In an age where music is pushed out every week by bands that haven’t paid their dues yet still reap the benefits, Immolation don’t seem to get their fair share. Not that it bothers lead guitarist/co-founder Robert “Bob” Vigna any, he’s just in it to play music and spread the good word. Ryan Stephenson managed to catch up with him about the new album, touring worldwide and how his band still seems to be somewhat unrecognized. Check out their chat below.
(((o))): Hello?
Bob: Ryan?
(((o))): Yup.
Bob: Hey how ya doing, it’s Bob from Immolation.
(((o))): Hey Bob. How are you?
Bob: Not too bad.
(((o))): Good. Thanks for squeezing me in to your schedule for the day, I know you’re pretty busy.
Bob: Oh not too busy. I finished up with work last week and now we’re prepping everything. We just got back last night from the Neurotic Deathfest in Holland. Now we’re just getting ready for this tour [The Decibel Tour] that starts on Friday. It’s going to take us about a day and a half to drive down to Texas.
(((o))): Oh man you guys have to drive that far to start?!
Bob: Yeah, Cannibal [Corpse] is heading over there from Florida, and the last stop is in Orlando. So that’s how it goes, lots of traveling. (laughs)
(((o))): So how was the trip to Neurotic Deathfest?
Bob: It actually wasn't too bad. We flew out on Thursday night, got there Friday and played Saturday night. We like to get there at least a day early and plan it ahead, which is good because our flight got canceled so we had to show up in the morning of the fest at like eight in the morning, which was still more than enough time.
(((o))): Did you guys have to work out any certain work visas for that trip? I know to tour in Europe you usually have to have all your paperwork done ahead of time.
Bob: Not so much. For Europe you don’t need a lot, it just depends on the country really. It’s more so when you enter the UK. Like your touring all around Europe and then you have to enter the UK to go to London and then up to Ireland, you have to have all your paperwork otherwise you’ll have problems. Mainly when you’re in Europe you just fly in there and you don’t need any of those work visas, just a few different places. Like when we tour South America we go to Chile and Brazil. To get into Chile is no problem, but then when we get to Brazil and we had to have all the paperwork done before we even got down there, like four months in advance or so. You have to send in your passport and all kinds of stuff.
(((o))): I suppose you've been around for quite awhile now but are there any places you haven’t played that you would like to play?
Bob: Oh plenty of places. We haven’t played a lot of places most bands have. We haven’t been down to Australia yet; we haven’t been to Japan yet, so there are a lot of places we’d like to get to at some point. And usually once you do Australia, nine out of ten times, you doing both of those places. You’ll do Australia and New Zealand and then go up to Japan. It all makes sense because plane tickets are so expensive so they try to package it all together. So that’s one thing we’d like to try and do.
In fact we actually got to Brazil for the first time last year, which was great. We played Chile last year as well for the first time too. We were in Lima, Peru in ‘94 and then supposed to play in Chile, but then that got canceled. So when we went back this time, we got to play a show which was phenomenal, went just great. Then we went over to Brazil to do four dates with Incantation, so that was really cool. And actually I recently talked to the Krisiun guys, they were just in town, and we talked about maybe doing something down there next year which would be great. So yeah, we’re always interested in playing in any different places. Obviously the US and Europe are easier to do because there’s so much going on. We’re actually going to Costa Rica in December, so that’s a first for us.
(((o))): Well that’s cool, you won’t have to put up with the cold ass weather in New York.
Bob: Yeah it’ll be nice, we’ll get a little break from the weather. (laughs) So we’re really trying to get all over and hopefully we’ll get to Australia and Japan this coming year.
(((o))): That’s cool. With record sales and whatnot you see bands really touring a lot nowadays, and going places they hadn't been before.
