Tag Results: interview
Redefine Magazine’s Chelsea Wolfe Interview: Shedding Natural Light On Visions Of Doom
If you even remotely keep tabs on the news cycle these days, it’s easy to get bogged down in horrifically menacing thoughts of the world falling apart at the seams. The American military industrial complex has nearly doubled in size over the last decade, and it was already a ridiculously bloated frivolity. We continue to rape the environment for our own selfish expansionary agenda of warped materialism, with little respite in sight. There are no spiritual leaders of any real consequence despite the obvious need. The stupidest people with the least resources continue to have the most children, and their billionaire overseers encourage them to take great pride in their own shameless ignorance. And each time I think I’ve seen the lamest lowest common denominator pop culture moment possible, all I have to do is wait five minutes and something else will creep up knocking my faith in humanity down a few more pegs. It can get worse than Jersey Shore, and does.
What to do, then, with all this bleakness constantly lurking in the outskirts of our collective unconscious?
A true mystic can take even the darkest of human plotlines and shine the impenetrable light of our higher spiritual destiny on them, illuminating the hidden beauty in the seemingly most hopeless of scenarios. Which is where an artist like Chelsea Wolfe excels. She manages to take the unrelenting horror of her apocalyptic dreams and effectively channels it towards transcendent catharsis. I caught up with the enchanting Miss Wolfe recently by e-mail to chat about how exactly she pulls this off so effectively as well as her admiration of Ayn Rand, amongst other things. Read on, true believers.
(Source: redefinemag.com)
Adequacy.net Interview with Deafheaven
Although San Francisco-based band Deafheaven only formed in early 2010, it has stormed the musical world by force, in short order signing with Deathwish, Inc. and releasing an impressive, if sometimes imposing, debut album, Roads To Judah, in 2011. Songwriter and vocalist George Clarke and guitarist Kerry McCoy form the core of the band, which is rounded out by Joey Bautista on guitar, Derek Prine on bass, and newest member Korey Severson on drums. George took a brief timeout from the band’s seemingly-endless touring schedule, possibly in the middle of a jaunt to Germany, to report on the latest developments of Deafheaven.
Hi George! Your album Roads To Judah is composed of 4 epically long and involving songs and it blew me away with its combination of melody and aggression. I love how you mix the sublime with the ferocious, with glorious guitar frisson that reaches for the heavens amid a brutal assault of rapid-fire drumbeats and your viciously roaring vocals.
Thanks, we appreciate that.
You and Kerry formed Deafheaven in 2010 after being in another band together. How did you know you were both on the same page musically with Deafheaven?
We’ve been friends for a long time and always had similar tastes in music. When it came to forming Deafheaven, we just brainstormed a few ideas and threw them together as we wanted. The whole writing process happened very naturally.
This Is Not A Scene, It’s An Interview with Rory Friers of And So I Watch You From Afar
Gilbert Potts was pretty impressed by “Gangs”, the latest album from Irish instrumental progressive/post rock outfit And So I Watch You From Afar (ASIWYFA). Guitarist Rory Friers was more than happy to share his views on the early days of the band, playing in Ulster Hall and the difference between being in a recording studio and being on stage…
Changes in life happen mostly fluidly, but sometimes we sit back and think of moments that changed our lives. I’d like to ask about some of those moments, starting with whether in your younger years you saw a band or heard a record and something clicked and you knew music would become your life?
There’s probably been a lot of those moments, sometimes I feel I’m having them too frequently! but there’s definitely been some real markers for me, like when my dad played me “Good Times Bad Times” by Led Zeppelin and we tried to work out how he was playing his kick drum so fast, that whole song just made me want to know more about this weird world I was hearing for the first time, it blew my face off. Don’t even get me started on Queen.
