ISM's Andre Mistier shoots for the stars

ISM is the latest industrial rock sensation to come out of New York City. Francis Petruziello had a chance to speak with their vocalist, Andre Mistier via E-mail to talk about their new project Urgency, the meaning behind the band's name, touring plans for 2008 and an unusual request to perform on The Virgin spacecraft.

F.P: How is Urgency different from your first release?

A.M: We have always been interested in making music for modern ears. People will always respond to the sound of a human voice, or a piano, the organic sounds. But we also live in a world of elevators, cell phones, construction, assorted inorganic bleeps and crashes. So we have always felt that to speak to modern people, we have to use a mix of these two elements. The biggest difference is that on Monkey Underneath, we put the organic parts down as the base and then put the electronics on top of them. But the electronic parts should be the loops, the machine-like elements, while its the organic parts that should be free to express emotionally. This is what we've done with Urgency, and the result has been a more expansive and emotional sound, both edgier and more danceable at the same time. Music for the party at the end of the world.

F.P: What was the inspiration behind the making of the album?

A.M: The inspiration behind this album is the question, if this were your last day on earth, what things that you currently do would still matter to you? What would be left if there was nothing left? So, two main issues follow. One, everybody thinks that what they are doing is urgent, important. But we all need to step back and take a look at our priorities. How your date went on friday night is not nearly as important as your sister being in the hospital, for example. Some things really are urgent, and some aren't. Two, so many people sit around waiting for someone or something to magically help them achieve their goals. If you want to get something done, you must go out and pursue it urgently, passionately.

So, the real issue of this album is the process of finding out what actually matters to you, and why.

F.P: What was it like working with Joe Blaney and Mark Needham on this album?

A.M: Inspirational. Both of them really added not only to the sound of the album, but to the experience we had throughout it and our understanding of what we were doing. Joe's years of experience with groups like the Clash and Prince has given him a phenomenal ability to get to the heart of what a song is about, and bring that out. Not to mention that he's an amazing engineer and got great sounds out of us, as well as understanding what's required to shape the experience of an entire album. And Mark took what we had done and breathed life into it. i feel like we gave him a statue and he turned it into a living being.

F.P: Is ISM an acronym for something like some groups are known for or is it something more existential than that?

A.M: It stands for I Smell Macho! No, it is not an acronym. It is the suffix, the ending that you add to a word that turns it from a real thing into an abstracted idea. All these ideas that pigeon-hole the way we are "supposed" to think. Isms over-analyze and turn what was free into something codified, turned to stone.

F.P: How do you feel being compared to bands like Nine Inch Nails and would they be artists you would like to tour with in the near future?

A.M: That's quite an honor. They are one of my favorite groups of all time, not just for the music they've made but because they are one of the few groups out there that has continually pushed themselves to develop artistically, to go further than what they've already done. And their live show is unbelievable, the best use of visual elements to enhance the story of the music that I have ever seen. So yes, I think there could be worse things in the world than getting the chance to tour with them.

F.P: Will you guys be touring the U.S. in support of Urgency this year?

A.M: Yes. The album comes out Aug. 5, and we will be started our national tour about a month before. Our first stop is going to be the west coast, but we'll be all over the place. The best way to find out where and when is to go to our myspace page (www.myspace.com/ism).

F.P: How does it feel from being a rock outfit from New York to getting known around the nation?

A.M: It's what everyone playing music in New York wants, isn't it? Playing in New York is great, I love the city and it's great to have our friends there, but touring is where the music becomes real. When you are playing shows 4,5,6 days a week the music becomes a part of you in a completely different way. And traveling is great. Also, few things feel as good as stopping off somewhere on the road where we've made friends and having a home-cooked meal and a real welcomed experience. There's nothing quite like the feeling of having a friend open their home to you when you're away from your own.

F.P: What else do we have to look forward to from ISM in 2008?

A.M: Well, our first single, Sacred Cows is coming out now, and a video for it will be coming out soon as well. Urgency hits stores August 5th, and we'll be touring all over in response. And my current goal is that I want to play a show on the Virgin space shuttle, the commercial space ship. So, if you know anyone who wants to underwrite that idea, let me know!