Answered Chris.
Translated by Markéta, thank you!
Ave INTERNAL BLEEDING! The first question is obvious. Your last album “Imperium” was released in 2014. Last year you released a single “Final Justice” by Unique Leader Readers. It really impressed me that you are currently working on your new album, right? If so how does it go and when do you want to release it? Please, give us a little hint.
ANSWER: Correct! We are working on our new album. The title of it is called CORRUPTING INFLUENCE, and we go into the studio the day after we get back from our European tour. The album should be out in September of 2018, and it will contain 9 songs, plus a re-working of an old Internal Bleeding classic. We are also planning on having a bunch of guest vocal appearances too. It’s definitely going to be one of the most focused, intense and heavy Internal Bleeding albums we’ve ever made. Some song titles include: “Focus,” “Surrounded from the Inside,” “Compelled to Consume” and “Litany of Insincerity”.
You have been on the scene for 27 years now. You have broken up two times. How difficult is to always come back? Every time there are new band members, the only original member is you, Chris. What are the current members of INTERNAL BLEEDING? I have heard that you will have a concert in Prague. What members can we expect to play there? Why your band stopped playing?
ANSWER: Keeping a deathmetal band together for a long period of time is always difficult. Members sometimes end up coming and going for numerous reasons. It can because they “grow up” and no longer want to play deathmetal, or they have to focus on work or family, it can be because they lack the kind of dedication and creativity that I demand or it can simply be because of personality conflicts. I think its just part of the way things are. To be in this band, you must have the passion, desire and drive to do the touring and recording, and you must have the ability to stay loyal to the Internal Bleeding sound. I am very protective of our music and I don’t ever want to have the core of its principles compromised. With all that being said, you can see it takes a lot to stick with it. The current line up, which I hope lasts a good long time is me on guitar, Chris McCarthy on guitar, Shaun Kennedy on bass, Kyle Eddy on drums and Joe Marchese on vocals. This is the line up that is recording the album and will be at the concert in Prague.
Technically, we never “broke up”; we just fell into a period of inactivity after the touring cycle for Onward to Mecca. After that, I picked up the pieces and got things going again. I think that inactive period was actually good for the band because it allowed me to regroup things, get my life settled a little and refocus on what was important.
You play brutal death metal. Raw and cruel music. This music has lyrics about evil and ugly things. Who writes your lyrics? And where do you find inspiration? Do you take a special care of your lyrics or they are just a supplement to your music?
ANSWER: Usually I write most of the lyrics, but with this album cycle, it’s really been a wonderful group effort writing lyrics with a team. Me, Chris McCarthy and Joe Marchese handle most of the lyrics, and sometimes Shaun Kennedy joins in too. We all have a really good chemistry together and we’re usually on the same page when it comes to topics and ideas. We usually get together at my house over cigars and bourbon and just write.
Our lyrical inspiration is pretty much based around the harsh realities of every day life and the struggles we all go through to make our way in the world. For example, we have a song called “Fatal Dependence”, which deals with the horror of heroin addiction, and the song “Final Justice” is about a man who decides to take the law into his own hands because the legal system won’t help him.
Our lyrics are extremely important to us, and we really want to try to tell an engaging story to go along with the music to create a complete package. We like to make sure we write things people can remember and even shout along to.
In 2015 you played on the festival Obscene Extreme. Do you remember that? How did you like this festival in the Czech Republic and how did you like the fans? What do you think about Czech beer?
Answer: Actually, we were booked for Obscene Extreme, but it didn’t work out because we couldn’t get any other shows to go along with that and we didn’t have enough money to cover the costs. We really feel awful about that, because Curby was so excited to have us and I feel like we let him down. There was just nothing we could have done — short of going broke — to get to that show.
Now, Czech beer rules! The original Budwiser beer in your country is so much better than the fucking crap that we have here. I’m not a huge beer drinker, whiskey is my thing, so I cannot really give you a long answer. I do want to say that Czech food is some of the best around, and I really look forward to coming back to have some of the fantastic sausage and ribs I ate there last time. Fucking unbelievable! The best!
You are considered a legend that was by the beginning of slamming brutal death metal. I am sure there were many times when you have answered the question of your beginning and how you came up with the idea of playing this music. But still, I would like to know if you follow that kind of music. You have always had only hints of this music in your songs, just pieces of “slam” which were like spices. I am not happy to say that but some of today´s bands take slamming death metal very basically and the bands play very similar music. Do you have any favourite bands from the new generation?
Answer: Right from the beginning, we knew that we wanted to concentrate on writing moving that was designed to move an audience. We were never really into going super fast and playing thousands of blast beats. We always wanted to be groovy and heavy as opposed to fast, technical and shredding. We came up with the term SLAM as applied to deathmetal long before it was a “thing,” in the metal community, and long before anyone else (except for those in the punk community) was using it. It was our conception of how deathmetal should be.
In my view, I think too many people think “slam” is only the breakdown/payoff riff that is slow and “chuggy” — and I think that misses the point. SLAM can be anything, as long as it is groovy and makes the pit move. I think there is a huge gap between what we, the originators think slam is, and what others think it is. It’s no big deal really, but there is a distinction.
