Q1. Thank you for taking your time. Firstly, Could you tell us about the history and current lineup of Acid Deathtrip?
Rob Nabbe
Sure thing, Acid Deathtrip has only been around for a few years, but is a band full of “veterans” of the extreme HC/Grind/Metal Underground scene. Our line-up has never changed and our members have been active in bands since the early ‘90s. To namedrop a few of our old and current bands : Insult, Bile, Mangled, Collision, HSML, The Bastards, Suppository, Blind to Faith, Skullhog, Starve and Left For Dead (Can.). One of these bands called HSML, was a Sludge ‘n’ Roll band we used to do in the early 2000’s.
We released 1 LP/CD in 2003 and split up around 2005. Fast forward to a few years ago and Acid Deathtrip was born, since the HSML line-up started jamming again, but now with a new vocalist, giving the band an entirely different vibe of our own.
The line-up is :
Bobby – Vocals
Boris – Bass
Grizzly Rob – Guitars
Willem-Jan – Guitars
Rob Nabbe – Drums
To this day we have released a self-titled debut LP/CD and cassette E.P.(※1) through Reflections records in the Netherlands, who will release our split LP with Hangman’s Chair somewhere within the next two months.
(※1) Acid deathtrip 2013
Q2. Could you describe Acid Deathtrip’s sound to our readers who haven’t heard yet?
Rob Nabbe
Our sound is often described as Stonerrock, Death ‘n’ Roll, Doomrock or Sludge ‘n’ Roll, although we call our sound ‘Blasphemous Boogie’ to stay away from the pointless pigeonholing and categorizing going on everywhere. If you ask me how to describe ‘Blasphemous Boogie’ than I would say a mixture of heavy Rock and Roll and Doom, although our personal influences range from Death metal to Sludge. It’s mostly Bob’s vocals that give an entirely different twist to the music. I’d like to let people make up their own mind.
Q3. What does the name Acid Deathtrip mean or refer to?
Rob Nabbe
The name literally stands for a drug-induced suicide.
The lyrics to the song on your compilation explains our name.
Q4. Which bands and artists influenced you as musicians?
Rob Nabbe
The list of influences is absolutely endless, but if I had to name two albums that have been influential, I would have to go with ‘Wolverine Blues’ and ‘Our Problem’.
Q5. What is the lyrical influence for Acid Deathtrip?
Rob Nabbe
Bob and myself handle the lyrics and it all just boils down to pretty bleak, weird and mostly negative lyrics with a humorous twist here and there. The lyrics are not influenced by any band or person and mostly just come out a certain way, due to the vibe that is created by the music.
Q6. Where are you originally from? And where is Acid Deathtrip located at these days?
Rob Nabbe
We are a band from a place called Horst in the Netherlands.
Q7. You’re also known as member of Skullhog and Blind to Faith. Which one is your main band?
Rob Nabbe
I suppose they are all my main bands. I don’t consider any of the bands as projects, although Blind to Faith could be seen as such since we only play a handful of shows a year and only come together to rehearse if we wanna play a show or record a new album. So BTF doesn’t interfere with Acid’s or Skullhog’s schedule (most of the time).
Acid Deathtrip is the most active band when it comes to playing shows and rehearsing on a regular basis. It can be a pain in the ass to be involved in multiple bands, but each is an outlet for me and this way I can play different styles of music I enjoy. So yeah, it’s all good.
Q8. What are your thoughts on the music scene of Netherlands and current doom scene?
Rob Nabbe
There’s a lot of bands popping up from everywhere. Although Acid Deathtrip is not only focused to play gigs within the “Doom scene” and wanna play as much and diverse shows as we can, we see there’s a lot of cool bands coming out that “worship the riff” (fucking cheesy bullshit phrase). Throw Me In The Crater is kicking out the jams if you’re into ‘90s style ugly-ass Sludge. Total Pessimiser/Bovine records style. They have their demo pressed onto the proper LP format (where it belongs) and will be taking a short Euro-trip around Roadburn fest with Noothgrush, so that surely fits.
No Gods No Masters are also a new Sludge band that kinda goes for the smoked out riffs and combine that with some more Metalcore type chugging. I’ve heard descriptions namedropping Iron Monkey and Cro-Mags, but when I first saw them and crank their excellent demo, Bongzilla and Iron Monkey come to mind. For the rest, Swamp Machine are making a name for themselves alongside heavy weights Toner Low, Herder…etc…
Basically there’s enough to do if you like downtuned and mostly slow music. Fast music is doing good as well. As far as Metal goes, Villainy and Entrapment are my current favorites. No doubt.
Having that said, I think the Doom scene as a whole is full of hipsters and posers that come out looking for the flavor of the month. In my opinion Sludge belongs in the Punk scene and is not suitable for glossy magazines, iTunes and trendy festivals. Doom metal is just a part of the overall Metal scene, being a watered down scene that is weakening. Too many bands. Too little excitement and a complete overload and excess of everything, resulting in poorly attended shows, record-sales, disinterest and whatever. Good to see the underground is still slowly gaining new and exciting bands. Especially in Death Metal these days.
Q9. Thank you for participate to the compilation. Would you give us the comment for the song?
Rob Nabbe
Hey, thanks for the invite. People should just check out our song and if they like what they hear, they can always get in contact through email of Whorebook, I mean Facebook.
Q10.Do you know any band in this compilation?
Rob Nabbe
Yes, I know Starve of course. I know Guevnna through Ryo and I’ve heard some stuff by Conan. I’m gonna let the rest of the bands surprise me I guess.
Q11. What are the next plans for Acid Deathtrip?
Rob Nabbe
Reflections records will be releasing our split LP with Hangman’s Chair from Paris somewhere within the upcoming two months. We’re gonna be writing and recording our next full-length as well as a split release with Serpents of Dawn from Oakland.
For the rest we’re just gonna continue to play shows and hopefully do some actual touring with this band.
Q12. Finally, would you like to send a message to Japanese fans?
Rob Nabbe
I’d like to give a shout out to my Nippon peeps Ryo, Tak, Uchino and Satoshi! UGH!!
Q1. Thank you for taking your time. Firstly, Could you tell us about the history and current lineup of Acid Deathtrip?
Rob Nabbe
Sure thing, Acid Deathtrip has only been around for a few years, but is a band full of “veterans” of the extreme HC/Grind/Metal Underground scene. Our line-up has never changed and our members have been active in bands since the early ‘90s. To namedrop a few of our old and current bands : Insult, Bile, Mangled, Collision, HSML, The Bastards, Suppository, Blind to Faith, Skullhog, Starve and Left For Dead (Can.). One of these bands called HSML, was a Sludge ‘n’ Roll band we used to do in the early 2000’s.
We released 1 LP/CD in 2003 and split up around 2005. Fast forward to a few years ago and Acid Deathtrip was born, since the HSML line-up started jamming again, but now with a new vocalist, giving the band an entirely different vibe of our own.
The line-up is :
Bobby – Vocals
Boris – Bass
Grizzly Rob – Guitars
Willem-Jan – Guitars
Rob Nabbe – Drums
To this day we have released a self-titled debut LP/CD and cassette E.P.(※1) through Reflections records in the Netherlands, who will release our split LP with Hangman’s Chair somewhere within the next two months.
(※1) Acid deathtrip 2013
Q2. Could you describe Acid Deathtrip’s sound to our readers who haven’t heard yet?
Rob Nabbe
Our sound is often described as Stonerrock, Death ‘n’ Roll, Doomrock or Sludge ‘n’ Roll, although we call our sound ‘Blasphemous Boogie’ to stay away from the pointless pigeonholing and categorizing going on everywhere. If you ask me how to describe ‘Blasphemous Boogie’ than I would say a mixture of heavy Rock and Roll and Doom, although our personal influences range from Death metal to Sludge. It’s mostly Bob’s vocals that give an entirely different twist to the music. I’d like to let people make up their own mind.
Q3. What does the name Acid Deathtrip mean or refer to?
Rob Nabbe
The name literally stands for a drug-induced suicide.
The lyrics to the song on your compilation explains our name.
Q4. Which bands and artists influenced you as musicians?
Rob Nabbe
The list of influences is absolutely endless, but if I had to name two albums that have been influential, I would have to go with ‘Wolverine Blues’ and ‘Our Problem’.
Q5. What is the lyrical influence for Acid Deathtrip?
Rob Nabbe
Bob and myself handle the lyrics and it all just boils down to pretty bleak, weird and mostly negative lyrics with a humorous twist here and there. The lyrics are not influenced by any band or person and mostly just come out a certain way, due to the vibe that is created by the music.
Q6. Where are you originally from? And where is Acid Deathtrip located at these days?
Rob Nabbe
We are a band from a place called Horst in the Netherlands.
Q7. You’re also known as member of Skullhog and Blind to Faith. Which one is your main band?
Rob Nabbe
I suppose they are all my main bands. I don’t consider any of the bands as projects, although Blind to Faith could be seen as such since we only play a handful of shows a year and only come together to rehearse if we wanna play a show or record a new album. So BTF doesn’t interfere with Acid’s or Skullhog’s schedule (most of the time).
