Eyehategod are
Jimmy Bower, Mike Williams, Joe Lacaze, Danny Nick, Brian Patton
They have released
In The Name Of Suffering, 1992
Take As Needed For Pain, 1993
Dopesick, 1996
Southern Discomfort compilation of eps, outtakes, and singular tracks, 2000
Confederacy Of Ruined Lives, 2000
They will be releasing a split ep with Soilent Green and a live album.
I'm not
going to write an introduction to Eyehategod. Real grind freaks
should already know the deal by now. I'll simply say, they're
one of the five most important bands on the planet right now.
I talked to Jimmy
Bower about their new album'Confederacy Of Ruined Lives'
Where are you playing tonight and how has the Eyehategod comeback been recieved?
"At this place called the Shim Sham Club here in New Orleons. We got back home about a week and a half ago. That was part of the U.S. tour. It had been so long since we toured the States. We had a year and a half break- like a hiatus, you know. We broke up for a little while, well, we took a break. We were recieved well, and it made us feel really good to know that people were still behind Eyehategod out there. Actually we got better crowds than when we left, you know. I think a lot of bands in the last two to three years in our genre of music have done a lot of hard work. You've got bands like Electric Wizard, Orange Goblin, Spirit Caravan, Nebula helping out this whole genre of music. A lot of times people have linked us with those kind of bands but we are one of those bands, if you think about it. I guess it's stoner rock- I hate that name. Yeah, a lot of stoner rock type bands have done a lot of hard work and its paid off and it's opened the doors up for a lot of bands."
So are you glad to be home?
"Not really. When I come home, I'm broke."
What do you guys do when you come home? Do you become regular New Orleons guys or...?
"Well, we all work. We plan on touring a lot so it's really hard to try and find a job but everybody's got their little side job they do. I do production work for P.A. companies and Lighting companies. It's really hard considering that when you travel that much to find somebody that will give you a job. Catch 22, man."
But it's a sacrifice you're willing to make?
"Totally. But that's a sacrifice I have to make. Too far to turn back now."
So there's no inclination to returning to being a middleclass American?
"Fuck no. It won't work. We've been too programmed."
Do you guys still meet up in town?
"We're like best friends over here. New Orleons is like the biggest small town in the United States so it's a real close knit family, you know. We do barbecues, everybody will come out to barbecues. I think that's why Eyehategod performs like it does, you know."
Do the local newspapers write about you guys, and are you faces around town?
"Recently, they've started to write a little bit about us. New Orleons is the founder of jazz and blues so there's a lot of attention put on that first. It doesn't matter to us. We're an underground band. We don't need them. When we play, we have big crowds in our city, so fuck 'em."
How do you feel about that jazz and blues stereotype of New Orleans? Do people expect Eyehategod to have some of that heritage in their music?
"I feel we do have a little bit of that in us. We definitely have blues influences in there. If you grow up in New Orleans, you're constantly surrounded by music. I can remember being a kid and going down to the French Quarter which is like downtown and seeing street musicians constantly. It's a real big influence on all of us. You can feel the vibe in the city. It's really cool so if anything I think it's helped us."
Do you guys get involved locally in music that isn't to do with Eyehategod?
"We jam a lot with other people but that's pretty much confined to the practice room. None of us are seasoned or schooled jazz musicians so it's really hard to go jamming. You're talking about top notch musicians, you know. Not to say that we couldn't hold our own against them but I think it would clash. There are a lot of people in New Orleans to jam with. The heavy bands, Crowbar, Acid Bath, Eyehategod, Down, Superjoy Ritual, Soilent Green, everybody jams with each other, so we don't even need the whole jazz blues thing. We've started our own thing."
Is New Orleans depressing enough to keep you guys angered or is it a pretty comforatable place to be?
"I feel it's comfortable, but I can see how somebody would say it's depressing. When you walk downtown there's a lot of homeless people, a lot of poverty, a lot of ghettos so it's kind of weird. You just take it for what it is. We definitely feed off the negativity down here. New Orleans has a really dark atmosphere and you've got to be here to really understand it."
As an aside, we always hear about New Orleans here in England when you're hit by storms. Have you guys been affected by that?
