanzines that make releases consistently, but those that come out are SUPER quality with great taste (Martial Art Zine, Sinister Waves, Tainted Bloodletting Dogma, Spectrum of Circles etc.) Very little Finnish underground webzines at the moment. The longest standing ones are covering both mainstream and some of the underground.
Son Stalker: Talkin' about clubs, I'm really happy that nowadays there are good underground metal promoters outside of the nation’s capital area too. Let's say for example "Karelian bloodshed" in Joensuu, "Heavy Metal Thunderstrike" in Jyväskylä, "Metal City" (our own club) in Mikkeli, "From the Very Depths of Torvi" in Lahti and so on. Of course the are several quality fractions in Helsinki too, like "club Lupercalia" or the "United Forces" affiliated crews.
Do you know anything about the Hellenic Metal Scene?
Son Stalker: Varathron, Rotting Christ and Necromantia. Also Zemial and Dead Congregation. Oh, and Spitfire! Street fighter you won't see the end!! Apart from metal I like for example Chain Cult and Chaotic End. Also I have a LP from Greek hardcore punk band Konepistooli, who have Finnish name and song titles??
Rat Pitt: I’d probably say the Hellenic metal scene of the 90’s is my all-time favourite scene around the world. Rotting Christ and Necromantia are definitely in my top 10 black metal acts and bands like Varathron, Zemial, Agatus, Thou Art Lord etc. are also out of this world.
In the last 4 years, worldwide in the world, we have faced many dark, strange, and new situations in our everyday lives (covid, lockdown, etc.). Did all of this affect you positively or negatively?
Son Stalker: Well, the covid ruined our tour that was suppose to support our first album, but shit happens. I’m far more concerned about the corrupted, two-faced, war-mongering scum who rule our world.
Rat Pitt: Covid, looking back, seems like it was a relatively short vexation. I agree with Son Stalker in that where things have gone after Covid is much worse to be honest. It definitely has fueled the songwriting, but I’d much rather make songs about the meaning life in peace time compared to this nonsense what’s going on now. Fairly civilised countries and nations suddenly going medieval with human rights and warlust, talentless nobodies sporting misogyny or other idiotic views becoming wealthy celebrities…
What are your future plans?
Rat Pitt: Playing shows supporting the new album. Hopefully we get to play some foreign shows again as well. Usually when you have just put an album out, you don’t feel like writing new material. But right now it feels right! So you probably won’t have to wait five years for our next album!
Thank you very much for your time & keep up the good work! The closure is yours.
Son Stalker: Thanks a lot for the interview & support. Hopefully we will get to play Greece one day.
Rat Pitt: Thank you! Filthy Dogs also did an interview with my other band Lord Fist in the past. We really appreciate you guys looking for new bands and shining some light onto them. Hope you Dogs stay hungry and sikkk!
By Steve the Filthy Dog.
Promo photos credits: Riikka Björn
Live photos credits: Eetu Kolehmainen
SCUMRIPPER CONTACT:
https://www.facebook.com/scumripper/
https://www.instagram.com/scumripperdeath/
https://scumripper.bandcamp.com/album/for-a-few-fixes-more
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0TfvtmU3EM7b965Y2EA0zH