Interview with Igor from Stoned Jesus!!!
Ei guys!! While in Spain we're being punished by corrupted politicians with measures
that steals us our rights, undermine our quality of life, do richs more richs and poor
more poor, how's your life in Ukraina? Everything okey?
- Hey Xavi, it's Igor from StJ, good to hear from you! Well, here in Ukraine it's even worse I guess, we're still in somewhat transitional period
from a pseudosocialism to a corporate-led capitalism, and it's pretty unstable on every level. To put it clear, our bass-player is jobless for three
month now, and we're pretty tough with raising funds for our upcoming European tour in September.
Well, you guys looks like very young...how old are you?
- Me and Vadim, our drummer, are both 25, and Sid, the bass-player, is 22. You know, I've always been a bit confused seeing all these legendary
rock bands debuting with their members being 18-20 years old, so when you're calling us a "very young" band that sounds so sweet, thank you!
Your first 2009 Demo has a poor sound...but the riff and the structure work
are such great!! Was it homemade recorded? By the way I have to say that the artwork is awesome, ahaha...
What makes you choose it as the front?
- Thanks for your kind words. Both debut demo and "Occult/Black Woods" single were recorded solely by me alone, with no band at that time,
at my home studio, with drums being recorded at my friends' rehearsal room in Kiev (played by me as well). We never played any song from the
very first demo live except "Insatiable King", which we have re-recorded recently in a more rough and short and heavy version. As for cover-art,
this is Stu Mead's "Devil's Tongue", this guy paints freaking-out and provocating stuff, so I just thought it's good enough for what I'd written.
We didn't sell CDs with this image or something, so I hope he won't sue us, ha-ha!
Your next Demo "Occult/Black Woods" still sounds a little weird, but what suprised
me was the torn vocals of "Occult", Why did you change the voices in the following
release?
- Well, I've grown both as writer and vocalist, and what's more important I was pretty clear about what I wanted from this demo. I was deeply
into Sleep-Wizard-Sabbath thing, so "Occult/Black Woods" was meant to be somewhat over-too-influenced...and it is, obviously. The funniest
thing is that I didn't try to copy Ozzy, I just didn't know exactly how to sing back then and that was how my voice actually sounded like. This
is just my voice, it's still wacky, but I'm working on it!
Now, the real Stoned Jesus, the true worshipers of occult and satan, starts from
"First Comunion". Then, listening your previous Demos, we can see your effort and
your hard work, polishing and macerating your style since you get the perfect
combination of riffs, distortion, rock, psychodelia and vintage. Each song has is
own personality, a particular feeling and a personal touch. Did you use a diffetent
recording metode? Studio change? Only a higher price? ahahaha...
What meant that qualitative jump for the band? Did the "specialist public"
recognized your work?
- First of all, if you check FC's lyrics, they're barely about satan-worshipping and stuff, "Occult" is anti-clericalic, "Black Woods" is
a warning, "Red Wine" is a vampire's love song and "Falling Apart" is an Icarus' myth metaphor. But all the songs are deeply metaphorical
on their own: if you look wider you'll see that "Occult" is about minorities and how they're hated and presecuted, "Falling Apart" is about
hybris that could ruin every community, "Black Woods" is a "rip-what-you-sown" lesson and "Red Wine" is about obsessive non-mutual
passion (something I was hit by pretty hard back in that time). So it's basically not just witches and vampires, you see.
Talking about the way FC sounds, it was recorded by a BAND, not just me, that's why it kicks some major ass I guess. It's based on tracks
we rehearsed a lot, there's no mystical scheme of putting songs together, we just did what we played best at the moment. I invited two friends
of mine on bass and drums in autumn 2009, but later discovered that while they're MY friends they hardly get along with each other, so
this StJ line-up was pretty much doomed from the very beginning. But we did a great record, laying down basic tracks just in two hours at
my friend's studio and finishing vocals and solos few weeks later at another one, and beleive me or not we did it all absolutely for free! And
yes, the whole Kiev's underground enjoyed the record immensely, it even topped some lists and charts among zines and sites in 2010.
Now, the song "Occult" has a sample intro, I guess, from a movie. Where's from
that sample? Seems to be of a old vintage and unholy film, did you like the
old school films? By the way, is there an Ukranian version of that movie or you have
to see it in english?
- In English obviously, it's a good way of both upgrading your language skills and not being pissed off by translation that usually sucks.
This is "Alucarda" (1978), great old-fashioned horror movie, which looks hilarious today, but still quite atmospheric. I'd recommend
you to check this one, but my fave from that time are Polanski's "The Lodger" and "Valerie and the Week of Wonders", the latter being
used for our YouTube-only "Red Wine" promo, I guess you've seen it.
I like the work of a spanish actor named Jacinto Molina a.k.a "Paul Naschy", he was
known as the "Spanish Werewolf", and we did a good number of movies about occult,
esoteric, inquisition, magic, witchery...Do you know about Paul? If not, I invite
you to dig into his career, you will worship him!
- Ah yeah, good old Paul, sure I saw some movies with him, the guy's a legend! When I was digging Bava and Fulci movies I thought
I see him in every bloody feature from that period! But I'm a more Argento fan, I prefer mysteries and atmosphere to vampires and zombies.
All your lyrics seems to be about occult, paganism, satan and other unholy stuff,
but tell us for yourself: What's the Stoned Jesus message for us?
- As I already told you, there's always more than just "I'll drink your Red Wine yeah". The more I was writing the deeper I was getting
into personal aspect, it's a bit tricky because it's easier to sing about something you've experienced, but it could hit the point when it's
too personal. This happened to "Stormy Monday" which we play pretty rarely now, it clicked with our personal issues back in 2010-2011
when it was written, but now it's just withered a bit and it would be unfair to sing it on every show. Going open-and-personal also was
the reason behind my solo project, Voida, which is just plain acoustic singer-songwriter stuff. This is me and my guitar, how much more
stripped can you get? But it's not like I'm going to sing about broken hearts there in Voida and dragons here in StJesus, it's all pretty
balanced. And metaphors work well too, I still enjoy singing "Red Wine" though I'm not obsessed with the person I was thinking about
at the time of the song's writing anymore.
