Alex Strickland of Abacus on the Band's Evolution, Columbia, Cooking, and Dance Moves.

“Make it your own thing & if it doesn’t hurt, you aren’t doing it right. Knowing & harnessing levels of pain can make a performance very special, positively or negatively”

Photo by Filip Szymanski

Abacus’ music is a smorgasbord of hard genres violently soaked in sweat and barbecue. They are well known and loved in Columbia for their unique sound, aggressive live shows and popular barbecue sauce. Lead singer and local chef, Alex Strickland, is gloriously over the top, seen pulling pork on stage for a recording of At The Addition and playing air hockey while performing at Transmission Arcade. If you want to learn more about him and what the band has been up to, keep reading. 

JASPER: You mentioned in a previous interview that music has always been a release for you. What's it been like the last two years not being able to play shows as often and struggling to balance the stress of everything going on in the world, on top of working in the food industry during a pandemic?

STRICKLAND: I personally haven’t had any other release. I have unhealthy coping mechanisms I’ve used to get through the day to day, but other than that, it’s been music & cooking. Luckily, we had band practice the whole pandemic (give or take). We only saw each other & practiced/wrote/jammed with one another. Cooking & music has been it for a long time for me, don’t fix what ain’t broke, ya know?

JASPER: You guys have been a band now for over 11 years. How has the band evolved over the years?

STRICKLAND: We as people evolved & the music definitely evolved with it. We all got serious about one thing or another (professions, relationships, traveling, life experience). We still make time for our music & artistic expression, but with age, shit gets more real & I think our music directly reflects that.

JASPER: We typically ask a food related question, but I feel like you guys get that a lot with the BBQ sauce and all, so anything else you want to compare each of your albums with?

STRICKLAND: Fuck it, 3/4th of us cook for a living. Food is our thing so we’ll steer straight into that. Our EP is a fried chicken sandwich from The Whig: no bullshit, can be done better at many other places but is just right the way it is. “En Theory” is a from scratch strozzapreti with pork ragu, savory & delicate with bite & a hint of spice. “Pellicule” is a BBQ competition smoked rib with no side. Stands alone with nothing else, meticulously cooked for hours & hours with someone constantly monitoring & babying it. Fall off the bone tender but with excellent chew, a perfect smoke ring & makes you want more

JASPER: When do you know something is done? 

STRICKLAND: When we all look at each other after the final note with equal parts disbelief & accomplishment. That song is in the bank (swoosh, nothing but net)

JASPER: What things do you like or dislike about the Columbia music scene and how have you seen it change over the years? 

STRICKLAND: The friends we’ve made in this town are countless. The experiences & opportunities are endless. The amazing bands we’ve played with push us to be better. I wouldn’t change a thing. So much could be said about “what if we had this or that” etc but all in all, this town is perfectly imperfect. I love it for all that’s wrong & right with it. 

JASPER: What is your favorite or least favorite show you've ever played? 

STRICKLAND: Uncle Lou’s in Orlando is the least favorite. On tour with Sein zum Tode, we were double booked with another touring package (sun genres of metal/punk didn’t mesh at all). They didn’t stay to watch us, the local left after their set for us to headline, we played to a depressed bartender & we couldn’t wait to get the fuck to the next town. 

Any of the battle shows with Vorov and/or Sein zum Tode, opening for Daikaiju at NBT before the pandemic, our shows at SXSW, house shows at QPP, Puuphaus & 88 Spring, opening for Thou in Greenville at Radio Room, playing the Whig & the Bask show pulling pork on stage are all way up there. Couldn’t pick just one for sure.

JASPER: Do you have any kind of special pre-show ritual or tradition?

STRICKLAND: I stretch, do vocal warms ups & get my blood pumping through super basic cardio (jumping up & down while spitting a bunch). Most of us smoke weed before to get ready, but I need the opposite. 

JASPER: What is your favorite dance move?

STRICKLAND: THE JAMES BROWN

JASPER: What tips can you offer other musicians (in similar genres) about dealing with the physical and emotional toll of performing? 

STRICKLAND: Make it your own thing & if it doesn’t hurt, you aren’t doing it right. Knowing & harnessing levels of pain can make a performance very special, positively or negatively. You just have to know what’s right for you. 

JASPER: What is the best way to listen to your music, like the ideal scenario? 

STRICKLAND: If you get in a horrible car accident & the brief moment you have of clarity before impact (the life flashing before your eyes moment) is overcome with pure panic so you flail your arms to protect yourself without knowing you were doing it, your arms accidentally hit a dial/phone/radio & it switches your music to “Disclaim”, that’s the ideal scenario to hear us. 

JASPER: What are you listening to most these days? 

STRICKLAND: As far as aggressive music goes: Ulcerate, Soul Glo, Gel, Demiser, Imperial Triumphant, Sumac, that new Cave In, The Armed, God Mother.

Non aggressive: I almost exclusively listen to ratchet ass trap, east coast hip hop classics, funk, afro beat & Bob fucking Seger (mostly at work which is 80% of my time)

JASPER: Any non-metal, hardcore, punk etc. bands that you draw inspiration from?

STRICKLAND: James Brown & Bob Seger. Showmen of the highest order. The other guys have tons of other people. Josh & Kevin has jazz backgrounds & Paul loves the Weather Channel music so sky’s the limit. 

