In Part 2 of our chat with Richard Williams of Kansas, we discussed the new make up of the band, and how it made the difference their new album The Prelude Implicit. We also discussed their relationship with their label, touring, and when and if the band plans to retire at some point.Continue reading
Have you ever wanted to meet a guitar God? Here is your chance! Zakk Wylde has announced a select number of meet & greet appearances surrounding the launch of Wylde Audio at different Guitar Center locations next month. Continue reading
Boston’s sludge and doom metal merchants Rozamov are hitting the road next week with Moon Tooth on a tour that will take both bands through some new territories, surely making new fans. We caught up with the power trio recently to discuss the upcoming tour, the progress of their new album, their approach to songwriting, and that time when they saw Slayer warm up with a Journey cover:
Rozamov is hitting the road with Moon Tooth in June. What you most looking forward to for the tour?
Tom Corino: I’m most looking forward to getting to see a little bit of Canada and to play outside the country for the first time. I’ve wanted to get the band north of the border for a while, it feels great to be getting on the road again even for a short little run. It’s the first tour with Yianni so it’ll be a good way to see what it’s like to tour together with the new lineup too.
Matt Iacovelli Each tour has its own flavor and rhythm so it will be interesting to see how this group of people interact.
Yianni Tranxidis: For this short run, were most excited to visit Canada for the first time. This will be ours & Moon Tooth’s first Canada shows, so it’ll be an interesting experience to see how the shows will go.
After the tour, are you guys hitting the studio straight away, or are their more songs to write still for the new album? Can we expect the album in 2016, or next year?
Tom: We hit the studio last year and have the finished product ready to go. We recorded with Jon Taft at New Alliance East, which was a great experience. That studio is a great little room and Jon was great to bounce ideas off of. We’re working with a couple labels on different formats for release and we’re getting artwork and such together. It’s looking like an early 2017 release right now, we were hoping to get the record out this year but we didn’t want to rush anything considering how long vinyl turnaround can take these days. This way, everything will be out at the same time and no one will be left waiting around for vinyl to show up.
Matt: We are in the process of getting the artwork together.
Yianni: After this tour, we’re going to be writing more material, as well as finishing up the details for our upcoming album with Rozamov’s former drummer.
Matt: Hopefully it will see release early next year. We have some interested parties involved so things are looking good in that dept. I can’t give you any super specific details just yet.
The ‘Ghost Divine’ track from the split 7-inch with Deathkings was great, and seemed to mark a new direction for the band. Will hear more of that style?
Tom: ‘Ghost Divine’ is a lot faster than the material on the new record but the vibe from that song will certainly be present on the record. The new album is by far the heaviest collection of songs we’ve done to date, reflecting the 2014-2015 winter when a good chunk of the record was written. I know I certainly was not in a good place at that time, being buried under 110 inches of snow will do that, so it’s a pretty dark record.
Matt: Not as far as speed or delivery but maybe in feel and over all tone..Ghost Divine was a step apart from really anything we’ve done. In truth we were building a record around that very song, it got picked up by Ryan from Midnite Collective and the rest is history..but the new material is slower and more deliberate its a little more bleak, a little more doom that before.
Yianni: “Ghost Divine” was definitely a huge shift in sound for the band, as it incorporates a mixture of heavy, complex, and driving riffs, while still keeping the core of our Doom sound. A lot of dynamics, and rhythmic changes, which definitely pushed us to write something we haven’t written before. I believe that we’re a band that will always have something different to offer, so I wouldn’t be surprised if our future material will sound a lot like this, and pushing the boundaries even more.
What is the writing process like for the band? Is it a constant group effort, or do the individual members bring in their own material?
Tom: We usually write together in the practice space, it’s just the way Matt and I do best. Matt comes up with a good chunk of the original ideas for a riff and we’ll hash it out together in the space. Sometimes we bring in ideas that we’ve written on our own but a lot of those ideas either don’t fly or get dramatically changed in the room. Matt and I push each other to write stuff that’s interesting to the both of us and we can get pretty brutal on each other’s ideas. I think we both work best when we have someone to bounce ideas off of and to push someone in the right direction when they are onto something and struggling.
Matt: I think we just went for it and wrote 3 songs, as yet to be played live, they won’t see Canada this time. Every person has a personality so it will always change the vibe.
