Cave In (Modern Fix, Issue 50)

by Rei Nishimoto

photo by Erin Caruso

It isn’t very often when a band like Cave In enters the world and changes the perception of average music fans. Ever since their humble beginnings back in Boston in 1995, they were creating music based on their love of music, whether it was Snapcase, Threadbare or Sunny Day Real Estate. Guitarist Stephen Brodsky named the band after a Codeine song off of their “Frigid Stars” LP, and began shaping the early version of the band around the heaviest sounds they could create while also stretching the lengths of the songs at the same time. These songs were found on a variety of seven inch singles done for a variety of independent labels before landing on Los Angeles based HydraHead Records.

A few line up changes occurred along the way creating what is now heard on their 1997 “Beyond Hypothermia” CD, which was called their ‘debut’ but was actually re-worked versions of previously recorded songs from past seven inches. But they later brought in current bassist Caleb Scofield to secure the position. Having trouble finding a vocalist that fit the band’s needs, Brodsky handled the vocals and recorded their first ‘real’ full length, 1998’s “Until Your Heart Stops”. Longtime Cave In fans grew to love the sheer raw aggression behind this release.

It wasn’t until 2000’s “Jupiter” (a running theme based on Brodsky’s interest in the solar system) that truly saw a climaxing in the band’s musical abilities. Stepping away from the sheer aggression and exploring more progressive melodies, it was a Cave In long time fans weren’t expecting.

The success behind Jupiter found them in a huge bidding war by several major labels for exclusive signing rights. RCA/BMG won bidding war and released “Antenna” in 2003. For the first time in Cave In’s history, they received a large recording budget to record in Los Angeles. They spent two months in the studio while soaking in new techniques such as re-listening to the same songs repeatedly and spending more time on arrangements.They became students of the major label game. “Antenna” became the band’s most melodic and progressive sounding release to date, although long time fans were somewhat lost by their new direction. Being a band that never relied on radio singles in the past, they quickly learned that the big label world was not for Cave In and quickly parted ways with RCA.

The band spent the past few years doing extensive soul searching to lead into the recording of “Pitch Perfect Black”. After rediscovering what made Cave In important to each member, they began writing this new release. This is Cave In’s first release in three years and raises the bar on creativity. It’s a representative work in overcoming their recent troubles. It takes the best parts of each era of Cave In’s history and creating an ambitious record that needs to be heard. Long time fans will be re-acquainted with the classic heaviness while recent fans will also be familiarized with their spaced out guitar tones and dreamy indie rock melodies.

Guitarist / singer Stephen Brodsky and bassist Caleb Scofield spoke about the making of the new album, the challenge of creating music, the major label experience and the future of Cave In.

You went through quite a struggle to release Perfect Pitch Black.

Caleb Scofield: The majority of the material was intended for our next release on RCA. After a year and a half of disagreements and things not working out the way we’d hope it would, we parted ways with RCA. We weren’t sure what was going to happen to these songs. We had made demos for six or seven of them and knew we were happy with them, but we knew we had a ways to go and needed a home if they were to be properly released. We came full circle and came to talking to our friends at Hydrahead again. They were interested in releasing the stuff. It’s kind of a surprise to us that the record is out. The songs have seen the light of day. They’ve come as far as they have from the initial demos to where they are now. It ended up making a pretty cool record.

This new CD took a lot of elements from the past and present without sounding repetitive. Is this something that just happens with unspoken chemistry?

Stephen Brodsky: We kind of wanted it to happen that way. I really felt the couple releases prior to this one (“Jupiter” and “Antenna”) weren’t pushing us as players and songwriters as much as I wanted to. Collectively, we came on to the same page in terms of that idea of writing songs. Whenever we want to shed a layer of skin musically, we don’t go about it nonchalantly. There’s a real driving force in our band to be the best as we can with what we’re trying to do. We’ll just do it. It’s never felt as though there was a weak link in that attitude when it came to actually writing music.

Caleb: It allows everyone in the band to showcase their personality and what it is they’re good at. This record was really collaborative as far as the writing process went. Everyone was open to each other’s ideas. It’s always healthy. You feel more connected to it. It’s fun. When we did that tour with Converge, we knew that we would have to play some older material. Otherwise, we would be getting booed every night. So we started doing that, and after that tour, it was fun playing those metal songs. Next thing we knew, we’re writing heavier riffs again. My vocals are becoming more a presence. It’s important for us to always do what we’re good at, instead of running away from certain things because you don’t want to end up being pigeonholed as this type of band.

“Antenna” was on a major label. What did you learn from that experience?

Stephen: I think we learned more about ourselves as people more than anything. When it came to shedding layers of skin like I said earlier, in terms of musicality, it’s probably more important for us as musicians than anything. It’s more important to us than playing stupid little games to sell more records, which is what you have to do when you’re on a major label. You’re encouraged to be more of that nature. That was the biggest lesson. That had an effect on the way we wrote these songs, how went about writing them and the ‘carefreeness’ by which we chose to maintain the process.

Were you surprised major labels took that much interest in Cave In, considering you have such a hardcore following and not meant for the mainstream?

Caleb: That whole time period was bizarre for us. We never had any aspirations of being a band on a major label or even considering it an option. Then with the release of “Jupiter”, we started getting this attention from people from a totally different world than where we came from. At the time, exploring different avenues seemed good to us. It did take us about a year to decide whether or not it was something we wanted to do. But all of us were enthralled with the idea of being able to do the band full time and not having to commit ourselves to anything else. We decided to go for it. It still baffles me to this day, especially in retrospect now seeing how things turned out. We ended up living up to every cliché that you have about any band going to a major and having things just fall apart. I still wonder what the interest is from that world with a band like us. I think those people are so far removed from what it is that we do when they see a band that can travel across the country and the world on their own and have people come see them and buy their records. Imagine what we could do with the money and power they have. But in reality, that’s not how it works.