Acid Deathtrip is the most active band when it comes to playing shows and rehearsing on a regular basis. It can be a pain in the ass to be involved in multiple bands, but each is an outlet for me and this way I can play different styles of music I enjoy. So yeah, it’s all good.
Q8. What are your thoughts on the music scene of Netherlands and current doom scene?
Rob Nabbe
There’s a lot of bands popping up from everywhere. Although Acid Deathtrip is not only focused to play gigs within the “Doom scene” and wanna play as much and diverse shows as we can, we see there’s a lot of cool bands coming out that “worship the riff” (fucking cheesy bullshit phrase). Throw Me In The Crater is kicking out the jams if you’re into ‘90s style ugly-ass Sludge. Total Pessimiser/Bovine records style. They have their demo pressed onto the proper LP format (where it belongs) and will be taking a short Euro-trip around Roadburn fest with Noothgrush, so that surely fits.
No Gods No Masters are also a new Sludge band that kinda goes for the smoked out riffs and combine that with some more Metalcore type chugging. I’ve heard descriptions namedropping Iron Monkey and Cro-Mags, but when I first saw them and crank their excellent demo, Bongzilla and Iron Monkey come to mind. For the rest, Swamp Machine are making a name for themselves alongside heavy weights Toner Low, Herder…etc…
Basically there’s enough to do if you like downtuned and mostly slow music. Fast music is doing good as well. As far as Metal goes, Villainy and Entrapment are my current favorites. No doubt.
Having that said, I think the Doom scene as a whole is full of hipsters and posers that come out looking for the flavor of the month. In my opinion Sludge belongs in the Punk scene and is not suitable for glossy magazines, iTunes and trendy festivals. Doom metal is just a part of the overall Metal scene, being a watered down scene that is weakening. Too many bands. Too little excitement and a complete overload and excess of everything, resulting in poorly attended shows, record-sales, disinterest and whatever. Good to see the underground is still slowly gaining new and exciting bands. Especially in Death Metal these days.
Q9. Thank you for participate to the compilation. Would you give us the comment for the song?
Rob Nabbe
Hey, thanks for the invite. People should just check out our song and if they like what they hear, they can always get in contact through email of Whorebook, I mean Facebook.
Q10.Do you know any band in this compilation?
Rob Nabbe
Yes, I know Starve of course. I know Guevnna through Ryo and I’ve heard some stuff by Conan. I’m gonna let the rest of the bands surprise me I guess.
Q11. What are the next plans for Acid Deathtrip?
Rob Nabbe
Reflections records will be releasing our split LP with Hangman’s Chair from Paris somewhere within the upcoming two months. We’re gonna be writing and recording our next full-length as well as a split release with Serpents of Dawn from Oakland.
For the rest we’re just gonna continue to play shows and hopefully do some actual touring with this band.
Q12. Finally, would you like to send a message to Japanese fans?
Rob Nabbe
I’d like to give a shout out to my Nippon peeps Ryo, Tak, Uchino and Satoshi! UGH!!
――Firstly, Thank you for taking your time and welcome to Peckinpah mag!
Could you tell us about the history of Sons of Huns?
Ryan Northrop
Sure, we all started out in other bands around the Fall of 2009. Peter (guitar) was in a band with Shoki (bass) at the time where Shoki played drums. I also played drums in a band with Shoki while he played bass. I went to the last show of Pete and Shoki’s band one night and loved Peter’s playing and told him I wanted to start a rock band with him. We all loved this garage band from the Northwest US called The Sonics, and we tried to write songs in their vain, but it eventually turned into Sons of Huns and we’ve put out an EP, 7″ and album so far.
――What is Sons of Huns current lineup?
Ryan Northrop
Shoki Tanabe (bass)
Ryan Northrop (drums)
Peter Hughes (guitar).
――Could you describe Sons of Huns sound to our readers who haven’t heard you yet?
Ryan Northrop
We’re a rock n’ roll band from Portland, Oregon USA. We love the fuzz.
――What does the name Sons of Huns mean or refer to?
Ryan Northrop
Picking a band name is hard and we wanted something that rhymed. Plus, the Huns were a brutal race so we think that reflects well in our music.
――Which bands and artists influenced you as musicians?
Ryan Northrop
The nice thing is that we were pretty much influenced by the same bands: Black Sabbath, The Sonics, The Monks, Motorhead, etc.
――Congrats on your first album. It is released from Easy Rider Records. How did it come?
Ryan Northrop
Thanks! I, Ryan, had heard of a sweet, up-and-coming stoner rock label on the internet and we had just recorded our album, “Banishment Ritual,” and we really wanted to have a good label put it out. I emailed Daniel Hall, owner of Easy Rider Records, our tracks and he got back to me that he was interested. The rest is history.
――Banishment Ritual(※1) is released on Vinyl. Are you fans of Vinyl?
Ryan Northrop
We are big fans of vinyl. We think it sounds better and our fans like it more because they have something tangible and special to hold.
(※1) Banishment Ritual 2013年リリース。
――The album has brilliant trippy, spacey artworks, Whose work?
Ryan Northrop
Our good friend, Adam Burke, who is a brilliant artist, did the entire artwork for the album. He also did the art for our “Leaving Your Body” 7″(※2) record.
(※2) “Leaving Your Body 7″” 2012年リリース。
―― I would like to ask you about the song called “Super kanpai rainbow”. Does “kanpai” means Japanese “Cheers”?
Ryan Northrop
Yes, we needed a name for a song and our bassist, Shoki, speaks Japanese and we thought it was a fun name.
――You seems like a big sci-fi fan. Did you influenced by particular films or TV shows? Ryan Northrop
We love the Sci-fi genre. We grew up reading stories from Ray Bradbury, Issac Asimov, H.P. Lovecraft and others.
――How would you describe local music scene of Portland?
Ryan Northrop
Portland has something for every music lover. It’s not a large city, but still gets all the same influences and art that any large city would. For a long time, Pop and Indie Rock really put Portland on the map but I think that heavier music, with bands like Red Fang, Danava, and Lord Dying, Portland is really getting noticed as a city that loves it heavy.
――Which bands and musicians albums are you currently enjoying?
Ryan Northrop
Any recommendations you can give to our readers for bands to check out.
We really dig Windhand, Klevertak, Christian Mistress, Danava, Lord Dying, Billions and Billions and many others.
――Sons of Huns played with many cool bands like Red Fang, Davana…etc. How was it? Ryan Northrop
It was great as expected! We feel lucky to able to play with such awesome bands.
――Do you have any funny or interesting stories from live performances or tours that you’d like to share with our readers?
Ryan Northrop
If you ever see us live, expect to move and shake, otherwise you’ll get an earful from our guitarist, Pete.
――Finally, Would you like to send a message to Japanese fan?
Ryan Northrop
We wanna give a shout out to our Japanese crew: Takako, Shinji, Shimpei, Yusuke and Hideaki. Thanks to all our Japanese fans and we hope to see you soon and get greasy!
――Firstly, Thank you for taking your time and welcome to Peckinpah mag!
Could you tell us about the history of Sons of Huns?
Ryan Northrop
Sure, we all started out in other bands around the Fall of 2009. Peter (guitar) was in a band with Shoki (bass) at the time where Shoki played drums. I also played drums in a band with Shoki while he played bass. I went to the last show of Pete and Shoki’s band one night and loved Peter’s playing and told him I wanted to start a rock band with him. We all loved this garage band from the Northwest US called The Sonics, and we tried to write songs in their vain, but it eventually turned into Sons of Huns and we’ve put out an EP, 7″ and album so far.
――What is Sons of Huns current lineup?
Ryan Northrop
Shoki Tanabe (bass)
Ryan Northrop (drums)
Peter Hughes (guitar).
――Could you describe Sons of Huns sound to our readers who haven’t heard you yet?
Ryan Northrop
We’re a rock n’ roll band from Portland, Oregon USA. We love the fuzz.
――What does the name Sons of Huns mean or refer to?
Ryan Northrop
Picking a band name is hard and we wanted something that rhymed. Plus, the Huns were a brutal race so we think that reflects well in our music.
――Which bands and artists influenced you as musicians?
Ryan Northrop
The nice thing is that we were pretty much influenced by the same bands: Black Sabbath, The Sonics, The Monks, Motorhead, etc.
――Congrats on your first album. It is released from Easy Rider Records. How did it come?
Ryan Northrop
Thanks! I, Ryan, had heard of a sweet, up-and-coming stoner rock label on the internet and we had just recorded our album, “Banishment Ritual,” and we really wanted to have a good label put it out. I emailed Daniel Hall, owner of Easy Rider Records, our tracks and he got back to me that he was interested. The rest is history.
――Banishment Ritual(※1) is released on Vinyl. Are you fans of Vinyl?
Ryan Northrop
We are big fans of vinyl. We think it sounds better and our fans like it more because they have something tangible and special to hold.
(※1) Banishment Ritual 2013年リリース。
――The album has brilliant trippy, spacey artworks, Whose work?
Ryan Northrop
Our good friend, Adam Burke, who is a brilliant artist, did the entire artwork for the album. He also did the art for our “Leaving Your Body” 7″(※2) record.
