Author: Jeff Ayers

Interview: Mushroomhead Talks About GWAR, Tour and More

Over the course of almost 21 years, Mushroomhead has carved out their place as a lasting presence in the ever-changing metal scene. Hard work, relentless passion, and a dedicated fanbase has kept this band going, and they are stronger than ever. Starting out in Cleveland, Ohio, lead singer J-Mann remembers what it was like during the ’70s and ’80s in that area. “It was such an industrial town, seeing that part of it. I remember Detroit falling apart, and signs from the police saying ‘Enter at Your Own Risk’ “. All of that led to J-Mann taking a liking to the aggressive music scene, which would in turn help shape what Mushroomhead would become. “Subversive music intrigued me, anything that challenged society, or was socially aware.” J-Mann took a break from Mushroomhead in 2005, because he was tired of the fight. “Pro-tools bands come and go, they are tourists – it’s lifers versus tourists.” He was jaded by the way the industry was shaping, but it didn’t keep him out music for long.

*Note: Quotes from J-Mann were part of a phone interview with Managing Editor/Photo Editor, Jim Gilbert, earlier in July.

Photo by Jim ‘JT’ Gilbert

Returning to Mushroomhead in 2013, the band released their new album, The Righteous and The Butterfly, which went to number 20 on the billboard charts. J-Mann recalls sitting next to Rev. Jesse Jackson on a radio show in Cleveland when he got the news. “Drinking beer out of a coffee cup at 6:30 in the morning, trying to awkwardly high-five and hug Rev. Jesse Jackson. Crazy. It’s all about the fans and their support.”

With a stint on this year’s Rockstar Mayhem Festival, Mushroomhead is looking forward to a headlining tour in the fall, and then the next record, with a lot of new material already in the works, like a track featuring Randy Blythe from Lamb of God. I got to sit down with Skinny and ST1TCH at the festival when it rolled into Saratoga Springs New York at SPAC, and talk a little about the band, and the passing of Dave Brockie of GWAR, both Mushroomhead and Gwar being very close throughout their careers.

Jeff Ayers: So, first question I gotta know. ‘Rumour Has It’. It was your idea, Skinny, to put that on the record, right? Can you talk about that?

Skinny: Usually, when we start recording a new album, we will screw around with cover tunes, just to get tones basically. When you are setting up drums, and dialing in guitars, it’s just about having a little fun with it. That one came about because of my iPod, I had it on shuffle. Dr. F, our bass player, and myself were working on some masks, and we were using it as a background. Sure enough, that tune came on, and we started talking about Adele, I think she is an amazing singer.

‘s Jeff Ayers and Mushroomhead’s ST1TCH (Photo by Jim ‘JT’ Gilbert)

JA: Yeah, not going to lie, she is a talented artist.

Skinny: Yeah, just incredible. So we were talking about it, and I said what if we put heavy guitars in it? You know like Metallica or something? Dr. F and I were laughing about it, and after a few more beers, we talked ourselves to go back into the studio and do it. We just knocked it out with some simple drums and guitars, just to get reactions from it, and everyone that came in had a chuckle. So we kept just throwing the whole kitchen sink at it for awhile. After a little bit, it turned into something interesting. You definitely know what tune it is, I don’t think we destroyed it too much. It’s very much in the vain of how we did Seal’s ‘Crazy’ in 2003. It was a lot of fun. It was meant to keep things lite during the writing process. Like, when you get frustrated or something, we could be like ‘Let’s screw around with the Adele tune again!”

JA: You need that in a recording process, to keep it fun.

Skinny: Exactly, it needs to be a good time. So when the album was ready, the label, who originally hated the song, asked us “Hey, what happened to the Adele cover?” Now they love it. It ended up morphing so many times that by the end of it they liked it. It was really for us.

ST1TCH: Yea, we almost re-hauled it again at the end too. We turned in a few different versions and that’s why I think they ended up liking it. At first we were all a little on the fence about it, too ,because there were so many other songs that were also good.

Skinny: We did like five or six different cover songs.

JA: Will we have a chance of hearing any of the songs that didn’t make the cut on subsequent records?

Skinny: Hopefully, yeah. There is a bunch of originals that didn’t make the album either, because we just ran out of time.

JA: That is always good though, to have songs in your back pocket for the next record.

ST1TCH: Absolutely.

Skinny: But like I said, the Adele thing ultimately was just for us. At 20 years in, you got have some kind of fun.

ST1TCH: 20 and a half. Mushroomhead is almost old enough to drink. Watch out!

Photo by Jim ‘JT’ Gilbert

JA: Can you guys speak a little on how the game has changed, or how the industry has changed since your beginnings?

Skinny: To bands at our level, like, we missed the ‘record sales’ portion of the industry by three years. Three years earlier and we might not even be here. But, I won’t change anything. For hard-working bands, that have been doing it this long, they are still just working. They punch in, go do their thing, and that’s all they are worried about. It’s funny how, you can get into cycles, like look at us, twelve years later and we are on another festival. Most people might have written us off, but that isn’t the case for the hard-working, honest efforts out there. People tend to know the difference. The rest of the industry though? I would hate to be in a baby band right now.

JA: Is it harder to contend with the ‘baby’ bands out there now?

Skinny: Well there is a lot of them. Oh my god, the saturation of the music industry is incredible. Sometimes, it gets tougher for a band like us. You get people saying, oh they are washed up, or they are gimmick metal. I think that you have to keep pressing on. A lot of bands don’t have that longevity; twenty years, seven albums, four labels. You know what I mean? If they do have that, they already made their millions, they are the big bands. There really isn’t a lot like Mushroomhead, and that’s why it’s always just another day at work for us. I still wake up everyday, like when I was twenty, saying ‘How do I pimp my band? What’s the next thing, how can I push it further?” I feel the exact same passion as when I started.

JA: You have done a lot in your careers, and I am not throwing this around lightly, but you have helped re-invent the idea of heavy music. You aren’t afraid to throw samples in the music, multiple drummers, multiple singers, different instrumentation. Are there any crazy things on the horizon, or things that you have always wanted to integrate into the band you haven’t had the chance to yet?

Skinny: We love working with other people, like guest vocalists on the records. So to see who the next guest might be, and not knowing is a cool thing. But knowing that I do want it, that next tone, that other texture, is exciting.