I never could put concepts like radio songs and Cave In in the same sentence. They don’t go together.

Caleb: It was pretty weird. Even stuff off of “Jupiter”, like the song ‘Braincandles’, is pretty straightforward. It’s kind of a pop format, verse, chorus, verse. I hope that even when we write songs that are more ‘accessible’ or whatever you want to call it, there’s still something more interesting to them. There’s still that tinge of Cave In and you can tell it’s a Cave In song. On “Antenna”, we got into this groove of re-working everything so hard. Everyday we’d have a finished version of a song but we were reworking it. Before you know it, we’d have a record full of these tiny, short songs. It’s not a very good representation of us in that style of writing. We can’t fully express ourselves. It’s funny because major labels put so much attention on bands always having songs for the radio. For a band like us, we never relied on that format to get out to people. Ever. We never even considered having a song on the radio. We tour, release records and if people catch onto it, they catch onto it. We did have a couple of songs on the radio from “Antenna” and it didn’t do anything. It wasn’t like as soon as our song went to radio, we saw a massive difference in our turnouts or record sales.

“Antenna” took a musical departure from past releases where melodies played a bigger part than before. Any regrets?

Stephen: Maybe the aggression by which we went about shedding the idea of Cave In strictly being a hardcore band was somewhat necessary. The scene that we came from didn’t really champion that sort of thing as much as it maybe should have when you consider what defines punk rock or what the idea of punk rock really is. We overcompensated for that by really just sticking it in people’s faces that we weren’t going to be this kind of band with this handle on it that people could swing it by and take a grip on. We were going to be more of our own thing and we would define what we were. It wasn’t going to be anyone else’s words or opinions. I don’t regret that. As much as our fans are important to the continuation of this band, there is no way I could pick up the guitar and play something I’m not going to be feeling 100%, because I don’t want anybody else to see that. Nobody else should have to hear that.

Do you think you may have spooked some of the older fans with direction of “Antenna”?

Caleb: Absolutely (laughs). That was something that we knew would happen. But you can’t live your whole career worried about what your fans are going to think. You have to do what feels right for you at the time, and hope it is the right thing. This record is sort of a return to form for us. We’re realizing what type of band we really are, what we are good at and what type of songs we’re most comfortable writing and playing. I’m sure a lot of people look at our band and they’re like “These guys are too all over the map. One year they’re a heavy metal record and next year it’s an attempt at some pop-rock record.” It’s understandable. Hopefully we ourselves are sort of realizing what we need to stick with and what we’re good at.

I guess not everyone can be AC/DC.

Caleb: Yeah! (laughs). It’s tough putting out the same record over and over and having people dig it. Especially being in the band, you are always wanting to do something different. Challenge yourself a little bit and change it up just enough to keep you wanting to write another record. Go out and tour. Keep things interesting for yourself. We definitely bounce all over the map musically, but it’s something that keeps it fun for us.

Was “Perfect Pitch Black” the record that was originally supposed to be the major label release? How much of this was written at that time?

Stephen: All of it.

What was it about Hydrahead Records that appealed to Cave In to release this CD?

Stephen: Those guys were really supportive of us through the whole process of making this record. They said themselves, “If RCA won’t put this out, we’ll do it.” Right there, it just rang a bell. They were on the same page as us in a lot of ways. Neither party necessarily wanted to go for the throat and stuff this thing into people’s ears like most major label records are worked. We didn’t feel comfortable about that. We enjoy people gravitating more to something we do as opposed to having a noose thrown around their necks and yanked towards us. And we didn’t approach any other labels. We weren’t interested in that. I think with anything, the words ‘record label’ were sort of like redrum written in blood on a mirror.

Wasn’t there a point where Cave In was close to not being a band any more?

Stephen: Yes. There were plenty of points where we didn’t know why we were in a band or with each other. We were questioning that even prior to discontinuing the promotion madness for “Antenna”.

Caleb: We did a tour about a year ago with Converge and after that, we hadn’t been touring much at all. We had finally gotten off of RCA and just burnt out. We toured so hard for years. We really got put through the ringer with the label and management and all down the line. I think we all reached this point where we were like ‘Let’s just step away from this for a while. If it does come back together at some point, great. If not, so be it. I moved out here (Los Angeles), and our drummer J.R. moved away to Germany. He was nursing a broken wrist anyways so we knew it would be a while until he would be able to play. For a while, it did look like nothing was going to happen. These songs on “Perfect Pitch Black” were shelved away. Everybody was busy doing their own thing. But when you’re so close to something for such a long time and then you step away form it, it’s only a matter of time until you’re like ‘Oh man! I miss this.’ The fact of the matter is that we can still put out records, so why not take advantage of this?

Is that when you started doing your solo record?

Stephen: I’ve done music on my own for as long as I can remember. Ever since I got my first four-track machine when I was in high school. I’ve put out a couple records under my own name on a small label a few years ago. We all had time away from each other to explore playing with different people and develop our own skill in the process. That was refreshing. When you play with the same dudes for four years straight, in one sense, it’s really like a nice sweater that you’ve always had that fits every time you put it on. But in terms of our inspiration for playing our instruments, we had run out of fuel by the time Cave In had decided to take a rest. At this point, it’s more exciting that I can ever remember. You really develop your arsenal as a musician, when you learn a bit of the language and the traits of other players out there in the world. Everyone has their own way of speaking through their fingers or their mouth or whatever to make sound. At this point, when we get together and write some more music, I think it’s going to be that much more exciting.

