Untied States of Grace

A friend on my extended sojourn abroad; "You know, you could fail miserably, falling higher than you ever imagined, coming back as a broken man."

My reply, without hesitation: "I'm strangely comfortable with it."

My Dying Bride - Andrew Craighan Interview

The grandfather of gloom; Andrew Craighan of My Dying Bride chats candidly with me about his new album, For Lies I Sire, tours, the happy side of doom metal, the past, the present and of course, the future.

---
Crushtor.net: Hey Andrew, how are you? Where are you based at the moment?

Andrew Craighan: I’m quite well thank you. I’m in South Leeds in Yorkshire.

C: Touring? Or just relaxing?

Andrew: Well, there’s no shows planned until the end of May. Well, I’m just relaxing as I might do on, well, this is a Wednesday evening here in England. Just having a quick beer and talking to you lovely people.

C: Well, let’s get started. My Dying Bride (MDB) are one of the first doom bands that emerged on the scene that are still committed to the style. As the “father” of the style, what has kept you together with the “baby” that you’ve now raised from infancy and into maturity while others have shunned the style such as Paradise Lost or Anathema as time went on?

Andrew: The major difference as to why we’ve stayed as we were boils down just after the release of 34.788% Complete. I know we don’t have a lot of time so I’ll try to condense this as best as possible and try and have it make sense.

C: (Laughs) Okay. No worries.

Andrew: Calvin (Robertshaw, former guitarist) left the band. Just prior to that we lost Rick (Miah, former drummer) and Martin (Powell, former keyboardist and violinist) so we were down to fifty percent of the original band in a flash; within 18 months or something like that. The remaining three was myself, Aaron (Stainthorpe, vocalist) and Adrian (Jackson, former bassist) and we said ‘What do we do, this is a catastrophe.’ From a line-up point of view, well, I thought anyway. I wasn’t keen on the idea, but they said ‘we’ll keep going; we’ll keep the name and just continue.’

From this decision making episode, we resolved ourselves to remain doom metal or death metal or whatever you want to call it. It’s going to be bleak, it’s going to be dark, we’re going to be as horrible as we can be and we’re going to be true to the name My Dying Bride from this point forward. No compromise. We’re not interested in anything else, this is who we are and this is what we will do. I think that deliberate decision making back then in 1997 or ’98 has made us who we are. Where as Paradise Lost and Anathema had never been through that; they continued on their progression through various musical styles; for their own reasons, I don’t know what they are.

Andrew continues and allows us a brief insight into the renaissance of MDB.

Andrew: I can certainly remember having the meeting. Without doubt, we sat there and put the cloaks on so to speak; it became a much darker atmosphere around the band and music from that point forward. We’ve sometimes wandered from the path musically in various songs but for the most part we’ve try to keep true to that. I think [the meeting] was without doubt the turning point towards the dark side, if you will, without sounding too cliché. But I guess that’s it.

C: Let’s talk about your new record, For Lies I Sire.

Andrew: Okay. (pause) Which bit? (laughs)

C: I haven’t heard it yet, so I wouldn’t know where to start!

Andrew: Well Okay, I’ll give you some pointers. We reintroduced the violin, which we haven’t used since Like Gods of the Sun, for over ten years. It was a pretty tricky decision because in the beginning, we felt that the violin was an instrument that was very difficult to replace. So if you can imagine when Martin left, we didn’t have one for so long. On this record, it seemed like the right time to bring it back. It was mainly because no one asked us if we were going to. Well, if no one’s asking us to then it makes it our idea again. It just felt like the right time, truth be told. The LP, is kind of – without making it sound obvious and boring – it’s the epitome of what MDB is; it’s brutal in places and massively heavy; almost aggressive, almost horrible in places.

