Nate Towle - Satan’s Satyrs/Extermination Day
When and where were you born? Are you originally from Minnesota? What was growing up like for you? When did you first become interested in playing music and was this something common around your household growing up?
I was born in St. Paul Minnesota, so I am originally from there. Growing up I had it pretty good; there was always food on the table and I had a family that supported my musical aspirations a lot. I have an older brother and a younger sister. Music was common around the house hold, my brother played the guitar and was the reason I picked it up to begin with.
Christmas circa: ‘98.
Where would you go to see shows in your local community? What was the first concert you ever attended and what group left a heavy impression on you in those early days? Did you participate in any groups prior to Satan’s Satyrs? If so, what were those early experiences of playing in a band like for you?
Early on I was more involved with playing shows than going to them, although I'd see gigs at staple concert venues here like the Triple Rock, First Ave, etc. The first concert I attended I believe was likely Lamb of God. Early on groups that left a heavy impression on me were bands like Saint Vitus, Pentagram, Witchfinder General, Trouble, Blue Cheer... These kinds of bands inspired me to form my first band in 2008, Wicked Inquisition. I formed that band when I was 14 so as you can imagine our first couple years were pretty tame; we gigged everywhere and anywhere we could, often to an audience of bar flys and lowlives, and in a lot of bars and clubs a teenager really had no business hanging out at. For our first couple shows our entire sets were Black Sabbath, Witchfinder General, Saint Vitus, and Pentagram songs, before we began to write our own material. The sole mission from day one was to play doom metal.
Wicked Inquisition opening for Ace Frehley circa: 2015.
Wicked Inquisition circa: 2015.
What initially led to the decision to form Extermination Day and how did the name come about? How did you go about scouting folks to play with you? What were your first impressions of everyone? When and where did you first get together to jam/rehearse? What was the chemistry like right off the bat?
Extermination Day was formed in April of 2020 shortly after the pandemic hit as a means for me to have a creative outlet while locked down. The name is lifted from the Angel Witch song and is also a nod to the film "The Exterminator" - a movie that heavily inspired the band. I had recorded the first demo tape on my own before enlisting my friend Jason Oberuc from Suffering Hour into the project. We had been friends for years and already worked together during the tail end of Satan's Satyrs existence; Jason was the drummer on the last Satan's Satyrs tour. So we already had a pre-established chemistry and Extermination Day in some ways was our means of continuing to collaborate post Satan's Satyrs.
Satan's Satyrs circa: 2018.
When and where did you guys make your live performance debut? What was that experience like? How did the deal with Hoove Child Records and Green Coyote Records come about? When and where did recording begin and what was it like to record the band’s debut album “Be The Consequence”? Can you tell me about writing as well as recording the tunes that are featured on this record?
We have yet to perform live as this has been limited to a studio project; it’s just the two of us, so far with myself handling bass, guitars, and vocals; and Jason handling drums. But we've talked about getting a live lineup together. I would certainly like to. For Hoove Child Records, I reached out to Patrick about a possible deal; we met each other formally in Chicago when I played bass for a band called Olorin as a substitute. Green Coyote Records heard my demo tape and off the strength of that reached out to me. We recorded this album at Black Dust Studios in Forest Lake Minnesota with co-producer and engineer Dylan Haseltine; Dylan is also a long time friend of mine and is Jason's bandmate in Suffering Hour. Recording the album was a breeze; the songs all came out quickly and in some cases it seemed as if the album recorded itself! The only part I'd say took longer was getting the vocals recorded.
Dylan really pushed me to get the best vocal performances, and I think the album is a testament to that. When I was writing these songs, there was a lot of turmoil in the world; I witnessed a lot of the rioting post George Floyd's murder here in Minneapolis, and that had a big impact on my writing style. We were upset with the state of the world, the countless incidents of police brutality, and it was hard to really write any music that was "happy" - I was listening to bands like The Damned, The Stooges, Body Count, The Saints, Motorhead, Amyl and the Sniffers, Chubby and the Gang, Black Flag, etc... And these bands kind of inspired the direction we decided to go in. We wanted to create a sound that was just as much Trouble as it is The Damned, and I think we succeeded. Its nothing wholly original, but I don't know of many bands out there that have combined different styles of rock together like we have on this record.
"Be The Consequence" out August 5th.
Extermination Day - Jason Oberuc, drums and Percussion - Nate Towle, guitars, bass, vocals.
What did you want to express, or explore with this group that maybe you couldn’t with previous group’s you’ve participated in over the years? What is the overall vision for the band? Are you guys touring, or playing any dates this summer to support the new release that comes out August 5th?
In some ways its a continuation of my experience with Wicked Inquisition, as once again I am the band leader writing all the lyrics, but I think my lyric writing has gotten better as well as my songwriting. In Satan's Satyrs while I very much felt like an equal full fledged member of the group, at the end of the day it was Clayton's vision. So while my stamp is certainly on the material I did with them, ultimately he had creative control. But I learned a lot from playing with them and that experience gave me the impetus to be more daring with the music I write. The overall vision of this band is to create honest music that is true to our experiences and doesn't pander to fit any sort of pre-established mold, or expectation. With this project I am able to write songs that are a direct reflection of my own experiences. At this time there are no plans for any live dates, although that could certainly change in the future...
Is there anything else you would like to further share with the readers?
I'd like to thank everyone that has supported me over the years; shit is rough right now no doubt. Keep the faith and if you're hanging out with any MAGA losers right now, split the squares...
www.exterminationday.bandcamp.com
Dakota Brown
