Common Enemy interview

I've loved these guys for a while and figured I'd ask if I could interview them. What do ya know they said yes!

Let's talk about your newest release, “Living the Dream,” released back in September. What has it done for you guys? Has it brought Common Enemy to a new level?

Greg - It’s a level up, so to say.

Justin - It’s our first 12” LP and that to me kicks ass!D - I think musically yes, we put a lot of time and effort into this one.  I'm very happy with how it came out!

What else should everyone know about Common Enemy?

D - We’re fun seeking people who don’t bite!  And I personal love long walks on the beach!

Greg - We also like drinking beers!

Justin - Yes we do!  And we don’t sleep on bunk beds that certain band members can fall out of while drunk, and have to get run to the hospital, at 5 in the morning in a foreign country.  Greg did his Nelly impression with a band aid on his cheek, on our “Party Harder 2008 Euro Tour”, when he fell off of a 3 tier bunk bed, 12 feet straight down, and landed right on his face splitting his cheek wide open, needing stitches.  What a trooper!

How has using social networking sites such as Twitter worked out for you guys?Justin - It works out as good as it can!  I believe there are too many social networking sites!  Why does there have to be so many?  Can’t everyone just use one?

Talk about some of your past releases. You guys do a lot of work on your own, such as booking shows. How does that all work out for you?D - It has all worked out pretty good, some rough spots here and there, but when u do it yourself at least you know what’s actually getting done.

Justin - And that it’s done the way you want it done!

You have some upcoming tours including a European tour. How do you prepare for that and who are you playing with on some of these dates?D - Not sure who we’re playing with yet, but I start drinking massive amounts of alcohol to try and out drink the Germans, but I fail every time.  I’m telling you, it’s in there DNA!

Justin - He trys, he really does!  Hahaha…  It sucks we don’t know who we’re playing with yet, but there are so many good bands in Europe! 

As a band that appreciates the best things in life (beer, zombies, partying) where do you get your ideas from? Is there a main songwriter?Justin - We get our ideas from everyday life and the things in our lives that mean a lot to us.  Zombie movies, a fridge full of beer, and your closet friends always get you thru the roughest times in your life, right?

D - Living the dream was actually lyrically written by all of us.  That’s why I love this album, we all gave something!

I always wonder how bands fit a whole idea into a short songs? Your most recent release includes 20 songs in about 27 or 28 minutes. How do you get all that you want to say into something so quick?Greg - Just cram it in there.
Justin - Sing fast!  Hahaha… We try to make people think for themselves.  I strongly believe that if you put an idea into some ones head that they should be smart enough to come up with their own conclusion.

D - …ugghhhh!  That might be why Gary pukes after the set!  Just throwing that out there! 

Who are some of the bands that influence you the most? It is clear that you're 80s thrash fans, but who has had the most impact on Common Enemy?D - Me personally, DRI, Suicidal... 
Greg - Can't really narrow it down.  I’m influenced by all styles of music.

Justin - I agree with Greg on this one.  So many great bands in the 80’s from Anthrax to the Circle Jerks.

What do you have planned for after your European tour? More touring? Or some relaxation?

D - Puerto Rico baby!  I can’t wait!  West coast, most defiantly!

Justin - More touring and going into the studio for new recordings.  We’ve added a 2^nd guitarist, James, and our new songs so far are going to blow peoples minds!  Talk of doing a new EP along with some split releases that we had lined up for the end of 2010.

You guys have had some member changes over time but they seem to have worked out well. How do you guys deal with something such as a new member?

D - We have to break them in.  We make them do about three mile runs along the side of the van while pounding beers!  Hahaha…  We just got very lucky I think.  We all just became close friends really quickly.  It’s weird how it all worked out.  We have the strongest line up yet!

Thanks and is there anything else you'd like to say?Greg - Are you living the dream?
D - Send me beer!  Please!
Justin - Megan thanks for the interview, we had fun doing it! 

Official Website: www.commonenemy2000.com
Myspace: www.myspace.com/commonenemy
Twitter: www.twitter.com/Common_Enemy

Tombs interview

 Here's an interview with Mike and Andrew from Tombs. Oh and I (nor anyone else I know) wants to kill Tombs.

