So, here at The Sludgelord, we pride ourselves on bringing you music from cool bands all over the world and yet we feel it is particularly important to feature the cream of the UK scene too.
Having already featured the frankly superb Conan on this segment a few months back, it kinda made sense that I ask Slomatics to get involved too. Jon from Conan single-handedly raised the profile of the band to our readers here at The Sludgelord. Therefore when I contacted the band for an interview, they were more than happy to oblige.
So on the eve of the release of their highly anticipated new record A Hocht which is actually out now on the awesome Head of Crom Label, I spoke with David from Slomatics and here is what he had to say, when I put him under the spotlight with my 20 Questions. So without further ado, check out the interview below.
Q)
Hey David, How are you? I appreciate you taking the time to talk to talk
to us, here at the Sludgelord.
A) Hi! All’s good here thanks, and thanks for the interest – we
appreciate it.
Q)
Where are you guys at the moment and what are you doing, in terms of the band
at the present?
A) We’re at home in Belfast, holed up in our dingy practice room churning
out riffs ahead of Incubate at Tilberg. We’re playing a slightly longer set
than usual, so we’re dusting down some stuff we haven’t played in quite a
while, as well as fine-tuning new stuff.
Q)
You recently finished a series of UK dates with Conan, Wizard’s Beard l, how
was that? Big fans of those bands on the
blog
A) It was fantastic. We played a couple of shows, Leeds and Edinburgh.
Both were really well organised and well attended, and we got to play with some
amazing bands. We’ve played with Conan before, but Goatleaf, Wizard’s Beard and
Headless Kross were new to us, and we really enjoyed all of them. The Leeds
venue was a tiny cellar, it was super hot and we got to use the Conan wall of
amps at full tilt, so it sounded mega. We got to catch up with old friends and
meet some new ones too – we got to share a few pints with Adam from Head of
Crom which was great, he’s such a nice guy. Leeds is always a cool place to
play. Edinburgh was brilliant too. We played Bannermans and I have to say the
staff there look after bands unbelievably well. Great bar too with some deadly
Scottish ales on tap. Headless Kross absolutely floored me with pretty much the
perfect blend of doom/space/krautrock. Fantastic band. The audiences both
nights were great. Of course, Conan blew our minds both nights, and it was
great to spend some time with them again too. Absolute legends.
Q)
I have been fortunate enough to have received an advanced copy of your new
album A Hocht and have to say it is brilliant, however for those people who are
unfamiliar with your music, can you tell me little bit about the history of the band and some of the bands
you've played with? Where you’re from? When Slomatics first formed? Current
band members?
A) Glad you like it!! I’ll try and condense the band history – we’ve been
going for eight years now, formed in ’04 here in Belfast. The band is myself
and Chris on guitar and Marty on drums/vocals/keys. Marty joined at the end of
last year after our previous drummer quit. Strangely enough, all three of us
played in a band together previously called The Naut, which at one point was
just the three of us before expanding into a five piece. Weird that ten years
later here we all are again! Marty and I played in a couple of bands before
that, so between us we have a lot of history. In terms of band history, we
formed straight after the Naut split and gigged/recorded fairly heavily
straight away. We self-released a split 7 inch and two albums, and did some UK
touring within a couple of years. We’ve put out a couple of splits since then
on different labels, and then joined Head of Crom for the release of the Conan
split.
Q)
Is Slomatics a full time project, or do have other bands?
A) Chris and I only play in Slomatics, but Marty also plays in War Iron,
a twin bass sludge band here in Belfast. We all have jobs/families so time is
limited. That said, Marty is juggling both bands with surprising ease. I guess
both bands sound pretty different and have a different dynamic, so they’re
fulfilling in different ways for him.
Q)
Probably a stupid question, but are you or would you like to be full time
musicians?
A) Ha! That’s a fairly regular conversation after a few pints. To be
honest, we’re all older guys and have young families and full time jobs, so
we’re never going to be in the position where we could tour extensively or
anything. I mean, the thought of not having to get up every Monday morning and
have a working week ahead of me is certainly appealing – and at the same time
the thought of being able to spend all my time playing guitar and creating
music would be amazing. The reality of being a full time musician is pretty
different to the dream though, I mean I know that even guys in long established
bands like Neurosis still work to support being in the band. No-one playing the
sort of stuff we do could ever make a living out of it, so in all honesty I
think we’re in a privileged position where we can enjoy what we do with the
band but can still support our families and pay the bills. I’d probably enjoy
the band less if I was worrying about money all the time.
Q)
Are you big fans of rock/metal, if so what are you listening too at the moment
and how much are you paying Conan (The band), what with all the praise they are
giving you? (Hahaha) it goes without
saying you’re super tight with those dudes having released a great split with
those dudes?
