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Mike - How did the band form and how did you settle on the name of the band? JB - We
played our first show in Dec. 1994, after
around 6
formative months together. The band name came from our first
incarnation, and
was thought of by the bassist of our first, embryonic line-up. We were
16 going
on 17 around that time. JB - I'd say our dry wit, bronzed looks and crap tattoos. No, I'd like to think that we've managed to find our own sound somewhat, after over a decade of formative years. We combine our varying influences, and intuitive sense of playing together, and can't help but let our characters and personalities run throughout every song we write. JB - Well, I'd say that the bands that were pivotal to our formation are Metallica, Zeppelin, Clutch, Helmet, and Quicksand. We grew up on classic rock as kids, thanks to some influential elders, and then moved on to metal, punk and hardcore. Al was also into hip hop early on. We've of course picked up more influences since '94, as that's 14 years of being music lovers. Our tastes change and become even more varied. I'm sure you'd find plenty of surprises on our shelves or in our computers. There's such a huge world of music out there, and we like the best of everything. JB - It's usual that I'll bring a riff or two in to the jam room, and we'll get stuck into them. Chris and Al contribute with riffs, basslines and rhythms. I'd say around 50% of what we write is based on jamming and plucking riffs out of the air, as they feel so instinctive to follow the riff that might've been brought in from the bedroom. Also, as lyricist/vocalist, I might have final say on some elements in songs, in conjunction with my vocal ideas. JB - I'd say
it's given us a certain
'don't-give-a-fuck'
attitude. In as much as we started out playing varied DIY shows in our
hometown
of JB - I'd say we're a heavy rock band, with all kinds of varying other influences. I'd rather that, than go with hardcore-pro-post-puke-boner-rock or whatever. JB - Scraping a living by designing album covers for bands, and other design applications. JB - Well, I'm not sure if our simple power-trio set up could be described as vast. Although, I think the sound we make together is pretty massive. We kept it simple, using our live/rehearsal set up, and the only extra instrumentation is the Flute, played by Will Summers on 'What The Crow Saw'. It was fun to work with him, and I think he added to the “end-time” feeling to the song. JB - They're both different worlds, and they both have pros and cons. Gigs are great, mostly. As long as everyone involved is focused and there for the right reasons. Recording is fun and important, and it's somehow therapeutic to put down something that'll hopefully last for years and years to follow. JB -
We've just come back from a European tour with our
Canadian
friends Ken Mode, as well as just played a triumphant set at the
Roadburn
festival in |
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Mike - How did you form and how did you settle on the name of the band? D - We got together when we (Stevie and
Devin) got pregnant. She was
playing
bass in a local band, Hobbs End, who were recording a demo at the time
and they
were doing it really late at night, which was hard on her... so this
being said, she quit. She always wanted to play
guitar and
sing so that’s what we did. We looked for a drummer for like 6 months
till we
came across an old friend of mine, Michael Page. This was in 2003. John
Judkins
came in about 2005. Mike - What distinguishes Christine from other bands? D - I don't hear other bands cover as much
ground as we do, meaning we
cover a
lot of genres and styles. D -
Awww, shit!! I can't even begin to name 'em if i could but a
few..Kyuss, D - Usually someone has an idea, we jam on
it and see where it takes
us.
Usually
we all have input which is nice. Sometimes a song is already written in
one of
our heads and we just share it, sometimes rearrange if necessary. D
- Being in " D - Melody is in the blood, sometimes it's
a three part or even four part
harmony. It just sounds better. Mike - Do you prefer studio or gigs and why? D
- That’s a tough one, I mean they are
both very exciting and fun to
say the
least but for me I'd have to say gigs, just because there is nothing
like
getting your rocks off while rocking the fuck out!! S - Gigs. Real time magic
manifestation. |
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Mike - You
guys are now on Ferret after some situations at other labels…talk a
little bit
about how you guys wound up on Ferret? BL -
I’ve known Carl and a lot of the boys over at Ferret for many years.