JA: Musicians are very singular beings. Is it more interesting, or more challenging, being in a band where multiple musicians fill the same roles, like vocalists and drummers, seeing as I am talking to two drummers right now?

Skinny: As long as you can sort through the bad ideas and get to the good ones, I think the more ideas the better. I’d hate to be in a room full of dudes who have no ideas, or no passion.

ST1TCH: We spend a lot of time making sure that it makes sense, too. Not like some bands, where they might have two drummers, but they are playing the same beat. What’s the point? What I do, with water drums, is more about amplifying the show, and percussion. Not muddying it up at all. Just like with three singers, everyone has their parts, and we organize it more like a play, or a theater performance rather than a band going up there and trying to outdo each other. Msuhroomhead is a show, and we are all about entertaining people

Skinny: [in his best Russel Crowe voice] “Are you not entertained!!” That is how I feel up there. We are not rockstars, we are entertainers.

ST1TCH: As soon as that mask goes on, I am not me anymore. I am the character I snap into.

Photo by Jim ‘JT’ Gilbert

JA: Mushroomhead was brought up by GWAR, can we talk a little about Dave’s [Brockie] passing. You guys were close right?

Skinny: Yea. The whole GWAR camp gave us our first national anything. Three days after our first show, we were called up for an opening slot at the Cleveland Agora for those guys. So our second show ever was with GWAR. We got to know Dave and Brad and all those guys, and they asked us to do some support stuff the following year. Regional stuff, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania.

ST1TCH: They were in town filming for the Jerry Springer show then

JA: I remember that!

Skinny: I think that was a few years later, but I don’t know. I remember Jerry introducing GWAR on stage and getting hit with a beer in the face. He was so pissed, he got in his limo and left. [laughs]. But anyway, those guys were really nice to us. We were fortunate to spend some time with Dave on Soundwave 2014 in Australia. It was like a high school reunion. They were on at two o’clock, we were on around 11:30 in the morning, so we shared the same dressing area. So we started drinking, you know, ten in the morning, GWAR and Mushroomhead. You gotta start then! I remember eating kangaroo jerky and drinking jagermeister with Dave.

J-Mann (from phone interview): There were shuttles between all the stages, and Dave joined us for every show. He was brilliant, quick-witted, well-rounded, and that all gets disguised in a big rubber suit. He was such a wonderful guy.

Skinny: On our day off, we all got together and went to visit Bon Scott’s grave [AC/DC]. We went to see his memorial down at the harbour in Perth, and some of us even went to the Indian Ocean together. It was so great to see Dave, and we were very fortunate to spend some of the last days with him. We have some many good memories and great footage of hanging out on stage, and personal photos as well.

JA: It’s great to hear that you got that opportunity with him right before he died.

Skinny: Yea, would you like to see the photo of us at Bon Scott’s memorial? It’s pretty heavy man.

*At this point he took out his phone and showed Jim and I this haunting photo. Skinny was gracious enough to let us use it, another piece of the lasting legacy that Dave was a part of, and a testament to the bond between the two bands.

Mushroomhead and GWAR’s Dave Brockie in Australia at Bon Scott’s (AC/DC) memorial less than two weeks before Dave’s untimely death. Photo by Steve “Skinny” Felton.

Skinny: But, anyway, he was a great guy, funny, talented as hell. He left this earth a better place. We were very fortunate to have him for the short time we did. Because, goddamn, I can listen to those records and laugh my ass off still to this day. Like, we were singing ‘Sexecutioner” out loud the other day, and everyone was taking turns, it was pretty funny.

JA: Have you ever thought about doing a GWAR cover for a Mushroomhead record?

ST1TCH: We were just talking about that actually.

Skinny: Yea, because we were just singing that song recently, we started arguing about which song would be better. So you never know, whenever the time is right maybe we can do something like that. But again, God bless those guys.

JA: So what is the next thing in store for Mushroomhead, then?

Skinny: Touring. We are taking a few weeks off after Mayhem, then we will start getting ready for the Halloween season. That time of year is just us, we have to do that. Probably a nationwide tour, and we are also working on four cities in Russia right now.

JA: Have you been out to Russia recently?

ST1TCH: We were just out there in May.

JA: Well with everything that’s going on over there, be careful.

Skinny: Oh yeah, absolutely. But it is insane for us over there, the fans are great.

ST1TCH: They make us feel like the Beatles.

Skinny: That is no bullshit, they are shaking and crying to get into the shows, it is so nuts.

August 6, 2014
Interview: Korn’s Brian “Head” Welch opens up

Back in 1993, ‘nu metal’ was barely a thing in the musical landscape. But five young guys from Bakersfield, California started a band that would become the powerhouse metal band Korn. From their debut self-titled album which gained instant success, to the slew of consistent chart topping albums for the last 20 years, they have been a lasting force in the heavy music scene.

The members remained constant until 2005 when Brian ‘Head’ Welch decided to leave the band because, in part, to his addiction to drugs. He then found religion, cleaned up, wrote books and started new bands. In 2013 he officially rejoined Korn, bringing the guitar double team of Brian and James ‘Munky’ Shaffer back to full strength. At the recent Rockstar Mayhem Festival in Saratoga Springs, I got to sit down with Head and talk about what the road back to Korn was like, and how it feels to be back.

Brian ‘Head’ Welch: Life is good, man. You know there is always something to do on this tour. We wake up, eat and then we are busy like crazy. I am also working on a new book, and I am way behind on it, so it takes any free second I have. There are other bands we want to see, on the small stages too. Then we have meet-and-greet, and after the show we are doing after parties. So we have like an hour to shower off, and then we meet like a hundred people every night and then it’s bedtime.

Jeff Ayers: How are those after parties? We heard that some are thrown by other bands.

BHW: Ours is more of a one with our fans kinda thing. We hang out, play some music, take pictures. It’s like a meet-and-greet, but you can buy drinks and hang out in a different atmosphere. There is a Q and A too.

JA: That sounds cool.

BHW: Yea, I don’t really like it. It’s a cool thing, but I was under the impression it was going to be the whole band there. Jonathan [Davis] has his kids out [on this tour] so he is never there. So the vibe is always, “Where’s Jonathan? Where’s Jonathan?” So I am not going to do it again, unless he signs an agreement that he is going to be there. I mean, I understand, he has his kids. But you know, I got a different impression about these after parties.

