Translation Loss Records Giant Squid Interview
1.There
have been a few yrs between your Debut album on the 2nd your self
released 2nd album and now your new one Cenotes on Translation Loss.
Tell us bit about band history I know its a turbulent one...
Well,
honestly, the longer we continue to survive and thrive, the less I
want to revisit the turbulent history of this band. It's packed with
a lot of painful memories due mostly to a huge lack of respect and
trust in so many of the past members in the group over the years. A
lot of wrong people were in this band, and things got fucking ugly
around the release of Metridium Fields. It's amazing that Bryan
Beeson, the other founding member and I, survived it to continue on
so powerfully.
So, in
wishing not to dwell much more on those dark ages, I tend to savor
and really think of the band now as an entity that experienced a true
rebirth with the addition of Jackie Perez Gratz. She's as much the
lynch pin in this group now as I have ever been, and is a true God
send. We were also very fortunate to acquire Scotty Sutton on drums
in Texas, who moved back to California with us to regroup. With those
two, we were able to beat the pavement on tour as just a four piece,
and keep touring behind Metridium Fields which hadn't even been out
for three months when some serious sabotage was taking place behind
my back. There was a hard time later on when Scotty had to leave the
band for a while, and we floundered trying to find a solid drummer,
but that was resolved when we found Chris Lyman, who worked at
Aquarium of the Bay with me. Great oceanic spirit, and massive love
for heavy music made him the ideal drummer for us, and enabled us to
write 'The Ichthyologist'. We also had a long time great friend, Cory
Tozer who is now the wife of Grayceon drummer, Zack Farwell, who came
in and played second guitar on the road with us as we toured behind
that record. That line up was truly special and everyone from it is
pure family. Currently though, we're back to our immediately post
Austin, TX line up, with Scotty having moved to SF to play with us
again, and we are feeling rather fucking unstoppable.
2. How
did you to work with Translation Loss A label I may add that really
fits you well with your very Post Metal/ Post Rock sound?
Well,
we were just about to sell out of the initial batch of self released
copies of 'The Ichthyologist', and so I started writing labels seeing
if anyone was interested in receiving a copy of the album for
consideration. I had always been familiar with Translation Loss
through their work with Mouth Of The Architect, and so I think they
were one of the first companies I wrote. They were also the first to
write back, and showed a lot of enthusiasm and excitement. Both Drew
and Christian were fans already and were ready to work with us with
out even receiving the album yet. It's a great match for us, far
better than our last label. Damn near every band on their roster I
think is great, and they're down to earth, family guys, so their
expectations of us were very realistic, rational, and respectufl.
Super cool label who is no way, too hip or pretentious, which fits us
like a glove.
3. Is
there a story line to Cenotes looking at the cover I would say there
was and listening to the tracks its sounds like a story..
Absolutely
a story going on, one that continues the mythos of 'The
Ichthyologist' protagonist. But, I can't give too much away cause it
all goes along with the accompanying comic book I'm producing myself,
a mini promo of which will come out with the vinyl release in March.
'Cenotes' takes place after occurrences in the album before, which
dealt heavily with the origin of the character, and how he deals with
becoming something entirely inhuman. 'Cenotes' finds that character
having a child, and both of them witnessing the end of everything
terrestrial, traveling through benthic rips in time, and eventually
becoming an everlasting food source for something. So all and all in
some real fucked up situations.
4.
There is a strong mix of Strings/Folkish elements mixed with
Doom and Prog rock where did this sound come from its very different
then most?
It just
comes completely natural. We don't strive to do anything at all in
particular, other than just write rock music that works for us. I'm
sure our backgrounds reflect a lot of what transpires in our music
though. Bryan and I, both founding members of the group who have been
playing music in punk bands together since 1996, were obsessed as
kids over the Subhumans, Dead Kennedys, Bad Religion, Misfits, and
Minor Threat. All the staples. Jackie has a far more metal
background, and definitely brings that to the table in addition to
her lifetime of being a classically trained musician. And Scotty grew
up not only a punk, but also a metal head and product of the 90s like
both Bryan and I. So, we share a big love of arena rock bands like
Primus and Deftones, but also old time Americana groups like Devil
Makes Three and Old Crow Medicine show. In the last ten years, I've
become very much in love with any Middle Eastern sounding music, and
have always tried to give a bit of that flair where ever it felt
right in our song writing.
