JC Dwyer

Pro-Pain

One of the most legendary and active Hardcore bands, is definitely Pro-Pain. A chance to speak with them, especially before their forthcoming Greek shows, is something that we couldn't pass... Their drummer, JC Dwyer, answered all our questions and we're really looking forward to seeing them once again performing and devastating everything in their way...
By Georgia
April 5, 2006
JC Dwyer (Pro-Pain) interview
Hello there! How's life in Texas?

Well, kinda boring today but everything is ok! Looking forward to visit Greece! (Laughs)

Well, perfect...Let's do something to avoid your boredom! Shall we?

Absolutely!

...with a quite important question! Well, Pro- Pain have gone through a lot of lineup changes throughout your career, but managed to maintain your trademark sound. How did you succeed this?

Well, that's because Gary [Meskil - vocals & bass] really knows how he wants the band to sound like. He makes sure that when new people come into the band, the sound remains the same. I remember when I used to be to in the band I was before Pro-Pain (I've been in Pro-Pain for about 3 years)...my old band supported them and I remember I found them an amazing live band.That night I was like Wow! This man knows how he wants the band to sound like, he has the sound in his head and he knows how to get it across. There were a lot of lineup changes for Pro-Pain, except Gary, but they always sound exactly the same!

Would Pro-Pain imagine in the beginning, that you would have created more than 10 albums which sold more than 600,000 copies?

Ah...I can't really say since I have been in the band for three years...

Pro-Pain have visited Greece many times in the past. What makes you love gigs here so much and do you find something special in the Greek audience?

Ahm... personally this is going to be my first time in Greece. The other guys from the band are really excited coming to Greece again because the audience is great and they have nice memories from performing in Greece, as they have told me. I think we are all going to have a good time there! We are looking forward!

Your lyrics have always something to say. Do you think they are as important as your music?

Yes. Pro-Pain's lyrics are absolutely as important as the music. They express our feelings, give to our music a lot, while we are trying to get across a message for the audience, our thoughts, our worries, fears, feelings in general. They are a quite important part for Pro-Pain and they have also helped the band become successful.

You have faced difficulties such as the closing down of High Gain Records and you have changed many record labels. Why did that happen though you sell lots of copies?

The reason was that Gary does short time deals with labels. Pro-Pain likes to run its own business and some labels just can't take over... So in order to run the band, we end up changing a lot of labels, but this didn't really affect the sales. The label we are now is really cool and we have a nice cooperation from both sides.

Gary is responsible for finding many new names in the underground. Which of them do you find most important?

Yes, he always keeps an eye on the underground scene, finding some new talents and helps them to move along, showing them the way of how to do some things in order to spread their music and sign contracts.

Why did you choose to do a record with only cover versions (Run For Cover)? Which were the criteria under which the songs were selected?

Ah, the cover album, yes ...The record was done right before I came to the band. The main reason was to make people understand where Pro-Pain come from, what their influences are. There are some songs that mean a lot for the band, so that's why Pro-Pain decided to share all this with their fans. They tried to make people learn more about the band and their music basis, trying at the same time to show their respect to the bands they admire.

Is there something you'd like to do in your career and you haven't done by now?

I don't really know...We have managed to do something that not many bands have done. Pro-Pain have been very successful for what they've done on their own, including the difficulties they have faced, and that's something not many bands have managed to accomplish. I don't know if there is something extra that I could say we would like to do right now, but we would like to be still around in ten years for sure!

You are about to release a new record... Can you tell us some details about it?

Hm...We are actually trying to put down some new ideas and decide in which direction we want to move, so for the time being it is really hard to say how it is going to sound like...We are trying to figure out our new ideas, there is not a special concept yet or something special that motivated us. There isn't something like a topic till now. But we know that it is going to be something cool because we feel creative and full of ideas.

How important is the band's connection to your fans, to you?

For us it is probably the most important thing. Without people there is no point for creating music. Pro-Pain is a successful band for a long time; fans and the connection with them is the main reason .We are going for shows somewhere and we like meeting people and enjoy having a beer with them. We have a pretty strong connection with people and we don't want to be unreachable for them. They keep us alive!

In the beginning, it had been said that you would have liked having Billy Milano [S.O.D.] as your singer... Is that so? If yes, how different would you be now, judging by what kind of person Milano is?

I'm sure that it would be a lot different but you can never know since it hasn't happened. Personally, I like Gary's voice better...regarding Milano's attitude I would say that I don't believe we could do fine together.

What should we expect from your live shows in Greece?

Well, you should expect..hm..

...to meet you? (Laughs)

Yes, yes! Absolutely! We will have a drink!... You should expect from us a great show, every night. When you make people want to come and see you, listen to you, you should keep it. Keep making people want to come and see you again... and we respect our audience. So we are going to do our best and give you a great show!

A final question... While you were in Crumbsuckers, back in the 80's, was Gary one of the persons (or another Crumbsuckers member) that saw the talent of Dream Theater and helped them into signing a record deal with Mechanic? If yes, please tell more...

Yes, that's true. Gary introduced the band to the guys from the label. He really liked how they sounded and he tried to help.

It was nice talking to you! You seem a really easy going person...

I do my best! (Laughs) I just enjoy the interviews and I don't want to press people by telling them Go on! Ask, ask, ask 'cause I don't have to spend much time!

So, looking forward to seeing you in Greece !

Sure! See you there!

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