SOiL Interview

SOiL Interview, Norwich Waterfront 27/10/11

Room Thirteen sat down with Tim King (TK), Adam Zadel (AZ), Ryan McCombs (RM) and Jon Wysocki (JW) of SOiL backstage on the evening of their penultimate UK show at Norwich Waterfront to discuss the 'Scars 10th Anniversary Tour', working together again...and saving frogs.


R13: How has the UK been treating you? How have you enjoyed the tour?
RM: It's been great. This is where we wanted to do this, and I'm glad for the decision. This has been the right place to do it. We were right for a change. For once!

R13: What's it been like to be on the road with Puddle Of Mudd?
JW: We get along great with everyone.
RM: It's a nice variety of music, between the two bands. It's not necessarily the first combination that you think of, but it works, and it brings a variety of fans to the show. We've got both crew and bands on one bus, and when you think about 17 different personalities crammed into a little space like that you couldn't ask for a better group of guys to be out with. It's been a really fun time.

R13: It's been 10 years since 'Scars' was released, and it's recently gone Silver over here. Congratulations.
Band: Thank you
R13: It must feel good that an album you released 10 years ago hasn't been forgotten.
RM:I think the fans have remembered it better than we have. Getting ready to come over and relearning some of the songs was, well for me, relearning all the songs...
JW:And for me too.
RM:...was a task. Every night the fans are singing the lyrics better than I am so it's been cool to see.
TK: It's kind of interesting; I pulled up the sales figures on it, that's how I knew it had gone silver, and it has sold consistently. It just sells every year, thousands and thousands of units. Just to see that new people are getting into it or maybe people are buying it to replace their old copies or something like that. It's really cool to see that it's a record that people have really wrapped their arms around over here. That's been really special for us.

R13: It's also been, or about is to be, re-released in digital form...
TK: Yeah, there's a digital version that has a Japanese bonus track and stuff.
R13: So there are no plans to release that on disc?
TK: You can ask Sony! I think they're trying to go more with the digital age.


R13: There's a rumour that you're releasing a live cd/dvd. What can you tell us about this?
TK: We are. We filmed it in London. Bieler Bros Records are putting it out. They've announced it here and there.
AZ: We haven't really given it a hard push yet. We want to get it all together and edit it and stuff first.
R13: So that'll be the entire London show?
Band:: Yeah


R13: Ryan, the break-up between you and the rest of the band seemed pretty final...
RM:It is! (laughs) I'm not here right now...
JW: How's that working out for ya?
R13: ...and it got quite personal. How did this reunion come about?
RM: We just got to talking; Tim, Adam and I. We'd been talking about it for a while now and finally schedules lined up. It just took time. We've all experienced a lot in the past...what's it been...seven years now. We've all grown up and experienced a lot that taught us how trivial some shit can be. I've missed playing with these guys. It was just a matter of time. This tour has definitely been a lesson in 'never say never'. It's been cool and we've been having a blast.

R13: You (Adam and Tim) recently lost two members of SOiL within a short space of time (vocalist A.J. Cavalier and drummer Tom Schofield) did it ever cross your mind to call it a day?
TK: Oh yeah! Me and Adam were the last 2 standing there for a while, and we sat down and we contemplated it, but there were various outside circumstances that prevented us from doing it, and it was mainly the support from the fans. Seeing them say 'if you guys want to stick this out then we'll stick it out with you', and it's been a kind of testament to how the fans have always been a part of this band. Even more so, now that we're back here with Ryan, and we're back over here supporting 'Scars' it's just off the hook.
AZ: For better or worse we're all extremely thick-headed people ...
Door to en-suite shower opens and a hand reaches out for a towel...
"No one put a fucking towel out here!"
TK: You're on the interview now, Jay. His name is Jay Taylor! You can put that in your interview: "Jay Taylor said "No one put a fucking towel in here!" (laughs)

R13: Any plans to work together after the tour? Should Drowning Pool be concerned?
JW: Yep! (band laugh)
RM: I don't know that they need to be concerned. It's 2 different worlds. One doesn't necessarily impact the other. I keep doing the old politically correct 'we're taking it day by day'. I'd be surprised at this point if we didn't. You never know what's going to happen tomorrow so we're taking it day by day.

R13: That's the best way. What's next for SOiL? Any plans after this tour?
RM: I don't know. We're meeting with a gentleman tomorrow to look into some other possibilities tour-wise. We're having too much fun to stop at this point, but at the same time, you just never know what tomorrow's going to bring. In 2001 when we were riding the wave of 'Scars' we didn't think 2004 was going to hit the way it did. That happened and we've definitely learned through the trials and tribulations that anything can happen tomorrow. I think we're all on fire about doing something; continuing touring, doing some material, but you never know how things are going to work out. Could walk out on the street tomorrow and get hit by a car.
JW: You had to go to the dark side!


R13: Last question: Who's the frog fan? (referring to a recent link to www.savethefrogs.com posted on the band's facebook page).
TK: That would be me.
AZ: Greenpeace over here!
RM: You completely had me aback by that question. You're a frog fan?
TK: I've always been one of those people that's at the WWF or the ocean conservancy...
RM: Or tree-hugging!
TK: I know, I'm a tree-hugger.
AZ: The best time was when he had the fit when were at the Chinese buffet, where they had shark fin soup.
RM: The old drummer was half Japanese and Tim's just going off about the 'fucking Japanese Fishermen' and the ones out there, not all of them, that are 'killing the sharks, and the Japanese shark rates are going down!', and 'fuck this' and 'fuck that'. And Tom our old drummer, half-Japanese, is sitting right next to him, and Adam just goes (stage whisper) 'There's one right next to you! He can hear you!'
R13: They often don't even do anything with the rest of the shark either, do they?
RM: That's brutal.
TK: Sharks are at the top of the ecosystem and they're so slow to reproduce, so once you cut that off, it just pretty much starts tumbling like a domino effect down the line. Yeah, I'm the tree-hugger of the band! I like to stand up for it a little bit, not ram anything down anyone's throat...
AZ: Don't worry, the next album's not going to be a RATM record or anything...
TK: It will be made from recycled materials though! (Band laugh)

R13: Thanks for that, I'll leave you in peace now!
RM: Thanks for your time, and a big thank you to the fans, too.
JW: Yeah, the fans. We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the fans.
RM: The fact that we're doing this 10 years later is pretty mind blowing.
TK: Thanks brother.