LADYGUNN Magazine: Chelsea Wolfe Interview
Chelsea Wolfe, the witchy goth music princess is quickly rising to success with her second album Apokalypsis, and a current European tour. Though she stands out as unique on her own, she’s often categorized into the same genre that includes complimentary comparisons to Zola Jesus, Grimes, and Lykke Li. She has the natural formula to be as successful, as she is convincingly dark and majestic with her classical sounding voice and solemn melodic music. She embodies mournful intelligence and beautiful darkness, including her lyrics that can stand alone as poetry.
Who has inspired you musically, over the years?
New Music Monkey: Zechs Marquise Interview / Show Review / Austin
Last summer I had the privilege of seeing Zechs Marquise in their infancy. The show was expansive, proggy, and thought provoking. The crowd was interested, but to say blood and fists were pumping would be a stretch. This past Monday, Zech’s opened for At the Drive In and their new material has lifted their live show to a completely new height. To say it’s simply the new material would be insufficient. The band’s whole energy has found a new plane. Zechs played with a new found confidence that amped the already bristling crowd. Marfred Rodriguez-Lopez (bass) mentioned toward the end of their set that the audience was most likely charged because of the first At the Drive In show in more than a decade, which was minutes away. However, this was a dose of misguided self criticism. Openers for big shows are never guaranteed an electric show, but the crowd got behind Zechs Marquise in a big way.
Most in attendance were not expecting much from a group many viewed to be simply the band with a bunch of Omar Rodriguez-Lopez’s (The Mars Volta, At the Drive In, etc.) little brothers. Of those around me in the crowd, nearly every person commented on Zechs with delighted surprise. A couple of guys next to me kept saying, “What the fuck! This is amazing!”. Zechs’ jazzy groove-prog hooks grabbed the crowd, and their energy shook them until their legs were convinced that it was, in fact, okay to dance at a prog show.
THE SKINNY: Russian Circles vs Pelican // The Q&A
Russian Circles vs Pelican
Two of Chicago’s finest ‘post-metal’ heavyweights sit down to tell us lies about Brian May // Feature by Ryan Drever and Benny Blanco.
Pelican and Russian Circles not only share a talent for creating densely atmospheric and crushingly heavy instrumental records, but both bands also hail from the mecca of experimental rock that is the Windy City. To capitalise on their respective excursions to Stereo this month, we got them in a room to shoot the proverbial over a range of questions plucked from a hat.
Belying the moody ambience of their records, the resulting ‘interview’ consists mainly of cheap jokes and mass laughter, with the occasional broken glass and at least one audible fart. Occasionally, though, they break away from the madness to talk about the city’s rich musical heritage, being in a band without a singer, and voice support for Howard Stern’s fictitious presidential campaign. Disclaimer: Shit gets silly…
Q. What do you think about adding ‘post’ in front of a genre – does that make it cooler?
Metal Blast: Deafheaven Interview
The United States black metal scene is arguably one of the most vibrant ones today – not just in metal, but in music as a whole. Multiple bands have moved far beyond the initial confines of the genre, taking elements from the Norwegian pioneers and mixing them with elements of post-rock and shoegaze to create a very different beast from the corpse-painted anthems of the early 1990s. And few bands have been turning as many heads as Deafheaven has over the past couple years.
Originally formed in 2010 in San Francisco, Deafheaven‘s demo was well-received across the Internet, and they began playing shows soon after. They later signed with Deathwish Inc., the label founded and owned by Converge lead singer Jacob Bannon. Their debut album Roads to Judah was released in 2011 to wide critical acclaim, mixing influences from black metal, post-rock, and melodic hardcore to create a uniquely gripping work of stark emotional power.
I was lucky enough to meet George Clarke and Kerry McCoy, the vocalist and guitarist at the core of Deafheaven on March 31st, where they played a set at Public Assembly in Brooklyn, NY opening for Alcest on their ongoing North American tour. We discussed the feelings of being a new band in the limelight, the many influences they brought to the table (musical and otherwise), and what’s next for the band in the interview below.