After your "First Comunion" all your works are high level quality, I specialy like
your next EP "Stormy Monday", the self titled song is awesome, a great work of
classic Doom and Stoner, and it's extended version included was a very nice
surprise, but "Drunk And Horny", my favourite track of the EP, it's the best
gift you could give to your fans, rock and roll at it's best and the demonstration
that you can work as good with savage rythm as with mid. tempos. The only question
I have here is about the song "Bear's Cave", what's this song about? We can hear
here some spoken samples, again from movies?. And overall about "Stormy Monday":
all the songs are really diferent between them, each one digs into a diferent
music genre and have a very varied feelings, what's your favourite "Stormy Monday"
track?
- Funny enough that everybody tags "Stormy Monday" with Stoner Doom, my head was all about Seattle scene at that time, I thought
it just screams Alice In Chains and Soundgarden all the way through it! Glad you like "Drunk And Horny", it was our shows' closer
for a while, it's a very simple and in-your-face song, with tongue-in-cheek lyrics on some typical macho cliches. As for "Bear Cave",
it's a Red Temple Spirits cover, the original song is the darkest psychedelic post-punk one could possibly get, and I tried to carry this
atmosphere in our version. I was deeply inspired by Neurosis track "I can see you", and I thought of something related structurally -
half-the-song acoustic, half-the-song dirge. All these samples and noises came out naturally, we just wanted a sonic swirl that would
symbolize the whole utter feeling of loneliness that marks this song. I guess it's my favourite from the whole EP, not just because we
consider "Drunk And Horny" to be rather a good joke than a good song or we fed up with "Stormy Monday". The little secret behind
"Bear Cave" is that it was completely played by me, 'coz guys just didn't manage to learn it beforehand. When Nick and Alex left, I
found the new guys pretty quickly (the above-mentioned Sid and Vadim), and they brought so much energy and fresh air with them! We
did five bloody tracks, four new ones and "Red Wine", in less than a month, and we recorded all of them that day including that "Bear
Cave" thing by me. There's no wonder we're still together, we had so much fun and inspiration during these early days of StJ Mark II,
getting to learn each other, hanging out together, rehearsing, touring etc. I hope all complete "Stormy Monday" sessions will see the light
of day once...I'd prefer to own it on vinyl!
Now about "Seven Thunder Roar", why indians? The artwork, the song called "Indian"...
What's the mater? ahaha...I have to say that despite I've never liked "indians" as
lyric theme, the music is great as always.
- This is actually an inside-joke! Me, I'm looking like a mthfkn indian! Everybody was telling me that for years, so I decided to write a
song about indians and the way they were treated by the conquerors. It's almost "Occult part III" conceptually, and by saying "part three"
I mean I bear in mind our old doomy "Rituals of the Sun" track, which was recorded during "Seven Thunders Roar" sessions (you can find
a video footage online), but we plan to re-do it. The artwork was done by our good old friend Yura, he's responsible for almost every StJ's
art lately, we like what he does, the way he works and progresses.
One of my favourite songs with no doubt is "Bright like the morning", witch is a very beautiful
song, very emotive, I felt very identified with that song while reading the lyrics.
And the best without doubt is "Electric Mistress", it's a return to the days of the
best Black Sabbath mixed with the melancholic doom born in the hands of the almighty
Cathedral. Listening this and "Bright Like The Morning" we see the methafor of love
reflected in a mysterious woman that is cause of disffection. Are my thoughts correct?
- You got it right, metaphors again. The blueprint of "Electric Mistress" was written somewhere around "First Communion" mixing period,
and I just had no time to show it to the Mark I guys. It was only summer 2011 when I came up with that slooooow mid-part and considered
the song to be done, because I wasn't satisfied with it before. But it's definitely "Bright Like the Morning" when you hear StJesus change,
less doom, more psychedelic, groovy flow, one of my favourite solos and the chorus I was tagging as "Oasis song" in my head, ha-ha! That
was the last track to be done with Nick and Alex and the first one with Sid and Vadim. I see it as the first turning point for the band, when
we finally broke the "wow-they're-Sabbath" spell, did we? The lyrics are very personal as well, it's about finding your true Love that gives you
inspiration, strength and harmony with the world. I wonder why you didn't mention "I'm the Mountain", it's another important song for us,
our favourite one for sure, especially when performed live!
Now we have talk about your discography, I want to know why all your works have so
few songs, by the way these songs are always best quality, but sometimes you need more.
How you face the work of structuring an album? What's your logic at deciding how many songs
will have each album? I think it's more feeling than logic, what's the truth?
- Thanks a lot for "quality" compliment, this is actually the answer to your question! We just don't play or record songs that we consider
throwaways. I just don't write such songs. If you hear a Stoned Jesus song, be sure it was getting through various changes and edits to find
its current shape, and sometimes it takes months to come up with a baby you all would enjoy. That basically goes to our releases as well -
there are no songs on them I would skip or delete when I listen to them...maybe except for "Stormy Monday" 'coz we're ll fkn tired with it,
ha-ha!
Talking about logic or feeling, I usually bear in mind vinyl standarts. Our albums are clearly 12" records, an EP is a 10" one, they all could
be easily divided into side A/side B. I'm a sucker for these standarts, it just clicks in my head with my favorite albums from 70s. Besides I don't
really like long records. From the top of my head I can remember only 4-5 albums longer than 50 minutes that I find flawless, and 3 of them
would be Tool ones, ha-ha! So making a 45-minute album was the main reason to remove "Malda Vale" from the initial "Seven Thunders Roar"
version, not because we didn't like what we'd recorded. We just listened to the whole record and found that particular track to be a bit out of
place with all the others. But I really like the B-side concept as a song you should hunt for, because it's not on the album and it's rare and
it's probably different and experimental. I hope we'll have our own B-sides collection...maybe after two-three more albums.
All this music is often related to drugs, THC and psicodelia, and it's true. Do you think,
like me, that with a well seasoned cigar you can enjoy much more and feel the music in all
it's essence? Any funny experience to tell us?