A) We’re definitely huge music obsessives and fans. We all grew up
listening to heavy rock/metal – there’s way more hair metal in our collective
pasts than any of us would be proud of! I’m not sure any of us really
understands what metal is any more though, or feels any connection with current
metal. I mean, there are great bands like Mastodon about, and older bands like
Voivod still making great records, but if I pick up a copy of Kerrang or Metal
Hammer I don’t even recognise 99% of the bands. I think like most guys our age
who grew up on Sabbath and then discovered the Melvins and Kyuss, we still look
out for heavy bands – and there’s loads of good stuff about, but I wouldn’t
necessarily label any of it as metal. Right
now I’m listening to “Bear” by Headless Kross, “III” by Portishead and “Yeti”
by Amon Duul II.
Ha! I know what you mean about Conan – we really should be paying Jon
some sort of PR rate!! We go back a long way with the Conan boys, and they’re
great friends of ours. I think Jon was the first person outside of Belfast to
buy a copy of our first CD, and we first met when we played Liverpool in ’06. Hilariously
with hindsight Jon used to ask us advice about how to get gigs etc – how times
have changed!! Conan are such an incredible band and I think they deserve every
bit of the success they’ve had so far. The split was down to Jon hooking up
with Head of Crom, and suggesting us for a release, although Adam had
previously reviewed one of our records so he was aware of us.
Q)
When you started Slomatics, what were your hopes for the band?
A) The same as with any band I’ve played with – just to write a few songs
that sound good. Everything beyond that – playing gigs, recording, touring – is
all just a bonus really. If no-one ever wanted to hear us again, we’d still
hook up in the practice room to jam every week.
Q)
If someone was unfamiliar with your band, how would you describe your sound? On
your Official page you describe yourselves as ZZ Top on Thorazine or a way
meaner Torche. Has it evolved?
A) That’s a quote from Andee at Aquarius Records; we thought it was sort
of funny but quite apt. I’d describe us as a heavy rock band, pure and simple.
When we were writing the new album we wanted it to sound really melodic and
positive, although I appreciate that to a lot of people we’re anything but. We
get the whole “doom metal” thing quite a lot, and even though I don’t feel we
share much with typical doom bands, I quite like that label. If you’re going to
be a metal band, then “doom” is definitely better sounding than “thrash” or
“glam”! In terms of reference points, the second side of “My War” by Black
Flag, the Stooges, pretty much any early Black Sabbath and maybe the heavier
early Hawkwind stuff are probably good starting places. I’m not sure our sound
has evolved, we don’t sound significantly different now than we did years ago,
although having Marty in a the band has certainly allowed us to sharpen our
focus on combining minimalism with more spacious elements.
Q)
Why the name, Slomatics? Where does the name originate?
A) Through necessity. We’d been jamming for a few weeks and were offered
a gig, so we needed a name quickly. It seemed like everything we thought of was
already taken. We use Boss Chromatic tuner pedals, and thought of Chromatic or
something along those lines – that had already been taken too, so it became
Slomatics. It doesn’t mean anything, and to be honest is a pretty terrible
name, but then again “The Melvins” or “Harvey Milk” are equally as bad if you
think about it.
Q)
What is the scene like in your hometown of Belfast, N. Ireland?
A) In Belfast
specifically it’s pretty small. There are a few really great heavy bands about,
such as Continuous Battle of Order, Hornets, Tome and Maw. There’s quite a lot
of metalcore type stuff which isn’t really my thing, and some really good indie
bands. There’s a great metal promoter called The Distortion Project who is
pretty much single handed in doing heavy stuff. In terms of the whole country,
the scene is probably the best I remember it in over 20 years – almost every
city has cool promoters and some really great bands. Certainly in places like
Dublin, Galway and Cork there are a real wealth of original, exciting bands
doing their own thing. Stuff I’ve been blown away by recently would include No
Spill Blood and ZOM from Dublin, and Rites from Galway.
Q)
What made you start the band? Did you all know each other before you
formed?
A) I’ve known Marty since we were in school, and I’ve known Chris pretty
much since he moved here from Wales around 15 years ago. As I said, we’d
actually played together in previous bands, and even since the first line-up of
Slomatics formed we all hooked up and played fairly regularly. As for why we
started the band, I guess it’s just the same reason as anyone else – we just
felt compelled to do so through a love of love amplifiers and fuzz pedals!
Q)
What's it like being in an underground band in your hometown or even in N.
Ireland? Is it a struggle and is their great camaraderie within the scene?
