INTERVIEW: Shadow Woods Festival founder Mary Spiro

By: Mark Ambrose

Last September, hundreds of metal fans took to White Hall, Maryland for the third, and what was quite possibly the final, Shadow Woods Metal Festival.  A three day mashup of camping, workshops, and, most importantly, true underground heavy metal of all stripes, it has quietly become one of the most highly regarded music experiences by those lucky enough to have attended.  When I spoke with festival founder, overseer, music writer (at www.metallomusikum.com) and all around genre veteran Mary Spiro, she was content to lay the Shadow Woods experiment to rest for the time being.  However, in the last year, despite venue changes, date and lineup adjustments, and the myriad headaches of producing a truly independent festival (i.e. NO corporate sponsorships), Shadow Woods IV returns to White Hall Maryland this September 13-16.  Today, THE SLUDGELORD finally presents our interview with Mary from last year’s festivities, as well as her top reasons for attending this year’s festival.

Sl: What made you decide to undertake the massive effort to create a festival like this THREE times, let alone once?

Mary Spiro: Sheer stupidity.  I had attended Stella Natura in 2013.  I had always liked the idea of listening to music outside anyway.  Years ago I had attended a bluegrass festival that had camping and bluegrass in Winfield, KS.  Stella Natura was a nice experience except the year I went it snowed in the middle of it.  Which is still held in September but it snowed in Tahoe National Forest so they lost a day there.  My original idea for this wasn’t something as big as this.  It was more, “Don’t I know somebody who potentially has some property who would let me set up some bands?” or someone with a barn… Just a kind of DIY kind of thing.  Apparently, I don’t know anybody like that so I started hunting around for campsites that you could rent in their entirety.  I just thought it would be fun to get a few bands together.  The tipping point came when I realized I wasn’t going to get this property for a low amount of money.  In order to draw enough people to pay for the expensive property, I was going to have to get bigger bands.  I had done shows in regular venues, but to have an outdoor thing… over the course of eighteen months of planning it just became evident it was going to be a lot more expensive than I’d realized.  You end up realizing you have to get a band that is going to attract a lot more people.  So Midnight was like the Holy Grail band for the first year and we got them!  Every year I feel like the lineup has been amazing.

SL: You said elsewhere that this is an experiment that has run its course.  Has it become too much of a logistical nightmare or do you see it as something you could scale back on?  What’s the future of Shadow Woods?

MS: It’s a number of things.  Superficially, this property is for sale.  If the people who buy it don’t want to host it, that’s a major issue.  Logistically, it is very time consuming and I have a full-time job.  I do this for fun.  I’m not trying to make a name for myself, I’m trying to have fun.  I’m trying to recreate an experience I had at other outdoor music festivals and do it in a way that was appealing to me.  I just literally did it for myself [laughs].  But there’s also another thing… it takes a while for anything to catch on, but I’ve just kind of been amazed that people who live within 30 or 40 minutes aren’t willing to just come out for the day.  They can go home and sleep in their own beds, they don’t have to camp!  And metalheads, American metalheads don’t seem to be very hearty.  They like their creature comforts and hairdryers.  This, to me, seems like backyard camping, while Stella Natura was very rustic.  There were no showers, no running water.  It was rough.  We were in the mountains and then it got cold and it snowed.  And then with the bluegrass festival it was very rustic.  I think it had centralized bathhouses but there were no showers.  And it wasn’t in a very pretty place.  But this is like backyard camping!  There are electrical outlets! 

SL: The setting here is so idyllic, too.

MS: Yeah I’ve come to understand maybe metalheads aren’t all that hearty and just want to go to a fest and stay in a hotel, like Death Fest.  I’ve heard there are some camping fests in the Midwest, like Minnesota.  I guess I was just surprised… We’ve got bands that are singing about nature and trees and shit and people aren’t willing.  Come on, now.  But the local people not willing to come out is just weird to me.  I’m surprised that more people haven’t come, but maybe my expectations are too high.

SL: What do you see as your comfortable level of involvement going forward?  Or are you just focused on getting through this weekend?