Yianni: In terms of the writing process, we all collaborate together. We’ll usually have one or two riffs that one of us have had, and bring them into the practice space, however we do a really good job at making fresh new riffs when we’re together. After that, we work on each segment, and figure out how we want to piece it all together. Being a new member, it’s always going to be interesting seeing how that will influence a band’s writing process, however when we work on riffs, we all talk about it together, and welcome ideas from all sides, so I’ve felt very welcome to bring my ideas to the tables.
You’ve had some turnover in the band the last few years, and now have a new drummer. With two longtime writing partners, how hard is it to incorporate a new person into the mix?
Tom: We try to always be writing. We were writing new material almost immediately after the recording sessions for the new record were over, before we had made the change behind the kit. Each change in the lineup has molded us and changed us as a band, and hopefully the same goes for those band mates. Yianni brings his own flavor to the band and allows us to try out ideas we’ve wanted to attempt but couldn’t before. We’re still getting used to him in a writing capacity so we’ll see where it ends up in the long run, but we’re just excited to bring a new outlook to the band.
Matt: It’s a constant group effort. I write a lot of the riffs but its a definite group deal. We are very serious about the sound and so we are brutal as fuck and… not every riff i write is good, honestly we kill more riffs than we keep.
The band has already shared the stage with some major acts and played a few large festivals. What is your favorite gig so far and the one gig to play or band in the world that is your dream to play with someday?
Tom: I’d say that my favorite show we’ve played so far was the Rubber Tracks gig with Slayer and Doomriders. I’ve been a fan of Slayer since I was in high school so to see those guys for the first time in a 500 cap room as the opening act was a dream come true. Playing with Doomriders was also absolutely great. Any day Nate Newton says your band was rad after your set is a good day in my book, and we’ve become friendly with those guys since.
Matt: Well Slayer and Pyscho (California) Fest were highlights for sure. Slayer had its own thing going, its own style and vibe. It was cool to see them sound check with some Journey….What?!
Yianni: Ever since I joined the band, we only played a couple of shows, however my favorite one was our show with Intronaut, Scale the Summit, and North, which was on March 30th at the Downstairs Middle East. That was a really fun time. I think the whole band would agree that sharing the stage with Mastodon would be a dream come true. We’re all very big fans of them, and highly influenced by their groundbreaking sound.
INTERVIEW BY KEITH CHACHKES
In Part 2 of Victoria Anderson’s interview with Wolf Hoffman of Accept, the legendary rocker discusses the bands first foray into making a live concert DVD, more details about the making of Blind Rage (Nuclear Blast), Wolf’s signature guitar, the challenges of touring and travel as a veteran band and detail about the next Accept album due n 2017. The band plays The Badlands Club, in Sioux Falls SD on March 3rd as part of their “Blind Rage World Tour”.
You are extremely busy because you have your very first live DVD and CD coming out. Why have you waited so long for Accept to put out a live DVD?
“When we first started we didn’t want to come out with one right away. We felt we didn’t have enough new material. We didn’t want to do something where we had five new songs on the DVD and the rest of it is old material. We wanted to wait until we had at least two new albums under out belts, so that’s kind of what we did. For Blind Rage there is a bonus edition with a complete live DVD available. So we actually did release a complete live show. It was filmed in Chile two or three years ago and that is part of the bonus, deluxe packaging of Blind Rage. So it is available, but we’ve never really had a stand alone DVD of just DVD concert footage. That is correct. And we have something in the can that might be released later on this year. We’re actually looking at the material right now and waiting for it to be edited. Then we’ll see whether or not we like it enough so that it is going to get released. But, in all likelihood, yeah, something is going to happen here.”
And then you have the documentary as well.
“Yeah, that’s been a long on-going project that still might be going for a few years. It’s really a, not so much documentary that’s going to be filmed, it’s more of a holding pen for everybody who has memorabilia, or any footage, or live tapes from whatever time. We’re just collecting that and one day we will release something; a history of Accept. I don’t know, something. It’s just because people always send us stuff and we never really knew what to do with it. Well all have a certain amount of stuff individually, but we wanted one central location where all this gets collected for all eternity.”
Speaking of eternity, your first album came out way back in that mythical time of 1979. How has recording and playing changed in thirty odd years?
