Today on Sludgelord I am interviewing Slowjoint – The excellent Sludge/Stoner Metal band I recently featured as a band to check out. I described their debut EP as:
“Their excellent demo - Retarded Blues Anthem - is a 15 minute monster of gigantic riffs and vocals to match. Just press play and be prepared to be blown away by these excellent Sludge Rockers. If this is a statement of intent from Slowjoint then consider me sold. As this is an excellent demo which shows the potential these guys have got."
Well I have decided to catch up with these superb rockers to see how life has been treating them since I featured them.
Q1 – Hi Guys, Thanks for doing this. How are things with you guys Today.
Hey Steve! Things are damn great at the moment. We have a few shows around Denmark this summer including a festival and then we're hitting the studio in September, to commit murder on your ears.
Q2 – For people not in the know can you give them a brief history of the band and how it came about.
Well I've been screaming and yelling in some different metal bands and just wanted to try out something new. I've been a fan of southern metal for many years and discovered the sludgier kind a couple of years ago. It just spoke to me. I like it when music is simple and just sounds like what it is. I've played acoustic guitar, mostly at home, since I was 12. But I've never played an instrument in a heavy band, and the bass just seemed like something I could handle when I had to play, yell and get high at the same time. Neither did I have any experience in writing songs. I just met with some friends and started jamming.
Q3 – How would you describe your sound.
It's really bad, haha. It's just bass and guitar with a big muff in the ass, heavy drums and angry vocals. It works pretty well.
Q4 – Which bands and artists influence you directly as musicians.
I'm gonna have to say Weedeater and Bongzilla. But i guess we listen to a lot of different shit. We're not influenced we're just copying our favorites and playing it backwards, but don't tell anyone.
Q5 – Are you all full time musicians or do you have regular jobs to pay the bills.
I would say that I'm a full time musician, but unfortunately it don't pay the bills. I guess we play cause we cant stop. It's too much fun.
Q6 – Are your family and friends supportive of your music.
Supporting yes, but not always understanding it.
Q7 – What is the song-writing process in the band. Is it a group collective or is just down to one individual.
I like to say that I write the shit and the guys make it sound good. I find it easier that it's just one guy who come up with the main ideas. But sometimes it turns out to be a totally different song when we jam it, and we just stick with it.
Q8 – Your debut EP – Retarded Blues Anthem – is a great EP. Have you had a good response from the Sludge/Stoner Metal community.
Thanks man! We're slowly building some interest for the band, and we've had some good response when we've been out playing. We're happy that people like it, and don't really focus on those who don't.
Q9 – Was it an easy EP to write and record for.
We recorded the thing live after only 4 months of existing as a band. Those three songs on the demo was all we had. We just wanted to make something slow and sludgy and I think that went pretty well. I love that we just did it without too much thoughts to it. We try to keep it that way.
Q10 – How big of a help have blogs been in getting your music across to the masses.
Well you guys have been doing a pretty good job so far. We do a bit promotion ourself as well. I've been dropping mails here and there, but not many answers. We're a needle in a hay-stack i guess.
Q11 – In five words what is the Slowjoint live experience like
One hell of a party!
Q12 – What are your favourite bands around at the moment. Do you listen to modern day rock/metal or do you just listen to the classic era of Stoner/Sludge/Doom/Post-Rock/Post-Metal.
As mentioned earlier I came across the sludge scene a couple of years ago. There are so many bands to check out, and I like a lot of it. From Eyehategod, Electric Wizard and Sleep to Weedeater, Buzzoven and Bongzilla. But it's so overwhelming with all those bands that I just stick with a few and listen the shit out of it. I listen to blues and folk as well. Pantera was my favorite band for many years.
Q13 – What are your views of blogs such as Sludgelord featuring and reviewing your records
It's just another way of supporting music, so it's fine by me.
Q14 – What are your views record companies shutting down blogs and websites due to illegal downloading. Some people are for it and some people are against it.
It's all about money in my opinion, and money can suck life out of a lot of things. But i still think that you should support a band by buying their stuff if you like it.
Q15 – What are the most and least rewarding aspects of participating with the band. Obviously the reality of how expensive it is being in a band could be considered as a negative aspect.
Money can be a big issue but we try to do everything ourselves and as cheap as possible. Not that we don't want to put our money in the band, but we're just piss-poor. At most shows they pay our transports and we get paid in beer and food. As long as we get to play our music, we're happy. We can piss each other off from time to time, but mostly it's all about music, beer and having fun.
Q16 – What pisses you off most in music today. And if you could what would you change.
Haha, that's a damn good question! I'm sick of electronic pop music, that's only made for the money and the fame. But who am I to tell. I can stand with my head buried in a 4x10's cab full of mean fuzzy distortion and it sound like the sweetest music.
Q17 – What words of wisdom would you give to a band starting out or some friends wanting to start a band of their own.
Do it and do it now!
Q18 - Finally, Do you have anything to say your fans
Stop listening to that shit, haha. Hope to see you some time. Cheers!
Well guys thanks for talking to me. Been great in talking to you guys. All the best from Sludgelord.
You're welcome. Legalize weed and dynamite!
Check This Superb Band From The Links Below:
MySpace