(※2) “Leaving Your Body 7″” 2012年リリース。
―― I would like to ask you about the song called “Super kanpai rainbow”. Does “kanpai” means Japanese “Cheers”?
Ryan Northrop
Yes, we needed a name for a song and our bassist, Shoki, speaks Japanese and we thought it was a fun name.
――You seems like a big sci-fi fan. Did you influenced by particular films or TV shows? Ryan Northrop
We love the Sci-fi genre. We grew up reading stories from Ray Bradbury, Issac Asimov, H.P. Lovecraft and others.
――How would you describe local music scene of Portland?
Ryan Northrop
Portland has something for every music lover. It’s not a large city, but still gets all the same influences and art that any large city would. For a long time, Pop and Indie Rock really put Portland on the map but I think that heavier music, with bands like Red Fang, Danava, and Lord Dying, Portland is really getting noticed as a city that loves it heavy.
――Which bands and musicians albums are you currently enjoying?
Ryan Northrop
Any recommendations you can give to our readers for bands to check out.
We really dig Windhand, Klevertak, Christian Mistress, Danava, Lord Dying, Billions and Billions and many others.
――Sons of Huns played with many cool bands like Red Fang, Davana…etc. How was it? Ryan Northrop
It was great as expected! We feel lucky to able to play with such awesome bands.
――Do you have any funny or interesting stories from live performances or tours that you’d like to share with our readers?
Ryan Northrop
If you ever see us live, expect to move and shake, otherwise you’ll get an earful from our guitarist, Pete.
――Finally, Would you like to send a message to Japanese fan?
Ryan Northrop
We wanna give a shout out to our Japanese crew: Takako, Shinji, Shimpei, Yusuke and Hideaki. Thanks to all our Japanese fans and we hope to see you soon and get greasy!
――Thank you for taking your time. Firstly, Could you tell us about the history and current lineup of The Heavy Eyes?
Heavy Eyes used to exist as a four piece under a different name. After the unfortunate death of the original drummer, and the resignation of a guitarist, they were left without a full lineup. Wally and Tripp were introduced to me (Eric) through a mutual friend. They had already written “Voytek”, along with a few other songs, but didn’t have drum parts written. We jammed. It worked. The rest is history. The current and original line-up under the name Heavy Eyes is: Wally Anderson, Tripp Shumake and Eric Garcia.
――What does the name The Heavy Eyes mean or refer to?
Tripp came up with Heavy Eyes after reading a couple different books that made allusions to a giant set of eyes in the sky watching over the actions of the different characters, most notably The Great Gatsby and Moon Palace. He thought it was an interesting literary concept and couldn’t get it out of his head. The band was also formed while all of us were working ourselves to the bone to pay bills, so it wasn’t uncommon to see any of us, or any of our friends at our shows, with tired baggy eyes from working night shifts and paying our way through school.
――Could you describe The Heavy Eyes sound to our readers who haven’t heard you yet?
We are catchy, hooky, heavy, fuzz, blues, stoner, and pop inspired music. We are influenced from a very wide ranging from 70’s rock, stoner rock, blues rock, to pop.
――Which bands and artists influenced you as musicians?
It’s really all over the board — We are all inspired by different genres and a lot of the same and share music with one another. Tripp has played us anything from Muddy Waters to James Blake to The Strokes, and in turn, I’ve played them Annihilation Time and Tobacco and Big Business. Wally usually just gravitates towards hard ass 70’s rock. However, we all share a love for Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Rage Against The Machine, The White Stripes, Black Keys… the list goes on and on.
――How would you describe the local music scene of Memphis?
The music landscape is tough. There are so many good acts that get so little love in Memphis, but do well outside of it. Memphis is a rough city to play — if you’re a touring band and are reading this, you probably know first hand. Historically, Memphis is mentioned in songs more times than any other city. It has so much undiscovered musical talent. The Dirty Streets are our long time friends and are on the rise. Jack Oblivian, Lucero, The City Champs, Ex Cult, The Sheiks, and Amy Lavere are all acts representing a different spectrum of the Memphis sound. We’re all happy to be a part of the Memphis music scene and proud to be from here.
――The Heavy Eyes released split 7inch with All Them Witches in 2013, How did it come?
It came loud and live as f**k! Those dudes are great people. We linked up with All Them Witches in Nashville and I (Eric) was blown away by them live. They are truly one of the greater stoner / psyche bands I’ve seen in the underground scene. I hope they do big things.
――Let’s talk about your latest studio album “Maera” (※1), where did you record it? Was it a hard or easy to record for?
The only thing hard was having two days to get all the tracks down. Maera was recorded the same way we recorded the ST(※2). We recorded all tracks live, with the exception of the second guitar tracks, vocals, and extra drum work (tambourines, stick clicks, etc). Matthew Qualls has been our go-to guy in Memphis. He’s easy to work with, knows what we’re trying to accomplish and does a good job for our budget and time. We hope to capture what it sounds like to experience us live on our records.
“Maera” 2012”The Heavy Eyes” 2011
――The album has brilliant artworks, whose work?
Emil Orth. Long time friend of ours and such a brilliant mind! Please contact him for anything; he loves fan mail and doing any wild illustration <artofemilorth@yahoo.com>
――Would you say the band focuses on rhythm, melody… or something else?
Yes, both. Tripp writes a majority of the material and is an incredible song writer. There’s always a swing to the riffs and melodies he writes. We all love groove, melody, and rhythm, and try our best to stay in that pocket. If we can get your head bobbing and write something hooky enough to where you’re repeating it, we’ve done our job.
――Do you do a lot of touring? Do you enjoy touring?
We do not tour enough. As romantic as the idea sound, we do not have a big enough audience where we can tour full-time and not be living paycheck to paycheck. Maybe one day, but at this point only small tours on vacation days are what we can swing. That being said, there are still a couple of things we’re excited about, playing SXSW this year and Germany in May. Hopefully we’ll get to see some new faces.
――Which bands and artists albums are you currently enjoying?
For me (Eric), I am enjoying Broken Bells new album a lot. The new Queens of The Stone Age is incredible and Daft Punk’s new release was great too. I also cannot stop listening to Elder. Those dudes are so bad ass.
――A stupid question, Have you ever be mistaken for The Flying Eyes?
We’re not sure who that is, should we know?
――Do you know any Japanese band?
I don’t know Boris personally, but shit, I’d like to. Heavy Rocks is on point!
――Do you have any plans like new albums or tours?
We’re dropping a 45’ with a NEW song and re-releasing our ST on vinyl in late February. We’re also doing a third album which should be finished by the end of the summer 2014.
Shows:
Austin, TX – SXSW – March 2014
Germany – Freak Valley Fest – May 2014
――Finally, would you like to send a message to Japanese fans?
I’ve only mailed a limited amount of merch to Japan, but would love to mail more. I love seeing all the fans we have world-wide. This is truly a major accomplishment in our eyes. Keep listening and hopefully we can see you in the future.
――Thank you for taking your time. Firstly, Could you tell us about the history and current lineup of The Heavy Eyes?
Heavy Eyes used to exist as a four piece under a different name. After the unfortunate death of the original drummer, and the resignation of a guitarist, they were left without a full lineup. Wally and Tripp were introduced to me (Eric) through a mutual friend. They had already written “Voytek”, along with a few other songs, but didn’t have drum parts written. We jammed. It worked. The rest is history. The current and original line-up under the name Heavy Eyes is: Wally Anderson, Tripp Shumake and Eric Garcia.
――What does the name The Heavy Eyes mean or refer to?
Tripp came up with Heavy Eyes after reading a couple different books that made allusions to a giant set of eyes in the sky watching over the actions of the different characters, most notably The Great Gatsby and Moon Palace. He thought it was an interesting literary concept and couldn’t get it out of his head. The band was also formed while all of us were working ourselves to the bone to pay bills, so it wasn’t uncommon to see any of us, or any of our friends at our shows, with tired baggy eyes from working night shifts and paying our way through school.
――Could you describe The Heavy Eyes sound to our readers who haven’t heard you yet?
We are catchy, hooky, heavy, fuzz, blues, stoner, and pop inspired music. We are influenced from a very wide ranging from 70’s rock, stoner rock, blues rock, to pop.
――Which bands and artists influenced you as musicians?
It’s really all over the board — We are all inspired by different genres and a lot of the same and share music with one another. Tripp has played us anything from Muddy Waters to James Blake to The Strokes, and in turn, I’ve played them Annihilation Time and Tobacco and Big Business. Wally usually just gravitates towards hard ass 70’s rock. However, we all share a love for Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Rage Against The Machine, The White Stripes, Black Keys… the list goes on and on.
――How would you describe the local music scene of Memphis?
The music landscape is tough. There are so many good acts that get so little love in Memphis, but do well outside of it. Memphis is a rough city to play — if you’re a touring band and are reading this, you probably know first hand. Historically, Memphis is mentioned in songs more times than any other city. It has so much undiscovered musical talent. The Dirty Streets are our long time friends and are on the rise. Jack Oblivian, Lucero, The City Champs, Ex Cult, The Sheiks, and Amy Lavere are all acts representing a different spectrum of the Memphis sound. We’re all happy to be a part of the Memphis music scene and proud to be from here.