Quick bio, who does what? How did Tombs form? How did you all meet?

[Michael Hill] I play guitar and sing, Andrew plays drums and Carson plays bass; Nick Angileri from Inhuman just joined up on second guitar.The band started back in 2008 after the demis of my former band Versoma; our original drummer was playing in one of the many lineups of that band.  We started writing material pretty much the following weekend after Versoma disbanded. Most of that material ended up on the first Tombs LP that I released on Black Box Recordings.  The original lineup also included Domenic Seita who went on to play in Storm of Light.  Justin Ennis, our original drummer descended into a miasma of drug abuse and shabby behavior; I don't think he's doing anything notable music-wise. Andrew joined the band after we recorded Winter Hours just in time for our first overseas tour.  Justin had put us in a tight situation because he wasn't able to leave the country because he wasn't able to get it together enough to secure his passport. Andrew has been in the band ever since. I frequented a popular local coffee shop where Carson works.  We like a lot of the same music.

[Andrew Hernandez IInd] I met Mike a REALLY long time ago when he was in Anodyne, I was on tour as a bro' with the late great Western Massachusetts hardcore outfit DELVIC, we crossed paths many a time, I booked Anodyne at my failed "METAL FEST" in Ithaca, NY and I think I may have tried to even book them when I was a teenager for this fest (YOUTH ABLAZE) we did in my hometown of Greenfield, MA. Mike and I have shared a lot of the same friends and he helped put me up at his place after a show half a decade ago, we've been friends for quite awhile, I'm really glad he invited me to be part of this trip, it's some solid times.  I met Carson through Tombs and now I am real glad to call him a friend also.


How would you describe Tombs to someone who has never listened to you?

[Michael Hill] I can tell you what it's not.  It's not post-rock and it's not black metal.

[Andrew Hernandez IInd] Ethereal, Psychedelic, Dark, Ambient and Heavy Soundscape's... that sounds lame, I'll say, go with Hill's answer.


What is it like being a band from New York? Is it difficult or has it made things easier since the city is so big and it may be easy to get people out to shows?

[Michael Hill] Personally, I feel like it's very challenging being a band in New York.  It's very expensive and I feel like someone always has their hands in our  pockets.  We've been very fortunate with respect to people coming out to our local shows; it means a lot to me. New York is the kind of place that offers so much in terms of entertainment and nightlife options. There is a huge DJ and urban scene here; live music is kind of lower in the food chain as far as night life is concerned.

[Andrew Hernandez IInd] It is Expensive and being in a touring band makes NYC even more pressure oriented, it's a place full of people searching for more and chomping at the bit to fill your shoes and if you don't bust your ass to make those shoes too big for their little feet you might not have shoes to come home to. For shows I love the sheer amount of music that is available, but it's not to say that all shows are well attended or even noticed, but we have been lucky in that regard most of the time and I am really appreciative of people's support, I don't think people realize how much it means to us.


Let's talk about your first Relapse Records release "Winter Hours." What is it like verses past releases? How was it to see the album on several "Best of 2009" lists?

[Michael Hill] Winter Hours, unlike the self-titled EP and split, had way more planning.  Our first two releases were recorded in our practice space and released with the kind of D.I.Y. mindset of get it done and get it out. Relapse operates on such a higher level professionally, so it was a learning experience for me to see how much preparation went into the PR efforts. It's an honor to be recognized by publications, however, that is not a motivating factor in why I do any of this.


You are playing the Relapse SWSX Showcase and Maryland Death Fest this year, how are you getting ready for those shows? Have you ever played anything like MDF before?

[Michael Hill] SXSW is part of a mini-tour with labemates Graves of Valor, so the preparation is basically the routine that we do for tour preparation, you know, run the set until you can execute it withouot thinking. We're working in Nick so it's going to be interesting playing with another guitarist.  To me at least, it sounds much thicker and more intense with that extra guitar.  We've been deep into writing so we're trying to stay on the writing path as well as preparing for the tour.  MDF will be the same situation.