How do you differentiate between what works with Cave In and what will become your solo material?

Stephen: At this point, if I play something for those guys that might work for the band and they’re excited about it, then they’re pretty verbal about it. So it depends on the excitement level of it. Now all of the other garbage, I do on my own (laughs). The solo stuff is like the garbage disposal of Cave In!

What other projects are the rest of the guys in? Do you have other projects you’re involved in?

Stephen: In the past couple of years, there’s been other stuff that I’ve gone back and forth on, but ultimately it’s the two worlds. Caleb (Scofield, bass) does Old Man Gloom once in a blue moon. He was also playing in the Icarus Line for a little while, but I don’t know if they’re even a band any more. Adam (McGrath, guitar) is playing in a band called Clouds, which is mainly his creation. By his description, it’s sort of a punk rock jam band. Ben also plays in Converge. Caleb: I only really do Old Man Gloom. We have a hard time getting together to do anything because all of the members are so busy with their other bands. We had a record come out last year. We didn’t get a chance to tour on it at all. We played a few shows. We were all happy with the record and it deserves a little more attention that what it got from us. There is only so much we could all do. That’s kind of a thing that will always be there and there will always be time for it, here and there. Adam has another band in Boston going. They’re playing shows. Steve’s working on something. He’s got his own record that he’s constantly working on. He’s playing in this band Octave Museum. He’s always going. He’s got so much musical energy.

There’s a lot of recent metal bands coming out of the New England area. Any insights into the regions prolification of good bands?

Caleb: I don’t know. That’s a good question. As detached as I am from a lot of it now, I think it’s something about those New England winters. Tough skin makes for good metal records. Especially with the earlier hardcore scene. It developed in New York, Boston and DC. The area built a lot of amazing bands that set the bar. You have bands like Unearth, Converge, and Shadows Fall that play in a band, tour and put out records all of the time and people catch on. You can’t get away from it. It’s great. They have a great work ethic and a love for what they do.

Plus the neighbor, Jamey Hatebreed. Has Cave In toured with them yet?

Caleb: Connecticut. No, I would love to tour with Hatebreed. That might be pretty challenging for us opening up for them. That band’s unreal. I’ve followed them since day one and I have their first demos and seven inches. Just seeing them evolve into what they are now is impressive.

How’s it working out with new drummer Ben?

Stephen: So far, it’s been really, really invigorating. Ben is a musician in his own right and has his own bag of tricks and his own way of speaking behind the drum kit. It’s exciting and a new toy for us to dabble with. We’ve already written a few new songs with him. It’s stuff that doesn’t sound like any other Cave In songs we’ve ever written, which is the key.

Caleb: We brought him on when J.R. was like ‘I don’t know when I’m coming home.’ We gave Ben a call and he’s been a friend of ours for a while and totally excited about helping us out and play with us for as long as need be. We did a couple of shows in Boston with him and it went really well. We recorded a couple of new songs which we’ll have on this next tour.

What happened to John-Robert Connors, your last drummer?

Stephen: Ultimately, J.R. hurt his wrist badly and had a lot of bad luck in accessing that situation and getting it taken care of. He also was living out of the country for a little while. That is where he is still with his wife. Even if he wanted to play drums in Cave in, he couldn’t. He doesn’t live in the same country and his wrist is messed up. He’s not able to work. That’s where it stands.

You’re about to do a U.S. tour with Doomriders?

Stephen: Yeah. It goes for about a month.Caleb: Nate from Converge’s band. Nate also plays in Old Man Gloom with me. That’s cool. It’s like a giant family of the same dudes but a few different bands. They’re all great friends of ours. We grew up playing music with them. More so Steve than myself.

Is anyone from Cave In involved in Doomriders?

Stephen: No. Might as well be. It’s such an incestuous scene over here. I guess that shows the rabid love that New Englanders share for playing music. It’s always something I felt about this area, ever since I became involved with playing music. That’s probably why I chose to stick around here as long as I have.

Other tours scheduled?

Stephen: This tour ends right before Christmas. We’ll hang with our families and open some presents. Then after New Years, we’re going to do a tour over in Europe for about a month. We’re doing that with Pelican. We’re really looking forward to that. Then we’re planning on being at South By Southwest next year. Shortly after that, we’re touring Japan for a week. That will lead us into April, and hopefully by then, we will have formulated another record.

Have you toured Japan before?

Stephen: Not Cave In. I went over there with a band I was playing in called the New Idea Society.

Cave In traditionally releases a number of split singles and songs for compilations and tribute albums. Do you have anything like that coming out in the near future?

Stephen: For this tour coming up, we have a two song cassingle. It’s Ben’s recorded debut on drums. It’s two brand new songs and it’s a limited thing. I don’t think we’re going to make more than 500. If we manage to sell 500 cassingles, we’ll be surprised, considering the cassette is a dying format at this point. It might already be dead. We found a way to dig up some plastic corpses to make 500 of these things to give away. It’s fun to do stuff like that. It will test the love of your fans. How far can you go to test your love for the people who love what you do? That’s part of what it is. Here’s a couple of new songs, good luck trying to play them! We’re really excited about it. They look awesome. Aaron Turner did the design work for it. We gave him the rule that he wasn’t allowed to use a computer in his design work. It’s all done by hand. It’s like a demo you’d buy a local hardcore show ten years ago.

cavein.net

Every Time I Die (Mean Street, December 2005)

EVERY TIME I DIE

By Rei Nishimoto

The success story behind Every Time I Die could not be written any better than what they have experienced. They toured non-stop behind their previous CD, Hot Damn!, supporting such bands as As I Lay Dying, Unearth and Dillinger Escape Plan, but winning over fans with their energetic rock sound.