MS: I’m hit up all the time by bands who want to do shows in the Baltimore area, and if I like the band I’ll do it, and if I don’t I pass it off to someone more interested.  I’ll still do shows and maybe something like this on a much smaller scale, like on a Friday to Saturday, but it is so expensive.  And I have lost money.  The first two years I’ve lost quite a bit of money so I have to catch up on that.  But on the other hand I’ve had private individuals contribute a lot of money.  So that’s shocking to me that people would be willing to do that sort of thing.

What were your “gateway bands” for heavy music?

MS: So, I’m very old.  I’m 53 years old.  I’ve been listening to music of all kinds for a really long time.  The original band when I was 13 was KISS.  Is that corpsepaint?  I don’t know.  And I got into Metallica when they were popular, when they were coming around in the 80s.  I’ve went along with it, but I also had a family and raised kids and had to scale back my involvement.  In the last ten years… Enslaved, I’m a big fan.  I love Craft.  And I like very unusual bands like Oranssi Pazuzu.  I like anything that catches my eye.

I think something that’s very interesting to me, a lot of people when they go to music festivals want to see all their favorite bands in one place.  The concept of Shadow Woods was always the opposite of that.  This is where you come to learn about new bands you’ve never heard of before that you didn’t know about.  I think that particular strategy is very difficult for a lot of people.  They think, “Why would I go see a bunch of bands I don’t know?”  I think there are a lot people who aren’t willing to discover new music like that.

SL: For people willing to discover, you end up getting a lot of excellent stuff.  I had never heard Sloth Herder or Erlkonig before but you put them on an equal footing with bands like Panopticon or Vastum or Woe and suddenly I’ve found two great bands I would have never discovered before this weekend, even with all the stuff we get at the site.

MS: It’s selfish really [laughs].  These are all bands I wanted to see.  I think what’s also cool is I’ve made lifelong friends.  There are people here who think like me about music.

With Shadow Woods IV on the horizon, Mary also took the time to send me her top 3 reasons to attend this year’s festival:

MS: 1. Discover new music. 2. New music handpicked from the best of the underground. Not necessarily trendy or trending but great bands. 3. The "camp" atmosphere. People unleash at SWMF. They reclaim the wildness of childhood and can do so without judgement because everyone is doing it.

The End

Shadow Woods IV opens September 13 at Camp Hidden Valley in White Hall, Maryland.  This year’s acts include Abigail Williams, Xasthur, Cloak, Wolf King, Imperial Triumphant, Ghost Bath, Heavy Temple and many, many more.  

INTERVIEW: Dylan Garrett Smith at Shadow Woods Metal Fest, September 14/17, 2017

By: Mark Ambrose

From September 14-17, hundreds of metal fans descended on White Hall, Maryland for a weekend of camping, music, and generic mayhem at the third annual Shadow Woods Metal Fest.  THE SLUDGELORD was on the scene and managed to snag a few interviews with performers, artists, and the people behind this unique, amazing musical event.  As part of our coverage, we conducted an e-mail interview with artist Dylan Garrett Smith, who designed the official Shadow Woods Metal Fest logo and has worked with dozens of bands in the metal scene – from genre superstars to underground darlings.

Could you introduce yourself and offer a quick bio?  What media do you work in?

My name is Dylan Garrett Smith and I’m an artist/illustrator/designer living in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania.  For my illustrations, I primarily use ashes, chalk-lead, and ink on black cotton-rag paper, but I have also used (and continue to occasionally use) the ashes of a burnt church as a drawing material or mixed into my ink when I’m screen printing posters.  I attended the first year of Shadow Woods and had an absolute blast – I met a lot of people, I discovered a lot of bands I hadn’t heard of, and saw some bands that I already really liked, so last year, I decided to go back as a vendor and sell my prints, patches, and pins.  After last year, Mary contacted me and asked if I was interested in doing the poster and shirt design for this year – I said, “Hell yeah!” and got to work!

Could you highlight some of the musicians/bands who you've created artwork for and what that process is like?