JA: What’s the new book going to be about?

BHW: It’s about my eight years away from Korn, and my road back to Korn. So it is about me, trying to be the normal person, trying to be dad, and getting my life together while breaking apart a few times a year. I was always wasted the whole time before, and I couldn’t run to that stuff anymore, but I wanted to. A few times. I went through a lot of stuff, and I am writing all that stuff down. It’s flowing out of me, so I think it’s meant to be.

JA: It has to be cathartic, too, to be able to get that onto the page. I am a writer myself, and getting hardship, pain, and loss written down can be helpful and help with the healing

BHW: Yea, you are right. But it is hard too, I mean, I’m feeling it too. I had this episode with my daughter, during the time we [Love and Death] were fighting with this label. They were stringing us along, and they had done it a few times before that, and then they were like “We are going to pass”. So I said “I’m done!” and threw my phone and broke it, but I had this episode with my daughter because she got hit by the phone on accident. It was the worst day, I felt like I might lose her. It has been hard at times, too.

JA: In that eight year recovery, is there a defining moment? That pinnacle moment that smacked you in the face and made life clearer?

BHW: I’d say when I finally hit the day, well I don’t know if it was a day or a time period, but when you hit a place in life where you step back and go, ‘Everything just changed right now’ whether it is a new a career or something. When I went through my bankruptcy, I hit a place where I realized ‘I just went through all of that for a reason.” I faced every fear that I had in life, I faced every emotion that was caused by my drug addiction, every bad thing that I could face, I did, and made it through. Facing those things actually cleansed me from them, so I am new man. It felt like for a time there was a curse on my life. I wrote my first book, and that was cool, but I then started a label, which failed, then I lost my house, then people were trying to sue me left and right. Then I moved to Nashville, I started a new band that wasn’t successful, and it was just like ‘C’mon man!’. But [looking back], it was all a process to make the person I wanted to be, this new man. Then I entered into peace right there, and I have been good ever since.

JA: Can I ask what happened recently in Europe? You guys, Love and Death, were just on tour and you had to cancel dates, didn’t you get sick?

BHW: Yea I had a kidney stone, and had surgery. I was in three different hospitals, called the paramedics twice, once in an airport, once in a hotel. Right in front of the Russian fans, it was just bad. I didn’t know what was going on, because they initially told me I didn’t have a kidney stone, but then my gall bladder started failing. Then my kidneys started hurting really bad. The doctors were just messing around, and I ended up having surgery. I had to Google translate with my surgeon. I asked, “I still feel like I am going to die, we had the surgery, what’s wrong?” Then he would Google translate back to me, it was rough.

JA: Wow, that sounds crazy!

BHW: Yea, remember how I told you everything got better after that certain day? Well that was challenging. But, after going through everything I had before, when I faced the kidney stone I was O.K.. Even though I was in extreme pain, I was fine inside, I knew I could get through it.

JA: You took those eight years off from Korn, now that you are back for a little over a year, how has it been?

BHW: 2014 has been great. 2013 was a little challenging. I came in from running the show at Love and Death. Even though it was a tiny show, it was my show, so I was making all the business decisions, saving tons of money on flights, and hotels and stuff. So I came back here, and I was all about trying to do things different, business wise. I talked with the guys, and was like “Why is this happening? You know how much money we could save, etc?” So I would let it eat me up inside. I was treating the tour manager pretty bad, and he’s been doing this for fifteen years, and he has his ways. He doesn’t work on the things that save nickels, he works on the things that save lots of money. I was sitting there worrying about the nickels, so it took me awhile to balance that. I had a conversation with him eventually where I apologized, because this was a big change for me and had to adjust. Once I got past that though, I have had a good year.

JA: Your new record, The Paradigm Shift, is doing great. You just came out with that the end of last year, what is the plan for after Mayhem Fest?

BHW: Well, I wish I had confirmation to tell you about this thing we are working on, but I can’t say it yet. We are looking to do a really nice tour in the fall. I thought it was just going to be a few shows to close out the year, festivals and stuff like that. But this thing came up, and I am really excited for it to come together. So big tour in the fall, and then I don’t know about next year. We haven’t really gotten that far yet. I think it would be good to take a couple of months off [from touring]. You know, do a couple of cool shows, but everybody just go away for a little bit. Give everybody a break, the fans a break, the band a break, and then start writing the next record. We will see what happens.

JA: Do you guys write music individually and then bring it together or is the writing process a collaboration?

BHW: The big thing with Korn, is we like to get into a room, and flesh it all out together. But we also write at home to bring ideas to those sessions. Definitely have to do that, because the famous thing we like to talk about is when we are holding our guitars and staring at our feet on the floor, and we try to do stuff and it sounds like we are beginning teenagers all over again. Looking around the room asking, “Is this cool?” [laughs]. That’s desperate, so playing on our own helps to stop that.

JA: You guys have been playing now for a long time, and being on the road with the same guys over and over again, it can put strains on dealing with each other. Do you guys handle that pretty well as a band?

BHW: Obviously, humans are humans. Even the people you love will get on your nerves, and it will happen out here on the road too. But you learn to just walk away, and then come back. That’s all is. There are some days, like four weeks into the tour, and you have a great night with everybody and you are on the bus just laughing. On the hard moments, you just walk away and try and go refuel by yourself. At this point, we all know how to do that really well.

August 5, 2014
Interview: Rob Barrett of Death Metal Legends, Cannibal Corpse

When someone talks of the genre of death metal, there are a few names that reside at the top of everyone’s list. Cannibal Corpse is indisputably one of those names. Formed in 1988, they helped shape the budding underground metal scene at the time, and helped usher in this new type of crushing sound. Signing with Metal Blade Records early in their career, they have consistently put out records over the course of their 26 years of life.

Cannibal Corpse have had multiple lineup changes, and controversies surrounding the band because of their graphic imagery and lyrics (1995 Bob Dole named them one of the bands that was ‘undermining the national character of the United States). But they have seen success in their field, from a cameo in Ace Ventura:Pet Detective to multiple awards and recognition among all who are fans of metal. At the recent Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Jim Gilbert and I got to speak with guitarist Rob Barrett about the band, the life, and the new album coming out in September.