On their latest release, Gutter Phenomenon, the band started things off big. They debuted at number 71 on the Billboard 200 chart the first week, selling 14,230 copies and becoming Ferret Records top-selling artist. Before that, they took part on the first ever Sounds of the Underground tour and gave fans a sneak preview.

"It was cool to be part of the first one," said guitarist Andrew Williams. "It is [somewhat] like the bands that get to say they were part of the first Ozzfests. It sounds cool and it is what it is. The people that put together the tour did well and I think they broke even this time. So we hope they keep doing it and maybe in a couple of years we get the chance to do it again."

They filmed their latest video for "Kill The Music" with a guest appearance by actor Michael Madsen. Williams and director Darren Doane developed the concept for an over-the-top video.

"When we started working on a story line, I presented the idea of doing an underwater video with us playing live, William says. I thought it would be cool and different. But then we thought about getting someone with a name that could make a statement in the video. Darren said he knew Michael Madsen, but we thought hed be too expensive. After a while, he called him to ask if he would be interested and he (Madsen) agreed, Williams said.With some reassurance, everything proceeded smoothly."

"He (Madsen) was way cool and hes one of these people that you have to tell him he did a good job", he said.

On the web: http://www.everytimeidie.com/

The 2008 Valley Film Festival (Valley Scene Magazine, October 17-30, 2008)

The 2008 Valley Film Festival

By Rei Nishimoto

Just over the Hollywood sign in the San Fernando Valley area, many of today's films are being developed and made. To highlight the talent from this area, the 2008 Valley Film Festival has brought together five days of films by upcoming filmmakers and talent alike, in front of fans who want to get a taste of what is to come.

Held at the El Portal Theatre in the North Hollywood Arts District, the 2008 edition is in its eighth year and showcases short films broken down by categories ranging from short stories to dramatic to comedy. Each genre of film is shown in blocks of three to four films, while audience viewers vote on their favorite films of that block. The films are an average 15 minutes per film.
One of the film sections that stood out was the Horror Shorts Program that was held on the Friday of the five day showing. Each of the four films showed tremendous promise and often was a shame that it ended so soon. The stories were well crafted and kept the audience on its feet within its allotted time.

The strongest film of the block was Everyday Joe, a suspense filled film by Shane Cole. This is a film that was built around a simple storyline and gradually built up into a heart pounding flick.
The story revolves around the main character named Joe (played by Jason C. Miller, also the singer/guitarist of the LA based rock band Godhead), a guy who leads a below average life. He is unable to hold down any odd jobs around town, and lacks a social life. He does not have any friends or relationships, which the film captures by showing his awkwardness in spending excess time on the internet as well as his inability to speak to Gina, a girl from his help group, (played by actress Persia White). Gina is also shy but shows interest in Joe, however his paranoia keeps him from showing his true feelings.

The suspense builds up when Joe drifts off to sleep, and awakens on a random alley. This occurrence happens again later, except he wakes up in an office building by a lawyer's office, the difference is that the second time he finds a murdered body next to him where he wakes up. This is where Joe's past takes him down a dark twisted road. The scenes build up to the suspense and are well crafted by Cole, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats.

The turning point comes when Joe is confronted by the guy who had him believing that he was losing his mind. It turns out to be Simon (played by Zack Throne), an unusually quiet guy from his self-help group who targeted Joe from the beginning, and now is ultimately trying to hurt Gina. After a struggle occurs and Simon tries to kill Gina, Joe fights back and is forced to kill Simon.

Everyday Joe is a well-crafted film that could easily be expanded into a full-length film that could be either a suspense film as well as a dark comedy (ala Falling Down). If films with larger budgets would follow this as an example, there might be more hope for the movie industry in the years to come.

Another highlight within the block of this film festival was horror/gore film Hallow Halls, a fictional story about five kids who entered a prison building they believed was abandoned. They gradually learn that the prisoners that were originally there were tortured and experimented on, but still walked the halls. The film is filled with zombies that kill, and there is a lot of blood and guts flying from the kids who become their victims. This is definitely one for fans of horror films with killer zombies.

The rest of the films include Eater, a Silence of the Lambs meets Twilight Zone style story about a rookie cop that works the nightshift at a jailhouse. During his shift, he learns that there is a cannibal on the loose, who kills and eats his victims. Much of the film is about him trying to evade the cannibal before falling victim himself. And Stuffed is a short film about a woman who finds a new man in her life. She collects stuffed animals, which are all over her apartment. But when he gets too close, her stuffed animals take matters into their hands. This film was creatively done, but it has more cuteness to it than horror.

The Bronx Interview (Big Cheese Issue 103)

There aren't too many bands out there that are as real as The Bronx. In this day and age where substance is a secondary thought, The Bronx throw it all down and don't regret doing it. It takes this type of a band to carry a name with such an impact as The Bronx.

Currently ripping up and down the US as part of this year's Warped Tour, the hard work has been paying off Stateside for the Californian wrecking crew, who already routinely play to larger crowds abroad than they do in their native country. However, standing out like a greasy smear across the white silk sheets of Warped's shiny pop punk stars and starlets, The Bronx are a breed apart on the summer's travelling festival. "It's a bit of a mixed emotion," says vocalist Matt Caughthran, about his thoughts on being on Warped: "It's like being in a hot tub with a man. The hot tub feels good but sometimes the company ain't that great."

