Interview with Martin Harb of Visions of Atlantis!!

Phone interview conducted on February 11, 2011.

http://www.myspace.com/visionsofatlantisofficial



WULF: I want to say congratulations on putting out "Delta", it is a fantastic album and I really enjoyed it.

MARTIN: Thank you.

WULF: I want to know, though, how has the reception been for this new album on your end?

MARTIN: It has been already very, very good. Better than actually all previous VoA albums.

WULF: Really?

MARTIN: Yes. We are very happy about that. Magazines and professionals like it and we hope, of course, more important(ly), our fans will like it even more.

WULF: Well I'd have to agree with you because it's my favorite Visions of Atlantis album so far also, so that's good man!

MARTIN: Cool. It's good hearing that.

WULF: So this is your first album with the new vocalist, Maxi Nil. I'm curious, how did you meet her?

MARTIN: Well, we were casting a lot of girls all over Europe and we just got attached with her via Napalm Records, and we met each other and after a few minutes it was clear (that) "this is it", you know?
(laughs)
And this is actually the whole story.

WULF: Oh, well that's cool!
(laughs)

MARTIN: Five days after meeting (her) for the first time we went onstage together at Metal Camp in Europe and it was just awesome.

WULF: Wow! So it just automatically clicked, that's awesome! That's really cool man. OK, so this new album I'd say is more bombastic than ever, especially so on tracks like "Twist of Fate" and "Elegy of Existence", but, I mean, it's all over the album. I want to know...those are my personal favorite tracks on the album, is there a personal favorite track on the album for you?

MARTIN: For me, I love them all, but if I had to choose since you forced me to (laughs), my two favorites for me are "Memento" and "Conquest of Others". For me personally. It actually changes from day to day. I also love "Twist of Fate" a lot and "Elegy of Existence" but after listening so many times to it I really prefer for myself "Memento" and "Conquest of Others" because they catch my heart the most.

WULF: Ah, I see. That's cool man! Now, I understand "Delta" was produced by your bass player (Mario Lochert) and Jan Vacick-

MARTIN: Yeah, like on "Trinity" also.

WULF: OK, so what was it like working with them, and why two producers?

MARTIN: Because they have lots of experience, as Mario was integrated as a bass player and was clear with all his recording experience that he would do the job the way we want to have sounding the songs because Mario Plank, the vocalist, and me do all the songwriting and we really wanted to have a person we were in very close contact to (as a producer), and Jan Vacick also did "Trinity" and he did a hell of a job there, and he's part of the future; he's the first man for any VoA production when it comes to producing and ideas and stuff.

WULF: I see. Yeah, both those guys did a really great job too, the album sounds great. Now, I'm curious, who writes the lyrics for Visions? Is it you, or Mario, or everbody?

MARTIN: Me and Mario Plank, yes. We do almost everything.

WULF: OK, what inspires the songs lyrically? Unfortunately I couldn't get the lyrics because I only have a promo copy for my radio show.

MARTIN: Actually, Mario always invents little fictive stories with a metaphorical background of Atlantis itself, and I most of the time put metaphorical social, ideological, and psychological stuff into my songs always with a kind of (metaphor). It is also the main stuff on "Delta" with red light (??), although it is actually no concept album.

WULF: OK, yeah I was curious, would you like to talk about the new album title "Delta"? It could mean a number of things...

MARTIN: You can guess. It's the fourth letter in the Greek alphabet, and of course when you see the cover, the delta is the situation where the small river is coming into the great sea and springing out something huge and something even bigger. You know, this was the ascension, and (what) we want to do on every album (is have) the number of the album somehow fit into the title.

WULF: Right, like "Trinity", and then "Delta", OK...that's awesome. I was looking and you've got that great, pyramid-like thing on the cover too which is like the triangle delta. That's really cool. So as far as I know you have one music video, are there any plans to make a new music video for a song off of "Delta"?

MARTIN: Yes, it's already produced and it will be released worldwide in a few days. So stay tuned for that, it will be awesome. It's from the track "New Dawn".

WULF: OK, so I only have a couple more questions if that's OK, I know you're busy. I see that you're about to go on tour in Europe, is there a chance of you coming over here to North America?

MARTIN: Yeah, we are trying everything to make this possible again and we hope to come in 2011 already. It would be a dream coming true again so cross your fingers and hope that everything is working out. But nothing is fixed, and nothing I'm allowed to talk about already.
(laughs)

WULF: OK, I understand man. OK, so my last question then...is there any chance of you guys putting out a DVD in the near future?

MARTIN: We're thinking about this and been asked that lots of times, but at the moment I think we should do releasing an album from year to year and (not) changing the lineup again, and then we can talk about this.
(laughs)

WULF: Ah, OK awesome man. Well I know you're busy so thanks for taking the time to talk to me.

MARTIN: It was a great pleasure to talk to you, maybe (we'll) have a chance meeting each other perhaps when (we) head over to the States, and I hope everything is cool with the radio and I hope you're having a great day.

WULF: OK, thanks man, you too! Good luck tonight.

MARTIN: OK, it will be an awesome show. I think it's almost sold out again!

Interview with David Sanchez of Havok!!

Phone interview conducted on January 28, 2011.
http://www.myspace.com/havok

WULF: Alright, I'd like to start off by saying thanks so much for taking the time to talk to me. Congratulations on this upcoming album.

DAVID: Thanks for having me on.

WULF: OK, so I want to start off by saying I've actually known about you guys since the "Pwn 'Em All" days.

DAVID: Oh man!
(laughs)

WULF: So I'm from Lawrence (Kansas) but there's this band that moved here from Colorado (Elctrikchair) and for my radio show they gave me that EP, and were like, "Oh, here's some Colorado metal!" And I was really impressed with it!

DAVID: Right on.

WULF: So it's cool that you guys have come such a long way. But anyway, OK so my first question for you, just sort of a warm-up starter question...is there any chance that the name Havok comes from the X-Men (character) or is just Havoc (with a K) as in like, destruction and mayhem and that sort of thing?

DAVID: It's havoc as in destruction and mayhem, and realistically, the only reason that's our name is because the logo looks cool.
(laughs)

WULF: Yeah, the logo does look cool! Congratulations on that because a lot of times logos look generic and that sort of thing. I was just kind of curious, I'm an old-school X-Men fan. Just wondering.

DAVID: Yeah, no worries.

WULF: So, I want to know...this (new) album "Time Is Up" isn't out yet, but I want to hear from you what's the early reception for this album been like so far?

DAVID: Every review we've been seeing so far has been really, really good. The worst score its gotten so far is a 4 out of 5. So that's not bad.

WULF: That's good!
(laughs)

DAVID: The only bad thing that anyone has ever said about it is "ohhhh...it's thrash metal". Like, they're so narcissistic about it just because it's fast, old-school, riff-heavy heavy metal. And for some reason some people are bent out of shape about the whole thing, even though they love Slayer, Metallica, and Megadeth, they hate any band that sounds kind of like a new band.

WULF: Right. I would imagine it's probably the sort-of, like, internet forum brigade. That type of thing.

DAVID: Yeah, totally.

WULF: They only like the demo, yeah. No, I just want to say that I was really impressed...I mean, I liked "Burn" a lot but I think "Time Is Up" is definitely an improvement. I feel like it's more aggressive, and the drums (especially) sound absolutely incredible.

DAVID: Thanks.

WULF: I feel like in a way it's sort of angrier, or a more intense album.

DAVID: Yeah, it's definitely more aggressive I think.

WULF: Yeah, for sure, and so I want to know if this is through personal improvements as far as your proficiency with instruments or were you guys going through some tough shit, or what was happening when this album was being made?

DAVID: We went through a few lineup changes between the "Burn" album and this album. But as far as the aggressiveness, it doesn't have anything to do with lineup changes or personal changes..."Burn" came out and it had songs on it from when I was 15 years old, and it also had some newer songs on it. There's some songs on "Burn" that I think are a very good foreshadowing of what is on "Time Is Up". I think the best tracks on "Burn" kind of give you a hint as to where we were going, and with this album it's all new, all fresh stuff, and I think it's just a natural progression and improvement of our sound, just from getting more acclimated with our songwriting and the technicalities of music and the flow and all that type of thing. We're only getting better, we're not gonna put out a shittier album.
(laughs)
At least not on purpose.