――The Heavy Eyes released split 7inch with All Them Witches in 2013, How did it come?
It came loud and live as f**k! Those dudes are great people. We linked up with All Them Witches in Nashville and I (Eric) was blown away by them live. They are truly one of the greater stoner / psyche bands I’ve seen in the underground scene. I hope they do big things.
――Let’s talk about your latest studio album “Maera” (※1), where did you record it? Was it a hard or easy to record for?
The only thing hard was having two days to get all the tracks down. Maera was recorded the same way we recorded the ST(※2). We recorded all tracks live, with the exception of the second guitar tracks, vocals, and extra drum work (tambourines, stick clicks, etc). Matthew Qualls has been our go-to guy in Memphis. He’s easy to work with, knows what we’re trying to accomplish and does a good job for our budget and time. We hope to capture what it sounds like to experience us live on our records.
“Maera” 2012”The Heavy Eyes” 2011
――The album has brilliant artworks, whose work?
Emil Orth. Long time friend of ours and such a brilliant mind! Please contact him for anything; he loves fan mail and doing any wild illustration <artofemilorth@yahoo.com>
――Would you say the band focuses on rhythm, melody… or something else?
Yes, both. Tripp writes a majority of the material and is an incredible song writer. There’s always a swing to the riffs and melodies he writes. We all love groove, melody, and rhythm, and try our best to stay in that pocket. If we can get your head bobbing and write something hooky enough to where you’re repeating it, we’ve done our job.
――Do you do a lot of touring? Do you enjoy touring?
We do not tour enough. As romantic as the idea sound, we do not have a big enough audience where we can tour full-time and not be living paycheck to paycheck. Maybe one day, but at this point only small tours on vacation days are what we can swing. That being said, there are still a couple of things we’re excited about, playing SXSW this year and Germany in May. Hopefully we’ll get to see some new faces.
――Which bands and artists albums are you currently enjoying?
For me (Eric), I am enjoying Broken Bells new album a lot. The new Queens of The Stone Age is incredible and Daft Punk’s new release was great too. I also cannot stop listening to Elder. Those dudes are so bad ass.
――A stupid question, Have you ever be mistaken for The Flying Eyes?
We’re not sure who that is, should we know?
――Do you know any Japanese band?
I don’t know Boris personally, but shit, I’d like to. Heavy Rocks is on point!
――Do you have any plans like new albums or tours?
We’re dropping a 45’ with a NEW song and re-releasing our ST on vinyl in late February. We’re also doing a third album which should be finished by the end of the summer 2014.
Shows:
Austin, TX – SXSW – March 2014
Germany – Freak Valley Fest – May 2014
――Finally, would you like to send a message to Japanese fans?
I’ve only mailed a limited amount of merch to Japan, but would love to mail more. I love seeing all the fans we have world-wide. This is truly a major accomplishment in our eyes. Keep listening and hopefully we can see you in the future.
――Thank you for taking your time and welcome to Peckinpah mag! How’s going today?
Ollie
Hello there. Thank you for taking the time to interview us. Things are very good thank you, we’re all just getting over our Christmas holidays and getting back to normal life now.
――Could you introduce us the member of Grifter?
Ollie
We’re had the same line-up for 10 years now:
Foz – drums and backing vocals
Phil ? bass just bass nothing else
Ollie – guitar and lead vocals
――Could you describe Grifter’s sound to our readers who haven’t heard you yet?
Ollie
We often seemed to get described as stoner or blues rock but I think the description that suits us best is dirty, heavy rock and roll. People are very keen to use genres and titles to describe bands but to us it all draws from rock and roll and the blues, we just play it heavier and nastier.
――Congrats on your first album(※1), Are you satisfied with the responses so far?
Ollie
Thank you. The first album actually came out in 2011 and the response back then was amazing. We were mentioned in a lot of lists at the end of that year for one of the best albums of the year which was a great thing to see. The album also helped us move to getting bigger and better gigs such as a tour with Orange Goblin, the Freak Valley festival in Germany, Bloodstock and Hard Rock Hell. So far all responses to the first album have been very positive. We have a new album recorded and almost ready to release once we have the artwork. It’s called The Return Of The Bearded Brethren(※2) and will, once again be released on Ripple Music. The new album is a huge improvement in song writing, production, artwork etc. The first album was very much a case of us recording the songs we had available at the time that had been written over a number of years but for the new album we wrote it to be a great album with a good variety of songs and moods.
(※1) Grifter 2011(※2) The Return Of The Bearded Brethren 2014
――Where was the album recorded and how was the recording process?
Ollie
Both of our albums were recorded by a friend of ours called Rich Robinson who is a very good engineer and deserves a lot of credit. Rich has a recording set up that is mobile so he is able to move it to wherever the band wants to record. For the first album we recorded everything at the place we rehearse, a place called Big Red, as they have a very big live room with a great sound. For the new album we recorded all the guitars, bass and drums at Big Red again and recorded the vocals at Rich’s home as he has a small studio room there. Both times the recording went very quickly and easily. We have all the songs written, rehearsed and mostly played live before we record so once we go in the studio we are able to play everything very quickly. The recording for both albums was done in about 3 days then Rich takes the recordings away to mix. He send us mixes to listen to, we send back suggestions and work like that until everyone is happy with everything. It does take longer to mix this way but it is such an important part of the recording process that it can’t be rushed. We’re still very happy with the sound of the first album but the new album sounds so much better in every way.
――The album is released from Ripple Music, How did it come? And how was it?
Ollie
At the time in 2010 Ripple was a website reviewing bands and were only just starting to become a label. I sent them a copy of our 2nd EP, The Simplicity Of The Riff Is Key” released on Catacomb Records, to review and they loved it. They asked us if we’d be interested in being on a split vinyl release called Heavy Ripples with Stone Axe, Sun Gods In Exile and Mighty High so we, of course, said yes. As we had to record songs for the release we decided to record all the songs we had that hadn’t yet been properly recorded with a view to putting them out as an album but didn’t really know how we would release it. While we were recording Ripple also offered to release the album and we have been with them ever since. Ripple are a great label run by two guys called Todd and John who are some of the nicest guys you could meet and absolutely passionate about the label, the bands on their label and music in general. We joined the label very early on and since then the label has gone from strength to strength with better distribution and promotion as well as getting a very strong reputation. Now I think Ripple is getting a reputation as good as labels such as Small Stone which is great for us and should work well for the new album. Ripple certainly has a great roster of bands such as Stone Axe, Mothership, Devil To pay, Poobah, Stubb, Ape Machine, Earthen Grave (featuring Ron Holzner from Trouble) and, of course, released the last Mos Generator album which was amazing.
――What is the songwriting process in the band?
Ollie
Song writing is very much a group process. As the guitarist and vocalist I bring in a lot of riffs and partially formed song ideas which we then pull apart as a group and put together in the best format. Phil, our bass player, also comes up with a lot of amazing riff ideas which we work on, he’s also very good at hearing where a song should go half way through and the overall structure. Our drummer Foz is also very musical, he can sing and play guitar and bass and has a natural idea of how beats can affect the mood of a song. Once he finds the right beat for a song it can influence how the rest of the song will develop. It’s very rare that someone will bring in a fully complete song, and even if they do it usually gets ripped apart and changed beyond all recognition until everyone is happy with it.
――I saw the photo that you wearing Sir Lord Baltimore T-shirt, Do you like them? Are you big fan of 70s Hard Rock?
Ollie
We all love 70s rock though out of everyone in the band I’m probably the biggest fan. I値l look for obscure bands to listen to as well as being a huge fan of bands such as Mountain, Cactus, Sir Lord Baltimore, Budgie, Leaf Hound (who we are now label mates with), Captain Beyond etc. 70s rock had a real vibe to it and was heavily rooted in the blues which I love. It seems the bands back then were less interested in falling into small genres and had an open mind and experimental attitude to their music. I have a collection of compilations that I found on the internet as downloads called Heavy 70s, that are great. There are 8 volumes of around 20 tracks each that feature bigger names such as Status Quo, The Groundhogs, Hawkwind・tc but have also introduced me to some really obscure stuff like Granicus who I love.
――Which bands and artists influenced you?
Ollie
Between the three of us we have a huge range of musical tastes that cover metal, punk, thrash, ska, reggae, hip hop, blues, folk, funk, soul, grunge etc and small bits of these may influence us and creep in, maybe as a drum beat or a riff. As a group though we do have bands that influence us such as Black Sabbath, early ZZ Top, AC/DC, Motorhead, Clutch, Dead Kennedys. Led Zeppelin etc. Personally I’m a huge fan of Mountain, Lynyrd Skynyrd (who our drummer really dislikes!), The Who, The Rolling Stones etc that influence the way I approach playing guitar and writing riffs even if it may not be obvious.
――A stupid question, Do you like hotpocket? (Alabama Hotpocket has great riff!)
