» interview

CAULDRON BLACK RAM talks to Mystic Metal

biodagar — Sun, 13 May 2012 13:52:04 +0000

The very lovely, rockin’ Dea at Mystic Metal talked to Esh of Cauldron Black Ram recently.

You can see this killer interview HERE.

Note that the photographs are by one of my former photographers, Max Hale. Max is one of the few rock photographers in Australia who does not spend hours in photoshop post-gig, preferring to “get it right” the first time.

Enjoy! And thanks to Dea for her time!

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Girls Don’t Like Metal… featuring ME!

biodagar — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 06:09:11 +0000

I had the absolute privilege of being interviewed by the fantastic Natalie at Canada Arts Connect recently. The article is now up! Please go have a read, love to hear what you think.

Here’s a snippet:

You’ve become a passionate supporter of fellow female metal writers online, especially on Twitter. What do you hope to bring to the conversation about women and heavy metal? What do you think are the most important issues facing women who participate in the metal scene in any capacity?

I hate to disappoint you, but it’s entirely unintentional. I support cool, intelligent people — gender is totally out of my focus. If you rock, we’re on; if you suck, we’re off.

I have never been a supporter of feminist ideologies, feminist ideologues or gender-based discussions in general. I have always, ever since I was a tiny kid, lived with the attitude that anybody can do anything and the only thing that stops them is their personal perspective. You want to do something? Make it happen. No excuse on Earth will justify you missing out on something, except the fact that you didn’t try.

In fact, at university, surrounded by feminists and girls getting everything, and boys getting nothing, I became a passionate supporter of men’s rights. Why should we have a special room with free cups of coffee simply because we’re chicks? It’s the totally wrong way to look at life. Having said that, I have become more sympathetic to the sisterhood; I think that’s something that has come with age.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE.

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Girls Don’t Like Metal

REVILEMENT interview at Six Noises

biodagar — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 01:00:30 +0000

One of the bands I do a bit of publicity for, Taiwanese brutal metallers REVILEMENT, were recently interviewed by Six Noises (NZ).

Here’s a snapshot. For the full interview GO HERE. And you should, it’s a fucking good read.

Click the pic to go to the full article.

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The Feej Q&A with ANOTHER HELL… is the world fucked?

biodagar — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 00:32:04 +0000

The lovely happy Fijian conducted and posted an interview with ANOTHER HELL recently, in which frontman Krille talks about whether the world is truly fucked.

Krille faces some tough questions, too. Including whether Another Hell is ‘just another’ political band.

It’s a great read. Get into it! Sample below, original post here >>

ANOTHER HELL, if you haven’t heard of them, is a Swedish groove/death metal band. They are fucken killing it! But more than just kick-arse music, Another Hell is a band with a message, both political and environmental.

Frontman Krille took time out of his busy-as-hell schedule for a quick Feej Q&A.

The world at the moment is totally in turmoil. We have sit-ins in cities, “occupying” them against the current capitalist system, we have mega protests in Egypt, we have the South African press clamping down on freedoms. As an artist whose philosophy centres around these issues, what are your current thoughts about the situation(s)?

Well it’s a clear sign that something is truly fucked up. Even those who are against these actions cant ignore this situation anymore. The capitalist system that we have today only makes a society where one group has everything. The second group strives to get into the first group. And there is a third group whose options are so limited that these kinds of actions are the only way for them to get heard.

The scary thing with this system is that you keep the first two groups so satisfied that when it’s voting time, they are collectively bigger than the third group. Thus they are unable to change things.

Restricting the press, well ya dont have to be Einstein to figure that shit is utterly wrong. It can only mean that someone has done something so bad that they need to cover their shit up.

Are the protests and occupying sit-ins going to help things do you think? Is the world fucked beyond repair?

I still believe humanity lives amongst the majority of mankind. There are days when I feel that revolution is the only way out. But I mainly believe that through friendly activities, actions and agitation we can come to the same results.

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Holland’s Alternative Matter talks to fast-rising Swedes ANOTHER HELL

biodagar — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 08:51:24 +0000

On the heels of the release of ANOTHER HELL’s EP Drowning in Dirt, the band took the time to talk with Alternative Matter about the album, Sweden and much more.

Alternative Matter’s Myron talked to the band about the inspiration for Drowning in Dirt. Which is the imbalance in society.

“The inspiration, well, thats quite easy. We are all drowning in mass produced SHIT! People today own more things than they can handle and we all spend too much money on low priced stuff that was created to break. Or just to kill ya neighbour with some new and awesome heavy duty, pricy, cool stuff to make em all envy!

“Not to mention rich countries using up important resources, not giving a shit about what’s going on over at the poor side! The mentality seems to be as long as they make our shit at a low price it’s all fine and dandy Look-how-successful-I-am-ville. That shit is insane.”

WATCH the official video for Another Hell’s track Redemption, from their EP Drowning in Dirt:

Watch this video on YouTube.