Jim Gilbert: I know you guys originally hail from western New York, Buffalo area.

Rob Barrett: Yea, it’s where I grew up as well.

JG: So talk a little about the metal scene in Buffalo at the time, the mid to late 80’s. Death metal wasn’t really out yet, right?

RB: It was kinda of forming at that time, in the late 80’s. All of us were in different local bands, and playing local gigs together. Alex [Webster] and Jack Owen were in a band called Beyond Death, with Darrin Pfeiffer, who actually ended up being in Goldfinger. Chris Barnes, Bob Rusay, and Paul Mazurkiewicz were in a band called Tirant Sin. I was in Dark Deception, and we would all play shows and all the bands rehearsed in the same building, so we always saw each other and we would hang out after. It was a nice tight-knit scene going on.

JG: You had joined Cannibal Corpse after they formed, around 1993?

RB: Yeah, they had already recorded Tomb of the Mutilated (1992). I had joined Malevolent Creation and had moved to Florida in 1989. Originally I moved to Fort Lauderdale, and then I went to Miami and formed a band called Solstice that I was singing and playing guitar in. At that time Phil from Malevolent Creation called our drummer Alex and myself to join up with them. So we were both part of the second Malevolent Creation record, Retribution, in 1992. We went on a U.S. tour with Cannibal Corpse, Obituary and Agnostic Front. That was definitely a good tour, and for me it was the first tour I was ever on, so it was excellent. Cannibal and Malevolent shared a bus together, and we all knew each other from Buffalo, so we all got along great. We were like one big family, and I am pretty sure that is why I got the call to join with them the next year, because they had gotten rid of Bob Rusay and they knew we would get along because they had already toured with me.

Jeff Ayers: So did you move back up to Buffalo at that point?

RB: Yea, I was living in Miami when I got the call. I think I flew up there a few days later, and learned their entire set in two weeks because they had a U.S. tour scheduled, and then just started touring with them.

JG: But you guys recorded down in Tampa.

RB: Yea, yea. The first six albums, I believe, were done at Morrisound Recording in Tampa, FL. Up through Gallery of Suicide definitely.

JA: Just about everybody in death metal was getting recorded there

RB: At that point in time, that was the place that everybody was going. It was the hot spot. Obituary, I believe, was the first band to record death metal down there, and that got everyone else to want to record there. After I moved back up to Buffalo, we all decided to move down to Tampa as a band. For me it was like a triangle: Buffalo, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, back to Buffalo and then back down to Tampa. We have been based out of Tampa since 1995.

JG: Do you still consider yourself a Buffalo band?

RB: We are really widely known for being from Tampa. But if you go back to the beginning, yeah, we all originated from Buffalo. But since the member changes there are now two guys who are not from Buffalo.

JA: So Cannibal Corpse has been THE band in the past 20 years. You guys have paved the way for a lot of bands that are on festivals like this, and everything else. From your opinion, how has the dynamic of the scene changed? You started back in the 80’s, with something that barely existed at that time.

RB: I think that it has improved a lot. These bands today have a lot more technology to make more quality recordings. Back when we first started, everything was rough around the edges. That right there is kinda what made death metal what it’s supposed to be, in my eyes. I mean we practice a lot, we average four days a week when we aren’t on tour. We take it serious, not just getting together a couple times a month. But the comparisons between back then and now, with the technology, the younger bands have more tools to make things not so rough around the edges.

JA: For better or worse I guess.

JG: Now we get massive metal tours, like the Big Four touring together. If you had your ideal death metal tour, who would be on it?

RB: We were actually hearing some talk of someone trying to get a Big Five thing (in death metal) going on, which would have been Deicide, Obituary, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel and Suffocation. I don’t know if that will ever come to fruition. I think it would be great, maybe not as a full-blown tour, but major city dates or something.

JA: Oh my god, I’d be up for that. That would be a lot of fun.

RB: It’s strange, too, because all those bands except for Suffocation are based out of Florida, but never have actually toured together a lot. I mean, we did tour with Obituary, back in 1992 though.

JG: You guys all did you early albums out of the same studio. I’m not sure where Deicide recorded

RB: Deicide has been going to Audiohammer, which is in Sanford near Orlando. We just recorded our last album there as well. But early Deicide was also Morrisound as well.

JG: That whole sound really came from that one spot.

RB: Yea it just kinda happened, you know? Everybody heard Obituary’s recording, and everyone just started going there. A lot of bands went there to record demos, in the hopes of getting a record deal, because their demos would say ‘Recorded at Morrisound.” It actually worked for some of them, I think.

JG: To be in the environment in the beginning, it’s the first time anyone has heard stuff like that. Is there a different feeling now, than opposed to 20 years ago? Are you happy with the direction you are going, are you still pushing the boundaries?

RB: We are working harder than we ever did. We have to stay vital with these younger bands that are coming up in the scene. It’s not like we are trying to hang onto the throne, it’s not a competition, but we want to be able to hang with the younger bands. I think we are doing pretty good. Our sound has progressed to the point that we are keeping up with the times but still staying true to our sound that we started 26 years ago.

JA: Is there a younger band that just blows your mind?

RB: Well, the last one that really blew my mind was this band Aeon from Sweden, that we are actually going to be touring Europe with in October and November. They have been around a little bit, but they are the last death metal band that blew me away with their stuff. It’s like a mix between Florida death metal and maybe Meshuggah. They have a lot of strange timing going on, but with straight forward death metal mixed in. It’s a good combination, and being from Sweden, they also have a lot of shred going on as well.

JA: Of course, lots of shred in Sweden. Keeping up with new stuff, you guys are on the 70,000 Tons of Metal Boat Cruise this year. That sounds like quite a blast, have you ever done anything like that before?

RB: Well we got offered to do the first one when they started it, but we passed on it to see how it was going to go. It was a major success, so we jumped on the second one, and it was great. It was a cool experience, and I wasn’t drinking on that trip, but if you a drinker, you will love it. You are on a boat for four days, and everybody’s just partying.

JG: Can we talk about the new album a little?