"Yeah. A couple of years ago we had a big hurricane that came close to New Orleans. I went over to the drummer of Eyehategod's house and we hung out with our girlfriends. We had no electricity. The city looked like World War 3 just happened. Real dark, trees in the streets. It looked crazy, man. It was killer though. We audio taped the storm and shit so we made the best of it. If a big storm hit New Orleans directly, it would be gone, completely gone. Everybody knows it. We live in bowl. Everybody's got that in the back of their mind."
How is the new album a progression from 'Dopesick'?
"With 'Dopesick' we had a great studio and a great producer but the timing was wrong and we weren't really happy with that record. There were a lot of things going on so we had to rush that record. It was all due to circumstances. On this record we made sure that didn't happen. This record we're really happy with because we took the time to record it, we made sure it sounded the way we wanted it to sound. It's been five years since 'Dopesick' so it was cool for us to finally get another release out. We like everything about this record."
How did the Mike Williams episode affect the band?
"I kind of think it helped the band. The band needed the break. Naturally, we didn't want him to leave but the fact that he did leave made us all put it aside for a while and realise what we had. We realised we had a band and friendship. We're basically trying to do where Black Flag left off. The world needs a band like Eyehategod."
Do you think you're closer to that ideal with this album?
"Yeay, yeah. Basically, half of those songs had been written for years and half were brand new so it was a matter of trying to put it together. We have so much material left over we're ready to do another record. Okay, we're not ready but we're looking forward to doing another record. This record wasn't a problem to make. I think the next record is the one that's going to be a big test for us."
Do you feel you have to be more focused for the next record?
"I think it's going to be challenging because the band are at a point where we can either go in the studio and do another Eyehategod record or we can do some different shit. I'm not saying we weren't trying to become melodic or anything but there's a bunch of different things in the past that we always wanted to do. Hopefully we'll be able to concentrate on that."
Everyone is talking about the latest Earth Crisis album where they've completely changed. Do you forsee yourselves changing that much?
"I don't forsee ourselves changing but I do forsee ourselves doing different things. We kind of gave a hint to it on the new record as to what we're talking about. Songs like 'Revelation/Revolution'- really droning as opposed to just trying to knock out 80,000 killer Sabbath riffs on one record. We like to put that drone effect... I don't know, the next record should be interesting. There might be a couple of love songs, some ballads. I haven't heard the new Earth Crisis. What does it sound like?"
I haven't heard it but I've read about it. Apparaently they've gone all nu metallish with Karl singing properly instead of the grind vocals he's known for.
"Mike's got the kind of band where he easily would not expect that to happen."
What I really liked about this album is the really strong flow to the music, with the songs merging into each other. They sound improvised.
"Thank you, man. I take that as compliment."
It is.
"We're real happy with it dude. We practiced our ass off, we went into the studio really prepared and we spent a lot of time trying to make the thing sound like we wanted it to. And our producer Dave Forman was really really good. I think he brought out a lot in us. I've always wanted an Eyehategod album to sound like our new one."
The album cover suggests a concept.
"The concept of the band has always been to spread the entire message: the world is fucked, and Eyehategod is nothing but a complete reflection of that. Look at the world around you. The way we jam, the way we sound it's a complete reflection of that. Take drugs and commit suicide. The album cover is fucking reality artwork, you know."
You used the sound board they used on that Kansas album. Is that the kind of flavour you wanted?
"Balance Studio bought that soundboard just before we came in and I've known about that board since I was fifteen years old, so we were real excited about recording on that board. Stevie Wonder recorded on that board, so being musicians, of course we were excited. But the label mentioning it as a marketing thing, I don't know."
So does it add certain flavour to the sound compared to newer technologies?
"Yes, I definitely do. I mean, we went the old route, but our record sounds just as good as bands who record on new technologies. As far as recording goes, we've always been firm believers in it's what you put into the studio. You can record on a little tape player but if you put everything into it then it's going to sound good."
What do people who listen to Eyehategod see in you?
"Freaks! They see a bunch of freaks? I don't know what they see in us, man. We get on stage and we totally act like ourselves, joke around, we just have a good time you know. I think people can tell that we're all real good friends."
Okay, does Eyehategod want to mean anything to the fans?
"When we first got together, we were so much into bands like The Melvins, St. Vitus and bands like that, to the point where we would call these bands on the phone. I remember calling up The Melvins and aggravating the fuck out them, but I was just so into it. If we can give back to those bands and fans our respect for that style of music, and our idea for that style of music, that's what we're doing."
Is it difficult to avoid the pitfalls of being a popular band eg. the rock lifestyle?