But it’s like that all for the right reasons. It’s as bleak as MDB have ever been, it’s not just boring music either like, ‘Oh my god here comes another riff change after twenty minutes of the same note.’ Its still very musical. It’s typically MDB but without going ‘oh, we don’t need to hear it then, because we already know what they sound like.’ There’s something to this one that I can’t quite put my finger on. To be fair, its probably the most complete record we’ve done musically; everything is in the right places and it all seems to make sense. It’s still very miserable. It’s sort of…sickeningly morose in places. Also it’s overly aggressive for the sake of it in some places.

C: MDB have always had a rich, romanticist, literary tradition. Does the band still draw inspiration from literature? Or other types of art? What’s your creative process like?

Andrew: Well, it’s pretty straightforward really. For me, from the musical sense, I don’t get involved with the lyrics apart from minor stuff here and there; everything influences you, there’s no sort of mystery to it. I don’t just sit in a dark corner and think morbid thoughts and come up with riffs all day. Your life is just one continual collection of influences. I was mentioning earlier to another chap, I guess in MDB its sort of like practicing for real misery. Like, what will I really do when it happens to me? So I was always kind of playing the part, and that’s where the inspiration for me used to come from. Its sort of like we said ‘let’s write something miserable and pretend we understand.’ Then when real tragedy came, and you felt really miserable, genuinely miserable, genuinely upset, there was no inspiration at all. The spark was gone for music and the spark was gone for creating music. When you regain your senses again, I found that writing and playing this music was a great joy.

The influence to do it is because it pleases me. Greatly. I love this style of music. It’s morose and, I’m not a psychologist so I don’t know what that says about me and I don’t understand why, but I draw great pleasure from playing and recording with this outfit. Sounding like this…nothing makes me smile wider. The more miserable we sound, the better I feel.

C: So it’s not a cathartic thing for you, it’s a genuine pleasure.

Andrew: Yeah, I love it. No question about that. If we get something and we go ‘fuck me, that is morose’ or ‘that is heavy’ because we’re primarily a heavy metal band which is something I love, and if we think we’ve come up with something that we would consider ‘uber-doom’ which is ‘beyond doom’…it’s just misery itself and just breaks you in half immediately…we’re over the moon! You know, because this is going to piss everybody off and make them upset. I mean, it seems to work. We’re not the only ones who seem to like this stuff.

C: Well doom metal certainly has a following, there’s no doubt about that. Even for myself, I own a few of your records, and as ‘depressing’ as they sound, I still enjoy them quite a bit.

Andrew: Well, fair enough; every time you put the CD player on, MDB isn’t the band you always go to. I’m the same; I don’t do this twenty-four hours a day. If you’re in that particular zone and you’re in that particular mood, and make sure it’s a good one. Just don’t put one on when you’ve fallen out with your girlfriend. (laughs)

C: Yeah, well...I sort of actually did that once. But let’s move on.

Andrew: (laughs) Yeah kids, don’t try that at home.

C: (laughs) You should put a warning sticker on your albums; do not play during a break up, etc., etc.

Andrew: To be fair, it would probably cause such controversy and double the sales on them and ruin everything.

C: How so?

Andrew: If we ever got into the mainstream limelight it would kill the band. Its due to the fact we’re still very much an unknown quantity; people have heard the name but not everybody knows about us and I think that’s part of the attraction.

C: Talking about that, being an underground band and having stuck with your label, Peaceville, right from the beginning, they seem to be a musician’s label and a music fans’ label, treating them both with the same level of respect. Would that be an accurate assessment?

Andrew: It’s not far away to be honest. They understand what MDB and the other bands on the roster are all about. They don’t ask their bands what they don’t want to do. They don’t take us aside and ask us ‘can you please shorten that song to a three-minute hit, please?’ That would be ridiculous, clearly we’re not the band for you if that’s what you want. They don’t hassle us about artwork or titles or lyrics. They know that they’ve got MDB and that it has its own appeal and it has its own little market somewhere and they’re happy with that. Its the same with the other bands on the roster. So that’s perfect for us.

