Today
on Sludgelord, it's my pleasure to be Sci-fi Tinged Progressive
Sludge Metallers – GHOLAS
I
have been a fan of Gholas for a few years now ever since I heard
their excellent debut ablum - Загадка – which had a
breathtaking blend of Progressive Sludge/Post-Metal riffs fused with
Sci-Fi influences from Philip K. Dick, Frank Herbert an Arthur C.
Clarke.
Gholas
are about to release their stunning and even better 2nd
album – Litanies – on Feb 11th 2014 and it's even more
spellbinding and complex as their first album.
I
recently described the album as:
“Gholas
have some brilliant ideas here that will leave you begging for more.
Trust me folks but this is the first great Post-Metal album to own in
2014.
Post-Metal
has been called Thinking Man's Metal in the past and Gholas have
embraced this philosophy head-on and it proves the band are a truly
forward thinking band with ideas that will last for years to come.
Litanies
is an incredible experience which ourselves at Sludgelord HQ are huge
fans of. This album is going to be in my best of 2014 list. It's
seriously that great.”
I
had to find out more about GHOLAS, so lets see what they have to say
to us at Sludgelord HQ.
1
– Hi guys. Thanks for doing this. How are things with you today.
Thanks to talking to us at Sludgelord HQ.
Chris:
Thank you. We appreciate your support.
2
– Can you give our readers a brief history of how the band came
about and where it is today.
Bob:
Gholas formed following the dissolution of a previous band. My
original intent was to make incredibly loud music to the point of
making people physically ill, and the members of the band at the time
seemed ok with that aim; but perhaps they may disagree. Now, I think
everyone in the band is excited to play shows and support an album
that we are proud of while at the same time writing material for our
next record.
Chris:
I was finishing school, and hadn't done much musically in years
because of being isolated from most of the world living in central
PA. When I was done, and had moved back, Bob and Dave's last band was
wrapping up and we moved into this one.
3
– So. Lets start off with your sound. How would you describe it as
you include a lot of great noises and sounds which is very hard to
categorize.
Bob:
For my part, I love drones and discordance and feedback. So, I try to
include those elements as much as possible when writing music for
Gholas. I think that in our attempts to honor our various influences
we have slowly over time been getting closer to integrating all of
that much more cohesively into our sound. Like, individually we bring
a wealth of background to the table from admiration for harsh noise
artists to ambient artists to early no wave to hardcore punk to post
punk, and I think trying to incorporate those disparate influences
has made categorization a little hard to pin down.
Chris:
I remember getting ready to go into the studio and talking to our
engineer and saying "I want this record to sound like barely
controlled chaos." I think we hit that point several times on
the record... that point where it seems like the whole thing is about
to get away from us.
4
– Which bands and artists influenced you all as musicians.
Bob:
I’ll give you my short version. I love Michael Gira and Norman
Westerberg, particularly their work with early and current Swans.
Kieth Huckins and his work with Kiss It Goodbye, Deadguy, and
Rorschach is another big influence. Robert Fripp’s work with Brian
Eno and David Bowie is another guitar influence. Aaron Turner’s
work with House Of Low Culture, Jodis, Mamiffer, and Lotus Eaters for
ambient sound. Aidan Baker and Nadja is another influence for ambient
sound. Liz Harris in Grouper is another. Vice Wears Black Hose and
the Rita are noise influences. I could go on and on probably. As far
as bands, I mentioned some already but also including Coalesce,
Bloodlet, Locrian, Neurosis, Joy Division, and Amebix as influences
is necessary.
Chris:
I used to play bass back when I was a teenager. I remember getting
Deadguy's "Fixation on a Coworke"r and my jaw dropping. I
started moving to guitar soon after. Nowadays I pull influences from
anything I hear. I know Clint Mansell's movie scores for The Fountain
and Moon are really good references for me for melody. Just about
anything I come across.
5
– Your a lot different compared to other Sludge/Post-Metal bands as
you include works of legendary Sci-Fi Writers. When did you decide to
include themes from classical science fiction novels. And are all the
band members science fiction fans.
Bob:
From the very beginning we decided to embrace are sci fi nerd status
though it might be more appropriate to specifically mention Sir
Arthur C. Clarke, Frank Herbert, Stanislaw Lem, and of course Philip
K. Dick (his themes of paranoia, isolation, and detachment color much
of our lyrical themes).
Chris:
I think Bob and Dave were a little more Sci-fi nerdy than I. I always
loved Sci-fi movies, but when we decide on a theme for a record, it's
almost like getting homework- you go out and buy the book.
6
– What made you decide to become a musician. Any particular band or
life changing event.
Bob:
Chris and my dad is a guitarist and has been playing for over 50
years so it has been in my blood since early on in my life. One of my
most vivid early memories is sitting with headphones on listening to
Black Sabbath and Cream, particularly their song “Politician”.
Chris:
Bob covered that for me. We grew up with it. Our dad actually played
on the last record, and will probably show up again.
7
– Where does the name GHOLAS come from. Any particular meaning
behind it.
Bob:
So Gholas comes from Frank Herbert’s writing in Dune. A Ghola is
much like a clone in that they are an individual grown from the cells
of another individual. The difference between a clone and a ghola is
that a ghola is grown from the dead cells of an individual and they
retain the sum knowledge and experience of the life of the previous
individual rather than being a blank slate. In a way it is like
reincarnation except the person is the same person and gets to live
life again picking up from the day that they died.
We
named the band Gholas because the band was kind of a continuation of
what our previous bands were doing while also incorporating other
things. Gholas is the sum of its past lives.