You can listen to Deafheaven‘s 2010 demo and 2011’s Roads To Judah on their Bandcamp. Or it can be purchased on CD, and on vinyl along with assorted merchandise at the Deathwish eStore. -Sam
MB: Despite your recent surge in popularity in the music underground, Deafheaven is still relatively obscure. How would you describe your sound to those who aren’t familiar with the band?
FLAB MAG: A Q&A with Marriages’ Dave Clifford & Emma Ruth Rundle
FLABmag: Obviously asking how you met and/or decided to collaborate together is not a feasible line of questioning (since we already know the answer), but I’d like to know: Why “Marriages” and why now?
D: Why not? We’d wanted to bring vocals in to Red Sparowes in a subtle way for a long time, but it just never seemed to work the way it should. I think this has been a way of keeping productive while being able to explore ideas and sounds that wouldn’t seem appropriate in Red Sparowes. Marriages originally began as a collaboration between Emma and Greg and then eventually they asked me to join in.
ERR: Marriages, why? Because we like you.
FLABmag: I know you guys were in the studio last summer working on a new Red Sparowes album, what became of that work? Was Marriages born out of those sessions?
D: Red Sparowes had been working on songs for a new album on and off for a while, but everyone’s schedules were really out of whack and it had been making it difficult to make a lot of progress. We have a good chunk of stuff written already, but decided to take a little break while everyone had a lot of personal life things to tend to — school, running businesses, weddings, etc. We plan to reconvene after taking a breather and see what more we can come up with at that time. Marriages is a way to explore other ideas as a separate entity.
ERR: Marriages was not born from any Red Sparowes ideas at all but from the working relationships Greg, Dave and I already had and a desire to explore ideas that might have been disruptive to the aesthetic of Red Sparowes.
NO TREBLE: Bassist Redefined an Interview with The Mars Volta & Big Sir’s Juan Alderete
Juan Alderete is a man who stays busy. After getting his break with thrash metal outfit Racer X, Alderete now contributes the low-end to progressive rock giants The Mars Volta, whose new album Noctourniquet hit stores this week. The record marks the band’s sixth effort anchored by Aldererte, who joined their ranks in 2003.
The Mars Volta ‘Noctourniquet’
Additionally, Big Sir released its third album, Before Gardens After Gardens, in early February. The album was created after Alderete and collaborator Lisa Papineau were both diagnosed with serious illnesses: Alderete with polychythemia vera, and Papineau with Multiple Sclerosis. Three weeks before the album was released, Papineau was also diagnosed with cancer.
“I wake up and I thank God every day – and God meaning everybody’s God who looks down on me,” Alderete said. “I can’t believe how fortunate I am to wake up every day and feel good enough to go play music and do what I do.”
A veritable gear guru, Alderete is also launching a new website called PedalsAndEffects.com, in which he will give advice on building pedal boards, how different pedals sound, and how to get the best sounds possible out of your effects.
We phoned Alderete at his house the morning after Big Sir played a special in-store concert at Hollywood’s legendary Amoeba Records to get the latest from this exciting bass player.
Congratulations on the new Big Sir album, Before Gardens After Gardens. It’s a really incredible record.
The Dropp On The Record with Deafheaven
Who: Deafheaven vocalist, George Clarke
Where: San Francisco, California
Why: Deafheaven is a California metal band dead-set on fusing together influences from black metal to post-rock, which places them among the ranks of Wolves in the Throne Room, Ludicra, Alcest, and many more. Carrying a deft precision for atmospherics and sweeping 10-plus minute songs, they also have a vicious tendency to lose control.
Deafheaven has been on tour in Europe some time now, but they will be making the rounds in the United States within the next couple of months. In particular, they will be performing at Orlando’s Will’s Pub Thursday March 22 with France’s Alcest and a couple local acts, Legions and Fire in the Cave.
