We Don't Stop the Sound

But you still get puzzled looks.

I don't even mind a negative reaction—the whole point to me is something that affects you somehow. We've been known to clear a room or two, and to me that's not necessarily a failure. All the bands that were big inspirations to me—the Melvins, Swans, Earth—were notorious for clearing rooms. I'd rather get that than "Yeah, it was okay." It's an extreme project—it's very intense, and I'm hoping somebody gets that intense reaction out of it.

Rock & robe. Photo courtesy Southernlord/Jenn Garrett

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More About

• Greg Anderson
• Celtic Frost
• John Coltrane
• Hollywood Bowl
• Stephen O'Malley

How do you feel after a month of SunnO))) shows? You're getting a deep tissue massage every night.

It's kind of physically exhausting. Besides being in front of a wall of sound for an hour every night, we also load in our own gear—not just an audio workout but a physical workout as well. After a show, I'm pretty spent. Drained but relaxed. A lot has to do with the physical sound waves massaging your body nonstop—we don't stop the sound. It's very trance-inducing in some ways.

Would you like to play a place like the Hollywood Bowl?

I would really like to play on a volcano. I was fortunate enough to get to go to Hawaii, and there is an active volcano that is a national park. To do something near any sort of beautiful nature would be cool. The Hollywood Bowl would be insane—it'd be killer to work with an orchestra there. Anything that's possible to connect with nature, without sounding too much like a hippie. To me, when I'm thinking about playing in SunnO))), I'm not thinking of slowed-down Sabbath riffs and evil. I'm thinking of mountains and forests and those things inspire me—creating some sort of peace. I have some "nature sounds" records. Sounds of like "the woods in the Pacific Northwest," with like elk on it. I dig that. The abstract ways sound is created—not in a traditional manner.

SUNNO))) PERFORMS WITH CELTIC FROST AT THE HOUSE OF BLUES, 1530 S. DISNEYLAND DR., ANAHEIM, (714) 778-BLUE. THURS., OCT. 5, 9 P.M. $28-$30. ALL AGES.