RB: Sure. We just released the name of it, A Skeletal Domain, out in September. We have a lot of fast songs in there, and a good amount of slower stuff as well. If you are just playing fast all the time, it’s all going to sound the same. There is no dynamics going on. So we have a few mid-paced songs, which also help out our live sets as well. I mean, I’m 44, and my head feels like it might fall of my neck sometimes. [laughs]. Headbanging every night for that long will take it’s toll on you. George [Fisher] though, he is the king of the head spins. I used to be able to do the windmills like that, but now I just do the ‘chicken peck’ i call it. [laughs].

JA: Your more melodic stuff is always intricate and interesting though. You never have a throw away song or a cop-out.

RB: I mean, our main thing with our sound is to make sure nothing sounds happy, or over melodic. You can be melodic without having it sound happy or triumphant. We try to go for the more uglier sounding stuff.

JA: You want to keep the core true to Cannibal Corpse

RB: Yes, definitely.

JG: Have you released any track names off the new record?

RB: Sadistic Embodiment was the one song that leaked early. There is a couple I can talk about though, that I wrote on the record. There is one called Kill or Become, which is like going back to the old Cannibal Corpse lyric style. It’s a zombie song. You gotta kill or become one. I wrote another one called Icepick Lobotomy, which is a nice little ditty about a doctor. It is kinda based on a true story, which I made into my own. Back in the 1800’s, there was a doctor that used to perform lobotomies with ice picks, right between the eyeballs. Paul wrote lyrics for half the album, and Alex wrote four songs, music and lyrics.

JG: Do you read a lot to get inspiration for songs?

RB: Yea, either from reading, or it might be something I’m watching, like a true crime or something. There are all sorts of crazy things in the world that sometimes real people did. So we draw a lot of information from that and twist them into our own little stories. Somebody dies by the end of the song all the time. There is definitely a body count going on. That is what people expect from us, and we aim to give them what they want.

August 4, 2014
Interview: Suicide Silence’s New Lead Singer, Eddie Hermida

Suicide Silence has made quite the name for themselves over the years, starting in 2002 in Riverside, California. They have worked hard to produce quality deathcore music, and have received many accolades because of it, such as Revolver Magazine’s Most Innovative Band in 2009 and a song on the motion picture soundtrack for SAW IV. But in 2012, tragedy struck when lead singer Mitch Lucker died from a motorcycle accident. Morning their fallen brother, the band vowed to push on, and hired All Shall Perish singer Hernan “Eddie” Hermida a year after Mitch’s death. I got to sit down with Eddie and talk about the transition of joining the band under such unfortunate circumstances, and how their new album You Can’t Stop Me on Nuclear Blast Records is tearing up the charts.

Jeff Ayers: So is this your first time on Rockstar Mayhem Fest?

Eddie Hermida: No, this is my second time, just my first with Suicide Silence.

JA: You did it with All Shall Perish?

EH: Yea we did Mayhem in 2011 with Suicide Silence.

JA: Did both bands meet on Mayhem? Or were Suicide Silence and All Shall Perish friends before that?

EH: We met in 2005, at a California metal fest. All Shall Perish drove down south the day before, and it was actually Mark [Heylmun] and I who met. We were just bull-shitting together, talking about how both our bands should do a tour together. So in 2006 they were headlining a tour and we were brought on as direct support. We did about 56 shows in 60 days.

Jim Gilbert: Oh my god. You guys were probably in a van right?

EH: Yea it was my first major tour. We were both in vans with trailers. It was crazy, we all became really close. They have been my homies since then. Then in 2011, it just made the bond stronger. All Shall Perish was in an RV for Mayhem, instead of sharing a bus with Suicide Silence. It was ten dudes packed in an RV, and it was brutal. So I ended up sleeping on the Suicide Silence bus a lot, because it was easier. They would stay late and party, and it added an extra two or three hours to my night to hang back, so i did it, because they allowed me to.

JA: So, obviously with the tragedy that fell on Suicide Silence, that must have strengthened the camaraderie between the bands. When you were finally announced as taking over for vocals for Suicide, how have the fans been, have they welcomed you?

EH: It’s been absolutely overwhelmingly good. A lot better than I thought it would be.

JA: It’s always tough, with a transition like that on the heels of a death in the band.

EH: That’s the thing. Mitch [Lucker] always meant so much to his fans, and the fans meant so much to him. Stepping into that role, I was very concerned with how that would be perceived. But coming into it, and seeing how lovely everyone has been, and how fired up the fans are to see the band again, it is such a good feeling. Being able to go out there, do what I do, and have no one judge me for it, and everyone just go nuts, is great. There is a lot of trust involved, and there is also a lot of welcoming too.

JA: You guys just came out with a new record. How has the response been on that?

EH: We just found out that we hit number 16 on the Billboard charts for our first week. We sold 16,000 copies, and it’s the highest charting record for Suicide Silence ever.

JA: That has to feel great.

EH: For a death metal band, it’s so amazing. The number really doesn’t matter anymore, because there isn’t the cd sales that there once was, and there is a huge drop off in numbers from the top five to everything underneath that. We are talking about hundreds of thousands of records difference. But it still feel great. To be in the history books as hitting number 16 on the charts for this week, for the rest of my life that is a good feeling. It is also a statement to where the music industry is. I mean a death metal band can chart in the top 40, and that is ridiculous.

JA: It’s happening more and more with your contemporaries. Cannibal Corpse helped pave the way for this, for many years with only underground recognition, and now bands like you and them are hitting top 40 on Billboard. You can talk of a lot of bands that can and have charted now.

EH: Exactly. Whitechapel is charting, Volume has charted, even All Shall Perish has been up there.

JA: So what’s the plan for Suicide Silence after Mayhem?

EH: Headline a tour. We want to go out there and play as much as we can. We are working on a tour that hasn’t been announced yet, but we are finalizing details on it. It will be a U.S. tour.

JG: You will be back up through this area though

EH: Absolutely. Saratoga Springs, Albany, Syracuse. Upstate New York has a lot going for death metal. I’d like to hit Upstate Concert Hall when we come around.

JG: We were just there covering Gogol Bordello.

EH: I got to see them recently and they are incredible. We were in Europe, and we played this festival called Rock am Ring, and it’s all like Europe bands that top charts, and we were thrown in there on a stage with Crossfaith, Battlecross, Mastodon, and Ghost. We got to see Gogol there, what a great show.

