Getting To The Bottom Of Earth (Interview)

Doom-metal giants Earth have been in New Zealand for a few days, getting ready for a run of shows from Dunedin to Auckland. The band is now a trio, led, as always by guitarist Dylan Carlson. As Dylan told The 13th Floor’s Marty Duda, these shows will serve as a preview to the new Earth album, Primitive & Deadly.

Click here to listen to the interview with Earth’s Dylan Carlson:

Or read a transcription of the interview with Dylan Carlson here:

MD: So you’ve been in the country for a few days is that right?

DC: Yeah we came in from Japan on Monday, I think. A few days off so, although we played, I mean we’ve been doing interviews but then played a radio show last night.

MD: And how did that go?

DC: It went well, yeah we just did like 3 songs and some chatting.

MD: So it’s been what, 2 years since you’ve been here last?

DC: Yeah last time we were here was September of 2012 so yeah just under 2 years.

MD: And theres been some changing the band, in music and maybe you can fill me in on what’s happened?

DC: Yeah, at the end of that tour of, the European Tour in 2012. Lori decided he didn’t wanna do the rock thing anymore and then Karl Blau as his own projects going and has his children. So and then Earth pretty much took most of that next year off, I guess you could say I did one solo tour that year but um, we started recording a new album in December of last year and this time around it’s basically a all guitar record you know it’s a power trio. Lining up with a couple of additional guitarists came in to help out so definitely kind of return to more hard rock, heavy metal kind of sound.

MD: It’s Primitive & Deadly, is that right?

DC: Yeah.

MD: Yeah, and but from what I’ve read, cause obviously I haven’t heard the record yet but you’ve kind of described it as being more traditionally song structured as opposed to the stuff you’ve done in the past. Is that correct?

DC: I guess, I mean it’s a traditional song structure that I came up with I guess.

MD: Right.

DC: And it does have 3 songs that have guest vocalists so I guess when you do you know, work with vocalists that things need to be a little more straight. But yeah we have two songs with Mark Lanegan singing and one with Rabia Qazi from Rose Windows.

MD: Right. Both sound very interesting. Mark is an old friend of yours isn’t he?

DC: Yeah, we met each other, when was that, I wanna say 87? Yeah it’s been a long, we’ve known each other a long time but unfortunately we never got, we talked about working together but it would never quite come to pass for various reasons and so it was nice to finally have it happen.

MD: And Rose Windows is a Seattle based band as well, if I remember correctly.

DC: Yeah, yeah. They moved, I guess they’re originally from Texas I think. Then moved up to Seattle I think a couple or so years ago. Well they’re a really good band.

MD: Yeah, so is there a reason why you decided to kind of move back in the direction of a rock band as oppose to what you’ve been doing?

DC: I don’t know, I guess maybe, I don’t know, I sort of joke with the band members, it’s my mid-life crisis album and like I don’t know I find myself now listening to a lot of, going back and listening to a lot of stuff I grew up with you know. A lot of like The Scorpions, AC/DC, UFO and you know….

MD: Yeah theres nothing wrong with that

DC: Yeah I know, its funny cause in Seattle like, I was a metal fan and I mean I grew up as a metal kid. I mean to me metal and hard rock are the same thing.

MD: Right

DC: And I know that now in this world of micro-genres it’s like you know, metal means something else nowadays apparently. But yeah I don’t know I’ve always, I mean I think it’s obvious from the Morbid Angel shirt I’m wearing on the record, you know.

MD: Right. I know you mentioned The Scorpions but before had their hits, their kind of power ballad era in the 80s they made some amazing great rock records on the side.

DC: Yeah I know. I think it’s really funny like, I mean I like Love at First Sting, I used to like that record but like yeah the other stuff. I mean, I’m so flabbergasted like either people don’t know that or just don’t like The Scorpions. It’s like have you heard Sails of Charon, have you heard you know, like Virgin Killer, have you, I mean come on.

MD: I remember a song particularly that struck me, Speedy’s Coming, that was a great record.

DC: Yeah no, I love that song, and it’s just like all these people like current rock, current rock, current rock and it’s like yeah fuck that, Scorpions any day man, they even did a current rock record you know what I mean.

MD: Right.

DC: And it was better than all the other ones you know what I mean.

MD: So when you guys were touring around here in this particular batch of shows, what can people expect to hear I mean…

DC: We’re doing quite a bit of the new record so you guys are getting sort of a preview.

MD: Great.

DC: and then we do some you know, old favourites since we don’t have any hits.

MD: And is it tough to go back and pick through what you’re going to play because the band has gone through so many permutations and personal changes and styles and all that?

DC: Yeah, I mean there are certain songs that I’m like somehow like, I mean, theres some songs when we bring it back is sort of the process for me to relearn them cause you know, it’s been awhile or I’ve forgotten how to play them.

MD: Right.

DC: I have this sort of bad tendency, early on as soon as I record stuff, I forget it and move on. So sometimes it takes a bit of work and then also like, trying to pick from you know, number of errors and then theres certain songs that like, weirdly enough like you know people wanna hear so you end up doing them, you know what I mean.

MD: Yeah.

DC: And of course theres always like someone yelling for some songs that we don’t do anymore.

MD: Don’t you love that.

DC: So it’s like ‘oh sorry, maybe next time’. But I think we do a pretty good job covering the history and yet playing new stuff so.

MD: You also have, I think in a couple of days coming out, your first soundtrack album. Is that right?

DC: Yeah, yes.

MD: Tell me about that.

DC: Its, I did it in December of 2012, it’s for a German film called Gold. The film premiered the following year at the Berlin Film Festival and the DVD came out February of this year. Basically it’s by this director Thomas Arslan, about this group of German immigrants trying to get from Canada to the Yukon and what occurs. Apparently it’s based on a diary they found on it cause I think something didn’t go very well for them.

MD: Right. If it did, it wouldn’t be a film. So what was it like for you as a creative experience to do a soundtrack?

DC: I really enjoyed it. I mean we’ve had our songs used in a few films but this is like the first time I got to do a, I guess you know, like the proper, I guess what I had imagined the soundtrack would be like . I got a rough cut and I played to it and the director came in with the final cut, we kinda adjusted stuff. They said yay or nay to certain things and…

MD: How do you think it holds up without watching the film?

DC: I think it came out quite well, It’s much shorter than the film you know what I mean because of that you know. But yeah it’s some of the stuff I really like that I did and I definitely wanna do more of it. It’s interesting too because it’s a mono, we did a stereo, a mono and a 5.1 and the mono version. I mean admittedly it’s just guitar so there’s not a lot of low end so the 5.1 is the same way as the mono.

MD: Phase from the one side to the other and then

DC: Yeah so, yeah I thought that was interesting and kinda cool

MD: Excellent. Alrighty, so your first show is tonight then, down in Christchurch and then you’re gonna make your way…

DC: No we’re in Dunedin.

MD: Dunedin, that’s right. Okay.

DC: Yeah, we’re at Chicks Hotel in Port Chalmers.

MD: Right.

DC: Outside? Dunedin and make our way south

MD: Is it cold down there?

DC: Yeah it is, cold and windy.

MD: Yeah. Alrighty, well it gets a little bit better when you come up north but not much I’m afraid. So bundle up. Alrighty, okay well, we’re looking forward to seeing you when you get up to Auckland here in a couple of days.

DC: Okay, cool thank you.

MD: Thank you very much.

Click here for more details about Earth’s New Zealand tour.