With regional tours in the works, Another Hell are cranking up to record their first full-length album. Recording is set to begin on 28 October.

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INTERVIEW: Thirty years and thrashing harder than ever – OVERKILL

biodagar — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 06:16:12 +0000

With the rise of the new wave of thrash, which has taken the world by storm in the past two years or so, it becomes easy to forget that some of the earliest thrash bands are still going strong. Enter Overkill: old-school thrashers with a long history.

I recently caught up with both Bobby (vocals) and DD (bass) to chat about Overkill‘s latest release, Ironbound, which is taking people by surprise left, right, and centre; their change of label – they’re now with Nuclear Blast; and the impact touring has on the Overkill sound.

Much of the critics’ take of Ironbound – which has been a good take – tends to pass by such veterans of the scene as Overkill. As Bobby commented, ‘It’s obviously flattering – but inconsequential unless stuck on the toilet. Then a good or bad review holds the same value…’.

While many critics find themselves wanting more by the end of the release, the structure of the album wasn’t planned so deliberately that the band was consciously trying to create such a yearning in the listener.

‘It wasn’t planned that way, but the result is awesome,’ Bobby enthused. ‘If the opening track The Green & Black clocks in at 8+ minutes and feels like 5 – that’s success. Having time pass without it noticeably passing, then it’s a score. I suppose it’s also about having less rules, formulas. Makes the game that much more fun to play.’

DD was a little more dismissive. ‘How long or short a song is doesn’t really matter…. READ MORE –>

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INTERVIEW: Whitechapel’s Alex Wade on touring, writing & Soundwave 2010

biodagar — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 03:49:36 +0000

We caught up with Whitechapel’s Alex Wade recently, most ostensibly to talk about their forthcoming Soundwave appearances throughout Australia in 2010. Unfortunately, the interview was quite short because the phone connection was absolute shite. Ah well; you win some, you lose some. But suffice it to say, the guys are hell excited about hitting the land down under this coming February.

When I spoke with Whitechapel guitarist Alex Wade about their forthcoming appearance at the 2010 Soundwave Festivals, they were in the middle of a tour. They were on the road with Trivium, and other support acts according to the stage of the tour cycle. Because they were travelling and hanging out every day, and having a good time, it was a lot more fun than it was work.

Last time I talked to these guys, it was just prior to a massive headlining run in Australia, which incorporated thirteen dates and stacks of regional shows. It was great to get the opportunity to talk to the guys about how that tour went for them. And it is something that they’d do again…. READ MORE –>

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INTERVIEW: Rob Halford on Winter Songs

biodagar — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 09:10:22 +0000

When I talked to Rob Halford about his latest release, the Halford Christmas album Winter Songs, one of the first things he said to me was that it must be weird to be talking about winter songs when for us in the Southern Hemisphere it’s summertime. While to some extent it is a bit odd for us, I had the opportunity to tell Halford that the Aussie Santa is a bloke in short shorts, thongs and beer in hand.

Halford laughed. ‘Now there’s a thought,’ he said. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Santa in a thong. I’ll have to do some Google imaging and surfing later on.’…. READ MORE –>

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INTERVIEW: Fed Through the Teeth Machine: a chat with The Red Chord’s Guy Kozowyk

biodagar — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 07:18:48 +0000

Talking with Guy Kozowyk, vocalist for The Red Chord, was probably the longest interview I’ve ever done. Clocking in at an hour, we talked music, art, tours, lyrics, and a whole lot more besides.

I was just about to head out to the kitchen for a pre-interview cup of tea when I got a phone call from Metal Blade asking if I could do The Red Chord interview early. Having just finished a previous interview and had all my gear ready to go, I said sure thing. Guy Kozowyk was in the office at the time so we started chatting… and could’ve quite literally talked for the whole hour instead of doing the interview.

When I said to him that we should probably talk business, all he said was: ‘if you want. But you don’t have to. I’m probably more interesting than our album.’

The Red Chord had been lined up to hit Australia in early 2009; but when the cost of flights sky-rocketed, the whole thing fell through at the eleventh hour.

‘So now,’ Kozowyk said, ‘Australia’s gonna have to come to us.’

‘All of us?’ I asked him.

‘Why not?’ he laughed. ‘You could fit the whole thing somewhere in America. We have that many people that aren’t even supposed to be here. So yeah, you guys could blend in just fine. I don’t mind having a whole bunch of people running around with funny Australian accents,’ he went on.

Before we did get into the bulk of the interview about The Red Chord’s work, I talked to Kozowyk about fellow band member, Mike “Gunface” McKenzie‘s side project – which was purely by accident. I had written the questions for Mike and for a while didn’t realise who I was talking to. Oops. Embarrassing much?

Regardless, Kozowyk was happy to talk about McKenzie’s side project All Rivers. In fact, he sounded a bit excited about it on McKenzie’s behalf….. READ MORE >>

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