* I was wearing my trademark Boba Fett hat, and Eddie and I had a mutual moment admiring each other’s fandom, because he has a tattoo of Luke and Leia on his leg. Which led the conversation this way:

JG: Going back to Ronnie James Dio, with science fiction, and fantasy, they relate to metal and death metal.

EH: They go hand in hand for sure. I mean, Star Wars, it’s the battle of good and evil. It’s the oldest story there is, the story of Jesus, or the Matrix. It’s one guy, who is the good, but doesn’t know it, and has to go through the trials to figure it out and win in the end. It just goes to show you can adapt that story in many different ways and it’s still going to be an interesting story. To me, that is even a bigger middle finger to the bible story, and to christians and people who are so close minded and would turn an ear from music like ours.

JG: Back to the new album, You Can’t Stop Me. Did you write for this album, how was the contributing process?

EH: We worked a hundred percent together on this. I locked myself in a dingy, hot garage for four months with these dudes, and producer Steve Evetts [The Dillinger Escape Plan, Sepultura] would come out and oversee the songs, and make sure it would all fit.

JA: How was it working with Steve?

EH: Amazing. He is such a genius. He is one of those dudes that wants you to understand that you don’t need all the electronics and digital bullshit to make a good sounding record. He knows how to take analog sound and make it sound huge. This record is huge. Drums are 100 percent natural, as well as guitars save for punch ins and edits. You can hear the flavor of each drum hit, you can feel the lick of each guitar strum, I love it. The mixing and the mastering is how he got such a big sound. He would run my voice, clean, through effects pedals and manipulate them as I recorded. The whole record is fluid and natural like that. I am really proud of the record, and I think everyone is really gonna like what we did on it.

August 2, 2014
Interview: Kthien of Erimha sits down with UL

With a band name derived from the Sumerian language, you know you are in for a treat before you even hear them. Erimha, or ‘army’ or ‘legion’ in Sumerian culture, has set a course to bring their haunting, melodic metal to the world. Starting from humble beginnings in Montreal in 2010, they quickly coalesced into a powerful sound and wrote and recorded their first full length, “Irkalla” by the end of that year. By 2013, their hard work and dedication put them in the sights of Victory Records, and they released their debut Reign Through Immortality in July 2013. In 2014, they were granted the opening slot on the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, among some of the best metal bands touring today. Jim and I were lucky enough to sit down with Kthien, the rhythm guitarist, when they came to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center with the festival. Still wearing the remnants of corpse paint from their set earlier, he had a lot to say on what it means to be a hard-working, up and coming band.

Erimha’s Kthien and ‘s Jeff Ayers back stage at Rockstar Energy Drink’s Mayhem Festival. Photo by Jim ‘JT’ Gilbert

Jim Gilbert: So you guys were on first today at the festival, how did that feel?

Kthien: Good! I mean, we understand our position in the lineup. It does suck sometimes, to have fans say they were stuck in line, [trying] to catch our set, but we always have a good crowd everyday. We just go out there, and do what we would do if there was five hundred people or if there was only five.

JG: You guys are the only black metal band on the festival. How is the vibe between bands? A lot of bands must be fans of black metal, right?

Kthien: Yeah, yeah. It’s a little weird, we have gotten attention from a couple of bands, being the openers on this fest. I think even fans too, people who have never seen this kind of music, they are coming up to us and saying, ‘Listen, you have opened up a whole different style to us that we can actually appreciate from here on in. Because, [black metal] still stays in the underground, and I’m surprised still to this day that, and maybe it’s because our name isn’t out there enough yet, but I’m surprised that we haven’t been hated on by the whole black metal community. We don’t really consider ourselves to be black metal.

Jeff Ayers: What do you consider yourself then?

Kthien: Just extreme metal. I mean we just stick it to that. We do have black metal influences, we have death metal influences…

JG: Who are some of your black metal influences?

Kthien: I would say it’s mostly a lot of the other guys in the band. There is a lot of Dissection, Dimmu Borgir, Watain, older Behemoth, and it could go all the way down to At The Gates. We are all different guys from different kinds of music. I am a lot more Led Zeppelin, old rock and roll, so I bring that touch a little more rock to the band. As much as we hate labels, we understand that we have to put one on the band. But in the future, it is never going to stop us from doing anything [in music].

JG: I get disgusted by genres because there are so many of them.

Kthien: Yea I agree. Someone asked us early on when we got on this tour what our take was on the lineup. I said that what I like about this festival is that it is all about metal. Who cares what style you play. All the bands talk behind stage, and no one cares if you play a bit more one way or the other, it’s all for the same reason. I think it’s cool to have a festival like this.

JG: I think that there is some much talent in black metal, and how musically gifted your style of music can be. People are not as aware of that, I believe.

Kthien: Thank you. Death metal is the sound and the aggressive part. What we consider a lot of what black metal is, you know in this band, is the ambience, and the lifestyle. I think that is where we bring in the black metal part to Erimha. Just how we live our everyday lives. How you decide to see things, how you decide to spend your time. None of us at home have TV’s, none of us really use social media, other than band related.

JG: Let’s talk about the metal scene in Montreal.

Kthien: Sure. I mean it’s really good. What’s weird is that we were lucky enough to want to start a band, get into a van and get out of there. As much as I think it’s scene is one of the best in Canada, and I would even put it up against a whole big part of North America as well, but at the same time, when you are an underground band and you are trying to play shows, and there is five underground shows in some very decent venues, you have to choose which gig you want to go to. You still end up playing to decent crowds, but when there are so many shows happening almost every night, you have to figure out a way to stand out. We had an issue in the beginning trying to land shows in Montreal. We are actually from fifty minutes south of the city, in Valleyfield, which is a small island off of Montreal. So we told ourselves, let’s just get in the van and get out and play shows. So we started playing shows in Ontario. We were accepted very well there and it was probably where we landed our first major shows. From there, we just decided, lets stay out of Montreal as much as we can and keep on the road and keep playing.

Erimha, Montreal Extreme Metal band, photo provided.

JA: Being in a big festival like this, big bands, corporate sponsors, publicists, how has that felt? Do they give the opening band a fair shake?

Kthien: What surprised me the most, coming into this festival, was that within the first day, I didn’t feel any different from say Cannibal Corpse, or anyone else. The whole team has been treating us so great. You know, playing a festival like this, you are asking yourself, ‘Will I be waiting in line, and some guy in Korn or whatever is gonna push you behind the line.’ But no, everyone has been treated the exact same way, and we are going to work so hard to get back onto this festival in the future.