This is the first major fest that Tombs has played. We played dude Fest out in Indianapolis last summer.  I've played a number of festival shows like Hellfest, More Than a Music Fest, Krazy Fest etc. in past bands.

[Andrew Hernandez IInd] We practice often and are very focused when we don't have shows and once we find out when those dates are we usually ratchet up the intensity... personally I find tour to be easier than practice.  I have never played anything like MDF and I have continually missed every MDF because I always had a show to play (with whatever band I was in at the time) or some obligation, I am so thoroughly excited to play MDF, it's really awesome! (PORTAL!).


Is there a main songwriter in Tombs or do you all write an equal amount?

[Michael Hill] I develop most of the material, but the arrangements and quality control is a band effort.


Does Tombs produce their own albums or do you have a producer?

[Michael Hill] I recorded, mixed and produced the first two things.  Winter Hours was engineered by Ian Whelan; in general we "produce" the material without any outside influences but I feel like it's better to have someone engineer and capture the mateial.


What were you all doing pre-Tombs? Are any of you currently in any other bands?

[Michael Hill] I run Black box Recordings, played in Anodyne, Versoma, and some other projects like SinoBasila and King Generator.

[Andrew Hernandez IInd] I've been playing in bands since I was a young teenager in western Massachusetts (the Right) and then in Ithaca, NY (KNIVES!, Timur Lenk), and most recently in NYC (Bloodred Residual, LEADER and most recently ASRA).  Mike's label Black Box Records actually put out the ASRA album.


You have many influences posted on your Myspace, tell us about them and who your main influences are?

[Michael Hill] Black Flag and the SST catalog have been huge influences on me creatively and also from a work ethic perspective.  Sonically, these days, I feel like I'm more influenced by bands like Fields of the Nephilim, Joy Division, Swans and Sisters of Mercy.  I've always been very heavily into black metal so Darkthrone, Watain, Deathspell Omega are also huge influences.

[Andrew Hernandez IInd] Drummers like Dave Witte, Brandon Thomas, Max Ward and Brian Wilson (from Ithaca) are all huge influences on me, Joel Stallings from Defeatist and Bryan Fejardo are excellent drummers who influence me today and I also have to mention Nate from, The Wayward, he's like a more fill oriented Dave Lombardo (speed and power!).  I just really appreciate creative drummers with great insight and humanity.


Thanks a lot, and do you have any last words for the readers?

[Andrew Hernandez IInd] last words? is someone going to kill us? 

 

www.myspace.com/tombsbklyn
www.twitter.com/tombs666
http://shop.relapse.com/search_results.aspx?st=1&ss=tombs

Ramming Speed interview

Interview with Jonah from Boston's Ramming Speed.  I know everyone's been waiting for this one so here goes!

 

When did you guys form Ramming Speed? Who's who in the band? And what were you all doing before the band was formed?

Ramming Speed is Ricky (guitar), Kallen (guitar), Harwood (bass), Pete (vocals) and I play drums. The band started almost five years ago as "Despotic Robot" with a slightly different line up and the name changed shortly after I joined (replacing brutal death metal drummer Jeremy Nissenbaum). Our current bass player entered the fold last year to replace Derick Smalls when he cut his hair between tours and was subsequently kicked out.

Most of the guys had played in separate hometown bands before meeting each other in Boston while attending school. I had been in and still play in Backstabbers Inc and Harwood used to be in Bones Brigade and had been playing in Coctopus when he joined the team.

What is it like having a thrash band from Boston? There aren't a lot of recognized thrash bands from the New England area, what makes Ramming Speed different?

The metal scene here (and everywhere it seems) has definitely been growing in the last few years. Our local shows used to pale in comparison to shows in other cities, but lately Boston has really been stepping it up in terms of stage dives, headbangers and the number of drunk mutants making it out to gigs. If anything makes us stand out from the metal pack in this city It's our focus on getting the hell out of town and on the road. I'd like to think our riffs rip too, but you'll have to come to a show and vouch for that!


