Breaking Boundaries with Counterfeit Culture

Breaking Boundaries with Counterfeit Culture

Fans of collectives such as Northlane and Erra will be over the moon and into the stratosphere when checking out what Counterfeit Culture has to offer the world at large. Counterfeit Culture has opened for the likes of Suicide Silence and Whitechapel – and most recently the band played The Summer Slaughter Tour at the Starland Ballroom in their home state of New Jersey, being the local act selected to share the stage with The Black Dahlia Murder, Dying Fetus, Origin, Betraying The Martyrs and many others!

Earlier this year, Counterfeit Culture went into the studio with producer / engineer Ricky Armellino (This Or The Apocalypse, Currents), with the results being an epic three song EP entitled Deathwish.   Highwire Daze Online recently caught up with guitarist Patrick Robertson to find out more about the amazing Counterfeit Culture, the three intensive cuts from their Deathwish manifesto, the music scene in New Jersey, and other boundary breaking topics of intrigue.  Read on…

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Counterfeit Culture, and how long the band has been together.
My name is Pat, I play guitar for Counterfeit Culture, and we’ve been together for three years. We’ve been under the name Counterfeit Culture since March.

Where is the band based out of and what is your local music scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?
We’re all from around New Brunswick, New Jersey. The scene around here is one of the best scenes in the country. There’s so many sick venues to play at, and there’s tons of kids ready to dance, crowd surf, and just have a good time. Some sick bands from around here are Proletariat, Idle Minds, and Vanish, just to name a few.

Is there any overall story or concept behind the EP title Deathwish?
We just wanted to come out and challenge the way that society tries to tell people who to be. You’re supposed to look, dress, act, think a certain way. We’re here to say be whoever you want to be, and be proud of that.

What is the inspiration behind the lyrical content on the 3 songs from the EP?
Apothecary – This song is about pretending to be something you’re not. We decided to relate it to domestic violence in our music video. The victim is constantly being abused, but she pretends to be happy as if everything is fine.

Second Soul – Second Soul is about coming out of your shell, and embracing your true self. There’s constant pressure to be a certain way, but this song is about ignoring that and being happy in your own skin.

X – X is about the struggles of drug addiction. The vocal style goes back and forth between relaxing clean singing, to intense screams. This was to capture the viscous cycle of addiction, and how it’s challenging to break.

What was it like working with Ricky Armellino on the EP and how did he become involved?
Working with Ricky is one of the best decisions we ever made. Ricky is hands down one of the nicest and hardest working people we’ve ever met. It’s an incredibly comfortable and creative environment that encourages the throwing out of ideas. We basically just met up with Ricky through friends that had previously recorded with him, and the rest is history.

What could one expect from a live Counterfeit Culture show?
At a live show we really bring the energy. It’s 30 minutes of pure emotion. We truly try to put on a performance that the audience will never forget. We love interacting with people in the crowd and having them sing along is the best thing at our shows.

What was it like opening for Suicide Silence, and did you get to meet or hang out with them at all?
Opening for Suicide Silence and all the other incredible bands that played Loud Fest last year was such a humbling experience. To be able to share the same stage with all these bands that we grew up listening to, made us all so thankful for the position that we’re in. Unfortunately we did not get a chance to meet them, there were so many bands playing and things can get hectic behind the scenes at shows.

If Counterfeit Culture could open for any band either now or from the past, who would it be and why?
Rage Against the Machine, hands down. They’re one of our biggest influences, and one of the greatest bands to ever walk the earth.

If the music of Counterfeit Culture was a donut, what kind would it be and why?
We’d be a Boston cream donut. It’s good on the outside, but there’s something even better once you get deeper into the donut, just like Deathwish. The more you listen to it, you’ll hear all the different layers and things on the songs that you weren’t expecting.

What’s up next for Counterfeit Culture?
We’ll be playing the Summer Slaughter show at Starland Ballroom on July 28th. After that just playing more shows, possibly some touring, and definitely tons of more music coming out in the future.

Any final words of wisdom?
Just be who you want to be, and always be proud of yourself. That’s all we can stress.

Counterfeit Culture is:
Nick Broglio – Vocals
Patrick Robertson – Guitar
Elijah Pagan – Bass
Chris Smith – Drums

(Interview by Ken Morton)

Counterfeit Culture on Facebook

“Apothecary” Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KrpRCrNtD4