with
Anti-Product
by Rachael Rearden

Picture this:

A guitarist who has only played for two years and who is a trained violinist, making her debut at the age of 9, at the Albert hall.  A lead singer and guitarist who looks like 15 seven-year-old kids have just assaulted him armed with face paints and crayons.  A 6ft Italian bassist enviously named Marina Metallina and a beautiful Spanish damsel snatched from a French brothel, in order to take on keyboard duties.  

Add to this a drummer who has a tendency to ram, break and open things (whether this includes cans of beans will later be confirmed) with his head and claims one of his heroes is Eric Cantona.

Why do you look so confused? Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce Anti-Product: Anti-Product as we now know them - Clare Pproduct, A. Product, Marina Metallina, Milena Yum and Simon Gonk respectively, have been around for two and a half years.

Only recently however, have Anti-Product stood up, grabbed a set of kitchen knives and chased me, and other prospective fans, over many mountains in order to grab our attention. This followed the success of their recent tour with Murderdolls, which has got, and is getting them better known around the rock and metal scene. After receiving brief coverage in the media, such as in Kerrang! and the like, its time for Anti-Product to lick the last drops of Jack Daniels from their lips, stay sat on their drunken arses watching gleefully as the ears of the media prick up and hear the unorthodox talent of this band.

I spoke to drummer Simon Gonk and bassist Marina Metallina to find out a bit more about themselves and the band. 

Surprisingly, both members auditioned to be in Anti-Product. The confident Gonk reels “Saw an ad for a drummer in Melody Maker, and called Alex (lead singer). Had an audition, had a second audition, blew away the competition and the rest is history.”

Gonk doesn’t brag. His favorite drummers ranging from Dave Lombardo (Slayer) to Barret Martin (Screaming Trees) which are world s apart in terms of their sound, Gonk uses his diverse skills and influences to make Anti-Product sound as little to the norm as possible. 

Marina on the other hand didn’t get quite such a worry free audition. After her first audition Metallina was told to learn six new songs in 2 days. Not too bad, you think, if you really want to be in Anti-Product right? Wrong.  After that she had that learn the other 30 or so in about a week, the poor mite “lost it cuz of too much information in my head, my fingers were full of massive blisters from playing 12 hours a day” and didn’t even know when or if she was in the band, “Alex always kept me vague about my position,” She explains. “Even when I got the ticket to New York in my hand I wasn’t sure.”

With their glam metal orientated sound, it’s still hard to see how Anti-Product can be fit into one clean-cut genre. Lets take Slayer and AC/DC, The Misfits, Poison, Faster Pussycat and Motley Crue. And you’re still nowhere near to classifying the diverse Anti-Product.  Like their music, Anti-Product holds a whole lot of personalities.  Lets see, Metallina would like to kill “99% of the human race”. She also woke up “after a massive party in Koln, not being able to move my thumb for three days and still having to play gigs (in pain). God knows what I’ve done to it cuz I don’t remember”. 

Looking at Marina Metallina, who do U think she’d like to be for a day? Hitler? The Pope perhaps? George W Bush?! “ Victoria Beckam, She’s got it all”. Whattt?! Excuse me while I choke on my coffee! “If I could be in any other band it would be the Spice Girls. I think living that must have been amazing” Watch out kids, I sense an obsession looming. Gonk, I feel is slightly more sane than Metallina. He describes his best experience “playing at Donnington in front of 45,000 people, “walking out and seeing that many people is a memory that will stay with me forever.” “(If I was any animal) I would be a cat, cuz if my cats are anything to go by they get loads of cuddles and love. And love and cuddles are great!” The man of your dreams? Sensitive, compassionate? No, wait. Its ok! Gonk wants to kill people too!!

“ Either Osama Bin Laden or Saddam Hussain, f***ing lunatics the pair of them” Regardless of whatever baffles you about Anti-Product, their new album, “Made in USA” is being polished up as we speak, ready to grab your ear drums and scream “ROCK!”. And you will rock to it with the first riffs you hear.  Anti-Product are not about to compromise.

Visit the official website for more on the band and their new CD!