- A question of substances is too much personal in my book, but it's obvious that an altered state of mind offers millions of variations of
the world around you, including music as well. Imagine the days when only chosen ones could talk to the spirits and see the revelations after
inhaling some stuff or drinking some potions. Nowadays you can be a shaman at your own home, tripping out to White Hills records. I've
been to coffee-shops in Holland, it's all civilized there, but imagine the whole world doing weed, let alone heavier substances. Believe me or
not, but a guy from a band called Stoned Jesus doesn't light a bong on a regular basis. I don't even have one!
Nowadays there's a new wave of occult rock bands that are emerging from all over the world,
the best knowns are Ghost, Blood Ceremony and The Devil's Blood...but I prefere other bands
less mainstream and bands where the feeling of satanism and occult is not hidden in a
moneymaker disguise, like Hexevessel, The Year Of The Goat, Jex Thoth/Sabbath Assembly,
Uncle Acid And The Deadbeats...What's your point of view about that? After all there's each
one taste...What's your taste?
- I'm totally agree with you on Ghost, I've seen them live and I enjoyed only intro of their show. When they started playing their bubblegum
doom I left five minutes later. Sorry for putting this, but Lady Gaga is more satanic than these guys. As for Blood Ceremony and The Devil's
Blood, I quite enjoy them, I even mused on the idea of female-fronted occult rock band 'coz I've got some riffs and ideas in the vein of "First
Communion" that would look weird in today's StJesus. But if you read our statement on Facebook few months ago, we decided to give it a go
and now we're working simultaneously on two records, the good-old-days doomy one and the other one, that is more appealing to our current
state. Talking about Hexvessel and Sabbath Assembly, check my Voida album "Colour Me Darkness", I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy it since you
like these bands. It's another level of dark and moody music - when you carry it with just an acoustic guitar and a voice, naked and pure to the core.
But I see what you mean and for me it's more about digging into old music and culture and atmosphere than anything other. I just can't imagine
a guy who listens to Electric Wizard just to sacrifice his cat on the cemetary when the moon is full. I guess these things should be left to 90s,
burning churches in Norway and corpsepainted posers on the news. It's just a different way of having fun - you've got your dubstep and Bieber,
okay, I've got my sexplotaion movies and art-nuevo posters, right? We've missed this era and we eager to recreate it through our work, we're
inspired by it but it shouldn't mean we don't have anything to say of our own. And this is where I wonder what guys like Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats
have to offer next. They're the hottest thing next to Ghost now, all my fellow hipsters going crazy about them, there's an incredible hype going on
with vinyls being sold for hundreds of euros on eBay, but seriously...musically they're just fine, nothing special. Too narrow, too into-the-genre,
too few interesting material they got to check back and re-discover. Even Motorhead did some musically challenging stuff back then, so why most
of these contemporary "rock-revival" bands are so boring?
Aside the classic occult rock bands like Jacula, Coven or Black Widow (COME TO THE SABBATH!!!),
I think Stoned Jesus is inspired too in other classic psychedelic bands like Jefferson's Airplaine,
The Doors, Pink Floyd, Blue Cheer...do you agree?
- This is what I was trying to say few lines above - it's great to be influenced by these cult figures, and we obviously are to some point, but there are too
many music out there to be just a Black Sabbath clone or something. I usually explain us as a Psychedelic Rock band, since psychedelic rock is far more
broad than say desert rock or stoner doom, but seriously I don't really know what we're playing now and I'm quite happy about it. Just check our recent
"Here Come The Robots" song on YouTube, as my friend said it screams 90s post-hardcore like Drive Like Jehu all over the place! I think of bands like
Black Mountain or Mastodon, and spiritually I feel we're related to them in terms of being influenced by the past but not carrying this baggage with us
being someone's copycat. For me Stoned Jesus is not a reconstructional or revival band, we don't play three-noted riffologies about witches and bongs
and I apologize both for those who expected us to be that kind of group and for those who'd consider us to be self-impudent or megalomaniac on reading
this statement. I had fun making "First Communion" by genre's rules, but it was never a final destination for the band, taking into account our diverse
tastes and ambitions. So don't be surprised if a planned Doomy album would take more time to finish - now we're more interested with looking forward
than checking what we've already done. But we still play these old songs - first of all, because they're great songs on their own.
And how's the music lover's life in Ukraina, are there affordable gigs, good locals to play,
other bands of other styles...What's the last concert you gone as a fan?
- Last shows I've been to were Black Label Society whom we warmed up, and Red Fang where I was actually their show's promoter, ha-ha! It's pretty tough
here in Ukraine due to economical collapse, and promoters wouldn't afford setting up shows for the likes of Pearl Jam or maybe Swans, so we are usually
pretty envious towards our Polish neighbours who have all these great bands coming to Poland. Imagine a Porcupine Tree or Rage Against The Machine
show in Kiev - just impossible, but if you want some Korn, Scorpions or ex-Purple sidemen, here you go then, you got them every year. As for underground
bands, the whole situation is pretty much like everywhere - DIY bands play almost for a song, and in last 3-4 years we had Grief, Nadja, Rosetta, Amenra,
Mars Red Sky, Jucifer in Kiev...plus on September 8th the legendary Samsara Blues Experiment to headline Kiev's Robustfest II, it's gonna be spectacular!
I've see your have toured with many bands from eastern europe, have you ever thought about a
western europe tour?
- Taking into account that I'm booking all our shows outside Ukraine and Russia by myself, there's a strong possibility of 2013's huge Spring tour with UK,
France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and Austria among others...if I'll be having all the time needed for booking. We considered working with booking agencies
but we're still unsure about them. Besides we don't have full equipment set for now (amps and stuff), and the van we usually hire may not be available at
that time...too many issues to give you a straight answer now, sorry, but that certainly doesn't mean we don't want to. We eager to play as many countries as
it's possible!
How is a Stoned Jesus live show? Do you use any special decoration on stage? Or you play
dressed like ancient druids or something like that?