With the recent influx of black metal, I wanted to take the time to talk to Deafheaven’s lead singer George Clarke to see what he had to say about attacking a polarizing genre, touring with the likes of French artist Alcest, dealing with the ever-present “hipster” label, and working on a newer, darker album. Sadly, I caught the guy in the middle of his breakfast (forgot about that three hour time change), but he seemed happy enough to pick up the call shortly after. Here’s what was said … .
MTVU Interview w/ Tim Arnold from Good Old War
1. Tell us about your craziest touring experience?
I’d say my craziest touring experience was in our previous band, Days Away. Our keyboard player bit me in a drunken brawl and I almost died/lost my thumb a week later. True story.
2. What type of college class would you’d most want to take and why?
Astronomy. I love the sky.
3. What city in America is the most fun to visit and why?
I always love Manhattan, its a a good walking city. I also love Austin because all the girls wear cowboy boots, but I gotta stay true to Philly because I get the same lovely feeling every time we get home from tour and I see the skyline. It’s home.
4. What’s some of the best advice you were ever given?
Practice. A lot. No matter how good you are, there is always someone better.
Sound Colour Vibration Interview: Deafheaven
San Francisco’s Deafheaven is a band that unlike many, has catapulted into the public consciousness in a way that few can claim experience with. George Clarke and guitar player Kerry McCoy formed the group in 2010 with a self produced, recorded and released demo. Adding in three additional musicians with second guitar player Nick Bassett, bassist Derek Prine and drummer Trevor Deschryver to fulfill the vision presented on the demo, the band signed with Deathwish Inc. after a handful of shows and the band has been touring non stop since. Deafheaven released a limited edition 7″ that collected two songs from the demo and the full length Roads to Judah followed soon there after in 2011.
Combining so many fields of raw and invigorating formats of 20th and 21st century underground rock music, Deafheaven has become a powerful presentation of the heaviest yet brightest proportions. They display an exquisite balance of beauty and chaos with crescendos that fall into dripping colors of tone fragmentation that lead to a deconstruction of sound and ultimately chaos. As momentum builds exponentially and the scene changes at the blink of an eye, not a second is wasted before machine gun blasts are augmented by an excruciating type of pain that bleeds from the guitar, bass and vocal work. With their roots seated in a vast plethora of sound in the 20th and 21st century rock idiom, definition and relation to the whole of music comes at the hands of your own entry way, but the power and sonic aura of their studio and live show presentation is undeniable.
When we hear a band who incorporates a vast plethora of worlds and compacts it into micro fragments of coagulation, it sits right at home with the content we live for. Tradition is stripped down to include new formats, new ideas and new visions of tomorrow and Deafheaven is thriving in this world of tomorrow. The San Francisco based quintet is now managed by Cathy Pellow of Sargent House and this partnership between the two immediately compelled us to request an interview. Lead singer of Deafheaven George Clarke was gracious enough to lend us some of his time and answer the questions we sent. We hope you enjoy our exclusive interview with George and get a chance to see Deafheaven live, they are touring heavily in Europe and the States in the next 2 months.
Pitchfork Interview with George Clarke of Deafheaven
Liturgy and Deafheaven’s controversial leaders discuss the state of black metal. - by Brandon Stosuy
Excerpt // An interview with Deafheaven’s George Clarke
San Francisco “post black metal” quintet Deafheaven was founded as a duo in 2010 by George Clarke and Kerry McCoy. (The two had played together previously in a grindcore band.) In 2011, they released their debut LP Roads to Judah on Converge frontman Jacob Bannon’s label, Deathwish Inc., and followed it with a live album, DW Live Series 08: Live at the Blacktop. Clarke’s said that Roads to Judah— the title references the “N Judah” Muni Metro line in San Francisco— deals with a year of substance abuse, and a sense of regret and elation comes through in the collection’s four gorgeously extended, intense songs that blend West Coast black metal, Explosions in the Sky dynamics, and a healthy My Bloody Valentine infatuation. I went back and forth with Clarke via email.
