Interview with Interlock

R13: How long have Interlock been together?
JohnAs a concept, since 95... so about 11 years! But our debut full length was released last year.
Obviously the intentions behind its inception were a little removed in some ways back in 1995 from where we are now. We've had several line-up changes, so it's almost safe to say that the 'full band' element of its personnel has been as it is for about 2 years.

R13: How did it all come together?
HalJohn [guitars, programming] left his old band, Cruciferous, wanting to make more adventurous material and to incorporate the many other influences he had as a musician. I think it's the same case with many metal musicians these days although so many try and push their non-metal influences to the side and write from quite a blinkered perspective.
JohnI decided I wanted to be making some kind of amalgamation of all the different styles of music I liked and listened to. There's a definite leaning towards contemporary metal and industrial, but there's an awful lot of dance, black and death metal, hiphop, ambient, power noise, hardcore and loads of other genres influencing what we do. It's all stuff that, over the years, we've all had an interest in. Why not put it into the same band? So that's the premise of the entire thing.

R13: Who is the brainchild behind Interlock?
JohnErr, that would be me. I'm the brainchild of this thing, and I'm the one responsible for these reprobates doing this mad idea. We all love it though.
HalInterlock is definitely the sum of its parts though. People will always emerge as administrators and drivers, but the most important aspect of what we do is the meeting point of all 6 of its member's standpoints and backgrounds. John started all this, without him it wouldn't be happening, much of the music comes from him and the lyrics from me, but beyond that initial point I'd say the reason for being in Interlock is to make sure that new music is made, so to that extent it's all of us.

R13: What has the response been to crisis//reinvention?
HalVery good, we're all really pleased with the reviews we've been getting and the degree of attention it's gained from listeners. We've had some fantastic comeback from people who just didn't know what to expect, and if anything it's proven that it's more than simply a 'one listen' album, we keep getting people (journos and punters) saying that they keep spotting new elements in it each time they put it on. Often we've been told that someone has started off naming one particular track as their favourite, stand alone tune yet within weeks changed that to another on the same release that they hadn't even considered at first glance. Of course there's been an element of reviews being consistent in their inconsistency, which being honest I think is only to be expected given that it's such a diverse collection of music. You're giving a record to someone who is, by default, approaching it as a metal album, yet it contains so many other sides to it and tends to tap into that latent element that (we believe) is within all metallers of secretly liking genres like dance music and ambient darkwave etc.
JohnWe occasionally have confusion about the styles or the need to play something other than emo or retro-thrash metal. I think the best response has actually been from overseas though. We're really happy with how France has received it for example. We still have a lot of other countries where it is yet to be released and get some more reviews and opinions.

R13: Are there any major tours and support slots on the horizon?
HalThere certainly are, we've even taken a sabbatical with gigs lately to make sure we can all work on getting the best we can for this year. We're overjoyed to announce (and you'd possibly be the first publication to be given this news) that we will be touring Europe with Swiss cyber metallers Sybreed around November, possibly with a view to come back into the UK with them. We've respected their work for a while now and we're really stoked to be working with them, they're such a great sounding band and it'll be a very well-fitted bill.
This summer, we'll be taking on a headline tour of the UK again with Miksha, who we're on great terms with (check our website for confirmed details) then we may be continuing on with another of our UK industrial metal contemporaries, Shellshock, to attack the SouthWest of England around August. We've got a hell of a busy year ahead of us and with any luck, most of it will be on the road.
JohnWe're looking at these tours of the UK with Miksha and Shellshock later in the year as well as a couple of dates on the UK: Metal Underground hall of fame tour. We haven't got any larger dates at the moment though... we'd love to sort out a few larger shows with huge bands, guess it's mainly a matter of time really.

