(((o))): So, first and foremost, who are Sectioned and what are your musical backgrounds?

Five guys who want to write music which doesn't already exist, for fun. This is the second actual band we've been in (for most of us) ignoring the wee cover bands we mostly were in at school.

(((o))): How did the band come together?
Slowly.

(((o))): Please describe your sound in poetic form. (Haiku, rhyming couplets, acrostic, etc - take your pick)
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Death to false grind

(((o))): How has your local scene impacted you as a band? 
It has encouraged us to write heavier music.

(((o))): You’ve got a couple of EPs out thus far. What can you tell us about those?
The E.P’s are just like the starter dish for a meal (the meal being an album which we’re a fair bit through writing). We all have different views on them but we mostly needed them to get them out the way on our quest to write better music.

(((o))): Your sound is pretty complex and diverse. Is this simply the result of your influences or a conscious attempt to sound as different as possible?
We have a sense of what we want to sound like, and are lucky enough that how we naturally write and play gets us that sound. The only conscious effort we put into being diverse is distaste for being bored. Mother of invention and all that.

(((o))): What do you think is the most difficult challenge facing new bands starting out in the music industry today?
It depends on what your goal is. I think it’s difficult when the online portal of music is saturated it makes it more difficult for you to be heard, you sort of have to bank on virality there. We try not to depend too much on either online social media or word of mouth.

(((o))): Every band has different aims. What would have to happen for Sectioned to make you feel that you’d “made it”, so to speak?
In the short term – finish this album and release it. In the long term – to be at the level of the artists that inspire us

(((o))): You’re given the opportunity to create your own All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival. What would be the first five bands on your list?
Nine Inch Nails
Dillinger Escape Plan
Pantera with cyborg Dimebag
The Mars Volta
Prince

(((o))): Are there any upcoming bands you’d like us to feature in the near future?
Take a gander at our facebook likes! Any or all of them, haha!

(((o))): What are the band’s plans for the near future?
Finish our album and find out how we’re going to release it. Tour.

Amia Venera Landscape stood out with their 2010 debut, The Long Procession, which was a devastating mix of post-hardcore and atmospheric sludge metal. They are currently working on a series of new albums, which will see the light of day over the next few years. Grayson Hale was lucky enough to have the Italian sextet answer some of his questions during a break from their busy schedules.

(((o))): Hey guys! Last we heard from you, you were said to have created around 80 songs that would be released over the next few years. Are you busy with the first release now? Have you set a release date yet?

AVL: Yeah, after several pre production sessions, now we're going to start with the ultimate recordings. This is the first release of the series we planned, and it's also the first one we record 100% ourselves. We haven't planned a release date yet, because what we're doing now is not just giving a shape to the upcoming album. We're focusing on the whole soundscape of the new music we made so far, to make everything sound in the way that could satisfy us the most.

(((o))): Your debut, The Long Procession, was a crushing blend of many different styles including post-hardcore, atmospheric sludge metal, and ambient. What direction have the new songs taken? I remember you saying that this next album would be a lot darker...

AVL: I think that also on the upcoming album there is a mix of several styles, but this time we focused on a darker mood, more negative and obsessive than on The Long Procession. We tried to give cohesion to the general sound, the harmonies of the songs, and also the album art, so that everything could work synergically to express discomfort and anxiety.

(((o))): Have you ever thought about doing a song in Italian? Why did you decide to use English lyrics in your music?

AVL: No, we haven't. We always listened to American or English bands the most, so it has been the most natural choice to use English in our music.

(((o))): The artwork for your last album was very evocative of your music. How important is the album art for you?

AVL: We want to frame our music with something we feel representative, so it is an aspect that evolve together with the music composition and mood.

(((o))): Who are some of your musical influences? You must have many based on the diversity of your music!

AVL: I think everyone of us listens to different music from each other. Anyway, there are bands such as Deftones, Shora, ISIS and Radiohead that could be considered an influence for us as band.

(((o))): You release your music independently and have stated previously that you are uninterested in working with a label. It seems to me that this is becoming a lot more common, with distribution perhaps not as much of a problem as it used to be due to the reach of the internet. In light of this, do you still believe in releasing physical copies of your albums or would you ever consider releasing your music exclusively through digital formats?

AVL: Well, since we started playing together we always had that point of view about being independent and manage everything by ourselves. There's a big underground scene that has been doing that from many years, even if this D.I.Y. attitude seems to exist just since crowdfounding and stuff like that reached a little popularity. About releasing physical copies, I think we'll keep on doing that. There's still a big difference between handling something with its own artwork and all, than having just a bunch of files on your PC...We'd also love to press some vinyls, but there's nothing sure about that at the moment.

(((o))): Italy seems to have a burgeoning metal scene. Your pianist/guitarist Enrico is also a member of another band called The Secret, who recently toured with Converge, and I’ve heard a number of black metal acts that match up to the best in Europe. Can you recommend any other Italian bands that people may not be too familiar with?

AVL: Enrico used to play bass in The Secret for a while, but he's currently playing in AVL only. We're not very into the Italian metal scene, but there are some cool bands you should check out, like our friends Hobos, Fall Of Minerva, Rise Above Dead and Grime.

(((o))): Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions! Good luck with the new records and hopefully your more remote fans will get to see you on tour someday!

AVL: Thank you for the support! We hope so!

(((o))): So, first and foremost, who are Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs and what are your musical backgrounds?

The Ox (bass), Turnpike Jones (Guitar), Judge (Guitar). Grandpa Maw Maw (Drums), Roger Diamond (Vocals).

We’re quite a mixed bag really. The Ox, Judge and I (Roger Diamond) all developed in the same womb. Our mother did a lot of swimming in the ocean when she was pregnant with us. We used to record the rumble of on-coming waves before they hit her bloated midriff. Turnpike Jones was in a prog rock band called Torches in the Puddle who toured the world but his band members used to bully him and talk about him behind his back. Grandpa Maw Maw used to produce and perform funky disco tracks in his native land. Like Turnpike Jones, he’s also been fortunate enough to tour the world with his music. I guess we’re all pretty experienced musicians in our own way. We certainly share similar philosophies on writing and performing music.

(((o))): How did the band come together?

I don’t want to talk about it as we’d get into big trouble. Basically, we’re all really bad at poker.

(((o))): Please describe your sound in poetic form. If you do a seven x Pigs acrostic I will love you forever for your ambition.

Pigs x7 mantra

In riffs we trust

Gain knobs up

Sounds pretty loud

Purposefully raucous

In tune with Thor

Gurning like madmen

Steroid fuelled Can

Pulsating rhythms

Induces hip thrusts

Grappling with the Bakunawa

Sea serpents surrender to us

Peter Beardsley

Is a big fan

Gives glowing reviews

Slobbers all over us

Party bags of riffs

Is what we’re good at

Giving boogie to doom

Screaming at the Gods

Possibly space rock

Infused with kraut and noise

Getting sweaty whilst wearing multi-coloured

Slankets

Pink Fairies

Intertwined with a

Good amount of

Sabbath

(Ed: Bravo)

(((o))): How has your local scene impacted you as a band?

It hasn’t.

(((o))): You’ve put an EP out a couple of months back. What can you tell us about that?

It's one 20 odd minute track called 'The Wizard and the Seven Swines', it'll be seeing a physical release in the form of a split LP with our brothers The Cosmic Dead in early November on 'The Old Noise'

(((o))): Where do you see the band’s sound going on future releases?

It’s impossible to see sound but you can sure feel it, if it’s loud enough. I imagine at high volumes people should feel our future sound around their chests and nether regions.

(((o))): What do you think is the most difficult challenge facing new bands starting out in the music industry today?

Sorting out the sycophants from the genuine.

(((o))): Every band has different aims. What would have to happen for you guys to make you feel that you’d “made it”, so to speak?

“Making it” is performing music from your heart and soul. It’s about making ineffable connections with other humans. If you can do that, you’ve made it. We’ve already made it.

(((o))): Why so many pigs?

Why not?

(Ed: The man has a point)

(((o))): You’re given the opportunity to create your own All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival. What would be the first five bands on your list?

Hall & Oates

Ted Danson III (Spoken Word)

Mark Morrison

Twisted Sister

The Outhere Brothers

(((o))): Are there any upcoming bands you’d like us to feature in the near future?

I’m not sure any of these are upcoming but the following artists are all mind blowing - The Cosmic Dead, Richard Dawson, Divorce, Beauty Pageant, Queer’d Science, Basic House.

(((o))): What are the band’s plans for the near future?

We’re currently talking to Kanye West about producing our next record.

(((o))): So, first and foremost, who are Degree of Arc and what are your musical backgrounds?

Degree of Arc are Ollie Wright (guitar), Matt Garland (guitar), Brian Leftley (bass) and Joe Stephens (drums). We all grew up playing in bands in our local area, playing everything from pop-rock to more metal influenced bands.

(((o))): How did the band come together?

JS: We all went on X-factor individually and Louis said we’d work better as a group.

MG: He said we’d be the “next big boy band”.

OW: Me and Bri had played in bands together since we were 18. We met Matt a few years later and started playing music together. Once we started writing what would become our first record ‘Circles’, we started looking for a drummer.

BL: I think we all individually contacted Joe online and eventually he gave in and came along to a practise. From there it just clicked.

(((o))): Please describe your sound in poetic form. (Haiku, rhyming couplets, acrostic, etc - take your pick)

There once was a band called ‘Circles’

Who had to change their name for legal reasons

We’re now called ‘Degree of Arc’

We play post-rock *

* We’re also not very good at poems

(((o))): Has your local music scene had any impact on you as a band?