Ollie
Do you mean those horrible looking snacks that you put in a toaster that come out with a red hot filling? I can honestly say I’ve never tried one as they really don’t look that nice! That was a hard song to write as I heard the title but when I found out what it meant (it’s a very disgusting sexual act), I realised I had to make the lyrics very vague so they don’t actually say too much. It was too good a title not to use though and no I’ve never tried the sexual act!
――How would you describe the local music scene there?
Ollie
Is there any local scene in your town and if so please name a few artists you like
This is a hard question to answer as we all live in different towns now all spread out about an hour apart. When we started out we all lived in the same town, Plymouth on the south coast of England. There were a few good bands round here then that we used to play with and some good venues but over times things have changed. A lot of the bands have split up and a lot of the venues have closed down. There are a few but we don’t play Plymouth very often anymore as we get to travel around the country a lot now. I think all three of us are a bit out of touch with what is happening musically in Plymouth and the towns where we live. The UK does have a lot of great bands though such as our label mates Stubb plus Suns Of Thunder, Widows, Lifer, Line Of Fire, Trippy Wicked, Enos, Desert Storm, Gonga, Alunah, Tricorn, Goat Leaf, Asomvel, Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell, Slabdragger, Druganaut and a whole lot that I’ve probably forgotten to mention but are worthy of checking out.
――I’m sure about that you love to drink lot of beer. Where is the best place for Japanese traveler to get drunk in your home town?
Ollie
We’re been known to drink a few pints of beer in our time for certain. The new album actually has a song called Black Gold which is a tribute to one of our favourite drinks Guinness. In Plymouth we used to have a great venue called The Phoenix which was very friendly but a bit scruffy. Unfortunately it’s closed down now. I don’t go out in Plymouth much but our drummer still lives there and goes to a pub called The Nowhere which a lot of the alternative and metallers in Plymouth go to. There’s also The Junction which attracts a lot of bikers and has bands on. I live in a very small town called Chudleigh that has 5 pubs, the one I go to is called The Bishop Lacey and it’s a great place. They always have beers from small breweries, they do good food, you will always meet interesting and sometimes weird people to talk to and they don’t mind when I put Slayer on the jukebox!
――You played on Hard Rock Hell Fest 2013, How was it?
Ollie
Hard Rock Hell was a lot of fun for us as we spent the whole weekend there just drinking and watching bands. Our set went very well, we had a really good sized crowd to play to who seemed very into what we were doing which was a real buzz. Overall it is a funny festival. They have 2 stages, one for the bigger bands and a much smaller one for the up and coming bands. It seemed that most people preferred to go and watch the bands on the bigger stage than check out the less known bands so some of the crowds for the smaller bands were pretty small which is a shame as some of those bands were better than the bigger bands. We had a great time though and got to meet and hang out with a lot of very cool people as well as a lot of friends who were also playing that we had not seen in a while. We also played the Bloodstock festival which was headlined by Slayer on the day we played and featured Anthrax, Exodus, Devildriver etc. We had a huge crowd for that and got an amazing response. That was a really big thrill.
――Do you do a lot of touring? Do you enjoy touring?
Ollie
We all have jobs, families and bills to pay so we have to work gigs and touring around our home lives but we do as much as we can. We’re been lucky as we got offered the chance to tour with Orange Goblin as they’re old friends which was an amazing experience and we’ve been over to Europe to play in Belgium and Holland. We tend to do weekend tours more if we do any touring, maybe a Thursday to Saturday as people here are more likely to go to gigs on those days than earlier in the week. We all love touring. The three of us get on incredibly well and are pretty much best friends so we have a lot of laughs, we love playing live and we get to travel around seeing some very cool things that we wouldn’t see just sitting doing our jobs every day and we get to meet amazing people along the way who have become really good friends.
――Do you have any funny or interesting stories from live performances or tours?
Ollie
I’m sure there are some. There was the time when we played a venue in London that had a very small stage, Phil was rocking out so hard that he fell off the stage into a projector that was set up in front of the stage to show films on a backdrop behind the bands. I think he managed to carry on playing though. Some of the funniest things are the conversations we have in the van as we’re travelling round sometimes we’re laughing until we’re almost crying.
――You keep playing Rock & Roll almost 10 years, Was it passed like the blink of an eye or slow as doom?
Ollie
Yes we’re just reached our 10th anniversary as a band. When I think back to some of the things we’re done in the last 10 years some of it does seem like such a long time ago. So much has happened for the band and also personally that our lives have changed drastically but the band has remained constant throughout and we still get as much excitement and fun from doing it as we ever did more in some way as things have become easier for us in terms of having a label behind us and getting gigs…etc. Our approach to doing the band has definitely changed over the years as we’re got older, had other commitments..etc but in some ways it’s intensified our focus on the band when we are doing stuff.
――If you could give advice to someone want to start a band. What advice would you give them?
Ollie
Firstly have fun, don’t do it because you have ideas of becoming famous or getting a record deal. Just enjoy what you do and make sure you get on with the people you’re in a band with and are good friends with them. If it takes off you will be spending a lot of time with those people in a van and sleeping in the same room. You also need to know when to give people space and let them do their own thing. We’re survived by knowing when one of us needs a break so they can come back refreshed. Secondly don’t follow trends, don’t try to sound like this band or that band, just play what feels natural and enjoyable. People will pick up on things that have more honesty to them than something that is forced because a band thinks that’s what people want to hear. Thirdly, even if you’re not getting paid act professionally. Be on time, treat the people you meet with respect whether they’re fans, bands, promoters, journalists, label people etc. A good reputation is essential as people do talk to each other and a bad reputation will get around and you won’t get any more work. Fourth, don’t play live or record until you’re ready, there is no rush to do anything. If you play live before you’re ready and sound rubbish people will remember and won’t bother coming back to watch you again even if you’re improved. The same goes for getting your social media such as Facebook on the go People won’t be interested until they can listen to good recordings of you so work towards small local shows first and a decent quality demo. No band should ever be making t-shirts before a demo It does happen!!! Lastly make sure you have decent quality gear. You need to sound good for starters and poor quality gear just doesn’t sound good and won’t sound good even through a decent PA system. Secondly a good way to get known is to do gig swaps with bands from other areas and this often involves lending gear when they come to your town make sure you have good gear to offer.
――Do you know any Japanese band?
Ollie
Obviously everyone knows Church Of Misery. I’m a huge fan of that band and we got to play with them on one date of the Orange Goblin tour a couple of years ago. They seemed like good guys and really seemed to enjoy our set which was great. I also like an old 70s band called Flied Egg who I think released a couple of albums. Other than that I’m sorry to say I don’t really know any Japanese bands that are around today. I’ve heard of a few but never really heard any. I did used to listen to a lot of hardcore many years ago and did get into bands such as Lipcream, Rose Rose, Gauze, Outo etc. Japan had a great hardcore scene in the 80s. If you have any Japanese bands to recommend I’d love to check them out. I have a real interest in Japanese culture and it’s the country I most interested in visiting in fact we would love to come a play in Japan if anyone knows any good promoters!
――If you could play a show with any band, who would that band be?
Ollie
Obviously there are bigger bands that we would love to play with such as Motorhead, Black Sabbath, Clutch, ZZ Top, Iron Maiden etc but these are mostly just dreams that will probably never happen. There are some UK bands that I’m quite keen to play with such as Goat Leaf, Asomvel, Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell etc. In fact we are playing with the last two in Leeds at a small festival later in the year which will be amazing.
――Finally, would you like to send a message to Japanese fans & drinkers?
Ollie
Thank you to everyone in Japan who takes the time out to check out the band and get hold of our stuff・ realise it isn’t easy as I don’t think our label has distribution over there as yet if anyone can help out please let Ripple Music know (http://www.ripple-music.com this is also the place to check out other Ripple bands and buy stuff). Keep enjoying the rock and roll, look out for our new album coming soon・opefully one day we’ll be able to come over there and play for you and drink with you.
In the meantime please keep up with the band on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/grifterrock) or our website (http://www.grifterrock.co.uk) and say hello as we love to hear from people and have conversations. Also please feel free to download our older music, EPs and demo from our Bandcamp page for free (http://grifterrock.bandcamp.com http://grifterrock.bandcamp.com) and spread the word.
Big thanks to Trip Thru Records for the interview and to you guys out there for reading it. Stay happy and peaceful!
――Thank you for taking your time and welcome to Peckinpah mag! How’s going today?
Ollie
Hello there. Thank you for taking the time to interview us. Things are very good thank you, we’re all just getting over our Christmas holidays and getting back to normal life now.
――Could you introduce us the member of Grifter?
Ollie
We’re had the same line-up for 10 years now:
Foz – drums and backing vocals
Phil ? bass just bass nothing else
Ollie – guitar and lead vocals
――Could you describe Grifter’s sound to our readers who haven’t heard you yet?
Ollie
We often seemed to get described as stoner or blues rock but I think the description that suits us best is dirty, heavy rock and roll. People are very keen to use genres and titles to describe bands but to us it all draws from rock and roll and the blues, we just play it heavier and nastier.
――Congrats on your first album(※1), Are you satisfied with the responses so far?
