Archive | Interviews
Twelve Foot Ninja has taken their home country of Australia by storm with their debut full-length Silent Machine. While the album has yet to be properly released in the U.S., the group’s unique style of prog metal (imagine Mr. Bungle infused with elements of djent) has already caught the attention of many American fans, including none other than Periphery. That’s why it’s not surprising that the members of Periphery are making an appearance in Twelve Foot Ninja’s new music video, which the group recently launched an online campaign to help fund the making of.
Guitarist Steve “Stevic” MacKay took the time to chat with Metal Insider about the inspiration behind the new music video (which finds the group taking retribution against the world of internet trolls in an extreme way), how Periphery became one of the band’s closest allies, and about Twelve Foot Ninja’s hopes to soon perform in the U.S.
The concept of the video essentially has the band attacking and decapitating internet trolls who do nothing but post mean comments about other people. What exactly inspired this idea for a video?
When we released the album [Silent Machine], we got so much positive publicity and so many awesome comments from people saying they enjoy what we do. But what we did notice was that when it got more exposure and we started to get a bit more well-known, and we had a lot more high profile bands and such giving us kudos publicly, out came these troll like comments that I hadn’t really experienced before that. Obviously I experienced people saying “It’s not my cup of tea,” “It’s not heavy enough” or “It’s too heavy,” all that type of stuff which is subjective, but then you get these sort of comments that’s beyond a subjective view. It was interesting to deal with, and I actually spoke to Spencer [Sotelo, vocalist of Periphery] because he’s had horrible shit [said about him] on the internet for his vocals. It was just really personal stuff that I just thought was really absurd. It’s an abstract concept because when you make an effort, like Twelve Foot Ninja and I know Periphery do a lot as well, I try to talk to everyone who takes the time to talk to me on the internet. I see the internet as an extension of real life, not as a separate thing. So I see it as if someone comes up and is abusive, it’s like they’re doing it to me at a show. And my reaction at a show [to this] wouldn’t be positive. No one likes that shit.
So I started looking into internet trolling, and there’s so much stuff on the internet, there are psychological profiles on what causes people to do this sort of thing. And I saw in the UK that there’s a 150% rise in online convictions for cyber bulling and such. It’s a new kind of phenomenon. My initial response was to try and find the people and confront them in person, and be like “What’s your problem?!” Then it dawned on me that it could be a really cool film concept, to actually depict what an internet troll is. It’s someone who essentially had something happen to them or they feel powerless in real life, so they become this sort of “internet hero” or “keyboard warrior.” Then I thought “What would happen in an extreme circumstance of playing out a tale of retribution on these people?” So I took to the extreme because I love films and Quentin Tarantino’s stuff. I wouldn’t condone doing what I’m suggesting in clip. [In the video] I actually track one down and we have a battle. He turns into an actual troll, and I end up dismembering him and turning him into hamburgers and feeding him to Periphery. I thought it was a little bit like the South Park episode [where Cartman feeds another character chili made out of his dead parents’ bodies, and gets Radiohead to call him a whiny little bitch], and I thought that was just the best. It’s something with a bit of humor.
At the same time, I think it’s interesting to shine a light on these people who just lash out. I don’t think it’s cool that bands have to absorb that shit. It doesn’t sit right with me, and I guess I sort of make a bit of a statement about it and open the discussion. And I know it’s probably going to bring more dickheads out, but at the same time I think we got the last laugh. Read more »
For over eleven years, Terror has served as a standout example of hardcore music. And on April 9, Terror continues the tradition with its fifth full-length album, Live By The Code. Frontman Scott Vogel, a vocal supporter of the underground music scene, took the time to speak with Metal Insider prior to kicking off Terror’s tour with Hatebreed. During our chat, the vocalist discussed how the word “hardcore” has been stretched to a fault, what gave him confidence in signing with Victory Records, the lack of care that goes into an album’s full packaging, and what he learned from Randy Blythe’s trial in Prague.
You have always been vocal about Terror staying true to its hardcore “roots,” a message the band continues to express with Live By The Code. What would you declare the “codes” of hardcore to be specifically?