Having toured for just over two years in support of 2006's second self titled album, the last few months have seen the five piece working on not one, but two new albums (as revealed in BC 97). "That's what we do," explains Caughthran: "One of the main things about the band is all talk, no action - we talk about things, and randomly do them. We've been working hard in the last year in the last year especially to get two records out. We're doing a mariachi 'El Bronx' record, which is the tradional Hispanic record - as traditional as we could do it. Plus a regular, what you have come to expect - or not expect, Bronx record."

With new song 'Knifeman', newly uploaded onto the band's Myspace page, showcasing the 'regular' Bronx, Caughthran and guitarist Joby Ford took the time to explain how the idea of a mariachi CD came about. "We did a TV show in LA and they wanted to do an acoustic song, but those suck," said Ford: "Have you ever heard a good one - an acoustic rendition of another band's song? With the exception of, I don't even like it but the first time I saw Eric Clapton do all of his music unplugged, I thought it was great. I'm still not a fan but when he changed 'Layla' to what it was, I thought it was an incredible thing, even though I don't like that song. It was great to see what he could do with that song..."That had nothing to do with anything I was talking about. But we decided to do a mariachi version instead of a bunch of guys with acoustics looking great. It came out great and we had a bunch of our friends play on it."

But, contrary to what people may think, the songs on 'El Bronx' are in English and not in Spanish. "I didn't sing in Spanish. I kind of use the force when it comes to that. There's a natural evolution of things. The record came natural to all of us and in certain ways, it came naturally to me, vocally, in English. It was a way for me to get out more of the melodic side of singing, and it felt really good. I felt no need to force myself to speak horrible Spanish," says Caughthran.

Raw, honest and as subtle as a luminous breezeblock to the forehead. The Bronx play hardcore punk in its truest essence, compounding their vicious studio attack with furious live shows. "It's definitely our favourite type of music," says Caughthran: "I also think a lot of bands take a shit creatively. A lot of bands enjoy the fact that they're in bands and not really doing it for music." "Because I can't play it, therefore I should," adds Ford.

"We try to push ourselves in that direction also. We're all proud to be in the band. It's a nice feeling," concludes Caughthran.

Their debut on the first date of the tour in Pomona, California featured the usual opening day of organizational madness as kinks were ironed out last minute and confusion reigned supreme.

The 108 degree heatwave Southern California was sweltering under didn't help much either, but the band worked through the problems and are enjoying their time on the tour. "You know what? We're glad to be here. We're having fun. We work our asses off all the time - we're excited to go on summer vacation. We've got some friends on the tour here and there, so it's cool," adds Caughthran. "What was awesome was a guy in a wheelchair was fucking people up in the mosh pit. I could give a shit about anything else but seeing that dude do that. It was awesome!" adds Ford. "It was like, I wanna hang out with that guy! [There's] so much positivity coming from that guy."

Scars on Broadway Interview (Big Cheese Issue 102)

Under the Skin

While the future of System of a Down remains in flux, Daron Malakian and John Dolmayan are making their own mark with Scars on Broadway.

When System of a Down announced their extended hiatus in 2006, their loyal fan base was unsure how to react to this news. Vocalist Serj Tankian immediately released his solo record last October. Bassist Shavo Odadjian launched his new project Achozen with RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan. But there were rumblings of the two remaining members and when their new project was about to be unleashed upon the world.

Guitarist Daron Malakian introduced Scars on Broadway earlier in 2008, after premature reports of various incarnations over the past few years, including Amen's Casey Chaos in one version. "I've been working on this a little before System went on the last tour on Ozzfest," says Malakian: "Ever since we got off Ozzfest I've been working on this non-stop. Right after that tour, I called up John (Dolmayan, System of a Down drummer) to do this. We've been in this for about a year and a half. It doesn't seem like it, but it is."

"The biggest benefit of me and Daron being in a band together outside of System is that we already know each other," says Dolmayan. "That's what brought me to John. I liked his playing I know his bad and his good. He knows the same. There are no surprises for each other. I'm not in the mood of getting surprised by shady types," concludes Malakian.

'Scars on Broadway' is an eclectic record that captures a wide array of sounds where no two songs are alike. Songs like 'Babylon' captures a punkier edge, while 'Chemicals' explores a tripped out psychedelic sound. There are other songs that bring back the heavier SOAD sound from their earlier days, as well as some Armenian influences appearing as well. Fans got to hear 'They Say' on the band's Myspace page, but this is but one aspect of the band's sound.

"It's like one facet of a diamond. Every time you look at a diamond from a different perspective, it's going to shine a different light on you. That's what this album's like. It has a lot of different hooks to it," says Dolmayan.

Scars on Broadway played their first live show at the Whisky in Los Angeles in March, which introduced the live band with guitarist Franky Perez, keyboardist Danny Shamoun, and bassist Dominic Cifarelli (former Pulse Ultra guitarist). The packed crowd brought back memories of the old SOAD shows in the mid 1990s, when they sold out the club circuit before they signed a recording deal.

"There was a sense of excitement in the audience," says Malakian. "Like, 'What's this band about? I've heard it was happening'...That's how it was with System. With System, we'd sticker all over LA but no one had seen the band yet. The first time we played there was a sense of excitement in the air. We felt that at the Whisky. That, to me, is the important thing that need to happen to make Scars stand on its own two feet."

Before the record was released, 'They Say' was played on US radio, creating a strong buzz. "the first time I heard 'They Say' on the radio, it was like hearing 'Sugar' for the first time. It was taking it back for me because it was 'They're playing Scars...' We weren't under that SOAD safety net, where we know they're going to play it. I actually didn't know they were going to play it. I didn't know Scars would stand up on its own two feet."