“Well the technology has changed dramatically. The business, of course, has changed as we all know dramatically from the days of vinyl and cassettes and now it’s download and god knows what else next. But one thing really never has changed, the song writing aspect of it. It’s identical. A good song is still a good song. You can’t really ever change that with the technology. You can’t make that part any easier. The other part is the touring aspect is exactly like it was thirty years ago. You still have to go from A to B. You’re on a tour bus or on a plane. Set up your gear and play a show, just like you did back then. There are a few things that make life more easy but others get more difficult. Like traveling gets harder and harder. Air travel is not as much fun as it used to be.”
Really? Why is that?
“It’s a hassle with all the security checks. You can’t do this. You can’t do that. The room on the plane gets smaller and smaller. They don’t allow you to take your gear. Just ten, fifteen years ago you could take road cases or anything on a plane. Now a days you can’t. It was a lot easier to ship gear around the world and take your instruments and all your stuff. Now it’s harder and harder with all the security threats. Touring doesn’t get any easier. But the core principal is exactly as it was thirty years ago. You want to entertain people. You want to have fun on stage. You want to put on a good show.”
Part of a good Accept show is your guitar playing. I read you have a signature guitar through Framus. This guitar has a carbon fiber finish. What made you go with a carbon fiber finish?
“It’s just another cool idea that we worked on together. You know Framus is a German company. They not only make amazing instruments but they are really really good at finishing. The first one they made for me is reminiscent of a WWII bomber. It has an aluminum finish with rivets. It looks pretty authentic. They put one of those lady decals on there like the WWII bombers had. It’s mind blowing. It’s really really well done. This time around they just thought what else can we do. They came up with this idea to do a carbon fiber look. It looks amazing. You should see it up close. Way, way cool. So I’m very excited to work with Framus. They are the best guitar company I know.”
So when you aren’t doing music, and videos, and touring around the world, what do you do to occupy your time?
“I don’t really have any free time. As shitty as it sounds, it’s actually true. We work on this stuff pretty much nonstop. I either work on this classical stuff or work on Accept’s new songs. Now we’re writing songs for the new album everyday when we’re are not touring. I don’t have time for any hobbies or anything. I’m a photographer. If I had to name something, I still do quite a bit of photography. Even that I don’t have that much time for any more.”
CHECKOUT PART 1 OF OUR INTERVIEW HERE:
[amazon asin=B00KZMBK2&template=iframe image1]
I had the pleasure of sitting down with Wolf Hoffman, the guitar legend behind long running metal band Accept. After taking a sabbatical, they reemerged with three heavy hitting albums. The last of which was Blind Rage (Nuclear Blast) for which they are still on tour. The band starts a brief leg of US tour dates at the legendary Badlands Club, in Sioux Falls SD this week, on March 3rd.
Wolf, you are on part 5 of the Blind Rage tour. Why so many parts?
“Just because that’s just how life goes sometimes. We came to an end just before Christmas and everybody took a little break. It’s sort of dictated by the world we live in I guess. Nobody really tours through Christmas. We surely didn’t, so we all went home and here we go again.”
Are you playing any cities for the first time this tour?
“No, we did some dates when we first started the tour for Blind Rage about a year and a half ago we did a few shows in California and New York.”
For you, what is the appeal of touring so much?
“That’s what it’s all about at the end of the day, you know. You make records for people to enjoy them. But, at the end of the day you want to go out there and play those songs and get the experience of being in front of people. That’s really the end goal always you know. If you want to take this a step further, the record is just a necessary thing we have to do to make this happen. It’s just a means. It’s never the end goal to me, anyhow. Really, just make records to go on tour.”
Would you prefer being on tour all the time to making records?
“No, that would be a little too extreme I think. There are artists that do that. They only make a record every, I don’t know, five or ten years. But that’s a little extreme. I enjoy making records; don’t get me wrong. It’s just at the end of the day the fun is always on the road.”
You are touring on Blind Rage but you also have a new solo album out this year. Tell us about that.
“This has been in the works forever and ever. I’ve always been busy with Accept I always go into the studio for a week here or there for years and years that I’ve been working on this. It’s finally now over Christmas I had the time to put it all together and put it in the can, so to say, to get it out of my system. It’s a follow up album to one I did in 1987 where I took some classical pieces and metalled them up for guitar. I did the same thing again. This time I took well- known classical pieces and rearranged them completely for rock instruments. This time around I worked with an orchestra from Prague, the Czech Republic. That was an amazing experience just to go over there and work with these guys. It’s going to come out soon, late spring.”
How has writing and rearranging a classical album expanded your writing for Accept?