Bob: It’s tough, you have to try and do what you can, but you also have to know what you’re getting into. You can’t just go with anyone who sends you an email. You have to really be careful of who you’re dealing with and what you’re dealing with. Mainly because some people may try and do it with good intentions but they just don’t have the experience or they don’t know how to do it correctly, you know what I mean?
(((o))): Oh yeah.
Bob: That’s why it took us so long to get down to South America because we never really had anyone we knew down there. This guy Eduardo, we've know him pretty much as long as we've know the Krisiun guys; he was on their first [US] tour with them. He’s a really cool guy but he actually just stopped doing all the [booking] shows down there. We had known him for years and it all finally worked out to go down there and everything worked out great.
It just helps to know what you’re dealing with. You don’t have to know the person but you at least have to know that they’re been doing it [booking tours/shows] with other bands and that they've had good experiences.
(((o))): I suppose, otherwise you end up eating bologna sandwiches for a month.
Bob: (laughs) Yeah… But we actually ate pretty well down there. Brazilian barbecue and everything, it was ridiculous.
(((o))): So, I wanted to ask a bit about the new album, [Kingdom of Conspiracy] I have read plenty about it and know the themes of this one. I know that previous albums had a lot of anti-religious themes to them, and this one kind of drops that and has a bit more of a political theme is a sense?
Bob: Yeah you could say that but we've stopped doing that so heavily a few albums ago actually. The last two releases, Majesty and Decay [2010, Nuclear Blast], Providence [EP, 2011, Scion A/V] and this new one, they’re all kind of about the world in general and what’s going on and how we see things and where they could be headed. That’s been out kinda thing for awhile now. A lot of people, like when I read a review, it's like they haven’t heard any of the lyrics and are still all “…another anti-religious album...” and it’s like they didn't even read about it. (laughs) Like they were just caught up on our lyrics from back in ’91, which again even with those older records if you read the lyrics, we used that as more of an avenue for what we were talking about. A lot of those lyrics, like ‘Father, You’re Not a Father’ [from 2000’s criminally underrated Close To A World Below, Metal Blade Records] sure that one deals with the church but if you look at it in a different context it could almost be a personal matter or a family mater or whatever. You look at things in different ways; it doesn't always have to be taken as just the way it was written.
With this record it was the first time we actually went in with the intention of doing a concept record even though Majesty and Decay kind of ended up that way, and Providence kind of bordered on that. But with this one we really went in with those intentions. Just looking at the world today and seeing where it’s headed and the way things are slowly becoming a security state all throughout the world. How those that are higher in power manipulate everything. We even have one song that deals with the religious aspect of that, about how the higher powers use religion to distract people. The rest of the tracks just deal with the whole world thing, it kind of has an Orwellian twist to it. It’s just looking at that future that could be if things continue the way that they are, and slowly and slowly you see that things are headed that way. We look at the darker side of mankind, we always have throughout our whole career, and now I think the older and more experienced we get, we become better at conveying that.
(((o))): Yes, absolutely. I always try to connect with music in my own way, but people want an explanation all the time.
Bob: I don’t like to get too specific with everything because if you spell it out to people they’re all “Oh, I didn't know that…” type of thing. That’s cool, if you think that’s what it’s about no one’s worried, that fine. Just because we write it about something, people might look at it from a totally different point of view and they do. That’s what music’s about, everyone’s going to take everything their own way which is fine. We know what we’re trying to convey and we do it in such a way that leaves it open for people at the same time.
(((o))): I think that’s a very good aspect to have with any kind of art. As long as the artist knows what their intention was, that’s all that really matters because people will absorb things differently no matter what.
Bob: It’s like looking at a certain type of painting; it can mean one to one person and something entirely different to another. Music’s the same thing no matter what type of music it is. Everyone’s going to take it their own way.
(((o))): So you’re headed out on the Decibel Tour [US]? How are you feeling about this one?
