After a 5 years hiatus, Southern Californian sludge legends 16 are back with a vengeance, a new album for new label Relapse Records. Bridges To Burn contains 12 tracks that mixes rampant punk, gloomy metal and fetid doom. Listen to the whole album now!

Brutal bonus interview below.

Hi, how are you doing?
 
Bobby: Good and bad, peaks and valleys, strikes and gutters, I keep cycling from happy to angry by the day or hour. Maybe I should have that looked at by a medical professional but I don’t want to lose my “creative edge”.
 
Jason: I’m somewhat “manic” trying to finish the interviews before we leave tomorrow for tour. Just took my morning medications so I’m waiting for those to kick in so I can calm down a bit and tackle another day on this God-forsaken planet. I guess I’m hanging in there. It’s 5AM here so it really is too early to tell. Oh, I get to see Pig Destroyer tonight so that’s cool.
 
What’s goin’ on in 16’s world right now?

Bobby: Getting ready for a west coast us tour. Got to represent the new album live.

Jason: Our West Coast tour with Giant Squid starts tomorrow and there is a ton of stuff that needs to get handled before we leave. We are working on couple cover songs for 2 upcoming releases. We are covering Unsane’s “Scrape” for a new skate DVD/CD and a split CD/Vinyl release with Agoraphobic Nosebleed with us covering one of their songs and ANB doing one of ours.

What are you currently listening to? What are your Top 10 albums for 2008?

Bobby: Listening to: Made Out Of Babies, AC/DC, Bison B.C., Jimmy Cliff and Peter Tosh.

Top Ten of 08:
Made Out Of Babies – Ruiner
Torche – Meanderthal
Have Heart – Songs To Scream At The Sun
It’s Casual – The New Los Angeles
Akimbo – Jersey Shores
Intronaut – Phrehistoricisms
Crom – Hot Sumerian Nights
Leather Nun – Absence of Light
Disfear – Live The Storm

Jason: Listening to: A morning “party mix” consisting of various hardcore, rap, and grind stuff… It’s been Eminem, XXX Maniak, Subzero, First Blood, Active Member, General Surgery, NWA, Machetazo, Obie Trice, Nasum, Dalek and First Blood so far this morning. There are about 500 songs in that iTunes playlist all shuffled around. It’s about 8 full hours of different songs and different bands.
 
Top Ten of 2008:
Mumakil – Customized Warfare
Andre Legacy – S/T
Fistula – Burdened By Your Existence
Machetazo – Mundo Cripta
Trick Trick – The Villan
XXX Maniak – Harvesting The Cunt Nectar
Outlaw Order – Dragging Down The Enforcer
Disfear – Live The Strom
Terror – The Damned, The Shamed
Jedi Mind Tricks – A History Of Violence

How is the scene in California at the moment?
 
Bobby: Definitely, California is a huge state so there are always tons of good bands. As far as specific bands I’m only going to talk about the best band to me: 16, self serving I know.

Jason: I think the “scene” here in California, our area, Southern California sucks. No decent venues and the majority of the bands suck in my opinion. There are a few good bands but 16 knocks all their dicks in the dirt. There tons of great artists like Jason Sweers (Graphic Designer) and Eleanna Safarika (Photographer). We have a shitload of tattoo artists with a few of them doing incredible work.

You are back after a several years hiatus: how were the first reactions you got when you announced your return? How do you see the scene now? Any bands you like/dislike?

Bobby: I’d like to think that the people that were into us were happy that we’re playing again but happy is really a stretch for anybody that really likes our music so they showed up and that’s good enough for us. The climate or the “scene” is probably better than it’s ever been in my eyes. Good time to be alive for music and good time to be dead to all other facets of life.  The bands I dislike are usually on the radio so it’s easy to know where the enemy is.