Ollie
Thank you. The first album actually came out in 2011 and the response back then was amazing. We were mentioned in a lot of lists at the end of that year for one of the best albums of the year which was a great thing to see. The album also helped us move to getting bigger and better gigs such as a tour with Orange Goblin, the Freak Valley festival in Germany, Bloodstock and Hard Rock Hell. So far all responses to the first album have been very positive. We have a new album recorded and almost ready to release once we have the artwork. It’s called The Return Of The Bearded Brethren(※2) and will, once again be released on Ripple Music. The new album is a huge improvement in song writing, production, artwork etc. The first album was very much a case of us recording the songs we had available at the time that had been written over a number of years but for the new album we wrote it to be a great album with a good variety of songs and moods.
(※1) Grifter 2011(※2) The Return Of The Bearded Brethren 2014
――Where was the album recorded and how was the recording process?
Ollie
Both of our albums were recorded by a friend of ours called Rich Robinson who is a very good engineer and deserves a lot of credit. Rich has a recording set up that is mobile so he is able to move it to wherever the band wants to record. For the first album we recorded everything at the place we rehearse, a place called Big Red, as they have a very big live room with a great sound. For the new album we recorded all the guitars, bass and drums at Big Red again and recorded the vocals at Rich’s home as he has a small studio room there. Both times the recording went very quickly and easily. We have all the songs written, rehearsed and mostly played live before we record so once we go in the studio we are able to play everything very quickly. The recording for both albums was done in about 3 days then Rich takes the recordings away to mix. He send us mixes to listen to, we send back suggestions and work like that until everyone is happy with everything. It does take longer to mix this way but it is such an important part of the recording process that it can’t be rushed. We’re still very happy with the sound of the first album but the new album sounds so much better in every way.
――The album is released from Ripple Music, How did it come? And how was it?
Ollie
At the time in 2010 Ripple was a website reviewing bands and were only just starting to become a label. I sent them a copy of our 2nd EP, The Simplicity Of The Riff Is Key” released on Catacomb Records, to review and they loved it. They asked us if we’d be interested in being on a split vinyl release called Heavy Ripples with Stone Axe, Sun Gods In Exile and Mighty High so we, of course, said yes. As we had to record songs for the release we decided to record all the songs we had that hadn’t yet been properly recorded with a view to putting them out as an album but didn’t really know how we would release it. While we were recording Ripple also offered to release the album and we have been with them ever since. Ripple are a great label run by two guys called Todd and John who are some of the nicest guys you could meet and absolutely passionate about the label, the bands on their label and music in general. We joined the label very early on and since then the label has gone from strength to strength with better distribution and promotion as well as getting a very strong reputation. Now I think Ripple is getting a reputation as good as labels such as Small Stone which is great for us and should work well for the new album. Ripple certainly has a great roster of bands such as Stone Axe, Mothership, Devil To pay, Poobah, Stubb, Ape Machine, Earthen Grave (featuring Ron Holzner from Trouble) and, of course, released the last Mos Generator album which was amazing.
――What is the songwriting process in the band?
Ollie
Song writing is very much a group process. As the guitarist and vocalist I bring in a lot of riffs and partially formed song ideas which we then pull apart as a group and put together in the best format. Phil, our bass player, also comes up with a lot of amazing riff ideas which we work on, he’s also very good at hearing where a song should go half way through and the overall structure. Our drummer Foz is also very musical, he can sing and play guitar and bass and has a natural idea of how beats can affect the mood of a song. Once he finds the right beat for a song it can influence how the rest of the song will develop. It’s very rare that someone will bring in a fully complete song, and even if they do it usually gets ripped apart and changed beyond all recognition until everyone is happy with it.
――I saw the photo that you wearing Sir Lord Baltimore T-shirt, Do you like them? Are you big fan of 70s Hard Rock?
Ollie
We all love 70s rock though out of everyone in the band I’m probably the biggest fan. I値l look for obscure bands to listen to as well as being a huge fan of bands such as Mountain, Cactus, Sir Lord Baltimore, Budgie, Leaf Hound (who we are now label mates with), Captain Beyond etc. 70s rock had a real vibe to it and was heavily rooted in the blues which I love. It seems the bands back then were less interested in falling into small genres and had an open mind and experimental attitude to their music. I have a collection of compilations that I found on the internet as downloads called Heavy 70s, that are great. There are 8 volumes of around 20 tracks each that feature bigger names such as Status Quo, The Groundhogs, Hawkwind・tc but have also introduced me to some really obscure stuff like Granicus who I love.
――Which bands and artists influenced you?
Ollie
Between the three of us we have a huge range of musical tastes that cover metal, punk, thrash, ska, reggae, hip hop, blues, folk, funk, soul, grunge etc and small bits of these may influence us and creep in, maybe as a drum beat or a riff. As a group though we do have bands that influence us such as Black Sabbath, early ZZ Top, AC/DC, Motorhead, Clutch, Dead Kennedys. Led Zeppelin etc. Personally I’m a huge fan of Mountain, Lynyrd Skynyrd (who our drummer really dislikes!), The Who, The Rolling Stones etc that influence the way I approach playing guitar and writing riffs even if it may not be obvious.
――A stupid question, Do you like hotpocket? (Alabama Hotpocket has great riff!)
Ollie
Do you mean those horrible looking snacks that you put in a toaster that come out with a red hot filling? I can honestly say I’ve never tried one as they really don’t look that nice! That was a hard song to write as I heard the title but when I found out what it meant (it’s a very disgusting sexual act), I realised I had to make the lyrics very vague so they don’t actually say too much. It was too good a title not to use though and no I’ve never tried the sexual act!
――How would you describe the local music scene there?
Ollie
Is there any local scene in your town and if so please name a few artists you like
This is a hard question to answer as we all live in different towns now all spread out about an hour apart. When we started out we all lived in the same town, Plymouth on the south coast of England. There were a few good bands round here then that we used to play with and some good venues but over times things have changed. A lot of the bands have split up and a lot of the venues have closed down. There are a few but we don’t play Plymouth very often anymore as we get to travel around the country a lot now. I think all three of us are a bit out of touch with what is happening musically in Plymouth and the towns where we live. The UK does have a lot of great bands though such as our label mates Stubb plus Suns Of Thunder, Widows, Lifer, Line Of Fire, Trippy Wicked, Enos, Desert Storm, Gonga, Alunah, Tricorn, Goat Leaf, Asomvel, Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell, Slabdragger, Druganaut and a whole lot that I’ve probably forgotten to mention but are worthy of checking out.
――I’m sure about that you love to drink lot of beer. Where is the best place for Japanese traveler to get drunk in your home town?
Ollie
We’re been known to drink a few pints of beer in our time for certain. The new album actually has a song called Black Gold which is a tribute to one of our favourite drinks Guinness. In Plymouth we used to have a great venue called The Phoenix which was very friendly but a bit scruffy. Unfortunately it’s closed down now. I don’t go out in Plymouth much but our drummer still lives there and goes to a pub called The Nowhere which a lot of the alternative and metallers in Plymouth go to. There’s also The Junction which attracts a lot of bikers and has bands on. I live in a very small town called Chudleigh that has 5 pubs, the one I go to is called The Bishop Lacey and it’s a great place. They always have beers from small breweries, they do good food, you will always meet interesting and sometimes weird people to talk to and they don’t mind when I put Slayer on the jukebox!
――You played on Hard Rock Hell Fest 2013, How was it?
Ollie
Hard Rock Hell was a lot of fun for us as we spent the whole weekend there just drinking and watching bands. Our set went very well, we had a really good sized crowd to play to who seemed very into what we were doing which was a real buzz. Overall it is a funny festival. They have 2 stages, one for the bigger bands and a much smaller one for the up and coming bands. It seemed that most people preferred to go and watch the bands on the bigger stage than check out the less known bands so some of the crowds for the smaller bands were pretty small which is a shame as some of those bands were better than the bigger bands. We had a great time though and got to meet and hang out with a lot of very cool people as well as a lot of friends who were also playing that we had not seen in a while. We also played the Bloodstock festival which was headlined by Slayer on the day we played and featured Anthrax, Exodus, Devildriver etc. We had a huge crowd for that and got an amazing response. That was a really big thrill.
――Do you do a lot of touring? Do you enjoy touring?
Ollie
We all have jobs, families and bills to pay so we have to work gigs and touring around our home lives but we do as much as we can. We’re been lucky as we got offered the chance to tour with Orange Goblin as they’re old friends which was an amazing experience and we’ve been over to Europe to play in Belgium and Holland. We tend to do weekend tours more if we do any touring, maybe a Thursday to Saturday as people here are more likely to go to gigs on those days than earlier in the week. We all love touring. The three of us get on incredibly well and are pretty much best friends so we have a lot of laughs, we love playing live and we get to travel around seeing some very cool things that we wouldn’t see just sitting doing our jobs every day and we get to meet amazing people along the way who have become really good friends.
――Do you have any funny or interesting stories from live performances or tours?
Ollie
I’m sure there are some. There was the time when we played a venue in London that had a very small stage, Phil was rocking out so hard that he fell off the stage into a projector that was set up in front of the stage to show films on a backdrop behind the bands. I think he managed to carry on playing though. Some of the funniest things are the conversations we have in the van as we’re travelling round sometimes we’re laughing until we’re almost crying.