A) It’s not a struggle at all. We actually don’t play in Belfast a huge
amount – like any small city there is a tendency for local bands to play far
too often, and we wouldn’t like people to get sick to death of us! We’ve been
really lucky in a lot of the gigs we’ve played here, as we’ve got to play on
loads of very different bills in some really great venues. We’ve found the vast
majority of the other local bands we’ve played with to be super-cool, and
there’s certainly a great spirit of camaraderie throughout the country. We’ve
done splits with other Irish bands which is always a nice thing to do.
I think the only thing that is a struggle is playing further afield.
We’ve been to England and Scotland and it’s always a great experience, but it’s
costly and involves time off work etc. We’re really lucky to have the Conan
guys over there as it means we can hook up and play using great gear. We’re
playing the Incubate festival in the Netherlands in a couple of weeks which
will be our first time in mainland Europe, but hopefully not our last.
Q)
What are your views of blogs such as the Sludgelord reviewing your records, as
opposed to mainstream music magazines? Has your music reached the
mainstream mags, at home or around the world?
A) We’re all big fans
of blogs. To me, it’s a continuation of the fanzine scene I grew up with 20
years ago. I find out about new music through blogs such as yours, and the most
important thing is that the writer is honest and clearly a fan of what he/she
is writing about, which definitely isn’t the case with mainstream magazines. I
think playing the sort of stuff we play, blogs and forums are more important
for getting our music heard than mainstream magazines. We’ve been reviewed in
some mainstream press in the past, had a song on cover CDs and stuff like that.
I’m not sure it really means anything – I mean, we did a BBC session and I
think the main advantage of it was getting paid, as it financed a chunk of
recording the Conan split. Obviously it’s great if someone reads about us and
likes the band regardless of the source, but there’s something way cooler about
like minded folk getting into it through blogs and forums, where it’s music fans
talking to each other.
Q)
A Hocht is an outstanding record and appears to be a lot of positive vibes,
what are your thoughts about that? Does
it have an effect on the band in terms of record sales etc? Are record sales important to the band?
A) Thanks very much! If you mean positive in terms of how it sounds, then
that would be a great compliment. Our aim has always been to play music that is
heavy but hopefully uplifting too – we definitely try not to sound harsh or aggressive.
If you mean how people are responding to the record, then yeah, of course it’s
great when people say good things, or seem to get what we’re doing. We’ve been
really fortunate in the press we’ve received all along – I’m sure there is a
slating bound to happen sooner or later! Jurgen at Burning World posted that he
thought the record took a few listens to get into, but that it was worth the
effort, which is pretty much exactly what we aimed for – so it was a huge
compliment from a guy who is pretty well respected in heavy circles. Record
sales aren’t the be-all and end-all, and certainly aren’t something we think
about when we write, but at the same time when labels are prepared to put their
money behind you then of course it would be good to sell some copies and repay
the investment. Our stuff is usually in pretty small runs, maybe 500 or so at a
time, and we’ve managed to sell out everything we’ve released so far, so
hopefully people who bought the old stuff will like the new stuff too.
Q).
A Hocht is your 3rd full length release to date, how does this
record compare to your previous records and is it your best work to date? What does A Hocht mean mean? I googled it and
there is an Abbey of Hocht, the former Cistercian abbey (Cistercian is an order
of monks)
A) “A Hocht” is Irish for 8. It’s out eighth release, our eighth year as
a band and there are eight songs on there, so it all sort of ties together. I
suppose we maybe try to avoid clichés too, and like our song titles to be a big
ambiguous. To us, it’s our best record by a long shot. It came together really
quickly and naturally, it was fun to record, and was probably the only time
we’ve left the studio 100% happy with what we had recorded. To me, it sounds
like everything we wanted to be in the past but maybe never quite achieved.
There’s a real mix of heavier and quieter stuff, and the flow of the record was
clearly mapped out before we went into the studio. At the same time, there’s a
lot of improvisation on there too, and quite a few “happy mistakes”, where
things just came out sounding great quite unexpectedly.
Q)
Does it surprise you when people buy your music and merch?
A) Of course!!! Even eight years down the line, I’m amazed when people
get into us live, or take the time to get online and buy something we’ve put
out. I can’t imagine ever getting to the stage where we’d take that for granted.
Q)
To date the band have released two full length albums, two split CDs, a split
12" , a 7" and a Cassette album to date, what are
some of your highlights so far? What are your aspirations for the future?
A) In a way every release is a highlight, because it documents how the
band sounded at that moment in time. Highlights tend to involve gigs more than
releases though, and we’ve been lucky enough to play with some really
inspirational bands. As for the future, we’ll just keep on keeping on. We’ll
start writing the next record shortly, at the moment it’s hard to see past
that. I suppose more gigs in Britain and maybe mainland Europe would be
something we’d like to do next year too.