Malakian was one of the main songwriters in System, penning many of their well known songs with Tankian but Scars on Broadway is entirely his vision, where he wrote and produced the entire record himself. While writing for Scars may sound challenging, he makes the process sound a lot more basic than it appeared. "I write catering to what I know and who is playing the songs," he explained. "In System, I knew John's playing style. I knew Shavo. I knew Serj. So when I write I had them in mind. I wanted to write around their styles. When I brought in a topic for the song, I usually wanted it to be a topic that I thought Serj would be into singing so I would try political stuff because he's very involved in political things. In that way it was different because the members have changed."

"Some I wrote after. The approach is very different. I wanted these songs to be very eclectic and not necessarily start the big moshpit. I wanted to make an album that was listenable."

In Scars on Broadway Malakian handles all of the lead vocals, which is not new to him. While in SOAD he played guitar while occasionally doing backup vocals, he was once a lead vocalist in a prior band. "As I've gone more into my writing and even with the last two System records, I wanted to sing on my own songs," explains Malakian. "The things I'm singing about, I can't sing it to somebody else and have him sing it. I'm capable of it. It is taking a little getting used to for me live, because going from stage right to centre stage...I'm still getting comfortable with that. Even if this were a System record, you'd probably hear me singing more than on 'Mesmerize' and 'Hypnotize.' Then where are we? Serj sings his songs and I sing my songs. We didn't feel it was a band situation any more. As i get older now and as a songwriter have matured more, I want to express my voice in my own songs. In a lot of cases in System, I may have written a melody line and the lyrics, but I'm not singing on them. But I wouldn't trade it for the world what we did because I love Serj's voice." "When Serj and I met, I was a singer and he was a keyboard player. We reversed roles. He had never been a frontman of a band before, and I was the frontman of a band that broke up and his band got together. I wanted to do what I did before, write the songs and be creatively involved, but not necessarily stand there and sing."

One key point that drives Scars on Broadway is bringing back the energy and excitement of a brand new band. Malakian wanted to recapture that spirit in his new band that he once had with SOAD. “There are a lot of things going on with this band that goes back to the innocent times of System of a Down. It’s refreshing and it’s almost like you never thought you can feel that again. And you do. If a crowd gets in front and cheers for us, we don’t expect it because they haven’t heard any of our songs. We actually appreciate it opposed to knowing they’re going to cheer.” “The less you expect, the more impressed you are by the reaction. That’s what’s happening to us right now,” added Dolmayan.

With Scars Malakian wanted to create new music that pushed forward his creativity, while showing a different side of him from what he had already done. “I keep writing songs I’ve never written before, but at the same time keep a style. When you hear it you know it’s a song that Daron wrote. Whether it’s System or Scars, you can see my signature there. That’s something that’s important to me. But that happens naturally. So I don’t think about that much.”

Malakian praised Dolmayan’s drumming on the Scars on Broadway record, and a key reason he brought him into the project. But Dolmayan was modest about his role in the songwriting. “It’s pretty much drumming,” he said. “Daron handles all the production and songwriting. I might make a couple little suggestions. I guess a lot of what I bring to the table is comfort. Daron’s comfortable with me. He knows me as a person because I’m not going to change.” “He brings great drumming to the table,” adds Malakian: “I have a lot of friends that are drummers and they’re all good drummers. For some reason, I associate with drummers. I like the drums. One thing there’s a difference with John is behind the kit. I’m not saying it because he’s here. The more people I’ve played with, the more I appreciate John. He fills up the song and is a solid player. You can rely when you’re playing live."

So where did Scars on Broadway come from? Like System of a Down, which came from a poem, this name also has an interesting story behind it. “One day I was talking to a friend on our way to a hockey game about these light posts in Glendale on Broadway that has Swastikas on them in the design,” explained Malakian: “When I said the name Swastikas on Broadway…[I thought] that’s interesting. There’s a dark feeling to that. But I don’t want to use the name Swastikas. The way they’re on there, it’s scarred on there. I thought Scars on Broadway sets up a cool image.”

“Now the name to me, when I related it to the songs, it has nothing to do with that lightpost. It has more to do with all the world is a stage. We’re just scars on that stage that come and go. All we did is left a mark on the world.”

Kevin Lyman Interview (Big Cheese Issue 102)

Talking Tours

Big Cheese catches up with Warped head honcho Kevin Lyman to find out if Warped will be coming back to the UK any time soon...

On this year's Warped Tour...

I book the tour in November. The world’s changed very quickly. We set the ticket price. We said we would go out for the same ticket price as last year. Then the past few weeks, we had accountants asking ‘are you charging extra at the door?’ How will gas be hit? We’ll go out there and it will cost us. I told everyone we’ll make less money this year. That’s what will happen. Luckily I’ve got the Mayhem tour so instead of making money for retirement it will be going to paying for the gas on Warped Tour! For me, yesterday was a weird day. Just looking over how this tour’s been for 14 years, having this open society and a lot of things going on. Every year the tide comes in and the tour grows. Last year it was a little scaled back. But it’s hard when so many people want to be involved in it. I look at it and it’ll probably be the last year the Warped Tour will be able to be this way. It’s not because of any other reason other than forces taken out of our control. But I think we could make the Warped Tour work. We’ll probably do a lot more locally next year. Probably travel with fewer stages. We’ll go with the bigger stages, or maybe tell the promoter to bring in a stage and a sound system. Maybe they’ll come in from a little city and play two or three shows. It’ll still be a great show. We just won’t have 70 bands going out on the road with us. Next year’s the 15th year so already into some ideas for a pretty cool show. We’re hoping to tie it in with NASCAR and make it a big weekend. A lot of NASCAR drivers like punk rock, like Ryan Vickers’ crew. They’re coming down tomorrow because they’re racing up at Sears Point.