We haven’t stuck with Peaceville just because of that. Our contract has come up maybe two or three times through the course of our career and we’ve had offers from various other labels. They’ve always been the best one. It’s just that simple, for many many different reasons. They’ve always offered the band; as far as we’re concerned, the best deal and they pretty much leave us to just get on with it. I mean, who wants to be hassled by a record label? They’re not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but as a record label they’re probably the right one for us. We have no intention of changing in the near future.

C: Have you ever wanted to tour Australia?

Andrew: Yeah. Well, its getting to the point where we can’t avoid it. We’ve been asked a number of times and as I’ve mentioned, it’s not financial, it’s not the money that stops us – we get good offers, even as an underground band, we get offers that certainly make it financially viable, to get there and back without spending any of our own money, at least. Its time. That’s the killer. There’s six members in the band plus certain members of the crew we can’t leave behind. Its getting them all together at one point and saying ‘right, we have so many shows to do, and we have to get there and back’ But yes, we’re on our way and without doubt its going to happen. I just can’t tell you when.

C: This year, next year?

Andrew: Please don’t hold me to this, but we’re hoping to be there in the next eighteen months to two years, which is still a massive amount of time. But, considering how long we’ve been going it’s only a minute away.

C: Well, maybe one more question, if the operator doesn’t scold us.

Andrew: She’s pretty cool, actually.

Operator: It’s okay.

C: (laughs) You’re still there! I’d thought you’d left!

Andrew: We’re on first name terms.

C: Well, how have you reacted personally to the term “doom metal” being claimed by the post-hardcore / progressive movement [like bands such as] Electric Wizard or The Sword or what have you? Do you still call that “doom?”

Andrew: I have no idea who the fuck those two bands are.

C: (laughs) They call themselves “doom” but, at least when I think of “doom” I think of the crushing, heavy, oppressive sound. They’re also calling themselves “doom” bands.

Andrew: They certainly don’t register on my doom radar if you know what I mean. Before I make any stupid comments about them I need to listen to them. Doom has so many different faces right now. They may genuinely be a form of doom, it might not be quite how I understand it. I heard about one of these bands supporting someone recently and they seemed to be quite high up the bill and I thought ‘well, I’ve never heard of this outfit.’ But you mentioned their name again. What I’ve always expected is for an American band to turn up and be doom metal and go straight to the charts in mainstream music as “doom.” But some doom bands that have been plodding along for twenty-five years, thirty years get nothing. Then they get classed as “old school doom.” As opposed to the “new wave of doom.” For me, that would be a travesty and a tragedy for the word “doom” to be used in that way. As “pop.”

C: It’s been great talking with you Andrew, I hope to see you in Australia soon.

Andrew: It’s been a pleasure. And I’m not just saying we’re going to tour for the sake of it. It’s something on the cards, its going to happen.

---
© Tom Valcanis / Crushtor Media Services, All Rights Reserved. Posted with permission.

No Country for Tired Ideas

An excerpt from an upcoming article for ETC. on "Working Families: Who Are You? The General Semantics of the Rudd Labor Government."
---

When Mr. Rudd mentions his commitment to "fiscal conservatism", we find ourselves drowning in a semantic ocean, with the droplets that fall into it represented by two undercurrents of mainstream political economic thought. During the previous election campaign, the estimates of the Labor Party's proposed spending was a number significantly less than the Liberal Party. A cleverly (if not deliberate) tactic to confuse the referential index of voters, which equate "fiscal conservatism" with free-market oriented policies, a balanced budget and tax cuts, etc. By the same virtue, "fiscal conservatism" could also mark back to a time when of Social Democratic-Liberal consensus that allowed for broad, interventionist economic strategies; a policy enacted during the tenure of our longest serving Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menzies. This economic policy let him and his successors from the Liberal Party to rule continuously from 1949 to 1972 (Splits in the Labor Party and the tarring of the ALP with the "communist" stick by opponents notwithstanding).

The point that Rudd and Treasurer Wayne Swan attempt to convey is that "fiscal conservatism" "is" responsible, job-friendly, growth-oriented, etc. while distancing the term from being identified as or associated with "economic rationalism" (a term equivalent to "Reaganomics" or "monetarism", used heavily in the 1980s) which can be viewed as "radical" or "unsafe", etc. or, if one was to see it through a two-valued orientation, "not conservative."