R13: What was the thinking over the skinless remixes? Why so many of the
same song?
HalThis is a subject we've faced quite a lot since the release of EP. We were all fans of the way bands like Nine Inch Nails & Pitchshifter released songs as singles and had prominent artists treat the tune, much in the same way standard singles are released into the charts by more commercial acts. When we signed to Anticulture, it was agreed from the beginning that we'd be releasing at least one song from the album as a single, so it made sense to take a chance to reflect our love of electronica. As for the amount of remixes - there are a lot of artists we respected enough to want to receive remixes from (there are still more!) and there's a lot of room on most CDs.
JohnIt was actually designed as a single first and foremost, which is why it has 2 original tracks on there. We've got a big thing about other genres so we thought it would be really cool to get a variety of different acts to remix the main track, just to show the different things you can do with essentially the same building blocks. Remixes don't have to be shitty "boom tish boom tish" bore-o-thons, they can be great songs in their own right. We've got a lot of talented people out there doing a lot of good, different music and we want to support those people and this was one of the best ways to do that. We also wanted to give our fans something in the way of the remix competition we did. Elseedy won that one by doing a great slightly trancy track. All in all the CD is showing our connection to electronica and dance, our desire to support those scenes and trying to give people a great CD full of stuff they aren't expecting that hopefully they'll like.
HalThe weirdest thing we've come across has been in the reviews of the EP. It's amazing how various journalists haven't been able to absorb the information on the back of the case, to the point where we've had them saying thinking that it's actually us remixing our own song 8 times, or that it's a whole new album of original material etc.

R13: Whose idea was it to include so much electronica and samples in your
music?
JohnI guess me, seeing as I came up with the main idea, but it's simply turned into the norm for us now, to the point where we have a few moments where our programming isn't as present at one or two places in our new shit and we've been surprised by how empty it sounds! It still fucking rocks though, hahaha...
HalMetal needs to take a step forward. There's so much technology available to musicians now, frankly it's pretty blinkered for them to deny electronic input in music's construction. The era of the 'rock' format band is over, it's time to move on and acknowledge where the future is leading us. How can you want to sound exactly like Black Sabbath when there's so much has passed since they were successful or even vital?

R13: Was this a plan from the band's inception?
JohnAbsolutely... it's changed over time with how it's produced or what it sounds like, but there's always been there and always will be.
HalAlthough I'd say that originally it was to make sure that we could avoid tax assessments and filch as much money as we could from the state whilst pretending to be unemployed. So far, each of us has managed to buy a semi-detached house and the band jointly owns a fleet of Mercedes Extended S Series which we run an unregistered logistics and courier service with. I've also begun collecting bloodhounds and hopefully will soon be able to set up a private illegal hunt club where we'll dispose of Pussycat Dolls fans in the more remote parts of the British countryside.

R13: The album sounds busy and full of ideas, How long did it take to record
crisis//reinvention?
JohnHoly crap, yes it's busy. It was never meant to be an album in a way, we recorded 6 or 7 tracks for record companies to check us out with and we started recording more songs when we realised we could put it out as a full record rather than an EP. We got signed to Anticulture and started sorting out the overall sound, making it a little more produced. From start to finish it took about 3 years, but mainly because we were recording it on and off and then we took a year to mix and master it. It's all about the money and the time available.

R13: How do you write? As a band or individually?
JohnMuch of the musical material is written by me, with riffs and ideas given to me by the others. I'll usually sit there with 4 computers and a guitar till the early morning and knock out a bunch of demos for the others to listen to. It's all work in progress and subject to change by the others.
HalOnce John has presented us with some tracks, I'll usually refer back to my tomes and scribblings and etchings on walls to see which of my lyrical themes best fits the theme of the song. There's usually a lot of editing, but with matters like vocals, lately, we've started being really aware of the sound of how things fit rather than cramming for the sake of it.
JohnWe just work through it all with stuff like the vocals, bass and drums and then anything else we want to add.