Well I don’t know if you were given the artwork or layout. In a way, I can’t really just put into words without the artwork. We took a really long time, got an artist and really thought out the title because with a title like that, people are going to automatically think there’s a set of rules 1-10, like “these are the codes of hardcore, cut your hair short, wear this uniform, go into the mosh pit.” It’s absolutely nothing like that. Basically, I urge everyone who sees the title and really wants to know what it means, I don’t care if you buy the record or go to the record store and open it up to look in there and put it back on the shelf…I first urge everyone to look at that layout. People just go and either legally or illegally download the record and you’re only getting part of the record. I think that the full packaging on the record is very necessary to get the full understanding and full vision of the band. Music for some people is just something to put on in a car while they’re driving. I would think and hope that people in the underground take it a little step further than that. The artwork and everything we said in the layout clearly and fully describes what “live by the code” means to us.
To give you a short answer because I don’t want to just snub the question, there isn’t a written set of rules. I just think as someone that’s a member of underground music, whether it’s real hip hop or real metal or real hardcore, you’re not accepting what’s fed to you in the mainstream and what’s society says. So it’s of going against the grain and living your life your own way and taking your own path. Read more »
You can tell what you’re getting from Clutch’s tenth studio album, Earth Rocker, by its album title. Re-teaming with producer Machine, who last worked with the band on 2004′s Blast Tyrant, the album barely lets off the gas, and is their most uptempo record in years. We caught up with bassist Dan Maines to talk about how the album evolved, the inevitable comparisons to Blast Tyrant, and how they feel about using their music in TV shows and commercials.
Let’s talk about Earth Rocker. What lead to you working with Machine once again?
First off, I think we just wanted to put ourselves in a different situation recording wise than we’ve been for the last couple of albums. Machine is much like a different environment than what a typical band would be used to. I think the songs themselves felt blended to his approach. We had recorded the Blast Tyrant record with him in the past and we knew his process so we just felt it would be a good choice.
Did you make a conscious decision to make Earth Rocker a little bit more upbeat than the last few records?
Maybe not initially, but as we got more involved in the writing process, I think that the faster tempo songs were exciting to us. At that point we did put more of a focus to having songs that blended themselves well to that faster tempo. If we had written a song or part that was slow, we definitely experimented with speeding it up and seeing if it still carried through. So that was a conscious decision, yeah. Read more »
Back in October of 2012, Eminence made their live U.S. debut aboard Metal Insider’s CMJ boat show with Prong and For Sleeping Or Jumping. And to say that we were extremely impressed by the Brazilian metal outfit’s set is an understatement. Eminence put on a face-melting performance that night, making us anxious to hear their long-awaited follow-up to 2008’s The God Of All Mistakes. The wait won’t be too much longer, as the band has been in the studio working once again with Tue Madsen (Moonspell, The Haunted, Sick Of It All). However, Eminence are taking a break from the studio to perform at SXSW, marking their first performance on the West Coast.
While in Austin, Texas, guitarist and founding member Alan Wallace took a moment to chat with us about working with long-time friend/Sepultura bassist Paulo Xisto Pinto Jr., how their original plans to work with producer Terry Date fell through, and the difficulties that come with being an unsigned band from Brazil. If you’re at SXSW make sure to check out Eminence’s show at The Jr. (603 Red River St.) on Friday, March 15. Read more »
Everything has to start somewhere, and this fact is no different for our metal heroes. Over that past few years I have been asking some of my favorite artists the question “What was your first band called and what did it sound like?” and here are their answers.
Oderus Urungus of GWAR
Oh, my first band was GWAR. I’ve never been in any other bands than Gwar. I mean, I was in the third shock army of the Master Scumdog Stormtroopers, I guess it was kind of a band in that we were bound together, or bound to get into trouble. A band of brothers if you will! We marry few! We were an elite war unit, but we still had a band, we had a marching band that we would play, you know? Tubas and weird, like, space horns and stuff like that. We didn’t really get into heavy metal until we came to Earth though.
Michael Keene of The Faceless
My first band was called The Electric Complex and it was with Brandon (Giffin), our old bass player in the Faceless and it was like… hard rock I guess. I don’t know what we sounded like, we were really young. We were really confused I guess. We probably wanted to sound like Foo Fighters.