I’ve created art for Mastodon, Baroness, Sodom, All Pigs Must Die, Early Graves, The Funeral Pyre, Wildspeaker, High Priest, Of Feather and Bone, Old Wounds, and literally dozens of others.   Whenever I create anything for bands, whether they’re as big as Baroness or a band putting merch together for their first tour, I always sit down with their records and take them in; listen to the songs, read the lyrics, and get a feel for what they’re about.  From there, I start sketching – and most of the time, no one will see the first or second sketches because I’m just putting information down and figuring things out.  But once I have a sketch that shows a more solid idea of the concept that I’m working with, I’ll send it over to them to check out and if they like where it’s going, I begin working up the final image.

In what ways does music influence your creative process? Do you have "go to" bands or albums when working?

Absolutely – some of my favorite records to listen to in my studio are “Torn Beyond Reason” by Woods of Desolation, “Burning for the Ancient” and “…and the lamps expire” by Addaura, and “The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull” by Earth.  These records are some of my favorites of all time and perfect for me to listen to while working because I’m able to reach this calm state of relaxation (which is otherwise extremely rare for me) where I’m not actively thinking about anything – I can just work.

Are there any artists, visual or otherwise, who distinctly influenced your style, medium, or process?

There are literally dozens of artists whose work has been influential to me not only finding my own voice as a creative, but that continue to inspire me still.  Paul Romano, Pushead, Jeremy Hush, Seldon Hunt, Florian Bertmer, all of the incredible artists working with The Vacvvm – and a ton of others, but I also think that rather than a single artist, the most influential thing in every aspect of my life and my creative growth has been growing up in punk.  My work ethic, problem-solving skills, aesthetic, political views, lifestyle, outlook, and everything else came from growing up in the DIY punk scene.

There have been several blogs and articles calling attention to appropriated or "repurposed" artwork, generally taken without credit to the original artist, specifically in the world of "music artwork". Could you speak a little about the current attention to this issue and your feelings on artistic credit in general?

It’s always a bummer when I see an artist not getting the credit that they deserve – whether that’s from a band using art without permission, another artist claiming someone’s work as their own, or a publication posting about a new album without mentioning who designed it.  Do your own work, praise the people that are doing cool things, and credit your artists.  Always.

Who was your "must see" act going into Shadow Woods? Who was a pleasant new discovery for you?

Going into the third year of Shadow Woods, the bands I absolutely needed to see were Panopticon, Woe, Withered, and Black Table.  All of them exceeded my expectations – they were phenomenal.  But a few bands that I had never checked out that I really enjoyed were Night Raids, Erlkonig, Voarm, Infera Bruo, and Worthless.  Overall, Human Bodies was the most exciting discovery for me – I’ve been listening to them nonstop since being home.  And if you’ve never seen Heavy Temple, make it a priority!

Finally, where can fans view and purchase your work? Feel free to promote any musical/film/literary/etc. projects you're involved in as well.

My work is available on my site, www.dylangarrettsmith.com as well as various shops, galleries, bands, and brands around the country (and a few others).  The best way to stay up-to-date on my creative endeavors is to follow me on Instagram at @dylanxvx.  Thank you for taking the time to check out my work!

INTERVIEW: Woe at Shadow Woods Metal Fest, September 14 – 17 2017

By: Mark Ambrose

From September 14-17, hundreds of metal fans descended on White Hall, Maryland for a weekend of camping, music, and generic mayhem at the third annual Shadow Woods Metal Fest.  THE SLUDGELORD was on the scene and managed to snag a few interviews with performers, artists, and the people behind this unique, amazing musical event.  As part of our coverage, we sat down with Chris Grigg (guitar and lead vocals) and Grzekiek Czapla (bass) of Brooklyn black metal powerhouse Woe before their set on Saturday, September 16.  Chris and Grzekiek took a few minutes to discuss their new album, “Hope Attrition”, their new label Vendetta Records, and the future of Woe after a lengthy hiatus and lineup changes.



What are your thoughts on Shadow Woods so far?

Grzekiek: Really cool fest, cool people, organized as FUCK.  The bands are sick.  I’m really happy to be here.

You recently put out “Hope Attrition”, your first release with Matt Mewton (guitars) and Lev Weinstein (drums).  What’s the difference with their presence in the band as opposed to your prior releases?