5. Will
there be any videos off Cenotes or if were lucky a full DVD as your
music fits so well to this format.
I
definitely plan on having a video or two made for 'Cenotes'. I think
they're really important in todays day in age with youtube and what
not. They're just really hard to find funding for, and someone good
to produce it with in that budget. I've been really wanting to put
out an open call though for newbie directors wanting to take a song
on. As far as DVDs, we've talked with people really excited to do it,
it's just no one understands how broke we are, and that everything we
do is out of pocket. We get excited if we have $250 bucks in our
paypal cause we can make a new tiny batch of t-shirts. Finding two
grand to make a video or bigger yet, a DVD, is impossible for us. If
someone is a huge enough fan to do it for next to nothing, then hell
yeah. I have so much never seen before footage of the making of all
of our albums, and ancient shows, and whatever. It'd be rad if it
could ever happen.
6.
Does Giant Squid like live performances or being in the studio
more?? Or is there pleasure and pain in both?
We like
em both equally, and miss one always when we're doing so much of the
other. There is so much frustration in both, and I feel we don't get
an opportunity to do either enough to get, really, really good at
them. Because of funding, we always have to rush our recordings and
writing process. And because of life and it's logistics, playing
shows and especially touring is hard to manage too as we get older.
We're always trying to find a balance so we can do either as much as
possible, for this is what we live to do. Write music, record it,
share it.
7. If
you were asked to explain your music to someone that has never heard
it how would you do so?
Quoted
straight from our bio - "San Francisco post-metal, progressive
rock, sludge scientists." If none of those terms meant anything
to the person, I'd say extremely loud rock music with lots of pretty
parts.
8. You
have a member of of Amber Asylum and Grayceon in Jackie as a full
time Giant Squid member being that she has other projects as
well is it hard to get tours or recording times to work out . She
adds such a layer of sound with her Cello and vocals that were not
there on early material?
She
definitely brought a whole new, mature, beautiful, organic, ethereal
presence and vibe to our existing sound. I don't ever think of us
having a cello as being strange, as I'm so used to it now. But when
we play shows, I realize by peoples reaction how peculiar it is.
Grayceon
and Squid always make it work. We're all super tight and family so
very supportive of each other. We've done two huge national tours
with them before which have been unforgettable. And when Jackie has
Grayceon practice, I stay at home and watch the kid. When I have
practice with my other band, HELL SHIP, she stays at home and watches
our daughter. When Squid practices, friends or family watch her so we
can both be away. If one band is offered a gig but can't do it,
usually the other comes in and fills the slot. If anything, both
bands are a great help to each other and hardly ever a hindrance.
9.
Being that its 2011 whats you thoughts on the DIgital age (
Social Media. Mp3s, Android apps and internet media) Do you the
day of old Tape trading and fanzines and radio and CD
promotion??? or is it a brave new age?
Everything
about new technologies today is incredible and very freeing for the
small time band like us. Everything except the theft. Some bands are
OK with it, and have accepted that you just have to give away your
music now. I for one am not so easy to roll over. Technology enables
anyone to hear your music easily and quickly now streaming from your
website so they can make an opinion whether it's worth supporting
with a purchase. There is no need to blatantly steal the music. But,
the now common place tech that brings you streaming also brings you
the stealing. You can't have one with out the other. Sadly, it has
reduced bands to glorified t-shirt design companies, since physical
textiles are one of the last things a band can still sell. Other than
that, the internet is a priceless tool for bands. This band has been
around long enough that there was a time when we were still sending
out physical postcards to our mailing list to let people know about
shows. It's weird to think that we share the stage with other bands
today that have never existed in an industry without myspace or
facebook. Man, we're old I guess.
10.
Being that your song are complex and longer then mainstream
fans are use to . Do you have a more extreme fan base like Prog or
Jazz bands??? As I think your so much more then just a Metal
band in those terms??
We're
definitely not just a metal band, but we're way too heavy to be
simply labeled a hard rock band. I never try to get too picky about
genre tags when it comes to us. I truly think we're pretty
undefinable. Our crowds show that. We've got hippies and punks, metal
head heshers and even hipsters. We got middle aged fans just as
excited about us as those teens less than half their age. It's really
diverse, and maybe that can be attributed to us being "extreme"
in some small aspects, but I like to think it's just because we're
pretty good at writing music.