- I hope you're not being serious about the last one, ha-ha! No, just three of us, maybe some vintage horror movie on the background if we're doing more
doomy kind of shows (the ones we usually play on Halloween at Kiev's finest venue, Bingo club), but mostly it's just us and believe me, that's enough!
Since you started to record your music you have release an album each year, does it means
that 2013 will bring us another masterpiece?
- I hope we'll start recordings this Winter for what's going to be our third full-length album. For now half of the record is ready, we've already played "Here
Come the Robots" live couple of times, there are also two more songs to be premiered during the upcoming September tour, "Alone" and "Wound". I'm also
finishing the future sidelong epic "The River", a 20-minute odyssey, and there are two more songs to be completed this Autumn I hope. As for doomy record
I hope it won't take that long and we'll try to release at least an EP next year to preview what you all should expect from it. I like when bands take their time
and create really great albums, I could patiently wait for years to hear them (Anathema and Tool are good examples), so I understand those who think we're
in a hurry and doing our things too fast...but hey, "Seven Thunders Roar" was ready almost a year ago and there's no wonder I already have at least two
thirds of our LP number three written. We'll be taking our time for sure when we're old and bored and withered, we'll be releasing albums every 5-6 years,
hardly more frequent, but now we're young and fruitful and inspired, so let's do it while we can!
And ending this interview guys tell us how the audience can buy all your awesome music and
any kind of merch.
- We've just released "Seven Thunders Roar" on vinyl through the cult Berlin-based Nasoni Records label, so you can support us and get it directly from
Stoned Jesus on our BigCartel page: http://stonedjesus.bigcartel.com .All other stuff is available there as well, give it a check! Also I have two more projects
outside of StJesus, Voida (singer-songwriter/dark art rock; http://voida.bandcamp.com) and Krobak (instrumental rock; http://krobak.bandcamp.com),
hope someone would give 'em few spins.
Thank you very much for your time guys, I really apreciate this oportunity and have enjoyed
makin' this questions for you. Total support from this small zine!! Please add whatever you
want!! Cheers!!
- Thank you for your time and attention, Xavi, it was a pleasure! Hope I wasn't too boring! Peace and Love, Igor of StJesus
Soporte online para CornucopiaZine, un fanzine impreso de España. Actualizaciones, entrevistas y material adicional en versión online para el uso de las bandas. Contacto: Cornucopiafz@gmail.com -------------------------------- Online support for CornucopiaZine. Spanish printed Fanzine. News, Interviews and aditional material for the bands we work with. Contact: Cornucopiafz@gmail.com
lunes, 19 de noviembre de 2012
martes, 28 de agosto de 2012
Ice Dragon
Interview with: Joe, Duane and Ron.
First of all I would thank you for accept my invite. How are you? All right in the USA?
Joe: Thanks for having us. Everything is A-OK. Summer in New England, lemonade and lawnmowers, my friend.
Duane:
My brother brews beer and he brought a bunch over on Saturday night and
we sat outside and drank them and listened to classic rock on the
radio. Joe’s right; summer in New England…
Ron:
Yeah things are pretty good. I’ve been making a lot of Pina Coladas
lately. As much as people complain about political stuff and rights and
laws and all that in the USA, I never really notice any difference in
anything over the years. Weird right? Different president, different
economy, different laws, etc. etc. It’s always the same
though, work, go home and drink, make music, watch movies, the usual
stuff. I’ve never noticed any difference. The more things change, the
more they stay the same.
Now let's start to dig in the Riffs...actives since 2007 (I guess), arround 5 lp's and a couple of splits...that's fuckin' dedication. How did you start your ride in the "Ice Dragon"? Where the name "Ice Dragon" comes from?
Joe:
I didn’t come into the group till around May/June 2008, I think, when
the other fellows asked if I wanted to play bass with them. They were
looking to make Ice Dragon more of a traditional band I guess, one that
could play shows and more easily annoy anyone who walked by our practice
spaces. Funny, now we’re more like the recording project that Ice
Dragon was in the beginning. We almost never leave the basement.
Duane:
Like a lot of older heavy bands, Ron and I started out working on what
was a sort of blues project - really swampy, rowdy, sloppy stuff - and
by the time that had run its course we ended up as Ice Dragon, as heard
on the self-titled release. Ron and I got together with a drummer
because we thought our own abilities might be holding things back.
Exactly what things were being held back, I’m not sure. Our ability to
play shows, I guess. Then I think we were both having our own
conversations with Joe about having him play with us sometime even
though we had no idea if he was any good. We just knew he was a super
nice guy and he seemed to get what we were going for. Then when we
finally got together he played exactly what the song needed in a really
inventive way and it was right. I still get a big kick out of hearing
his lines come together and lock in. It’s Magic.
Ron:
I still think Ice Dragon is a totally kickass name for a band.
Sometimes I read/hear people knocking it, but I would bet money that in
like 20 years when people are looking back at the sea of “____ Witch”
and “Witch____” and “Black____” and “Dope___” and all that jazz, then at
least we’ll have an original name that stands out from the pack a bit.
And who wouldn’t buy a record from the dollar bin with “Ice Dragon” on
the front? I would.
Your music is almost between space rock/psych some doom anytime stoner...what is in your mind while composing? Is it a colective task or is done by one composer/songwriter?
Joe:
Pretty much everything we do starts with an initial idea—a riff, a bass
line, a vocal idea, whatever—that one of us will either bring to the
others or come up with on the spot in the recording dungeon. From there
we’ll just bang out ideas and try to build on what we’ve established.
Usually, Ron will then add a vocal on top once the arrangement is in
place. Sometimes the song will be written with a vocal he already has in
mind, other times not. I guess what I’m getting at is that there’s no
definitive Ice Dragon way to go about writing a song. But jamming is
probably where the most stuff comes from. Personally, I just try to come
up with cool riffs and bass lines and any other bits that I think can
add to the final product. We just try to come up with interesting music
and not be constrained by genre and what you can and cannot do. Which is
how you end up with two completely different albums (“Tome of the
Future Ancients” and “Dream Dragon”) four months apart. You’ve got to be
restless or risk stagnation. Making music is FUN above all else—leave
the rules for the cool kids.