WULF: Right, right. So lyrically (speaking), unfortunately with the promo copy that I got which is digital through Earsplit PR, I didn't have access to lyrics. So I was kind of curious, for "Time Is Up", why this title? I mean, do you mean "time is up" as in the end of the world, like 2012, or is it like the end of America, or "time is up" as in Havok's gonna like, destroy everybody in the scene now?

DAVID: It...it means all of those things!
(laughs)
No, but realistically the song "Time Is Up" is basically written as if you're on your deathbed and you're about to be judged in your afterlife, and there's a line in the song that says "plead your case, appeal to me, I'll be judge and jury", and that's exactly what's on the album cover. The whole entire jury in the background is dead, and there's one person slamming down the gavel. Basically, the title "Time Is Up" is directly reflected in the album cover. But the phrase "Time Is Up" is the title of the album basically because it applies to every song. Lyrically speaking, the phrase "time is up" can apply to any of the songs.

WULF: Right.

DAVID: It's not a concept album but it's a general term that definitely is applicable.

WULF: It's a common theme that brings the album.

DAVID: Sure.

WULF: And what sucks is that without having a physical copy, I saw the album cover but it was kind of small and so forgive me for missing that, that's really cool that it ties all together.

DAVID: Oh yeah, no worries.

WULF: I want to know as far as during recording, was there a particular track that was more difficult than the others to nail down?

DAVID: I mean, there's some parts on the albums that are definitely technically demanding on the instruments. There were parts that we had to redo a few times but we're all pretty technically proficient, so it wasn't a huge pain the ass to record, you know? I think all the drums were recorded over the course of three days, maybe four days? And then edited together and polished a little bit. Guitars, I got all the rhythm tracks for the left speaker all done in one day, and then I got the right speaker done the next day. The next day I laid down all my solos. So everything came together really fast. Bass only took two days. Solos took two or three days. If anything, the vocals took longer because the throat needs more time to heal, to get it back into recording shape. With guitar, I could play guitar for six hours and it wouldn't be a big deal, but I can't yell into a microphone for six hours.
(laughs)

WULF: So you're a guitar player first and then sort of as a vocalist (you're) trying to get up to that level as well?

DAVID: Yeah, if anything I'd say I'm a better songwriter than I am a guitar player or singer. I'm good at arranging parts. I'm not the most badass guitar player ever and I'm certainly not the most badass singer ever, but not to say I suck at them, but I think I excel in arrangement.

WULF: Alright. So I was looking at (Havok's) Myspace and the first thing that you guys have up there, sort of a mash-up of all your footage, looked really cool. But I was curious, is there any chance of a music video for a song off of "Time Is Up"?

DAVID: Yeah, we're probably gonna shoot a few. There will definitely be music videos for this album. We just need to figure out when and where we're going to start shooting.

WULF: So you think around Colorado, that sort of thing?

DAVID: Most likely, but we tour enough to where if we wanted to shoot it in California or Texas we could totally do that, we just have to plan for it.

WULF: Right. OK, well that kind of brings me to my next question. You guys are about to go on tour here, but I must say it's kind of a weird lineup. I do like the variety though, it's cool that it's not all bands that sound the same. So of all the different styles, which do you feel that Havok most closely relates to stylistically from those bands.

DAVID: On this upcoming tour?

WULF: Right.

DAVID: Well, the tour's with Malevolent Creation, Full Blown Chaos, The Absence, us, and Beyond Terror Beyond Grace from Australia. Stylistically speaking, I would have to say we're...we're not really like any of the bands, but if I had to pick who we're closest to I'd say The Absence. A lot of guitar riffs and the drums lock in with the guitars really tight, and I don't know...but that's a hard question to answer because we realistically I don't think we sound like any of them.

WULF: Yeah, right. If I was going to guess, I would have said, at least stylistically, I was thinking Malevolent Creation just because of the old-school death metal thing.

DAVID: Yeah, and I could see that too.

WULF: But obviously, Havok is a lot different from those bands, and those bands are a lot different from each other. OK, so for this upcoming tour and everything you guys are going to be going all over, is there a particular city that you guys look forward to more than the others, that's maybe notorious for having your craziest shows or your craziest fans?

DAVID: St. Louis is always pretty nuts. We played two shows there where literally the house that we played in got destroyed.

WULF: The house got destroyed?!

DAVID: Oh yeah, we played a few house shows in St. Louis and I specifically remember one show where we're playing in someone's basement and the crowd was punching out the tile of the ceiling, and at the end of the night there was dust and ceiling all over the ground. There was no more ceiling in that basement, and somebody thought it was a good idea to jump up and grab onto the AC and heater distributing ventilation system and ripped that thing off of the ceiling as well. Then somebody poured a bunch of kitty litter in the toilet, and the toilet had to get taken out of the house.
(laughs)
But every single time we play in St. Louis something happens.

WULF: Wow! That's funny because for one, looking at how you guys are coming up (to Kansas City), I'm (outside) of Kansas City, and Kansas City is right after St. Louis, so hopefully we can measure up to that. I mean, I don't know if you want to go THAT crazy but--

DAVID: I was about to mention Kansas City also though. Every single time we play there it's almost like a hometown show because we hit KC so often because it's the next city over to the east (from Denver) and we always hit it on the way to a tour from the east or on the way home from a tour from the east. So we come to Kansas City a lot, and every single time we come there it's awesome.

WULF: OK, well that's good to hear! Unfortunately I missed you guys in the past, but this time I will definitely be there this time. I'm really excited to see you guys, especially after looking at the live footage in your videos, it looks like it's gonna be a blast.

DAVID: Yeah, thanks a lot man, it always is. I think we're one of those bands that's cooler to see live than to listen to on CD.
(laughs)

WULF: Well, I think there's advantages and disadvantages but no I can definitely see what you're saying, for sure. So I know we're running low on time here, is there any chance you could answer one last question?

DAVID: Yeah, of course.

WULF: OK, my last question, and this is just kind of a question I like to ask, just out of curiosity...of all the bands that you've played with so far, I want to know who would you say is the craziest, the most nuts band that you've ever had an experience with? Besides yourselves of course!
(laughs)

DAVID: That puts on a crazy show?

WULF: Anything! Onstage, offstage, just...nuts dudes.

DAVID: Totally insane dudes...I'm gonna have to say the dudes in Witchaven are pretty fucking crazy.
(laughs)

WULF: Really? Witchaven?

DAVID: Yeah, the dudes in Witchaven are pretty nuts, but we've got a lot of friends in a lot of bands, and we're lucky to know the people that we do because we're bros with a lot of really awesome bands. But the Witchaven dudes come to mind right away for pretty crazy things.
(laughs)

WULF: OK, OK, well the only reason I ask is because one time I asked that to...I think I was talking to the band Warbringer, and the first thing they said was Belphegor...especially with black metal bands, they were like "those dudes are for real"...just...crazy, you know?
(laughs)
Like offstage they're really fucking weird and so...nah, but I was kind of curious. Witchaven, alright! Actually, I've never listened to them, I've heard the name before so I'm definitely going to the check them out.

DAVID: Yeah, definitely check that band out. They're badass.

WULF: Alright man, well speaking of badass bands, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me.

DAVID: Of course man.

WULF: I really, really like this album, I'm really excited to see you guys coming up here, so yeah man. I just want to say good luck on tour, and do you have any last words you'd like to say about anything?

DAVID: Pick up the album when it comes out on March 29, it will be well-received by anybody who likes guitar riffs, cool drums, and cool bass. Anybody that plays in a rock band will probably dig it. If not for anything else, just the musicality alone.

WULF: I would 100% agree.

DAVID: It doesn't suck, so...
(laughs)

WULF: It's definitely very, very...it's the opposite of suck.

DAVID: It's blow.
(laughs)
This album totally blows.

Interview with Paul Delaney of Black Anvil!!

Phone interview conducted on October 16, 2010.
http://www.myspace.com/blackanvilny

This was a challenging interview. Paul's New York accent was pretty thick and he spoke kind of quietly so I had trouble understanding him. Unfortunately, I waited quite some time to transcribe this interview, so at this point it would be kind of obnoxious to try and contact Paul to try and clarify some of his answers. At any rate, here's what I could make out:

WULF: Thanks for taking the time to talk to me on here. I'm really, really digging your new album, "Triumvirate". People around here are really digging it as well, which is cool too. Anyway, I'd just like to start off by asking you how the reception is on your end so far?