R13: Do you find it difficult coming from Britain to get any momentum
going? Do you feel you are being or have been overlooked as regard to
opportunities for record deals, gigs and other media outlets?
HalWell we've certainly not been overlooked in the way of record deals, as the one we have now suits us very well, we're really pleased to be part of the undeniable movement of independent British labels that are scaring the shit out of the majors like Universal and BMG. I think the place for metal bands on commercial labels has been taken from us since Sony tested the waters with signing Cradle of Filth, it fell on its face and unfortunately gave other labels reason not to touch extreme acts with a barge pole.
Momentum is an interesting way of putting it. I don't think we've ever had a problem with finding energy or motivation within ourselves to push as hard as we can, but the bureaucracy that exists with music administration can occasionally be amazing. We've come up against people who have truly seemed to be working against bands' best interests, and these are people with quite considerable status. The general feel from most people in the UK industry seems to be "we'll help you to help yourselves" and necessitates being a very proactive person if you're set on getting exposure, whilst this poses no great problem to us, we've seen other acts flounder simply because they're only good at writing good material. There is a trend in our country for emo / screamo and neo-thrash or stripped down 'jeans & t-shirt' metal bands, so if you're coming from a more sophisticated or presentable perspective then it can cause some confusion, which is why we're so eager to get over to Europe and America.
JohnI think that Britain is a difficult country to break because of the way the media is run here. Not a lot you can do about it, but fashions tend to rule in our press. It's all about who you know in this business, not how great you are as a band. Which is a shame, but what are you going to do?

R13: Do you feel British bands don't get the coverage or the recognition
they deserve?
HalIn some ways. Within Britain, specifically towards London, crowds can be jaded if you're either not what's fashionable that week or Slayer, which is interestingly not always the case outside the major cities. However, outside the UK, appears to be a different bag altogether. In truth, our European listeners have been the most open minded.
JohnSometimes they really don't. For some reason being British means you get less attention than American or some European acts. I guess there's something more 'romantic' about bands from other countries, but a band is a band, regardless of where they're from.

R13: With the emergence of Interlock, along with Forever Never, Enemo J,
Dragonforce, Biomechanical, Bullet for my Valentine etc... do you think
there is a metal scene emerging in Britain?
JohnThe UK is looking stronger and stronger, which is excellent. I'm always looking out for UK bands now, especially with my production work kicking off as well. Definitely the UK has developed into a force to be reckoned with on a global scale, which it really hasn't for so many years. Things are looking up for us on the metal front.
HalIt's worth remembering that Britain was responsible for such acts as Carcass, Napalm Death and Akercocke, who are all bands that have had decisive influence on countless international groups around today, from America and the continent. We had a burgeoning metal scene in the early 90s, but sadly it fell prey to rampant Americanisation. There's definitely a resurgence of decent British groups coming out now (Elsid, Concept, Shellshock etc.). We'll be making sure things are kept moving forwards.

R13: Who are your influences?
JohnPersonally I'd go with a few of the classic thrash bands, 90s death metal like carcass, industrial like NIN and Celldweller, dance music like BT and leftfield, and as much as everything else as I can think of, hahaha. At the moment I'm listening to the new Tool album and Korn.
HalFor me I tend to temper my need for technical death metal with some breakcore, drum & bass and avant garde jazz. Right now I'm addicted to 'Onset of Putrefaction' by Necrophagist, the new Machinochrist EP and my back catalogue of David Torn solo releases.

R13: Most bands with a gender mix of singers adopt the beauty and the beast
idea. The man sings the growling parts whilst the Woman sings like an
angel. I was surprised and impressed to hear Interlock utilising all
aspects of each voice, was this your intention from the beginning to have
the female parts were both clean, gruff and emotive?
HalInterlock have always been about using the whole range of whatever is available to us at the time, and having a vocalist from either gender means that we're never left wanting if we want access to any style of singing. The whole 'petal metal' genre has definitely cemented that clichéd stereotype of the submissive woman and overbearing male, but that doesn't exactly run much of a parallel with modern day equality and it's already a tired and dated format that should've remained in doom metal. Christina's voice is capable of just as much as many male metal vocalists today.
JohnFrom the very inception of the band we wanted to have the vocals on a similar footing. As you say, way too many people adopt the 'beauty and the beast' approach, and that just gets boring to listen to. Why the hell have women doing just pretty singing and guys doing all the harsh stuff? We're a totally equal opportunities band.