Carl
actually sang on our first our Roadrunner release, so I’ve known and
been
friends with Carl for years. The fallout with Roadrunner really started
after
we got to become a part of Roadrunner. We wanted to be a part of Ferret
actually for this last record, as we were trying to get off Roadrunner
but the
schedules just kind of conflicted. So, we ended up meeting with the DRT
people
and they were nice enough to get our record in stores earlier than
Roadrunner
was going to. It was nice to be with the DRT guys just for this limited
time,
but all they were doing for us was just basically putting the record in
stores.
Being with Ferret now with a fresh start is I think perfect timing for
us. Even
though we’ve been through so many ups and downs over the years with
labels and
things, I think it’s a place where we’ve wanted to be for a while and
are glad
we could finally say that we’re there. Mike - So
what’s the deal with your previous recordings now? Do you guys own them
or does
the label own them? I mean can you guys re-visit them? What’s the
situation
with that? BL - Well as far as the DRT thing
is, I’m not really sure. I haven’t seen
all the
paperwork for their deal and I’m not sure exactly how it’s all gonna
go. But to
be honest with you, I’m not really real concerned about the past stuff.
I think
it’s done what it’s done and we’ll turn the page and start fresh over
here at
Ferret. And I think there’s no harm to us now. We got what we wanted
out of
those records as much as we could and you can’t cry over spilled milk I
think
is probably the best way to say it. Mike - That’s
a very good attitude to have in this business… BL - Well yeah for sure. I mean our
band, we’ve been together for 14 years
now. It
would take a lot to tear the boys down. I think we’ve seen so much and
got to
do so much that we didn’t expect to ever get to do in the first place.
So I
think we just have the attitude that as you get older you hopefully
become a
little wiser and you try not to worry about the small stuff too much. Mike - How
does a 36 Crazyfists song get written? Is it a process you guys go
through? Is
there a certain way? Does Steve come up with riffs? Do you guys work
off each
other? I mean does someone does someone come in and present a full song
and you
guys work on it from there? BL -
Steve has his own little studio at his house. He kind of puts the tempo
together gets the riffs and goes with a little drum machine. And then
he and
our drummer Thomas get together and kind of structure the song. And
then Mick
comes in and puts the bass down put add his thing and I’m kind of the
last
piece of everything. I kind of wait for the structure to be there and
then
vocal melodies and all that that stuff. I think it’s kind of similar to
most
bands. But definitely Steve and Thomas write the majority of the music
and get
the structures going that way. Mike - You
guys always have a knack for collaborating with some pretty awesome
people. How
did the collaboration with Howard from Killswitch Engage come about and
who’s
out there that you haven’t collaborated with that you’d approach to?
BL - Howard and the others have been
friends for a long time now and it’s
been kind
of something we had spoke about over the years. I talk to Howard every
couple
of weeks. So it’s something that was
easy to get and I’m really glad he was a part of it. I think it’s the
heaviest
track we’ve ever got to do so. It turned out pretty cool and it was a
lot of
fun. As far as Jonah Jenkins and the other vocalists' on the last
record, that
was probably someone that dictated a lot of things for me growing up as
far as
music went and melody and music. I guess
he was one of my favorite singers when I was in high school and it was
kind of
surreal to actually meet him and become friends with him over the last
few
years. And then actually getting him to sing with me was just such a
special
thing, being around him and creating vocal melodies with him. I was
really
grateful that both of those guys were a part of it. Mike - Any plans to collaborate with anybody in
the future? You guys working
on some
stuff right now? BL -
Yeah we’re writing a new record right now and have been for the last
few
months. I’m not really sure if we’re gonna have any guests this time
but
definitely I know exactly who I wish I could have. Just some old
friends,
people that we’ve toured with over the years. One of my favorite bands
is The
Cult's Ian Astbury and it would be cool to hear him on a heavier track
with his
voice. So I always kind of think that somebody like that would be kind
of neat. Mike - What’s
your take on the state of metal in general? BL
- Without a doubt I think that it’s on the upswing for sure.
There are so
many
young bands that are just killing it. 18 through 21-year-old kids that
are just
so good. It’s pretty amazing to see how good these young bands are.