On deciding who plays on the tour...

I always thought Warped Tour was eclectic. Some people think it got too emo, too screamo, or whatever. When you really dig into it, the Warped line up is pretty diverse. In 1995 – L7, Sublime, No Doubt, Quicksand, CIV, Orange 9MM – what did they really have in common? They had a thread and a lifestyle, but they didn’t sound alike. If you look at the Hurley.com stage and watch the Smartpunk stage – when we get on the East Coast, a lot of the amphitheatre stages are split in half. I wanted kids to hear the difference in the sounds of music. So that’s why you’re out there, you’ll hear Oreska Band and Alesana, and then Beat Union. I think kids are all over musically. I think it’s playing well. Katy Perry is going up with that. It’s interesting to have someone like Katy Perry now. I heard her demo tapes in October. When I first heard those demos, I went ‘good attitude. She’s a punk kind of at heart.’ With Oreska Band, how cool is that kids are into it. There were 1500 people at their stage – an all girl Japanese ska band. I think people are open minded right now to the music. We did the Old School Stage last year. That was really cool down in Carson. We’re going to expand that to four cities. We have Big Drill Car coming back. We have the Germs coming out, and D.I. I think this is the time where maybe at one point it scared people. TSOL played a few shows at the Warped Tour, and the kids ran, like, ‘who the hell?!’ But now, when they see that band, they’ll start looking into Fear and those kinds of things. Last year it was awesome at Carson, where people were asking ‘would people go see these bands at a venue any more?’ Probably not, but come out to the Warped Tour and learn about a history lesson of punk.

On a possible return to the UK...

We’ve been asked quite a bit about that. It’s hard with Warped. We take A Taste of Chaos around the world now. When you go to A Taste of Chaos in the US or Japan or Australia, it’s a similar show – indoors and a second stage. Warped Tour’s taken up this massive proportion. This is the vision of the Warped Tour and with the internet, videos and DVDs and international travel with kids coming over here, when you take it overseas, you can’t duplicate this, no matter how hard you try. Kids will go ‘this isn’t the real Warped Tour.’ Kids want to come here. A lot of other places don’t have free things that kids in America like, from the stuff in the booths, activities and signings. So we go overseas, you have six to eight booths and kids go ‘I want that overload of the Warped Tour.’ My thing was I always took the Warped Tour to places I never go to travel. I got to travel because I started the Warped Tour. I went camping in Australia with bands, traveling in buses, having a great time around the world. Now they’re talking about Warped Tour South Africa…sometimes I’m wondering if it’s better to buy a ticket to go see it. You don’t necessarily need to do a show everywhere you want to go in the world. We’re doing Warped Tour Mexico. We’re doing a little show out there at the end of August. There are some kids that used to sneak in to the country to see the Warped Tour. Then they started throwing their own little Warped Tours down there. Then they’d bring me pictures and they’d have a little truck with two bands that reminded me of Warped Tour in 1995 in many ways. Now we’re trying to take a step up, helping them booking bands, Vans connections so maybe they could be doing this.

Warped Tour Feature (Big Cheese Issue 102)

One Big Mother

With the temperature a skin-roasting 108 degrees in the shade, Every Time I Die's Keith Buckley acting as some sort of demented ringmaster leading today's Southern Californian crowd into moshpit carnage, lost luggage, Japanese ska bands wander around looking mightily bemused as the backstage catering kills hundreds of burritos. Welcome to the first day of Warped 2008.

While much of the mayhem is happening out on the main grounds, the bands have their own personal drama happening behind the scenes. Every one of the 120 bands that participate on each of the shows has their own routines that they are responsible for. Big Cheese followed Norma Jean, who are participating on the entire tour for the first time. Aside from promoting their forthcoming release The Anti-Mother, they let us into their daily routines, their past Warped Tour experiences, how they keep themselves entertained, and their forthcoming record.

THE DAILY ROUTINE

Cory Brandan (vocals): Wake up…who knows when…
Chris Raines (drums):…wake up when someone comes and wakes us up yelling! It depends because we have a new record coming out, The Anti Mother, which comes out August 5th. We’re promoting that record. That’s what this tour is for. That’s the most important thing. We have tons of interviews like this, so we’ll get up and do that. And take naps. That’s the thing about touring…especially a tour like this. We only get 30 minute slots. We play for 30 minutes and then it is 23 1/2 hours of doing nothing.
Jake Schultz (bass): It’s a lot of us sitting around.
Scottie Henry (guitars): We got good at doing nothing! I don’t get bored easily at all. I can do nothing and be fine with it.
Chris Day (guitars): Air drum competitions…we have a grab bag, if you say something awesome…you get to reach your hand in and get a prize…
Scottie.:…like an army man.
Cory: Or a friendship ring.
Cory: We need to get some different prizes.

PRE-SHOW RITUALS

Scottie: I usually drink a Monster Energy drink before just to get wired. We were playing in New Jersey one time I accidentally took some of those bumblebee pills. I didn’t think it did anything. I forgot something and I ran upstairs and back down, and for some reason I’m coming back down the stairs, it kicked in. I was bouncing off the walls. I felt like I should have been drunk. It was the weirdest feeling. I was saying stupid stuff into the microphone.

Cory: I like to smoke a cigarette before we play.
Chris R: I just listen to music in my IPod and pace around.

BC: What’s your song of choice?
Chris R: I’ll listen to something crazy. Depends on what I’m into at the time. I’ll be a lot of En Vogue…older TLC, original Debbie Gibson lately.
Cory: Deborah…
Chris R: She’s Deborah now.
Cory: We like Debbie, OK.
Chris R: I like her Out Of The Blue record. My mind goes nuts before we play. So whatever goes with that is what I listen to.