You have a European tour coming up this summer starting June 17^th, where are some places you're looking forward to playing? Who will you be touring with?
I think we're looking forward to all of it, but some of the best shows last year were in Iceland, Catalonia, Holland, Sweden, and pretty much all of Germany. Belgium is beautiful, Italy has great food... all the different regional beers and boozes are also an added plus to the shows and sight seeing. We're doing most of the tour on our own, but there are going to be a few shows with Magrudergrind and we're working on a handful of UK dates with SSS.


You have hooked up with several different labels. How did you end up with Candlelight? Are you happy with what they are doing for you?
The Candlelight thing actually happened the most organic way possible. A guy that works in the UK office heard us on myspace, ordered the CD from me, liked it and got in touch about working together. They are obviously one of the bigger metal labels out there and it's cool knowing the record has really solid distribution all over the world. If a kid in Japan wants it, they should be able to find it, and that's fucking nuts considering we recorded the disc in less then a week with a friend of ours on pretty much no budget. I'm not sure any of us thought it would be carried around the world.


You guys are into much more than just thrash. Who are some of the main thrash and non-thrash bands that have influenced Ramming Speed the most?
Everyone in the band has their own personal influences and we try and work together to blend those into something that sounds fresh and punishing. Some of the main groups that keep seeming to come up a lot are grinders like Terrorizer and Napalm Death, crust bands like Tragedy and From Ashes Rise, hardcore like Black Flag, classic rock like Thin Lizzy... the list goes on and if you listen close I think most of it's obvious after a while. For thrash/crossover bands, definitely DRI, Tankard, Slayer, Anthrax etc.. I think Ricky is trying to sneak some Obituary riffs onto the next record, we'll see how that pans out.


I can't go without mentioning how you were named “Band of the Decade” by Terrorizer. How did that feel? How surprising was it?
That was actually a hilarious surprise. We were lucky enough to play Obscene Extreme in Czech Republic last summer and ended up drinking and fucking around with a bunch of the Terrorizer crew for a few hours towards the end of the fest. I didn't even get to read their summer festival wrap up until recently and saw their very kind assertion that we we're "band of the decade" and should have kept playing all weekend. I'd say the odds are fair they were still drunk when they wrote that, but we'll take it anyway! They're honestly all lovelies over at that camp and it looks like they're going to be sponsoring this summer's Euro tour. Look out for some intense Ramming Speed coverage in the zine once we get closer to tour lift off.


Ramming Speed is a band that is really standing out in today's thrash scene. What are your goals for the band? Are they being achieved right now?
The one goal we've always really had is staying on the road as much as possible. There are times like now when we have to sit still at home and write music, but that's just the way it goes. It's good in some ways as it gives us time to organize as a group, do interviews like this, get new merch made, art designed, and all that band stuff that most people don't really think about. In a perfect world we'd have a tour bus with practice amps so we could write and have a home base on the road like bigger bands do, but we're still far far away from that point. If we could all quit our shitty jobs and drink beer full time this band would probably consider itself a success, but its a long way to the top.


Subjects such as politics are included in your lyrics, what else do you guys like to write about?
Pete does 99% of the writing and while the first 7" was more of us just having a good time, the last full length and EP we're both taken much more seriously in the song writing and lyric departments. I don't want to speak too much for him, but in general Pete's into touching on topics both social and political that light generally isn't shed on in the metal community. Weather its immigration reform or financial instability, Pete's been putting more and more of a focus on dealing sincerely with issues that matter to us as Americans and humans. Of course there's still silly songs here and there, but I think we're trying to deal with mostly real topics. These days reality is more brutal then anything else.


Do you have any horror stories from on the road yet?
Haha, we have enough to fill a book. We've had all the van breakdown stuff, but that shit happens to every band. Some of the crazier things are experiences like getting searched by German police, being stuck between Hells Angles and riot cops on the 4th of July in Oakland, being cuffed at gun point in California for kidnapping, dropping band members off at emergency rooms, getting lost in the farm lands of Eastern Europe and so on. You have to be a special kind of stupid to put up with this kind of abuse without giving up and luckily we're just THAT retarded! Always disgusted, never surprised.