PAUL: So far, so good. I've looked at a couple bad reviews here and there, but yeah so far the reviews have been pretty good. The only downside is that a lot of the...well, I guess for reviews (there's been) a digital package (with mp3s) and the only downside of that is that our lyrics are our strong point in this band, but it seems here and there (there's been) a picky, bad review, or you know, an honest review of someone that doesn't care for us too much, but a bit more of the (most negative) reviews that take digs at us and our background don't really focus on what the band is than what they're hearing on the outside. I guess that's a (this) day and age thing, I suppose.

WULF: Yeah, I was reading in Decibel at how you guys were talking about that, about how some people were sort of dwelling on the past as far as you guys used to play in Kill Your Idols which was more like hardcore and people were focusing on that as opposed to focusing on like, the music of Black Anvil.

PAUL: Yeah, that's probably just a creative copout, a starting ground for conversation. I understand with a newer band, history helps. There's a lot more (focus) on that than the actual product that's being reviewed. There's a couple specific reviewers in mind (that didn't like it), that (were like), "this is nothing more than metal riffs and this and that" and...it's a little more than that. It's a little complex. It's not a Rush record by any means but there sure is some complexity to us, there's more than meets the eye. It may take the listener to sit down and read the lyrics and think a little more to understand but I wish there was a little more emphasis on that aspect. The exception to (those negatie reviews), is so far so good.

WULF: Yeah, that's one of the downsides, since I do a radio show, is that most of the labels now do digital promo copies as opposed to sending us a hard copy, and so unfortunately since I don't have a hard copy I was looking online for lyrics and I couldn't find any, but it wasn't totally exhaustive just because I could already tell what you guys were saying from listening to the album, which was good too. It wasn't just so...a lot of times with metal it's hard to make out the lyrics, but with you guys I felt it was easy to make out, which was good too for coming up with these questions. But before I get to that, I have a question...for this album, did you have a personal favorite track? I like the whole album, but I'd say the standout track for me personally was "Angels to Dust". I don't know why it stood out more than the others, maybe because it's fast but also I really like the melodic part in the middle and then it gets really doomy. So that just really got me. What about you?

PAUL: I think that was one of the "hookier" songs. That's up there for me, but overall I'd say I couldn't choose one. The flow of the record from beginning to end was strategically put together and I feel really accomplished creating the record, so it would be hard for me to just choose one. I'm a fan of the overall product.

WULF: What about recording-wise, was there a track that was more difficult to record than any of the others, that maybe you guys had more of a difficult time trying to nail in the studio?

PAUL: No, we (inaudible) tracking-wise, for the most part.

WULF: Alright. Now, I'm not going to focus on this, this is just one question, but I understand you probably get asked this a lot, but you guys used to play in Kill Your Idols and it was more hardcore, and now you're playing black metal, and I'm just curious as to what facilitated this sort of switch? Were you guys always into black metal, even in the hardcore days?

PAUL: I've been into metal overall since before I even played hardcore. I really dove into black metal I'd say mid to late 90s was when I really like...dove deeper than the obvious choices. The Bathory and Mayhem records. I realized there was more. At that point I definitely looked deeper and found a lot more. (inaudible)
But these days I still find stuff and research because of my love for music and aggressive music, but hardcore in New York is different than (the stereotype), straight-edge kids and (inaudible), it was a pretty tough scene and that's what drew us all to bands like Agnostic Front, Terror, Sick of It All, and Kill Your Idols was a product of that upbringing.
(inaudible)
Lyrically it's different than this but we had a different vocalist, so that was his contribution. There wasn't much of a (inaudible) for me other than...it was a pretty natural stepping stone. Kill Your Idols broke up and in time after that Gary and I were doing a band called Deathcycle which was a project he started, which was heavier punk. It was tuned a lot lower, and after we put out a couple records it was tuned lower and lower and experimenting with heavy tuning, there's a lot you can do. But for us I feel like there's a wider range or variety with low-tuning. It kept getting heavier and heavier. It just sort of stuck. It was something that we had discussed for years, but being that (playing in a band takes up so much time), there's never enough time for a side-project. A few years later, with (Deathcycle) no longer in existence, (inaudible)

WULF: Well, and so, I'm kind of curious, do you feel like Black Anvil is a part of this new emergence of the U.S. black metal scene? I know that USBM has been around for a long time, but there's this sort of new emergence of this new sound and it's a little more experimental like Wolves in the Throne Room or Nachtmystium, and I was wondering if you felt that Black Anvil was a part of this scene or are you guys something different?

PAUL: Not at all. I don't feel like we're a part of it at all. We've toured with Nachtmystium, Blake is a good friend of ours. I compare myself to them more than anyone else, but I don't feel like we fit in with the average scene. And it could be just me, but I feel like we're on a different page and our music (and lyrics) are rooted from a different place. I just think we stand alone. Not on a pedestal, not above anyone, but I do feel like we sort of have our own thing. Seeing the upbringing in this band in the last couple of years...I feel like we are a completely individual unit...functioning--
(laughs)
When it comes to different scenes and who's who and what's what.

WULF: Well, another thing I'm not too familiar with because I live in the Midwest is...what is the black metal scene like in New York? I mean, I know that New York death metal is really big, and of course hardcore and punk, but what about black metal though?

PAUL: There's no scene to me. My scene is in my fucking iPod.
(laughs)
You know? That's where my scene is. But there is a scene, I mean, bands come and play. Triptykon and 1349 played in New York a couple days ago. I was out of town, however, I'm assuming the show was decently attended. I've played shows with different bands, I've gone to shows, there's a scene. There's definitely a metal scene. I don't know how much of an underground there is though, because I am personally not a part of it. There's definitely a cool, hip aspect to it these days which I have no affiliation with whatsoever. Those people mean nothing to me. But it even seems like that has sort of come and gone. It's not completely "in" to go see this band or that band. It's over when people find something new. But there's a pretty big metal scene, you know? It's hard to nail down, but it's there. In the big picture, it's there.

WULF: OK. I've been to New York once, but it was a long time ago, and certainly not when I was listening to metal, and so that was just something I was kind of curious about. OK, so more about the album, for "Triumvirate", the album cover, I feel, is really badass. It definitely captures the music perfectly, I feel. I was wondering, who is the art by? And how did you pick out this particular artist?

PAUL: He also did the artwork for our first record. He does some notable (inaudible) as well, and I've just been a fan of his artwork for some time and I contacted him while we were writing the first record. Pretty great artist.
His company is Metastazis.
But he's done some work for Antaeus, Ulver, Nachtmystium...I've got a good amount of respect for him, and Averse Sefira--

WULF: Yeah, I know Averse Sefira.

PAUL: Yeah, he's done phenomenal artwork for them. I constantly go to his site and look at his artwork, and I finally looked him up and asked if there's any interest, and he wrote back. He had a brief six or eight months that (he was spending) living in New York and I got to know him well. And (the artwork) for this record just came out phenomenal. The LP especially, I don't know how he'll top this.
(laughs)
He's definitely a genius and the ball was all in his court. I gave him the music, gave him the lyrics, and he heard it from demo stages until the finished stages, and we said "hey man, let's see your job". He really created something powerful.

WULF: Yeah, I think it's really cool. It definitely grabs you. But anyway, I was looking on your Myspace page and I noticed that you have an upcoming tour with Goatwhore and Watain. Those dudes definitely have a reputation for being pretty nuts on and offstage, or at least Watain does. Goatwhore, they seem offstage that they're kind of nice dudes, I don't know about Watain. I was wondering, in all your years of playing in bands and stuff, who is the craziest band that you've ever toured with?

PAUL: The craziest band I've ever toured with...I wouldn't call them crazy, per se, like in a wild way, but I've actually played in Madball, I filled in for their bass player for a good handful of tours. I lent a hand to them. But by far, they're a band that's not to be fucked with.

WULF: Yeah, I'll bet!