OW: I don’t think it’s had a direct impact on our music. However, seeing local bands like Codes in the Clouds and Arcane Roots doing well was inspiring to us.

JS: The local music scene where I grew up was really busy. You could guarantee there would a gig to go to every weekend. I think if that hadn’t been the case I perhaps wouldn’t have got involved in music to the extent I have.

(((o))): Your debut EP came out a while ago and you’re starting to record a new album soon. Tell us a bit more about it.

BL: The new record is called ‘Halls in Hospitals’ and we’re about half way through the recording process. We’re aiming to release it later this year and cannot wait for people to hear it.

JS: Sound wise, it’s certainly a departure from ‘Circles’. It’s a darker record but we didn’t set out to do that. It all came together pretty naturally. We know from what people have told us that ‘Circles’ connected with them and we hope this record has the same effect.

MG: We’re anxious to release it but ultimately can’t wait to play it live. We think the songs will translate well in a live setting.

(((o))): What do you think is the most difficult challenge facing new bands starting out in the music industry today?

OW: It’s easier than ever to get your music out there but it’s more difficult than ever to stand out in the crowd, get the attention of venues, promoters and other bands.

JS: Anybody can make a decent sounding recording from their bedroom nowadays. The challenge is promoting yourself through so many different channels online and convincing people that your music is more worth listening to than other peoples.

BL: Money! Having to cover recording costs, gear, travel, rehearsals whilst working full time and trying to play as many gigs as you can is harder than a lot of people realise.

MG: It’s difficult without a central place online for bands to showcase their music and network. These days you have to have a presence across as many platforms as possible.

(((o))): Every band has different aims. What would have to happen for Degree of Arc to make you feel that you’d “made it”, so to speak?

OW: When we started we just wanted to release a record. Then we wanted to play shows. Then we wanted to support a band we all really like and we got to do that recently with Codes In The Clouds. It changes with every milestone.

BL: With the new record on the way we just want as many people as possible to hear it and see us play live. We just want to continue playing bigger shows. To play the likes of ArcTanGent would be incredible.

JS: To get our music onto film or TV. Not the new Admiral car insurance advert or anything like that but to do something like Explosions in the Sky did for Friday Night Lights or Mogwai did for Les Revenants.

MG: Yeah, definitely. I’d love for us to write a soundtrack for a movie. Maybe a Michael Bay film…Bad Boys 3 anybody?

(((o))): How many degrees does your arc have?

OW: There’s an incredibly deep meaning behind the band name and we’re not quite ready to divulge into the details of such matters…yet. The first rule about the arc is that you do not talk about the arc.

JS: The second rule is that it’s precisely 72.3 degrees.

(((o))): We have another column called Echoes of the Past in which we get people to write about albums that have particularly influenced them. What would you guys choose to write about in that column?

MG: I love Incubus and grew up listening to ‘S.C.I.E.N.C.E’ so I’d say that or the new Teenage Dirtbag pop-punk compilation.

BL: The first record I have memory of listening to is  ‘...And Justice For All’ by Metallica courtesy of my Dad who was heavily into his metal at the time. At such a young age that record must have influenced my music tastes moving forward. That said, I first picked up the bass whilst listening to Blink 182 ‘Dude Ranch’ so I’d pick either one of those.

JS: ‘Master of Puppets’ by Metallica for me. I don’t think Ive ever been as obsessed with an album as I was the first time I listened to it.

OW: I would say my earliest memory of picking up the guitar was learning Nirvana to impress my brother so that ‘Nevermind’ record is pretty nostalgic for me and I know it back to front.

(((o))): This is ostensibly a column for introducing new bands. Any suggestions as to who we ought to include in the near future?

OW: Envoys just released a new record that we’re all really into.

JS: Artifacts from Crawley are a great listen so definitely check them out.

MG: 1D, Tommy Stoneberg or Hearts Under Fire.

BL: Waking Aida from Southampton or Wicket from Wales. Both great bands and worth a look!

(((o))): What are the band’s plans for the near future?

MG: Release the record, play it to as many people as possible.

BL: To keep writing and to play more shows!

JS: To work on our choreography.

OW: To keep spreading the word of our band and have the new record reach even more people.

You can catch Degree Of Arc performing with obe, Rumour Cubes and T. E. Morris on 11th September at Nice Weather For Aistrikes Presents at The Good Ship in London.

(((o))): First of all, how long has Tartarus Records been around for now?

I started Tartarus Records in May, 2012. I didn’t have any release planned, or any money so it was just a name and an idea. Nihill’s Woestenij (TAR001) was released a few months later in August that same year.

(((o))): Where did the idea to start your own label come from?
A few years ago I discovered there were still a lot of bands putting out demos and EPs out on cassette. I'm talking specifically about countries like Germany, the UK and the US. From old school standards it seemed bands that affiliated themselves with raw punk DIY ethics still preferred dubbing tapes to burning CDRs. I got interested in the old medium and how the underground kept reanimating the cassette, be it re-dubbed from used or completely new ones pro-duplicated.
In my search of cassette labels and self-released cassettes by artists, I found a couple of labels who took the packaging to a completely new level. The first one I saw was Nerdcore Records, whose mission it seemed was to make the packaging pure eye candy by combining original packaging and different kind of printing and pressing methods. After that I found Auris Apothecary who really took the term packaging to a whole new level on its own and gave the cassette a new meaning all the same. I'm talking about packaging tapes in colored condoms, bricks etc. I'm naming but a few but these where a few outputs that really inspired me to take the steps of starting my own tape label.

(((o))): You’re a cassette only label. Why are you focussing on cassettes only?

Cassettes are a doomed medium. It’s everything old we like to forget and make faster and turn into digital. I like to see the cassette as a cultural middle finger pointed at the mass majority that forgets what it takes to produce and release something yourself. Nowadays a lot of musicians tend to stay away from physical releases and keep it digital. I myself would like to see the cassette as a DIY effort that gives you not only a physical copy of your music, but also a highly limited small piece of art to remind you of purchase. So let me make this perfectly clear: I think 8 out of 10 people that buy my tapes have no cassette player but like the packaging, or the idea he or she is getting a cassette with their download.

(((o))): A lot more labels seem to be putting out releases on cassettes these days, so they seem to be making a comeback; or do you think they were never really gone and they’re just getting more attention again?
I myself think it’s pretty cool. Not that I would buy a tape from a bigger label, (like the new Carcass). I think those bigger labels release tapes so they can give people the idea they’re still “underground”. Nonetheless I think it’s great that the rise of the tapes make them think about it and eventually even making the step releasing a tape.

(((o))): I have spoken to people before who started laughing when I mention that I bought a release on cassette. I suppose you get this quite a lot as well? People seem to think the cassette belongs in a museum nowadays or something...

If I had a dime every time someone asked me “Does it come with a tape deck?” then I'd have plenty of euros by now. But seriously, sure you get some strange looks from people when you tell them you're a 100% cassette label. Luckily I'm surrounded by quite a few creative people which makes it easier to let people understand the actual vision behind your thoughts. There are always people that will never understand it. Too bad for them I guess.

(((o))): A lot of your releases are re-releases after the band or other labels have released them on digital format of CD/vinyl before. How do you get the artists involved in your label? Do you contact them yourself or do they contact you?

I know. I wish there would be more cassette only releases, like I did with the first two releases I did (the Nihill release and Bismuth’s The Eternal Marshes), but to ask that from bands is a lot, especially if they want to release something with a somewhat bigger pressing than the a hundred tapes I make. I don’t like it, but then again I know my target group is small so who cares? The bands contact me or I contact them. There are many requests and I try to listen to everything that comes in but usually I contact the bands myself.

(((o))): Is it difficult to get permission from other labels to re-release something on cassette on your label?
Sometimes it can be hard, yes. A few times the band has already signed to a label that put out a CD and are afraid they’re losing sales because of me releasing a cassette. So it could happen that the label demands a percentage of the tapes for licensing or just simply forbid it. Luckily for me, this only happened a couple of times. Usually labels are okay with it and don’t see it like afore mentioned. I guess that’s one of the perks of working with underground bands and labels that get run by music lovers other than people trying to make money off you.

(((o))): Would you ever consider opening other doors, such as releasing on vinyl or CD?
I’d maybe try vinyl one day, but for now I’m still content with releasing tapes.

(((o))): You seem to release a variety of black metal, death metal, doom, sludge, noise rock. Do you release any genre you can, or are you really specific to the various metal subgenres?
I release what I like. So it’s mostly the darker and heavier side of music. Even though the doom ratio is biggest within Tartarus I’d like to think I could release any kind of genre which appeals to me. I wouldn’t like to see Tartarus as a label that focuses on one genre, but rather a kind of melting pot of bands I think people should listen to. Be it doom, sludge, noise, folk or whatsoever.

(((o))): How many releases have you put out so far?
When I started with this interview I just released my thirteenth release (Transatlantic Rat’s Atom / Birdeye). Now I’m about to release my fifteenth and sixteenth (Spider Kitten and Toner Low III). So that’s effectively sixteen tapes in one year.

(((o))): I assume you’re proud of each release, but are there any particular ones you really proud of, or which mean a little but more to you?
Without favouring a release for another, I could definitely say that Nihill’s Woestenij is probably the most important release for me. It was the first tape I did, and it literally opened a lot of doors for me.  If it wouldn’t be for them contacting me to release a tape I would not have made such a great debut as a label. Aside from that I’m proud of every tape I did so far.

(((o))): Twenty years ago when I was playing in bands releasing demos on cassettes was like the golden standard. Nowadays bands just put out a digital recording on their Bandcamp page and that’s it. It’s not the same thing really and most beginning bands don’t even bother getting their demo or release on CD anymore. What do you think this does to the underground music scene?

