You can only make noise for so long before someone gets a headache. Want proof? Just look at what happened to godheadSilo, the world's loudest two-piece that became a one-note joke. Their enormous drum sound, huge, thudding bass, and distorted, smirky vocals caused a hellacious ringing that some folks in the Northwest are still suffering from. One less-than-stunning album later, godheadSilo was gone.

But Mike Kunka is not a man who can be silenced for long. The former godheadSilo bassist/screamer is back with ENEMYMINE, a band every bit as sonically unhinged as his previous project--but with a little something extra: melody, provided in part by ex-Low bassist Zak Sally. (Zak is actually leaving Enemymine next month--confirming the truth of our opening statement.) So what you get is a something akin to a cracked tumbler of Old Crow sweetened with a teaspoonful of sugar; and what sounds like an odd pairing is actually a match made in rock heaven, with drummer Dan Sasaki supplying the lead that pounds it through the floor. Mike Kunka elaborates.

THE STRANGER: Is louder better?

MIKE: I prefer loud--but I like to make it rather than listen to it, because American bands just don't get metal right. I listen to a lot of Swedish metal, and that's the right kind of loud. It's a different mentality--they practice way more than Americans do. They could kill every American band with the amount of riffs they produce, and they still have day jobs.

So keeping a job is the key to success?

No, I just think that if you smoke enough pot, you can do anything. Not that I smoke pot. I look at the rich kids, and they have everything because the skids are already greased. You should have to work for your amplifiers, because that's what's important in a band. An amplifier is definitely something your parents shouldn't buy for you.

What's the first album you bought with your own money?

Roy Orbison's Greatest Hits, for 10 cents. Followed up by the J Geils Band's Centerfold.

Do you think rock bands owe it to their fans to stay in shape?

No, but I have a plan to quit by the time I'm 30 unless I still feel valid. You're talking to 14-year-old kids. So many bands influence the kids by covering a favorite obscure song they haven't heard of, tricking them into thinking they came up with it themselves. I don't come from there. When I start to feel too much like I'm tricking people, I'll quit.

Would becoming an arena-caliber rock band ruin it all for you?

Those stages are too high. I like to be low to the ground. It's all wrong when the amps are hitting you high. It needs to hit you in the ass, so you can feel it. I'd be happy to get where the Melvins are--as long as your car works and you have a roof, everything is fine. I always thought godheadSilo was like Rush, but everyone else thought we were a dumb joke band.

How do you feel about the perception that bass and drums are the least intellectual part of a band?

I want to change the way people think about the rhythm section. I could care less about the guitar solos. If anybody is going to bust the lead, it's going to be the drummer. If you didn't have a drummer, you'd be screwed. There'd be no rock.