"Actually, lately it's been a lot easier to get tours and stuff like that. It just helps us to go out and do what we do. We still tour in a van, except in Europe where we always get the Nightliner because it's more convenient. We're not doing anything different to what we were doing ten years ago. It's a simple attitude. We're not trying to change the world. Fuck it, we're just five dudes that love Sabbath."
You said stoner rock is a good thing.
"To me, it's just a big revolution, a big revivement of 70s music. A lot of people, a lot of bands got sick of new bands and tried to find something really cool. They went back to the 70s and there were fucking 1500 new bands nobody had heard. So it's just people taking advantage of those influences.'
Do you then feel that you're part of the American rock tradition like your carrying on from Lynyrd Skynyrd, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Kansas, Black Flag?
"Skynyrd's my favourite band of all time. They just blow me away. Their lyrics are so reality based. Eyehategod is nothing but a down and dirty rock and roll band. I think we're more of an American rock band than half of the shit out there. The record business has become really corporate and stupid. Underground bands will rule the world. Black Flag are very important. You've got to consider what Black Flag did. Black Flag got in a van, toured around the country, spreading their word. They were really violent, really aggressive, kids were scared of 'em, so by the time they broke up, nobody knew what the fuck happened. Jesus Christ! They were like a car wreck that lasted ten years."
So are kids aware of their rock heritage?
"I think they are aware of it, but if they respect it? I don't know. I'm thirty two years old. I definitely have respect for the work that was done, and I think a lot of hard work was done for it to all go digital. As long as I'm around, I'll definitely do my bit to keep real music happening."
What does a band like Limp Bizkit represent about American rock today?
"Limp Bizkit is just doing the whole corporate thing. Believe me, I don't knock Limp Bizkit at all because I don't know their situation, I don't know what's going on, I don't know their views. All I know is what I'm told on the TV or the radio. I don't listen to that style of stuff. I don't know... I don't like it."
So is rock music still threatening?
"With bands like us, I'm sure it is. If some kid came home with an Eyehategod t-shirt to his parents, I'm sure they'd feel the same way as they did when some little girl brought home an Elvis record."
I wear an Eyehategod 'Dopesick' shirt at work and they all ask why I hate god and I have to tell them it's a band.
"A good way of putting it is that we don't hate God we hate the way people percieve God. People percieve their God as money, or cigarettes or whatever. The world we live in is not a spiritual world. It's fucking destroyed, it's ruined. It needs to be fucking destroyed. Religion is a crazy thing, man. Yeah, my friends tell me that if they wear the shirts they get problems too."
Is that why you chose the name Eyehategod? It would attract controversy.
"It fits the music for sure, you know. It's pretty much a big fuck you to everybody."
Is it easy to be Eyehategod in a place like New Orleans?
"I don't think Eyehategod could exist in any other city."
Is Eyehategod continiously looking for a more pure sound?
"It's a challenge to constantly rework the riff, you know. It all revolves around the riff. It's like 'how can we fuck this up?' It's all a big challenge. We honestly really do think about these things. It's in the songwriting. Over the years we've gotten our own style of song writing."
How does the band now relate to early material?
"I had only been playing the guitar for a year when we did the first record. Basically, the electronic feedback on there was just a result of not knowing how to control it. I love those records. They're an important part of my life. I don't think any of that material sucks, it just a different stage of Eyehategod. I think the first record is just as heavy as the one we've just put out, but not heavier."
What do you think the 'Southern Discomfort' comp revealed about Eyehategod?
"You have to understand that was done by the label Century Media. We didn't really want that record to come out, now that is has come out for fans of Eyehategod it's a cool record. A lot of those recordings were a lot different. Sometimes you get good money to record sometimes you don't."
What will the band be up to in the immediate future?
"We will be going out again in January to do the rest of the United States that we didn't get a chance to do. Then back to Europe in March. We'' also be releasing a 7" split between us and Soilent Green in the summer. "
What did you feel about the gigs in London?
"It was great. We played two sold out shows at The Underworld, we sold a ton of merchandise- we had no idea we were going to be that good."
You guys are also in other bands. Is that difficult to juggle all these bands between yourselves?
"Not really. It's just timing. We're setting up everything correctly so we've got that down to a science. Whichever band we play in we definitely bring who we are into it. it's fun. i can't imagine being in just one band. I've got too much to say.
