Today' guest are another awesome band from Down Under. I am seriously starting to lose count of all the great bands we have featured from Australia. Though you can add today's guests – LINT – to one of the must have bands you need to hear from Australia.
These genre defying Sonic Noise Makers have just released their new album – Existence – which I described as the following:
“The album has a very raw appeal, which is another winning factor why ‘Existence’ needs to be checked out by you all. All the band members are on fine form throughout, laying down as many spectacular riffs as they possibly can. Existence relies heavily on the different moods contained within it.
If you are into Sludge/Stoner Metal with a twist then Existence is the album for you. It is about 70% instrumental with the other 30% being comprised of vocals and ambient noises. Lint has released a superb album that is definitely a strange and wonderful audio experience to check out.”
Lint have kindly agreed to talk to us here at Sludgelord. So let’s see what they have to say.
Q1 – Hi guys. How are you today. Thanks for doing this. Really appreciate it.
Not a problem, very happy to do it
Q2 – For people not in the know, can you give a brief history on how the band came about and where it is today.
Brad: We all played together in a sort of Alternative rock band many years ago. We all split up and spread ourselves across the world but remained friends. When I had the urge to create some music that was more unconventional, I got together with David and we started making experimental, quite minimalist noise/drone stuff with drums and detuned guitar. When it came time to play live again, CJ was back from his sojourn in the Canadian wilderness, he joined us and we headed into more song-orientated directions.
Q3 – Now congrats on your new album – Existence. Are you guys pleased the album is finally out there for everyone to hear.
Clint: Thanks Steve, yeah we're certainly happy the album is out. The songs had been coming together for well over a year prior to release so it's a relief to have the project finished.
Q4 – How would you describe your sound as you guys include a lot of different noises, sounds and ideas.
Brad: I hear us as more closely related to grunge or the fuzzy 70’s hard rock that eventually became deemed Stoner rock. Even though our songs are long and full of many changing parts, I don’t think we play tight enough or have precise tones like metal or prog bands generally do haha...
Q5 – Was Existence a hard album to record for. And would you change anything about it.
David: We really tried our best to jam and figure out specifics per song before heading into the studio. I thought I might struggle a little to get "The Follower" down since it was one of the last songs we wrote, and being one of the more complex to play from my point of view, but it just fell into place. As for changing anything, it's the small imperfections that make the album different and stand out as being a mostly live recording, there weren't any blatantly obvious mistakes so no, I wouldn't change anything.
Clint: I don’t think we'd change anything either, not anything major anyway. If we had more time you would have heard more overdub guitars to thicken the sound a little. I also would have done some more vocal takes and experimented somewhat more with them.
Q6 – What equipment did you use when recording the album as Existence does have a lot of strange and wonderful different noises and riffs. Any particular methods you used when recording the album.
Brad: Mostly our own gear. I geek out on equipment talk so ill keep it simple...For guitar, mostly used my ’98 Les Paul and CJ’s custom Reverend and split the signal to both a JCM 900 and an Orange amp that I cant remember much about. Tons of the album was done live, except for vocals and some solos, which I used an old Fender Bassman for and a shit load of effects pedals set up in a big circle around me in the room. Was quite surreal but captured the spontaneity. Adam, our producer, had it all planned.
David: My own kit, Sonor fairly standard setup, Zildjian cymbals and hats - two 20" crashes, 20" Ride, 19" K custom Hybrid China (Amazing sounding cymbal), Gibraltar double kick. As Brad said though, credit has to go to Adam, the kit sounds pretty awesome on the album I think.
Clint: I used my Fender Jazz Bass, with an Orange AD-200 bass head through an Ampeg SVT 4x10 cabinet. Pretty basic, its old but its good.
Q7 – Have you been pleased with the responses so far you have had for the album.
David: Defiantly, better than I expected.
Brad: Very much so.
Q8 – What is the song writing process in the band. Is it a group collective or is it down to one individual.
Clint: Brad writes the majority of the material, he usually comes to rehearsal armed with a few riffs that he's written in his own time and we start working them into passages with bass and drums. A lot of our arrangements come from trial and error, experimenting with different combinations that we've worked out i.e: no drums here, different drum beat there, full volume, half volume, tempo changes, that sort of thing. Vocals are only there if we feel the song would suit them.
Q9 – What is the whole concept of the album. Or do you want people to find this out for themselves.
Brad: I kind of like the idea of people figuring it out. There’s definitely a concept to me, and it definitely revolves around life and death; of people, organisms, worlds and music. There are songs that CJ is singing about particular things, but could be interpreted in multiple ways im sure.