Jason: The reaction about being back together was all positive from what I saw and heard. The “scene” is pretty much just as is was 15 years ago with limited places to play live, corporate sounding/ corporate cock-sucking “bands of the month” being popular, 3 million bands with most of them sucking serious ass and people waiting for their friends to tell them what is cool before they can make an opinion for themselves about music to listen to. I like 16 right now. I could write an entire book on bands I dislike but if I get started on that I may wind up in jail or the psychiatric ward again as the anger will take over and I will have a meltdown. Better keep that particular avenue of hatred closed off right now as I have our tour tomorrow.

You are releasing your new album in a difficult moment for the music industry: does it affect you? How do you see the future of this industry? Is it easier to be in a band now with the access to a cheaper and more effective technology?

Bobby: I don’t want to use that quote about the music industry by Chuck D from Public Enemy so look it up.  He pretty much sums it up in being the problem is the CD business not the music business.  I think it is easier to actually be in a band today though. We can email each other songs and live a hundred miles away. You ever try to play a riff over the phone for someone? It does not work to well.  ProTools is way more efficient than analog tape so viva la future.

Jason: It completely affects a band like 16 in certain areas but the technological advancements may actually benefit us rather than hurt us. I’m with Buzz from the Melvins when he said very soon all music will be free via downloading minus the people who want vinyl. Can you imagine CD’s disappearing as a medium for selling music and Vinyl coming back? Holy shit. The ability to have Bobby email me songs and riffs or songs from practice 3 hours after we record them is mind-blowing but just part of life these days. We take full advantage of that stuff. As for ProTools and 16, we still record our music live in the studio like we did in the early 1990’s.

How important is the internet for you as a band? Is it something you are into or you don’t give a fuck?

Bobby: The internet is super important. It saves so much on postage and garbage. I can’t believe we actually had to write physical letters to people. What were we in jail? It sounds archaic to me today.  You can check out new bands in the comfort of your own home. Above all it puts a lot of things on an even playing field exposure wise so you can really make your own mind up without tripping over giant CD displays at the store when I’m trying to buy paper towels.

Jason: Since I handle almost every aspect of 16 from a business and fan contact standpoint it is very important. I answer all the emails and run and maintain the 16 MySpace page since I created it in early 2005 before we even started playing again. I am 100% into it and I embrace technology. The internet is an incredible tool and we have not even begun to utilize all the possibilities. Personally I am into it. The internet is beneficial for this band.

We are in a world with a lot of different models on the net (free streaming, digital stores, mobile, etc…): what kind of service should be brought to the table?

Bobby: The higher end audiophile hi bit rate things should be available to download. Huge files with producer’s editions and all of that. Full PDF’s of artwork would be nice too. I want an album to take up a gig of space. I would pay for that.

Jason: Better quality for downloads for audio and video. I’d like to see some sort of system specifically geared for audio and video for playing digital files. Something that holds 400,000 songs and unlimited videos in superior quality that has 100% correct tags with serious wireless headphones like my Bose Noise Cancelling ones that just rule for sound. I still think Vinyl should be made and record players should be more readily available. I better stop now as I feel a 2 page rant coming on.

Where do you see this whole internet thing going?

Bobby: That’s like a winning lottery ticket there. The internet will eventually consume all areas of our lives. Trees will die. Everyone will be morbidly obese and on various pills. I can’t wait.

Jason: I see it both totally falling apart with machines taking over on their own and having a Terminator type of war or it just making our daily lives easier. I wish I could just “Drop Out” and live off the grid evading technology but that is impossible at this stage of my existence.

Anything to add?
 
Bobby: Please check out our new Relapse record “Bridges to Burn”, buy our merchandise so we can eat and pursue other life sustaining activities. Times are rough and we’re here just in time with the soundtrack to the misery.
 
Jason: Thanks and we hope to see you and our French fans soon when we finally make it to Europe as that is our #1 destination for touring this year. Relapse is also reissuing four (4) of our previous record this year on Vinyl and CD. Cheers.
 

VISIT 16’s MYSPACE
VISIT RELAPSE ON FAIRTILIZER