What is it like knowing you've gone from playing basement shows to being on a label that is recognized by metalheads all over the world and playing with bands that can promise that it will be an amazing show?
We still play basements far more then clubs and generally enjoy those shows way more honestly. As I said above, it's really cool seeing Brainwreck distributed by Candlelight and we look forward even more so to recording the new record and seeing what happens with that. We haven't gone nearly as far as we'd like and the next album should be the one that puts us on the map. Playing with bigger bands is always cool, but sometimes our best shows are the ones in the middle of the woods with bands we've never heard of and tons of liquored up psychopaths running around screaming and setting fires.


Thanks a lot, and do you have any last words?
"Brainwreck" is out now on Candlelight records (CD) and Brutal Panda records (vinyl), "Always Disgusted, Never Surprise" is out now on Punks Before Profits and there are plans for a European release this summer on Alerta Antifascista records. To anyone that happens to be reading this, bring us a case of your favorite beer on tour and I'll give you a free tshirt and Pete's sister's cell phone number.

www.myspace.com/officialrammingspeed
http://www.tdbrecords.com/rammingspeed/
If you're from Boston and haven't checked them out then DO IT!

Jucifer interview

Jucifer! I'm so happy that Amber took the time for this interview for we all know how busy these two are. So check out my interview with the best lady in metal.

When did Jucifer begin and how? Who does what in the band?

We started playing together in Athens, GA in 1993. I'm guitar and vocals and Edgar plays drums.


You are a Georgia based band but do not give an actual location on your myspace, is that because of constant touring?

Yeah. We stopped living in GA --- or anywhere! --- ten years ago. We moved into an RV and never looked back. A lot of people still consider us to be from GA since that's where we started and lived for a long time. But having spent the last 10 years touring all the time without a home base at all, we don't feel more ties to one place than another. We are literal nomads... no house, no land.



What do you like to do when you're not touring?

We're always touring, playing shows twelve months out of the year. But we do take some days off... keeping the schedule we keep, we have to have days off to fix stuff, clean up, and get some sleep. Around Christmas we visit family for a week or so and that's our big vacation. We're always so ragged that we mostly spend it sleeping!

I guess the best answer to your question would be that we like to be touring more than anything. It keeps us focused and the work setting up our gear is good exercise... the release of playing shows is good therapy. We stay inspired and keep getting better as musicians. In our down time on the road we like to be outside, hanging out with our dogs. We both paint, write and take photographs too.



Tell us about your upcoming release “Throned in Blood.” What can we expect from this and how will it be different from previous Jucifer releases?

We wanted to make a record that was more like our shows. Our last couple of albums were both really different overall from the band we are live... we've enjoyed going on tangents in the studio because it's an opportunity to do things that we would never do on the road. But we were at a point where most everything we felt like playing in our set wasn't on our records. So we went in and tracked a group of songs we get off on doing live. It should make the fans that love our shows but haven't liked our records as much pretty stoked. It's short and intense and to me, less introspective and more of a crank it up loud thing. Which is not to say it isn't thought out or conceptual... just musically, more true to the kind of band we are onstage.



What is it like playing with just two members? Is it hard work or do you think it makes things easier for you two?

We've been doing it so long we can't even compare it to another way. We haven't played in a "normal" band for 17 years... which is kinda crazy to think about! But the reason we opted not to get other members back then was to make it simpler. We both write and have to fight for space on albums as it is. And we both have strong opinions. We work really well together and write easily from improvisation. Dealing with someone else just seemed unnecessary.

The hard parts... no one else to delegate work to. Not as many people to have your back in an alley fight. And if one of you fucks up a part in the show, it's a lot more obvious! It used to be hard being perceived as an oddity, but there are so many two pieces now that it's totally backwards... what sucks now is being perceived as following a trend, when actually, we're one of the bands that originated it. Kinda surreal actually.



What can one expect when going to see Jucifer live for the first time?

I guess, expect to be surprised. It seems like most people who see us for the first time are, even when they've heard a lot about us. It's hard for me to explain what it's like since I'm on the opposite side of the experience, but I can tell you that people either love the physicality of the loudness and the chaos ride of the music... or if they're expecting to be able to ignore the band, they really hate it.