Duane:
We all add our parts, and if one of our parts is already written we
bring our own character to it. We’re not session guys; our faults and
limitations make our sound, rather than perfectionism.
Ron:
I think I write all my best lyrics while home alone and drinking
heavily. I’ve always liked being home alone. Sick days from school,
those were the best when I was a kid. You kinda pace around looking for
something to do, but nothing too involved usually so you end up poking
through old books and reading a few pages then switching, or spacing out
and tapping your fingers for an excessive amount of time. Watching the
beginning of one movie and the end of another. Doodling. You add alcohol
to that mix and it starts to get real weird real fast and cool things
can sneak out of your mind when you least expect them.
I am suprised seeing that you are unsingned. Is that true? Is a personal decision of the band to stand unsigned or you don't find your ideal label?
Joe:
We beat all the labels off with a stick. They wanted to dress us in
spandex and get a turntable player, but we weren’t having it. They made
Duane Carter shave his moustache off. Actually, any label we’ve ever
been approached by—Yersinia Pestis, Stone Stallion Rex/Funeral
Industries, Acid Punx cassette label, Devizes, At War with False
Noise—we’ve gladly let them put our stuff out. But these aren’t labels
in the traditional sense; they remain labors of love created by music
fans and not businesses. I’d imagine those more business-oriented
companies wouldn’t bother with us because we don’t tour and really don’t
have much interest in playing the game. I like the idea of a bunch of
music fans around the world having a hand in getting our stuff out
there—it’s neat.
Duane:
I don’t know what a record deal for us would even consist of. I’m be
happy enough to have our albums released and distributed but would never
rule anything out. We don’t tour and we rarely play shows, but our live
act can be a thrilling mess when we’re at our best. But I guess it just
comes down to the fact that I’d rather sleep in my own bed than in a
van.
Ron:
Yeah I agree with all that. Although I would LOVE to dress up in
spandex with a bunch of belts on and cowboy boots. Play the piano like
Cinderella in the video for “Don’t Know What You Got”. Damn, that would
be rad. Someone sign us and let’s make it happen.
Between all your releases, what are you the most proud of? Why?
Joe:
I love them all but if I had to pick one it would probably be “Tome of
the Future Ancients” because it’s the most expansive and best represents
the breadth of our sound. It was conceived and written as a double
album, and I love the sprawling nature of that format—you can get lost
in them if you allow yourself to. Yersinia Pestis will be releasing this
soon as a 2LP, and I think people will flip when they see the artwork
and hold the vinyl. It’s like the album is getting a second birth, just
like “The Burl…” did when it was released on vinyl this year. Ask me in
six months—or two weeks—and I’ll likely have a different answer for you.
Duane:
I can’t choose one. They’re all very special to me. Sometimes I get
really excited when I listen back to something I wrote or something
interesting I did, but I’m usually happiest with our music when I notice
something I hadn’t heard before because I was too preoccupied with what
I was playing. Every time I listen to one of our recordings, old or
new, I notice a new little bit of previously unheard genius that puts
the recording in a new light. As I said before, Joe is a natural giant
on the bass. And Ron’s production skills are great beyond words. The
stuff he’s produced so far is so rich and nuanced, and also heavy in a
way that’s new to my ears, that I don’t feel like I know the albums well
enough to pick a favorite. And I’ve spent a lot of time with all of
them. But “Tome of the Future Ancients” is my favorite.
Ron: “Adoration of Ra” is my favorite song we’ve ever done. Album wise, I have no idea really.
In my ignorance I can't understand your "The Burl, the Earth, the Aether" front.
Please tell me the story of that front.
Joe:
You’d have to ask Vesa Lahde who has a blog called Droning Earth. He
did the artwork two years back when there were about three Ice Dragon
fans on the planet. We dug the abstract nature of it, and, quite
frankly, couldn’t believe somebody took the time to create something for
us unbidden. I think there’s are a quasi-satanic goat figure there? Not
sure, though.
Ron:
It’s a weird cover, but that’s exactly why we dug it when Vesa showed
it too us. See my answer to the Ice Dragon name question earlier I
guess. Have you seen how generic some of these rock/doom/metal covers
can be? He gave us a truly original cover, a bit abstract, but that is
very fitting with us since we are also a bit abstract. Vesa is a cool
dude and runs a great blog also.
I'm listening right now your last work, "Dream Dragon", and I have to say...wow...I mean...WOW!! It's so fuckin' amazin'!!! It sounds so 70's with so riffied passioned fuzz, done extremely emotional and beautifull songs, the perfect words for the perfect songs, and over all you showed to all psych fans what Ice Dragon is able to do. My most sincere congratulations for that excelent release. Are you satisfied with the final result of "Dream Dragon? What's the audience verdict?
Joe:
Thank you! Extremely satisfied and couldn’t be happier with people’s
response to it. Everyone seems to dig it for the most part, and we were
convinced everyone would HATE it. It’s so different from the other
releases. But I think people can see that it’s just a homing in on the
more psychedelic, mellow stuff that we’ve always done. That album was a
blast to make and came out super quickly and easily. Probably the
easiest thing we’ve ever done.
Duane:
“Dream Dragon” is my favorite Ice Dragon release. The people love it
and we love it too. We really shot from the hip with that one and boy,
did it pay off.
Ron:
Thank you very much. It was totally a blast to make, that’s for sure. I
can’t believe how much people are digging it. I think it shows how cool
all our fans are, I like to think that people who are into our stuff
are “music” fans, and not “Doom” fans or “Metal” fans or “Rock” fans. I
listen to a TON of different music and would hate to think we were ever
trying to fit some mold or expectations or whatever. Just have fun and
make music, don’t worry about genres.
I can't help think in a angry Falcor, of "Neverending Story", watching the front of "Dream Dragon". Something to say about? Ahaha..
Joe:
He’s not angry, just intent on getting where he’s going. Maybe he has
to use the bathroom and can only do so in the comfort of his home. I
don’t think the Falcor comparisons are off base—he’s a weird looking
white dragon and so is the Dream Dragon. Adam Burke (who plays in
Fellwoods) deserves all the credit in the world for that cover. He’s an
incredible artist and I can’t believe more people aren’t hitting him up
to do album covers.
