PRIONS - Austin City D-Beat Punkers on the Move!

Interview with Ram Puga

First off, I must say your band name is great. Whether or not a fan knows the name is taken from a disease, it is still an interesting, catchy moniker for the band. What’s the story behind it?

I stumbled across it in an article about a funerary cannibalistic tribe in Papua New Guinea, called The Fore. It mentioned the children and elders related to the deceased had become infected by a miss-folded protein called Prion. The Prion was in the raw human brains they consumed rapidly spreading the Kuru disease and nearly wiping out the tribe. Researched the name a little further and realized it was perfect for us.

Your band has been around for a while. When is the actual origin date?

The concept of Prions was born Summer 2012, the band became whole with Caleb our singer joining January 2013.

Prions is most definitely a D-Beat punk band, but the guitar riffs have a little different flavor than lots in the genre. They are punk rock, but I hear small influences of New Wave of British Heavy Metal and also a slight tint of Bathory. With that being said, I can estimate that the band has a wealth of different influences. Can you elaborate on that?

Guilty. Haha Joe and I have a punk background where Erik and Caleb are more metal driven. We all like punk and we all like metal and as a band we like and feed off from Wolfbrigade, Black Sabbath, Sepultura, Converge, Disfear, and Slayer to name a few.

So far I see you have two EP releases: 2014 Demos and The Infected. Both have nice, clean recordings that still maintain the brutality. Where both recorded in the same studio? Can you share any interesting stories from the recording sessions?

Funny you ask kind of, same engineer different studios. The Infected was recorded at Test Tube Audio and the 2014 Demos was recorded at Orb Recording Studio both in Austin by Kevin Butler.

You also play drums in the cool Oi/Punk band Concrete. Do you find it difficult juggling duties between the two? While on the topic of Concrete, what does the future hold for that band?

Yeah, thanks man I appreciate the support! Thankfully not difficult just yet, fingers crossed. haha We have a Midwest/Northeast tour coming in mid August, we have half of our full length written, and some really cool splits with some killer bands. Go to www.facebook.com/CONCRETENATION for further details.

Being from such a music conscious city as Austin, do you feel it has helped you get more gigs and to spread your name around?

I can't say that it helps get gigs. As friendly and inviting as the Austin scenes are it's competitive just like any other sport. There are so many great bands that have came, gone, remain, and are formed each day it's finding the moment to get your foot in the door. Thus that friendly competition spits out amazing bands fighting for that opening spot for the National touring band.

What I love about Austin is that the people there truly do still appreciate music. Your city has great record stores and every time I go to them, they are always full of people. Why do you think the people there have continued the appeal for buying records and not just getting crappy downloads?

I am probably one of those people. Haha I will admit I do have anywhere near as many as a true collector would, not even close but I do spend quite some time at my local store year round. I have seen it increase the last couple years which is great, but like everything else it'll fadeout for the trendy ones as they move along to the next exploitation leaving the rest of us to reap the benefits. I think it is all due to the fact there have been and are a lot of great bands in Austin, along with the genuine knowledge of the different subcultures and genres of music, most of the staff at these record stores have is what makes the it that much better experience.

So what is next? Are there plans for a full length?

We have a few things in the works, other slowly in progress. There is a cassette split we are doing with our friends from Macedonia called Disease, raw d-beat punk out possibly this Summer. We also have a 7" split with a fellow Texas band called Bomb Hoarder which we just recorded some new tracks for couple months ago. We do not have a release date for this and it will we all done D.I.Y. Couple of other splits in the works, a possible 7", and then definitely start working on a full length album.

What final words do you have?

Our next gig is July 11 at The Lost Well in Austin with Hard Charger from Canada and Deadly Reign and So Unloved. Come out if you're in the area and tell your friends, if not checkout the bands if you've never heard of them because you're missing out, then infect your friends. Spread the infection.
Ram

https://prions.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/PrionsATX?fref=ts