miércoles, 17 de diciembre de 2014

EVERDYING - INTERVIEW



1. The band was created in 2002, why it decided to create the band at that time and why choose the name Everdying?
It was initially started as a side project after the melodic death metal band I was in at the time decided to disband and I started playing with Cardiac Arrest, which is more old school. I just basically kept going with the same ideas and how I had wanted the band to sound but by myself I could do it without limitations of the skills of some of the other members. The name Everdying was chosen from the song by In Flames, it's so god damn hard to think of a great band name that hasn't been used already even back in 2002! Honestly I just looked through my CD booklets and picked the one that I thought sounded the best, and I think it ended up fitting perfectly.

2. In Flames, God Dethroned are two bands to name someone who in one way or another is recognizable in its sound, how important they are to you these groups and how to influence in music?
Without these bands I wouldn't write music the way I do. From the beginning of when I started to get into more extreme metal these two bands stuck out more and I had always had the dream to have a band that sounded like the two combined. I mean, honestly what could be better than putting together the harmonies and melodicism of early In Flames before they started to suck and the faster brutality and aggression of God Dethroned, who also wrote amazing melodies and harmonies? I was also very influenced by Children of Bodom back then and wanted to have more of a solo sound like that of their first two albums but that was before I had really developed my own style. Obviously that isn't the way it turned out, and I think that's a good thing!

3. Another noteworthy aspect of Everdying is that you deal with all instruments but especially striking that employs eight-string guitar, how this should be done?
I think the translation got a bit off, I think this was supposed to ask why I use 8 string guitars? I'll answer that way! The use of 8 strings and low tuning (F standard for the most part) is actually relatively new to me. For a long time the only band that I was most familiar with who tuned down that low was Meshuggah and I quite frankly don't really like them at all so I never investigated it any further. Then all of the djent and core bands started to happen and they were tuning down and I also hate most of that too, but then I heard Allegaeon and it was very refreshing to hear a band that knew how to properly utilize that guitar and I really started to fall in love with the idea of taking what I was doing with Everdying and bringing it down to that lower realm. I had always had my tuning be C# as I felt it was really the perfect tuning for melodic death metal because it was low enough to get heavy and also high enough to stay more melodic. Then I decided that I would just see how it went tuned down low with the 8 string, and finally settled on tuning a half step down with the majority of songs played in Bb like a 7 string and the rest in F. It was just an experiment that I think worked out very well and allowed me to completely explore the range of music that I had going on.

4. From 2002 until recently has not edited material Everdying, at what this delay in the release? A considered the possibility of incorporating new members Everdying?
Well it was really just a side project that I would do in my spare time as I was heavily involved with other bands in the area like Cardiac Arrest, DOTAC, Rellik, and Withering Soul. I finally felt the time was right to go out on my own and make it my main project and do it full time instead of being in bands where everything that I would write didn't exactly fit in or had to be compromised in some way. Now I can write anything and everything I want to and it's pretty awesome!
As far as incorporating new members, I'd like to think that eventually I might if the absolute right people come along, but I'm going to be extremely picky and everything has to be perfect with no compromising whatsoever. For right now Everdying will stay a one man band, I like the freedom and not having to rely on anyone else to fuck up. If I don't do something right then I learn and move on and only have myself to blame and I like it that way.

5. How has evolved the sound Everdying since its first release "December's Rainy Day" to his most recent "The Journey Ahead"?
Quite significantly I think. December's Rainy Day was more straightforward melodic death metal, and The Journey Ahead reflects my outlook now on not really being confined to one particular style since I don't have any other bands that I can use songs of a different genre for. Having the 8 string guitar also really influences the music itself though too. Every single one of the songs on The Journey Ahead were written prior to 2008 actually and all in C# tuning, but having this extended range now allowed me to do things a bit differently and it was very fun. The newer material I've been writing has very much been influenced just by owning this guitar now and will have a few more songs in F but still the majority will be in Bb. Always remember, B flat is where it's at!

6. Death and life, two opposite concept present in his music, why considers important to address these issues in their lyrics?
You can't have one without the other, that's just the way it is. Life creates death and death creates life. Some of the most beautiful music ever written has been because of death or tragedy or sadness. So those themes bring life to new music I guess. I really hate writing lyrics, all of my songs are basically drawn from life experience. All of December's Rainy Day is centered around a particular period in my life where everything was just really awful and I had a lot of people around who made me very happy as well as very angry and just weren't good to my well being. That's what the last song, Relinquishment, is about. It's a closing off and saying goodbye and putting it all behind me and sort of explaining why. Sometimes I can't believe that I wrote the lyrics how I did as they're very literal and very personal but it's how I was feeling at the time so that's how it stays. It's also because of that reason that I won't be publishing my lyrics anywhere, if you want to know what I'm saying you can figure it out haha I think I enunciate well enough most of the time. Guess I kind of went off on a tangent there!