――You keep playing Rock & Roll almost 10 years, Was it passed like the blink of an eye or slow as doom?
Ollie
Yes we’re just reached our 10th anniversary as a band. When I think back to some of the things we’re done in the last 10 years some of it does seem like such a long time ago. So much has happened for the band and also personally that our lives have changed drastically but the band has remained constant throughout and we still get as much excitement and fun from doing it as we ever did more in some way as things have become easier for us in terms of having a label behind us and getting gigs…etc. Our approach to doing the band has definitely changed over the years as we’re got older, had other commitments..etc but in some ways it’s intensified our focus on the band when we are doing stuff.
――If you could give advice to someone want to start a band. What advice would you give them?
Ollie
Firstly have fun, don’t do it because you have ideas of becoming famous or getting a record deal. Just enjoy what you do and make sure you get on with the people you’re in a band with and are good friends with them. If it takes off you will be spending a lot of time with those people in a van and sleeping in the same room. You also need to know when to give people space and let them do their own thing. We’re survived by knowing when one of us needs a break so they can come back refreshed. Secondly don’t follow trends, don’t try to sound like this band or that band, just play what feels natural and enjoyable. People will pick up on things that have more honesty to them than something that is forced because a band thinks that’s what people want to hear. Thirdly, even if you’re not getting paid act professionally. Be on time, treat the people you meet with respect whether they’re fans, bands, promoters, journalists, label people etc. A good reputation is essential as people do talk to each other and a bad reputation will get around and you won’t get any more work. Fourth, don’t play live or record until you’re ready, there is no rush to do anything. If you play live before you’re ready and sound rubbish people will remember and won’t bother coming back to watch you again even if you’re improved. The same goes for getting your social media such as Facebook on the go People won’t be interested until they can listen to good recordings of you so work towards small local shows first and a decent quality demo. No band should ever be making t-shirts before a demo It does happen!!! Lastly make sure you have decent quality gear. You need to sound good for starters and poor quality gear just doesn’t sound good and won’t sound good even through a decent PA system. Secondly a good way to get known is to do gig swaps with bands from other areas and this often involves lending gear when they come to your town make sure you have good gear to offer.
――Do you know any Japanese band?
Ollie
Obviously everyone knows Church Of Misery. I’m a huge fan of that band and we got to play with them on one date of the Orange Goblin tour a couple of years ago. They seemed like good guys and really seemed to enjoy our set which was great. I also like an old 70s band called Flied Egg who I think released a couple of albums. Other than that I’m sorry to say I don’t really know any Japanese bands that are around today. I’ve heard of a few but never really heard any. I did used to listen to a lot of hardcore many years ago and did get into bands such as Lipcream, Rose Rose, Gauze, Outo etc. Japan had a great hardcore scene in the 80s. If you have any Japanese bands to recommend I’d love to check them out. I have a real interest in Japanese culture and it’s the country I most interested in visiting in fact we would love to come a play in Japan if anyone knows any good promoters!
――If you could play a show with any band, who would that band be?
Ollie
Obviously there are bigger bands that we would love to play with such as Motorhead, Black Sabbath, Clutch, ZZ Top, Iron Maiden etc but these are mostly just dreams that will probably never happen. There are some UK bands that I’m quite keen to play with such as Goat Leaf, Asomvel, Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell etc. In fact we are playing with the last two in Leeds at a small festival later in the year which will be amazing.
――Finally, would you like to send a message to Japanese fans & drinkers?
Ollie
Thank you to everyone in Japan who takes the time out to check out the band and get hold of our stuff・ realise it isn’t easy as I don’t think our label has distribution over there as yet if anyone can help out please let Ripple Music know (http://www.ripple-music.com this is also the place to check out other Ripple bands and buy stuff). Keep enjoying the rock and roll, look out for our new album coming soon・opefully one day we’ll be able to come over there and play for you and drink with you.
In the meantime please keep up with the band on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/grifterrock) or our website (http://www.grifterrock.co.uk) and say hello as we love to hear from people and have conversations. Also please feel free to download our older music, EPs and demo from our Bandcamp page for free (http://grifterrock.bandcamp.com http://grifterrock.bandcamp.com) and spread the word.
Big thanks to Trip Thru Records for the interview and to you guys out there for reading it. Stay happy and peaceful!
――Thank you for taking your time. How ‘ s going today?
Daan
Great, just had a bit of a cold for the last week feeling tired and wasted, but as usual during the days that it is starting to wear off i always feel very good.
――Could you tell us about the history of Toner Low?
Daan
Sure, we started in March 1998 with five band members and a somewhat different kind of musical approach, more like stoner rock mixed with some guitar rock, quite vocal-orientated and with three guitars. Late 1999 our bassplayer started playing with 7Zuma7 (cult Dutch retrorockers) and one of our guitarplayers switched to bass. Anyway, we lost two more members and our original bassplayer returned, but since December 2007 we have the same musicians. In the meantime we released three full-length albums, played many gigs and shared stages with amongst others Electric Wizard, Acid King and Boris.
――Where are you originally from?
Daan
We come from the area around the city of Leiden in the Netherlands, and we still live there.
――Which bands and artists influenced you as musicians?
Daan
As musicians it’s hard to say, but we all were teenage thrashers in the mid-80s. Personally i practiced a lot of Slayer “Show No Mercy”, “Hell Awaits” and Exodus “Bonded By Blood” in 1985-1986. Gary Holt, Jeff Hanneman and Mike Torrao (Possessed) were among my favourite guitarplayers back then. For Toner Low Sleep, Electric Wizard, Acid King and High on Fire became the main influences around 2001-2002.
――Which bands and artists are you currently enjoying?
Any recommendations you can give to our viewers for bands to check out.
Daan
I listen to all kinds of music, from 30s blues to extreme metal. I also enjoy listening to garage bands and instrumental surf music from the 60s. Furthermore, since some time i’m playing the A-sides of all my vinyl albums in backwards alphabetical order and i just finished listening to the first side of the album “Monument” by Hallows Eve. Great guitar sound and vocalist and the second album’s A-side is next, so that will be soon i guess. Of the modern-day metal bands i like the new albums by Darkthrone and Necrophagia. And then of course there are many great doom, sludge and stoner bands, like Conan, Pombagira, Suma, Rorcal and also don’t forget to check out Buried at Sea.
――Congrats on your album. Are you satisfied with the responses so far?
Daan
Thanks, we are very satisfied with the reactions in doom and stoner scene. They were better then we could have hoped for and in reviews our album “III”(※1) more than once was dubbed as ‘a landmark release’. But is was quite a job getting the album completed in time.
(※1) III Released in 2013.
――Where was the album recorded and how was the recording process?
Daan
In January 2013 we were for two days at Studio Moskou in Utrecht, Netherlands, recording the basic tracks. After that the songs were finished at Sissysound Studio in our hometown Leiden. This was done by our drummer Jack with on and off help of our former bassplayer/vocalist Deef and of our current live engineer-live sample man Dirk. This finishing process as usual took the longest, but was completed pretty quick in 6 weeks. We had to, ‘cause in April and May our first gigs were coming up and the pressing of the vinyls also would take four or five weeks. So Jack made long days working to finish the album, all in all 400-500 hours for the finishing process alone. This involved things such as selecting and mixing the different instrumental tracks and balance for each song, creating and adding samples and effects, making and recording numerous different studio mixes of those songs and of course listening to all those mixes and deciding on what’s the best one for each particular song.
――” III ” is great album, like psychedelic journey from earth to universe, universe to spiritual world … What is the albums overall themes. Or would you like the listeners to find this out for themselves.
Daan
Well, i think it’s our most divers album and it has a lot different aspects to it, but it is hard to tell what the overall theme is. I think this probably will differ with each listener or with the listener’s mood at the time.
――What can you say about the cover artwork? Is grass indispensable for Toner Low?
Daan
We have one song named “Grass“(※2) on our first album, it is also known under its alternative title “Devilbots Designed To Assimilate”. Most of the band are smokers, some more than others, but we never showed it off as bluntly as with the cover artwork of “III”. The plants are homegrown by one of the band members by the way.
(※2) ”TONER LOW” Released in 2005.
――The albums vinyl edition includes Japanese styled obi, is this you idea?
Daan
It was Jack’s idea. He’s done it as a tribute to 80s hardrock bands from Japan such as Loudness (yes, we know they still exist). Those albums (or the import versions of them) were often presented at the music store with an obi. The one around our album has actual Japanese writing. The cd version includes this obi as well by the way.
――Why all song title is numbers Since “ II ”(※3) ? And why does not exist song named “ IV ” ?
