Andy: Okay, first things first.� Who`s in the band, and what do each of you play?
Chris: I`m Chris, I play drums. Kevin does bass and vocals, Mike does guitar and vocals, Josh Primack does guitar and vocals. Guess I`m the only one who can`t sing.
Andy: What`s the history of the band?� How did you all form, and what`s your ultimate goal for world domination?
Chris: We`ve all known each other for years. Literally, Josh Primack and Kevin have been best friends since they were crawling. Mike, Kevin and I had been playing in a band since high school called Under the Sun. At about the same time as Under the Sun was ending/breaking up, Kevin and Josh Primack started writing music together. The two of them asked Mike and I if we would be interested in playing with them, and lo and behold, Blood of the Tyrant came to be.
Andy: Who`s your favourite tyrant, of all time?
Chris: Well, we all love Judas Priest, so I guess the song "Tyrant" would have to be number one. I`m also fond of yelling, "Pol Pot" during "Holiday in Cambodia" by Dead Kennedys.
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Andy: For those out there not familiar with Blood of the Tyrant, describe your music, and what it means to you.
Chris: Complex heavy music with a lasting impact. The music has always been a mixture of some of my favorite heavy music styles: we have a lot of technical parts, melodic guitar lines, brutally heavy sections, and enough peaks and valleys to keep everyone listening.
I`ve always thought we were pretty good at making long progressive songs that don`t feel long. It`s not that we intentionally make long, complex songs, we just don`t want to feel limited by "conventional song structures." We know when the song is done; it will just feel right.
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Andy: Influence wise, I hear a lot of the usual suspects, but I noticed in your bio, you keep going back to Goblin, which is an interesting choice because they`re so at odds with your music, for the most part.� They`re keyboard driven, instrumental, and atmospheric.� How does their influence fit into your sound?
Chris: We`re all actually huge horror movie fans. I`ve always really liked the atmosphere and mood that Goblin created in certain movies. They created these little vignettes of music that could make you feel so creeped-out, nervous, anxious, and excited all at once. Sometimes our inspiration not only comes from certain music, but moods and feelings created by images. A song can start from just thinking about certain scenes from a movie we all like and trying to convey that feeling through the music. Goblin also had this way of making very technical/progressive music without sounding pretentious or losing the audience.
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We`re actually writing a few more instrumentals and experimenting with keyboards, so the influence is starting to seep in even more.
Andy: What`s your favourite movie that features a Goblin soundtrack?� Mine is Conquest.
Chris: As soundtrack I would choose Suspiria every time. It�s such a great companion to the images on the screen. Pure mood.
If I�m going to sit down and listen to Goblin, I usually go for Profondo Rosso. I think it would stand on it�s own very well as non-incidental music.
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Andy: Chicago is known for its doom scene.� How is it being a non-doom band living in Chicago?
Chris: Much of our riffing comes from a very doom-like approach; it�s just a little faster than most doom bands. Doom/sludge/stoner are some of our favorite genres of heavy music, so we get along fine with our slower-paced brethren. It�s a huge family in Chicago. We�re always going to each other�s shows, and sharing new music with each other. There aren�t any attitudes here, we�re all just making music.
Andy: Who are your favourite bands out of Chicago, and what up and comers should we all be keeping our eyes and ears out for?
Chris: There are SO many. It�s tough to choose, but my top four right now would be Trouble (after Sabbath, best doom band ever), Plague Bringer, Lair of the Minotaur, and our buds in The Atlas Moth.
As far as bands to look out for�man, we�ve played with a lot.��A couple that I�ve really been into in the past few months have been Lord Mantis and Anatomy of Habit.
Andy: Okay, moving on, you`ve released your debut EP, and it`s a corker.� Describe the making of that EP, where did you record at, with whom, and how pleased with it are you?
Chris: The E.P. was recorded by Sanford Parker at Volume Studios in Chicago. Collin Jordan at The Boiler Room did the mastering. The whole thing took 6 days: 4 days of tracking, 1 mixing, and 1 mastering.
The outcome is still something we�re proud of. We would have liked to spend a little more time on certain aspects, but in the end, it�s something that we�re happy with. There were times where we felt a little rushed, but Sanford is great at getting a good take out of someone. He won�t sugar-coat anything. If you didn�t play well, he�ll tell you. So, that aspect made us work harder to get a great performance.
Andy: What future plans do you have for releases?
Chris: There are a bunch of songs that are ready to record, and a bunch more ideas and songs still in the works. There will definitely be a full-length next time around. We�re planning on demoing a few tracks to send to some labels.
Andy: What future do you predict for Blood of the Tyrant in general?� Where are you hoping to take this band?
Chris: This band is going to go as far as we can take it.��Writing, recording, and touring is all we�ve ever wanted to do. Ultimately, we just want to be able to make music together for as long as we can.
Andy: If you had a time machine, and could go back and see one band, dead or alive, what band would you choose, and which year would you choose to see them?
Chris: The premiere of �The Rite of Spring� by Igor Stravinsky, May 29, 1913 in Paris. It�s an amazing piece of music set to a brilliant stage show of awkward movements and striking images. A riot broke out.
Andy:� What single band has had the greatest impact on your life?
Chris: That band would definitely have to be Black Sabbath. No other band has had a greater influence on us. They had such a keen sense of arrangement; the usual verse-chorus-verse structure had been bravely abandoned opting for a more dynamic approach. I can honestly say that all of our favorite players are from that band. My favorite drummer is Bill Ward, Kevin�s favorite bassist is Geezer, and Mike and Josh Primack`s favorite guitarist is Tony Iommi.
Andy:� Well, that`s it for today, if you`ve got anything in closing to say to the�Stonerrock.com�community, now would be the time to do it...
Chris: Until next time, champagne wishes and caviar dreams.
Check these guys out at www.myspace.com/bloodofthetyrant
