Talking with . . .   Human Condition

Interview with vocalist Patrick Flannery
The Human Condition is a new band featuring the talents of St. Madness vocalist Patrick Flannery, Sacred Reich guitarist Wiley Arnett, Bludgeon bassist Scott Twitty, and drummer Brian Webb. While those three aforementioned bands are all pure metal, the Human Condition is no different, while not really sounding like anyone in particular. They have issued a four song e.p. and hope to land a quality deal soon. People who have become fans of the great St. Madness need not fret, the band is writing new tunes and have a new album on the way. We sent some questions to the intelligent and all around nice guy, Patrick.

What is the significance of the name The Human Condition?
The name The Human Condition just means that we write songs about being human beings. This band lyrically is more about living life, good times and bad, whereas in St. Madness the songs are much darker and a lot more comical.

How did you hook up with Wiley and the rest of the band?
I originally had approached Wiley about joining St. Madness. He listened to all of the c.d.'s, and said that he liked the music but couldn't buy into the makeup or demonic imagery. Randy Ax (bass guitar) and I decided to join up with Wiley in about July of 2000. This in no way meant the end of St. Madness- I just put it on hold for a while. Randy Ax stayed in T.H.C. for about a year, and, when he left I introduced Scott Twitty, formerly of Bludgeon (a powerful death-metal band from Montana) to Wiley and they both worked very well together. Brian Webb is a great drummer that we met up with in Phoenix.

What do you hope to accomplish musically with this band?
T.H.C. is about writing metal music that has strong, old school influences, and we hope to expose it to as many people as possible. If we happen to make some money, great, but speaking for myself, I am truly in it to make my art. We always want to make money, but more than that, we want to make music the way that we want to make it- on our own terms.

Are you currently looking for label support or are you comfortable working as an independent artist?
Yes, we are doing some label shopping, but again, being an independent is also a very cool thing. It means you can do exactly what you want musically.

What is the status of St. Madness? Will there be a new material soon?
Vampierce 'Em and I are writing a new St. Madness record, and we are also about to release a new St. Madness c.d. titled We Make Evil Fun, a (best of) album, with 14 'oldies' and 6 previously unreleased tracks. Look for that here in a few weeks.

What lessons did you learn while doing St. Madness? Is there anything you would've changed or done differently?
I love St. Madness and would not change a thing. If I could do it all over again, I would do it the same way we did.

Wiley was a legend because of Sacred Reich, did he or any members feel pressured to recapture the Sacred Reich sound or was this always about just writing good metal?
We decided early on that The Human Condition was not going to be like Sacred Reich or St. Madness. We all agreed that, with this band, we wanted to just write good songs and get out there and kick ass. The Human Condition isn't about theatrics or anything like that. Our main goal is to write good material that hard rock/metal fans will enjoy. The Human Condition is its own entity. I couldn't ask for better musicians or band mates for that matter. We have seventeen songs and are writing more all the time.

Both St. Madness and The Human Condition seem better suited for the European metal crowd, do you ever feel the trendy American audience has held back your potential since you're a metal band?
No, I love America. I am proud to be an American. Speaking for myself, I don't think America has held us back at all. We made the choice to play metal that is laced with an old school feel. I have never been ashamed to tell the whole world that we live and breathe heavy metal. Old school is not the most popular form of metal now, but that has never mattered to T.H.C. or St. Madness. We write and perform what we like, we have never wanted to follow any particular trends or styles. Showing influences is one thing- selling out is another.

Have you written new material with The Human Condition? Do you have plans to release a full length?
Like I stated earlier, T.H.C. has seventeen songs. We are still writing more and we have no plans at this time to release a full-length c.d. Wiley and the guys just want to shop the e.p. for now, but it's possible that we will do a full record in the future.

What is new with your life? I know your father's death had a deep impact, how do you cope with such devastation?
My father died on February 15, 2000. The rest of the year was a blur. I coped with it by smoking a lot of chronic and not going out much. I had lunch with my Dad the day before he died, and he seemed tired but fine. My family never saw it coming. He died of a heart attack. He went home after work, talked to my mother briefly and then laid down on his bed and died. He went very quickly, and I thank God for that. I know I will see him again some day. I trust God to take care of my Dad's soul. After all, my Dad belonged to God anyway. My father's death turned me into a man. I live now to make him proud and take care of my family.

What are your plans for the rest of this year and the near future?
To promote both T.H.C. and St. Madness, hopefully to set up some small tours for either or both bands. I am also writing a vampire novel that I plan to finish this year, called "Circles of Blood." I have been working on it for eight years- it is 705 pages and over three-fourths finished.

Final comments?
My final comments are these: Just remember in 1979, lots of people said hard rock and heavy metal are dead. We were told that new wave was the way to go. In the early '90s, we were told that metal is dead, alternative, gay-ass, pansy shit was the way to go, blah, blah, blah, blah. Ozzy said it best in the song "You Can't Kill Rock-n-Roll" (Diary of a Madman/1981):

Discography:
2003... The Human Condition

Current line-up:
Patrick Flannery... vocals
Wiley Arnett... guitars
Scott Twitty... bass
Brian Webb... drums

thehumancondition.us