JA: I am always interested in instrumentation, and I noticed when you started that you were a double guitar band with no bass. Was that a decision made from the get go, or one made out of circumstance?

Kthien: It really was just that way when we started. We had issues with bass players, and we decided to go out and play the first shows no matter what. Now, we have been a full lineup for over a year. We also have the guitarist who sessions with Vital Remains, Aaron Homma on this tour with us and we see what the future holds. For now, all the compositions we try to stick to the main guys no matter what. I’m guessing that might be an issue for, I don’t know how long, because we are extremely strict on what we want in this band. All of the main guys, we do not do anything else other than this. We are not living like gods or anything, and that was something we decided early on. Erimha and nothing else. It’s hard to find other guys who want to make that sacrifice.

JG: If this is the only thing you guys are all doing, how many days a year are you playing?

Kthien: We should have another tour lined up after this one, for October/November, and that will have us hit the 100-120 mark. That gives you a good idea on how we are living our lives outside of playing shows. Right now we are seven dudes touring in a van, no a/c. You sleep where you can. Usually we try to show up to venues early and I try to sleep either on top of the van or outside on a mattress on the sidewalk. Which has actually given us a good reputation with other bands. You have to start somewhere. To us, deciding to live our lives a certain way off the road, makes it easier to live on the road. You are doing a hundred percent of what you want to do.

JA: It’s definitely tough to be a touring band.

Kthien: Yea, but it’s awesome, too. It’s crazy. We joke around with some of the other bands, because some of them are complaining about problems with their tour buses or stuff like that, and then when you start talking about how you are touring and they are like ‘Holy Shit! You guys are doing this?” We don’t see it as anything, it’s just part of the whole process. The smartest decision to make in a band, it to get out there and tour in a van.

JA: You said you have seven with you right now. Are you touring with a roadie?

Kthien: Yea we have a merch guy. We call him Ace Boogie. He is the kind of guy you want on your team. I think they have it even more rough than us, because they are sacrificing just as much as us, but they don’t get to shake all the hands and meet the crowds. They are the guys in the corner actually taking a lot of weight off our shoulders, and I have a ton of respect for that. We had a tour manager too, but he had to leave us because he was under contract for some big productions in Quebec. But he decided to help us out for the first run of this tour. He helped take care of everything and making sure we headed out to merch after we played. Now we are just continuing to do what we do, working as a small team, and that’s our job.

JA: What do you have planned for after Mayhem?

Kthien: We are finalizing a tour for October through November, with two major headliners with full US/North American dates. We are really pumped to be on that because one of the bands have not played in some time.

JG: So could we speculate on who that might be?

Kthien: Even if you did, I couldn’t say who it is. But we are really pumped, really excited for this. We are trying to be out on the road as much as we can, and we have an awesome label who works their ass off. Seems like the whole ‘agent’ part of booking, I don’t know what you have to prove to these guys to make sure you are on the road, but that is what we are trying to do everyday. Whoever picks us up eventually will be a happy guy, and we will hopefully stay with them a long time.

JA: How is it being on Victory Records?

Kthien: One thing I like about this label is they have a lot of balls. You need to understand the industry is changing, you need to be on the road to make your name, and I think they realize that we have a certain market, and we need to step into this extreme market which has been exploding the last few years. All I have to say about the management at Victory is good stuff. When you sit down and talk to the team and see how many hours they put in, this is why we are with them. They are ready to put in as many hours as we are. If you go out and look at the promotion that is being done [on our behalf] the work speaks for itself.

JA: Again, thank you for taking the time to talk to us.

Kthien: Honestly, we appreciate you guys talking to us. I mean, I hold a lot back in interviews sometimes. But one thing I always say is that if in twenty years I am still sitting around being as friendly as we have been, then I believe I made it in music. I mean, we are talking to the guys from Cannibal Corpse, and they are giving us high fives back stage, and I have a lot of respect for that. Kids that are starting out, just picking up guitars or whatnot, look at us. We are just a few guys from a small area in Quebec and in four years here we are. Nothing is impossible, so keep it up.

JA: You do have the best outlook on this business: hard work.

Kthien: There are a lot of sacrifices, man. People that work 9 to 5 ‘s, and do four hours of traffic a day are sacrificing too. But we are lucky enough to do something that we have dreamt about.

http://www.victoryrecords.com/erimha

July 31, 2014
Mayhem Festival in Saratoga Proves That Rock Still Rules

Heavy music fans of all ages descended upon Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC), starting at 1PM on July 23. The first sounds of pounding drums signaled the opening of the Saratoga gates, ominous clouds added to the palpable intensity of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. Three stages adorned the lawn of SPAC, rows of tents flanked the main concourse. From the time the doors opened, until about 6:30PM, all three stages were in a constant rotation of hard-hitting, face-melting heavy rock and metal of all kinds.

The show kicked off with black metal newcomers, Erimha, a budding band from Montreal, playing on the Victory Records Stage. On paper they might seem out of place with the rest of the acts on the day long bill, but they were a good welcoming committee, setting the tone for the rest of the day. The tents were hot spots for patrons to meet and greet their favorite bands, before and after they played, and to pick up band merchandise as well as festival merchandise like T-Shirts, bandanas, and sunglasses. By 2:30, the crowd had already settled in for the day, flocking to each stage as new acts started their sets. Texas Hippie Coalition ignited the ColdCock Whiskey Stage with their southern heavy rock. At one point, lead singer Big Dad Rich claimed the lawn for his own, saying that anyone on it better raise their fist in acceptance. The crowd happily obeyed, and looks of joy and entertainment washed over the few hundred strong in attendance. Veil of Maya took the Sumerian Records Stage soon after and drew an even bigger crowd with their gigantic wall of sound.