8
– You have read our review of your excellent new album. How would
you best describe your new album.
Bob:
Angry, paranoid, isolated, detached and a bit closer to my vision for
the band. It is not perfect, but nothing in life ever is. Warts and
all, I am proud of this record.
Chris:
I think this one is more straightforward than the last. More
accessible in that regard, but more abrasive too, which might catch
people off-guard.
9
– Was it an easy or hard album to write and record for. As you have
included a ton of brilliant and baffling ideas which even I have a
hard time to understand. Was that the idea behind this album as it
also took me a while to understand your debut album Загадка –
which I love as well.
Bob:
I am a firm believer that nothing in life worth doing is ever easy.
There were definite challenges recording the record, but in many
ways, I believe that the band overcame many of the issues of
recording, though it cost us mentally and physically. At one point
while doing vocals, I did black out and fall in the vocal booth as a
result of the physical strain of doing the vocals. I have never been
more physically exhausted in regards to recording music. Writing wise
I tried to simplify my approach for the songs in a lot of way to be a
much more compact and direct while also making dense record full of
sound, kind of like an extreme variation of Phil Spector’s “Wall
Of Sound” recording approach; at least, this was my aim.
Chris:
There were some frustrating moments in the studio, we kept pushing
ourselves. There are times we use the studio to our advantage, but
there are times where we still go old school with no click-tracks or
anything. All those off-time pauses and things were still played that
way, as often as possible. We also get tough on each other, and make
sure no one moves forward until everyone is happy.
10
– So where did the name for the new album came from. Litanies. Any
particular meaning or reasoning behind it.
Bob:
The album is a concept album dealing with themes and imagery from
Frank Herbert’s original Dune trilogy. Litanies comes from the idea
that the “Litany Against Fear” (I must Fear, Fear is the mind
killer…) was one of several in the books and that our album was a
collection of said litanies.
11
– Are you pleased with the final version of the album that is being
released. Would you change anything about it.
Bob:
Yes, I am pleased. There are several things that I would like to
change, but I doubt that even if given the opportunity I would have
the energy to revisit recording this album.
Chris:
I love the album, I really do. Being there the whole process I can
hear things that most people won't, but i still get pumped when I
listen.
12
– What is the songwriting process in the band. Is it a group
process or is it down to one individual.
Bob:
This varies, though usually the impetus starts from a guitar riff
from me or Chris and we build up from there. Now, from time to time
there have been other methodologies; but this is the most consistent
way.
Chris:
Like Bob said, it usually starts with a riff, and usually from Bob.
Most of the rest comes naturally.
13
– Do you guys gig a lot in your hometown or do you have to travel
further afield to perform regularly.
Bob:
We used to play more regularly, but due to some circumstances we
really have not played live with any regularity in a few years. That
is changing as we are fully supporting this record as much as we
possibly can. Gholas is something that we do for fun as all of us
have careers and some of us have families.
14
– In 5 words or less what is the live GHOLAS experience like.
Bob:
From my personal perspective, cathartic.
Chris:
Noise-Song-Feedback-Song- Repeat.
15
– What is you live equipment setup when performing live. You must
have some complex setup as GHOLAS sound is very progressive in
nature.
Bob:
mine is very simple. I plug my guitar into my amp and play and scream
my head off. I use no pedals or effects in Gholas.
Chris:
I'm always swapping things out on my pedal board. What I use for
distortion now isn't what i used to record, I'm always experimenting
with something new. I have a stereo delay, stereo reverb, and that
goes to 2 different amps through 2 different cabs. It's still fairly
standard.
16
– The album is being released on Dullest Records. How did you hook
up with them. A really cool label that's recently started to interest
me.
Dave:
We've been friendly with the owners of the label for a while through
the local(ish) scene. They put out great stuff and when we were
ready to release "Litanies" we approached them and they
were happy to help release it. Pretty simple, but we're really
excited to be working with them and they're excited to be working
with us, so its a good pairing.
17
– Are there any plans to release the album on Vinyl as it would
make a great sounding record on vinyl.
Bob:
We would love to release everything we do on vinyl as we love the
format and actually record what we do in a way that the records would
fit onto sides of LPs and what not; for instance Litanies is just
under 40 minutes with around 20 minutes a side, which is almost the
perfect length for a single LP. We just do not have the money nor the
resources to do a vinyl release.
18
– What is your verdict on the whole crowd-funding scene currently
going on. Are you a fan of this medium and would yourselves ever go
down this route.
Bob:
Crowd funding is a mixed bag. On one hand, I wholeheartedly support
how Michael Gira and Swans funds their albums; while on the other the
proliferation of such is insane and not well thought out by the
majority of people and bands. Also, there have been several notable
failures to deliver on the offerings with a crowd-funded endeavor
where the people just pocket the cash. We are such a small group that
crowd funding would not help us really.
Chris:
I've supported a few things through kickstarter, but for myself? I'd
probably never do it. I'd rather work for it.
19
– If you could give any advice to someone wanting to start a band.
What helpful advice would you give them.
Chris:
Not that I am qualified to give anybody advice, but I'd say don;t get
hung up on any one style in particular. Just play.
20
– Finally, Thanks for talking to us here at Sludgelord HQ. Do you
have anything to say to your fans.
Bob:
Thanks for listening to our racket.
Chris:
Thanks everyone.
Thanks
to Gholas for taking time out to talk to us at Sludgelord HQ. Best of
luck with the new album – Litanies – as it's seriously a thought
provoking brilliant album.
Check
The Band From Links Below.
Interview written by Steve Howe