Selling Out

Well, I need to make extra money if I want to travel and set up my media empire over in the States. Rupert Murdoch did it, why can't I?

Got a few more interviews to put up here, including the full, unedited transcript with Andrew Craighan of My Dying Bride that chronicles the decline, a brief interregnum and rise again of one of doom metal's most prolific pioneers.

Of course, I'll be releasing older material from the archives as well as updates on my many other projects. Oh, and Easter? What's that? I saw Steve Coogan yesterday at the Forum; why they don't give him some sort of award for just being himself is beyond me.

Edguy - Jens Ludwig Interview

Here’s me thinking that a rock star never got out of bed until the clock was at least into the double digits.

“It’s 9:40 in the morning over here,” confesses Jens Ludwig, lead guitarist for Germany’s power metal darlings (or goofballs; it really depends on your point of view) Edguy. I heartily apologized for awaking him so early, but he didn’t seem to mind.

“I usually get up at eight o’clock.” Really? Is that the waking time for a rock star of such a caliber?

“It really depends, but I have a dog that really needs to go out.” Well, you can’t ignore the thunderous yelps of a caged canine for too long, can you?

Pet maintenance aside, Jens presumably beamed with pride while talking about Edguy’s new album, Tinnitus Sanctus while relaxing at home in Germany. Jens, Tobi (Tobias Sammet, lead vocalist) and co. also had a great time thrashing out the jams for this disc, with a lenient tour schedule affording them a more relaxed and comfortable experience than ever before.

“The recording went pretty smooth,” he says. “We had a big time window to record it so we didn’t record everything in, let’s say, three weeks, but over a period of two months. For example, Dirk (Sauer, guitarist) and I laid down our guitar parts in three sessions, which only took three days. But we had enough time to lay down vocal parts and additional arrangements and try out different things too [in that time]. It was all pretty relaxed, but we also focused on the more important things.”

Nevertheless, two months, let alone three weeks seem to be a pretty tight turnaround for the creation of a sterling metal album with symphonics and other flashy sonic nuggets that a discerning ear may pick up.

“Well, it depends on how much material we have,” Jens says as he gets down to explaining the finer aspects of an Edguy album recording.

“For the previous albums, Rocket Ride and Hellfire Club, we also had two EPs to produce for each album (one each), so we had sixteen to eighteen songs to record. This time we only had eleven
songs, so it was much less work. (laughs)

“But it was better to focus on these eleven songs instead of trying to get fifteen or sixteen songs done in the same amount of time, since we had so much belief in the album.”

They also hope fans to believe in the album more so than the singles since the radio and TV coverage of metal is lamentable at best, even so in the seemingly metal-mad continent of Europe as Jens explains.

“If you’re producing a single and you want to get it to the radio, it has to be played in some underground radio station or on some stations that, lets say, have the ‘metal hour’ maybe, once a month? It’s just a waste of promotion money.

“Sometimes there might be a couple of hours a week [dedicated to metal] and only the metal fans listen to it anyway, and they already know that the album’s going to be released because they are reading the magazines and all that stuff as well. You don’t reach anybody new with radio.”

It’s always been hard for metal to crack a new market in the face of such stiff competition, but Jens’ attitude gives it a positive spin; that metal fans are more appreciative of their genre due to its scarcity of mainstream attention.

“I think it’s good the way it is; it’s never been different with this kind of music. Its good for the fans of metal, since they don’t get any new material from radio or television they have to look out and they have to really pay attention for what’s going to be released, and they really look for material that they like.

“That means they’re going to be fans of your band for the future as well, not [treating your music] as just some throwaway article.”

With new albums come new tours; Jens sounded pumped to begin his eight week European tour (that just might encompass the land down under, if all goes well) that started in January.

“After we finish that European tour we’re going to start a world tour,” Jens excitedly tells me.