Chris: They were super on top of shit.  This was the smoothest recording.

G: The most prepared that we’ve ever been for an album.

C: Not to say that people in the past were unprepared but this was just very low stress.  It was also the first album since the very first one that I didn’t record on my own.  So that was very helpful that I didn’t record shit.

G: Oh yeah!  Chris didn’t record this one!

C: Thank fucking god.

Who were you working with in the studio?

C: Stephen DeAcutis in Edison, NJ – he recorded Evoken [2007 “Caress of the Void”], Disma.

G: Legend!

C: Amazing studio, amazing engineer.  Sick dude.  But Matt and Lev rule! Grzekiek rules!

G: Probably, hopefully this is the band.

C: It fucking better be.

So it feels nice and secure for now?

G: It feels forever.

There was a pause between 2013’s “Withdrawal” and this.  What were you working on in the meantime?

C:  Mostly I wasn’t playing music.  I took a lot of time off for life things.  G was doing life things.

G:  We were completely in communication.  Best friends, hang out.  We just weren’t playing. 

C:  He was doing other band stuff.  I switched careers and really just needed a bit of a break.  I was pretty burnt out.  And a nice thing about not having to depend on it to make money we have the flexibility of saying, “Yeah, we’re not gonna do it.”  I got healthier – I’m not like a totally depressed, anxious person, the way I used to be.  I just took some time to be a better person and hit restart on the whole project.

This is your first album with Vendetta Records.  How has that relationship been so far?

C: Amazing.  AMAZING.  Stefan [Klose] is the coolest fucking dude.

G:  The first label we worked with where it felt like they are on our side.

C:  Totally, all the time.

G:  They are an awesome label and are successful because of it.

Who are you looking forward to seeing today?

G:  Motherfucking VASTUM.  And yesterday, Human Bodies blew me away.

C:  We kind of want them to just play our set for us.

What do you do in your non-Woe time?

C:  I’m a developer – code.

G:  I’m a geologist.

2 parts Woe, 1 part SLUDGELORD

Are you guys multitasking with any other projects?

C:  Matt and I have a new band called Death Icon – just raging, thrashy black metal.  I’m drumming for that.  Back on the kit.  I did the first Woe album and had a grindcore album with my friends Unrest a few years ago with the guys from Crypt Sermon.  NAME DROP! 

G:  Alright with the name drops.

C: Ok I can keep going.

G: Sonja – we’re a three piece.  We fucking rule – fucking absurdly rule.  With Melissa Moore and Ben Brand.  Sisters of Mercy meets Type O Negative meets Manowar and Judas Priest.  Classic rock, just heavy metal.

C:  Heavy metal with like a goth, dark, deathrock vibe.  I would quit my job and move back to Philly to play bass – no, second guitar.  Everyone who hears it wants to be in this band.

And are there any events you want to promote?

C:  We’re playing with Nails and Couch Slut in Brooklyn on November 18

G: Much respect to THE SLUDGELORD!

The End

Band info: facebook || bandcamp

INTERVIEW: Artist Rebecca Magar, AKA Wailing Wizard at Shadow Woods Metal Festival September 14-17, 2017

By: Mark Ambrose

First, please introduce yourself to our readers and maybe give a brief overview of your work - what media you're using, where you're located, and how you became involved with Shadow Woods Metal Fest.

My name is Rebecca Magar (a.k.a. Wailing Wizard) and I hail from Yoe, Pennsylvania! I’m a traditional artist working with acrylics, oils, pastels, pencil, charcoal and pen/ink. I was introduced to Shadow Woods through my husband’s band The Owls A.N.W.T.S. (who played both the first and current years). I have been fortunate to be able to attend this incredible event all three years!

Could you highlight some of the musicians/bands who you've created artwork for and what that process is like?