You aren't a traditional sludge metal band, so how would you describe yourselves? Who has influenced you as a female vocalist?

Yeah we're pretty nontraditional. But if we need to be tagged, sludge metal does all right. Sludge was in its infancy when we started playing, so there wasn't a blueprint. We loved Sabbath riffs, hardcore punk and death metal. Like other bands in the late 80's/early 90's, we wrote music that combined those feels. We were definitely a part of the early sludge scene that happened in the south. But it didn't feel like a scene because there were so few bands. And we didn't have so much of a name attached to it then as has become attached over time. We were just one of a handful of bands that kinda clicked onto the same need for heavy and slow but also noisy and fast.

The difference between us and some of the other bands that I guess are considered traditional sludge is that we didn't stick to that on our records... we did a lot more, maybe because our tastes were just wider. We liked being a heavy band live, and that was awesome. The best. But in the studio we saw this amazing buffet of sound, where two of us could make weird multi-tracked concoctions with a million layers or something really fragile and tiny. We wanted to explore that .

Because we've been so out there with the difference between our albums and our shows, we're hard to sum up. But we don't have to feel like we've recorded the same song fifty times, and that's pretty satisfying.

Lately I've been describing us with a phrase this guy said to me after seeing us the first time: stonerthrashdoomgrind. Which in a lot of ways is what sludge is, but more descriptive in the sense that it points out specific elements of our set. I never think of our band in terms of describing our albums, which I guess is pretty funny, since that's usually how bands make their statement! But even though we've put a lot of thought into our albums, we've always been almost a whole different band onstage. And we've always spent a thousand hours onstage for every hour in the studio.

I'm a traitor to my gender as far as vocal influence... my biggest early influences were people like Henry Rollins from Black Flag, Ian Mackaye from Minor Threat, Billy Milano from S.O.D., Mike Muir from Suicidal Tendencies, and Wattie from the Exploited.

Edgar likes a lot of girlish sounding female singers and encouraged me to embrace my soft melodic voice. I found that way of singing really conducive to making multi-part harmonies, which I love. The voice is a tool for us, a versatile instrument that can emphasize whatever emotion the song needs to carry.


You have been all over the place and have toured with many great bands. Where are your favorite places to visit and favorite bands to play with?

I love any place with huge mountains. The Canadian and American Rockies and the Italian Alps are some of the most incredible places I've seen, along with all the mountains and canyons of the desert. The ocean too. Anywhere that overwhelms my senses and makes me feel lucky to be alive. My favorite bands do the same thing to me... make me feel joy in their power. Everyone knows that sometimes the people in bands aren't as awesome to experience as their music, but we've been fortunate to play with a lot that are! I don't wanna start listing them though, 'cause I'd have to write five more pages.


Where are you currently?

Podunk Arkansas, on our way to Little Rock.


Thanks! And anything else you have to say?

Just to thank everyone that's supported us and all the great people we've run into out in the world. It's beautiful to see how much people can actually be open, generous and kind... one of the benefits of traveling so much is seeing how fast strangers can become friends.

 

www.myspace.com/jucifer

Check them out on tour too, as you've seen they are on tour more than most bands so it's a show worth checking out!

Review of Outrage (MA) 2 new tracks

So here's my first review.  Don't attack me about it.  I'll probably only review things I like to avoid the drama but I'm still gonna be honest.  By the way, I liked this.  So here's my little review about New Bedford's Outrage.

So I checked out two new tracks from New Bedford, MA hardcore band Outrage. It takes a lot for me to appreciate a newer hardcore band but these guys have done it. For a local hardcore act they sound like they know what they're doing. It's heavy and melodic. The vocals are good but don't stand out to me as much as the drumming and some of the guitar riffs. All in all though I'd give it a good rating. If you like your hardcore heavy and loud then check them out. I'm looking forward to hearing more from them and can see this band as appealing to hardcore and even some metal fans (myself). Also, the recording quality is good. They have a split coming out this spring with the band Wolf Whistle. I'd like to say more but I'm just basing this off two tracks. I've heard their old tracks and they have definitely grown from that.

