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By: Sam Robinson
The Body are undoubtedly one of the most notorious entities in metal and the wider experimental realms right now. 2016 is set to be another busy year for the duo, with the release of their latest studio effort No One Deserves Happiness, a scathing monument of a collaboration with Full of Hell and an appearance at Roadburn Festival. Melded with Chip King’s signature shrieks is the drum work and programming of Lee Burford; the master behind the band’s abrasive approach to electronics and waves of crushing noise. Within the mass of interest that their music triggers, Sam Robinson has managed to whittle it down to ask Lee about their upcoming live shows, influences, future endeavours and the incredible sonic monsters The Body have forged.
(((o))): Thank you for answering questions for us. I wanted to first ask if you were anticipating your shows at Roadburn Festival and supporting Converge in Europe? Are these appearances going to be collaborative with Full of Hell prior to the record coming later this year?
Lee: Yeah Roadburn is like a dream. It’s always an honor getting to play it. There’s some really excellent stuff happening there this year. The Euro tour will be separate sets from both bands.
(((o))): What might listeners expect from the collaboration with Full of Hell?
Lee: It’s a lot different than what I think people would expect. It definitely has elements of both of us but there’s a lot more added to it I feel like.
(((o))): Focusing on your newest full length, No One Deserves Happiness, this record is certainly a stand-out piece in The Body’s releases thus far, what were the influences that resulted in the pop-inspired aspects to the record?
Lee: I think there’s elements of pop stuff in everything we’ve done since All The Waters of the Earth Turn to Blood. We love ELO and The Beach Boys and these big productions with tons of people playing on songs so that’s what influenced us most in that regard. The newest one I think is just influenced by a different era of pop. We were both born in the 70’s so we grew up when drum machines and synths were really prevalent in music so I think that has stuck with us.
(((o))): When coupled with your signature devastating heaviness, these new elements really work. Is it something you will experiment again with on future releases?
Lee: I’m sure. Every record we try to push ourselves creatively so who knows where we’ll go next. The uncertainty is what makes it interesting for us.
(((o))): Maralie Armstrong’s vocals work incredibly well on this new release, how did that collaboration come about?
Lee: Maralie has been friends with us for over 20 years. She grew up in the same town as us in Arkansas. She’s extremely talented (and always has been) so it’s an honor every time she records with us.
(((o))): Are there any other future ideas for experimentation or genres that you feel you would like to infuse into The Body’s sound?
Lee: We don’t really think of anything consciously like that so its up in the air where we’ll go in the future.
(((o))): I wanted to ask about the final two tracks on the record, they stand as the most melancholic I think you’ve sounded. What is the writing process like for impactful tracks like this and for the record as a whole?
Lee: ‘Prescience’ is a pretty bummer song that’s true, but I feel like ‘The Myth Arc’ was our attempt at a pretty straightforward love song. But I guess it does have a pretty sad feel to it. We write everything in layers so by the time we’ve kind of built up the song you can kind of feel what the lyrics will be. Sometimes we’ll have a pretty focused direction we want it to go in but often it goes in an entirely different t direction.
(((o))): The album’s artwork ties in well to the music itself, is there a story behind the design of that?
Lee: I just wanted to make something simple and when I found that picture of the sad lady it just made sense.
(((o))): Are their any artists or individuals you would like to collaborate with in the future?
Lee: There’s a lot of friends we have that I’m sure we’ll continue to work with. There’s kind of talk of collaborating with our friend Jef Whitehead (Leviathan). I’d love to try to do something with Youth Code and Menace Ruine also.
(((o))): In the live setting, do you enjoy playing with other musicians or just as a duo? Or does this depend on the set you’re playing?
Lee: I prefer playing with other people just because it’s different.
(((o))): A last question I wanted to ask is are there any bands around at the moment that you’re in to?
Lee: Most of the stuff I like nowadays is hip hop stuff. Our friends make great music; Humanbeast, Pissgrave, Clean, Sandworm, Muscle & Marrow, and Heat Dust have all put out great records in the last year or two.