PAUL: They're some of the best people I know, but you know, all "crazy" goes out the window when you're rolling with a band like them who you don't want to see that crazy side.

WULF: Yeah, East Coast hardcore shit isn't really to be fucked with, so--

PAUL: But yeah, crazy? I've seen all sorts of crazy but reality is what's most (inaudible), but with a band like Madball...I'd put my money on them any day. And no disrespect to anyone else, but...you know.

WULF: Right. No, I got ya. So with touring, what is your favorite place as far as cities, where would you say is your favorite place to play live? Where did you experience the best Black Anvil fans?

PAUL: I would say New York. With this band we haven't made many rounds, we did some sporadic dates for the Marduk tour, we did the West Coast and East Coast with them. Canada's actually awesome, Montreal is a really great city. But for now I'd say Philly, New York, Montreal...like, East Coast. Virginia...Richmond has a great scene.

WULF: Yeah, I've heard Montreal mentioned a lot. I don't remember who I was talking to but they mentioned it as the "Metal Capital of the New World" or something like that. I've never been there but I've heard the metal scene is really good.

PAUL: Yeah, it's a pretty strong one.

WULF: I'm just kind of jealous because being in the Kansas City area, we have good shows but it's nothing compared to the East or the West Coasts, do you know what I mean? Or Montreal for that matter.

PAUL: I was told this tour was supposed to hit Kansas City before the cancellation of Behemoth.

WULF: I know! We were really, really excited, and then unfortunately there was the news of Nergal and so it looks like they're not going to be coming around here...well I guess the whole tour...

PAUL: Yeah, there's been a lot of re-booking involved. So we're hoping that we're on it, but yeah it's been a lot of work to line that shit back up. We were looking forward to it.

WULF: Yeah, that was going to be really awesome, seeing all of you guys. OK, so my last question is, because I know we're running out of time here, but there's a lot of really good Youtube footage of you guys playing live, and I was wondering about your plans for the future. Obviously you guys are going to be going out on tour and recording new music, I'm assuming, eventually. But what about, given all this footage, are you guys ever going to release a DVD or anything like that?

PAUL: Definitely not in the near future. In the near future there are definitely no plans for a DVD release, but maybe down the line it would be something that's cool. If we have enough stuff to be released.

WULF: Some of the stuff I've seen online, at least on Youtube, looks really good. I think it'd be cool since I haven't seen you guys live to see you guys on a DVD.

PAUL: There's some really good footage of me on Scion Rock Fest. I don't know if it's actually released. I wouldn't call it "pro-shot" but it's pretty damn good sound quality and video quality from scion rock fest. I want to see all the bands from our venue. It should have two or three clips up of Absu, us, I forget who else...Liturgy maybe? But there's definitely some good footage from that show floating out there.

WULF: I'll definitely check it out! A lot of bands don't come to our area, so sometimes in order to see bands live I have to resort to the internet. Which is cool, but it's not a true substitute for the real thing. Anyway man, I know we're out of time so I just want to end by saying thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me. Good luck on your tour, and hopefully we'll be seeing you guys in the Midwest here in the Kansas City area sometime in the future.

PAUL: Yeah, hopefully we'll see you man.

Interview with Bob Macabre of Chainsaw Dissection / Psychotic Homocidal Dismemeberment / Satanic Impalement!!

E-mail interview conducted between March 31-April 2, 2010.

WULF: Tell us a bit about yourself…who you are, any info about your bands, the scene in your hometown, etc.

BOB: My name is Bob Macabre. I started back in 1993 with my guitar teacher at that time who did the drum programming. I also worked on some things myself at that time and continued to develop my sound. Some things I didn't have a name for but kept recording. These items eventually became part of my Chainsaw Dissection project. My different styles became parts of my different projects: Goatbleeder, Dog Mulch (early project), PHD, etc. My main projects at the moment are PHD and Chainsaw Dissection. The scene around here SUCKS! This is true even living about 40 miles outside of Pittsburgh. No one really plays around here and to see anyone I would have to go to either Ohio or Philly. If I'm lucky, sometimes they'll play small bars around Pittsburgh, but don't usually find out till the day before or after they have played.

WULF: You have recorded a ridiculous amount of music in the past 7 years or so…how do you find the time to do all this stuff!? You recorded EIGHT full-length albums in 2010 alone, not to mention demos, eps, splits and what-have-you. What fuels your inspiration to record so much stuff? I know that you’re a big horror movie fan judging by your promo pics, but what else is going on here?

BOB: Most of the stuff written isn't 100% true. A lot of the songs were recorded years back, but YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook were not around back when I did them. So my songs have grown over the years, and really only friends that were into this music were the ones that heard them. Basically, a lot of the CDs that came out in one year were like a "re-release" because they were recorded back then but just never out there. I kind of did a release every other month and that's why it seems like there was a lot out there at once. Honestly most of this was done over a 10 year period, but technology wasn't there to help me get it out there when these were originally recorded. I took advantage as soon as it became widely available. My inspiration comes from just about anything. I really enjoy recording music like people enjoy reading or playing video games. Sometimes I can hear or see something, and I get an idea. The ideas can just come from anywhere. I do get ideas from horror movies and am I big fan of movies from the 70s and 80s. Just kind of go with the flow when I idea comes to mind. Sometimes the ideas are good and other times not so good. I've recorded full length CDs and have hated the end project and they have ended up in the trash.

WULF: Clearly, you’re into death metal, goregrind, and black metal. How long have you been into this kind of music?

BOB: I've been listening to death metal since I was like 10 years old. I started listening to Possessed, Death, and Napalm Death, but I also like bands like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Slayer. Black Metal for me was like the mid-90s with Emperor and Mayhem. Goregrind was about the same time in the 90s.

WULF: According to metal-archives.com, you have SEVENTEEN projects you’ve
recorded music for…which of these would you say is your “primary” band, or do you have one?

Pretty much Chainsaw Dissection and PHD are my main projects followed by Satanic Impalement. Others were just experimental projects to see what I could do that didn't fit into my main projects. With those I wanted to try some different guitart tones, drum patterns, and vocals but didn't want them associated with my main 3.

WULF: If you had to critique your own music, which would you say are the
strongest of your bands? Are there any albums you had any difficulty recording, or specific songs you found particularly challenging to compose
and/or record? How long does it take you to compose, say, a full-length album?

BOB: My strongest are Chainsaw Dissection and Psychotic Homocidal Dismemeberment (PHD). Since I've been recording for so long, I can't recall off hand what was more difficult. I feel every album presents a challenge in of itself. Just trying to find different tones or sounds so I'm not producing the same thing ever album. Even if it's just a little different. For recording a whole album, I've done one in as little as a week and it has taken me as long as a month and a half. It just really depends on how the creative process is working for me at the time. Some times it's just easier than others. My mulitiple CDs have taken longer, like my Chainsaw Dissetion 8 CD set took me about a year to pull it together.

WULF: All of your bands are composed of only you as the sole member. Have you ever attempted to incorporate other musicians into your
bands, or do you prefer the “one-man band” approach?

BOB: I prefer the one man band approach because I can do what I want when I want to. I don't have to worry about relying on others to be here or not show at all. But, I am working on a Black Metal project called "Perception of Hades" with Mike Scrivens from Malignant Decay. And we're also doing a Death Metal project called "Ghoul Necropsy."

WULF: Have you ever performed live? If you haven’t, is this something
you envision happening in the future?

BOB: I have never performed live, but if the opportunity came about, I would do it. I have no idea where I would play around here. Maybe I'll have to go to New York sometime and Mike and I can perform together!

WULF: Are you a self-taught musician? Would you care to tell us about
your equipment, recording gear, etc.?

BOB: No, I took guitar lessons when I was younger who helped me with my early stuff. I use a Crate amp, Marshall Half-stack, BC Rich guitars along with some others, variety of distortion pedals, 16 track recorder and burner. Plus my basses and drumm machine.

WULF: What gets you in the mood to record all this sick shit?! Is it a real serious process for you, or is it more laid-back with maybe some beer or a joint?

BOB: I take it seriously but don't take it overly seriously. I like to be professional about it. I enjoy recording but don't angry if something's not working out right. I go back till I get it the way I like or just take a break and go back to it later. Yeah maybe beer sometimes or a little Jack 'n Coke to get the ideas flowing.