“I think it all helps. It’s actually quite mind blowing to see the details of what these grand masters from two hundred years ago what they’ve actually written. You see how timeless the melodies and pieces. They are so good, so well written. They are mind blowing. You think, hopefully a little bit of that rubs off on you. At the end of the day you can’t compete with that at all. I’m a metal guitar player doing my thing. It pales in comparison to what Beethoven or Mozart did before. But, I do it for fun because I love it. It’s a passion.”
Was the arranging and writing on your own easier or harder than the process writing with Peter (Baltes, Accept bass player)?
“I was lucky enough to work with a guy from Italy. He’s a good friend. He plays piano. He’s really good at string arrangements. He and I pretty much work together like I work with Peter. Where the two of us sit in a room and we just hash out these ideas and bounce the ball back and forth. It was kind of similar in that respect. Only obviously the medium was way different because he was the guy writing all the string arrangements. I would just sort of tell him how I was hearing things in my mind and he was translating it to orchestra speak. To me it’s interesting to see how not so different it is even though it is a totally different medium. There’s an orchestra and nobody is singing obviously. And these are old time compositions but at the same time, a lot of times there are segments that sounds like Accept somehow just because of the guitars and drums and all that.”
[amazon asin=B00KZMBK2A&template=iframe image1]
For most Metal fans, the 2016 Slayer, Testament, and Carcass tour may just “reign” as one of the year’s greatest, as the month-long North American excursion not only includes two Thrash Metal titans, but also marks the first outing in many years for the legendary Carcass.
Since 1985, Carcass’ raw-edged aural assault has ignited Metal fans and influenced scores of bands. With six albums under the band’s belt, the most recent being 2013’s critically acclaimed Surgical Steel (Nuclear Blast), Carcass are set to shred with stateside performances starting on February 22.
I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to speak with Carcass’ lead guitarist Bill Steer about the tour, as well as Carcass’ musical legacy, and he was kind enough to share some details.
First I’d like to talk your upcoming Slayer and Testament tour – how did this all come about and why tour now?
“Well, it’s probably surprising to learn the tour was initiated by agents talking to each other! The word reached us that there was a possibility we could play on this tour, and we couldn’t say no—if it was anybody else, we would have said no, but Slayer was the one band in our minds in this area of Metal music that we feel we could tour with without upsetting the audience!”
“We’ve seen Testament several times live, and have done festivals with them, but the touring thing has not happened before, so it’s going to be interesting for us—we’re not sure how accepting audiences will be of us, but it will be quite fresh for us as well.”
Can we expect a follow-up to Surgical Steel any time soon? And if so, how will the music differ from that album or other previously recorded efforts?
“Hmm, interesting question, really, because the new music will have to differ from the previous record to a degree, because you have to feel like the music going forward. With Surgical Steel, we had the advantage where people didn’t know we were working on an album until it came out, and expectations were low, which was great, because when the album came out, it was actually great, and it was surprising to many people.
When [Carcass vocalist and bassist] Jeff Walker and I get together and write music through, we’re going to have to walk a tight rope— writing music that’s identifiable, as well as breaking new ground.
We do have a couple of songs tucked away—the momentum just picked up, and at the start of last year, we got together and worked on a handful of tunes, and we’re excited with some of the things we were working on. When we have a quiet time this year, in 2016, we’ll look into the stuff more carefully. “
Quite honestly, Carcass are legendary and helped shape and hone a sound—do you ever think about the influence you’ve had on other Metal and Grind bands?
“I’d rather just “grind” on with what we do, because thinking too hard about your place in the scheme of things…. that’s just confusing and a distraction—and, you can’t really stop being self-critical. In my view, if you get self-satisfied, it leads to complacency. That’s not good for anyone in any genre. “
“Occasionally, people are very nice to say those things to us—about being legendary—and that’s good to hear, but you’re only as good as your last gig and your last album.”
Are there any Carcass albums or songs you’re particularly proud of?
“From the initial phase of the band, I’d have to pick the obvious, which is Heartwork. I remember quite clearly feeling really delighted with the sound we got on the album, as it was the first time we got anything we were looking for in the studio that coincided with really good writing. The music on that record…that’s the most pleasing stuff we did at that time. “
“I’m quite fond of the two song songs on Heartwork EP—they were bashed out pretty quickly. We had a couple of B-sides, and I’m quite fond of those. As for other stuff, well, I’m still pleased with Surgical Steel. I can critique it, but it feels like a big achievement since we had so much stacked against us—doing something most people wouldn’t like—but we overcame the obstacles, and I just like the stuff on the record—it’s a hell of an album.”