Dan Briggs of between The Buried And Me
I was in my first band when I was twelve and I’ve been in a band every year since up until I joined Between The Buried And Me when I was 20 in 2004, early 2005. it started with cover bands playing Nirvana, Hendrix tunes with me playing guitar back then. I couldn’t even tell you what else we played, probably Metallica. I started on guitar a few years earlier. my mom was a trained cellist and classical guitarist and a music teacher. So, I guess it was kind of natural for me to fall into that. that was right in the early to mid 90’s, and popular rock music was golden. I was kind of lucky because everything around me i was hearing was really awesome and also stuff that seemed an attainable goal to play. From there it snowballed. In high school I got into Dream Theater and playing in a lot of different classical ensembles and jazz ensembles, then college happened and I was studying the upright bass in a strictly classical curriculum. All the while, I had been friends with Tommy (Giles) and Paul (Waggoner) and we kept in touch over the years, and I was about to start my forth semester of college and Tommy called and said, “We’re giving our bass player the boot, I was just curious if you had any interest in relocating and coming down?” and I was like, “Yeah, of course.” There wasn’t a professional musical existence before me joining Between The Buried And Me, but I was active cultivating my musical skills.
Blake Judd of Nachtmystium
Very first band was called Helm’s Deep, a Tolkien reference obviously, and we did that before the movies came out. We read the books when we were younger. Anyway, Helm’s Deep was my band, and it was in probably a year a when I started Nachtmystium when I was seventeen. I was sixteen in Helm’s Deep. So, it was me and the guy who played drums for Nachtmystium originally, this guy named Pat McCormick. It sounded like early Nachtmystium, honestly. Like, our real real early stuff. Like, our demos. We were sloppy and not real skilled players yet, but it was the spirit of what I wound up doing later on.
Listen to Far Beyond Metal on KSSU.com
Follow Daniel on Twitter @ovacord
Welcome to Metal Insider’s video game column, What Are You Playing? This week, we speak with guitarist Jesse Liu of Chthonic.
Earlier this year, the Taiwanese metal group teamed up with Chun-Mu Mediatek to create their very own mobile app. Titled Chthonic – Rhythm Crusher, its a rhythm game that features 12 of Chthonic’s songs. As to why Chthonic, Chun Mu Mediatek’s art director Scott Chen explained to us, “We’re heavy game players and also produce games for our clients. One day we thought why not make a game for ourselves, which has the music we love? So we contacted Chthonic through their art director and friend of mine — Oink Chen, and brought our proposal to them.”
Liu took a moment to talk with us about Chthonic’s involvement with the game’s development, getting the chance to challenge fans “live battle” at Rockaholic in Tokyo on March 8, how recording for the band’s new album has been going, and (of course) what video games he has been playing as of late. Read more »
Lancaster, PA natives, This or The Apocalypse are just one of several metal bands to turn to crowdfunding in the last few months (e.g. Protest the Hero and Austrian Death Machine), but unlike most campaigns, ToTA isn’t asking fans to help contribute towards a new album (they just put out a masterpiece, Dead Years, a few months ago), they’re asking fans to help them blow up their van, and to help them afford a new one since the current one is completely beyond repair. With a headlining tour in North America very soon, and a European tour coming up right after, the band is already in debt from paying for the US tour and airfare to Europe, and can’t afford to purchase a new touring vehicle on their own.
In return for contributing, fans get perks, including access to an online documentary covering the band and their life on the road, custom-signed artwork, a shout-out on Twitter or other social media from the band, and more, like a music lesson from any member of the band (via Skype), dinner with the band, custom TOTA jackets, being on the guest list for life, having vocalist Ricky Armellino record and produce your band’s next single, and getting to hit the road and tour with the band. The campaign has been going for several weeks now and has only 8 days left, with some $5,000+ raised of their $10,000 goal. I got the chance to catch up with Armellino about the campaign and his views on the potential of crowdfunding for rising bands like This or The Apocalypse.
With your van being completely FUBAR, what is your plan if you just fall a little short of your funding goal?
By all means we’re going to fulfill our plans, just might need to cut some corners here and there. We took on a pretty big project with the videos and all of that, but we think we’ll be able to do something pretty cool with them.
What made you turn to crowdfunding? Was it because of the success of other metal bands using this type of approach?