Duane:
I hate that movie. Falcor is a dope. And that kid? What’s his name?
Sebastian? No way. I’d rather go to a wedding than watch that movie.
Ron: I love that movie. And yes, you are exactly right, it’s totally Angry Falcor.
And last question about "Dream Dragon": Maximun Trip...was made in 'a trip'?
Joe:
It was written after a trip. A trip upstairs to get another beer and a
slice of pizza. The strongest thing we ingest before making music is a
steak and cheese sub.
Ron:
I was hammered drunk and watching “Vanishing Point” on a Saturday
afternoon. You ever seen that movie? It fucking rules so hard it’s not
even funny. It rules the universe. I love car movies. Dirty Mary, Crazy
Larry. The Car. Moving Violation (the one from the 70’s with Stephen
McHattie), Gone in 60 Seconds (again, the original from the 70’s), Two
Lane Blacktop, The Last Chase, The Road Warrior, The Wraith, Wheels of
Terror, Duel. Love ‘em all.
I've seen in your facebook page a photo of Carter and his bass, and it's AWESOME!!! Ahaha..and as we can see in your albums the result is great. To play with that kind of bass was a group desicion or is simply his way to play the bass? Any anecdote about that peculiar instrument?
Joe: I think Duane Carter got that bass after winning a pie-eating contest, but I could be wrong.
Duane:
Jajaja. That bass sat in my uncle’s woodshed for like seven years
before I got it from him. That’s in New Hampshire, where it gets very,
very cold in the winter and very hot in the summer. It was shaped like a
question mark so I had it fixed. When I went to get it two of my
uncle’s geese attacked me when I got out of the car. Geese are pretty
stupid though. If one ever attacks you, just wait until it gets to
within a foot and a half or so and step quickly and directly to your
right or left. Their necks are so long that by the time their brain
sends the turn signal to their body they’ve already passed you. Then
repeat as necessary or desired, I guess.
Ron:
That bass is used all the way through “Aquageddon” too, which I’m not
sure if a lot of people pick up on. It’s wicked heavy sounding I think.
The little break where everything drops out and it’s just the bowed bass
gets me every time. Love that.
I've read some reviews of your music telling that you sound like a never did album of Electric Wizard, or a newest Black Sabbath sound. Personaly I think your sound it's realy particular, maybe sometimes reminds to those bands (fact wich is normal because the tunes and the style are very similar), but people always try to equate bands and sounds, and the weight should be in the main band, not in their influences. If you had to describe your music to someone who never listened to Black Sabbath, how would you do it?
Joe:
First I’d say, “You’ve never heard Black Sabbath? What the hell is
wrong with you?” Then I’d give them copies of all the Sabbath records.
The I’d give them all the Ice Dragon records and say, “Here, we’re Ice
Dragon. We’re a 1970s rock band from the future.”
Duane:
I don’t really give a shit about how people describe us, but that
comparison is pretty boring. I always say we play slow heavy rock. And
If they want to know more I say it’s kind of psychedelic. And then they
usually want to talk about something else.
Ron:
I like this question/statement a whole lot. I agree with you. If I had
to describe it to a non-sabbath knower… hm. I would say it’s slow heavy
rock music with heaping spoonful of psychedelic and a dash of folk here
and there.
Is well know that USA have a good number of high quality Stoner/Psych-sound bands. Can you tell us about some bands you know or have friendship with?
Joe:
We’ve released (or will be releasing) split singles with Fellwoods,
Kroh (from Birmingham, England), and Pilgrim—good dudes, all. Can’t say
I’m too much on the scene these days. I get caught up in the old stuff
for the most part. My most recent live music experiences were going to
see Van der Graaf Generator and Yes. But I’ve already admitted too much…
Ron:
I just bought the Ancient Warlocks 7” and they are rad. Blue Sabbath
Black Cheer are way cool, it’s like super droney evil shit, I dig it. In
the Company of Serpents, I bought their tape recently, Temple of
Perdition tipped me onto them. Good heavy grooves, sorta reminds me of
early White Zombie in a way, a good way. La Otracina makes really good
stoner/psych stuff. King Tuff is rad. Sweetapple also. Joe covered some
of the others. I’m sure there’s more I’m forgetting.
Well, I've see that you have a Drummer/Vocalist, how this affects to your live shows?
Joe:
We just get somebody else to play drums. Our last show was quite a
while back, and we had Jon from Pilgrim sit in on drums that night. Next
time we play we might just point to some lonely looking kid in the
crowd and say, “Hey, kid, wanna save rock and roll tonight?” And he’ll
already have a pair of sticks in his back pocket and a pair of drumming
gloves on, and he’ll walk up to the stage while tying a bandana around
his head and proceed to play better than he ever has in his life.
Duane: Yeah, I’m with Joe on this one.
Ron:
Someday I am going to be able to do both live. Someday. Not that it
really matters since we never play out anyway, but someday. I think we
are hitting our stride perfectly right now having it just the three of
us. It all comes together very easily when we jam and we all understand
what the others are going to do/want to do.
Now some promo, where can we buy merch and your albums? And...Ice Dragon Koozie? Why? Ahaha..I even don't know how it names in my language (Spanish)!!
Joe:
You can usually get stuff through our Big Cartel page or direct from
the labels who put out our releases. Just the plain old music is always
available digitally on our Bandcamp site. The koozie is to keep your
beer cold when you’re rocking out, mowing your lawn, or eating a sub.
Duane:
Listen to the albums online. If you like them you can download them for
money or for free. Not from that Ukrainian asshole, though. Some people
pay, some don’t. Doesn’t much matter to us. I just want people who like
our music to enjoy it however they want to - free, paid, digitally,
vinyl-ly…
Ron:
Yeah some Ukranian site is selling our music illegally. Fuck them. I’ll
fight the shit out of them at the bar after I have a few drinks.