It’s on the
upswing and it’s a force rising. As far as festivals are going...it’s
the type
of music that people want to hear. You don’t really see the big pop
festivals
flourishing as opposed to our festivals when those tours are on. As far
as Mike - Who were some of your influences either
from your youth or even now? BL - Everyone in this band was
influenced initially by Metallica…that was
the band
that we all loved growing up and afterwards Slayer, Testament, all the
Bay area
thrash stuff was real big for us growing up and then even bands like
Ratt,
Twisted Sister, and Quiet Riot were huge bands for me when I was in
elementary
school, and as I got older, Faith No More and Only Living Witness and
Quicksand
and a lot of the New York bands out there like Biohazard. I mean I
could go on
forever but I think today probably a band that we really loved as we
were
getting better was we wanted to have melody so we were trying to do
kind of the
Deftones type stuff. Not the Korn stuff but more the melodic stuff that
the
Deftones were into but still keeping it heavy. So I think that was a
big band
for us when we were first starting out was definitely the Deftones. Mike - Vocally, how do you keep strong and don’t
strain yourself? BL -
I think that the more you do it, the more you get conditioned to it.
That’s the
bottom line...it’s not all a mystery; there’s so many metal bands and
stuff
that are touring these days. You just becomes somewhat used to it.
There’s
definitely ways to hurt yourself...I used to smoke cigarettes for years
and
years and when and now I think that was affecting with the drinking
every night
and smoking tons of cigarettes and then waking up in the morning and
having to
do it all over again. For me, it wasn’t it wasn’t working, so I quit
smoking
cigarettes back then and it’s helped me. But then there are guys like
Randy
from Lamb of God who smoke and drink all day and it doesn’t even affect
him.
Some people are just different. If you’re a runner, you got to stretch
out and
your voice is a muscle. So, you got your warm ups. I got the
opportunity to go
and take some vocal lessons with Melissa Cross. She’s an amazing woman
and I
think a lot of the guys that are in the forefront of the metal scene
are going
to her. She has a video out called The Zen Of Screaming, which has
great
instruction. I learned good warm-ups from her... prior to that; I
really don’t
warm up that well. But if there’s any advice I could give them, I tell
them to
get Melissa Cross’ DVD. If you’re into the hard rock metal stuff, she’s
great
at trying to preserve the voice. Mike - What do you feel sets 36 Crazyfists apart
from your contemporaries? BL
-
I don’t really know to be honest with you. I don’t think there’s one
thing that
makes us most distinct. Musically, we try to be honest as possible.
Obviously
we have our influences, but I think that the writing process for us is
pretty
slow just because so many times we end up scrapping the whole thing. We
try
hard to make it our sound but that’s even hard these days with so many
bands.
And obviously we’re from Mike - What can we expect from the new music?
BL - I’ve got two songs so far that
I’m writing to and it sounds like us for
sure
but the goal when we all got together and was to make to set a moody,
Alice in
Chains vibe, who were super eerie with this dark feel to ‘em. We’re not
a dark
band, I’m trying to write lyrics about hope and thing that, but we
definitely
are trying to make a moody record. We’ve made a slow progression on
each record
good or bad and a little bit different on every record.
I think that’s kind of the only goal that we
have for the moment. Mike - Who you guys gonna work
with? Are you guys doing more of a hands on
approach
this time and what’s the situation with that? BL -
Yeah actually for the first time, Steve is producing this record
completely, so
it’s gonna be an all Crazyfists deal here, but Andy Sneap will mix the
record
again. He’s our boy and we wouldn’t want anybody else to mix the
record.
So it’ll be Steve and Andy doing the
entire thing this time around. That was one thing that Roadrunner would
never
let us do and as soon as we got with the Ferret guys we asked them,
“Hey man
we’d really to have our own try at this” and they were totally for it.
So
that’s another big plus for those guys in my book. Mike - How do you spend your down time on the road? BL -
Watching movies, getting on the Internet, like most people I think.
