Obviously we said yes as the chance to have some vinyl out and to share it with some incredible bands was too good to pass up. When it came to recording tracks for the vinyl (which came out on Ripple in April 2011 as Heavy Ripples Volume 1 double 7”), we decided to record an album’s worth of tracks and see what we could do with them…at that point we hadn’t discussed doing an album for Ripple but after the first day of recording they asked if they could put the album out as well…and here we are looking at doing a second album!!! 

 

As a label though they’re everything you could hope for, their growth trajectory has been on a consistent upward path, they’re unbelievably enthusiastic and passionate about their bands and music in general, they have good business sense and they’re loyal as all hell with a real view on helping bands to develop and grow. Plus Todd and John are both awesome, lovely guys.

Q8 – What has been the reception like to your live gigs. Has it all been good responses. Any major live highlights so far. (I saw you guys perform an excellent performance when supporting Orange Goblin earlier this year).

At the risk of sounding big headed…and I really don’t mean to…the response to our live shows is always pretty amazing. Even if we play to crowds who don’t really know who we are we always seem to win them round and get a great reaction. I’m not sure why this is. Maybe it’s because we actually engage with the crowd and try to get some sort of rapport going with them rather than staring at our feet plus, playing the style of music we play, it makes us want to move and we’re passionate about it and I think that sheer enjoyment comes across to an audience.

Gig highlights? There have been loads. Obviously the Orange Goblin tour was incredible, we had a total blast and were really taken aback at how good the reactions were every night…people chanting the band’s name…etc. Headlining the Black Heart stage at Desertfest was also a killer gig as was playing the Freak Valley open air festival in Germany. In 9 years worth of playing gigs we’ve been lucky enough to play with some incredible bands and play some killer shows.

Q9 – Do you get many gigs in your home. Or do you have to travel around a lot.

We could get a lot more gigs at home if we wanted but we prefer to spread them out so we don’t burn out the local crowd. We’d rather make the hometown gigs a bit more special and get other quality bands on than just do everything that’s going. It is difficult there though as venues have taken a hammering and so many have disappeared but a few people are still flying the flag and keeping it alive. Most of our gigs are further afield. We prefer to do that as it’s more fun for us to get in the van, have a road trip and get to play to new crowds and meet different people/bands.

Q10 – Does your family and friends support your band.

Our families are tremendously supportive. Phil and I are both married with kids and the band sometimes takes us away from them but they put up with it all and are very proud of what we do. Apparently I’m some kind of hero at my eldest daughter’s school!!! 

 

Q11 – What is your opinion of the current state of the UK Sludge/Stoner Metal scene. Great bands coming through. Not enough cool venues across the UK to put them on.

There are some amazing bands who are working very hard to put out quality releases and gig as much as possible and keep the scene afloat. Venue/promoter wise it’s a lot harder but there are some that keep things going and they do seem to be able to put on good gigs and get good turnouts so there is definitely a scene there to build upon. It helps when magazines like Metal Hammer devote an entire cover mounted CD to up and coming UK bands of this genre as they did recently as it shows that people are taking notice. It would be great of there were more venues and promoters who could pay the bands for the travel…etc but I’m hoping it’ll pick up slowly.

Q12 – What are your fave bands around at the moment. Any new ones you can recommend for ourselves to check out.

Of the UK bands we have some amazing talent here. Mother Corona from Oxford have released an amazing album and the new Alunah album is incredible. General are band from Birmingham who’s new album has just come out on Catacomb Records and is a real killer , they have an awesome vocalist. Other ones to watch are Desert Storm from Oxford, Steak from London, Undersmile from Oxford, Smoke Pilot (formerly Medamaki) from Evesham, Trippy Wicked and the Cosmic Children of the Knight and Stubb from St Albans, XII Boar from Aldershot, Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell from Hastings…the list goes on.