Partially, yeah. We just got hit with a couple things at once: flights to Europe (over $6k), towing our broken vehicle home and getting all the parts we needed off of it, buying the new vehicle and getting it ready for tour, paying off all of our merch debts, it all added up to about the amount all of us have made, personally, in the past 3 years collectively. We were kind of posed with the option of focusing on doing our US tour or our European tour and then it was like, ‘Wait. So we’re talking about canceling a tour? There has got to be a better way to do this.’ I was iffy on it but the dudes in my band and our management all agreed it would be the best approach. Read more »
Everything has to start somewhere, and this fact is no different for our metal heroes. Over that past few years I have been asking some of my favorite artists the question “What was your first band called and what did it sound like?” and here are their answers.
Devin Townsend
Well, I guess I was in sixth grade and I had a “band” that I put together. We were called Manta. Yeah. Incredibly cheesy. But it was just a bunch of kids in sixth grade listening to Motley Crue. And I liked that whole heavy metal satanic thing that was going on at the time. I found that to be enticing as a young kid, which, in hindsight is very interesting, not because I necessarily believed in any of that shit, because I certainly don’t, but I find it interesting in hindsight how susceptible kids are if they are connected to a type of music, you know? So I think that my fascination with that sort of aesthetic led me places that, in hindsight, that weren’t the best life choices for me. So I think now, that with what I do, I think I’m trying to make a conscious effort to make what I do healthy in a way. I don’t feel like I have a responsibility, necessarily for younger people or anything. There’s none of that sort of, you know, need to be the focus of any of that attention. But I think if you’re given a loudspeaker, which I feel I have been, I feel you have a choice of what you want to say through it and just recently I decided that I want to say things that are maybe a little more empowering than I have in the past and I feel better for it, to be honest, right?
Arjen Luccasen of Ayreon
My first band was back in 1976, I think it was, oh my god that’s a long time ago. My first band, at first, was called Energy, then it was called Mover, and I think those were the days that I was a big Rainbow fan. So I think it was in that style, like Rainbow, the hard rock thing. Actually, I’m lying. My first band was actually a playback band which I had in school that was called The Flying Potatoes. Now we’re talking about ‘72 or ‘73, and it was just a playback band and we were playing songs by David Bowie and Alice Cooper, but my first serious band was Mover.
Burton C Bell of Fear Factory
I moved to Los Angeles in 1989 from Washington DC. I had hopes of being a writer and bounced from job to job. After I’d been there for a few months, a friend of mine handed me a flyer and goes, “hey man, why don’t you try out for my new band I’m putting together,” because I always used to talk to this guy and we had similar tastes in music. So, went and tried out and got the part. We were inspired by early 1990’s, so bands like Helmet, Big Black, early-White Zombie, Tad. We were kind of a gritty, industrial, noise kind of rock, and we were called Hate Face. We were really about William S Burroughs, Naked Lunch, Jim Bean and crystal meth.
Gil Sharone from Stolen Babies
Our first band was called The Fratellis. To just sum up what were musically, we were a ten piece band, and that was just the instrumentalists. We had additional musicians come and go, but we had a full on horn section, a clarinet, sax, trombone, trumpet, sometimes double up on each instrument, then rhythm section and vocals. With us, The Fratellis, was primarily instrumental. There wasn’t that much vocals. When Dominique (Persi also of Stolen Babies) would hear the music I’d bring in for a song, she’d have the creative impetus to say, “Let’s keep some theatrics to this, let’s keep this cartoon music because that’s what it is,” and really that’s what it was. It was really stylistic, really probably jazzy, it swung a lot. Carl Stalling, Raymond Scott, those were our heroes. Whenever we would play live people would ask us, “Do you like Frank Zappa? Do you like Mr. Bungle?” Of course, we were aware of it, but we weren’t really trying to be like it. We really were just trying to make cartoon music. When Dominique wasn’t singing, there was this plotline or story that was acted out live by puppets or actors or costumes.
Doc Coyle of God Forbid
Me and my brother (Dallas, ex-God Forbid), before we joined a band, were just playing in our house, just playing guitar along to Pantera and Slayer records, and then through a friend, we basically met with Corey (Pierce) and Byron (Davis). They were 5 or 6 years older than us. Basically, we just went over there and were basically a garage, basement band. You know, pretty terrible. And then that was the only band I played with my whole life, until lately. I don’t know if it’s a positive or negative. In some ways it would probably be better for me to have your first band not really hit it, because it gives you more perspective, how to learn from your mistakes, where we had to make all our our mistakes with this band.
