The Battle of the Bullshit

Battles drummer John Stanier: "I am so very, very proud of what [Helmet] did, but I'm really not into talking about Helmet all that much."

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More About

• John Stanier
• Battles (Musical Group)
• Metallica
• Anthony Braxton
• Heavy Metal

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So what we've got here is a group of indie vets with no exclusive label, no consistently utilized medium, no articulated genre, and no scene, making music that, track upon track, strives to conceal its own processes. Thus, they and their music appear to possess "no substantial existence." I unload all this on Stanier. I also tell him I think "the band is trying to ditch the past," adding, "It seems like Battles wants to be some kind of phantom presence."

"That's it exactly," Stanier confesses. "We like the idea that people are confused. That sounds weird but I believe it. It just lets us concentrate on what we want to do."