Koozies are great. Some people call them Cozies instead, but it’s all
good. You should get a Spanish koozie with a cool Spanish saying on it.
We need some Ice Dragon brand light beer, like heavy as the dragon but
cool as ice, a taste that won’t slow you down but will lift into the sky
on a refreshingly light and crisp set of wings. Or something.
I've see your first releases were did only on cassete, maybe you will someday re-released it in vynil/CD?
Joe:
We hope so. Vinyl is final. If anyone wants to release or stuff on
vinyl and/or CD, get in touch. We can’t afford to do it ourselves.
Ron: I wanna do an 8-track at some point, like for real. But yeah it would be cool to do vinyl too.
And at last, future plans? Any European "trip"? new splits? maybe more merch?
Joe:
No plans for a European trip, unfortunately. We have a split that just
came out with Kroh and one with Fellwoods on the horizon. New shirt
designs are imminent as is the release of “Tome of the Future Ancients”
on vinyl. Already working on new stuff. We’re always working on new
stuff.
Duane:
I might be in Europe with my solo Ice Dragon tour. Europe’s in Canada,
right? I’ll let you know, maybe you can show me around.
Ron:
I’ve never been to Europe. I hear it’s nice though. I’ll probably never
go I bet, no offense or anything. I just don’t see the point in going
somewhere else to drink beer and listen to music. I can do that here. I
guess the scenery is different maybe? I don’t really look at scenery a
whole lot though. I like my basement. I feel like people who travel a
lot just do that because they have nothing interesting going on at home.
I have tons of interesting shit going on and I always just feel like I
am wasting time or missing opportunities when I am anywhere else.
Definitely more splilts and more merch, yes please. I hope we get
weirder and weirder as time goes on too.
About all Master Of Reality track...wich one do you think it's more compatible with Ice Dragon philosophy? Why?
Joe: The whole album. It’s got
dynamics. Heavy as hell in parts, delicate in others. It’s got flutes. It’s got
keyboards. Well, piano. Acoustic guitars. And it sounds like it came from a
basement.
Ron: I like "Children of the Grave" the best, I
think. It's a total hippy song, but heavy as shit, which I love about
Sabbath. I think that is where we're most like them, sometimes we're
super heavy and mean and angry, and sometimes we're soft and lovely and
hippy weirdos. Then once in a while they both come together and you get
something like "Children of the Grave". The yin and the yang man.
Thank you so much for your time, good luck in your projects guys. Please feel free to add whatever you want.
Joe: Thanks again for having us. Hope all is well in Spain.
Duane:
Thank you very, very much for writing to us. And thank you for doing
what you do. It’s always nice to talk with someone who loves music.
Ron:
Ditto what Joe and Duane said 100%. “Demasiada cordura puede ser la
peor de las locuras, ver la vida como es y no como debería de ser.”
domingo, 26 de agosto de 2012
Wo Fat
Interview with: Kent Stump, guitarist/singer for Wo Fat
Hello from Spain guys, thanxs you for accept my invite, I'm proud of work with riffied swampfuzzed talented guys. Hope you enjoy this as much as me!
Thank you! We're glad to be interviewed by you.
Well how's going on guys? Enjoying summer I guess!!
A curiosity...as I see, you're from Dallas, Texas. And there's the topical that in Texas are people who wear cowboy hats and have shotguns, very Christian and conservative...what is true about this cliche?
I, myself, have a cowboy hat that I wear, but you don't see cowboy hats ,everywhere like you might expect if you've never been to Texas. And yes, lots of guns and lots of people that are really into hunting. The three of us in Wo Fat are not into guns and the whole hunting thing, though. In fact Tim, our bass player is a vegetarian.
First of all the question for this edition: If you had to cover a Maser Of Reality song, wich would you choose? Why?
At the risk of being too obvious, we would cover "Into the Void." It is maybe the most quintessential stoner rock song ever. It's got everything you want in it. It opens with that brutal, menacing riff, then goes into the heavy chugging verse, followed by that double time boogie vibe and some Iommi guitar greatness. There's heaviness and grooviness throughout. It's bluesy but also dark and doomy. And to top it off, the lyrics are all about sci fi apocolypse.
"Master of Reality" is such an epic album, but "Into the Void" has always been my favorite jam on that record. It's the stuff of Heavy Metal legend.
Since your first work, "The Gathering Dark", you have highlighted by and excelent
riff work, that detail that makes your music hypnotical and is the mark of
masters of the riff like Sleep, Church Of Misery or Eternal Elysium.
The simply fact of play a bass and a guitar solo at once, two music lines in one attempt of get in trance. It's fantastic, but it's not as simply as it seems, you need to have a great knowledge of the rythm and the tones, be one with the music, flow in the pentagram, like Butler and Iommi show us how to do. And you guys have managed to do it. Congratulations!
Flattery aside, the "The Gathering dark" and "La Noche del Chupacabras" are made in a more "horror" concept, I mean, the dark artwork, the winks to latin folklore (like "El Brujo" or the "Chupacabras") and even the music is darker. I think they are two diferent ways of convey a similar feeling. What were your intention with each album? Whath you try to convey with them?
"The Gathering Dark" was our first album and was maybe a little less focused because we were still finding our sound and coming together as a band. At the time, we didn't know if we'd get a chance to make a second album, so we tried to get as many of our ideas in there as we could fit. It's more all over the place lyrically as well. The horror concept sort came to the front as I was writing a lot of the songs on that album because it was a really good way to use analogy to get my ideas across in an interesting way without being too literal. In addition to the horror vibe, I also was trying to incorporate lyrical ideas from classic blues, which includes a lot of things that work really well with a horror concept. Things like hoodoo references, mojo hands, deals with the devil at the crossroads and cool spooky imagery like that. "Noche del Chupacabra", which is our third album is much more focused thematically and musically and is also the least political as far as the lyrics go. And while it is not necessarily a concept album, most of the lyrics are dealing with the idea of fear - fear of things seen and unseen, real and imagined. By the time we got to "Chupacabra," we had grown quite a bit as a band and I think that's evident in the playing and the songwriting as well as the flow of the album. We thought more about that by then, rather than it just being a collection of songs.
