The subject matter of Big Black, I don't really identify it too closely with the band, I identify it more with my personality and the personalities in the band. I was thinking more in stylistic terms when I wrote that. Nowadays, not only is it not uncommon, it is also required for a band to write songs about unpleasant goings on. When we were doing it, it seemed a little bit out of character. BB influenced people through the lyrics.
Nobody can ever control.
There are some bands that were inspired by the climate of music during that period that Big Black was active, which was a very fertile period of American music, there were bands like KillDozer, Big Black, Sonic Youth and other smaller bands that people probably wouldn't be familiar with that were equally inspirational and there are a lot of bands that took their inspiration from that era and have gone on to do things that are equally noteworthy. They are not necessarily inspired by Big Black, they are inspired by the climate of music that was generated during the period that Big Black was active. What about the current music climate. I think it sucks. I think we are in the weakest period of Rock Music since the early seventies.