WORTHLESS HUMANS – by Bek Sabbath
May 21, 2015
Sitting here at the Lost Well, Austin’s headquarters of brotherhood in rock debauchery, beating dead horses with Dereck and Matt from the Worthless Humans. They had more than just worthless shit to say.
BS: So what’s with all the blood and nudity? Is it just punk rock business as usual, or do you feel you’re expressing something singular about yourself or the band as a unit?
Dereck: The reason for the blood and unity –
Matt: no, NUDITY!
Dereck (continued): – this is my release of everything that’s pissed me off my entire life. It gives me a chance to truly release my anger with a sick sort of self-pleasure. After all, I do firmly believe that pain purifies. I don’t do it to make other people entertained, or make them freak out, which they do. I do it because it makes me fucking feel good. Without this I’d be shooting dope under a bridge until I died… which I already tried for ten years and miraculously I’m still here. And the nudity is because it’s fucking hot!
Matt: I usually miss it – I’m playing guitar and I look up and all the sudden there’s his ass, and all this blood. Bleeding out of his head. Good times…
BS: Excellent. So, as Matt just reminded me, I was in a band with half of the Worthless Humans, in a band called Crash Bag. And you guys did something with one of our old songs?
Matt: No, the CRASH BAG. The actual bag. It’s one of our props, we have six pall bearers that carry Dereck onto stage in it. And that’s where the show starts.
BS: What are the underlying themes that drive your song writing?
Matt: Contempt for a system that’s designed to make us fail.
Dereck: the knowledge and determination to do, say, feel and express myself however I personally choose, not what others want from me. To express how greed, control, death and wealth are not acceptable practices in life. Saying what most people feel but are afraid to say (which is FUCK THE COPS) and to make sure people get a dose of reality which is we’re all worthless humans.
BS: Exactly. So are there certain groups of people that are most worthless? Or is it a self-deprecating type of reference to yourselves? Or humanity in general?
Dereck: It’s everyone. We’re the most destructive, egotistical, self-absorbed, greedy, insensitive, out of touch with nature and all other life beings on the fucking planet. And it’s fucking bullshit, sick, sad and pathetic. There is some good in most people but we are all worthless humans that constantly deny this fact simply because we are… worthless humans.
Matt: We just try to play as fast as fucking possible. And I know there’s probably more metal bands that are faster, but we’re probably the fastest punk band in Austin, possibly all of Texas.
Dereck: [giving Matt the side-eye]: Does that even mean anything?
Matt: Suppose you’re thinking about a plate of shrimp…
Dereck [to Bek]: I like your shirt.
BS: Thanks, it’s a bunch of fish skeletons — (looking down at my shirt) – oh wait, I put your band shirt on over it.
DOH! Good one.
BS: Okay so you have this CD, Worthless Humans: Cum Back…With a Warrant. The cover photo is a huge horse (or unicorn, if you count that candy-striped horn apparently jutting out of the horse’s head) fucking a cop. On duty. Don’t you think that encourages violence against police officers? And does your band plan to take responsibility for any anti-cop violence you might provoke? Like a Michael Vick type public apology? I mean what are your true feelings about this?
Dereck: I think cops are responsible for way more fear, violence and death than they should ever have been allowed. Force and violence can only be stopped with force and violence. They are the problem and it is our duty, not just our right, to not accept or allow such behavior especially from those that are supposed to be here to serve and protect, not to control protecting corporate greed and neglect.
Matt: [opens mouth…]
Dereck: Responsibility? Do cops, government and corporations accept responsibility? That part of the question is amusing.
BS: Who did the cover art? Did you steal this picture off the internet?
Dereck: We did. Yep. Totally DIY.
BS: So you’re not to blame for originating anti-cop propaganda here, you’re just sharing an actual police horse rebellion? As an example of how fucked things are? Like if a horse can stand up for himself, why can’t humans?
Dereck: Precisely. You pretty much nailed that (just like that horse did to that cop).
BS: Let’s put this into context of current events, like the biker gang shootout in Waco. The cops keep changing their story and can’t seem to even count how many people got shot, arrested, etc. Do you feel this apparent incompetence is a result of the fact (if it is a fact; I haven’t fact-checked it, I’m just repeating hearsay because that counts for journalism today) that police departments won’t hire above a certain IQ, that they actively recruit stupid people? Does that reinforce your viewpoint about things in general?
Dereck: There are so many things wrong with police and governments, the main problem being that their purpose is control. And those regulating and making that control are more worthless humans than those accepting it. I could go on and on with this question.
Matt: Aside from the fact that 8 of the 10 deaths were police inflicted? Meh.
BS: What about the recording itself, and the songs – should we talk about that stuff at all?
Dereck: Yes! Cris Burns recorded us and it was a blast. He’s a great person & does great work. The songs… well we love the sound, we collaborate and hate together, and the vocals speak for themselves. They’re in the CD inlay.
BS: If one had to choose, do you recommend experiencing your music on the CD, or seeing the band live? What does one offer over the other?
Dereck: The CD offers the ability to really hear Worthless Humans without the visual “holy shit” distraction. Live has the benefit of hearing the music with the “holy shit” distraction. This is best left decided by each individual. I know I would go see this band live though.
MATT: We have a show together coming up, your band (the Surlys) and Worthless Humans.
BS: That’s right! June 6 at the Gypsy. So what do you have planned for the show?
Matt: Well it’s Shorty’s birthday. Gotta do something special.
Dereck: I plan on getting drunk…. and setting up… and finding out later what the fuck happened.
Worthless Humans at Badlands
BS: Splendid. And what about after that, what’s next for the band? A tour, you say?
Dereck: We’re working on booking a midwest / east coast tour for late this summer.
BS: Final thoughts?
Dereck: Don’t get it twisted, we don’t actually hate everybody, cuz we know we’re a strong unity of people. If we stop accepting pacifism…
BS: So you do advocate violence.
Dereck: I don’t advocate violence. I advocate NOT ACCEPTING passively. The people who control you, they couldn’t care less about you. Everyone has control of their own lives…. if they actually take control of it and stop listening to a fucking screen…. however the way most of society lives with their need for TV, shiny possessions and acceptance of mass control makes us have little faith in worthless humans. I’m certainly not against violence though, especially since those in control are the most violent of all.
Matt: If they stop using TV and other media to fill their useless lives… and it’s all by design. It’s not so much that we advocate violence, but taking back that control. The powers that be… as long as Walmart is richer than 40% of this population… and McDonalds…
Dereck: [to Matt] FUCK YOU man! Fuck your false sense of reality! Don’t nobody give a fuck about TV, Walmart and McDonalds. Oh wait… they do. How fucking sad.
Matt: We’re all fucked. Just like you.
Now there’s some internal band fighting going on…. booze might be a factor….
Dereck: Enjoy whatever it is you wanna enjoy. Don’t worry about ‘the man’ – they can cum back… WITH A WARRANT!