7. You no doubt offer live music, playing guitar and singing leaving the rest to a digital accompaniment, I think this is so correct me if I'm not right. Since that time and why decides to offer this direct way?
That's correct! It's the easiest way for me to function as a live band without having to hire live members. The way I have my rig set up allows me to also record the audio as I'm playing and I release every show for free download within a day or two after to the members of my mailing list. It would be much easier to just go up there with the drum tracks on my ipod and play along to that but the 2nd guitar is so integral to the songs that it just wouldn't sound right, and this is the way that I figured it all out to work how I need it to. Also, buying the Fractal Audio Axe FX was the greatest guitar purchase I've ever made, along with my Ibanez RG8. I don't have to lug around heavy tube heads and bulky cabs anymore and worry about tubes going out or the amp not sounding quite right, as well as not having to have a large pedalboard for the range of sounds that I need to use for certain songs. For a long time I was completely a fan of the analog way of doing things and tried to avoid digital, but now it just sounds so amazing and is so much easier! I wish these things had been out when I started playing guitar 18 years ago!

8. His two Eps have been autoeditados for you, do you think this is the best way to offer the public the work of Everdying?
Absolutely! I graduated from audio engineering school in 2007 and have the knowledge and the gear to record myself at home, so I don't need to spend money that I don't have on studio time. I don't feel like I need a label at the moment because this way I can just do everything at my own pace and don't have to compromise anything and have control over all of it. I can offer my music as a free download because I don't spend a large budget on the recording, all of the gear that I have now has been bought over the years for other reasons and I would rather have people download it and then if they like it they can buy a physical copy or some shirts or something and spread the word. I'm also not saying that I would turn down a label if the deal was right, but it's not a huge priority at the moment.

9. How were your beginnings in music? Why did you decide to be a musician? What other hobbies besides music occupy your time?
I started playing cello in 4th grade for about a year, because it seemed like it would be fun and also because I could sit down. Apparently I was lazy! I decided that I wanted to play guitar when I was 13 or 14 or something, because of Jimi Hendrix. I started off playing bass because that's what the band teacher at my middle school decided that he wanted to teach me, and then I got my first real acoustic guitar in 1996 for Christmas when I was 15. I don't know that I ever decided to be a musician, it just kinda happened I guess. My other hobbies are almost all music related actually. I got into building guitar pedals for awhile, I'd like to start building my own guitars at some point as well, I taught myself how to screen print to make shirts and patches for the band and I would like to eventually print my own digipaks and CDs and stickers so I can have everything that I sell be printed by me. Basically I really like to make things, and end up teaching myself how to do new stuff because there's so much information on the internet now it's ridiculous. I'm also going to start etching glass and stuff for new merch for the band. I think that's about it right now, I have two jobs and very little free time at the moment. I guess sleeping is a hobby that occupies most of my time right now haha.

10. What is intended to reflect the cover of "The Journey Ahead" and how it relates to the content of the EP?
The cover is a photograph taken by my dad, you should check out his website www.dovephotography.com! Anyway, I have always loved that picture and have been wanting to use it as an album cover for a very long time. It's called The Mystery, and the description he has for it on his website says "A meditative journey". My EP being called A Journey Ahead it just seemed very fitting for the theme. You're just going forward and you're not quite sure where you're going to end up when you get through that doorway, and hopefully you're ready for whatever happens when you get there. I wrote most of the songs from the EP when I was at recording school in Arizona in 2007, and that really goes along with that because I wasn't sure where I was going next or what I was going to be doing.

11. What do you think of the scene black US?
It seems to be pretty good, although I haven't had much time in the last few years to really keep up with it like I used to. Having two jobs working 7 days a week doesn't leave me really any time to go to shows unless I'm playing one. That said though, some black metal bands from around here (IL) you guys should check out are Øde Vinter, Deities of Darkness, Ishamael, Nocturne, Withering Soul, Empyreus. They're all pretty badass and none of them sound alike, in a good way.

12. What future plans regarding concerts and upcoming releases has for Everdying?
Well, I've got a show this Friday the 19th down in Urbana. Other than that I'm playing up in Lake Villa on Jan 17th with nothing else booked at the moment. As far as upcoming releases go, there's a cool 3 way split that's in the works that will hopefully be coming out sooner rather than later and I might also end up releasing a full length next year if I can find the time to get everything put together!


Thank you very much for taking the time to Black Metal Spirit, if you want to add something for the followers of Everdying, this is the place. I hope the questions are to your liking.
Thank you very much for taking the interest! All I really have to say is if you like what I'm doing then go to www.everdyingofficial.com and sign up for the mailing list and maybe buy some stuff! All of my music will forever be available as a free download as long as I have control over it! http://everdying.bandcamp.com is the place where you can find both of my EPs! Also, I still fucking hate Kanye West.

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