The title fits the record very well- these are dreamy psychedelic compositions of the highest quality. After digesting the album I really don't know how to categorise it. There is sludge, psychedelia, progressive rock and stoner all mixed in here. If you like any of those genres I recommend you check out Ichabod. There is something for all to enjoy here- just play it, start to finish and you will see what I mean. Richard Maw
Hey sludgers, another 20 Questions for you and that was the praise Richard heeped on Ichabod's latest record Dreamscapes from Deadspace. Indeed Richard included it in his top 10 of 2012. Following the release of their superb new record, I hooked up with the band towards the end of 2012 to get the lowdown on all things Ichabod. So settle back and enjoy this great interview. Thanks for reading and see you next time.
Hey Guys, How are you? I appreciate you taking the time to talk to
talk to us, here at the Sludgelord. Congratulation on the release of your
stunning new record, you must be pleased with it?
We’re all from the
Greater Boston area, mostly having met in a mill town north of the city called
Lowell. Its bleak, industrial setting
really influenced our sound. It’s come a
long way now though, with a lot of the old abandoned mills having become galleries,
condos, restaurants, etc.
Q). Is Ichabod a full time commitment? As I read somewhere that you were
close to breaking up after the loss of Ken MacKay
Dave-No, I don’t know that
unless you’re in a megaband that it CAN be a full time commitment these
days..we did almost pack it in after we parted with Ken. It was family, and it was a painful period
that we didn’t think we’d make it through, nor necessarily wanted to make it
through.
Q) What made you start the band? Did you all know each other
beforehand, were you friends etc? Would I right to presume that Phil and Ken
(MacKay) are brothers?
Dave-At that time in Boston,
there was no one merging heavy stuff with atmospherics. We wanted to pioneer that. Ken and I were long time friends; I was set
to play in his old band Big John Studd prior to their breaking up.
And yes, Phil and Ken are
brothers, so it made a lineup change that much more difficult and close to
home. I met Greg in line at a Slayer
show when I was like 16 years old, and we’ve been friends since.
Q) Since your inception, what were your aspirations?
Dave-As ostentatious as it may sound, just to create
good art that we’re proud of. If people
dig it, then that’s a bonus, but not the sole driving force. Rather,
Ichabod is our soul driving force!
Q) With all the changes in the music industry, it genuinely does appear
harder to make a commitment to a band, what with potential for constant
touring, promotion for very little financial reward, what motivates Ichabod
Dave-We all have jobs,
families, etc. that make a commitment to music “full time” unrealistic by the
old world paradigm. However, Ichabod is
very much a full time voyage in that it’s a thread in the very weave of our
existences. Our
music/ideas/lyrics/concepts ARE who we are; there’s no separation of our art
and our daily lives.
Q) Presumably you have work commitments to? Is there pressure on you guys to juggle work
and then make time for the band?
Dave-We tend to find
inspiration in every waking moment of our days...I know that might sound flaky
to some, but it’s truth. Ichabod is
simply a manifestation in art of everything we are and everything we feel and
experience. It’s an emotional and
spiritual vehicle to our inner selves.
Q) If someone was unfamiliar with your band, how would you describe your
sound and do you feel it has evolved? Your
sound does seem progressive in the sense that it does not conform to one
particular style? What are your thoughts?
Dave-I’d love to wax eloquent about it, but quite
simply, Ichabod is musically nothing more than an amalgamation of all the
things we’d grown up on with all that we’ve gotten into since. We never premeditate our song ideas or
“sounds...”we just let such matters develop organically from within. Our hardcore/metal pasts don’t go into hiding
of course, but we also don’t pander to the “purists” in that scene for sure.
Q) Are you big fans of rock/metal, if so what are you listening too at
the moment?
Dave-For sure...we all listen
to a vast array of music, old and new.
Aggressive styles top the list...we’ve all been in hardcore/metal bands
since we were kids, and that’s bound to come out in our sound, but we’ve come a
long way since then. We’ll throw on some
Miles Davis followed by Bolt Thrower, High On Fire, and Dead Can Dance. Our Ipod mixes are schizophrenic.
Q) You were asked to be part of the Eyehategod tribute record, recording
the song ‘Jackass In The Will of God.
They’re one of my favourite bands, so that must have been a great
experience? How did that come about and
were you big fans of their music? What
there a particularly favourite track of you like from that record, apart from
your own of course.
Dave-You can’t imagine how
excited we were to be asked to contribute to that disc. I particularly liked Minsk and Buried at
Sea’s covers. It was a very exciting
project to be sure. I’m not exactly
positive how it came to be, as Ken orchestrated that one for us. He was in touch with EHG’s management and
they suggested it.
Q) Who would you say are your
influences/heroes both musically and artistically in terms of the bands sound
and subject matter for your lyrics?
Dave-Myself, I love Hendrix,
Iommi, Nick McCabe, Allman/Betts, Kevin Shields, Johnny Marr, Wood/Richards,
Jimmy Bower, Sammy Duet, and John Fahey are my personal faves as guitar
inspirations. Lyrically, we’re all into
heavy duty literature, conspiracy theory, paranormal themes, folk
tales/mythology, and classical spiritualism/theology.
Q) You were previously known as
Headless, Why the name change and why Ichabod?
Dave-Quite simply, there was a
European band during that era named Headless...I believe they were death metal.
We wanted to stay within the Washington Irving/Legend of Sleepy Hollow
frameworks however, so I suggested the name “Ichabod,” the protagonist of said
story. Also, it has a cool
translation-“the glory hath departed.”