I guess there are mainly two kinds of music lovers: those who want to download and those who want something physical. When I grew up your band was nothing until you released something physical, like a cassette or a CD. Nowadays bands tend to release a lot of digital stuff. I guess that’s fine. I think some bands don’t really need a physical release because they have target group that wouldn’t buy it in the first place. For most bands traffic and amount of plays and generating exposure is more important.

With Tartarus that’s the exact reason I release small runs of fifty or a hundred. I know a lot of people think buying cassettes is stupid, so I make a hundred tapes for those few who actually want something in their hands. For those fifty to a hundred people I love making an effort on doing a good job on the packaging.

(((o))): What is so special about cassettes? I suppose one thing is the fact that you kind of need to listen to the whole release as you can’t skip to the next track as easily as with a CD or digital release. Also, how does the sound compare to the other media out there you think?
Cassettes are a doomed media of the western civilisation. In today’s life you can go to an electronics store and not buy a tape deck anymore. In a few countries, (where they use our old cars as taxis) the tape is still a common thing. Tape culture stayed alive thanks to punk and hardcore bands that recycled tapes to put their demos on. Then those bands that had little more cash could afford to pro duplicate tapes. What I’m trying to say is that I see the cassette culture as a huge middle finger directed at the music industry of today. Tapes have never been outdated. They’ve just been put in the corner with a dunce hat on their head. People that still choose packaging and artwork over a digital release buy tapes. I think it’s pretty special that all over the world people still buy enough tapes to keep the plants that produce the shells alive.

As far as the sound quality of the tape goes, I’m not saying the sound is better, but for me it does have a nostalgic sound. The low hiss in the background remind me when I had my Walkman on most of the day when I was a kid. It should also be noted that tapes are fairly cheap to produce. That means there’s more money to invest in the packaging, like good quality paper, screen-printed parts, boxes, pouches and adding extra stuff like patches, buttons, spaceships etc. 

What are your plans for the rest of this year? Have you got some exciting releases in the planning?
From now on I’m releasing two tapes per month. I have a lot of releases planned and I want to start 2014 clean so I have more time to put in bigger projects. I’m currently starting two co-releases. One is the Ommadon I – IV boxset in co-release with Witches on Fire Records. The other is the upcoming album of War Wolf, on which I will be working together with Dry Cough Records. I’m really looking forward on both of these.

Upcoming releases:
(TAR016) Herder - s/t (Aug/Sept)

(TAR017) Herder - Horror Vacui (Aug/Sept)

(TAR018) Verbum Verus - Melkiresha (Sept/Oct)

(TAR019) Lord Mantis - Pervertor (Sept/Oct)

(TAR020) War Wolf - Crushing The Ways Of The Old (Oct/Nov)

(TAR021) Grinding Halt - Discography II (Oct/Nov)

(((o))): Thanks a lot for your time Richard. I think you’re doing a great job with Tartarus Records and I hope you’ll keep on doing what you do! Is there anything you would like to add for our readers?

There are a lot of great cassette labels around, but there are some I want to point out  which people definitely need to check out: Breathe Plastic, Cosmic Tomb, Dry Cough Records, Witches on Fire Records,  Opaqus Records and Lighten Up Sounds. These labels have a great passion for tapes and sincerely love what they do.

All our reviews of Tartarus Records material can be found here

(((o))): Hi Justin. How are you right now?

I’m good thanks. Things are just a bit manic at the moment. I’ve just come back from doing Moscow with Godflesh which was pretty intense. It’s the first time we’ve been out there actually, but the travelling was tough and we had to change flights and now I’ve come home to find I’m about three months behind everything!

(((o))): I can imagine you must always be very busy, but obviously at the moment especially so because the new Jesu record, ‘Every Day I Get Closer to the Light from Which I Came’, is about to come out. It’s such a wordy album title this time around; how come?

Haha, yeah I suppose most Jesu titles are usually just one word. This time around, however, I found that I couldn’t really condense what it was that I wanted to convey so, even though I’m not usually a fan of overly wordy album titles, I thought I’d risk it. I hope it’s doesn’t sound too pretentious!

(((o))): Not at all. What about the record itself? How do you feel that is a progression from previous Jesu material?

I think I’ve got back to somewhere I was around 2006/7 with the project, which I’ve found is a bit more satisfying than the last couple of records personally. I hope the fans will agree. I guess it’s a little bit more like the ‘Silver’ EP. The last couple of Jesu records have been structured in quite a linear way, and intentionally so actually. I think it was partially as a result of them being on Caldo Verde label which is run by Mark Kozelek (Red House Painters / Sun Kil Moon).  I really wanted to make him these songwritery records, maybe just because I’m such a big fan of his music. This time I’ve done something a bit more dynamic as I’m on my own label. I wanted to do something more concise and open-ended; this record is intentionally just short of forty-five minutes. Hopefully it gets to the point a bit quicker without labouring anything, a bit like the EPs I’ve done so far.

(((o))): Everything on this record is you bar one guest appearance from Nicolas Manzan. Are the appearances of others something that you have in your mind when you’re writing the songs or does it usually come about later?

The latter, it usually comes later on as an afterthought. I’m quite a control freak really, and Jesu is a very solitary project in lots of ways as well. This time around it was just that I’d played a Godflesh show in Bologna with Nicola, who played a solo support set, and even though I’d already mixed the song in question, with programmed strings, he ended doing a whole string section for it by himself! We got chatting at the show and it turned out that, aside from doing this fucked up little grindcore project, he was a soundtrack composer in Italy and he offered to contribute the strings himself after I told him about using the programming on this one track. There was me trying to fake an orchestra and he then bettered that by miles for me so I’m very grateful to him for that!

(((o))): A few years ago you were saying you felt that Jesu may have become too focused on electronics and I assume that was part of the reason behind you going on to do the Pale Sketcher and JK Flesh records. Do you feel now that Jesu has become a more clearly defined project as a result of that?

Well, I think I’ve got that out of my system yes... but unfortunately I think that decision was part of the reason for the last two Jesu records being quite dry and guitar led. When I look back at my back catalogue I find that the records I personally prefer are the ones that feature elements of everything in a sense, in terms of the dynamics I suppose. That’s what I like about the new album I think. So Pale Sketcher has served its purpose but now is itself broadening out as well, just as Jesu is again, whilst remaining quite melancholy and slightly poppy. JK Flesh was more the flipside of Godflesh I suppose in lots of ways, if Pale Sketcher can be seen as the flipside to Jesu.

(((o))): You mentioned the “p” word there; “poppy”. How far do you feel you can take that aspect of Jesu’s sound?

I suppose really I can only take it as far as my own limitations. By my own admission I’m not a super skilled musician. I’m completely self-taught and I didn’t learn instruments coming from a pop angle at all. I learned the guitar in order to play punk rock really. The analogy I like to use with Jesu is Hüsker Dü. They started as this ultra-fast, brutal punk band, and then became a more widescreen alternative rock band. They still sounded quite rough on those later records, which I adore, but they still were trying to make pop music. It’s flawed but beautiful. I think Jesu is similar to that in a way. I have a love for pop music and Jesu is as close as I can get to pop. I’ve always wanted to have a marriage between the brutal, harsh music I love and the pop music I’ve always loved too, and hopefully Jesu is that in a sense. Prior to Jesu’s existence I don’t think that’s something I had the confidence to do, and I still don’t to a certain extent, but it’s fun trying to achieve that mix.

(((o))): You haven’t played that many Jesu live shows over the last few years but you have a few coming up. Is that a sign that you‘re trying to give Jesu another go live and to see if it will work?

Yes, definitely. I think before a lot of the issues I had with Jesu live shows were to do with my voice but, weirdly, since I’ve started doing lots of touring with Godflesh again my voice seems to have become stronger. All that shouting my head off every night seems to have helped my confidence and my ability to project my voice as well. There are a couple of live Godflesh songs we’ve been doing where I’ve been singing harmonically and I’ve been enjoying doing those. There’s obviously the aspect of the late nineties voice destruction I took part in where I was drinking and smoking too much. That went on until about 2007 really, when I had to address my problems in that area. That really knocked my confidence and obviously it had a negative impact on my voice too. I’ve become quite healthy now and I’ve cleaned up my act so I feel much more confident about doing Jesu live shows now.

(((o))): You’ve obviously mentioned Godflesh a few times. How much of your time is that taking up at the moment?

It’s sort of levelled out a bit now which is quite nice. It’s largely been live performances of course, but for the last nine months or so I’ve slowly been demo-ing a new Godflesh record. I think we’re actually going to end up starting to record the album properly in November and December. It’s a good band to record an album in winter with! Jesu and Godflesh are the two things that are most important to me musically, and the things I survive on as well really so I do dedicate a lot of time to them over other projects. I enjoy doing those things the most too I suppose but, whereas Godflesh was taking up about 70% of my time when we first restarted things, now it’s levelling out again.

(((o))): You’re a father now. How much of an impact has that had on both the new Jesu record and you as a musician generally?

It’s had a huge impact, definitely. It’s absolutely the main influence behind the new album really. A lot of the material represents the emotional rollercoaster that is waiting for a child to be born, and then having a baby, and then not being able to be with the baby all the time when I’m on tour and suchlike. For me it was just so overwhelming to have a child. I don’t just mean the stress; literally everything that goes with having a child has had a major impact upon me. It’s an unbelievably beautiful thing. You just feel like you can’t do enough. It’s incredible watching your child grow day by day... I can’t put it into words, sorry. This album is absolutely dedicated to the illiteracy prompted by this experience in my life. I could talk about it for days I’m sure! As a creative person as well I suppose it’s changed me. I have to be more concise with my time, and to be less self-indulgent. That’s a first in my life I guess... I’m no longer top of the list. It’s a great leveller too.