“We’re going to start in Russia, then take in Asia, then, hopefully go to Australia, because I would really love to come back there once again. I’ve been there twice already, and every time was so great there, so I hope that it’s going to happen this time.”

“After that we cross the date line and go to South America, and then after that we’re just going to see what’s going to happen.”

“There’s nothing confirmed yet,” he says confidently, “but be sure we’re working on that.”

---
© Tom Valcanis / Crushtor Media Services, All Rights Reserved. Posted with permission.

Chimaira - Rob Arnold Interview

Here's a chat I had with Rob Arnold of Chimaira just prior to departing on their two month US tour; be sure to read Buzz Magazine next month for more Chimaira news!

---
A phage is spreading across the metal realm and it about to be released by metalcore pioneers Chimaira. Their latest album, The Infection and its accompanying sensory onslaught seeks to instill a sense of dread from every direction, taking on a dirge-like quality that invokes the bleak and inevitable. However Rob Arnold, founding lead guitarist didn’t have plans for such a grandiose, conceptual piece; he tells us it “sorta just happened.”

“We go into every record saying ‘let’s see what happens when we get together and start writing,’” he straight-forwardly confesses. “That sludgier, sort of doomy more brutal sound was just what was swirling [around our heads] at the time.”

The record’s genesis began rather unceremoniously in the back of a tour bus with Mark and Rob setting up a makeshift studio during the latter stages of their Resurrection world tour.

“We set up a studio in the back lounge of the tour bus at the end of the Resurrection cycle [of tours] and we said ‘Hey, its about time we wrote a new record.’ So, on the first day we got it all together, got my guitar plugged in and the first riff played was the opening riff to the song Try to Survive. Its just got this cool groove. (starts to sing song) It’s got this cool heavy vibe to it.

“We liked it and we finished up that song that night. The other guys were popping their heads in there and saying ‘Hey, that sounds cool.’ We just knew we were on to something. It just really set the tone for the rest of the tunes.”

And they were written similarly quickly; the “first seven songs were written over the course of a month, on the rest of that tour,” Rob reveals. “The whole process probably took around three months or so.”

Even though the buzz around the record has been momentous for the band in their eleven year career, the no-nonsense Rob doesn’t seem to see it. He insists that the recording took place under routine circumstances, even enlisting former keyboardist Ben Schigel to handle the production again.

“[Ben] has been our long time friend and producer [who’s] done a bunch our stuff. We had all the songs written and we just went in and did our thing. There wasn’t anything really special about the recording.”

The Infection, when released on the 21st of April, will feature a ton of goodies and bonuses for fans; those who are lucky enough to snag the first 580 “metal briefcases” will also receive a flag, a DVD documentary and a syringe shaped USB stick with demos, pictures and other bonus tracks among other merchandise. (“We had to sign about 100 of them” Rob tells me, “we had a little assembly line going in our practice space”) Rob’s involvement was limited to playing the songs on the record and giving a final tick of approval to the finished artwork.

“Mark and Chris, our singer and keyboard play have a ton to do with that stuff. I’m the kind of guy where they make the stuff and they show it to me and then I’m like ‘Hey, that looks good.’ Those guys are heavily involved in the artwork and every concept of what goes on with each record and they work real closely with [label] Ferret Records and their team.

“They always make cool looking stuff. Its just for fans that like something a little extra special.”

Constantly on the road, Chimaira certainly aren't afraid of a little hard work with Rob describing their touring schedule as "definitely intense", especially when they've begun writing on tour.

"We're gone for the long part of the year and we don't get to spend much time at home. But that comes with the territory. We're a metal band and we have to get out there and work it. We have to rely on the word of mouth; play as many shows as you can and get as many people to see you as possible.

"In metal, you can't really rely on radio at all, so this something we know we have to do. For ten years now it's been write a record, record it, tour on it. Now, like you said, we're even writing while we're already on tour."

Despite the fatigue of the road (and sea), Rob and the crew are already psyched up to play Australia and New Zealand again.