Deafheaven’s Kerry McCoy and George Clarke
Pitchfork: I played a song of yours at a recent metal night and a few people came up, asked what it was, and were surprised when I said Deafheaven. Metal, as a scene, is full of these sorts of biases— why do you think Deafheaven gets the “hipster metal” tag?
George Clarke: Sometimes, the metal scene’s sense of unity can give way to close mindedness and prejudice. We don’t subscribe to a cookie-cutter mold of what extreme music should look like, so we’re ridiculed for it. It’s unfortunate that there’s safety in anonymity in the metal scene. When Deafheaven first began, we didn’t release any photos of ourselves for fear of an inevitable backlash. So, I’m not surprised when we get called “hipsters” or are thrown the Liturgy comparison. In addition to our music having about a ten percent similarity, their outlook and agenda seems to differ from ours. Ultimately, Deafheaven will continue to do our own thing musically and visually regardless of controversy or alienation.
The Quietus : Big Riffs At Close Quarters - And So I Watch You From Afar Interviewed
The Northern Irish quartet arrived on a wave of confidence and unity, but after a year peppered with international acclaim and broken bones they lost their founding guitarist. Kiran Acharya spoke to the band about the recording of second album Gangs
I’d finally settled on a functional introduction the whole story changed. Tony Wright left the band, replaced by Panama Kings guitarist Niall Kennedy. Despite this, And So I Watch You From Afar’s second album Gangs would still be released in the USA by Sargent House, home to Russian Circles, Hella and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. And Wright, rolling solo, was already performing as VerseChorusVerse, teaming up to tour the UK with Jonah Matranga, previously of Far. Then Wright rejoined And So I Watch You for a single performance at the Ulster Hall in Belfast. It was a final farewell and also a celebration because they’d just been named Best Live Act in the first Northern Irish Music Awards.
Diva Magazine Interview: Teri Gender Bender of Le Butcherettes
Mexican rocker Teri Gender Bender calls herself an ignorant punk, still her band Le Butcherettes released one of the best albums of 2011. As DIVA’s Bella Qvist looks back at the year gone by she remembers an interview with a nervous girl who touched her heart.
It was earlier last year that Teri Gender Bender of Le Butcherettes spoke to me in an interview that got under the skin of the feisty punk rocker. Voicing strong opinions with heartbreaking honesty this 22-year old likes to cover herself in blood on stage whilst breathing new life into queer feminism.
“Hello, I’m so sorry I left my cell phone on silent and I didn’t hear anything and I was in the car but everything is good now and I apologise with all my heart.”
Teri Gender Bender answers the phone speaking in a speedy and regretful manner, standing on a car park pavement in Los Angeles. She has spent the day travelling and subsequently missed me calling her for the last twenty minutes. Once she gets talking though, she doesn’t really stop.
22 years ago Teresa Suaréz was born into a poor and corrupted Mexican society ruled by men, violence and the Catholic church. What she experienced as a child planted seeds in her mind and the life of this rebellious young woman was soon shaped. At the age of 17 Teresa, under pseudonym Teri Gender Bender, started Le Butcherettes with a female friend.
“No one really believed in us and a lot of people [thought] that because of our gender we weren’t going to amount to anything, that it was just something for the men to go and see and enjoy in a nasty perverted kind of way.”
Playing relentlessly in small bars across Mexico the music eventually spoke for itself and Teri’s message soon became clear. By playing angry punk music and wearing 1950s housewives’ style clothes and aprons covered in blood, she represented women enslaved to the kitchen and challenged the deeply rooted stereotyped ideas of what a woman should be.
“I used those elements [female attributes] on stage but it kind of contradicted with what I felt at the moment which was a bunch of rage. It was like therapy for me. That’s where Le Butcherettes came from.”
It wasn’t long until Mars Volta’s Omar Alfredo Rodríguez-López discovered the band and brought Teri and her new male band mates over to the States where their success blossomed. Playing alongside heavy metal bands like Dillinger Escape Plan and Queens Of The Stone Age she is now often the only girl on, and off, stage.