(((o))): Do you feel more comfortable now with all your projects as a whole? I mean you’ve reformed Godflesh, and Jesu is still very much an active concern. You’ve done shows as JK Flesh and White Static Demon at Roadburn as well. I guess I’m trying to ask whether you feel more comfortable now with all those things being a part of your musical creativity...

Yeah, I think so. Even if some things appear disparate there are always linked. Even between things like White Static Demon and Jesu. I mean the former of those two is my most marginalised project because it’s just noise. For most people noise does not count as music you know? They’re not interested. There’s a white light of some sort in both, an intensity I guess. That’s me I suppose. I used to feel quite uncomfortable about it. It polarises my audience, which I think is a good thing in many ways. It’s pretty stunning to hear people say they genuinely like all my stuff, but it’s no better than people liking one or other of my things. There are loads of people who love Godflesh but hate Jesu. I guess some people are just too precious about things, but I only want to judge things by my own standards really. It seems pointless to me to lambast musicians for having diverse outputs and tastes, but whilst it might have bothered me when I was younger it certainly doesn’t anymore.

(((o))): So, first and foremost, who are Young Aviators and what are your musical backgrounds?

We are Declan McKay (Guitar/Vocals), Kyle Haughey (Bass/Vocals) and John Markey (Drums/Vocals). We have varying musical backgrounds, Declan has been playing guitar since birth as well as bashing a piano on occasion. Kyle is a bass extraordinaire and Markey has a music degree from University of Glasgow. He plays grade eight Tuba; bizarre.

(((o))): How did the band come together?

We grew up in the same small Irish town so it was either play in a band or drink all the time. We chose both.

(((o))): Please describe your sound in poetic form. (Haiku, rhyming couplets, acrostic, etc - take your pick)

Here’s a Haiku:

Harmonies relay insightful lyrics

Garage Grunge Surf Pop

We can’t stop dancing

Is that a Haiku? Our guitarist has an English degree, he would’ve been much better at this but he went to Edinburgh a few days ago and we haven’t seen him since….

(((o))): Has your local music scene had any impact on you as a band?

Glasgow is a bit of a jungle for bands. They’re everywhere. I suppose that in itself creates an immediate drive, you have to stand out from the crowd.

(((o))): You have an album out and your new single is coming out soon. Tell us a little bit about it…

It mainly deals with the theme of being young, broke and desolate in the 21st century. Most of our songs are inspired by a life on minimum wage and fears of the future for yourself and the wider world. They don't come across as being too heavy going though, they're meant to embrace the humour and poetry in being fucked.

(((o))): What do you think is the most difficult challenge facing new bands starting out in the music industry today?

Labels don’t want to invest any money any more. Since the 1950s record labels signed a few bands at a time, invested in them. One or two of the bands would become successful and the money the labels made would offset the losses incurred from the other acts which didn’t have much success and were eventually dropped. It was a cut-throat business but at least labels signed acts. These days you have to do almost everything yourself; tour; record albums; promote; all this is expected before a label will even look at you. It’s a tough game these days. The other side of the coin now however is that you have much more freedom in what you do and the technology to promote yourself is widely available.

(((o))): Every band has different aims. What would have to happen for Young Aviators to make you feel that you’d “made it”, so to speak?

A charity Christmas single, obviously. It’s the same for every band.

(((o))): What level of experience does a young aviator have? At what stage will you become senior?

It’s a question of rank really. We’d like to think we are currently on the verge of becoming simply ‘Aviators’. We’d imagine another decade or two would result in us reaching a title as sought after as ‘Senior Aviator’, but it won’t be easy.

(((o))): We have another column called Echoes of the Past in which we get people to write about albums that have particularly influenced them. What would you guys choose to write about in that column?

As a collective probably Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (Self-titled), The Vines – ‘Highly Evolved’ or any Nirvana album.

(((o))): This is ostensibly a column for introducing new bands. Any suggestions as to who we ought to include in the near future?

There is always the option of doing another interview with us. Let’s not rule that out. But there is a band called Poor Things from Glasgow who make us smile, and will also obviously owe us £20 after this shameless plug.

(((o))): What are the band’s plans for the near future?

We’re going on tour with Travis in November. That’s going to be amazing. There are other tours in the pipeline, which cannot be brought to the world’s attention yet, but it’ll all be there on our facebook page so keep checking!

Ahead of the release of their new album, Ceremonies, which we reviewed here, we sent Gilbert to talk to Swedish indie/post-rock band Ef. We really enjoyed these responses from drummer Niklas Åström, and we even got a fart reference - the only thing in the world more universal than music. Enjoy!

(((o))): How much of your life is devoted to Ef?

Ef: Well, it differs from person to person within the band. But EF means a lot to everyone. Over the years we’ve recorded the albums, designed the covers, made the tour posters, booked the tours, managed the band etc etc. And besides this we try to create and write musical tunes, release them and tour a lot to spread ‘em. So… A lot of our lives are put into EF.

(((o))): People categories types of music because it helps us to describe it, but we also argue about whether music like yours is indie rock because it has vocals, or post-rock because of its structure and instrumentation. It's so much easier to identify the genre of a film or book. Why do you think music is so hard to describe with words?

Ef: For us we always try to describe our music with colours, places or feelings. Kind of like a painter, a photographer or a philosopher… But we do music and honestly we don’t care that much what you categories it as as long as you like it. We’re highly influenced by post rock and indie rock bands – it’s nothing that we’re embarrassed over. But we’re also influenced by metal bands, old pop heroes like MJ and classical music such as Wagner.

(((o))): Which is more important in conveying the emotion of your music- the words you sing or the way the words sound?

Ef: How it sounds! Of course we put some time in finding the right words but if they don’t float very well into the music we rather find others. It all need to be in symbiosis. From the very beginning we promised ourselves to never sing about politics or religion. We don’t want to make a stand with our music – even if we’re highly engaged/involved people. We rather sing about dreamy stuff that you can interpret however you want. And hopefully they also make you feel something.

(((o))): Sweden has a reputation for being a country with far more metal bands per population than almost any other country. How does a band like Ef fit into the picture? Does this give you more room to find an audience than another metal band would?

Ef: I wouldn’t say so. The Swedish metal scene haven’t given EF anything. But while touring Europe we see a lot of metal heads at our concerts which we find amazing. I think people in Sweden are a little bit too much “hardcore” – no matter what music genre you’re into. But I totally agree, there’s a lot of great metal bands in Sweden… Or at least used to be.

(((o))): You've toured a lot over the years. It sounds romantic, but the reality can be very different. What are the emotions you go through during a tour? How does it impact on those around you and your loved ones?

Ef: Oh man, you should only know. Touring is one of the most funniest things you can do. You meet so much people, eat great food, drink free beer, see beautiful places etc etc. But it’s certainly no vacation – specially not for DIY bands as us. You play every night, you sleep for 5 hours, you drive for 6 hours cramped into a van with 6 other smelly dudes and carry heavy stuff when you arrive. Then you get fed and wait for show time (the funny hour). Now we can finally burst our hearts out for real – for 60 minutes. And then it starts all over again… Your bodies get sore and your mind gets totally fucked. You have no idea about what’s happening in the world when you’re in this bubble. All you know is what to do, when to do it and how your best friends farts smell like. Do that sound romantic to You? Well – in one way it is. Because tour memories is stuff you ALWAYS carry with you, and something we always fall back on when discussing happy times. It’s pure hate-love.

(((o))): You've now been around for around ten years. What are the highlights?

Ef: There’s so many highlights… You can almost find one highlight in each live show even if it’s only 15 people in the audience. But the biggest highlight must have been when we flew over to Asia for the first time. Such a different culture and we had no idea what to expect. But venues were packed, food great and the people was SO lovely. Another highlight was probably to hold our first CD album “Give me beauty… Or give me death!” when it arrived. “Fuck, this is for real…”.

(((o))): If your new record was an animal, what would it be? Is it a different animal on the inside than it is on the outside?

Ef: A bear. It’s warm, hairy and cozy but full of aggression that lurks behind that cute fluffy face which attacks explosively quick. But if you just become friend with it – it will keep you warm during winter and carry you on it’s back and protect you during summer.

(((o))): You gave us a taste of the new album “Ceremonies” with the beautiful EP “Delusions of Grandeur” last year and kept one of the songs – a thread holding the two together. Is the album a collection of unrelated songs or did you set out to create an album with a theme or story? How do you see the relationship with the EP?

Ef: “Delusions of grandeur” EP was the first song we created as a quintet. It kind of took us in a new direction that we refer to as “the pop-ish sound”. Emanuel and Erik that joined us are long time friend and been with us a live musicians or worked with us in the studio. But there presence in the song writing really changed our old way of looking at music and creating songs. It became more pop-oriented in the way that we started to think more about harmonies, refrain/verse-parts (even if that hardly exists) and keep “red threads” through the songs. We also implanted much more vocals and possibly even more melodies and arrangements.

“Delusions of grandeur” is a great song (probably my favorite still) and I believe it fits very well sound wise with the other new songs at the album that we also been writing with Emanuel and Erik. Another reason was that the song only got released on vinyl – and we know a lot of our fans don’t have vinyl and we want to provide it to them on compact disc.

(((o))): What inspired the song 'Yield, Heart. Yield!'