“We had a great time last time and we’re really looking forward to coming back in [Autumn.] Our last show with Korn was in New Zealand and we’re really excited to go back.”

---
© Tom Valcanis / Crushtor Media Services, All Rights Reserved. Posted with permission.

A Wit Unparalleled

In my view, I have never once read a finer exposition on the U.S., or rather Western liberal democracy and how we "see" and "live" in it. Truly remarkable. Allow yourself a few moments to savor.

"Corporations fill but one cage in a large menagerie. Let us glance at some of the other queer creatures created by personifying abstractions in America. Here in the center is a vast figure called the Nation -- majestic and wrapped in the Flag. When it sternly raises its arm, we are ready to die for it. Close behind rears a sinister shape, the Government.. Following it is one even more sinister, Bureaucracy. Both are festooned with the writhing serpents of red tape. High in the heavens is the Constitution, a kind of chalice like the Holy Grail, suffused with ethereal light. It must never be joggled. Below floats the Supreme Court, a black-robed priesthood tending the eternal fire.

The Supreme Court must be addressed with respect or it will neglect the fire and the Constitution will go out. This is synonymous with the end of the world. Somewhere above the Rocky Mountains are lodged the vast stone tablets of the Law. We are governed not by men but by these tablets. Near them, in stain breeches and silver buckles, pose the stern figures of our Forefathers, contemplating glumly the Nation they brought to birth. The onion-shaped demon cowering behind the Constitution is Private Property. Higher than Court, Flag, or the Law, close to the sun itself and almost as bright, is Progress, the ultimate God of America.

"Looming along the coasts are two horrid monsters, with scaly paws outstretched: Fascism and Communism. Confronting them, shield in hand and a little cross-eyed from trying to watch both at once, is the colossal figure of Democracy. Will he fend them off? We wring our hands in supplication, while admonishing the young that governments, especially democratic governments, are incapable of sensible action. From Atlantic to Pacific a huge, corpulent shape entitled Business pursues a slim, elusive Confidence, with a singular lack of success. The little trembling ghost down in the corner of Massachusetts, enclosed in a barrel, is the Taxpayer. Liberty, in diaphanous draperies, leaps from cloud to cloud, lovely and unapproachable.

"Here are the Masses, thick, black, and squirming. This demon must be firmly sat upon; if it gets up, terrible things will happen .... Capital, her skirts above her knees, is prepared to leave the country at the drop of a hairpin, but never departs. Skulking from city to city goes Crime, a red, loathsome beast, upon which the Law is forever trying to drop a monolith, but its aim is poor. Crime continues rhythmically to Rear Its Ugly Head. Here is the dual shape of Labor -- for some a vast, dirty, clutching hand, for others a Galahad in armor. Pacing to and fro with remorseless tread are the Trusts and the Utilities, bloated, unclean monsters with enormous biceps. Here is Wall Street, a crouching dragon ready to spring upon assets not already nailed down in any other section of the country. The Consumer, a pathetic figure in a gray shawl, goes wearily to market. Capital and Labor each giver her a kick as she passes, while Commercial Advertising, a playful spirit, squirts perfume into her eyes.

"From the rear, Sex is a foul creature but when she turns, she becomes wildly alluring. Here is the home, a bright fireplace in the stratosphere. The Economic Man strolls up and down, completely without vertebrae. He is followed by a shambling demon called the Law of Supply and Demand. Production, a giant with lightning in his fist, parades reluctantly with Distribution, a thin, gaunt girl, given to fainting spells. Above the oceans the golden scales of a Favorable Balance of Trade occasionally glitter in the sun. When people see the glitter, they throw their hats into the air. That column of smoke, ten miles high, looping like a hoop snake, is the Business Cycle. That clanking goblin, all gears and switchboards, is Technological Unemployment. The Rich, in full evening regalia, sit at a loaded banquet table, which they may never leave, gorging themselves forever amid the crystal and silver ....

"Such, gentlemen, is the sort of world which our use of language fashions."

-- Stuart Chase, The Tyranny of Words (1937), pp. 23-25.