Some of the bands I have produced commissioned and licensed work for include Tengger Cavalry, Wrath of Typhon, The Owls A.N.W.T.S., Layr, Misconductors, Ursprung, Night & Ooo. I’ve also had the pleasure of working on book covers, shirts, posters, and private commissions. It’s is always a fantastic experience working with bands because they understand the creative process so well. I think a good album cover really starts with the music and the band's own ideas or feelings about what they created. I like to take those ideas and visualize/expand on them starting with a concept sketch and eventually progressing to a finished piece. It’s a wonderful amalgamation of musical and visual concepts!

"Blue Wizard" was used on the Tengger Cavalry single, “A Blade of Time”

In what ways does music influence your creative process? Do you have "go to" bands or albums when working?

If I’m working on a commissioned piece for a band, I usually listen to their music during the conceptual phase. I’m all over the map with my musical preferences, but when I paint, I specifically like to listen to things that are slow, dark and folky (these sounds inspire all kinds of visuals for me). Right now, I keep The Hare And The Moon, Ursprung, Albatwitch, Sun and Moon Dance, Bound for the Ground and Wardruna on a constant loop. I think I might add Foehammer into the mix as well (this year at SWMF was my first time hearing them, and I loved it! Also, I paint at about the same speed they play).

Are there any artists, visual or otherwise, who distinctly influenced your style, medium, or process?

I was actually brought up in a fairly strictly religious homeschooled environment. Though I’ve always painted and made art, I didn’t initially have any influencers outside of my own teenage angst and sadness (simply because I wasn’t given any real exposure to the arts). I’ve always loved painting and drawing dark fantasy themes and animals, so these naturally made their way into my work, but over the last few years I really took an interest in exploring other artist’s work and trying to learn/expand on my own understanding of art. Right now, I’m particularly excited by Artuš Scheiner, Arthur Rackham, and Brom.

“Hearth” is the artwork for The Owls Are Not What They Seem, “Hearth”

There have been several blogs and articles calling attention to appropriated or "repurposed" artwork, generally taken without credit to the original artist, specifically in the world of "music artwork". Could you speak a little about the current attention to this issue and your feelings on artistic credit in general?

I have mixed feelings on this subject. I think I would be lying to myself if I didn’t admit that I’m influenced by things that I see, hear, or read on a daily basis. I think people do their best work when they are expanding on these influencers, and as a whole, this is how art movements evolve. However, there is a very distinct difference between taking inspiration from someone’s work and completely appropriating it. I think if you are directly copying another artist’s work you should definitely give them the proper credit. I personally would not directly copy anyone’s work unless it was just for the purpose of experimentation and practice. Profiting from appropriated work feels morally wrong. On the flip-side though, I am always disappointed when a well-known artist complains about younger emerging artists mimicking their work - it really is a form of flattery, and if you have reached the pinnacle of success, it seems you should have better things to do than to chastise your own fans.

Who was your "must see" act going into Shadow Woods? Who was a pleasant new discovery for you?

I’m going to go ahead and be predictable by saying The Owls Are Not What They Seem (I’ve been waiting all year to actually see their full set!). I was extremely impressed by Panopticon, and Foehammer (Bearstorm was a big surprise for me too). I have a soft spot for folk/acoustic sets too (Take to the Woods and Dee Calhoun were a great start to Thursday night). Can I just go ahead and vote for all the bands?

“Two of Wands” is the tarot card for the Dark Art Tarot Project.

Finally, where can readers view and purchase your work?

I have a profile on pretty much every social media site that exists, but the best places to see updated information are on my website at here, or from my Facebook page at here. I sell prints, shirts, jewelry, original art, and other oddities online and at select events or exhibits.

I recently had the honor of contributing a tarot card to a collaborative tarot deck featuring 78 different artist’s work. The Dark Art Tarot Project was successfully funded on Kickstarter a few months ago and is going into production soon. If you are in Seattle, WA from now until October 8th you can check out the original Two of Wands painting I did for this deck (along with a whole collection of incredible Tarot art) at the Ghost Gallery’s "The Art of Tarot II" exhibit. I’ll also be vending at Albatwitch Festival in Columbia, PA on October 14th.