JASPER: What's the "most metal" thing you've ever seen? 

STRICKLAND: A guy holding his kid on his shoulders during Gwar, huge ear protectors on, getting completely soaked in fake blood from a decapitated George W Bush prop. Metal as fuck. 

You can see Abacus Saturday, August 27th at New Brookland Tavern with Monolord plus Dorthia Cottrell (of Windhand). More details & tickets on New Brookland’s website.

Jasper's Best Records of 2015

1117 Magnolia This is what it comes down to at the start of every New Year. We Columbia music fiends must look back and take stock of all that happened in the past twelve months. A lot of music was hurled at the listening public and, as the case always is, some of it stuck and some of it slid sadly to the floor. And so, Jasper proudly brings to you our list of the top ten favorite records coming out of our city in 2015. Remember, this list is not the product of one mind, but of many – a rag-tag team of editors, artists, and general ne’er-do-wells. Dozens of albums got votes, but these are the ones we (mostly) agreed on. As always, we hope you enjoy or at least satisfied by our conclusions. Good, bad, or ugly, all comments and criticisms are welcome and can be directed to michaelcspawn@gmail.com.

Cheers,

Michael Spawn, music editor

10. Ugly Chords – Harbinger

True to the band’s name, Harbinger isn’t always pretty. It’s sometimes dissonant, often cacophonous, but never, ever, dull. The odd moment of quiet intricacy is nothing more than the tornado’s eye, with a dust storm of howling vocals and frenetic guitars lurking only moments away.

9. Debbie & the Skanks – Live & Buck Wild

The philosophy behind Live & Buck Wild exemplifies what Debbie & the Skanks are all about in a way that a ‘proper’ studio debut could never match – hit the Jam Room, gather your friends, stock the cooler, set up the mics, and hit Record. It’s both a studio recording and a live album from one of the few bands cavalier enough to ignore the pitfalls and smart enough to see the rewards inherent in such a venture.

8. ColorBlind – ColorBlind

This is easily one of Columbia’s most satisfying hip-hop releases of the year. On paper, the pairing of local hip-hop don Fat Rat da Czar and singer/songwriter Justin Smith might seem a bit strange, but it’s hard not to get behind a project whose entire reason for being is the promotion of racial equality and an honest look at how we, as both Americans and southerners, take stock of our past and present. And it doesn’t hurt a bit that the record shirks none of the sonic quality we’ve come to expect from da Czar.

7. ET Anderson – ET2

There’s some debate as to whether this sophomore release lives up to its predecessor, Et Tu,____?, but as valid as either view might be, an equally strong case can be made that it really doesn’t have to. As a standalone record, ET2 finds mastermind Tyler Morris allowing his musical paranoia stretch to potentially dangerous limits while never losing or altering his innate gift for indie-rock songcraft.

6. Abacus – En Theory

It can be safely said that no Columbia metal band had a better year than Abacus, and En Theory is the unapologetically rotten fruit of their labors. For listeners who aren’t wool-dyed devotees of hardcore heavy metal, it can be difficult to digest something this aggressive and impenetrable. It’s even more difficult, however, to deny it when a given record has sufficiently rocked one’s ass clean off.

5. New SC – More Success

New SC’s debut, New Success, introduced Columbia to this six-deep collective of emcees, guided by Fat Rat da Czar. As solid as the mixtape was, More Success finds New SC a little older, a little wiser, and draped regally in the sort of swaggering confidence perfectly suited to a group with the single-minded, sink-or-swim-together mentality that defines their latest work.

4. fk. mt. – fertilizer

The best kind of punk rock always arises when a band simply wants to rock as best they can, only to find that they can’t repress their natural penchant for raunchy aggression and a spitfire attitude. fk. mt. may not consider themselves a punk band, but neither did Nirvana, the band’s closest aesthetical antecedent.

3. Danny Joe Machado – D A N A S C U S

With Danascus, Daniel Machado gave us not only another document of his exceptional songwriting, but the most lovably unlikeable musical character since Tony Clifton. It’s a pie-eyed treatise on the egos and insecurities of creative people and, like all good satire, the truths it illuminates are funny and uncomfortable and brilliant and sad.

2. Marshall Brown – Second Childhood

Reviews of Marshall Brown’s early work were prone to Jeff Buckley comparisons because of his extraterrestrial vocal range and light musical touch, but Second Childhood’s pop adventurousness reveals an artist more in stride with Sergeant Pepper-era Paul McCartney or Pet Sounds’ Brian Wilson. This may well sound like bold praise, but it’s also a bold record, and one that only gets better with each listen.

1. Brian Robert – 1117 Magnolia

At least from a male point of view, appreciating Brian Robert’s solo debut is a dual exercise in catharsis and masochism. On one hand, his everyman tales of late-night bars, unreachable women, and the painful process of getting to know oneself transcend those of most country and Americana artists of any level. On the other hand, to uncover bits of your life in his lyrics is to confront the aspects of yourself most of us would prefer to sweep aside. Brian Robert sings on behalf of every well-intentioned asshole among us, and does so with a vocal sadness that all but wrings out the heart.

Ballots collected from Kyle Petersen, David Travis Bland, Greg Slattery, and Michael Spawn. All words by Michael Spawn.