Like them? They're on Myspace and Twitter:

www.myspace.com/outragenb

www.twitter.com/outragenb

Also these guys have some tour dates coming up:

Feb 26 – Max's Blues Cafe – Brockton, MA

Mar 4 – 193 Degrees Coffeehouse – Kingston, RI

Mar 13 – As220 – Providence, RI (w/Soul Control)

Mar 16 – Mass Art – Boston, MA (w/Sixes)

Mar 17 – TBA – New Brunswick, NJ (w/Sixes)

Mar 18 – Charm City – Baltimore, MD (w/Sixes)

Mar 19 – TBA – Richmond, VA (w/Sixes)

May 28, 29, 30 – Rainfest – Tacoma, WA

meeting anders from at the gates

awesome weekend being anthony from earache's sidekick on friday!

At The Gates DVD was amazing. Whether a fan or not, pick it up.  There is a great story about a legendary band and just straight out nice dudes.  The DVD really brings out all types of emotions.  You hear the story of pre-ATG and post-ATG.  It's about 130 minutes and definitely worth the time.  Take it from someone who can't usually sit through even 30 minutes of tv, that this will keep you interested.  Comes out in April, definitely a (NON BIASED) recommendation from me!

WARBRINGER interview

Interview with John from Warbringer! A favorite of mine, I was really excited for this. Very much appreciated considering the busy schedule these guys have right now. Enjoy!

 

Hey how's it going!? So you have a lot of touring this first half of the year and are actually headlining in my home city Providence, RI on May 2^nd. Right now you've just started a European tour with Evile, are you guys excited? How's it going so far?

The Evile shows have been better than expected. The UK was great and we're in Switzerland tonight. I'm really proud of the show all the bands are putting on, I think it's killer night of metal. We're all getting along well and this bus is nice since it's winter right now.

You have quickly gained a lot of success since “War Without End,” tell us about the newest album “Waking into Nightmares.” How is it similar/different from your previous album? How have you grown as a band?

I almost feel like Waking into Nightmares is the first real album the band did because we have had over a year of touring under our belt before we recorded it. Although, we only had 2 months to compose the music between tours and 12 days in the studio to record it. I think all the experience makes all the difference. This band's goal is for the music to be brutal, vital, and original. I think the new album its a llot more mature, offers more dynamics, and has tighter performances from the whole band in general.

For those who are not yet familiar with Warbringer, give us some info on the band and tell us who does what in Warbringer.
Warbringer is a thrash metal band from L.A., California. In the last 3 years we have been touring the globe nonstop with bands like Exodus, Megadeth, Kreator, Obituary, Nile, Testament, Vader, Overkill and so on. Right now we're still touring on our album "Waking into Nightmares" released last year. With Warbringer we all strive to write exciting thrash metal. We do not want to rehash and copy the sounds of the '80s.  John Kevill is the vocalist and frontman. We both started this band together.
Adam Carroll is the other guitar player. He started as the band'ss second drummer but we had a falling out and eventually he came back as a guitar player. He is a very talented musician. Nic Ritter is from Tulsa, Oklahoma. He's a really skilled drummer and was living in LA. He happened to be looking for a serious band when we needed a drummer during the touring cycle on our first album. He's been in the band for almost 2 years now. Andy Laux is my brother and the original bass player. We are all really glad to have him back,  as he didn't tour on War Without End because he was still in high school. I am John Laux. I play guitar too. 

You guys are on Century Media, not everyone gets an opportunity like that, how did you end up on the label?

I think we were pretty lucky and fortunate to meet the right people in the industry. Since then we have toured nonstop year round so I think we have held up on our side of the bargain well enough. CM's ex-president who now manages us and a few other bands caught us at a local gig in LA. Surprisingly enough young unsigned thrash bands were getting booked at half-decent clubs in LA and drawing a lot of kids out to the shows. We were in the right place at the right time.
 

What are your main influences? What did you grow up listening to? And what have you been listening to lately?

