Scott Kelly of NEUROSIS was recently interviewed by Justin M. Norton of Hellbound about the making of Enemy Of The Sun to coincide with the reissue of the album on the band's label Neurot Recordings. Kelly also discussed the band's decision to release a live album, his growth as a person and a musician and a fallout with onetime label Alternative Tentacles. Excerpts follow:

Hellbound: Enemy Of The Sun came out 17 years ago in 1993, right when grunge was nearing its peak popularity. The record is very much not a product of its times. What was going on with the band when you were recording it?

Kelly: "We were still trying to come of age. I was 25 and trying to find my way in the world. I think we all were. We had started to find our sound and were able to express ourselves in a way we had been trying for a long time.Souls At Zero (1992) was a step in that direction. When I listen to it I find songs where we were tapping into it. But it was hit or miss, especially with keyboards and different textures. We had to get more proficient at our instruments to pull the things in our heads out. Enemy was a bold step in that direction. Souls At Zero was the first time we had any sort of legitimate following, where people cared about what we were doing, particularly in Europe and the Bay Area. Up to that point we were so transient with our sound and approach that we constantly gained and lost fans. We tried to do things we couldn’t do. In a lot of ways this was a much more concrete record, even though Zero was packed with more songs. Every song and every moment on Enemy is deliberate.

Hellbound: For those who haven’t seen the new reissue, how is the album different from the last remastering done in 1999?

Kelly: "It’s not a whole lot different. The tracks are all the same. The packaging is different. It’s’ just the first timeNeurosis has been able to claim the album. It’s always been out there. We just wanted to take the initial pressing back from Alternative Tentacles and stop the bleeding. Now we’ve established this label, painstakingly put things together. The label is viable on some level and definitely the place to find our music. As we get back the rights to our records we’ll re-release more.

Hellbound: What happened with AT?

Kelly: "Alternative Tentacles ripped us off. That’s the simple version. They cooked the books and we called them on it. They accused us of all sorts of things and being greedy. And it was only about $3000! It was basically an honor thing. There was no honor there. I don’t know what to say about it except that I was proud to be on the label when they approached us to do us records. We held them in high regard and it couldn’t be further from that now.

Hellbound: Label head Jello Biafra (former singer of the DEAD KENNEDYS) also lost a lawsuit filed by his former band mates essentially claiming he’d been withholding royalties on the back catalog.

Kelly: "They won in court because they were correct. If he would rip us off for a small amount of money then he’d go after them for huge amount of money. When is the last time he had to punch a clock or worry about rent? He doesn’t. Who lives in a house on the hill? He does. I live in a trailer in the woods. I have a day job and always have. What he did to his fellow band mates is all there in black and white. Again, it’s all about ownership. I’m not unhappy with the original recording. It’s an intense record and was an intense session. I was going through some real emotional struggles at the time. I don’t know what the deal was but some of the songs and lyrics were tough. All of these experiences were cathartic.

Hellbound: You describe yourself as a self-made psychedelic cyborg. What do you mean?

Kelly: "I mean that I made a conscious decision to destroy my brain with psychedelics and remake it. I was so damaged from my childhood that I needed to do that to survive. I spent a lot of time putting myself into positions where I would have to adapt to uncomfortable situations. I purposely put myself in harm’s way psychically and forced my brain to confront uncomfortable things. I had a strong desire to leave a large portion of my life completely behind, and I had a really strong desire to play music. I felt this was what I had to do.

Hellbound: You say you put yourself in harm’s way psychically … can you elaborate?

Kelly: "Not without getting into too much personal shit. A lot of stuff from my childhood I wanted to leave behind. I tried to confront it using psychedelics. But you can’t erase the past that way. I don’t have any regrets, but I did become a person that was easily provoked and prone to being forgetful.

Read the entire interview here.