Ef: Forget what I said above… Haha… “Yield, heart. Yield!” was the first song we wrote together, and also played live during summer 2011 (I believe there’s a live clip from Hamburg of it and we called the song “Kiel”). But of course it sounded TOTALLY different back then… Much more monotonous and “raw” and we had no vocals on it. Before entering the studio we were actually about to forget about it / skip it. But I continued to nag on the guys and beg for us to at least try it out in the rehearsal space. Said and done, everyone loved it and we just felt we needed to rearrange it a lot. And add vocals – loads of vocals, catchy vocals, high pitch vocals, sexy voice vocals, choirs… and that funk bass line at second refrain. Gosh! It turned out extremely schizophrenic, catchy and great.

(((o))): The covers for both the EP and the album are so beautiful. Who is responsible for them?

Ef: It’s a Swedish guy called Staffan Larsson who works as an illustrator. We were about to release “Mourning golden morning” in 2010 and needed someone to take care of the cover art. Earlier albums have been based on photographs but we wanted a cover that felt more like artwork. Someone recommended us to contact him – that we’d like his work – and we f***ing loved it! We wanted it to have the feel of 70’s children books with very natural and deep colours and with a artwork that was a little bit psychedelic without becoming to much “magic mushroom”. The “Mourning golden morning”, “Delusions of grandeur EP” and the new “Ceremonies” covers are all a part of the triology-story about the big bird collecting flowers from the ocean to decorate his captured ship… yeah. Haha. It sounds very “magic mushroom”-ish now.

(((o))): What music are you listening to at the moment?

Ef: All of us are listening to such varied music. Both bands and genres. Everything from black metal, Pitchfork-hyped indie rock, hip hop to old classical heroes such as Wagner. Personally I’m listening a lot to the latest Kanye West album and the Efterklang live album for that Piramida concert with a massive orchestra. It’s amazing!

(((o))): You are touring again soon – what can audiences expect? What kind of beer should they buy you after the show?

Ef: Well – we’ll play many of the new songs and some old favourites. We’ll work a lot more with lights (and darkness). And of course we’ll throw our guitars around and hearts out. And burst into flames. Night after night after night…

(((o))): So, first and foremost, who are Emperor Yes and what are your musical backgrounds?

Emperor Yes are me (Ash Gardner, House of Strange Studios), Hugo Sheppard (ex-Summer Camp), and Adam Betts (Three Trapped Tigers). We all met in London where I run House of Strange Studios. I've been doing live sound for TTT for about 3 years now so I met Betts through that and have been making music with Hugo for a bunch of years now.

(((o))): How did the band first come together?

Hugo and I wrote the majority of the tunes when I was living in Tokyo and he was back in London. We had been jamming for a few weeks before I left trying to generate new ideas for a new project (which eventually turned into Emperor Yes). We met in Bali at the beginning of 2011 and started demoing 5 tunes. 2 of which ended up as ‘Wasps’ and ‘Fishes’.

All the drums on these demos were drum machines but we knew we wanted a live drummer, so when we were back in London we asked Betts whether he would record them. It was actually Betts who mentioned that we should play some live shows after we finished the recording. Completely surprised to have a beast of a drummer we took to the stage as soon as possible; I think that was in early 2012.

(((o))): Has your local scene had an impact upon you as a band?

Hell yeah! Even though our music is quite different we spend a lot of time with Summer Camp, Emmy the Great, Three Trapped Tigers, and Tall Ships to name a few. Every time we see any of these bands or hear any of their recorded material there is a lot to be learned.

(((o))): I believe you have an album in the works. What can you tell us about it at the moment?

We have finished recording twelve tracks at House of Strange Studios with Jeremy Warmsley from Summer Camp producing. It’s going to be mixed by Claudius Mittendorfer who mixed a lot of the last Neon Indian album and the latest Johnny Marr record. He works out of Atomic Studios in New York owned by Tim Wheeler from Ash. Wu-Tang's ‘36 Chambers’ was recorded and mixed in that studio! All the tunes are about space, and animals, with a bit of Ancient Egypt thrown in!

(((o))): What do you think is the most difficult challenge facing new bands starting out in the music industry today?

I think, as in all jobs, getting a foot hold is super difficult. If I can offer any advice it would be to connect with people and learn from people. Meet people who are in bands, hang out with them, and have fun with them, and everything will be awesome.

(((o))): Every band has different aims. What would have to happen for Emperor Yes to feel like you’d “made” it?

Being able to do a headline tour that had people at the shows would be amazing. To have enough of a fan base around the country that shows everywhere are fun

(((o))): What happens if you refuse the emperor’s demands? (Also, is Adam Betts the emperor of drums?)

Refusing the emperor's demands will only get you ignored. Yes, Betts is definitely the emperor of drums.

(((o))): You’re given the opportunity to create your own All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival. What would be the first five bands on your list?

Boards of Canada; Tame Impala; Arthur Russell; CEEPHAX; The Flaming Lips.

(((o))): This is ostensibly a column for introducing new bands. Any suggestions as to who we ought to include in the near future?

We just spent the weekend at KneeDeep Festival where we opened the main stage. We saw The Wythces, who were fucking awesome. Also check out Crushed Beaks, PlayLounge, DeafKid, Toby Gale, The Graphite Set, and STATS. They are Ed Seed from The Mule's new band and they are really really good.

(((o))): What are the band’s plans for the near future?

Get this album out and keep playing shows. There will be a new video soon which will be like an American Pie style frat party with beer bongs, boobs, and the end of the world.

Earlier this year Aidan Baker and Dorian Williamson released their mildly eponymous debut collaboration Adoran. A two track album lasting just around an hour, it covers landscapes and depths and everything between. After a very elongated period of time (on my part) I was able to trade some emails with both guys to ask them about the album, music in their lives and the state of the industry amongst other things. Have a gander below; enjoy what they had to say.

(((o))): How did Adoran come about? Have you two known each other for some time now and been waiting to work together?

Dorian: I guess I've known Aidan since around 2006. My former band Holoscene played a few shows in Toronto with Nadja and Arc. In conversation we soon discovered that we both like a lot of the same music and have quite similar tastes, especially with regards to very extreme and heavy music. He expressed an interest in playing drums, so we got together at my music space and Adoran was born. We recorded the entire session. Aidan edited it into a more cohesive whole, and it's ultimately going to be coming out on Beta Lactam Ring Records as part of their Drone Compendium series.

(((o))): How do you guys separate your other projects from Adoran, to give it its own voice so to speak?

Dorian: For me Adoran is a chance to totally improvise, and just let it form. It's more about noticing when something is happening that sounds good to us and building upon that momentum. We really don't intellectualize about it because by its nature it's very primal. It's also a chance to play in a more aggressive and brutal way; very long pieces that are a big physical commitment to unleash. Heavy build ups of tension and release. 

(((o))): Being that there is a distance between you two (I believe Aidan is in Europe and Dorian in Canada) how was this album written? Did you take advantage of modern technology? Or did you two meet a few times and put it together from "jamming"? (Jamming is such an odd word to me. I don't know why.)

Dorian: Yes Aidan is in Berlin and I'm outside Toronto. We are very open to the idea of using file sharing over the web, but at this point all the recordings we've made have been live off the floor. Again, it's not really something we even discuss ahead of time. Maybe a bit of talk about tone, or general direction, but that's about it.

(((o))): Aside from musical influences, have there been any books or movies that influence your music? Adoran is two tracks that total about an hour, yet they don't "drag". The songs have peaks and momentum like novels I've read and movies I've watch.

Dorian: There is kind of a narrative in there, in that you're listening to us go on a journey for the first time. I've always thought of our music in a very visual way, partly because it's instrumental and therefore abstract. Your mind creates these images and stories to go along with the music, and is free to create something on its own. The listener imbues it with his or her own very personal and subjective meaning.

(((o))): You mention that yourself and Aidan share similar tastes in extreme and heavy music. Now, obviously I’m not trying to find out what inspired the Adoran record musically, but what bands did you have in common?

Aidan: Swans and Godflesh are definitely two bands we both love and have been influences on us. Also bands like Halo, Scorn, and James Plotkin's various projects (OLD, Khanate, etc.), so his mastering of the album really felt appropriate to us. We also share an interest in shoegaze and slowcore like My Bloody Valentine and Codeine, which influence I think manifests in the spacier and occasionally delicate side of our music. And here are a few albums I've been listening to recently: Boris - Flood, Rollins Band - Hard Volume, Hoover - The Lurid Traversal Of Route 7, Swervedriver - Mezcal Head.

Dorian: Yeah we're pretty clearly on the same page musically when it comes to bands that have had an impact. The darker side of post-punk, and the early space music of electronic bands like Tangerine Dream, specifically Atem and Zeit era, have definitely influenced my bass playing, although I'm likely a lot more aware of it than the listener. 

Lately I've been listening to Theologian - Finding Comfort in Overwhelming Negativity, Author and Punisher - Ursus Americanus, Menace Ruine - Alight in Ashes, Visions -Summoning the Void and Sigur Ros - Valtari.

(((o))): You say that you and Aidan didn't speak too much about the actual music direction beforehand, yet it all flows so well. Have you two played together before at all? Or do you two connect on that musical level?

Aidan: The few Adoran sessions we have done have been quite spontaneous and largely non-verbal — we basically just play and let the sound lead us. Not all of what comes out is great, of course, but there were only minor edits on the material which is on our debut. Most of the post-production work we did was on mixing and mastering of the raw tracks, which were recorded entirely live off the floor. 

