Tour was great; we were probably most looking forward to playing in Austin, Chicago and Montreal in Canada. As far as the set goes, we played material off of Path of Totality exclusively. We wanted to focus on presenting the new record at least for the next few months.
2. You have been under the wings of Relapse which is quite a big label since your debut. How did you accomplish this? :)
I’ve had a pretty good relationship with some of the people at Relapse for quite a while. Mostly from playing in bands and from the days that I was running my label Black Box Recordings.
3. In Anodyne, there were quite some line-up changes. This „trend“ seems to continue in TOMBS. Why is it so? What does it mean that you are the main composer of TOMBS? How much do you participate when writing the music?
Anodyne had a stable lineup for about 4 years which is longer than most bands existence so I don’t agree with your analysis. Sure, we had a few changes in personnel earlier on, but that isn’t so unusual. Sometimes it takes a while to get the right people lined up. I suppose I’ve always seen music as a singular pursuit. As it stands, I write all of the material; the arrangements are more of a collaborative process.
4. You have been quite a hot topic since your debut. It may be a bit silly question to ask but – did you want to be an often mentioned band when starting TOMBS? Was the main idea behind the band a desire to play, to build the name of the band, to write your own chapter into the book of music? Or was it that you wanted to share something with the world, to present your opinions or something?
My only objective when starting the band was to write music and not have too many expectations. It was more of a zen approach to it I suppose. We’ve been fortunate over the last few years and have had a lot of great opportunities placed before us such as working with Relapse, being able to tour with a lot of amazing bands. People have been very kind to us with their support.
I wouldn’t say that I want to write my own chapter in the book of music; instead I just wanted to write my own chapter in the body of work that I’ve been accumulating over the span of my life.
Now that we are involved with a good label and there are expectations regarding sales and more business oriented issues, we feel motivated to work harder and do our best.
5. „Path of Totality“ is much longer than the two previous albums. Did you make a decision to record more music or did it „just come“?
For the first time in my life I felt like we had a nice, long period of time to write material. We wrote for about 2 years before recording so there was a lot of material. Also, on some level, I think that really wanted to put out a record that you could really sink into and get an experience with.
6. What was the composing process of the new album like? Did it anyhow differ from the previous albums?
The primary difference is that Andrew was playing drums during the writing process. He’s a great drummer and has a more varied musical vocabulary than our former drummer. He works hard and is punctual, which is a requirement when with me.
Other than that, it was pretty much the same process. I would record demo’s of riffs in my home studio, sift through and bring the material down to the rehearsal space where we’d hammer it out. At some point, we recorded a full demo, actually two demo’s of the material and that was pretty much the whole deal. It’s very workman-like, very utilitiarian.
7. Each of your albums has a different sound. Is it a part of your natural evolution or do you like to experiment with different sounds?
I fon’t really think that the recorsds sound all that different. When you listen to Led Zeppelin’s catalog, there’s a difference between Led Zeppeling II and say Physical Graffiti, but it still sounds like Zeppelin, right? It’s the same thing with Sabbath: Paranoid sounds a lot different from „Never Say Die“.
8. „Path of Totality“ was officialy released some time ago but was to be seen on the internet more than week before that. What happened? What do you think about the nowadays approach that most listeners have when it comes to music? (Oh man, I gotta hear that asap, even though it means spitting into the face of the band)
„Path“ has only been out for a couple of weeks. In this day and age, I expect it to leak somehow. People are going to do what they do, I can’t control it. Honestly, if someone downloads our record, likes it and comes to see us live and buy a shirt that’s a good thing. The downloading trend just means that record labels need to re evaluate their expectations and modify their budgeting. Some labels are adapting and some are not.
I’ve always been someone that is more concerned with playing live and touring despite the fact that I love the recording process.
9. Do you already have plans for the closest future (after the tour)? Is there any chance of you visiting the central Europe (Poland, Slovakia) or even the Czech Republic?
We’re leaving for a European Tour at the end of July. There are a lot of countries that we’re skipping this time around. We’re going to Hungary and Slovenia, but sadly we’re not hitting Poland, Czech Republic. One earlier version of our schedule had us playing Fluff Fest, but for some reason that didn’t work out.
10. Is your art in the meaning of music and lyrics based on your real life? In what proportions is there the inspiration coming from your own life and the sort of external inspirations and influences? Is your music aiming for a particular generation?
The material isn’t biographical, it more of an esoteric reflection of the world. As I get older, life seems to get more conceptual; I meditate on things like death, the connection of man to nature and the closing cycle of Humanity. I used to write more from my personal experiences and the lyrics had more of a journalistic vibe to them, but currently, I’ve learned to write less literally.
11. Cover artworks of your alb are pretty much abstract. Do you have any particular inspiration when it comes to creating them? What does the cover of Path of Totality depict?
Thomas Hooper is the mastermind behind the artwork for „Path of Totality“ and „Winter Hours“. I give Thomas a demo of the songs and the lyrics and he starts putting together imagery. We meet several times to discuss and build from that.
12. Your music has been receiving just positive reactions. When looking back on the creative process, is there anything that you would change if you had the chance? Is „Path of Totality“ the perfect result of your vision?
I feel comfortable with out creative process so I don’t fee like we need to alter it in anyway. As far as „Path of Totality“ being a perfect result, I wouldn’t use that term to describe it. I don’t feel like you can ever really capture the vision you have in your head.
13. A bit connected question – please, try to imagine being in the role of an unprepossessed listener. What do you hear? Does it sound the same as when listening to the music as a band member? Does „Path of Totality“ have any „correct“ approach or interpretation??
I think the listening experience is drastically different between a band member and someone who isn’t intimately connected to the music. Honestly, I can’t really imagine what someone else might hear when they listen to the band because of my obvious biases to the music.
In the spirit of answering your question, I imagine a listener would hear some kind of amalgamation of metal, gothic music, punk and black metal.
14. Thanks for the intie and your great music. If you would like to give any last words to the (not only) Czech fans, the time to do it is now. I wish you a lot of succes for the future!
I just want everyone to know that we appreciate the support. I hope to make it to Eastern Europe on tour at some point soon. Until then live strong!!!
