|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||||
Exerpt from
an interview with Aaron Werner, Turk Elliot, and Ron Cardwell on "The Rock"
radio show
Halloween special, 10-31-97 Otterbein College, Westerville, OH
Angela Bell,
Interviewer
The Rock:Happy
Halloween out there all you ghosts and goblins!
Well, do we
have a fitting show for you tonight! Here with me in the
studio are
members of the band Soul Destruction. We have Aaron the
singer, Turk
the drummer, and Ron the bass player...say hello, fellas!
All: Hello!
The Rock:
Tell me a little about the band.
Aaron: We
are a power thrash unit from here in Columbus, and we
play all our
own music, with a few cover songs thrown in for fun.
We combine
the early thrash style with modern death metal, and
even some
hardcore to get what we call Soul Destruction.
Turk: There
are a lot more influences in what we do than just that,
but that is
a good general description.
Aaron: Oh,
yeah! Alot more goes into this than just what I
mentioned...
The Rock:
What is the band like on stage?
Ron: High
energy! We are in a total frenzy whan we play.
Turk: What
we try to do is make a lasting impression on the
audience that
they will remember.
Aaron: Very
animated. Everyone has his own distinct personality
traits that
he conveys on stage to put on the best show possible.
Everyone is
moving around the stage, and it is very theatrical
without all
the special effects.
Ron: Sometimes
it's hazardous!
Turk: Yeah,
I've seen these guys slam into each other and nearly kill
each other
at times! Makes me glad that I have all that hardware
around me
when the show starts losing control.
Aaron: Both
Randy and Ron have nearly run me through with thier
guitars a
couple of times!
Ron: But we
were trying to do that! (Laughs)
Who are some
of the band's influences?
Aaron: There
is a ridiculas range of influences here. Everything
from Deicide
to James Brown...
The Rock:
James Brown? Who in the band likes James Brown?
Ron: Me.
Turk: We all
share alot of influences that you wouldn't expect
members of
this kind of band to share...
Describe your style and influences.
The band's biggest influences collectively are
that of the early thrash pioneers. I'm talking Slayer & Anthrax, as
well as Judas Priest. Aside from that, the various members have varied
interests and influences. Ron for example is into Funk and Soul like James
Brown and Funkadelic. Turk loves the Beatles and Rush as well as some jazz.
Randy is into the old thrash bands like Voivod and Forbidden. I listen
to a lot of Death/Black Metal like Morbid Angel and Acheron, but my favorite
bands in the world are AC/DC, Sabbath, and King Diamond. I think that it's
a positive thing that we all have such diverse influences, because it adds
to the style and fell of the band's music.
For the musicians out there...describe what you use to make the
Soul Destruction sound.
Musically, I'd have to say that we are comparable
to Machine Head and Pantera, as we use the aggressiveness and dynamics
of both bands, and there is an underlying presence of death metal complete
with that style of riffing and drumming when the song calls for it. Our
main focus musically is to convey the song. We don't try to play a zillion
miles an hour, unless the song would benefit from it. We have clean channel
songs as well as death metal riffs in our music. We are trying to indulge
as much of the musical spectrum as we see fit, but we don't jump onto bandwagon
trends just to get a rise out of people. Vocally, it's pretty much the
same idea. I try to use dark harmonies as well as aggressive singing.
Does Soul Destruction have a "stage show" If so in what way?
We are extremely energetic when we play. We don't
just stand around and play, but we try to entertain the audience as much
as possible. There isn't really any type of theatrics involved unless you
count our fog machine and strobe lights that we bring with us. We try to
use the lights as well as our onstage energy to overwhelm the audience.
There are no fancy costumes or anything of that nature.
Do you promote moshing and stage diving?
If people want to mosh and stage dive at our
shows, we are all for it. The only thing we have to say about it is "Hey,
you know what you're doing, so if you get yourself hurt, it's your own
fault!"
How do you feel about possible legislation to ban pits (because of the
death in LA)?
I'm admittedly not familiar with what happened
in LA, but I can understand people's concern. I can fully sympathize with
someone who wants to be in the front of the stage to jam with the band
and have to keep constant watch so that they don't get their spinal cord
snapped by some clown hitting them from behind just because HE wants to
act stupid. I'm all for a good "old-fashioned" mosh, but not a "see who
I can knock down" party. That's dumb. The reason that I am like that is
that moshing has changed so much in the last 5-6 years. It used to be an
aggressive form of dance expression, and now it is just a shoving match.
All that said, however, most people you'll find are quite tolerant of moshing
at shows. It's just part of the environment. I think that clubs should
be allowed to handle the situation on an individual level. People who want
to invoke legislation on stuff like this should get a job.
What is the song "Follow Me" telling people?
Follow Me was inspired by the WACO Branch Davidian
situation. It is about how Christianity and all of the guilt-ridden white
light religions and cults of the world use guilt, fear, and propaganda
to manipulate the weak minded. Our lyrics are written in such a way that
they can be taken in many different ways. That's something that I do intentionally
to make the songs stand as anthems to anyone who wishes to use them as
such.
And Anger Process?
Anger Process was inspired by the story of John
Walsh; the creator of America's Most Wanted. The song explores the darker
side of this brave man's courageous efforts in the wake of his son's murder.
It is written from the point of his selfish rage and vengeful nature rather
than his selfless courage that everyone praises him for. Don't get me wrong,
I salute the man for what he has done for America, but I just thought that
it would be an interesting point of view for a song.