Clint: The lyrics aren't all consciously related to each other, but I think there are similarities there.
Q10 – Which bands and artists influenced you as musicians.
Brad: Melvins and Baroness, for their unconventional song structures. Also, lots of 60’s and 70’s stuff I heard from my parents that I was embarrassed by as a kid, and have come to really love, like Pink Floyd, Beatles, old blues records...
David: My biggest influence would have to be Dave Grohl for his hard hitting and simplistic style of playing. Again parents. Thanks to my Dad I spent allot of my time learning drums by trying to keep up with Brian Bennett of The Shadows.
Clint: Personally, I'd have to say the Smashing Pumpkins are my biggest influence, really like the diversity of their sounds. Baroness and their kin from Savannah are big influence on us too. Earthless and Elder are great, along with them are some great Sydney bands in Dumbsaint and Adrift for Days.
Q11 – What made you want to become a musician. Any particular group, album or life changing event.
Brad: Only thing I can be certain of was Nirvana and the Nevermind album. Other than that I don’t think there was any definitive thing. I guess starting off we liked playing and listening to punk music as it’s easy and relatable.
David: My Dad originally got me interested in playing the drums, wasn't really a specific group.
Clint: Mum suggested I learn an instrument when I was a kid, I didn't like my music teacher so I quit playing for a bit. I picked the guitar up again when I started listening to more music in my early teenage years. When I was 18, I got a bass and started that too. I don’t play bass outside of the band, at home I just fiddle around on an acoustic guitar.
Q12 – Where did the name LINT came from. Any specific meaning.
Brad: Oh yes. Who wants to take this one?
Clint: This is Dave's thing.
David: haha look up Just Another Story About Skeeter Thompson...
Q13 – How big of a help has BandCamp and the Sludge/Doom/Stoner Metal community been in getting your music across to fans.
Brad: Great. Easy to use site and since our music isn’t really digestible in ‘singles’ format, we don’t put radio friendly songs up on Youtube, for example, with accompanying videos. Metal people a so varied, so there’s always a niche that says ‘Wow, been looking for this type of heavy music’. Its a small group, very much so compared to say ‘core’ bands who are everywhere and, to me, very formulaic. But niche metal communities are on the whole nice and awesome people.
Q14 – Do you perform many gigs in your home-town or do you have to travel further away to perform live regularly.
Clint: Most of our gigs are in our home town of Wollongong. We play in Sydney at least a few times a year, that’s about an hours drive for us. Australian bands face a tough challenge when it comes to touring. The major population centres are at least an entire days drive apart from one another in most cases (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra). If you want to play Perth you'll be driving for three days across a massive desert, and if you want to play Hobart you'll be crossing the ever violent seas of Bass Straight, its almost biblical haha. It's not easy, bands rarely make money from touring, but it's still the most necessary method of promoting your music.
Q15 – Are you all full time musicians or do you all have full time jobs
David: Full time jobs, I don't see music ever earning us enough to say goodbye to 9-5 work, but never know I guess.
Q16 – In 5 words or less – describe the live LINT experience.
Brad: Um.... Barefoot feedback cymbal crashing noise.
David: Drummers can't count that high.
Q17 – I am a huge fan of the Aussie Sludge/Doom/Stoner Metal scene. Tons of great bands to check out. What is your verdict on the scene in Australia. And if you could change anything about it what would it be.
Brad: I don’t mean this is as a bad thing, far from it, but tons of the bands are really hard to categorise. I’ll see bands that define themselves as Doom or Sludge, see them live, or see them get a major support slot on a Stoner/Sludge bill, and either think: ‘There’s no way those two bands sound anything like each other’, or ‘I wouldn’t even consider them Sludge at all’. The tree branches spread and split many times over. Its so diverse, there’s no way someone who likes this sort of metal music cant find their new favourite band here.
Q18 – If you could give advice to someone wanting to start a band. What advice would you give them.
Brad: Playing live is where it’s at. Also, let the accidents and mistakes come through, use your personality to turn them into ideas. Everyone has already done every idea you can think of, we’ll be the first to admit that. It’s how you express your musical ideas thats unique to your band.
Dave: Play as hard as you can, no better feeling that walking off stage after a gig totally wrecked.
Q19 – Finally, Do you have anything to say to your fans.
Thanks for being so dedicated and embarrassing us. They know who they are.
Well guys, thanks for doing this. I really appreciate it. Best of luck with your album.
Check The Band From Links Below:
BandCamp