On the forthcoming Slayer tour, will your set list focus on newer Carcass music, or include some of the older stuff as well?
“I would say this is a different situation for us than when we were a headlining act, where a large chunk of the audience is familiar with our music. On a tour like this one with Slayer, there’s going to be so many people every night who don’t know anything about us, so we need to comprise a 30-minute set that is hard hitting…we’ll be chewing that one over. But, the set is probably going to lean more towards the middle period of the band and music from Surgical Steel.”
How do you feel Carcass has evolved musically and lyrically from album to album?
“The lyrics remain Jeff [Walker]’s 100 percent from my perspective—he gets very focused on something, and I think the lyrics he came up with on Surgical Steel were brilliant—easily the best to date.”
“The music thing is definitely more organic—I just have bunch of riffs, and we take them into the rehearsal space. Surgical Steel was quite straight forward. We hadn’t worked on Carcass material for so long, but we decided the music was going to have styles from all eras of the band. I was hearing some stuff that harkened back to the very early Carcass days, and it wasn’t out of place. It was a cool thing to do because looking back it made sense, it was quite harmonious, but any music we write now has got to move forward.”
Anything else Carcass fans can expect from the band this year?
“We’ve got a few festivals in the diary—I’d like to keep up our live chops, which means playing from time to time. I’d like to have a large chunk of rehearsal space time—if we’re going to make a new record, I don’t want to waste anyone’s time.”
[amazon asin=B010VPEZ5O&template=iframe image1]
For veteran guitarist Jona Weinhofen, his musical journey has come together at a good time as his recently resurrected band I Killed The Prom Queen will be spending the summer on the Vans Warped Tour.
I Killed The Prom Queen is the band he founded back in Adelaide, Australia in late 2000 until 2008. Weinhofen landed an opportunity to join Orange County metallic hardcore outfit Bleeding Through (2008-9), with whom he recently also took part on one of their final shows at the Glass House in Pomona, CA. He later joined British modern metallers Bring Me The Horizon (2009-13) until he parted ways with them to do I Killed The Prom Queen again.
“It was real coincidence that I played those Bleeding Through shows. I just happened to be in town at the time and they needed someone to do those shows. It was fun,” he said.
He also talked about what led to their hiatus and the new members who helped revamp the new lineup.
“We had a bunch of issues the first time around. I think we let it sit around for enough time to where we’re all passionate enough to come back to it. We have a somewhat new lineup with a couple of new members. We reinvented the band a little bit. It keeps it a bit more fresh. It’s myself and Kevin [Cameron, guitars], who are the main songwriters since the second EP (2003’s I Killed the Prom Queen / Parkway Drive: Split CD).”
“It was cool having us two who are the core sound of the band and couple of new guys bringing in a fresh influence when it comes to writing and how we sound live. Plus having a couple of new guys makes touring fresh and different as well. The new guys – Jamie [Hope] our vocalist, Ben [Coyt] our bassist and Shane [O’Brien] our drummer – have been playing in other bands but we’ve known them for years. It wasn’t like we were getting some random guys in the fold and saying ‘let’s see how touring goes’ and ‘see if we hate each other.’ They were like dudes we were friends with for years.”
Jamie Hope of I Killed The Prom Queen.
While Weinhofen is now based on Southern California, his band mates are scattered around the globe.
“Three of guys currently live in Melbourne, Victoria, even though the band is from Adelaide. Our drummer Shane lives right outside of Birmingham in England, in a place called Wolverhampton. He met a girl there. I live here in California in Orange County. I lived here previously when I was a member of Bleeding Through. I have a bunch of friends here. I actually met a girl here as well, and coupled with the fact that Epitaph Records is based out here and our management company has an office here in LA now. Our booking agency has always been here in LA. It’s always been cool having me on the ground here and in between the rest of the band getting things going in the US.”
Jona Weinhofen on I Killed The Prom Queen.
While I Killed The Prom Queen is making its Warped Tour debut, Weinhofen has previously taken part on this with Bring Me The Horizon and had positive experiences.