Bob: Yes we are. It’s phenomenal, definitely one of the most high-profile tours we've been on in a long time. Decibel Magazine has always been great to us. The cool thing is it’s with Cannibal Corpse and Napalm Death who we've known for all these years and we've all been here for a long time. So it’s kind of a really cool tour in that sense. We toured with Cannibal Corpse back in the day, the last time we toured with them was when George ["Corpsegrinder" Fisher, vocals] joined the band and that was like four tours, two US tours and two European tours, and that was awesome. The Napalm Death guys we've known since the first time we ever went over to Europe just to go over and meet people that we were trading cassette demos with, just to hang out. One of our stops was in the UK, in London, and Barney [Greenway, Napalm Death vocals] came out and we hung out. We go back a long ways and its great; we just toured with them back in 2010. For us it’s going to be a fun tour without a doubt. At the same time I think it’s going to be a great tour in the sense that it should draw a lot of people and the vibe on every night is going to be on fire! I think it’s just going to be a great tour, a special one of the year for sure.
(((o))): For me this tour beats our all of the festival tours, it definitely a ‘band for your buck’ tour.
Bob: That’s another thing as well; with things the way they are with the economy, people have to choose which shows to go to and I understand it’s tough, very tough. So this is a great tour in that sense to, you have three solid bands and great opening bands and kids know it’ll be a show to see. It’s cool, we’re just very glad to be apart of it. Decibel has been really detrimental in helping us get on there as well as the other bands I’m sure. But Decibel has been really involved in helping us and promoting us, and for us that was really cool. To put us along with along with those two bands and say “this is the tour with these three bands”. It was cool because lets face it (laughs) we’re still a band that’s been struggling for years, you know, trying to get on good tours, trying to get something good going. So this for us is really cool and the way they put a lot into it to get us on there, it’s been really cool and we’re just happy to be apart of it.
(((o))): I wouldn't say you guys are unknown, but not as many people know about you. Why I don’t know…
Bob: The people that know us know what we’re about and the people that like us, like us a lot. The people that don’t like us, never will like us. (laughs) And the people that don’t know about us, we've had good exposure and great exposure over the years, but it doesn't happen that often; so most of the exposure has just been on a smaller scale. Pretty much there’s going to be a lot of people at these shows that won’t even know who the hell we are, and I know that. It sounds funny but it’s true. A lot of the Cannibal Corpse and Napalm Death fans definitely don’t know who we are even though we've been around for so long. It’s just the way it is. So for us it’s a win-win tour, we’ll be able to play in front of people that don’t know who we are or had heard of us but never cared to listen. We’ll get the chance to show them what we’re about, obviously we’ll be playing a lot of newer stuff, and we’ll have the new record with us. So, for us, it will be great because we’ll be playing in front of fans and people who don’t now about us.
(((o))): I actually found out about you guys from an old issue of Decibel. It’s funny that so many other bands know about and love you guys, but not as many people do. I don’t quite get it.
Bob: Well the bands know all about us but the fans really don’t! (laughs) I don’t know what it is. We just keep doing our thing and hope that people catch on eventually. We still have a few more years left in us. The funny thing is that as much as I say that, over the past few years it’s consistently gotten better and better and that’s why we’re still here. Not only that but we love the music and we love the challenge of writing a new record and taking it to the next level. I think we've done that over our whole career, we’re always trying to move ahead. I think we do that while keeping the essence of the music the same but we’re always trying to move things forward. With these last three releases we've really done that; the productions gotten better, the music and power and emotion are still there.
For us it has been getting better, especially since we've been on Nuclear Blast. They’re really pushing the band a lot, the exposure we've received and the fact that they were so instrumental with this whole Scion EP that we did. It always seems like it’s getting better, we can’t complain as long as that’s the case. (laughs)
(((o))): When I first found out about you guys I went back to the older stuff and have become a really big fan, and you guys still sound fresh. It doesn't sound like a bunch of repeated ideas.