More info: official || facebook

INTERVIEW: Night Raids at Shadow Woods Metal Festival September 14-17, 2017

By: Mark Ambrose

From September 14-17, hundreds of metal fans descended on White Hall, Maryland for a weekend of camping, music, and generic mayhem at the third annual Shadow Woods Metal Fest.  THE SLUDGELORD was on the scene and managed to snag a few interviews with performers, artists, and the people behind this unique, amazing musical event.  As part of our coverage, we sat down with Philadelphia grind-thrash-metal-punk duo Night Raids, who delivered a blistering set, highlighting tracks from their self-titled debut and latest release, “Servants of the Scablord”.  Vocalist/guitarist Worm Vomit and drummer Jazzy Bonehead shared their thoughts on the festival, the balance of work and music, and their commitment to DIY.

You guys manage to pull off a surprisingly full sound in your live set despite the two-man (guitar and drums) setup.  Was the dynamic a matter of choice or necessity?

WV: I think it started off as a matter of convenience and then we grew to embrace some of the limitations of a two man group.  It makes it easy to write songs, too.

Your latest 7 inch, “Servants of the Scablord”, came out in March. What’s the timeframe for the next release?

WV: We recorded on a four-track and we’re gonna have it out before the end of the year.  Hopefully December.  We’re gonna put it out on tape and it’ll have a few more tracks than “Scablord…” – maybe six tracks total.

JB: Some new songs and we also revisit some stuff from our first cassette release.  We’re constantly developing and from playing so often the songs just get honed.

Tell me a little about Scum Cult – the label that you use to put out your DIY releases.  Are YOU Scum Cult?

WV: Scum Cult is actually an old thing that was started by some old bands that were associated with our house and us.  So we’re PART of it and there isn’t anything else coming out on it right now.  There was an old, Flipper-style punk band called Deep Possum that was probably the first thing that Scum Cult did.  Then a death-doom band Rorschach.  Our friends Spencer and Tiffany have a band, Hexer, that put some stuff out through Scum Cult before moving on to other labels.  It’s just our DIY outlet.

What do you see as the benefits of DIY?

WV: In the broad sense, the work ethic that we’re doing it all ourselves feeds into everything in terms of our rehearsal and our work schedules.  The way that we make the whole project strengthens the unit in an intangible way.

What is the civilian Night Raids life?  Are there any side projects you’re working on?

WV: We both have other music.  Jazzy is more active in terms of playing “out” at shows so I’ll let him talk about that.  We work jobs and that’s a big part of our band, too.  When we get to rehearsal it’s about getting out of that work week.  I’m a woodworker. 

JB: I work in the service industry so obviously there’s a lot of disgruntled attitude.  There’s a nice, venting component of Night Raids.

WV: We’re definitely a working band.

JB: Subcommandant Worm Vomit taught high school for seven years and that was during the [Pennsylvania Governor Tom] Corbett administration which was probably the worst time to teach.  That kind of stuff chews you up and spits you out.

WV: The music’s about our work days in some ways and just being in that grind.

This is your first Shadow Woods.  What are some bands you are specifically excited to see?

WV: I’m really psyched for Vastum.  Our homies in Dead in the Manger

JB: Heavy Temple are friends from Philadelphia so I’m excited about that.  I’m bummed that we missed out on Elagabalus who were playing when we were setting up.  We could hear them from the stage and their stuff is just so amazing.  Really cool.

WV: We’re also excited to hear a lot of new bands – new to us.

And finally what shows do you have coming up?

WV: We have a benefit show the day after Thanksgiving (November 24) in Trenton, New Jersey for hurricane relief and homelessness.  And we’re playing our friend’s record store in Philadelphia on Sunday, September 24.  It has a stage and stuff – R&D Records at 6^th and Dickinson.

The End

Thanks to Night Raids and Shannon Void of Perfect World Productions. This interview has been slightly edited for clarity.

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

INTERVIEW: Foehammer at Shadow Woods Metal Festival September 14-17, 2017

By: Mark Ambrose

From September 14-17, hundreds of metal fans descended on White Hall, Maryland for a weekend of camping, music, and generic mayhem at the third annual Shadow Woods Metal Fest.  THE SLUDGELORD was on the scene and managed to snag a few interviews with performers, artists, and the people behind this unique, amazing musical event.  In our first interview we sat down with Annandale, Virginia’s Foehammer, whose self-titled debut on Grimoire Records was one of the highlights of 2015.  With a new record on the way, Jay (bass/vocals), Ben (drums) and Joe (guitar) sat down to share their thoughts on the festival, the state of local music in Washington, D.C. and their plans for the immediate future.