On an international scale Ape Machine from the States are incredible, they have 2 self released albums out and are hooking up with someone very cool for the next album. We’re hoping to get them over to tour next year. Also The Lord Fowl album on Small Stone is a killer. I also have to give mention to our label mates Stone Axe, Mos Generator and Mighty High from across the pond for all releasing amazing stuff and our buddies in Sun Gods In Exile. Also check out Doctor Cyclops from Italy who have a new album out now on World In Sound…we toured with them in Europe and they totally rule. Finally check out Bushfire from Germany who have a killer sound and amazing front man.

Q13 – What are the most and least rewarding aspects of participating with the band.

The most rewarding are things like writing a killer song in practice and the buzz that we get from that, playing awesome gigs to amazing crowds and meeting new friends, getting amazing feedback for our album…etc. The downside is having to deal with all the business stuff and stressing about being able to afford to do stuff…we’d like to do a video but that costs, we have a new album to record and that costs…etc. Trying to get gigs that will at least cover petrol costs. It would be great to have someone on board who could deal with all that stuff for us so we can concentrate on the music as the bigger the band gets the more that side of things takes over. We’re getting there though, we’re building a good team.

Q14 – What is your view of bands and blogs giving away music for free. Lot of bands and people have different perspectives.

This is a tough one. I’m guilty of downloading stuff myself …though it tends to be older obscure hard to find stuff or stuff I already have on vinyl though I have grabbed downloads of other stuff to check out. It is certainly one way of spreading music far and wide and getting bands heard and I don’t think any band will turn their noses up at an increased fan base…it’s particularly rewarding when you get positive feedback from people about your stuff. On the other hand, being in a band is a huge financial commitment, similarly running a label, and bands need to make a return on their investment into their music to be able to continue doing it and illegal downloading does draw income away from the bands and labels so people downloading everything are running the risk of killing the industry. 

 

I was talking to someone the other day who boasted that he never paid for music…great…if everyone thought and acted like that no-one would be able to afford to record and release stuff, and then where would you be? Free music is a great idea as long as it is kept under control…we have free stuff on our Bandcamp page but we’d rather people bought the album in some format, either CD or digital…partly so we can afford to keep going and partly for the sake of our label who have made a big commitment to us.

Q15 – What advice or words of wisdom would you give to upcoming bands and musicians who are about to start a Sludge/Doom/Stoner Rock Band.

Make sure you have decent gear so you can get a decent sound from the off…stop using Matamps and Big Muff pedals, everyone has that sound now, you need to stand out. Also, don’t set out trying to be a stoner/doom/sludge band. Listen to a range of stuff and play what feels right to you not what you think will fit into a scene…don’t just copy your heroes as you won’t stand out from the pack and people like sincerity and a touch of originality. If you write a riff that sound like a dead ringer for Fu Manchu or whoever then bin it or rework it into something of your own. It’s a hugely over populated market and you need something to stand out…don’t forget all modern rock music springs from the blues, go back and listen to the source.

Q16 – Finally what are the future plans for the band. Do you have more tours planned or new releases we should be aware of.

We’re constantly working. At them moment we’re writing songs for album number two, we have nearly 7 songs in the bag now and we’ll look to maybe get another 3-4 written before we plan to head in and record. We’ve road tested some of the songs and the response to them has been amazing so we’re confident the album will be pretty strong. Ripple want to release the album and we have some plans to give it plenty of promo like shooting a video…etc Also Ripple have grown hugely as a label since the first one and will be able to make a bigger splash when this one drops. 

 

We’re always looking for gigs and aim to do at least 1-2 a month to keep our hand in, we’re slowly building a team of people to help us book gigs as well. As I mentioned we’re also looking to bring Ape Machine over for a tour next year and hopefully get back over to Europe…we have some people talking about helping us with some stuff over there. Our buddies in Doctor Cyclops are also looking to come over for a few shows and there is a plan to get over to Italy to play with them. The Grifter machine is rolling but everything in good time…it’s a long old slog but we’re up for it.

Well guys thanks for answering these questions. All the best from all of us at Sludgelord.

Thanks again to Lee from The Sleeping Shaman for setting up this interview for me. Much appreciated dude.”

 

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