WULF: Plans for the future…any new music and/or any new projets? If so, are you going to experiment with any new styles of metal, like
thrash or doom? What about experimenting with new genres outside of metal, like ambient, punk, or electronic?

BOB: The new stuff with Mike mainly. These are the main two I'm concentrating on at the moment as well as maybe a new PHD CD or maybe even a brand new project. Just depends on where the ideas take me right now. I have done a thrash project called Brutish Creation and a doom project called Funeration. I like punk but don't think I'll really ever do anything with that. I like the Mifits and Ramones, but not something I would record. Ambient stuff is fine but also not something I would record. I don't like electronic stuff.

WULF: Thanks for taking the time to answer all these questions, man. Any last words?

BOB: Thanks for the interview and here's my links for more information about my projects:

Check out most of my stuff on YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/macabremastermind

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/profile.php?id=1495041103

MySpace: www.myspace.com/chainsawdissection

Email: chainsawdissection@yahoo.com

Art History for Metalheads: A Cover Art Review

By Cate the Great

Two of the most important things in my life coming together beautifully – metal and art. Below are a few select albums and the famous artists whose work was used for the covers. The artists I chose are notable not just for their album artwork, but for having established careers beforehand in other media, thereby creating wonderful collaborative work. There are oodles of great artists who are known for their metal covers (you can see few at the bottom) but this list is more about artists that have created widespread acclaim for not just album art.

Artist: Peter Nicolai Arbo/Frank Bernard Dicksee
Period: Romanticism

I have a personal vendetta against those in the Art History field when it comes to teaching about the Romantic Period. Artists from the UK and Germany are spotlighted, while the Scandinavian artists don’t get any cred, despite their work being just as fantastical. It’s just “not in vogue” to teach them right now (welcome to the art world, folks…) It’s been my experience that Munch is pretty much the only Norwegian really highlighted.

Anyway, the Romantic period dominated the art, written, musical, and philosophical scenes of the late 18th century as a counter-reaction against The Enlightenment – the Romanticists placed more emphasis on emotion rather than stoic logic. As can be expected, Romantic paintings feature epic (in the true sense of the word) scenes of nature and myth, all while giving the finger to their Neoclassic contemporaries.

Bathory’s Blood Fire Death’s cover was done my Norwegian Romantic painter Peter Nicolai Arbo. Titled Åsgårdsreien, 1872, it’s a stunning depiction of Oskerei legend. Their Hammerheart album featured a section of Funeral for a Viking, 1893, by Sir. Frank Dicksee, another Romantic painter from England who also painted legendary scenes.

Artist: H.R. Giger
Period: Fantastic Realism/Surrealism

One of my favorite artists of all time, H.R. Giger’s work is recognizable by many but identified by few. Giger’s works feature biomechanical forms and sexual imagery, and have influenced many horror, tattoo, and fantasy artists. In traditional Surrealist fashion, Giger’s work also deals with dreams and sleep disorders. Most of his notable paintings were created with an air-brushing technique.

The designer of the xenomorph (see: Necronom IV, 1976) as well as some pretty awesome sculptures and furniture, Giger has an arsenal of album art under his Swiss belt, not to mention an Oscar. As well as the covers for Celtic Frost's To Mega Therion and Carcass' Heartwork, Giger has done covers for Sancrosanct, Debbie Harry, Pankow, Atrocity, and Danzig. His air-brushed painting Landscape XX, 1973, was used for the Dead Kennedy’s album Frankenchrist and subsequently led to a criminal trial over obscenity. Google it and perhaps you'll see why.

Website: http://hrgiger.com/

Artist: Frank Frazetta
Period: Comic/Fantasy/Science-Fiction Art

Born in New York, this notable fantasy artist had his first comic published at 16, at a time when the rest of us were playing air guitar on our printed sheets. Compiling an impressive resume of comic and poster art, book covers and illustrations, Frazetta became a major influence in the world of sci-fi and fantasy artwork. He collaborated with Bakshi on the film Fire and Ice and his work has graced the pages of Heavy Metal many a time.

Frazetta is well known for the cover art for the first three Molly Hatchet albums and for Nazareth's Expect No Mercy. After a career that spanned 50 years he sadly passed away last year after a stroke. His painted portrait of Conan the Barbarian sold for over a million posthumously. His son, Frank Frazetta Jr. is also an artist.

Website: http://frankfrazetta.org/ (unofficial)

Artist: Andres Serrano
Period: American Photography/Shock/”Degenerate” Art

Yea so, we’re not going to talk about Metallica themselves, but I will note that I consider these covers are more brutal than the music they grace.

New York-based artist Andres Serrano is an American photographer whose art created quite a stir in the latter part of the twentieth century. He, along with Robert Mapplethorpe, were targets during the "culture wars" of the 90’s and their works fueled many discussions surrounding the offensive nature of certain art and artistic freedom. Many of his pieces feature body fluids and the juxtaposition of the sacred and the profane, such as his famous Piss Christ, 1987, which features a crucifix submersed in the artist’s own urine.

Serrano directed the Godflesh’s video for “Crush My Soul” and his two of his photographs were used for Metallica’s Load and Reload albums. Load features the photograph Blood and Semen III, and Reload features Piss and Blood.

Website: http://andresserrano.org/

Artist: Dave McKean
Period: Comic art/Mixed Media

If you’ve ever picked up an issue of Sandman, or a general fan of Neil Gaiman’s work (which I’m sure some of you are), than you are no stranger to Dave McKean’s haunting multi-media work. McKean utilizes a mixture of photography, found art, collage and other mediums to create his illustrations, and had collaborated with Gaiman on numerous occasions. He’s done covers for My Dying Bride, Fear Factory, and Dream Theater.

Apart from having his work featured on a large ménage of albums and comics, McKean also writes, has illustrated children books, created artwork for a series of stamps, and directed the fantastic film MirrorMask.

Website: http://davemckean.com/

Artist: Hieronymus Bosch
Period: Northern Renaissance/Early Flemish

Ok, so it’s not like the guys went to Hieronymus Bosch to ask him to do the cover of Deep Purple (1978), since about 400 years and a few furlongs separated them from each other, but I’m including this album because it was in a sense a collaboration of pioneers. Deep Purple are considered (by some) to be the definite precursors to modern metal, while Bosch is credited as an extraordinarily early Surrealist (he at least had a heavy influence on the latter movement).

What is on the cover of the self-titled album is just a snippet of the Bosch’s masterpiece triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights, c.1500. This particular scene is from the “Hell” portion of the work, where all the sinners are getting tortured in methods fitting to their sins. Ironically, Bosch was not big on music – we see musicians getting sodomized with their own instruments, as well as an ice-skating platypus, shitting monsters, and a bunch of other ungodly crap that seems unconceivable considering the time period in which he worked. Apparently he was super religious, but, I mean, LOOK AT IT. Metal.

Here’s a bit of trivia for you – Hieronymus is Latin for Jerome. His name is carried on not only by his art, but also in the name of a pretty righteous Russian death metal band.

Artist: William Adolphe Bouguereau ("Boo-Goo-Row")
Period: 19th Century French Academic

BOOM! Out of nowhere Mr. Vikernes hits us with this cover - a snippet from Bouguereau's painting Elegy, 1899. Bouguereau's body of work contains mostly pastel portraits of naked ladies and cherubs, a stark difference from the frost-bitten landscapes Mr. Vikernes usually gives us. I was just as suprised as everyone else when this cover surfaced. For those of you out of the loop, the album was relesed March 7th.

Bouguereau must be big in Norway, or something. Gorgoroth also a used a section of his painting Dante and Virgil in Hell, 1850, for their 2006 album Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam. This painting is actually quite badass, and features a sweet knee-to-the-back move.

Notable Contemporary artists who do metal covers: Chris Moyen (Incantation, Beherit, Archgoat), Dan Seagrave (Entombed, Gorguts, Vader, Suffocation), Travis Smith (Naglfar, Opeth, Eluveitie), Stephen Kasner (Runhild Gammelsæter, Klyst, Isis, Sunn O)))) and many more wonderful artists whom I don’t have time to list. Finally, Wes Benscoter (Slayer, Black Sabbath, Sinister) and who did one of my favorite covers of all time for Cattle Decapitation’s Humanure.