As a band we're inspired by the thrash bands that were trying to keep the style alive by always trying to reinvent it. For example Coma of Souls by Kreator is an hell of a record. It's as brutal as their old stuff, but the music is so tight and techy.
Demolition Hammer is a band with a sound balanced perfectly between proto Death Metal and Thrash Metal. The first 2 records are works of art. Very heavy, violent, and classy! Megadeth was probably my biggest inspiration and influence when I grew up and started playing guitar. It's probably why I wanted to try and start a thrash band.
Lately after so many metal shows it's gone pretty strange. I still go for the really heavy stuff like Malevolent Creation, Pungent Stench, and Pestilence. On top of that Jeff Buckley, The Police, Siouxie and the Banshees, Slowdive, and whole bunch of goth/shoegaze/pop kinda stuff where I really admire the musicians. I'm really more concerned with the quality of the music than the style these days, which has lead me to getting really picky with my metal.

You have some tour dates coming up in the U.S. with Overkill, how did that end up happening?

No fortune really. It's because we have the same booking agents and we've toured with Overkill and even Vader before. We're really excited about this tour though. We just toured with Vader and had a blast so it will be good to see them again. It will be good touring with Evile again, but this time in the States. I think it should be a great tour.

How is it to be a big band in times of thrash revival? Was it expected or was it just a huge surprise for you all?
We never expected success. No one planned a thrash revival either until record companies got wind of it. We have worked really hard since we started and even harder after we got signed. I think that's why so much has happened for us.

What do you think makes you stand out in the thrash scene?
I couldn't say. I think our live show stands out. We put a lot of energy into it every night. Also I think we were one of the first new bands to get publicity and people understand what we're trying to do with our music. For this whole scene to mean anything I think its important for all of the bands to try and put out records that are truly good and not just rehashed retro thrash cop-outs.

Now you're only 21 right? Is it difficult adjusting to the insanity of constant touring at such a young age?

No. I think a lot of musicians started when they were this young. I think humans can adapt really fast to whatever kind of environment they have to live in. Stateside I'm one of the only ones who can stay up and drive 8 hours a night with little difficultly. Almost all the music from the first album and a large portion of the second album is mine too. The only part that takes learning and adjusting to is the business.
I wish I could just play guitar all day. Age isn't relevant at all with music. Besides, Kevill and Adam are only 2-3 years older than me, and Andy is even younger.

What's next for Warbringer after all of this touring? Relaxation?
More touring. We plan to support this record into late summer/early fall and have commitments already to go back to Europe this summer and in May to tour the Far East for the first time playing places like Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand so that should be a nice experience. We'd love to go to Australia and S. America, at some point too. Sometimes it drives us up the wall when we have to stay out so long together. In the fall we plan to get enough time off to get over each other, enjoy our personal lives, and write a third album by the end of this year. We're looking to be off the road for about 9 months which will give us a chance to recharge and fans to build up some more demand to see us plus we plan on releasing a killer thrid album for summer 2011. 

Any crazy stories from the road or any crazy fan stories?
In San Diego this kid told me he was gonna see us in Mexico the next day and he was so drunk I didn't believe it all until I see him pull up to a sketchy club in a taxi the next day in Mexico. So were played the gig with Overkill and I think he went through 6 rounds of tequila shots or something because the next thing I knew he was lying down in the dirt on the pavement in the parking lot. After some arguing we agreed to let him sleep passed out in our van because he seemed to be too wiped out to even puke. We took his passport so we could take him over the border.
So pretty much 4 hours later we're right on the edge of the border, the guard is walking over to us and the kid bolts up, someone opens the door thinking he's gonna puke, and it was just a knee-jerk dead fish reaction because he just fell out the car door and hit his head on a iron rail. As soon as the Guard and the band rush out to check out the scene he was bleeding all over the cement.
We made sure he got taken to an American Hospital, and we got an email a week later from him saying he had a great time.

That's about it, anything else you would like to tell us?
No, Thank you very much for a great interview. Thanks to all of our fans for all their support. Cheers!

 

www.myspace.com/warbringer

http://www.last.fm/music/Warbringer

http://twitter.com/warbringerband

ALSO check their myspace for tour dates, there are a bunch coming up and these guys are completely worth going to see!