TORCHE:
Stoner pop? Beach Boys-like doom? Whatever

COBALT:
I don't really consider us black metal in any sense of what black metal is.

DODSFERD:
Motivated by desolation,
despair, hate, irony, death,
loss, betrayal, etc

PYGMYLUSH:
Between the delicacy of
gorgeous acoustics & the
ugliness of noise rock.

TRACTOR SEX FATALITY:
The most active defunct garage band in Seattle answers our questions.

MERCILESS DEATH:
Thrash metal revivalists  
speak out against false metal

JONAH JENKINS:
The man behind the voice of some of the most underrated underground American bands. 

THE PAX CECILIA:
Giving their music away for free. And it's damn good too.  

WORLD COLLAPSE:
Hardcore has always been about self-expression and
that's exactly what we do. 

U.S. CHRISTMAS:
North Carolina psychedelic hard-rockers acquire
'band to watch' status..

INTRONAUT:
The best self-indulgent odd metered prog metal band around.   

GENTLE VEINCUT:
German angular punk rock/post-hardcore for lack of a better term. 

THE INTELLECTUALS:
Italian garage rock you must know. 

NACHTMYSTIUM:
Spearheading a new wave of  extreme American music.  

BARONESS:
Men of a few words. 

MOTHER TONGUE:
On their beginnings, their first record and their first demise. 

FLATTBUSH:
Extreme world music via San  Francisco.

TOTIMOSHI:
Six drummers & four records later the band unleashes its finest.

HOLY HEART FAILURE:
Shitty emo puss-pop bands & a short tale of Wild Turkey.

THE JONBENET:
Bar recordings and a meaningless moniker.

NOVEMBER COMING FIRE:
Cheese sandwiches and 
progression in hardcore.

SINCE BY MAN:
"We are happy fun-loving dudes."

THE MASS:
"Money, time and blood go straight down the drain."

In our never ending quest to dig up great underground bands with not only good music but interesting propositions we stumbled upon North Carolina’s U.S. Christmas. Their third record Salt the Wound, out on the excellent Russian label R.A.I.G., is one psychedelic hard rock trip that is worth visiting and re-visiting. So we got in touch with guitarist/vocalist Nate Hall, who had little to say regarding some things, but who nevertheless didn’t shy away regarding others. We are sure U.S. Christmas will give a lot to talk about in the near future; just don’t forget where you learned about them first. Read on and spread the word!

-First of all, congratulations on Salt the Wound. I understand it's been out for a while. Indeed it was recorded separately in 2005 and 2006. It's solid throughout with great grooves and some nice layering. I really dug the spacey vibe; at times it sorta reminded me of Monster Magnet back when they were good and fucked up. Wyndorf described himself as a sort of 'drug czar' back then. And to a degree the kind of heavy psychedelic music you guys are making has been historically linked to drugs, to what degree does that apply to US Christmas?

Thanks man, who is Monster Magnet?

-Your website offers very little insight into the band, the MySpace page does a better job. I understand that you guys hail from a small town in NC. I mean I live in Tampa which is not like NY and I still don't know more than one person who digs this kind of music. How does the band come together/bond and end up making this, say, niche music?

We make the music we make without preconceived notions, and this is just the way it comes out.

-You guys took the name from a Peckinpah movie. I've only seen Straw Dogs, The Wild Bunch and The Killer Elite which has a cool title but was disappointing. Why US Christmas?

It came from Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid, it's a great movie. Bob Dylan kills a dude with a knife through the neck. And then Slim Pickens gets shot and he has one of the best death scenes ever, he gets his boat ride. And we don't think band names are very important, but no one seems to forget our name, which is about all you can hope for.

-Obviously, you guys make this psychedelic rock that is pretty hard for the average Joe to swallow. I mean, its appeal is limited, but from a musician’s perspective, what is it that you wish to accomplish with your music considering that perhaps your music won’t be able to sustain your living?

Making a living has never been our goal. That said, we think we are an extremely fortunate band. We have absolute control over our music, and we work with some of the best labels out there. We get to stay with our families most of the time, record at our own pace, and do whatever we want. We play shows with great bands, and every day we hear from people all over the world who love our music. Our appeal is far from limited in that respect. And we earn money through our music, which is nice. Most things we do pay for themselves. And as long as we keep working, things seem to happen at the right time. We didn't go beating the bushes for a record deal, but one came to us at the right time, from Moscow, Russia, of all places. And now we're working with Neurot. All of these things will help us to keep making music for a long time. We think we have accomplished quite a bit in the five years we've been together, especially since we have seldom left western North Carolina.

-Love the artwork of Salt the Wound, what can you tell us about it?

The art was done by a Russian artist, Victor Pushkin/Zonder Zond. He does a lot of art for RAIG, our label in Moscow. We gave Igor Gorely (w/RAIG) some basic thematic guidelines, and this was the result. I think Victor also listened to our music and went with some of his own ideas. We were all very happy with the result.

-How did you guys hook up with R.A.I.G. (Russian Association of Independent Genres)? Will you be working for them going forward or is anything in the works with Crucial Blast?

Igor contacted us out of the blue and made us an offer. He really pays attention to all kinds of music all over the world. How he found us is still a bit of a mystery, but we're glad he did. RAIG has done everything they promised, and we hope to work with them again in the future. As far as Crucial Blast goes, they picked up the CD for their distro and gave it a lot of praise, which we really appreciate. They are an awesome label with lots of good bands.

-I was checking out your website, and there is a visitor counter there. It listed me as visitor number 2. I actually visited your site a few weeks ago when writing a review for Salt the Wound, does that make me the only visitor ever to uschristmas.net?

Yes.

-In some occasions, like during 'Queen of the World' the psyche elements sound like they are going to take over the instrumentation, this is a live track so it might be unintentional, but how do you want find the balance between both?

There is always a certain amount of chaos in our live shows. We are constantly experimenting with our gear, and adjusting to new venues, PA's, sound guys, and clubs. We are not control freaks, and we don't like to over-analyze our shows or recordings. And we take a certain amount of pleasure from driving people crazy.

-In a live setting, do you guys adhere to the song's or you just adopt a 'go with the flow' kind of attitude?

We are so loud it really doesn't matter most of the time. There's no stopping the flow. And a lot of our songs change each time we play them.

-Please list some records that inspired you to pick an instrument/form US Christmas?

Neil Young - Rust Never Sleeps / Sleeps With Angles / Everybody Knows This is Nowhere / Weld I & II
Neurosis
Melvins
Pink Floyd
ZZ Top
Black Sabbath
Caustic Resin - The Medicine is All Gone / Fly Me to the Moon
Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde / Nashville Skyline / Planet Waves
Slayer
Hawkwind
Hank Williams, Sr.
Willie Nelson
Bill Monroe
Monster Magnet - Spine of God / Dopes to Infinity

-I understand there is a lot going on wit the band right now. What’s next for US Christmas? Recordings? Touring?

Yes, Yes, and Yes. Watch the Neurot release page.

-Last words?

Can I have a cigarette?

US Christmas Official Site
US Christmas MySpace
RAIG Records Site
Read our review of Salt the Wound