Daan
Basically when we lost our bassplayer/vocalist Deef in November 2007, we were in the middle of writing “II”. I am not sure why and when we decided to change the song titles into numbers, but it happened not long after Deef had left us and basically the change marks that we’d got a new band line up. We went through a few months without having an idea of whether or not to have vocals on “II”. In the end we chose to do vocals, but the numbers stayed. I wanted to change this for “III” because Karma to Burn had become active again (they use numbers for titles as well), so on the new album the word ‘Phase’ is added to each title. “IV” was a song that we’ve only played at our rehearsal room and the basic tracks were recorded at Studio Moskou in June 2008, on the final day of the “II”-session. It is a 6-minute song that was intended for a split 7-inch release, but in the end we weren’t satisfied with the rhythmic flow of the drums so we never finished it. Of those final-day recordings we still have 2 more unfinished songs (a rewritten 1998-song and an untitled jamlike song), as well as a cover version of Velvet Underground’s “Venus in Furs” that won’t be finished either.
(※3) II Released in 2008.
――Music industry has drastically changed, like social media, free legal download … etc.
Have you ever imagined when you started the band? And How it effected to Toner Low?
Daan
“Thanks to our former bassist/vocalist Deef who saw the potential of the internet, we’ve been having our official website at Roadkillrekordz.com since 2002 i think. Around that year he also had band info posted on some Dutch music websites. Back then it seemed to be all that you could do internet-wise. But in the Summer of 2006 Johan, the bassplayer for Swedish doom band Suma, pointed out to me that there was a website called MySpace. So in September 2006 Toner Low had two websites and up from that we only got more, haha. I think the internet has made it a lot easier for bands in general to spread their name and music, and for touring underground bands in particular to organize gigs outside of their country. At the time that our first album got released i must have send out several hundreds of emails to organizers and clubs (including BCC’s of course). Imagine if i would had to call all those people on the phone.
――what are your preferences for listening to music?
Cassette, CD, Digital Download or Vinyl? And why?
Daan
Bands like Slayer and Macabre i still buy on vinyl as much as possible, because i have all of their albums on vinyl. But CD’s are ok with me too. Jack is a real vinyl type of guy.
――Do you have any plans for 2014?
Daan
Yes, first we will release a reissue of our album “II” on vinyl, cd and audiocassette. It will be out in early Spring on our DIY label Roadkill Rekordz. Around the same time we will play in the Netherlands with amongst others Pombagira from the UK, and we have gigs coming up in Greece, Italy, Germany and Switzerland.
――Finally, Would you like to send a message to Japanese fans?
――Thank you for taking your time. How ‘ s going today?
Daan
Great, just had a bit of a cold for the last week feeling tired and wasted, but as usual during the days that it is starting to wear off i always feel very good.
――Could you tell us about the history of Toner Low?
Daan
Sure, we started in March 1998 with five band members and a somewhat different kind of musical approach, more like stoner rock mixed with some guitar rock, quite vocal-orientated and with three guitars. Late 1999 our bassplayer started playing with 7Zuma7 (cult Dutch retrorockers) and one of our guitarplayers switched to bass. Anyway, we lost two more members and our original bassplayer returned, but since December 2007 we have the same musicians. In the meantime we released three full-length albums, played many gigs and shared stages with amongst others Electric Wizard, Acid King and Boris.
――Where are you originally from?
Daan
We come from the area around the city of Leiden in the Netherlands, and we still live there.
――Which bands and artists influenced you as musicians?
Daan
As musicians it’s hard to say, but we all were teenage thrashers in the mid-80s. Personally i practiced a lot of Slayer “Show No Mercy”, “Hell Awaits” and Exodus “Bonded By Blood” in 1985-1986. Gary Holt, Jeff Hanneman and Mike Torrao (Possessed) were among my favourite guitarplayers back then. For Toner Low Sleep, Electric Wizard, Acid King and High on Fire became the main influences around 2001-2002.
――Which bands and artists are you currently enjoying?
Any recommendations you can give to our viewers for bands to check out.
Daan
I listen to all kinds of music, from 30s blues to extreme metal. I also enjoy listening to garage bands and instrumental surf music from the 60s. Furthermore, since some time i’m playing the A-sides of all my vinyl albums in backwards alphabetical order and i just finished listening to the first side of the album “Monument” by Hallows Eve. Great guitar sound and vocalist and the second album’s A-side is next, so that will be soon i guess. Of the modern-day metal bands i like the new albums by Darkthrone and Necrophagia. And then of course there are many great doom, sludge and stoner bands, like Conan, Pombagira, Suma, Rorcal and also don’t forget to check out Buried at Sea.
――Congrats on your album. Are you satisfied with the responses so far?
Daan
Thanks, we are very satisfied with the reactions in doom and stoner scene. They were better then we could have hoped for and in reviews our album “III”(※1) more than once was dubbed as ‘a landmark release’. But is was quite a job getting the album completed in time.
(※1) III Released in 2013.
――Where was the album recorded and how was the recording process?
Daan
In January 2013 we were for two days at Studio Moskou in Utrecht, Netherlands, recording the basic tracks. After that the songs were finished at Sissysound Studio in our hometown Leiden. This was done by our drummer Jack with on and off help of our former bassplayer/vocalist Deef and of our current live engineer-live sample man Dirk. This finishing process as usual took the longest, but was completed pretty quick in 6 weeks. We had to, ‘cause in April and May our first gigs were coming up and the pressing of the vinyls also would take four or five weeks. So Jack made long days working to finish the album, all in all 400-500 hours for the finishing process alone. This involved things such as selecting and mixing the different instrumental tracks and balance for each song, creating and adding samples and effects, making and recording numerous different studio mixes of those songs and of course listening to all those mixes and deciding on what’s the best one for each particular song.
――” III ” is great album, like psychedelic journey from earth to universe, universe to spiritual world … What is the albums overall themes. Or would you like the listeners to find this out for themselves.
Daan
Well, i think it’s our most divers album and it has a lot different aspects to it, but it is hard to tell what the overall theme is. I think this probably will differ with each listener or with the listener’s mood at the time.
――What can you say about the cover artwork? Is grass indispensable for Toner Low?
Daan
We have one song named “Grass“(※2) on our first album, it is also known under its alternative title “Devilbots Designed To Assimilate”. Most of the band are smokers, some more than others, but we never showed it off as bluntly as with the cover artwork of “III”. The plants are homegrown by one of the band members by the way.
(※2) ”TONER LOW” Released in 2005.
――The albums vinyl edition includes Japanese styled obi, is this you idea?
Daan
It was Jack’s idea. He’s done it as a tribute to 80s hardrock bands from Japan such as Loudness (yes, we know they still exist). Those albums (or the import versions of them) were often presented at the music store with an obi. The one around our album has actual Japanese writing. The cd version includes this obi as well by the way.
――Why all song title is numbers Since “ II ”(※3) ? And why does not exist song named “ IV ” ?
Daan
Basically when we lost our bassplayer/vocalist Deef in November 2007, we were in the middle of writing “II”. I am not sure why and when we decided to change the song titles into numbers, but it happened not long after Deef had left us and basically the change marks that we’d got a new band line up. We went through a few months without having an idea of whether or not to have vocals on “II”. In the end we chose to do vocals, but the numbers stayed. I wanted to change this for “III” because Karma to Burn had become active again (they use numbers for titles as well), so on the new album the word ‘Phase’ is added to each title. “IV” was a song that we’ve only played at our rehearsal room and the basic tracks were recorded at Studio Moskou in June 2008, on the final day of the “II”-session. It is a 6-minute song that was intended for a split 7-inch release, but in the end we weren’t satisfied with the rhythmic flow of the drums so we never finished it. Of those final-day recordings we still have 2 more unfinished songs (a rewritten 1998-song and an untitled jamlike song), as well as a cover version of Velvet Underground’s “Venus in Furs” that won’t be finished either.
(※3) II Released in 2008.
――Music industry has drastically changed, like social media, free legal download … etc.
Have you ever imagined when you started the band? And How it effected to Toner Low?
Daan
“Thanks to our former bassist/vocalist Deef who saw the potential of the internet, we’ve been having our official website at Roadkillrekordz.com since 2002 i think. Around that year he also had band info posted on some Dutch music websites. Back then it seemed to be all that you could do internet-wise. But in the Summer of 2006 Johan, the bassplayer for Swedish doom band Suma, pointed out to me that there was a website called MySpace. So in September 2006 Toner Low had two websites and up from that we only got more, haha. I think the internet has made it a lot easier for bands in general to spread their name and music, and for touring underground bands in particular to organize gigs outside of their country. At the time that our first album got released i must have send out several hundreds of emails to organizers and clubs (including BCC’s of course). Imagine if i would had to call all those people on the phone.
――what are your preferences for listening to music?
Cassette, CD, Digital Download or Vinyl? And why?
Daan
Bands like Slayer and Macabre i still buy on vinyl as much as possible, because i have all of their albums on vinyl. But CD’s are ok with me too. Jack is a real vinyl type of guy.
――Do you have any plans for 2014?
Daan
Yes, first we will release a reissue of our album “II” on vinyl, cd and audiocassette. It will be out in early Spring on our DIY label Roadkill Rekordz. Around the same time we will play in the Netherlands with amongst others Pombagira from the UK, and we have gigs coming up in Greece, Italy, Germany and Switzerland.
――Finally, Would you like to send a message to Japanese fans?
Q1. Thank you for taking your time. Firstly, Could you tell us about the history and current lineup of Acid Deathtrip?
