Today's
guest is Christian Hede Madsen Lead Vocalist and Guitarist from Pet The Preacher, who are about to release their best album to date with The Cave &
The Sunlight. Pet The Preacher have been making a name for themselves
over the last few years with their intense style of Doom, Hard Rock
and Stoner Metal.
They
have received rave reviews for their début album – The Banjo –
and subsequent EP's. But it's their new album where they prove to the
Stoner Metal world that they are a force to be reckoned with. Napalm
Records thinks so as well as they are currently signed to that great
label.
We recently reviewed this album and said the
following:
“The
album seems to flow consistently and fluidly with a slight build of
intensity from beginning to end. The deeper into the album the more
contorted and intense the music becomes. The ending carries a riff of
sunlight behind the western horizon with a florescent glow just as
the dawn of song one began the album. The Cave and The Sunlight team
together as a surreal combination of dark and light soundscapes in
heavy rock form. If you liked their previous material you will love
the new one, and if you're new to the band, this is certainly an easy
entry point as to what the Preacher feels like. Don't be scared, give
him a pet. He likes it behind his ears.”
It's
a freaking blast of great riffs from start to finish. So I am happy
to say that Pet The Preacher have kindly agreed to talk to us here at
Sludgelord HQ.
Q1
– Hi Christian. Thanks for doing this. How are things with you today.
Christian
Hede Madsen( CHM):
Everything
is good. Enjoying a coffee with a mild hangover haha. Thank you so
much for this interview. I have enjoyed The Sludgelord-site for quite
a while.
Q2
– Can you give a brief history of how the band came about and where
it is today.
CHM:
We met in another band-settling, but when I left, we formed Pet The
Preacher. After almost 3 years I can say that we are a heavy,
bluesNdoom rock band haha or something like that. We are still
finding our "sound" and exploring what this trio can really
achieve in the realm of hard rock.
Q3
– Now, lets talk about your excellent new album. We are huge fans
of it here at Sludgelord HQ. Was it an easy or hard album to record
for.
CHM:
First of all: thank you! It means the world to us that people
actually understand this record and what we want to do. This album
was a joy to make to be honest.
We
recorded it live, but wanted to go for a bigger and broader sound
than our previous stuff. More dynamic layers too. We were really
aware of making songs that fitted the album-format, but also worked
as singled out songs. We aimed to become way better songwriters than
before and I think we took a huge step forward with this record.
Q4
– Would you change anything about it or are you happy with the
final version that is being released.
CHM:
You always want to change some things, but that is only natural and a
sign that you are still progressing. BUT: we are very happy with the
way the album turned out. Both songwise and the overall feeling of
it. And the production is the best we have had. Jacob Bredahl did an
amazing job and our communication gets better and better for every
time. This time Brad Boatright did the mastering and it has made a
huge difference.
Tight
bottom-end, clarity and dynamics. In short: we got the right guys for
the job.
Q5
– What influenced you when writing and recording the album. Or did
you just focus on your own thing.
CHM:
I guess you are constantly influenced by what you see and hear. The
lyrics are a mix of philosophy, personal experience and just cool
sentences that I wanted to elaborate on. Very diverse, but always
with a kind of visual story behind them. At least that is what I
aimed for. The music we make is all about the mighty riff, groove and
the blues. This time we wanted to make sure the songs were actually
really good. Not just exercises in some form of stoner rock.
In
the studio we listened to ELDER, Down, Baroness and a lot of
Corrosion Of Conformity's " America's volume dealer"
because Bredahl introduced us to it, and that sound was a big
influence as well. Also we just returned from a tour w. Acid King
when we recorded the album, where we also played w. Eyehategod. That
was a huge influence as well. We wanted to become heavier. That was
important. And still is. Not just the sound, but also the riffs,
songwriting and overall feeling adds to the heaviness of the album I
think.
Q6
– You have read our review of your album. How would
you describe it yourselves.
CHM:
In short: A selection of songs with an edge. An album with many
textures by musicians who actually play their instruments and have a
message. And most important: Fierce heavy rock that will make you
bang your head and scream along to the lyrics....I hope haha.
Q7
– How would yourselves describe your overall sound.
CHM:
Heavy blues-infused rock music with a metal edge.
Q8
– You received a lot of praise for your début album. Were you
pleased with the reception that The Banjo received.
CHM:
That was kind of unexpected, because it is actually a weird record.
And at that point we were still new at writing songs and had not
found out in what direction we wanted to go.
It
was an exercise in the art of writing a concept album and it worked
out okay as a whole piece, but not all the songs are equally strong
to be honest. But it is important to keep progressing as a
songwriter. But when you release an album it is as much the
listener's as yours and I love it when people are in love with a song
that I think is barely "ok". Music is such a personal thing
and one opinion is as good as the next. It makes me happy to see the
music get a life of it's own.
