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(Fall 2006) by Derek Carey
Live Unearth pics
Unearth...does the name ring a bell? Oh? What’s this; you picked up
2006's III: In the Eyes of Fire (read CD review) because you heard
the single somewhere, and you think it’s a whole new group? How wrong
you are. The name might be something new to people in the world today,
but the band
has been together since 1998. Formed in 1998 I should say, although they
went through a few minor lineup changes, the band are still delivering
it hard and heavy with their main lineup. With harmonic guitar, blistering
drums,
strong bass and great unique vocals, Unearth are a stand out band that
are sure to progress in the musical world. Guitarist Ken Susi was nice
enough
to take some time out and speak with me on a few things that include touring,
the band and music and a little random stuff here and there.
RIL: If I knew nothing about Unearth, how would you describe the bands music
to me?
KS: We’re basically neo classical metal. Both
European and American influences. Mosh metal?
RIL: If I were to go out and buy your new album III: In the
Eyes of Fire, what songs should I pay attention to and why?
KS: I think their all pretty damn good; I would
say check out our record as a whole. But, you know if you’re a
guitar player I think you’d
get a lot out of a song like “Sanctity of Brothers." If you like
heavy stuff, you’ll get a lot of stuff out of “Giles”,
or “Bled Dry”. So there’s a lot of stuff in there that
is different and new as far as the theme goes, I think personally.
RIL: How was the writing process for the new record? Was it difficult
or did everything seem to flow smoothly?
KS: We spent about 3 and a half months recording
this record, and it was fairly difficult. The problem was that there’s a lot of bullshit out
there in the world now, like there’s a lot of metal bands that are
just trying to use click tracks and use protocols and use all these things
to try to just manipulate their sound and make their record perfect, and
we wanted to make a real organic record. We were the first band this year
to step out and not use any of that and do everything live and really put
the record out as the band sounds. So, writing the record we wanted to write
a live record and it was a lot of fighting to go along with it, because we
wanted to make sure everything was perfect and everything hit hard. And,
it’s not like “The Oncoming Storm” where it’s all
processed and perfect and lined up perfectly; it’s just a modern day
thrash record. And were the first band to step out and do something organic
and thrash metal so far this year.
RIL: Do you feel as though you have progressed, musically, from
The Oncoming Storm?
KS: Of course. I think the riffs and the song writing
is a little bit better on this record. I think it’s a little more exciting. I think there’s
great songs on “The Oncoming Storm” which people are going to
say “oh it’s a better record, it’s a better record” it’s
not nessacerily a better record, this is a better record as a whole. I think
there’s a lot more cool stuff in this record. “The Oncoming Storm” was
a good record too, but this one is different, just different.
RIL: Who do you listen to for inspiration?
KS: With this record no one current, no one new. I
think new music in general is kind of stale, I think a lot of bands now-a-days
you put in one record,
and you put in another record and they both sound exactly alike; same drums,
same guitar, almost the same riffs. That whole metal-core shit is getting
fuckin’ old and ‘chugga chugga’ boring, you know? So
what we did was; I went back to the time when I was 9 through 13, 14 and
I listened to all the old Anthrax, Testament, Megadeth, just stuff that
I was into and this record was definitely more thrashy.
RIL: What can people expect when they come to an Unearth show?
KS: A lot of partying. Lot of beer bonging, chicks
jumping up on stage making out with dudes. It’s like a party for metal
heads.
RIL: How have your appearances at Ozzfest 2004 and your recent
appearance at Ozzfest 2006 been different?
KS: 2004 was a great time because it was our first year, it was new and exciting
and all of our friends were attached to that. And this year was a whole new
group of people, you know. We were support headliner [for second stage],
and we were very proud to be there on that roster with Black Label [society],
and stuff like that. It was cool to play later everyday and see the festival
in a different light. Besides that, both years were great. I particularly
like 2004 because there was a lot of energy.
RIL: You also played Sounds of the Underground in 2005. Which was the better
experience; Sounds of the Underground or Ozzfest?
