Meth is an eclectic one man project featuring Bill Sanwald. Sometimes it sounds electronic, sometimes black metal, sometimes death metal, sometimes who knows what. We interviewed Bill so as to know his thoughts about his projects.

A couple reasons... First, I like having total control over what I record! Second, it's difficult to find people who want to collaborate! I'm in touch with great musicians and people all over the world, but everyone's so busy or simply not interested. I've collaborated with other people, though. I have many other projects besides Meth. The main person I work with is Jon Apgar, who is perhaps best known for being the man behind the project Ephemeron. Jon and I just finished the Roswell CD, actually. We're also hard at work on the next Sheen album, and perhaps a couple other things. We'll see... I also did a project called Dr. Terror and the Synthetic Erections. That was with Jeff Phillips from Carrier Flux.

Well, I usually come up with some themes and ideas then start the recording process. Since I do everything at my home studio J.A.M.S., I'm not under any time constraints. I remember reading about how the Talking Heads recorded their best material: they'd lay down a few tracks with beats or whatever, then they'd try ideas over it and record what sounded good. That's pretty much my approach. It's almost like making a building. I know what the foundation will be, but as for the furnishings (guitar, keys, etc.), I work on it until it sounds good to me. Take out a riff here, add a sample there...it's like making a sandwich!

Immensley. I have a fairly large collection of video games and have been playing since I was a young kid. I am totally blown away by what the musicians come up with for games. Some of the most incredible tunes came from Konami back in the glory days of the NES. Castlevania, Contra...the music in those games can't be beat! There's a band called the Minibosses who do covers of old video game songs. Their CD is really great. The band uses guitar, bass and drums and the songs sound PERFECT. Every note and nuance is there. Amazing. Most people who listen to my music can hear the video game influence. I also have a huge love for anime and have been deeply influenced by that.

I think it'll always remain a solo project, but I'm always ready to include outside musicians if they can fit. The last CD had a drum part that Rich Hoak (who was the drummer for Brutal Truth) made for me. He actually sent me about 45 mintues of raw material a couple years ago for a project we were working on via mail called the Dinner Hour Duo. The beat I used for the Meth tune was from that material. It worked out great. A lot of people thought it was a lo-fi hip-hop sample or something but they thought it fit the music well.

As of this interview I've completed 3 tracks for the new CD. I'm not sure how long the finished product will be or when I'll be finished. It's a lot more orchestral and catchy than the last Meth recording and has no vocals/lyrics on it. I feel that the end result will sound like something you'd hear as the soundtrack for an anime movie or something. I have all the themes locked away in my mind, but as of now they're a big jumbled mess and I need to sort them out and arrange them how I'd like. It's like when you get out a set of Christmas lights and they're all in knots and it takes a long time to unscramble them.

Hopefully I'll be finished with "Biomorphic Symphony" by summer 2001. I'd like for a larger label to pick it up and release it, since I don't have a lot of money to do that. The last CD was sent out mainly to friends and bands I'm in touch with that were interested in it. Meth has become my most "serious" project, but it's still got my quirky sense of humor in it. But since it's my most "serious" project, that'll be where I put all of my deep emotions into. I want to keep releasing Meth albums, each with its own distinct style and themes.

"Biomorphic Symphony" will have no lyrics and I'm not sure if that is what the trend will be for future Meth recordings. On the past recordings, the lyrics were difficult for many people to decipher. "Transformerz" revolves around everything musical (not to mention in the world) being similar, if not the same. What is music but an arranged collection of notes? Is hip-hop truly that different from metal? Is country really that different from classical? They're all ultimately made out of the same thing. Well, if you take it a level deeper, are people really that different from one another? There is a frightening resurgence of racism, at least in the United States. I don't think the problem had ever disappeared, but it was pushed into a closet for many years. Now racism is creeping out of the closet, uglier than ever. And I'm not just implying whites being racist, I'm talking about all ethnic groups. "Transformerz" was my response to that. Why fight over petty differences? Just accept and learn.

I'm usually inspired by things I see or hear. If I buy a new album and am totally blown away by it, chances are it'll get me excited to create new music. It's like adding flame to the fire. The strange thing is, the music I'm listening to while I'm recording an album usually is not of the same "genre". For example, when I recorded the Mech Kommanderz album (death metal), I was listening to a lot of hip-hop. But, since all music is pretty much the same deep down, if I get inspired by good music to create music, that's all there is to it. I also get inspired by my feelings and experiences. When I'm depressed chances are my music will be somber. If I'm happy, it'll be catchier.

Yes, and there are way too many to list! But I'm definitely slowing down in my "old age" and am focusing on fewer projects (like Meth). I have done some cool things lately. I just did a split minidisc with Chris Dodge (best known for Slapaham Records/Spazz). My half of the minidisc was my short-song project The Bumbling Detective, which was 20 songs in 13 minutes. The styles ranged from metal to hip-hop to punk and everything in between. I've also got a couple projects in the works with Jon Apgar. We're doing a new Sheen (black metal) album and hopefully we'll have the Hydrant Inspectors (Sonic Youth-type stuff) album finishes soon. In addition, I'm tentatively planning a hip-hop project and a punk-pop project (probably something like Cibo Matto or Bis). I've also been talking to Rich Hoak and Abbas Jaffary (Ember) about doing some beats for me and I think both of them are planning on doing something for me in the near future.

Interviewed by Federico Marongiu

TRANSFORMER SERIES: COMPLETE - CD (1999)

BIOMORPHIC SYMPHONIES - CD (2001)

Bill Sanwald - everything