Point Line Plane
Interviews | Nov 30th, 1998
Point Line Plane play a wacky blend of futuristic synth pop and scary hardcore. Answers by Nate Carson, who I assume is in the band.
You mix hardcore punk and electronica, sort of reminding me of Blue Oyster Cult, if BOC had mixed hardcore punk and electronica instead of playing their trademark brand of full-throttle guitar-driven rock n’ roll. Were they a conscious influence on your music?
When I was 6, I used to run around with an X-Wing Fighter in one hand, blasting stormtroopers off the shelves and cranking
“Godzilla”. So I’d definitely call BOC an early influence.
Did you know that Blue Oyster Cult’s manager, Sandy Perlman, is the one who applied the term “heavy metal” to the music at
hand? If you could coin a term to describe your music, what would it be?
I thought the term came from the Steppenwolf song Born to Be Wild. Regardless, we are more influenced by metal than actually playing it. There’s not really a good blanket term for what we do other than “aging nerds with open minds and violent tendencies”.
Steppenwolf coined the term (“heavy metal thunder…”), but Sandy applied it to the music at hand. Since your music is wacky, are you able to translate your songs live? How would you compare your live show to say, Extraterrestial Live by Blue Oyster Cult?
Using the universal translator that we hand out at most shows, the crowd is able to digest our music in earthly fashion. But our set is far more comparable to the 1978 live B.O.C. album “Some Enchanted Evening”.
What do you think Blue Oyster Cult meant when they sang, “Ohh no, they say he’s got to go. Go go Godzilla!”
I think they meant that he’s in a little cage with a polka dot skirt go-go dancing to Davie Allan and the Arrows. What do you think?
Is it true that Eric Bloom of Blue Oyster Cult is Howard Stern’s cousin?
Shit, I hope not for his sake. That could ruin B.O.C.’s otherwise undeniable street cred and could make it hard for them to garner untainted critical acclaim on future albums.
Your music combines sci-fi elements, not unlike songs from Fire of Unknown Origin, Cultosaurus Erectus, and Agents Of Fortune. Why are you ripping off Blue Oyster Cult?
Listen here, it’s songs like Astronomy and Flaming Telepaths from “Secret Treaties” that we’re ripping off. We drew a line in the sand after 1974.
Isn’t it strange that Blue Oyster Cult never really achieved mainstream, mega-platinum status? Would you happen to know of any conspiracy that has kept them apart from sharing the charts with the likes of Janet Jackson and Nirvana?
Maybe they should have tried heroin.
Point is first dimension. Line is second, and planes are in the third dimension. Tell me Euclidian physics masters, have you mastered the secrets of time travel, and if so, what does the future hold for Blue Oyster Cult?
Well my smart little friend, I’ll have you know that points have NO dimension, a line has ONE, and a plane TWO. That puts us a grade ahead of you, and at least one dimension behind. Back here in Flatland, B.O.C. are still playing arenas and fucking teenage groupies. Must suck up there in cyberzinespace where you live.
Check out Point Line Plane’s self-titled debut on Xeroid Records.