Dorian: Aidan was so busy when he came back to Canada that we didn't have time to talk, just record 🙂 

(((o))): Do you think there will be any chance of Adoran playing live? Even just a few shows? I feel your music would go well pretty much at any type of extreme music event. It's light enough for some, but still very heavy when it gets going.

Aidan: We have yet to play live but we have been discussing some tour dates in Europe to support of the album. Living in different cities on different continents is an obstacle, of course, but hopefully it will come together.

Dorian: Because Adoran is completely live and improvised, I think it'd go over well in a live context. It's a chance for both of us the channel a different side of our playing.

(((o))): With the music industry obviously in the state it is, I’m assuming there isn’t a lot of monetary gain to be made with this album. So I imagine that this album is highly personal for you, would you say that’s accurate?

Aidan: As much as people talk about the death of the music industry, I think the way it's been changing has made things better for most artists — it's forcing artists to take greater control of their work and promoting a more DIY, grassroots music industry that's more about personal expression and less about parasitic major label practices and the cult of celebrity. Maybe it means musicians have to work that much harder, but there's also the opportunity to see greater results on a more immediate, personal level. I'm sure you've read Steve Albini's rant on major labels, and even though he wrote that in the early 90s, it's still relevant in many aspects. 

My musical career has definitely benefited from the digital age, which has greatly increased the accessibility of underground and experimental music. Of course, there are issues with the digital medium — particularly the 'cheapening' or 'disposability' of music in the mp3 format. The vinyl resurgence is definitely an attempt to counter that, which is good, but it does seem to be approaching a saturation point that's becoming less about the music and more about another way to milk fans and collectors. Over-saturation in general — the amount of music, the amount of people making music — is perhaps one of the biggest issues with the current music industry, as it creates over-hyped situations and doesn't promote longevity — so many bands or albums are just flashes in the pan, hyped for a moment then forgotten.  

These might seem like odd statements coming from someone who's released hundreds of albums, but prolificacy is something that helped establish my career and, now that it is at least somewhat established, allows me to continue touring and performing live, which is essentially how I survive as an artist. Moreover, if you look at my releases exponentially, I may have released a lot of albums, but the actual quantity of those releases is not necessarily that many. Most of my albums are quite limited — in the early days, it was seldom more than 100 — and the limited pressing of the Adoran album is about average for most of my releases. This may sound defensive — and it is, to a certain extent, since it's an issue that often comes up for me. I wrote more about it here on my blog.

Dorian: For me Adoran is kind of a very angry and very sad reaction against that over-saturation that Aidan mentions; it's kind of a primal scream against the death of meaning. It's so hard to get something noticed and made these days, and then so hard to keep it from just melting away into nothingness over time. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with the way the changes to the industry are enabling extreme musicians to make at least some money and find an audience. These are problems that aren't localized to the music industry, it everywhere in our society. 

(((o))): Now that the album has been out and people have been able to hear it, are you happy with the reaction you are getting? And if so, does this have any impact on you guys recording another Adoran album in the future?

Dorian: I'm happy that the record is receiving positive feedback. It's interesting to hear the polarity in the reviews and posts. Some think it’s very extreme and heavy, others think it’s more psychedelic and listenable. But overall the reaction has been supportive and people seem to be digging it.

We're definitely going to continue to record. We have enough material for another record. Just have to find the time to mix it down. It's a bit more abstract and ambient, and less "doom".

(((o))): What does Adoran, and music in general, mean to you in your heart?

Dorian: For me music has always been a huge part of my life, both my parents are classical musicians, so I grew up surrounded by music. For as long as I can remember I've been fascinated with sound, music and the way technology can be used to create new sonic events. I've been fortunate enough to connect with and collaborate with some if the most incredible experimental musicians working today, such as Aidan. Music is like an element without which I can't exist. It also keeps me sane, allowing me to channel negative things into a positive expression.

(((o))): We would like to thank Aidan and Dorian for their time, and patience, involved with this interview. Please check out Adoran, and both of their own bands, Nadja (Aidan) and Northumbria (Dorian).

(((o))): So, first and foremost, who is Theo and what is your musical background?

Theo isn't a real person I'm afraid, although sometimes I feel as if I'm playing a character, or an extension of myself. Theo is what I call this solo project; one man, and a lot of equipment. I had a pretty standard musical upbringing really: learnt piano from an early age, got onto guitar pretty early, studied music at school/uni and always tried my hardest to contribute somehow to the various communities I have been a part of.

(((o))): How, and why, did you first start playing?

I started learning guitar, thanks to my Dad's love of Hank Marvin, at 7 years old; and then playing in bands when I was a bit older. Once I had started playing in bands, I soon had an overwhelming desire to learn to play drums too. I often get asked which I'm better at, or which I prefer, but I seem to be equally competent at both, and I appreciate them both just the same. Theo really started because I had begun to dictate too much during band practices, so I used it as an outlet for my bossy ways, which in turn helped me to be more of a team player with my band work.

(((o))): Has your local scene had much impact upon you as a musician?

I started going to gigs in my home town (Worcester) from an early age, and always wanted to perform, the difficulty was always trying to get good enough! Worcester has boasted some pretty amazing acts in the past, so I've always had the opportunity to see genuinely life changing performances. The gigs I went to back home tended to have a good mix of brilliant out of town bands, as well as equally good local bands, and Birmingham, Bristol, Oxford and London are all close enough, so really I was spoilt for choice. Having seen all this great music, I just wanted to try and contribute my own offering and stand next to those guys in some way.

(((o))): Your music is incredibly complex and expansive considering you’re just one man! How do you go about creating such a sound on your own?

I would say that my playing style, at least in terms of guitar work, is quite simple; and the looping style is very intuitive, so you just have to keep trying different combinations until it works. Normally I start with a core looped riff and work around it until I have several ideas, after that it's just a matter of arranging everything (in my head).

(((o))): How difficult is it then to recreate the sound live?

Playing live is the easy part, it's actually much harder for me to transpose those ideas onto a record that can go some way to matching the intensity of the live performances.

(((o))): We’re looking forward to seeing you at ArcTanGent Festival in August. Who else on the bill should we check out?

I saw Blacklisters in Birmingham this year, which was superb noisy hardcore. then obviously Among Brothers, Delta Sleep, The Pirate Ship Quintet and Howard James Kenny have all played shows with me in the past, and are all awesome and definitely worth watching; and then there's That Fucking Tank and Astrohenge who are brilliant!

(((o))): What are your plans for the near future?

Finally get my album pressed, play more shows, and then write another record!

Last year Antimatter released the brooding, intense and heavy album Fear of a Unique Identity. It was one of Gilbert's favourites for the year and he was keen to speak to Mick Moss, the guy behind this one-man project. Like most artists, there's a limit to how many times Mick wanted to answer the same questions over and over so we gave him a bit of breathing space and explored some different avenues, and we think the wait has paid off.

(((o))): Fear of a Unique Identity is your first studio record for a few years. In 2007 you sang that we had “figured out what it's all about”, and it was a stark and gloomy picture. Has anything changed? Is it all still as hopeless as you told us it was back then?

Gringo is one of our favourite independent record labels, and so we thought the time was well overdue to hear some more about them from the horse's mouth itself. Dan Salter posed the questions for label head honcho Matt Newnham...

(((o))): So Gringo has been going for around 15 years now. That's a long time to be at the coal face of the industry. Can you tell us a bit about how, and indeed why, you got started?

Haha, I would never say I was at the coal face of the industry, but it is certainly a long time to have been doing whatever it is I do. I'll let you into a secret; I wasn't one of Gringo's founding fathers. In my last year of school I'd started writing a fanzine called Damn You! with my friend Tom. We were pretty hopped up on the stuff coming out of Glasgow (Mogwai, Urusei Yatsura, Bis, Eska, Pink Kross) and Colchester just had to read what was on our minds. I saw Mogwai the night before one of my A-Level exams, and they blew my socks off, so I stalked them for a while. When I left Colchester to go to university, Tom and a couple of my friends stayed behind, playing in bands, trying to figure out what they wanted to do with themselves. On Halloween 1996 we met an older gentleman named Jason at a Urusei Yatsura / Eska gig in Colchester and he became part of our circle. The new gang decided to start a record label and put out a split single with two of Halstead's finest lo-fi bands – Lando and Teebo (full disclosure, 3 of the founding fathers were in them!). Obviously I must have felt a bit left out! I hated the university I was at and quit in the middle of the second semester, so when I returned to Colchester I infiltrated the record label gestation talks and stumped up a fifth of the cash. I had no talent for playing music so running a label seemed like a fun way of being involved. To cut a long story short, the label became just Jason and myself and then for the last 10 years it has just been me.

(((o))): A lot has happened in the last 15 years, the whole internet & all the good and bad things that has brought to the music business. How has the landscape for an independent label changed between when you started & now?

The internet and the decline of record shops are the big ones and of course they are the cause and effect. So when Gringo first started the internet was at the very beginning, I first used email when I got to university. Most of the records we sold were to shops and it didn't seem difficult to get 300 7”s into shops whereas now that would be a mega success. Of course, you never really knew if anyone went into the shop and bought the record! I like that now people can hear what Gringo puts out and it is easy for them to buy. I sell more records by mailorder than ever before and digital sales are around a third of the label's income. It is easy to support record labels and artists if you are so inclined. The really cool thing is that good record shops are still going and new ones, like The Music Exchange in Nottingham, are thriving.

(((o))): If you were just starting out now, what would you do differently & indeed would you do it at all?

I wouldn't start a record label at 35 in 2013! My girlfriend would dump me. But now I can't separate the label from myself, it is like an extra limb. It has shaped and been a part of so many events in my life. Of course there are loads of things I could have done differently. Even right now there are loads of things I could and should be doing! But running Gringo is a delicate balance along with my day job and my life. It is the same for the bands I work with. Making a living off music is not the goal.