“This is my second Warped Tour but first time with I Killed The Prom Queen. I’m stoked to be part of it again. I think it was 2010? We have just recorded There Is A Hell. I remember showing the guys from Parkway Drive around while we were on that tour. We weren’t actually playing any material from it yet but it was an awesome time.”
“It’s five years later so I don’t know really what’s changed. I heard there’s comedians on it this year and all sorts of different demos on it. I think the core of it will be pretty much the same thing. I’ve always loved the Vans Warped Tour.”
Aside from performing on the tour, he shares his first time attending as a fan.
“I actually went to the Vans Warped Tour in 1998 in a town called Ulladulla in New South Wales in Australia, which is when they first brought it out to Australia. Deftones played with Suicidal Tendencies. I’ve been around the tour since I was teenager, and have been a part of the tour. I know what it’s like to be on the tour. I don’t think there will be that much difference between 2010 and 2015. I know that the barbecues are always fun and hanging out with your mate’s bands you get to be on the tour together, and finding weird watering holes, bike tracks and mini motorcycles. That’s the stuff I look forward to. That’s the social side to the band. The performances themselves will be amazing. It always is.”
So what should fans expect to see from I Killed The Prom Queen this summer? “We’re gonna be flying a full spread of really old stuff, stuff from Beloved, which is our most recent album, and a couple of new songs as well.”
Doom metal lords YOB have hit the road on a tour of the US, continuing to tour behind last year’s astounding Clearing The Path To Ascend (Neurot) release. Ghost Cult Chief Editor Keith Chachkes caught up with front man Mike Scheidt recently to preview the tour with Enslaved, Ecstatic Vision and Witch Mountain. Mike also chatted about touring in general opening for Tool in arenas versus small clubs.
Mike started our chat with some kind words about Enslaved and his being a fan of theirs:
“I’ve listened to Enslaved… I think the first album was Eld (Osmose), the first full-length album. I did have an Emperor/Enslaved album on CD as well. Over the years they have changed on pretty much every record. I am a big fan. My favorite is Monumension, and Below the Lights and Eld still hold a real candle for me. Mardraum (Beyond The Within) too. We are definitely fans of them. We got to see them one time at Roadburn, which was mind-bogglingly good. So just being able to go out with them is an honor for sure.”
Witch Mountain, playing a western US run of dates with YOB, holds a special place for Schiedt from a personal and professional standpoint.
“We’ve probably played with Witch Mountain 40 or 50 times. Our very first Portland show YOB ever played was with Witch Mountain played. So we have very old roots there. And their drummer Nathan Carson owns Nanotear Booking, and he has been booking us for the better part of 10 years too.”
Speaking about the coast-to coast spanning tour of North America, he was reflecting on the cities and people: “We have a lot of friends all over the place. I think in most places we are playing we have people we are stoked about seeing, as well as playing for all the people coming to see us, and making new friends, of course. Los Angeles, we have a lot of friends down there. Same with Seattle and Victoria, British Columbia. Vancouver. Chicago, we have a lot of friends in Chicago. We haven’t played Boston in a while so it will be great to play there again. We have a lot of good friends in Little Rock Arkansas, and Austin too. We haven’t been to Toronto or Montreal since 2011, so it’s gonna be great to go there. I don’t think there is one city we aren’t really excited about on this tour.”
Speaking about the challenges of touring, Mike offered up this assessment of YOB’s time opening for Tool.
“We toured with Tool for two weeks, and that was kind of like jumping out of an aeroplane without a parachute every night. Still, we just approached it… our view of it was “these guys picked us”. Some of those guys are our friends too, and they picked us for a reason. So we totally just threw every calorie of energy into our set. Arms raised, screaming. Instead of a 500 person club, it was a 20,000 person arena. We didn’t change anything about what we do. It just takes a little bit longer to connect with the room, that’s it. We were ready to be booed every night. We didn’t get booed, but I think some people were clapping that we were getting off stage! (laughs) It was just a crazy scenario to accept that we would even be in a place like that. But who knows?”
“We’re getting ready to go out with Enslaved, and some of their crowd is, I’m sure, not our crowd. The work of the band is two-fold. Of course we want to be received well. It’s also personal work. There’s stuff that we do, and stuff that we do for ourselves. It’s a discipline. We climb onto the stage and climb into ourselves. We climb into us and we let the music take us where it takes us. We want to share that with anyone who wants to come on that ride. Whatever happens is fine. We have no control over that. All we can be is ourselves.”
WORDS BY KEITH CHACHKES