KS: On crowd wise, I think the crowds are bigger at
Ozzfest. But as a friend level, I think Sounds of the Underground is more
of a loose atmosphere. Where
the biggest guy in the chain of events over there is someone that everybody
knows. And it’s easy to go up there if you have a problem and talk
to them. It was seriously a whole summer of gambling, partying, drinking,
hanging out. That was a really fun tour, including having Everytime I Die
with us, you know it made it a whole lot fuckin’ crazier, you know?
RIL: Do you prefer big festivals or small clubs?
KS: I like them both. You can’t have one without the other as far as
I’m concerned. Festivals are like, there’s nothing better than
a big rock show, but there’s also nothing better than running in a
small dingy club.
RIL: It’s more intimate?
KS: Yeah, because the kids are right there.
RIL: With so many great songs that fans like, was it difficult to
create a set list for this tour?
KS: No, because we get to play an hour and we’re playing everything
from “The Strings of Conscience” to the current stuff; and we’re
really psyched. It’s a great collected biography of the band. We’re
playing just random songs and new songs, just throwing everything in there.
RIL: What is your favorite song to play live?
KS: I really like playing "Endless" live, it’s just a fun
song it has a lot of cool mosh parts. It’s a well written song.
RIL: Anymore touring plans after this tour?
KS: We’re going to do a run with Killswitch [Engage]
and Lamb of God in Australia and Japan. Come back; then do a European tour
with Hatebreed,
and then come back then probably do some U.S. touring.
RIL: In the future, who would you like to tour with?
KS: I’d love to tour with Iron Maiden. It’d
be a great experience for us.
RIL: What are you usually doing 10 minutes before a show?
KS: Drinking. Drinking fucking to the point where I’m
blacking out.
RIL: Then you just go out there and rip it up?
KS: Yeah, I play guitar better when I’m dizzy.
RIL: What would you say has been your best experience on stage?
KS: I think making out with 2 chicks was the highlight of my career. Having
2 girls jump up on stage and basically make out with me at the same time,
I think that was pretty hot.
RIL: While you’re playing?
KS: Ah fuck playing, at that point I just threw my guitar down and just started
going at it.
RIL: What about your worst experience?
KS: You know, I think Ozzfest 06; the last show of
that was [West Palm Beach] Florida; and the Chicago show of this tour which
I thought we played well
at. I had a lot of technical difficulties and there’s nothing worse
than only wanting to play your guitar and then having everything else around
you go off. And then you have to search for the problem, you have guitar
techs, people pulling cables and stuff like that. It’s a really discomforting
feeling when your like human and your there and your playing guitar and
you know your playing your guitar and then behind you-you hear ‘click,
click, click’ stuff breaking, just trying to fix it. There’s
nothing more aggravating.
RIL: Right when you walk out on stage, what’s the first thing
that hits your mind?
KS: Wow! Awesome. Like, I’m doing for a living that’s
cool.
RIL: What advice would you give to kids who are out trying to start a band
of their own?
KS: Be original. Don’t copy people. I think the problem with music
now a days, everybody’s trying to cookie-cut everything and trying
to sound like, if Killswitch Engage is hot, people want to sound like Killswitch
Engage; If Unearth is hot, people want to sound like Unearth, As I lay Dying
if any of these bands are hot, people want to try and sound like those bands.
The point is; you didn’t dream the same dreams, you didn’t drink
the same water, you didn’t fuckin’ grow up in the same house
hold as these bands. You need to fucking get your own shit together, if your
going to make a mark in this world, you have to be original and fuel it from
where you come from and what you do.
And that’s the only way; honest
music makes it. I mean there are always bands that succeed off of like other
bands doing well. Like, I’m not going to name any names, but If you’re
a band and you see a band do well and you copy that and sound almost the
same just to a tee, but you’re a little bit prettier or if you sing
a little bit more then you get more successful then you’re like “hey
I’m on top of the world”. I don’t really care about musicians
like that. I don’t ever indulge in listening to their records. They
might sell a lot of records, but that doesn’t mean at the end of the
day, to me, they are true musicians. |
KEN
SUSI