(((o))): What have been the personal highlights of those fifteen years?

Hearing John Peel play a Gringo track on the radio. Hearing John Peel play a Gringo track on the radio at the wrong speed. Travelling round Europe with various bands and appreciating the tremendous hospitality of people you have never met before, and trying to bring that culture back to the UK. The Gringo 10^th birthday was amazing; the first time I was fully aware that other people cared about the label. Right now is pretty exciting and I'm sure good times are yet to come.

(((o))): Are there any bands that you've looked back with the benefit of hindsight & wish you'd signed?

I've only ever signed a contract with one band, and that was because it was already clear they were going to put records out with a bigger label. I guess when you say sign you probably mean are there bands I wanted to release records by. There have not been many missed opportunities to be honest. We wanted to put out a record by Bob Tilton in the Gringo early years, but it just never happened. I think they were humouring us! I ended up living with Neil from Tilton for ten years so I got my revenge in multiple ways. There are plenty of bands I think could have fitted in with the Gringo vibe – Charlottefield, Quack Quack, Ligament, The Horse Loom, Mazes, Trash Kit – but I don't like treading on toes and I kind of like Gringo's glacial release rate.

(((o))): The Hookworms album is looking like being one of 2013's breakthrough releases. How did you come across the record, did they approach you or did you find them? 

A few friends had already mentioned that I should check them out. I travelled down to Reading with Bilge Pump for a gig and the promoters (Doubledotdash) had put out a wee CD compilation with a Hookworms number on it. Emlyn from Bilge Pump and I listened to it on drive home and I loved the Hookworms track (‘Teen Dreams’). Pretty much as soon as I got home I emailed them and threw myself at their feet.

(((o))): When you first heard it did you think 'that's a hit!' or was it more that you liked it & wanted to work with them & everything that's followed has been a bonus?

I don't think in terms of things being a hit. I actually very rarely hear a band's recordings (especially one track!) and then ask to put their record out. Normally I'll see the band play live first and try and get to know them a little bit to see if they are on the same wavelength as me. At the time I felt Gringo need a bit of fresh impetus so I was up for taking a chance and approaching a band outside of my usual circle of friends. With Hookworms, I think I got what they were trying to do. ‘Teen Dreams’ sounded like Guy Piciotto fronting a mega repeato-rock band. Luckily the band were fans of Gringo and they suggested to Dan from Faux Discx that I help with the 12” they already had lined up. That went great, I ended up doing a split 7” with Hookworms and Kogumaza as well, and then I took a chance and asked them to consider Gringo when they finished their album. I knew they would have other offers so I was pleasantly surprised and quite proud when they stuck with me.

(((o))): Has the critical acclaim & mainstream exposure it's receiving come as a surprise? Why do you think it's captured people's imagination?

I'm not surprised the album has done well. It became clear early on that they were a cracking band and people who bought records actually liked them. The surprise has more been how quickly the exposure and sales have come about. Record Store Day made it hard to keep the vinyl in print and keep up with demand.

(((o))): How do you generally find bands for the label? What advice you would you give bands looking to approach an independent label such as yourselves?

My advice would be not to approach anyone. Let them come to you or just do it yourself. Get good, play with bands you like in other cities and good labels will be queuing up to put out your record, if that is what you want. I've never put a record out by a band who approached me where I didn't already know them on a personal level. I tend to hear about good bands through other Gringo bands and seeing good things in Nottingham (or promoting them). While I appreciate bands sending me things to listen to, it is difficult to find the time.

(((o))): Beyond the Hookworms album, what are Gringo's plans for 2013 & what other records should we looking out for from you?

Oh loads. My house is a hive of activity. A Grey Hairs 7” came out for Record Store Day and the Vision Fortune album (co-released with Faux Discx) has already sold out. Next up are albums from Fists, Broken Arm and That Fucking Tank (a 10^th anniversary live LP!). After that, goodness knows.

London based progressive rock/metal outfit Haken is about to release their 3rd album called The Mountain (reviewed here), which is one of the top releases in this musical genre this year. Ruud Peters took the opportunity on board to ask guitarist Charlie Griffiths some questions to find out more about the band, the new album, the song writing and much more.

(((o))): Tell us your view on the development from Aquarius to Visions to the new album The Mountain?

Charlie: Every album we’ve written has been a huge learning experience. We’ve definitely become better songwriters in terms of being a more cohesive unit and working as a team for the good of the song. The biggest development was our approach to lyric writing. Previously Ross [Jennings; vocalist] handled all the lyrics, but this time all six of us contributed, which made for a much stronger group connection to the songs; this is our most heartfelt and honest work to date.

(((o))): The band already had 2 excellent releases with raving reviews, was it difficult to come up with something that would at least equal both releases?

Charlie: By this point, we’ve lived with those songs for what feels like quite a while having played them live so much, that we’re mentally just eager to move on and create some new sounds, so we don’t really look back too much. I do think that this album seemed like more of a challenge to write, but mainly because we were a lot tougher on ourselves to keep the songs more streamlined as focused as possible. The saying goes ‘Kill your darlings’ – this album was a ‘darling massacre’ 🙂

(((o))): How did the band experience the last 4 years, it must have been a hell of a ride (work hard, play hard so the success comes naturally)?

Charlie: We’ve been really lucky to be able to make the music that we want to make and travel to different countries to meet and play for our fans. We have to work really hard to make Haken happen and fit it into our lives since it doesn’t pay the bills just yet.

(((o))): Signing to Inside Out Music, how did this happen?

Charlie: Thomas saw us play at the Night of the Prog festival in 2012 and he made contact soon after that, so I guess we played a good show and he saw some potential. It’s been fantastic to work with everyone at Inside Out because they’re so into this genre of music and they’re really supportive.

(((o))): How does the band manage to write new material, does it happen ‘on the road’ when touring or comes it all together in the studio?

Charlie: Richard [Henshall; guitarist] is usually the source of new material. He’ll usually send us all a midi version of a new composition and we learn it at home, then meet up at the studio and jam and experiment with the ideas. At that point everyone starts throwing in ideas and we try everything out until we find the arrangement that works for everyone.

(((o))): Tell us a bit more about the obvious spiritual theme, where did the idea come from? The quest of life is a rather popular theme in progressive rock music, how do you explain this phenomenon?

Charlie: We didn’t have a plan at all at the beginning and started with a completely blank slate. The music comes first and we let the music guide us emotionally and we’d talk about what the music was suggesting to us. Usually someone would say "I’m feeling something with this one, I’d like to write some lyrics". It gradually started to take shape and once everyone put their lyrics on the table we noticed that each song was about overcoming or adapting to something, be it losing a loved one or struggling with self worth for example. We were reacting to the music as honestly as we could. Maybe people that play prog think about this stuff more? – I think its probably because "Yeah baby I love you" type lyrics don’t go over so well in 7/8.

(((o))): The main new element/thread in the album would be the use of the Gentle Giant inspired vocal harmonizations, how did this happen and how difficult was it for Ross to do this all by himself?

Charlie: It’s true, we absolutely love Gentle Giant! We did a similar section in the title track from Visions but it wasn’t until we played it live that we tried doing the a cappella thing. It was always our favourite part of the gig, so we decided we should do more of that on the new album. I think Ross found it pretty easy to do and actually recorded each part as a guide track, with the intention that we’d replace the parts later. In the end we decided that Ross’ version was pretty much perfect, so we left them.

(((o))): Gentle Giant is for sure a much overlooked band from the past, is there perhaps another group from the past that falls in the same category and that could well be an inspiration for the band (maybe in the future)

Charlie: There’s a band called ‘England’ who are a bit like Gentle Giant and did an album called Garden Shed which is pretty great!

(((o))): Haken tends to blend many different styles and parts, how does the band manage to create such a organic flow from all the pieces of the puzzle?

Charlie: I think the key to that is not to force anything too much. So much of what we do is based on how it ‘feels’ when we play it, so trying the ideas as a band is essential. If we have a tricky transition we usually try two or three solutions and if it still doesn’t work, then it will probably never work, so bin it and come up with something else.

(((o))): If you were asked to delete one specific element you used on The Mountain, what would this, in hindsight, be?

Charlie: I would absolutely refuse. I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out and wouldn’t change anything.

(((o))): There are 4 big epics on the album, is it more difficult to write an epic than lets say a shorter track of about 4-5 minutes?

Charlie: It’s probably trickier to write the shorter songs, because you’ve got less time to create a complete emotional journey, so you have to be more concise and focused with the ideas, which can be a lot more work ironically.

(((o))): Can you tell something about the purpose of the track called ‘Pareidolia’ regarding the meaning of this word? Are there any hidden messages or other related phenomenons on this track?

Charlie: Ah well that’s all in the eye, or ear of the beholder you see. Diego [Tejeida; keys] wrote the lyrics to that one, so this is just my interpretation. The human brain is excellent at finding patterns and we often attribute meaning to things where there is none, so the song discusses the idea of basing your beliefs or world-view on something that you later realise has no foundation in reality. That moment of realisation can either crush you or make you a better, stronger person.

(((o))): Who contributed what on the album and were there any guest musicians involved as was the case in Haken’s previous releases?

Charlie: Ray [Hearne; drums] has a double life as a tuba player in various orchestras, so he drafted in some brass players and arranged and recorded this big heavy Hans Zimmer style ending to ‘Somebody’ which closes the album. I can’t remember how many tracks of brass there are, but there’s a lot and it sounds huge!