BC: So you should add Tiffany to that list.
Chris R: My wife’s claim to fame is that the first concert she saw was Tiffany.
Cory: She saw Tiffany’s first concert?
Chris R: No, her first concert was Tiffany. That was her claim to fame (laughs)!
Cory: That’s going to be trivia!
Chris R: You wanna know what my first show was? It was Biohazard and Stompbox, at the Insect Club when I was 13 years old. It was the coolest thing ever. One of my older friends took me and I remember I had big pants on and I had this extra large Focus tee on, which was this old Christian hardcore band. I was right in front like this…it was me and the ‘Hazard!
Chris D: You know who was the opener of that show? Unsane.
Cory: Why would you not mention that?
Chris R: Because I was there to see Biohazard!

Cory: Mine was Warrant, Trixter and Firehouse, and some other band. It was during the Cherry Pie record. Firehouse during that big record they had.

BC: Is Debbie Gibson, Warrant and Trixter what inspired Norma Jean?
Cory: Warrant and Trixter…
Chris D: And Silverchair with Spacehog.

WARPED TOUR MEMORY LANE

Cory: We did five dates last year and we’ve never done anything else.
Chris D: I’ve never been to a Warped Tour.
Cory: That was my first time going to a Warped Tour as well.
Jake: Last year when we played? I went once…to see AFI. That was it. That was awesome. Did you go to Warped Tour a lot, Chris Raines?
Chris R: I went to one in high school.
Jake: Who did you see?
Chris R: Who was playing? Sick Of It All played. Rancid, Lagwagon, Downset, Jimmie’s Chicken Shack…Limp Bizkit was supposed to but they didn’t.
Chris D: You said Limp Bizkit and I heard biscuit. That reminded me that I’m hungry. I would eat a biscuit right now. I haven’t eaten all day.
Jake: That’s something we like to do on tour, also is eat.
Chris D: We’re good at that. Watch a lot of baseball games.
Jake: I like to watch Warped Tour actually. I like to people watch. I’ll just walk around and look at the people.
Chris R: I think on cooler days, it’s totally different. If it’s cool, then we’ll go out and do stuff. When it’s like this, you don’t want to get off the bus.

BC: Besides the heat, what’s the best part about the Warped Tour?
Chris D: Playing for a bunch of people that we don’t ever play for.
Scottie: The shows are really fun, at least the five we’ve done last year. It was a lot of energy. I’m excited to start playing today.
Jake: We have our friends on this tour too. Friends are nice.

BC: Do you find the kids in the crowd to be metal kids, punk kids or hardcore kids? Chris R: It’s a pretty good mix of all that. There are a lot of different kinds of music on this tour. You have heavy bands and some punk bands and rock bands and some dance bands even this year. They mixed it up and you’ll see fans of all of these bands. I know if I were going to a festival show, there had to be some bands I’d want to see. It’s cool though.

'THE ANTI-MOTHER'

Jake: We all got cabin fever a lot because we were recording the same place we were staying. This record took the longest to make than any other record. There was a struggle in the air to make this record for us. We were trying to make this the best thing it could possibly be.
Cory: It was a pretty frustrating record to make. We barely finished it.
Jake: It’s probably finished today.

BC: Ross Robinson is notorious for going to extremes to get performances out of people. Did anyone get hit in the head with plants this time?
Chris R: He did it with my drum sticks a few times. Not threw them at me. He did it to aggravate me.
Scottie: We clicked really well with Ross, since it was our second record with him too. I feel that we have the same energy that he has and wants for the record. It moves in a different direction as far as not having stuff thrown at us, but all of us getting to the same place that we need to be to record the song.
Chris D: When we did Redeemer, he pushed me down and you could hear me fall down on the record. It’s track two at the very end (‘Blueprints For Broken Homes’). He pushed me and I fell over a chair with my guitar on. I was playing the riff and the song was almost over. All of a sudden he pushes me and I fell down the step and over a chair. He was like ‘dude…that was bad ass! We’re keeping that!’
Chris R: He made me run a lot. But they would run with me.
Jake: He made us run in the sand and back. It sucked.

BC: What did he do to you to inspire you?

Cory: The thing about being the singer is that my voice is the instrument. My health comes into play and my sleeping habits, which both of those are terrible. He had to push me really hard. We would talk about what the song’s about to get the best performance out of you. The best way is to know what the song is about and mean it when you sing it. You’re going to put passion into it, where as you are trying to sing well.

BC: What was it like working with Page Hamilton?
Scottie: We actually played ‘Tic’ with Page at our practice space. That was one of the best things ever. He was singing and we were all playing guitar. That was really cool. He’s an awesome dude.
BC: Does he blast his rig?
Scottie: I think we play really loud too. It matched. We were in a pretty small practice space and had four guitars going and bass and drums and singing really loud. He came in for one day and we decided to play ‘Tic.’ The first hour he was there was him sitting down on a stool showing us chords.
Cory: We nerded out on guitar for a while. Then we talked about guitar stuff and wrote a song with him [‘Opposite of Left and Wrong’].

BC: What about Chino Moreno?
Scottie: Page came to Atlanta to write with us. He came to the studio to do guitar parts and then came back and sang on it. Chino came in and wrote a song with us. It was a lot more spontaneous, plus we had Ross there too. He had on a guitar and we were in there about to talk about whatever. He tuned up and started playing this riff. Cory had a couple of riffs that happened to fit perfectly with it.
Chris D: We wrote two songs with Chino but we only ended up using one of them. He was there for two days. The Deftones were recording so he sang on our record from their studio. It’s called ‘Surrender Your Sons.’