Notable Metal Musicians who are also artists: Kristian Wahlin, John Haughm, Yoshiko Ohara, Rob Zombie, Laura Pleasants, Mike Scalzi and more.

Have any ideas for covers/artists I missed? Lemme know!


Till later (and possibly a graduate level course)
-Cate the Great

Interview with Mike Williams of Eyehategod!!

Phone interview conducted on May 21, 2010.


http://www.myspace.com/eyehategod


WULF: So hey man, I just want to start by saying it's an honor to be able to talk to you and to do this interview.

MIKE: Cool, man.

WULF: I've been a fan for a long time, and actually when I first started getting into metal I was like, I don't know, 16, I'm 24 now, and you guys were one of the first bands I was introduced to as far as the sort of like, sludge--

MIKE: Extreme (music/metal), yeah.

WULF: Yeah, yeah, anyway, so I think that my 16-year-old self knowing that I'm talking to you now would probably just...shit his pants.
(laughs)

MIKE: (laughs) Well I appreciate that, man. That's cool. I'm always glad to hear from people that enjoy this mess (inaudible).
(laughs)

WULF: Alright man, just a personal kind of question, I don't know-

MIKE: OK.

WULF: Awhile ago I read in a metal magazine that you were living at Phil Anselmo's home...or at least on his property. I was just kind of curious, are you still living there, or where are you at now?

MIKE: Yeah, I'm actually still here.

WULF: Right on.

MIKE: He lets me stay here, I take care of the animals and stuff too (when Phil's on tour). When I'm on tour, they take care of my animals, so it's kind of like a little commune here, you know?

WULF: Yeah, that's cool. That's real cool man. Sorry, I was just kind of curious about that. OK, so I'm gonna start off with just kind of a general question...you guys have been playing some live dates and I'm just kind of curious how has that been going so far?

MIKE: Oh, amazing! I mean, better than we could ever imagine!

WULF: Really?

MIKE: We don't even have a new album out, we haven't had an album out in...well we put out "Preaching the End Time Message" in 2003 (I think he meant 2005), but it wasn't like an official release or anything...but for not even having a record out it's just insane man, I mean, the crowds are all sell-out shows, people driving from miles to see us. It's really been overwhelming, to be honest, you know? It's been awesome.



WULF: Well that's awesome man, because, you know, when I was coming up with questions for this it wasn't difficult but I was just looking (on the internet) and was like, man, it's been a long time since you guys put something out that wasn't like, a split, or a "best-of", which is cool, but I know that you guys have been going through a lot of shit also. So there's a lot going on with Eyehategod right now, but what I'm kind of curious about as far as what you're doing...what's going on with your other bands, like Outlaw Order and Arson Anthem?

MIKE: Arson Anthem, I'm actually working on that as we speak. We're trying to get the artwork together and stuff. It was supposed to be out this June but due to Eyehategod just getting back from Europe and Phil just got back from Romania or somewhere so we're trying to work on the artwork and get this Arson Anthem album out.

WULF: Awesome.

MIKE: So it should be out pretty soon, in the next few months I hope. Cross my fingers.
(laughs
WULF: Yeah, the The Guilt Øf..., I saw that, the "Øf", the "o" has a line through it, or whatever?

MIKE: Yeah, yeah, The Guilt Øf... we have a split coming out with Merzbow, which is this Japanese noise guy-

WULF: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

MIKE: Just something I've always wanted to do, something on that side of things, I've always been into that type of music, if you want to call it music. It's experimental stuff, you know?

WULF: Yeah, no, I got you man! That's cool man, for sure!

MIKE: I try to keep busy, you know? I try to keep busy...I'm writing too, I'm writing books, I'm just doing as much as I possibly can. Stayin' out of trouble, you know?

WULF: (laughs)
Well, that's actually one of my questions later, I was going to ask you about your writing. We'll get to that in a second. Really fast, I saw that you were in a band called Drip...is that still going on, or what's up with that?

MIKE: No, that was something we did back in the (early 90's), that was like '91 or something.
(laughs)

WULF: Oh...
(laughs)

MIKE: It was just a project that was just me, Jimmmy (Bower), and this guy Ross. Ross actually played keyboards in (The Mystick Krewe of) Clearlight, which is Jimmy's other band.

WULF: Uh-huh. Mystick Krewe of Clearlight.

MIKE: It gets confusing, man. It's a lot of a mix of band members going on.

WULF: Kind of incestuous scene.

MIKE: We don't do Drip anymore. (It was) something we just recorded, and now it's floating around and I kind of think it sucks, I don't even like it.
(laughs)

WULF: (laughs) Well, you know, I just read just read on the metal-archives.com page for it, it was talking about how you guys jammed from time to time or something...I don't know. I don't know if that's really old. Alright man, so I saw an interview on (Eyehategod's) Myspace that you guys just got done playing in Europe not too long ago...is that right? Or was that like, a while ago?

MIKE: We've been home about a month or so, I think. Yeah, that was fantastic. We did like, three weeks over there, which was insane. We haven't been over there in a long time, you know? It was really great, man.

WULF: Well that's good, man! And you know, I'm just kind of curious, I don't know if the Eyehategod shows are different than (regular extreme metal shows), but is there a noticeable difference to you between European and American Eyehategod fans or shows?

MIKE: It used to be like you could tell more a difference. I don't know, it used to be that the crowds in Europe were more polite, I guess you could say? Like, they wouldn't go nuts, like stagediving and slamming and all that stuff, but they would just like...politely clap, you know? For like, every band.
(laughs)
But now it seems...like, this time there were people going insane over there, I've never seen it like that. And it's different in different countries, like Holland, I think they're a little more stoned (laughs) so they kind of...watch you more, but they really love it too, though. (inaudible) is always a bunch of crazy nuts too though, you know?

WULF: Yeah, yeah, for sure. I saw that also you guys have played in Tokyo? And maybe other parts of Asia? Is that right?

MIKE: Yeah, yeah, we did a Japanese tour in--

WULF: There's a DVD for it, right?

MIKE: Yeah, yeah, we put that out ourselves. That was back in 2000-something. Yeah, we went to Japan, man. I'm ready to go back there, too.

WULF: But that was a lot of fun too?

MIKE: Yeah, it was great, man. That's an amazing place.

WULF: I'm kind of curious, as far as your own personal preference, do you have a favorite city to play in, like, in the world? Is there any place that you really really look forward to playing?

MIKE: There's so many I couldn't pick just one. I mean, Europe's great, like, everywhere. But the best places over there were like, in England...anywhere in the UK, people just went apeshit, you know? Copenhagen, Denmark, was insane. We played there, the crowd was crazy. And there's a few places like that, here and there. But I like playing everywhere, man. Even if there's no crowd, even if there's, like, three people there, which is how it used to be in the old days, we'd still get into it and play a good show, you know? Or try to.



WULF: Yeah, yeah, for sure, man! Every place is different. That's cool, man. OK, so speaking of that DVD, I'm kind of curious, I'm assuming that you've got a new Eyehategod album coming out. Is that correct?

MIKE: Well, it's not even recorded yet. I mean, I know we've been saying this for years, man, we've been trying to get it together...Katrina screwed a lot of things up down here as far as bands go, and also we were having record label troubles...like right now we're not even on a label.

WULF: Oh, you're not on Emetic (Records) anymore?

MIKE: Well, we never were officially on that, he just put that ("Preaching the End-Time Message") out, you know? He runs his label and just puts stuff out for people, we're not signed to him or anything. So a lot of different things were happening, Jimmy was touring with Down and stuff too, so it's been hard to get together and to write, but we've got probably six new songs, we'll just hopefully go into the studio after this June tour. That's what we're hoping for.



WULF: Well awesome man, whenever it does end up getting recorded, however long it takes, I can't wait to hear it. I think it's going to be awesome.

MIKE: Yeah, it's going to be good.

WULF: And so I guess it's going to be too difficult to say, then, if you guys are going to put out, like, a new DVD of you guys playing all these past shows...has that even been talked about yet?