Bob: We appreciate that man. Obviously we've gotten older and the experience has helped us, but at the same time we still feel like we’re those 20 year old guys, like “Alright, lets go do this record!” you know. (laughs) We still have that energy, the passion and desire for music. We love it man, and we’re still excited to get out there and play. This line-up has been together for 10 years now, so everyone is giving 110%. We love what we do, love being on the road and touring. Even in the studio it can be stressful but we are more comfortable doing it nowadays. The music flows so much better and it’s easier to write, now. We go out on tour and when we come back I won’t touch my guitar for a month or so. I think that helps keep me fresh because I’m not constantly doing it over and over; I’m trying new stuff when I pick it up.
(((o))): So what do you do as a job when you’re not on tour?
Bob: I work for a small music production company. We do things like weddings, corporate events that type of stuff. We do stuff like lighting and visuals and video editing type of stuff. It’s great that it’s in the entertainment field because I can use that experience with the band. Luckily my bosses are totally cool about it and when it comes time for me to do my thing they don’t have a problem with it. I left last year for five months and it wasn't even a problem. It’s really cool.
(((o))): That’s really cool to have that stability when you come home from tour and whatnot. So I know you've heard about Jeff Hanneman, right?
Bob: Yeah, we heard about it while we were waiting on a flight in the airport. We were doing interviews on the computer and we started getting messages about it. It was like “Wow.” It took us by surprise for sure. Not too long ago we were talking about the whole spider-bite thing that had happened and how crazy it was, and then we heard this. It’s a shame really, he was a young guy.
(((o))): I was going to ask you with that; what’s your favorite Slayer album?
Bob: I love all their earlier stuff really. I can’t just pick one. It's all so good. I remember back at Fury Fest, it’s called Hellfest now, we were playing in this big hanger and it was packed with people. The line-up was great for the whole day, but when they hit the stage it just sounded unbelievable. Even some of the newer stuff that I like, but not as much as their older stuff, it came across just amazing. It was such a good show, you could tell they hadn't lost a step. For me it was one of the best shows I had seen from them… It’s just such a shame.
(((o))): Yeah, it’s really sad. I assume Slayer had a big influence on your playing back when you started?
Bob: Oh yeah. It was them, Metallica, Judas Priest, Destruction, Motorhead…all those bands back in that era. Slayer was one of those bands like ‘Slayer was it!’ you know what I mean. Anytime they hit the stage no one even stood a chance, that was it, show's over. (laughs)
It was a great loss to the scene losing him. We send our thoughts out to his family and friends as well.
(((o))): Have there been any bands you've been listening to lately that you really enjoy?
Bob: Honestly, I've been listening to our stuff and going over the set list to make sure I have all of my parts down. (both laugh) Practicing to make sure it’s all tight. I don’t always play my guitar every single day, so I have to go over them some times to make sure I have it all good. There’re times I have to go over to Bill [Taylor, 2nd guitarist] and be like “How do I play this part again?” (both laugh) But once I get the first bit going it all comes back to me.
(((o))): That’s cool though, it keeps you on your feet. Well good luck on the tour Bob and I’ll see you later this month. I’ll stop by the merch table and see what’s up.
Bob: Thanks man, I appreciate it, and we really appreciate the support. I’ll be up there, stop by for sure man.
I’d like to thank Bob for taking the time to speak with me. I actually caught him the morning after he got back from Neurotic Deathfest, and he was in good spirits and really polite for someone who should have been damn tired. Make sure you go out and catch Immolation on the Decibel Tour in the US staring on May 10th. Keep an eye peeled for later this year when they swing by your town. Also, go pick up the new album Kingdom of Conspiracy on May 10th in Europe and May 14th I the US, on Nuclear Blast.
I’d also like to personally thank Holly at Nuclear Blast Europe for being a night owl and managing to set things up at the weirdest times in the morning. She went above and beyond and it is greatly appreciated.
Ryan Stephenson
Ech(((o)))es and Dust