What would be Soul Destruction's fantasy gig?
Obviously it would be one where the crowd was
rabidly fired up, and where folks could stage dive and mosh at will.
As far as the situation, you'd probably get 4 different answers from all
4 of us. All I know is that nakedness would be involved.
Tell us the strangest/funniest thing that has happened to you while
performing.
That's another good one. We recently had a "selective
power failure" where Randy and Ron's rigs cut out and lost power, and the
drums were no longer coming through the PA, but the vocals could still
be heard. No one has figured that one out yet. Other than that, it's not
so much what happens on stage as much as off stage. That's a whole other
story! (laughs)
What are your views on the influence that the Internet has had on music?
I think that the Internet has been the best friend
that the metal underground and up and coming bands have ever had! It is
so much easier and faster to communicate now. I can talk to someone in
North Carolina or Paris France on the ICQ program and it doesn't cost me
a dime! I can reach people via e-mail in a fraction of the time that it
takes to send a snail mail. Of course with the promotion of our web site,
We have been able to reach and sell CDs to people around the world who
would never even have heard the name Soul Destruction had it not been for
the Internet! The Net is VERY good! (Two horns up!)
Do you feel labels may become obsolete thanks to the power of the net?
I think that it's VERY possible. I don't see
it happening right away though. I mean, MP3s are really good for indie
artists if you do it the right way, but I think there are still a lot of
loopholes that need to be plugged before we see record labels in bankruptcy
court. You have to figure that not everyone owns a computer still. And
magazines and radio are still the best advertisement for people in an immediate
area to know about a band. The record companies are still the ones with
the money to send bands out on tours, book the big venues, put $1000 ads
in pit magazine every month, and pay for radio ads and airplay. Not
every young band with a good demo and creative webmaster necessarily has
the resources to do that at this point.
You have 2 releases...Remnants & United in Obscurity, debut CD.
Tell us about the changes in Soul Destruction since Remnants.
Well, we have basically worked at perfecting
our craft, be it the songs, the money handling, or even the inner workings
of the band to make it a more efficient animal. We've been trying
to act as close to a national act that actually has a manager as possible.
When we come to gigs and people see an outfit run in a professional way,
then it sort of sets us on a different plateau in people's minds.
For us unlucky enough to not have the Remnants tape, are there
plans to re-release it?
It's doubtful that we will. There's really no
need for it because all of the songs from the demo are on United… and done
a lot better.
When do you plan on releasing new material?
We are writing new material right now, and working
them out as we go. We have about 4 songs already for the new CD. There
are no immediate plans for a new CD as of yet because we have really just
scratched the surface in promoting this one.
What are Soul Destruction's long term plans?
Well, a lot of it will depend on the way that
things are going at the time. Most likely we are going to want to sign
with a label that will be able to support us as a band and give us the
attention that we need to make Soul Destruction successful. We of
course would like to be a self-sufficient unit, but we'll just have to
see how things are going in the "industry".
Do you see Soul Destruction becoming a mainstream band?
Hell no. Of course if by some fluke of nature
we could achieve Top 40 status without compromising our musical ideals,
then obviously we won't act like the little babies from Seattle who came
off with the "I hate my success and am SO miserable" shit. But because
of the type of music that we play, I can't see the mainstream embracing
us. But you never know.
How was it for the band recording United in Obscurity… which is your
first full length CD?
I love being in the studio, personally.
It's so interesting to watch an album come together like it does from start
to finish. United was an excellent teeth cutter for us as a band.
We learned a great deal and gained some hard, but valuable experience.
Like what?
A lot of technical stuff more than anything was
learned. I mean, little details like not wearing a necklace while
recording the vocals because the microphone will pick up the rattling,
etc… It's all a bunch of little shit that you don't think about until after
the fact. We also found out how important tones are in the studio.
We've really been concentrating on our tones recently to establish our
band sound. We are trying to take what we did on the CD and tighten
it up and make it even better so that when people hear one of our songs
being played, they know that it's us! We are all very proud of the CD,
and the next one will be even better! People have been giving us
a lot of positive feedback on the new material that we are playing live,
and we are all psyched about it.
Tell us about your upcoming gigs.
We are opening for Iced Earth in Columbus in
May. We are scheduled to play the World Series of Metal in Cleveland again
this year. We had an incredible experience last year, and this year we
are going to be even better prepared for what we have to do. We are
hitting Union City TN in May as well. It will be our first time there and
we are trying to venture out into other cities around the Midwest. We have
played with a number of prominent nationals such as King Diamond, Mercyful
Fate, Bruce Dickinson, Pro-Pain, Napalm Death, Nevermore, Flotsam and Jetsam,
and Morbid Angel. Not to mention all of the nationals at the World
Series of Metal that were there. Before I joined the band, they used to
play with Souls At Zero a lot and the Phantom Rockers.
Give me some contact info.
We are always looking to trade shows with bands,
so please get in contact with us! We are currently selling our CD in local
underground shops in the Columbus area, and though the mail. Anyone who
wants to write the band to order merchandise (you can print an order form
from our web site at www.souldestruction.8m.com) or any media interested
in Soul Destruction may write to us at:
Soul Destruction
470 Pohlman Rd.
Chillicothe, OH 45601
Phone: (740) 773-3419
E-mail:
voodoo10@bright.net
Do you have any closing statements?
Keep an eye out for Soul Destruction and order
our CD, support the underground, here's to KHAOS AD and the power of Metal,
Hail Satan, & Baba Booey!