Read books
and talk to my wife constantly. That’s quite enough. The only thing
make sure
I’m up to all of my sports scores. And I’m a big hockey fan so that
pretty much
dictates my life during the winter. Nothing too crazy. I’m pretty
mellow and
I’m not the big partier that I used to be although I still can be when
need be. Mike - What’s
the best advice you ever got? BL - I think the best advice I ever
got was from my father-in-law who’s
dead. Be who
you want to be not who others think you should be. And that always
stuck with
me and I think that’s great advice. Mike - Do
you have any final words to talk to the people reading or anything else
you
want to say about 36 Crazyfists or anything else going on? |
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MK - Can you give me a little background on The Condors? PD
- MK – Wait
For It is a
fitting title for your new disc. Why the 6 year gap
between
your two albums and what's been going on during that time? MK - Is Jack a real person? PD - When we started FLIPSIDE (1977),
the
division between the terms “Punk” and “New Wave” was practically
nonexistent. A gap grew between the
meanings of the two terms in the years following. I
tried to keep the original concept alive in
The Condors. Those early bands like The
Clash, Jam, Gen X, Ramones, XTC, Buzzcocks, Stiff Little Fingers, etc. had an understanding of
strong melodies and vocals propelled by the
power of a well placed chord or punctuated drum beat.
I realized, over the years, that it’s a big
world and there’s plenty of room for everybody. I’ve
seen, and heard, a lot of music, and I’ve witnessed
some
amazing,
and terrible, acts. I try to remember
what I liked best about certain artists, and consider that when
recording, or
performing. Also, of course, I respect
anyone with chutzpa enough to publish, or write for, a ‘zine, run a radio program, record
a disc, or play live. It’s not easy, as
anybody who’s done it
knows. |
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MK - Your
lyrics seem very intensely personal. Where do you
get most of your lyrical inspiration? DG
- Most of my songs come from personal experience revolving around
relationships
- love gained and love lost. More love lost than gained, I
guess. Write what you know they say. There are also
songs of
mine that are not based on anything real, but still may have to do with
the
simple things in life. But even those end up sounding very
personal
because the process of writing itself can be very intense. I've
always
said that music is the only thing I've ever been able to count on, day
in and
day out. And I just hope that I relay that feeling and passion
when I
write and perform. I think
I've done well if people
really BELIEVE and FEEL what I'm playing and singing about. MK - Your
bio says that when you started
recording the album the plan was for it to be stripped down and
primarily
guitars and vocals, but it started fleshing out as the
recording
process continued. What what is that steered the recording to go
in that
direction? DG - That's
a good question. It just grew
in a very natural way. This was my first studio effort and
when I
was able to understand what we could do in the recording process I just
thought
some of the songs needed the justice of having a little more production
added
to them. For example, "Maybe No One" started out as just me
playing the simple acoustic guitar line and singing. But
then we
added electric guitar. Then some bass. And
then drums. And then even more guitar, some piano, and
backing
vocals. So, I guess you could say the song was recorded
backwards. Also, though, choices had to be made regarding
the
production of the album, which has to deal with cost. I
had to
decide if song A was going to get the bass and drums, or was
song B
going to get the bass and drums. If I had more money to
spend,
than the album could have been different is some areas. I mean,
we could
have tried this and tried that and tinkered with this and remixed
that. But when you're on a budget, you're limited in some
ways. Nevertheless, I think the album presents a good balance
and I
couldn't be more pleased with how it ended up. MK - Your
bio mentions how your career got a big boost when you
moved back to
DG
- MK - Are
your live shows usually solo or do you use a band? DG - I play
solo for my live shows. It would be great to play with a
backing band, but for now, it's a little difficult. I mean, a
backing
band is essentially hired help. You have to pay them to play each
time. That's very tough for me to do at this point.
Eventually,
it'll happen. Hopefully. But I do love playing solo.
There's not
much to worry about. Not a lot of equipment to tote around.