Listen to Far Beyond Metal on KSSU.com
Follow Daniel on Twitter @ovacord
Two years ago, Kvelertak hadn’t even played their first show in America. Their debut album, which had been released overseas in late 2010, didn’t become available domestically until March 15, four days after their first stateside show in San Francisco. This time, the band is here well in advance of their sophomore album being released, doing press from the offices of their new label, Roadrunner Records. Before Meir’s March 25 release, I sat down with singer Erlend Hjelvik and guitarist Vidar Landa to talk about their new label, the influence of America on their music, and how Meir differs from the first album .
Tell me about the bidding war for the second album.
Erland Hjelvik: we talked to a bunch of different labels, but Roadrunner had been at us for awhile. We first met them when we played SXSW.
Vidar Landa: That was in 2011.
EH: We met Dave [Rath, RR VP of A&R] after the first show we played there. He just seemed stoked. We saw them after a couple of other shows we did and talked to them there and they seemed like they really wanted to do it. So it just seemed like the best choice in the end.
It seemed like all of a sudden there was a bidding war. At the Converge tour, everyone came out of the woodwork. Did you know back then you were going with Roadrunner?
VL: No, not really. We just made an album and there was a big interest in it. In the end, Roadrunner seemed like the best option for us. We’ve been so busy with touring and stuff I don’t really know everything that’s been going on.
EH: We have a manager that deals with that kind of stuff.
VL: I know the contract and stuff, but I don’t know everything that’s been going on.
Did you have any second thoughts when Roadrunner consolidated with Warner Music Group and got rid of some of their staff and bands?
VL: We heard about all that, but we’ve talked to them and they’ve explained how it is, and the set up they have now seems very good for us.
Let’s talk a little bit about America. The first album didn’t even technically come out here, it was just licensed. Did you know from the get-go that America was a market that you wanted to conquer?
EH: Yeah, ever since we did the first tour, the reactions and the crowd would really be into us. We just had a blast every time we’ve been to the states. We’ve done three US tours now and it just keeps getting better and better. It’s going to be cool to release a new album that will be available everywhere.
VL: It has kind of been a bit of a problem that the album came out so late too in the states. So it’ll be great this time around to go on tour with a new album and have a record company that is working it from the beginning. Read more »
Devin Townsend is the mad Canadian mastermind behind the Devin Townsend Project, all things Ziltoid and the former mainman of Strapping Young Lad. Prior to his Sacramento performance at the Ace of Spades, Townsend and I met in a shady alley that smelled like burgers to discuss his current tour, his upcoming self-induced music release dryspell, the next installment of Ziltoid and much more.
So, you were out with a back massage earlier?
Oh, acupuncture.
How are you doing now?
I’m ok. I’ve got forty years of use on this back, so every now and then it goes out of whack.
My inner pessimist was like, “Oh no, Townsend’s not playing tonight.”
No, I’ll be playing. I’m always playing. I just whine while I do it.
I was actually at the show last night, (At the Fillmore in San Francisco) because I’m that kind of fan apparently –
Oh awesome, man. Thanks.
I read on twitter, was it true that James Hetfield was at the show last night?
Haha yeah.
How was that? Did you interact with him at all?
Of course not. As I said on Twitter, I think the thing that makes Metallica Metallica is the fact that they’ve always gone out of their way, maybe not as much lately, but when they were getting popular, they were like the cool guys. I think if we were in high school, James and I probably wouldn’t have spent that much time together. So, probably him watching me last night was similar to him going to drama class in high school and watching the “queers.” I actually love James Hetfield. It’s a huge inspiration, just as a dude lately because of the sobriety thing. It’s like really cool. I like how he put himself out on the line unashamedly, sort of, been a spokesperson for that kind of lifestyle. I appreciate that. He took a lot of flack. With that being said, if there’s anybody that I would not have expected to enjoy or understand what I do, he’d be in the top ten. Read more »
Twelve Foot Ninja has taken their home country of Australia by storm with their debut full-length Silent Machine. While the album has yet to be properly released in the U.S., the group’s unique style of prog metal (imagine Mr. Bungle infused with elements of djent) has already caught the attention of many American fans, including none other than Periphery. That’s why it’s not surprising that the members of Periphery are making an appearance in Twelve Foot Ninja’s new music video, which the group recently launched an online campaign to help fund the making of. 
Posted by Zach Shaw on Tue, Apr 9, 2013 at 1:10 pm
Interviews