(((o))): Haken is quite a young band, how did everybody get on the path of progressive rock/metal ? What are the first bands/artist/albums every member listened to in this genre?

Charlie: I’ve no idea about the other guys I’m afraid, but I was really into Queen as a kid. As in I listened to no other band until I was 15. I still love A Night At The Opera and Sheer Heart Attack just as much today. That was the first music I remember listening to, so I thought it was normal for a band to play lots of different styles, suddenly switching between heavy rock, opera, folk, traditional jazz and top it all off with epic harmonies.

(((o))): What is the secret behind the ‘technical skills’ the band obviously has since every musician is a master on their instrument.

Charlie: That’s simply a product of having a daily practice schedule and sticking to it consistently. Anyone can do that, so I guess the real secret is that you have to really love doing it.

(((o))): Is there a vivid prog-scene in London and are there any new talented, prog-related groups from London you would recommend to our readers?

Charlie: It’s not really a ‘prog scene’ as much as a ‘prog venue’. The Peel in Kingston Upon Thames is where all the up and coming as well as established prog bands play. It’s a really small, out of the way place, but their ‘night of progression’ has really kept the prog spirit alive.

(((o))): The band toured with quite some ‘big names’ from the field of progressive rock, what response did you get from these bands regarding your work?

Charlie: Usually those big names are quite private and understandably want to chill out on their bus before the show, or they spend all day doing interviews, so they don’t get to see the opening bands. The Big Elf guys and Freak Kitchen were really nice to us when we played with them and both Roine Stolt and Mike Portnoy have been really supportive which is a great feeling.

(((o))): What are the plans for the future ? Do you consider to film/release a live DVD?

Charlie: At some point we’d love to do that, but our main plans are to do more touring and take our music to new countries.

(((o))): Will you ever reach the top of the mountain and what do you expect to experience there?

Charlie: We all will eventually, but it’s all about the journey, not the destination.

(((o))): Finally: What do you think of the saying “What goes up must come down” in regard to the band’s career so far?

Charlie: It feels like we’re still on the way up at the moment, but of course that can change at any moment – so that helps us stay motivated and treat every album and gig like its our last. I think about that a lot and I always remember learning about Sisyphus at school. As a punishment, he had to push a boulder up a mountain and when he reached the top it would roll back down and he would start again and again for eternity.

Exhumed are a force to be reckoned with. Hailing from San Jose, California – they’ve been around since 1990 and despite many line-up changes have been delivering a steady flow of gore grind, death metal, and overall brutality since their birth. The band is currently comprised of members Matt Harvey (vocals, guitars), Rob Babcock (bass, backing vocals), Bud Burke (guitar, vocals), and Matt Hamilton (drums). They’ve toured everywhere you can imagine and just recently spent several months in Europe promoting their new album Necrocracy (reviewed here). They’re gearing up for a fall tour with Dying Fetus and Devourment, check them out if they’re coming to a city near you! 

Matt Harvey was nice enough to (virtually) sit down with Echoes and Dust for an interview covering topics ranging from musical influences, to long walks on the beach, to Mercyful Fate vs. King Diamond. Read on and get to know the man behind Exhumed.

(((o))): You spent a few months touring Europe with Exhumed, what were the best things about coming back home to America?

Matt: Europe is awesome, and the shows are usually really good, so it's the little things you end up missing the most. For me, it was all about food and convenience. As much as I hate big box chains in general and Guitar Center in particular, it's great knowing that every major city will have a giant store full of the picks and strings and shit that you need. In Europe, everything is independently owned and it's difficult to know in advance if they'll actually have the particular items you'll need. We spent over two hours in Spain going to different music stores until we found the gauge strings we use – and they only had two or three packs, when we could have used say, ten.

Certain places in Europe do have really good food, Spain especially, but there's not any real Mexican food over there. The closest I've found was in England of all places. Also, I like to cook a lot at home, and not being able to do that for four months was a bit of a bummer. Every day off, we were at the grocery store and BBQing. The other thing I really missed was American sports. Watching highlights on the web just isn't the same. I'm glad we got home in time for football season, even though as an Oakland Raiders fan, I may not have too much to look forward to this year. Of course you miss your friends and family and your own bed and stuff as well, haha!

(((o))): How was the touring over there this time around? Most memorable show? Do you have a favorite place to play over there?

Matt: We always do the best in Eastern Europe it seems like. We did three shows in Romania that were insane, Paris was awesome, Cork in Ireland was really fun, Malaga in Spain was great, Serbia was cool, and the fests that we did in Holland were both excellent, and Obscene Extreme Festival and the after-party were probably the highlights of the whole tour. My favorite places to hang out are the UK and Holland, simply because it's so much easier to get around and stuff in those countries, but I love the Czech Republic and Eastern Europe to play in. Every place seems to be getting a little bit better for us to play since last year though. Every place we returned to was better than the time before, which is a good sign, haha!

(((o))): Who are some of the bands and musicians that have influenced your playing and style over the years?

Matt: 
Man, there's all kinds of stuff. The main guitar players I've always looked up to are James Hetfield, Adrian Smith, Matt Olivo, Bill Steer, Buck Dharma, Eric Cutler, Chuck Schuldiner, Greg Ginn, Gary Moore, Scott Gorham, Uli Roth, Piggy, Tommy T. Baron, Kevin Shields, Thurston Moore, Gary Holt / Rick Hunolt, Jesse Pintado, way too many. As far as bands and shit... I mean in the beginning it was all about Napalm Death, Repulsion, Terrorizer, Carnage, Carcass, early Death, Possessed, early Obituary, Bolt Thrower, Autopsy, Siege, Extreme Noise Terror, S.O.B., Sore Throat, and bands like that. Then we kind of worked in more influences from the 80s like Slayer, Cryptic Slaughter, D.R.I., Kreator, Venom, Sodom, Metallica, Exciter, that kind of stuff. We also have a lot of influence from NWOBHM and traditional metal like Tygers Of Pan Tang, Tokyo Blade, Tank, Angel Witch, Armored Saint, Judas Priest, Maiden, etc. as well as powerviolence stuff like Infest, Crossed Out, Despise You, Assuck, etc. It's a pretty varied bag really, though, because we listen to all kinds of music from pop to country to shoegaze to hip-hop to psych and garage rock. All of those influence our songwriting and arrangement ideas in their own way.

(((o))): From reading many different reviews of the new record, it seems it has been extremely well received. What are your favorite aspects of this record as opposed to records you’ve put out in the past?

Matt: I think the songwriting is getting better, more focused and accessible. We really try to make things as poppy and hook-oriented as possible within our style. I know that kind of scares people when I say it, but the riffs and everything are still totally Exhumed, but the way we put our songs together has more in common with pop music than something Suffocation might do, where it's more through-composed. I'm just into big hooks, whether they're country or metal or pop or whatever.

(((o))): What are some of your other interests aside from music? What kinds of things do you get into when you’re not touring?

Matt: I like to read a lot, I read comics (and regular books), watch all the nerd-appropriate tv shows like Walking Dead, Game Of Thrones, etc. I love the Oakland Raiders and the SF Giants, I like cooking – long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners, haha! Sorry this was starting to sound like a personal ad. I'm always working on different musical shit, putting together a traditional metal thing called Pounder slowly but surely, and a more shoegaze-type thing as well. Plus I've been working on a super-hero comic book script over the last few months, so trying to do something with that. I also collect records, comics, super-hero toys from the 70s and 80s... You know stuff that chicks really dig, haha!

(((o))): What’s in store for Exhumed in the next year or so? Ready to be back on the road with Dying Fetus

Matt: Almost! I'm glad we have a little more time off, the four month trek was pretty exhausting, but give me one more week of great sleep and daily showering and I'll be ready to go! The Dying Fetus / Exhumed / Devourment bill is gonna be pretty nuts, we're excited for it. We have two shows with Carcass in LA before that tour starts and we're going to Denmark for a one-off gig with Convulse, Entrails, Pentacle, and Death Strike next week, so it never really stops – just slows down for a minute or two, haha!

(((o))): Denver Black Sky looks like it’s going to be a killer event. Any bands on it you’re looking especially forward to performing with/partying with?

Matt: It's going to be a total blast. So many cool bands and people, we love the Speedwolf guys, and Exhumed / Ghoul together has been LOOOONG overdue. Iron Reagan is great, and I keep hearing really awesome things about Power Trip so looking forward to checking them out. Seeing Skinless together again is a really special treat, love those dudes. The real challenge will be just staying sober enough throughout the day to do a good set, because the line-up is so good and we're at a fucking brewery!

(((o))): If you could create a fantasy lineup of bands to play with (past or present bands), who would be on the bill?

Matt: Metallica circa 1986, Priest circa '78, Maiden circa '88, Celtic Frost circa '86... I think we've played with all my favorite DM / Grind bands at this point, haha! Except Infest somehow...

(((o))): Who are some of the newer bands out now that you suggest our readers check out? Seems like there have been a lot of new up and comers in the last few years.

Matt: The scene seems to be really healthy. We toured the UK with a great Death / Thrash band called Seprevation that I really like a lot. Kind of in the Sadus / Death / Kreator vein, just really fucking aggressive. We played with a couple good bands in Spain as well, Teething, who are more of a power violence / grind thing, and Maniac which is more of a black / thrash band, both ruled. I love some of the new trad metal, like Enforcer and In Solitude as well. Speedwolf from Denver is a great newer band, kind of Motorhead / Venom influenced.

(((o))): Last but not least…Mercyful Fate or King Diamond?

Matt: Love them both, but Mercyful Fate will always be #1 in my heart. Don't Break the Fucking Oath!!!

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