And it
makes it very easy to be spontaneous. MK - I read
you're also a kindergarten PE teacher. Do you
ever get any lyrical inspiration from that and have you ever thought
about
writing any children's songs? DG - I work
at a small private school in DC and I'm actually an athletic
trainer, or sports therapist, for the school. I mean, that's my
main
job. But I've been lucky enought the past few years to also
co-teach
kindergarten PE at the school. I've never really thought about
writing
children's songs. Actually, I don't think I would be any good at
it. I'm too depressing...haha. But I love kids and I've had
a blast
teaching kindergarten. MK - You're
getting ready to do a show opening for Minnie
Driver. Are you finding that that has given
you a publicity boost? DG - It has
given me a little boost, yes. And of course, the exposure I'm
going to get just by playing to a sell-out crowd is going to be worth
so
much. I'm just really excited about playing at the Birchmere,
which has
been a dream of mine since I moved to the area. What a fine, fine
venue
it is. Oh no...now I'm getting all nervous... MK - You
have a couple of really great demos on your website for
"Southern Draw" and "Sugar Blue". Is it possible to get
mp3's of those anywhere? DG - It's
funny, everyone always asks where they can get "Southern
Draw." For a while you could download it from my myspace page,
but I
just recently removed it. Sometimes I sell demo CDs at my shows
and those
songs can be found there. I believe you can also buy them online
on the
podshow website. MK - You
mention your next record in your blog entries. Do
you have anything in the works at this point? DG -
Actually, I am going to start recording it next week and my oldest
friend,
Paul Curreri, is going to produce it. I'm really excited about it
as I
think we'll be able to do a lot of things with this next project that I
wasn't
able to do on Letterbox. We'll tinker a little
more and I'm
sure it will be more experimental in certain ways. It's
going
to be recorded at Paul's house, which will be great because
I won't have
to work around scheduling studio time. And if we want to record
at 2 in
the morning, we'll most certainly record at 2 in the morning. If
we want
to work on a Sunday, yup, we'll work on a Sunday. My hope is to
release my next album in the fall of 2008. MK - Since Letterbox
was your debut. Do you still
have a lot of songs floating around? DG - I have
a few songs floating around I guess. Some I really love, some
I don't. Every once in while one will pop up on a set list at one
of my
shows. Some just might end up on the next record.
Maybe
"Southern Draw" and "Sugar Blue" perhaps? MK - What
are your plans for rest of year and next year? MK - Is
there anything else you'd like to share with readers? DG - I just
want to say thanks for reading!!! |
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MK - How does a
lawyer end up with a music
career on the side? |
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MK - There's not a lot of info floating around about the band and what is there seems kind of cryptic. Can you give readers a little background? Cage- I'm not sure if we meant to be deliberately cryptic, but the idea of having a sense of mystery about Invisigoth was kind of appealing to us, and that aesthetic sort of organically worked its way into the album artwork, by way of us not providing a whole lot of information. As dark as our music can sometimes come across, it might help to note that there is also a little bit of humor bubbling just below the surface too and the info that is floating around about the band, specifically the bio material on our myspace page, (www.myspace.com/invisigothmusic) is meant to maintain that spirit. Not sure if that helps much, but perhaps the rest of this interview will reveal more. Viggo- (cryptically) Mmm…Hmm… Invisigoth are young, nascent warrior-ghosts of the Julii. Yet, our quest is not imperial. Our quest is a spiritual and metaphysical one - for truly enlightened hedonism, specifically of a musical sort. You can laugh now. MK - The songs are credited to the two of you. How does the actual songwriting process usually work? Cage- Well...seeing as Viggo is a significantly better keyboard player than I am, I'm guessing the process is certain to change a bit on the next record, because when Viggo came on board for this one the music had actually been pretty much recorded already. Essentially, we divided up the lyric writing duties and then collaborated on vocal melodies and vocal arrangements after that. I think we have a pretty comfortable division of labor that not only allows for a very easy collaborative process, but also caters to each of our individual strengths very well. We each bring something different to the table that is essential. Viggo- I wrote some of the lyrics on this record but Cage wrote even more. The ones about sex, killing, and mayhem (a la "Poison Drip") are mine whereas the more abstract ones are probably by Cage. Melodically, Cage will hum a basic part – not always in perfect tune (sorry Cage). My job is to turn that into a melody, hopefully a memorable one, and then to lay down anywhere from 1 to 32 harmony and doubles on top of it. Cage does the bulk of the work, I’m just the icing on top. MK - I've seen numerous styles mentioned when describing your sound and there are some really diverse elements to some of the songs on the album like the Egyptian flavor and tribal drumming on "Ancient", the funky backbeat of "Serpentine", and the epic symphonic and operatic elements in "Soft Asylum" that really set you apart. What would you call your music? Cage- The diverse elements you speak of really aren't a product of any kind of grand design. We really just both love music and we love a wide variety of styles, so, even if unconsciously, that is bound to inform the music. What kind of music would we call it? I honestly wish I had a better answer, but I'm not really sure how I would label it. Perhaps Viggo has that better answer? |