MIKE: We've talked about it, but we travel pretty sparsely...we don't have a whole lot of people in our entourage, or whatever you want to call it. So we should have had somebody videotaping this whole Europe trip, you know? I mean, there were certain shows that were videotaped, I'm sure it's already up on Youtube and stuff...I mean, I don't know, do people even buy DVDs anymore?
(laughs)
I mean, what's the point?

WULF: Well you know man, I know that music sales have definitely declined with downloading...I have no idea about music DVDs.

MIKE: Yeah, I haven't seen many good ones out. I mean, I don't know, I just go to Youtube if I want to see somebody good, it's got all the rare stuff on there anyway.

WULF: Yeah that's true, that's true. Alright, well OK so as far as touring goes, you guys have had a reputation in the past, I'm certain for now too, as being kind of crazy dudes. But I'm kind of curious, who, would you say, is the craziest band that YOU'VE ever been on tour with?

MIKE: Craziest band?

WULF: Yeah, like, besides you guys, you know? You guys, in the past at least, were like, really crazy. Who would YOU say is crazy?

MIKE: I mean, we still put 1000% energy into (our shows), and shit happens sometimes on stage...fights and things happen in the crowd...involving us, probably.
(laughs)
But I mean, we don't go looking for that type of thing. None of us can fight. I can't fight. The craziest band we've toured with? God, so many come to mind, from Pantera...those guys were completely out of their mind, to...Anal Cunt, the guys in Anal Cunt, or at least their singer...Chaos UK were a bunch of nuts- a punk band from England...Buzzov•en, those were wild shows. There's been so many, man.

WULF: Yeah, yeah...well you know, it's funny, I was talking to the dude from Lair of the Minotaur and he said Anal Cunt also. At least Seth Putnam.
(laughs)

MIKE: Yeah, at least Seth...I don't know, they had this guitar player named Josh (Martin), I think he's still with them...he's been known to smash his guitar and stuff. But we never put on any kind of act, we never were going up there to do this stuff on purpose. I mean, we play shows where it's perfectly normal, you know? I mean, you get up there, and maybe you start drinking before the show and the crowd's drinking, and sometimes things get out of hand, but it's just part of the energy. Violence is sometimes part of the energy, you know?

WULF: Yeah, oh yeah. For sure. OK, so I also want to ask, because I know we're running out of time here, but I'm curious about your writing. I've been actually meaning to read your book for a long time and unfortunately I haven't yet, but I'm curious, man, but you say you're writing new stuff now?

MIKE: Oh yeah, I've got like 20,000 words, like in the computer here. It needs to be edited, but I think that's at least another couple of books, you know?



WULF: Damn! Wow, man!

MIKE: It's just stuff I've been writing, I've been writing every day, or I try to, you know? I write for a couple magazines too, like this Argentinian magazine called Jedbangers, I've got a column in there. Yeah, I write for Paranoise, which is a local magazine here in New Orleans, an Australian magazine called Unbelievably Bad, I've had stuff printed in there.

WULF: You used to write for Metal Maniacs I know, like, a long time ago.

MIKE: Yeah, yeah, back in the mid-90's.

WULF: I wasn't even into metal back then. I'm kind of young.
(laughs)

MIKE: No, I hear ya. That's cool. I want to say, that's one thing we've been seeing at these shows lately is that there's a whole another generation of people that seems like they've got into Eyehategod. People will tell me, "yeah, my son likes you guys". And they bring their son to the show and it's awesome, you know? It's great to (see that), that we can stick around like that. It's cool.

WULF: Well yeah, it's definitely timeless music, for sure. I think, probably, if I have children ever I hope that they really like it too. I could see them getting into it.

MIKE: Yeah, I just think kids today, they seem more open-minded to a lot of (things)...like with the name of the band and the artwork or something, it's pretty extreme stuff to some people, but I think younger generations are getting into it.

WULF: Maybe it's the internet, everybody's just so desensitized now to everything.
(laughs)

MIKE: Exactly. Yup.
(laughs)

WULF: Well hey man, do you have time for one more question or do you have another interview to do right now?

MIKE: No, this is actually my last one today.

WULF: OK, well then I have one more question if you don't mind. It's a little personal, so I don't know how you feel about answering it, but I've heard or I've read that you guys are not heavy-drug users anymore or anything, for the most part...

MIKE: Right.

WULF: Well, I was curious, I'm sure you get asked this a lot. Has this had any noticeable effect, positive or negative, on the band's music, live or in the studio?

MIKE: Well, I think in the past it had a lot to do with why we would be inactive for periods of time. Everybody was pretty messed up. Everybody in the band was doing their own thing. And yeah, in the past, it definitely hindered us. But today, now that everybody's clean, for the most part, like you said...
(laughs)
I mean there's still alcohol, and a few things here and there...not like it used to be at all. And yeah, I think all that stuff in the past can only make you stronger, you know? I think we're all stronger for having been through all that, and I don't know man, you find out that the drugs aren't making you creative, it has always been there. At least, that's how it is with me, and I'm sure with the rest of the guys too.

WULF: Well cool, man! I just want to say thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me...again, it's an honor, and I wish you guys the best of luck. I know you guys are playing a bunch of dates coming up here in the US--

MIKE: We're doing a whole US tour coming up in June! Well, I'm sorry, I shouldn't say that, we're doing a whole East Coast of the US...like, a three-week tour coming up on June 3 we leave, and we're playing Maryland Deathfest, and we're playing this Thursday, coming up, in New Orleans with Pentagram.

WULF: Oh, that's going to be awesome! Have you ever played with Pentagram before?

MIKE: Yeah, we've played with them a couple times.

WULF: Oh man, I've never seen (Pentagram)...I've never seen you guys live, actually!

MIKE: Oh, really?

WULF: Yeah, and it sucks, because I guess you guys weren't playing very much, I guess like, a few years ago, or something, I don't know.

MIKE: We were playing locally, we've played local shows since Katrina, but we haven't been out of town really, that much.

WULF: Yeah man, and I'm in Kansas. Kansas City-area, and so not a lot of bands come through here. I was actually going to give you a hard time for you guys not coming around here--

MIKE: I do feel bad about that! People are always like, "why don't you come to Spain?" or "why don't you come to the Philippines?" or Kansas! We've played Kansas before, we've played there a bunch of times.

WULF: Oh, really?!

MIKE: Yeah! We played Kansas, we played probably...Kansas City, we've played Wichita, we've played there many times in the past, on different tours.

WULF: I see.

MIKE: I wanted to mention a book that's out now, the one that you were mentioning earlier, it's called "Cancer As a Social Activity", and you can get it at Housecore Records. Phil's (Anselmo) label.

WULF: Yeah, it was Arson Anthem, I got that for my radio show, and I saw (the label) and I looked it up, and thought "yeah, this is badass, it's Phil's label, and he's putting out this stuff!"

MIKE: Yeah, it's pretty cool, man. It's starting to pick up, too. There's a lot of new stuff coming out, and you should go check out the website, you know?

WULF: Yeah, yeah, for sure man! Alright, thank you again for taking the time to talk to me, and hopefully we'll take a road trip and see you guys in St. Louis or something on this upcoming live date tour you guys are doing.

MIKE: That would be cool, man! Bring a bunch of people and come out! We'll have a drink!

WULF: For sure, man! Alright, take it easy Mike! Take care!

MIKE: Take care.

Interview with John 5!!

Phone interview conducted in late May, 2010.

http://www.myspace.com/john5official

WULF: So I'd like to start off by saying thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me, when I got your CD, I knew who you were, but when I started doing research for this interview I had no idea (that you've done so much stuff)! It's insane! So anyway, I'd like to start of by saying I'm honored to talk to ya. So my first question for you is...this might be kind of dumb, but I looked around and I couldn't find an answer for it...why the name "John 5"?

JOHN 5: Well, when I joined Marilyn Manson I was the fifth member and it's also a Biblical meaning. So I always kept that name because of the fact (that)...you know, it's just like if Ace Frehley left Kiss and he would change his name when he left Kiss to Paul Frehley, his real name, so I just kept the name because people know me as John 5. So I always just kept that name.

WULF: Yeah, I wasn't sure, because I read on Wikipedia that you got that name when you joined Marilyn Manson, so I didn't know if it had to do with a serial killer or something, but I guess it's kind of the opposite, then. Alright, so I'd like to say that the new album is awesome. I really like it. I knew you were a good guitarist, but I had no idea that could shred, like, amazingly. I was pretty blown away, and also by the versatility of the album too. While I've seen on your website and on Myspace that the album's gotten good reviews, I'd like to ask, for you personally, how do you feel the reception, so far, has been for this record?