Q) I’m assuming all musicians like to talk about gear, so with that in
mind what gear do you use in terms of guitars, amps and why? Also what tuning
do you use?
Dave-I play two Gibsons (Les
Paul and SG) through a custom effects loop and a Mesa Boogie Tremoloverb
Dual Rectifier with an Ampeg 4x12
cab. The SG is in Drop D/Standard tuning
and the Les Paul is in C#/Drop B. Jay,
Greg and I all use all tube amplification for a more organic sound.
Q) What is the scene like in your hometown? What are your thoughts? Where do you think Ichabod fits within
that? Any bands we should be keeping an
eye out for?
Dave-We’re actually quite
scattered about throughout the Greater Boston area, so our “hometowns” cover a
pretty large geography. However, we’ll
assume we’re talking about Boston, which has and always had an incredible,
innovative music scene. There are so
many bands that are friends of ours...Faces of Bayon, Pilgrim, Black Pyramid,
Raw Radar War, Das Muerte, Dead Languages, Twilight Tipi, Palace in Thunderland,
Black Thai, Cortez, Roadsaw, Cortez, Lunglust, Livver, Elder, Planetoid, Yankee
Cockfight, Cult 45, Gozu, Rozamov, Soul Remnants, Never Got Caught, Birch Hill
Dam...wow...even being this thorough I KNOW I’m leaving friends out...It’s kick
ass in Beantown.
Q) What are your views of blogs
such as the Sludgelord reviewing your records, as opposed to mainstream music
magazines?
Dave-Needless to say, we’re
eternally grateful...we need as much coverage as we can get since we don’t have
a lot of advertising $. I’d like to
think that the mainstream mags will follow in your footsteps...they tend to let the blogs sniff new
trends out and then jump aboard.
Q) How you feel your band has
generally been received and does it
surprise you when people buy your music and merch?
Dave- It’s always flattering to have people showing their
support for us outwardly...we’re always sincerely grateful. It’s only a “surprise” in that we’re very
humble and love that people dig what we’re doing...their buying our stuff is
the validation and manifestation of a band/fan relationship’s existence I
guess. As far as how we’re received, I
still think we confuse people a bit, with our intentional avoidance of banal,
trite song writing. But as is the case
with all original music, I believe that once people “get it,” they’ll
appreciate our effort to present originality even more so.
Q) Do you have any interesting stories from your tours, favourite’s
places you’ve toured and bands you’ve toured with?
Dave-My favourite story is from back in the early
years...”Let the Bad Times Roll” had just come out and was getting some sick
press. One of the major labels, Sony I
believe, had this attractive young female PR rep take a limousine up to Boston
from New York for this big radio sponsored gig we were headlining. Just as we were getting ready to have a
formal sit down with her in a back room at the club, Phil pulled my knickers
down right in front of her...the old “pantsing” as we call it stateside. I was mortified, and she was horrified!
We’ve toured with our brothers in Black Pyramid;
that one was with Queen Elephantine. On
another tour we played a sick gig with Akimbo and Conifer down in Pittsburgh at
a rad art space/gallery. The crusties
that ran the place fed us well and treated us better than 90 percent of the
slicker clubs ever had. It was called
the Mr. Roboto project and was in a store front in one of the rougher
neighbourhoods...Awesome night.
Q) What are your thoughts about Dreamscapes from Dead Space, now that it
has been unleashed on the unsuspecting public?
Dave-I really love this
record. It’s a fantastic recording,
thanks to Glen from Amps Vs. Ohms. He’s
a production/engineering genius. We’ve
had the pleasure of working with some great engineers in the past, with Steve
Austin doing most of our early work, and Devin Charrette recording “2012.” Glen
deserves just as much name recognition as anyone in the business. I think it’s an amazingly organic record
too...the songs just flowed when we penned them. They were a great place for John and Jay to
come aboard and give their input, since these songs were still pretty embryonic
at the time.
Q) What was your agenda when you began writing the new record? Is it
your best work to date?
Dave-There wasn’t really an agenda so to speak...we get
most of our stuff from just free-form jamming.
When we get a riff we like, we put it on deck for future use...once
we’ve got other riffs that we feel flow together with others we’d written, we
begin the assembly process. I will say
that this record’s riffs and tunings were heavily dependent on a new kit Phil
had purchased, a ridiculously oversized monster. I dropped the tunings to be symbiotic with
the depth and bombastic nature of that particular drum set. Weird, but we wrote to the drum sound on this
one...
Q). In terms of the band, do you feel that 2012 has been a good year for
the band and what are your plans for the rest of the year and 2013. Some of our readers are keen vinyl Junkies,
any chance your releasing your music on Wax?
Dave- It’s been
a great year for the band. We’d penned
2012 really early on, probably in 2008 or so, but it had delay after delay in
its release. Some critics accused us of
jumping on the Mayan calendar bandwagon when it finally did come out, as it was
released within months of the major U.S. film by Roland Emmerich. It was ironic, because we’d actually been way
ahead of the curve on that shit. Now
that it really was 2012, we’d WAY moved on from the themes represented on that
album. Dreamscapes is a progression to
say the least...I do think each of our albums has been better than the
last. 2013 will see the release of
Merrimack, our “concept” album. I don’t
compare it to Dreamscapes though, because the music has been written for years,
and it’s entirely a different animal, albeit lurking in the same jungle. Jay and John are just adding garnish to an
otherwise finished “older” album. It’s
sounding sick though, so far!
Q) Thanks for answering my questions, but one final question, you got
anything you like to say to your fans?
Dave-We are so appreciative for your support, and hope
you’ll jump on our magic carpet and take a ride with us in the new year!