Now, all that being said, I still love me some of modern slam —bands such as Kraanium, Katalepsy, Epicardiectomy, The Merciless Concept , Amputated and others completely lay waste to audiences.
At the time you started your band, thrash was very popular but also black metal and punk. Which bands were the most influential for you? Is there any musician who was your idol and who made you play music? When I tell someone that I used to listen to RAMONES a lot and that I like them even now, nobody believes me.
Answer: Funny, I never really liked thrash, except for maybe Slayer. I found a lot of thrash using too much of that happy sounding “one-two-one-two” beat, which to me was never really aggressive or heavy – it just sounded happy to my ears. When it comes to influences, I really come in from the classic metal and hard core punk scenes. Tony Iommi, without a doubt is my biggest influence and my guitar hero. Because of him I always try to make my riffs, simple, unique, memorable and heavy. I also take a lot of influence from old hardcore bands as well — Black Flag, Agnostic Front, Token Entry and Warzone — all taught me that a strong beat and solid, “danceable” riffs help make songs memorable and fun. Other guys in the band are influenced by a lot of different things as well, including classic deathmetal, 70s rock and even things like blues and rockabilly. The key lies in taking those various influences and making them work in the deathmetal world.
I read a really sad report that Guy Marchais (INTERNAL BLEEDING, SUFFOCATION, PYREXIA) has cancer. How is he? I hope that he will soon defeat the illness! If we can help somehow (with money or just support) do you have any contact on him, please? (Guy, good luck, fight with all your strength and we are with you!)
Answer: Last I spoke to him, he is holding up pretty well. He’s a worried about expenses, which of course is natural, but he is staying positive. Him and I are in contact a lot and we’re good friends, so my heart naturally broke when I heard the news. I know he is a tough motherfucker, so he is going to get through this. If anyone can donate money, please go to: https://www.gofundme.com/fighting-for-guy donate what you can to help pay his expenses.
My friends is now telling me to ask you about some funny stories from the history of INTERNAL BLEEDING. Do you have any for us? What about the first underground concerts?
Answer: Our first ever concert was a “battle of the bands” concert. I cannot remember why we did it, but we were so incredibly out of or element at this show. All the bands we played with were either 90s type alternative music or folk music, and here we come out on stage playing raging deathmetal. I swear people were running to the exits! One girl came up to me after the show and told me that we scared her. I couldn’t stop laughing. That was a pretty funny experience. It was my first show with the band and I actually peed a little in my pants cause I was so nervous!
Another funny story is from our last European tour with Broken Hope. It was early in the morning and we stopped at a rest stop in Germany to take a piss and stretch. We were all so tired from the night before that we forgot to do a proper headcount so when we got back on the bus, about an hour later we realized we left poor Chris McCarthy at the rest stop. We immediately panicked, but it was really funny because Chris was at the rest stop on Facebook, liking other people’s posts and acting as if nothing was wrong. He eventually found a ride with the manager of the rest stop and we got him back on the bus. But it was so damn funny seeing him on facebook and acting as if nothing was wrong.
Death metal is not the style which would be on the highest levels of fans´ interest. The support is even more important here. From the old days I have in my head the idea that you have to support your favourite band by buying CDs, T-Shirts, going on concerts. But the time has changed. The world is ruled by the internet and downloading music. How do you feel about those changes as a band? Did you have to change your work? What about fans, are they different?
Answer: Well, being an old-school kind of person, I do miss the days of letter writing and doing the really hard work of promoting your band and keeping in touch with the fans. But with all that said, even with all the modern changes, it’s still a vibrant and fun scene, and the bands and fans are great — they just communicate differently now. You have to roll with the changes and accept the new world instead of fighting against it. You need to adapt or die. No use living in the past, because it will never be that way again. I don’t like illegal downloading, but I have accepted it because I have to. You always need to move forward. Never backward.
INTERNAL BLEEDING was founded 27 years ago. You are a big deal in this scene, you have your loyal fans, and you perform on concerts. Is there anything you want to achieve as a band? What are your goals for the future?
Answer: Well, honestly, I want to achieve world domination, but I don’t think that is going to happen, so I’ll be content with doing more touring, recording more albums and spreading the Internal Bleeding sound to all corners of the earth. We have the best, most loyal fans in the world, and we’re going to keep on treating them with the love and respect they deserve. We’re barrelling into the future with smiles on our faces and ready to face all the challenges that come our way!
Thank you so much for the interview. I wish you only sold out concerts, many enthusiastic fans. I wish you luck in your personal life and I am looking forward to see you on a concert. INTERNAL BLEEDING FOREVER!
Answer: Hey bro, thank you for taking the time to ask these questions! I really enjoy doing an interview with people who actually care about the band and don’t just spit our boring generic questions. Thank you for the well wishes and I hope nothing but the best for you, your family and your life! Thank you to all the Internal Bleeding fans worldwide, and always remember to take the time to say hello to us when we are out on the road. We want to meet and party with all of you!
Of course, visit our website: internal-bleeding.com and make sure to find us on facebook, give us a like and keep up with all the IB news. Cheers!
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