Q)
I noticed that your new record is to be released through Head of Crom / Burning
World / Roadburn Records, also home to Conan and Black Sun. Adam from HOC seems
to be a fan of heavy music first and foremost, releasing music by bands he
likes? How did that come about and did you
consider a DIY approach of releasing your music yourselves?
A) We’ve self released stuff in the past, and it’s always an option. There
are certainly advantages to the DIY approach. That said, being on HOC/Burning
World is fantastic, they’re both amazing labels. Initially the hook up came
through Conan, who were due to record on HOC. They suggested the split, and
Adam was into it. He’s such a lovely guy, super enthusiastic and just a huge
music fan. When we first started talking it became clear we had loads in common
musically, and were both banging on about the same UK bands. He told me he just
wanted to document the great heavy music around at the moment, which I think is
the right reason for starting a label. The Burning World deal came from that,
as Jurgen was keen to put out the CD version. Given the reputation of Burning
World I’d presumed that that would be our only release on BW, so we were really
delighted when Jurgen said he was into doing the album too. That guy has done a
LOT to promote heavy music throughout Europe and the world, and it’s an honour
to have a record on his label.
Q)
Do you have any interesting stories from your tours, favourite places you’ve
toured and bands you’ve toured with?
A) We’re not wild party guys on tour really – there’s always a few
drunken disasters to laugh about, but usually we’re pretty much into playing
and then chatting to folk and checking out the other bands. We’ve played a load
of great places – Leeds is always fun, and I thought Bannermans was such a
fantastic set up. There’s a bar in Cork called Fred Zeppelins which always
makes for the sort of gig we love – a tiny sweat box full of drunken freaks
going nuts. As for bands, playing with Conan is always amazing, as they’re
lovely guys as well as an amazing band. They certainly look after us well. For
me, playing with Like a Kind of Matador from Leeds was really special. I’d seen
them supporting Boris and had been blown away, and then we played a couple of
gigs with them in Ireland, before playing with them again in England. Their
whole thing was a real inspiration, such an incredible band. We’ve got to play
with cool bands we really like such as Torche, Baroness and Khanate too, and
those gigs are always pretty memorable.
Q)
Did you have an agenda or a game plan in terms of what you wanted to write for A
Hocht? Does everyone contribute song ideas?
A) We certainly had ideas about it having a wider scope than previous
records, although in the event it came together over the space of about three
months. We didn’t write anything outside of the practice room; it all just came
together through jamming. This record is by a long way the most collaborative
we’ve done, which made a pleasant change. Everyone writes and has an equal
input – it can be a riff of even just an idea of how something should sound .I
think we wanted to write a record which took a while to get into, and kind of
unveils itself after more listens. I guess whether or not we achieved that is
up to you!
Q)
How do you feel about the digital era of music and people downloading music for
free? Would you or have you ever considered releasing your music for free or
‘pay what you like’ to raise the profile of the band?
A) It’s all a complete mystery to me! I’m a total Luddite with all that
stuff, I wouldn’t know where to start with downloading, and to be honest I
haven’t the inclination to learn. It’s outdated I know, but I still like the
physical format, and the whole thing of buying a new record and looking at the
artwork and all that. That said, I understand that people like the access that
downloading gives them, and I would have no problem with our stuff being
downloaded. Chris does all our internet stuff and has put all our stuff which
is sold out up for free download, it’s definitely better to let people hear it
than not. I guess if we found that no-one wanted to put our stuff out in future
we’d certainly consider it.
Q)
What are your plans for the rest of the year and any chance you're doing a full
UK tour?
A) We’re off to Tilberg for the Incubate festival in a couple of weeks,
and then we play the GGI festival in Glasgow at the end of September. We’ve a
couple of Irish dates with Conan in October, and we’re bringing Headless Kross
over in December. Beyond that we’re going to write new material with a view to
the next record. I think we’ll be back across to Britain in the New Year;
hopefully we’ll get across more often from now on. A full tour is unlikely, as
we all have jobs and commitments.
Q)
Thanks for answering my questions, but one final question, you got anything you
like to say to your fans?
A) Thanks to the Sludgelord for taking the time to talk to us, we
appreciate it!! Oh yeah – our new record is out, it’s limited to 300 copies on
vinyl, so if you want one head over to Head of Crom. Cheers for the support!!!!
Well, there you go. I think you'll agree that is perhaps one of the best interviews we've had on the blog so far. Slomatics are a superb band and all round good guys. So, a big shout out to those guys for agreeing to answer my questions, specifically David, who was kind enough to take tke time and make the effort to give such in depth answers. Thanks guys and hope the record sell out very soon. I know I have already bought mine.
For more information about the band please check out the links below. You can buy the vinyl here and the CD here
