Interview “What did I do to deserve this?”: Milwaukee's Fuckface returns to thrill and annoy you

Combining the creepy post-punk attack of Swans with the pure, grinding industrial sound of Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music, Fuckface jackhammered its notch into the rich history of Milwaukee noise-rock back in the mid-’90s. During its six-year lifespan, Fuckface drew upon the demented vision of vocalist Dave Szlowinski, who was backed by the filthy guitar riffs of Dan Kubinski and Dave Raeck; the tribal pounding of drummers Paul New, Jed Chrysler, Erik Tunison and Dwain Flowers; the buzzing bass of Tammi Wirta; and the screeching sounds of “metal percussionist” Karl Paloucek. The massive band recorded one full-length that sat around unreleased for 15 years after Fuckface called it quits in 1996.

With a little help from Chicago label Latest Flame (home to Milwaukee noise-rockers IfiHadAHiFi), the self-titled album finally saw a proper release earlier this year. (See the A.V. Club review here.) To celebrate, Fuckface will be reuniting for a weekend of reunion shows, including a July 10 concert at the Miramar Theatre. Kubinski and Szlowinski recently chatted with The A.V. Club about why they finally decided to re-introduce the world to the grating dementia that is Fuckface.

The A.V. Club: Fuckface enlisted members of several different bands. How did it come together?

Dan Kubinski: We got together to help our friend Richard Franecki, who was in F/I and Vocokesh. He was starting a new Vocokesh record and needed some backing tracks to play over. We got together a couple Saturdays for, like, a month, and made a bunch of noise. We had so much fun playing together that we decided to turn some of these noisy jams into songs.

AVC: Why no cymbals?

Dave Szlowinski: I just didn’t like cymbals. I wanted to sound more tribal—that’s what we were going for. I like more earthy beats. Then I decided, “Well, we don’t need snares either.” That was the only rule for the drummers: You wanna play? Don’t bring a snare and don’t bring any cymbals.

AVC: How did the Fuckface release and reunion shows finally happen after all this time?

DS: The guys from IfiHadAHiFi were really enthusiastic about it. Latest Flame got a hold of the record and wanted to put it out. We talked about it and were all in agreement that we should do it.

AVC: What happened with the album the first time around?

DS: Well, we kind of shopped it around, you know? It just sat. I moved away, others moved away, and the band eventually broke up. I give kudos to Karl for digging up all of our recordings from all the different studios we worked at.

AVC: Will everyone on the record be present for the reunion?

DS: Essentially, yes. We usually only had eight people in the band at any given time, but this time we’ll have nine—we’ll have four drummers. Dwain Flowers and Paul New are playing, which is great.

AVC: How tough was it to get everyone together?

DS: It wasn’t really that tough because we’re all friends from way back, and a bunch of us have played in other bands together. Eric came in from Amsterdam, Dwain from Atlanta, and Jed from Massachusetts. I was in Seattle, but I have since moved back to Milwaukee.

AVC: With at least eight people onstage playing noise rock together at any given show, things must’ve gotten pretty chaotic. Do you have any particularly ridiculous memories?

DS: At shows, I used to carry a coil spring on a chain and swing it around. One time the coil spring flew off and hit our guitarist Dave Raeck. I just watched it go; there was nothing I could do. It made for a good show, though. He was really pissed, so he played really good. We played our best when there was tension. Oh, and then there was a show we played in Madison with Killdozer—I remember, during our set, somebody yelling out, “What did I do to deserve this?” The crowd was actually throwing money at us that night. They were mainly there to see Killdozer.

AVC: Any plans for new material, or is this it for Fuckface?

DS: We’re not putting the nail in the coffin, but it’s kind of hard with all of our main drummers all over the place. I will say that after getting together, we were like, “Oh, we have this song and that song, too.” Also, in the later incarnation of Fuckface there were even more songs written. You never can tell. All depends how this weekend goes. [Laughs.]