JOHN 5: Phenomenal, man. I can't even believe that people are just going crazy for it, and I appreciate all the kind words and everything. It makes me feel great because I put a lot of work into this and I'm just really excited that people are digging it as much as they are.

WULF: Good man! Yeah, because even from the first song, which is actually, probably overall, my favorite track--

JOHN 5: Yeah, mine too.

WULF: Yeah, "Nightmare Unravels". I'm also kind of a sucker for like...I'm assuming this would be, like, the single, I mean it's what we play on my radio show. I'm always a sucker for that. Yeah, it's really good. Well what I would like to know, I guess you answered it, but I was going to ask you your favorite track, but is it "Nightmare Unravels"?

JOHN 5: "Nightmare Unravels", yeah, I mean I love 'em all, but that one has a little but of everything, so I'm really psyched for it.




WULF: Yeah! Now, what I want to know is, because I'm interested in "behind the scenes" stuff, but was there a track in particular that you found to be more difficult than the others, like, to nail in a certain take or something?

JOHN 5: Well, what I did was when I wrote them I would sit at home and practice them for weeks and weeks so I wouldn't go into the studio and be spending a lot of time, and it was kind of like preparing for a fight or something, so I made sure to really have all my stuff down so I cut all the songs pretty quickly, like, going into "Nightmare Unravels" only took me like, 45 minutes or something to get the guitar parts down because I rehearsed it so much. I just rehearsed, rehearsed, so...

WULF: Wow! Only 45 minutes?! Damn!

JOHN 5: Yeah, just because I was going over it and over it and over it so much. So it came together really quickly.

WULF: Also when I was looking at the album art I noticed that there is a "babe" in the album art. I was just kind of curious, is that like, your wife or is that just some model, or--

JOHN 5: Yeah, that's my wife, yeah.

WULF: OK.
(laughs).
I better be careful about what I say then! No, but--

JOHN 5: No, no, it's good!

WULF: No, I was like, wow! I was just kind of curious. So, OK, right now I understand that you're in the middle of a tour, or at least, on your Myspace it says that you're playing all these dates with Alice Cooper but then it looks like afterwards you're going on a solo tour?

JOHN 5: Yeah, it's called "The Gruesome Twosome" and it's Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper, and we are going to do the Mayhem Festival in the summertime, and it's going to be a blast.

WULF: Yeah, and you know, unfortunately, I was going to give you a hard time for not coming around the Kansas City area.
(laughs)

JOHN 5: Yeah...
(laughs)



WULF: No, but Mayhem came last time but I know this is kind of a smaller market so, you know...we're happy for stuff that comes through but...

JOHN 5: Yeah, we're really looking forward to it, it's going to be fun.

WULF: Yeah, for sure man! So I want to know right now, how is the tour going for you on the dates that you've played so far?

JOHN 5: It's been one of the best tours I've ever done, it's been a blast! The crowds have been great, it's just been a lot of fun man. It's been sold out everywhere. We've had such a great time, and we love listening to Alice every night. Sometimes these tours are a drag, but this one is just a lot of fun.

WULF: Really? So some times in the past it hasn't been as good or whatever, but this time around it's really killer then?

JOHN 5: Yeah, it could be anything, it could be weather, it could be crowds, it could be everything, but we've just been really having a lot of fun out on this tour.

WULF: Good, man! Well, I know that you've played live, like, a zillion times in your lifetime, but I'm just kind of curious, as far as you personally, anywhere in the world...which city, would you say, is your favorite place to play? Which cities do you have the fondest memories of, or who has the craziest crowds?

JOHN 5: Well, I don't know, you know? Because it's always different. Let's say we're in Kansas City or something and the crowd was really bad last time but it was great the other times...I don't know, but I love touring in America because everything is familiar. You can always get your favorite things...if you're in Europe or something and it's really hard to just get the things that make you comfortable. But I love touring America and that kind of stuff, and (it's comforting) because I know where everything is. Like right now we're in Toronto, Canada, and I know where everything is because I've been here so many times, so I know where I want to go and where I want to eat--

WULF: And food, yeah I got ya! Because sometimes I ask that question to other people I definitely get a varied response. I've noticed that some people prefer the exoticness of other countries, and so it's kind of an interesting contrast.

JOHN 5: Yeah, I love touring America, and (have access to) things that are familiar to me, it's easier that way.

WULF: Yeah, no I got ya for sure. Alright, so one of my next questions is...I was kind of curious, for the album trailer on your website, and I saw pictures from another interview that you've done on your website, and I saw pictures, I saw video, and I was curious, are you going to be coming out with a DVD that captures this tour that you've been doing or anything like that? Like, a new DVD, that's going to be non-instructional?

JOHN 5: Certainly! Yeah, there's talk about it, so hopefully if everything works out we will be doing that and that will be awesome because I would want to see it more than anybody. We've been filming a lot of stuff and it's been going really well, and if we get it all done in time we'll definitely put it out.

WULF: Yeah! And so as far as getting other people to play on your solo stuff, have you ever thought about forming up a solidified, new band? Is that in the process also for stuff that you're doing?



JOHN 5: Well in the future I'm so busy right now with (Rob) Zombie, but I also like doing clinics because it's free to get into, young kids can come, you can shake my hand, you can ask me questions, you can take pictures, but if I'm in a club or something a lot of people wouldn't be able to come because it's 18 and over and (inaudible), and you probably wouldn't get a chance to meet me, so I like to do clinics because it's o easier on everybody.

WULF: I see, hence why all the instructional DVDs and stuff?

JOHN 5: Yeah, hopefully it inspires and influences people to go out there, so it's a lot of fun for me.

WULF: Yeah, yeah, for sure man. I like watching that stuff. I play a little guitar, I'm not any good but I still like watching that stuff too just because I find a lot of that stuff interesting. So one of my favorite questions to ask, just sort of as a guilty pleasure on my part, is I like to know is...you've played with so many bands and you've done so much stuff, I want to know, who, of all of them, would you say is the craziest band that you've ever toured with in your entire history?

JOHN 5: It would definitely be Marilyn Manson. I mean, there's nothing much that came close to anything as wild and crazy as that. Completely out of hand. That was New Year's Eve, every night. Totally crazy.

WULF: Wow! Yeah man, I think it'd be crazy too...I think I was in sixth grade when "The Beautiful People" came out, and I think my sixth grade self would probably shit his pants if he knew that that he would be talking to a former guitar player of Marilyn Manson's, just because back then that stuff was so...I'd hear stories of how crazy this new dude is and so, so it's cool to hear also that that stuff was for real, too, as far as craziness goes.

JOHN 5: Oh yeah, it was definitely for real. It was craaaaaaaaazzzyyy.

WULF: Because I read also that there was some statement made about how you don't do drugs and you don't drink, or at least on that tour...

JOHN 5: Right, yeah I never have.

WULF: Because that's interesting, also, for you, joining a band like Marilyn Manson or something, that has a reputation for being really nuts.

JOHN 5: Yeah, because they were all "party party party" but I never would, so maybe that was the whole problem, because I didn't do it.

WULF: Was there any pressure on the road ever?

JOHN 5: Not really, it was fine, but they all went off and did their thing and I just kind of hung out, which was fine, because I'm glad I was there and I did what I did because I've done so much since I've left, so it's been quite a journey and I'm really excited about it.

WULF: Well I would think also, maybe, since you don't do that stuff, so it's no wonder that you're able to do so much other crazy stuff and put out so much material, like you don't wake up hung over and waste half the day.

JOHN 5: I definitely like to get stuff done, that's for sure.

WULF: That's really cool, man. Well hey, anyway, I know that you've probably got another interview after this, and we're supposed to keep these around the 15-minute mark, so that's basically all the questions I have for you man.

JOHN 5: Thank you, I appreciate it.

WULF: Hey, thank you so much for taking the time with me. I wish you the best of luck on the future dates that you're playing and I think it's awesome that to hear that this is going really well for you.

JOHN 5: Great, I appreciate it, thank you!