This is your first Shadow Woods Metal Fest.  What’s your impression so far?

Jay: Super chill and really fun.

Ben: It’s fantastic and I wish I had come to the ones earlier.

Joe: Yeah it totally makes me wish I had caught the earlier ones.

What are the plans for the future?

Jay: So we did a record last year with Kevin Bernsten at Developing Nations Studio.  We got it mastered with James Plotkin of Khanate fame – semi-fame haha – and Australopithecus Records is putting it out.  We’re finishing up the vinyl details now.  It should be going off to the plant within the week.  So hopefully, by the end of the year we should be seeing that out.

Are you planning on any other physical formats or just vinyl?

Jay: Our plan for now is just vinyl and digital downloads.

What have been the current playlists for you guys?

Ben: The new Queens of the Stone Age is pretty awesome.  And the new Bloodclot, the hardcore band, the supergroup with Nick Oliveri and John Joseph, Joey Castillo and Todd Youth is REALLY good.  That’s like my favorite now.

Jay: I’m really hooked on this EP by this band Pregnancy out of Australia.  It’s really sick, nasty, vomitous, grinding shit.  I saw Secret Chiefs a couple weeks ago so they’ve been back in the playlist, and that’s just amazing, amazing stuff.  As well as that Dead Cross record.

Joe: Yesterday I listened to Ariel Pink’s “Before Today” – that’s not very metal at all but it’s amazing.  Lately I’ve been having a metal dry spell – I go through phases of that so I’ve been listening to a lot of different ethnic music.  A lot of Indian stuff, especially – oud players, guys like that.  And a lot of pop.  Stuff that makes me wanna chill.

Ben: The “electric years” of Miles Davis is on current play.

How was the Sunrot/God Root show at Atlas Brewing?

Ben: Oh my god – both so awesome.  Corpse Light too.  I said on my Facebook page that’s the heaviest show that I played or have been to this year.

Jay: We’re really good friends with Chris from Sunrot.  We did a tour with his other band, Thera Roya, last year.  We went down to Texas and back.  They also put out an amazing EP.

Ben: Love you guys!

A lot of bands have members multitasking – are you guys doing any other projects right now?

Jay: Ben and myself have another band, Black Dominia.  It’s bass, two drummers, saxophone and theremin.  It’s like heavy doom, psych, jazz.

Ben: One hundred percent improv.  Never the same song twice.

Joe:  I just started playing drums in a prog band very recently that’s Gong influenced.  It doesn’t really have a name right now.

Well we’ll keep our ears open for Joe from Foehammer’s latest prog project. 

You guys are located in the DC suburbs – what is the scene like there?

Jay: Most of the scene is in DC proper, but DC has always had a problem with keeping venues around.  It seems that venues that cater to underground bands don’t really stay around for more than a year or two.  You have your big clubs like Rock and Roll Hotel and Black Cat, but they don’t really put on too many doom or “our music” kind of shows.  Venues that do, don’t last too long.  Of course, Chris Moore does an amazing job.  I think a lot of credit is due to him building a scene in DC where there wasn’t really a cohesive scene for a long time, honestly.

Any upcoming shows or events that you want to hype?

Joe: We’re playing with The Sidebar in Baltimore on November 9 with Bell Witch, Primitive Man and Corpse Light.

Who are you looking forward to seeing here this weekend?

Ben: Woe and Vastum.

Jay: Black Table – I spent some time playing touring bass for them so I’m really excited to meet back up with them.  Vastum.  Panopticon.  Definitely Withered.

The End

This interview transcript has been slightly edited for clarity.  Thanks to the wonderful Shannon Void for setting up the interview and for being an all round badass.  Many thanks to Jay, Ben, and Joe. 

Band info: facebook |bandcamp