The first ‘destination’ band of the day was definitely Mushroomhead out of Cleveland, Ohio. It seemed that everyone that was on the fringe of the stages or lost in the sea of tents during other acts all made the point to be in front of the ColdCock Whiskey Stage when the troupe of masked men started their performance. With multiple singers, crushing riffs, sound samples, and two powerhouse percussionists at the front of the stage, they ruled the crowd with ease. The second not-to-miss band of the day was undoubtedly Ice-T with Body Count. Strutting out on stage to the wail of guitars, Ice-T screamed, “Saratoga, we are moving right next door to ya!” and fired a (fake) gun into the air. Flanked on stage by his wife Coco and their two bulldogs, Ice-T whipped the crowd into a frenzied pit with classic Body Count songs, each getting a bigger response than the last. Rain started to fall finally during their set, and though it never became a torrential downpour, it helped to cool off the throngs of humans who had been dealing with the 80 degree heat and blacktop walkways all day long. Each of the three stages did a good job keeping the show running smoothly, with little to no down time between acts. By 6:00PM each stage’s headliners were finishing up their sets to satisfied crowds. The entire population turned its sights to the main stage, many taking their seats inside the amphitheater. Trivium and Asking Alexandria got great responses from their fanbases, a mostly younger audience, but the crowd grew bigger and bigger with all ages filling in the lawn. Parents taking their children to their first festival, or possibly first ever concert, and older couples reliving their youth with shirts they might have dug out of the back of their closets. All were enjoying the days festivities to their utmost potential.

By the time Korn took the stage, almost every seat inside was filled with people on their feet, the lawn was packed with fans, singing along with the opening song, “Falling Away From Me”. Playing hits from their extensive back catalogue, they stoked the fire that had been burning all day inside the rambunctious crowd. Favorites like “Freak on a Leash” and “Shoots and Ladders” complete with bagpipes, let the crowd join in the obvious fun the band was having on stage. With the return of Brian “Head” Welch last year, the band is back to its full original strength, and it shows. Lead singer Jonathan Davis crooned “You can’t bring me down” during one of their newest tunes, “Hater”, and he meant every word. They proved that they are still relevant in the ever changing world of heavy music, a landscape that they helped shape with set closer, “Blind” way back in 1993. Avenged Sevenfold are no strangers to holding the top spot, and they came out controlling the crowd from the start. They had a huge stage backdrop, reminiscent of a Dio fantasy, with large steps leading up to castle facades, and three arch ways with huge high definition screens. Showing animation and live feeds of the band members from the stage, the over the top scenery threatened to steal the show from the actual performers, but just barely. M. Shadows used his vocal prowess to capture the crowds attention, while guitarists Zacky Vengeance and Synyster Gates harmonic precision helped to keep hold. When the band finally touched on “Hail to the King”, the center screen opened up to reveal a towering animatronic Skeleton, complete with crown and sword upon a throne of skulls. A7X made sure that the culmination of a the day was brought on the wings of a nightmare, into the waiting ears of an eager audience.

Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival is now in its sixth year, and shows no signs of slowing down. Much like many of it’s predecessors, like Ozzfest and Family Values Tour, it is a haven for like-minded bands and fans to congregate and celebrate the heavy music and dark emotion filled culture they enjoy. If the thralls of happy faces throughout the day, or the inherent sense of camaraderie between musicians and fans is any evidence of success, then hopefully Mayhem will continue to return to Saratoga Springs, NY every year.

July 29, 2014
Gypsy Punk Icons Gogol Bordello Played Host to a Melting Pot of Fans

A small congregation of people waited outside of Upstate Concert Hall on Tuesday, July 22nd. Much smaller than one might suspect, on a night helmed by gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello. But, more people did show for the performance as the night went on, possibly in part for the ‘Upstate Common Sense’ on tap behind the bar, instilling in the 500 plus crowd a feeling of liquid camaraderie. Gogol Bordello has a reputation for bringing a combo platter of life together for an all-inclusive party atmosphere, and by the end of the night, this was exactly the case. The gypsy punk band, with members from all over the world, brought quite the spectacle to Clifton Park once again.

The show opened with the raucous energy of Man Man from Philadelphia. Experimental rockers at their core, they descended onto the stage with a wall of sound and main singer/keyboardist Honus Honus presiding over the crowd in a sparkling hooded cape and his trademark mustache. With a hurried explosion of notes, Man Man started their set with what sounded like the middle of it. Cheering along at full intensity immediately, the crowd fell right in step. The four-piece switched instruments constantly, and between horns, strings and percussion, they welcomed the masses into their chaos. Pow Pow the drummer acted as de-facto conductor for the band and the audience, keeping the White Stripes meets Frank Zappa vibe at peak energy the entire set. By the end, the crowd was hungry for more.

The crowd exemplified the feeling of the night — the idea that no matter who you are, you would belong, here, at this show. People shirtless with multicolored LED gloves, or fedoras over dreadlocks, or metal shirts and ripped jeans, all were welcomed and more. The lights dimmed and the crowd coalesced into one singular being, eager and willing as Eugene Hutz, the leader of Gogol Bordello, took the stage. He vocalized the feeling of the night and asked the audience, “Where did we leave off last time? Let’s pick it up right there.” He started the show alone, with a single spotlight for the aptly titled “Illumination”, with the entire band joining him by the end. They played their dirty, infectious gypsy grooves in expert fashion, from a band honed by constant touring.

The sound was great, allowing the crowd to pick out all the intricacies of the band, from the extra percussion, to the accordion and violin solos, to the subtle, but powerful, five-part vocal harmonies. The presence of Pedro Erazo and Elizabeth Sun, the band’s MCs, extra percussionists, and hype man and woman, add to the deliberate crowd control that Gogol emits. At one point, Hutz anointed the congregation with a bottle of wine as he sang “Immigraniada” and brought the audience to a fever pitch. They left the stage, and not a soul moved, waiting for instruction to proceed. The show had stripped the audience down to it’s innocence, and the band came back to emulate this, starting their three song encore with “Lost Innocent World”.

One thing can always be certain of a Gogol Bordello performance: it will be an experience to remember. One of the hardest working bands in the business, and it shows, they continue to enthrall audiences and provide tasty morsels of world-class rock, punk and folk to keep the audience eating right out of their hands.

Photo by Jim ‘JT’ Gilbert

Set List: Illumination, Ultimate, Rise Again, Wonderlust King, Dig Deep Enough, Other Side of the Rainbow, Companjera, TC Hustle, Immigraniada, Mishto, Rise the Knowledge, Malandrino, Purple, Pala Tute, Sun Is On My Side, Not a Crime.

Encore: Lost Innocent World, Alcohol, Think Locally.

July 25, 2014