- Posted By: Dark Emperor
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Infernal Masquerade: After taking a break for a few years, what made the band get back together and keep rocking the stages?
Richie: Will and I (Richie) finally spoke after 7 years silence. Put aside our troubled past and decided to answer the unanswered questions KTB had left on the table.
I.M: The band’s latest release “Appalachian Incantation” is excellent, but the songs with vocals sound out of place. Where you guys ‘required’ to have songs with vocals? Or, why did you decided to have only a few thrown in the mix?
We wrote Western World with Daniel Davies while we were writing the record. We thought it was excellent and wanted to include it on the record. We intend to write more songs with Daniel in the future. The other song with John Garcia was written a long long time ago and we finally wanted to release it.
I.M: Can you tell us more about the concept (or ideas) behind the new album?
We tend to still delve into the "happy accidents" idiom to deliver our concepts and ideas. As the creative process drives along we simply access what is happening at the time to bench mark ourselves in that era. Appalachian Incantation is yet another inference/ode to the geography of our birth and our love of the left hand path.
I.M: Being mostly instrumental since the beginning of the band. Why do you think that instrumental songs work better than songs with vocals on them?
We don't think that at all. We think we are capable of writing either well. We have more practice at instrumental songs and feel at home crafting them. We are learning now to work on the vocal tracks.
I.M: Will future releases going to feature combination of both instrumentals and a few songs with vocals?
We are going to place absolutely no limits on what we will create and not create, that being said, we are working on a bunch of vocal songs right now.
I.M: Was it hard to get back into the groove of playing music live when you guys decided to do the reunion tour?
Not at all. It took about 15 minutes to set up our equipment. Once we started playing together it felt quite natural.
I.M: Do you think the band is back together for a good while now? Or is it just for a few albums? Where do you see the band in a few years?
We really want to explore what we can do if we remain focused on music for a decade rather than drugs. It should be quite interesting.
I.M: Napalm Records is a label usually handles different styles of music, why did you guys decided to sign with them? How are things working out, compared to your previous labels?
They have taken a very hands off approach with us letting us create our music how we want to do it. Its actually quite refreshing in that sense as previously we would create our own record then license it to a label.
I.M: We see a few dates for the band in Europe, are there any plans of a tour in the USA? Why do you think the band has a bigger following overseas than in the states?
We will be touring the USA, in the first two weeks of May and then hopefully later this summer supporting The Sword.
We actually have a good regional following in the US as well. Just absolutely nothing west of the Rockies. I think the problem is simple, we toured poorly in our past, mostly low profile gigs, a few big gigs, but being instrumental in the early 2000s really wasn't conducive to obtaining great gigs in the US. In europe we were marketed well initially by Roadrunner and it built grass roots even while we were gone. Again, I am speculating. Right now we are planning on touring the USA extensively in 2010.
I.M: Anything else you want to add for our readers and your American fans?
"Why doesn't Hitler drink tequila?"
"It makes him mean."
More info: http://www.myspace.com/karmatoburn