Q9
– You're currently signed with Napalm Records. How did you guys
hook up with them as they seem to be the Doom/Stoner Metal label to
be as they have signed some truly fantastic acts over the last 12
months or so.
CHM:
It was a long process, where they saw us live and followed PTP for a
year or so. Our manager sorted out the details and after a long time,
they finally signed. We are proud and happy to release our album
under the Napalm Records umbrella. And proud that our friends in
Bilocation Records, who believed in us from the beginning, are
releasing a limited Golden vinyl as well.
Q10
– Who designed the excellent album cover. It's a brilliant design.
Did you have much input with overall design.
CHM:
When we played in Paris with Acid King, there was a who designed an
amazing poster for that show. That was Emy and she did the album
cover. She has Arrache Toi-Un Oeil with another guy and they are
fantastic. It is great that we can help to get their art out there.
Q11
– There seems to be a wealth of great bands coming from the Danish
Sludge/Doom/Stoner Metal scene with bands such as yourselves,
Hjortene, Slowjoint, Helhorse, Doublestone, Barricade and Rising to
name but a few. What is the scene like in Denmark at the moment. Any
more great bands that we should check out.
CHM:
It is difficult to talk about a "scene" in Denmark,
because all the bands you are mentioning are very different. But I do
agree that a lot of Danish bands are doing interesting things in a
lot of genres. If we could just stop comparing us to Sweden, we could
start looking for our own musical identity.
Well
I know a lot of the bands as friends so I might be a bit incompetent.
BUT I enjoy these: By The Patient, HEXIS, Ajuna, SEA, Förtress,
AntiRitual, RUINED, Iceage, Baby In Vain, Cacafogo, The Psyke
Project, Blaue Blume, MØ and a whole lot of others as well.
Q12
– Do you perform gigs on a regular basis in your home town or do
you have to travel further afield to perform regularly.
CHM:
we play more outside of Denmark, because our audience seems to
understand us really well there. And our label, manager and booking
are all outside of Denmark, so it makes sense. Especially Germany,
France and UK are good to us.
But
we try to play Denmark more and more now. But we need to build up an
audience.
Q13
– What is the song writing process in the band? Is it a group
collective or is just down to one individual.
CHM:
I write the lyrics and we tend to arrange the songs together. Whoever
has the best songwriting-idea or riff brings it to the table and we
work from there. The song and vision of the band is King, not our
egos.
Q14
– What are you thoughts on the crowd-funding scene where bands and
artists ask fans to help fund their latest album, tour or release.
Are you fans of this medium. Would yourselves ever go down this
route.
CHM:
Crowdfunding is a really good thing. It connects the artists with
their audience and that is good thing. It makes the artist grateful
and the audience loyal. We would have no second thoughts about trying
crowdfunding if the project was right.
Q15
– What is your live set-up when performing on stage. Any advanced
rigs or are you guys have a more straight forward set-up.
CHM:
We have really, really simple setups. A few pedals, tube-amps and
classic instruments. It is about what we do with it, because our
setup is oldschool and not complicated at all. There are some more
technical run throughs of our set ups out there ( on the net)
Q16
– Which bands and artists influenced you as musicians. Any
particular bands or albums that had a great impact on your life.
Torben(
bass) is all about Jimi Hendrix
Christian
Von Larsen( drums) grew up with Metallica.
I
still Believe Led Zeppelin is the best band ever.
But
the NOLA bands are also highly influential to us. COC, Eyehategod,
Crowbar and so on. The heavy riffs and the groove. Ofcourse Clutch is
an influence, as well as their influences: the blues( John Lee
Hooker, Howlin' Wolf, Son House, Freddie King, Albert King and so
on).
We
all have different musical tastes and we love all genres.
But
personally what I listen to the most these weeks are: Windhand,
Gojira, ASG, Yesterday&Today, Indian, In Solitude, Toxic
Holocaust, Conan and Behemoth.
Q17
– In 5 words or less, what is the live Pet The Preacher experience.
Intense,
rough, loud, heavy and groovy
Q18
- If you could give any advice to people wanting to start a band
what would it be.
CHM:
Play what you want!
Q19
- Apart from the new album what else do you have in store over the
next 12 months or so.
CHM:
writing album 3. And, hopefully: touring, touring, touring!
Q20
– And finally, do you have anything to say to your fans.
CHM:
You guys are the best and we can't wait to give you " The Cave &
The Sunlight". Hope you will learn to love it. Keep and eye on
our pages and bring all your friends to a show. Let's grab a beer and
enjoy life and the joy of heavy rock. Thanks again"
Well
guys thanks for doing this. Best of luck with the new album. It's an
excellent album.
Thanks
to Mona Miluski and Jon Freeman at Napalm Records for arranging this
interview. And to Christian for talking to us here at Sludgelord HQ.
Much appreciated everyone.
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Written
by Steve Howe