Yeah, the Latin
references to Chupacabras and El Brujo are there because we are in
Texas, on the border with Mexico, and Mexican culture has always had a
big influence on Texas and is something I really like. I've search about "Manchurian Syndrome" and I have found something about the 2nd WW.
Have this something to do with it? What's about this song?
It's about the truth being hidden from us by those in power and our ignorant complicity and even participation in immoral or evil acts.
We all know the hurricanes of the South-East coast in the USA. Did you get inspired in one of this to write "Decend into the Maelstrom"?Here in Dallas, where we live, we're not on the coast so we don't get the full on hurricanes, but we do get some big thunderstorms and tornadoes. This song does get some inspiration from some of these storms we get around here, but also is inspired by a couple of Lovecraft stories, like "Haunter of the Dark" and is basically just a horror story.
By the way, my favourite album is "Psychedelonaut", is a totaly diferent concept, more based in psychedelia and paranoia, I enjoy it much more, because, despite this "concept change", the feeling is still the same, even is more stoned feeling. It's more in the vein of bands like Sleep . Do you agree with me? What's your personal point of view about "Psychedelonaut" atributes?What makes it diferent from other Wo Fat albums?
Now just a note: "Enter the Riffian, bringer of freedom". That song is a fuckin' rock and roll HYMN!! A cry of fight for your principles, "Slingin' riffs of iron", I mean, oh my god this is epiq Stoner/Rock. JUST BRILLIANT!!
Now I think of...what the hell means the words "WO FAT", I can't find any sense to these words!!
I just thought it was a cool name that was somewhat obscure and was a reference to the 70's, and the music of the 70's is obviously a massive influence on us.
The artwork of the albums, who did it? And about the artworks, a few days ago I saw on your Facebook page the artwork of your
next album, "The Black Code", and a friend of mine coment that the picture is like a scene of the animation movie called "Heavy Metal". It's that true? What's the meaningof that front?
Funny you mentioned the Heavy Metal movie. One thing that Alexander and I talked about for the artwork for "The Black Code" was using the old Heavy Metal magazines as an inspiration for the art. The general concept of "The Black Code" is an idea I came up with in thinking about how connected we all are in the world today with smart phones and wifi, 4g/3g, the cloud, how we are constantly connected to various networks, how we're surrounded by invisible digital information floating around in various ways and how we live very virtually a lot of the time. The Black Code is basically a cryptic computer code that's been found on some alien relic that, once it's been uploaded in an attempt to decipher it, unleashes interdimensional digital horror throughout, traveling wirelessly to anywhere that's connected. The illustration on the front is the discovery of the Shard of Leng, which is the alien relic. The concept does definitely bear some resemblance to the Lok Nar in the Heavy Metal movie, which is a great movie, but with a different, modern twist.
The album is not really a chronological story. It's more just a few different tales or poems about this idea and about how we can easily be distracted or lulled into a trance by this technology and be completely unaware of the truth of what's happening around us. You know, we have more access to information than ever before, but we're seduced into playing Angry Birds or some other mindless app instead of being informed and educated. Once again, we're still just trying to put the listener in certain place, stimulate the imagination and conjure certain images - this time it's using more sci fi than swampy voodoo images.
Maybe the only "bad point" of "Noche Del Chupacabras" is that it had few songs. Why
only five songs? How many songs will the new album have?
When
we first started writing and thinking about "Noche del Chupacabra" it
was before we hooked up Nasoni Records, who released "Psychedelonaut" on
vinyl after we had released it on cd. We really wanted to release
"Chupacabra" on vinyl and didn't think we could afford to do double
vinyl, so we wrote it all knowing we needed it to fit timewise ona
single LP. You're limited to 22-24 minutes on a side - and that's kinda
pushing it too. Our songs being kind of on the long side - and they
seem to be getting longer - we could only fit 5 songs. Then we hooked
up with Nasoni and they ended up releasing it for us, but I think the
fact that we put some limits on ourselves initially was helpful to the
writing process. It also made the whole recording process much easier
and quicker. 70 or more minutes of music is just a massive undertaking
in the studio. only five songs? How many songs will the new album have?
The new album, "The Black Code", is also just 5 songs, for the same reason - so the it will fit on a single record. But we're pushing it to the limit of what we can fit on there, don't worry. Believe it or not, we got some criticisms of both "The Gathering Dark" and "Psychedelonaut" for being too long, so we did have that in the back of our minds as well.
Since "The Gatering Dark" have passed 5 years and 3 lp's, but no any Demo, EP, Split or Compilation...Why you decide to release only full-lenght? I always thinked the Split it's a awesome way of promotion, don´t you?
We haven't done one before just because the opportunity never presented itself. And our first 4 song demo ended up becoming part of "The Gathering Dark." The 4 songs that we did first and initially sold as a cdr EP were"Manchurian Syndrome", "From Beyond," "Company Man," and "Risin' River." Then we just put those songs on "The Gathering Dark" when we put it out. It's the exact same recordings/mixes.
You are in "Small Stone Recordings" Label, why did you choose this label? Watching theroster of bands of the label I can see many bands from USA who playsstoner/doom/sludge/psych, was it a plus to choose it as your label? it's that a help for you at the time of doing gigs or tours arround USA?
We are really happy to be a part of the Small Stone roster. There have been so many amazing and important records throughout the history of the stoner/doom/psych thing back to the mid 90's that have been on Small Stone and we're honored to become part of that tradition. I think this is another step up for us in our musical journey and we hope this will get our music out to more people that will dig it and expand our fanbase. We aren't able to do a lot of touring, but this definitely helps in what we can do. We are in the process of putting together a European tour for 2013.
In your web site we can see that almost all the vinyl editions are sold out. Did you spected that audience response? Will you re-edit them someday?
And now the last one: if only you could give one more concert in a lifetime, and you could choose any band you wanted to play with, which band would you choose? Why?
And that's all, really thanxs for your time, I hope you have passed a great time answering this. Please add anything you want to say and I didn't ask you.
ALL PHOTOS BY: Judy Stump Photography.
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