11. If
I may ask if you don't want to answer that is fine what happened with
The End Records they seems to really push your Debut Full Length?
Fuck
it, I'll tell you exactly what went down. It may sound bitter, but
this is exactly how it happened. Token big label, small band story.
The End
is a large business and signs bands based on their marketing and
profit potential. They are not really an indie label anymore, and I
don't think they ever wanted to be from the beginning. That wasn't
always the case, as when we were signed to them they still possessed
a fairly cohesive progressive metal aesthetic, but their goal for big
sales has never been more apparent than it is today. One only needs
to examine that roster.
They've
worked really hard to get where they are, and work equally as hard
and put a lot of money in to each release. I guess they thought we
too could be a high grossing band, and I really appreciate that and
am grateful for that blind faith, whether it was being misplaced or
not, as they really kick started our musical career and exposed us to
the world. They were always very kind and supportive both
financially, and even emotionally when shit fell apart in 2006 and
they really encouraged us to keep pushing on and that they'd support
us all the way (ahem*), and so they started to feel like family while
we were on the roster. We worked our asses off in every way we could
for them. We toured with bands we never should have, headlined our
own grueling full national run, playing to no one on so many nights
all across the country - all the usual brutal band stuff to be
expected. We were doing exactly what they told us they wanted us to
do. That's why it hurt so bad when literally after so much blood,
sweat, and tears, what seemed like an amazing growing relationship,
came to a sudden abrupt halt after we told them we were planning on
hiring Matt Bayles - one of the most prestigious and sought after
producers in heavy music - to record our next record. They felt we
still hadn't done our time in touring behind Metridium Fields, and
didn't care that the majority of the people on that album were long
since gone. They insisted we focus only on touring, touring, touring
behind that recoord, and that we should not be thinking about writing
another. They actually said point blank that they didn't see Giant
Squid doing anything to get our name out there. After four tours (one
of which nearly killed us, and certainly destroyed life long
friendships and more with in the group) and flying ourselves out
twice to play festivals while on their label for those quick two and
a half years - we were shocked to say the least. But, we quickly
realized It was just as good a thing that they dropped us as it was
that they signed us. We may not sell a million records and wear
costumes, but we sure as fuck work our fingers to the bone making
incredible art and getting our name out there. Whatever, the next
year we self released 'The Ichthyologist'. Enough said.
12. For
new bands out there is there any words of advice for them now that
your on your 3rd proper album and been around the scene for while?
At
first, just do it yourself. If you're worth a shit musically, you can
do it yourself these days if you are computer savy at all. All you
need is a solid online presence like with Bandcamp and Facebook, a
booking agent, and then hire a PR firm to promote your releases. Look
at the cottage industry bands and study how they do it. Don't waste
money on bullshit like half ass managers or ridiculous websites. Man
up, be a pirate, book some fucking basement tours with the right
bands, and your music will do the rest if it's relevant. Focus on the
music above and beyond anything. You're supposed to be a real artist,
not an entertainer. Stop thinking your going to make a fucking living
at this.
If you
feel you have to sign to a label, read the answer to the question
before this again to get an idea of how utterly disappointing that
arrangement can be. Then choose carefully.
13. You
seem to not have a proper website Do you feel social media is enough
for musicians in 2011?
We used
to, but found it wasn't needed or being visited a fraction as much as
myspace or later with facebook. Social media is a must. As I state
above, a Bandcamp page and a well done Facebook page with a player,
like Reverbnation, Root Music, or actually what Bandcamp now offers
for Facebook, is enough. Social media has the world engrossed, with
ever shortened attention spans. Everyone is on Facebook, so that's
where you should hit him. That site is crack and people don't want to
turn it off, so keep them there while they find out all about your
band. Facebook isn't perfect, but it's a must. When new fans are
convinced they want more and are ready to buy some stuff, send them
to your Bandcamp from there. Elaborate websites are rad, but
ridiculously expensive. Unless someone in your band can make one,
then use that money to buy a trailer and play every city in your
state instead. Facebook markets itself. How are you going to market
your own website outside of the social networks? Spend more money!
Fuck that. Buy better tubes for your amp. Your tone sucks. Who cares
about flash intros.
14.
Thank you for the time any closing thoughts here
Nah,
I've said enough. Thanks!
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