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Ok you've just released your new album "You Fail Me",
what's the concept or theme of it?
Lyrically/Thematically: After "Jane..." was recorded and released,
I thought I was going to feel the emotional burden I was carrying lift
from my shoulders. I had all the puzzle pieces there in front of me.
Outlets bring closure, or at least that's what I thought. With that,
I put myself out on the line looking for an emotional resolve with "Jane..."
and it never came. When the album was released I didn't feel any better,
nothing was changed. My depression kept collapsing on itself. At that
point I stopped hoping and searching and I took a long hard look at
my life and at my heart. I did a huge amount of soul searching and found
so much failure within myself. That discovery was a massive realization.
As I started to see clear again, I also saw the failure in friends and
loved ones around me. How we fail each other, and how we fail ourselves.
These are songs of failure. And ultimately, surviving self destruction
and tragedy we all face in our lives. Musically our only goal was to
write an album that moved us and challenged us. We feel we accomplished
that.
Lyrically it seems a lot straighter and more "offensive"...
I wouldn't call it offensive. I would call it opinionated for sure.
There is definitely a rage in the writings that are not apparent in
previous albums.
Please tell our readers something about the recording process
of "You Fail Me". How was it different to your previous efforts?
Much of the material was worked out in a live setting for some time
before we entered the studio. It definitely added a new level of refinement
to the album material.
To me "You Fail Me" sounds harsh and raw but with a direct
punk approach. Would you agree with that?
It's a very raw album. Most loud music recordings are bland and devoid
of the actual character that defines a band. We obviously didn't want
that. Our goal was to record an album that was as raw and abrasive as
our live performance. Although we attempted that with "Jane..."
there are elements on that album that felt artificial to us. This recording
was a much more successful attempt.
You said with "Jane Doe" you were looking for an emotional
resolve that never came etc. I think that this is obvious, because that's
how Converge is functioning. This is how you work with Converge lyrically
and thematically. No one would ever really expect that your "depressions"
would be really solved and that you would do something really different
with your lyrics etc. Do you think that makes Converge, especially your
position, predictable?
I disagree. Lyrically, there has always been a personal journey within
our songs. Every song we create is laced with that. That's what makes
the character of a collective band. For people not familiar with our
music, they may not be able to differentiate these things, but they
would if they listened with the right ears. It's not trashy noise and
it's certainly not rage for rage's sake. It's about learning to coexist
and combat the issues at hand. It's about becoming a better person.
This is part of that path for me as it is for all of us in some way.
Some may call it predictable, but I call it therapy. It's the foundation
of what abrasive music is.
Do
you still plan to re-release "Petitioning The Empty Sky" and
"When Forever Comes Crashing" (remixed & remastered as
digipack releases)? If so, when will that vaguely happen?
We have completed the audio and video portions of these releases. We
are hoping to have them released in early 2005.
We did that Dear Lover interview some time ago... what happend
to this project? And when will those 2 records see the light of day?
The records are recorded. Mixing and editing is now underway for both
projects. I am very happy with them. I hope to also have those released
in early 2005.
Please tell us about the Converge/ Cave In project. You've recently
recorded 5 songs. How were the recording sessions, real work or just
jamming with friends?
We are still in the process of recording and refining the material.
There are more songs also slated to be recorded in the future. I was
only there for two days of the first recording session. It was a guitar
heavy environment. With three very fantastic guitar players in one room,
it's tough for any other ideas to shine immediately through. As I said,
we are still working on the project entitled "Virgin". We'll
have more information available soon.
What do you think about this whole record piracy thing and the people
that downloaded "You Fail Me" weeks before the official release
date? There are a lot of people saying "hey I download it now,
but will buy it anyways". How do you see that?
Record piracy is a very damaging thing to independent bands
and labels. We only ask that people respect our creative work and purchase
it on their own. That way they can experience the album as it was meant
to be experienced.
what is your favorite European band in heavy music?
Entombed.
Thanks for the interview. The last questions is for all those
real Converge fans out there (hehe): What's the last tatoo you've got?
A severed hand with all of it's fingers cut off. Below the hand it reads
"Sacrifice"... Thanks for your time.
Interview
conducted by Magnus Jaschke in October 2004.
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