R13: Electronica has been used by bands in the past, are you worried you'll
be dismissed as a band who are copying others that have come before you,
such as Fear Factory and that you are just using it as a style over
substance technique?
JohnI think electronica needs to be used in the right way. Too many bands do a poor imitation of dance or industrial and too many industrial bands do a bad version of metal. I think to chuck us into the same pot as Fear Factory just because we use electronic elements is a dangerous thing to do as it puts a lot of preconceptions on what we sound like. We sound like Interlock, no one else. Electronica helps us achieve that broadness of the sound we want to achieve. We're not limiting ourselves with it, and hopefully no one else is by thinking we're just ripping off bands like Fear Factory.

R13: I've noticed on your website that Emmeline May isn't listed as being
in the band anymore, is this true? If so can you explain further?
JohnWe had a few personal and professional differences with Emmeline May and we parted ways. She's much happier now she's no longer in the band actually, and we're much happier with Christina as her replacement. Christina's managed to make the role her own even in this short period, she has such a strong voice it's great! We're really looking forwards to recording new material with her now, something she can really make her own. She's already on the skinless remixes EP on a re-recorded version of skinless and another track called blue. Reaction to that has been great.
HalI knew of Christina from when she sang for Ode of Eternity and was aware that she was able to cover many different styles, she came in initially to cover for a gig we had booked last summer almost immediately after Emmeline May's departure and she managed to learn our entire set within 2 weeks. There was nobody else who approached us for the position that was capable of doing that and being able to actually do more than what was on the album. It may sound odd, but I can honestly promise you that this woman is going to raise some eyebrows with the next release, she & I are able to have fully comprehensive vocal competitions backstage.

R13: Have you played much abroad? If so, what has the reaction been?
JohnNope, not yet at least. We've been sorting a few booking agents and possible tours, so we're really desperate to get out there and do some hardcore touring.

R13: With Britain's music industry being almost non-metal at the moment,
have you have thought about moving Interlock's base to Central Europe of
Scandinavia?
JohnI'm not sure we'd ever move to another country unless we had very good reason too. We're all a bit crap with languages so we'd have some problems with communicating our need for gyms and vegetarian food stuffs (well, that's just me and Matt as veggies, but nonetheless...).
HalI'm also something of a patriot and I'd miss Blighty too much, for all its faults. Also I think there's just as much of a problem for bands based out in Europe trying to make a name for themselves anywhere else. I've stumbled across a few bands who have done the reverse and moved to England out of preference and opportunity. As a country we do, after all, have curry sauce available on chips. And battered Mars bars. And Interlock.

R13: What's next for Interlock? What are your goals short term and long term?
JohnTouring. Touring. And then maybe a little touring. Europe and the States are places that we're looking at pretty heavily right now.
HalCertainly the States can be put into the long term folder (which is just next to the stapler, be careful not to spill my coffee though, please) but it's something that a few of us have cottoned onto recently. We're already represented by Radio-Active-Music out there, in the way of online promotion and a good number of our downloaded purchases of the album have been from over that end of the pond. We realise that there are still a number of people yet to see what we do and how we put ourselves across live. It's all very well and good having features in magazines, but we tend to win the remainder of people over once they've come to a show.

R13: When can we greedy fans expect some more original material from the band?
JohnWe're in the process of writing right now, depending on timeframes for stuff, we're looking at the end of this year or maybe the start of '07. It seems like a long way off, but we've still got a lot of countries to push crisis//reinvention in, as well as the whole recording process. New material is sounding great. Really catchy and heavy. We're writing faster and more complicated tracks that should really get the crowds moving.
HalWe've decided to take a more immediate snapshot of where we all are now, with regards to the music we like, rather than the somewhat spread out process that crisis//reinvention took. Like John says, it's heavier in places, that much is clear this far in.

R13: Are you up for any festival appearances this year?
HalSo far, we're booked to play Bed-Rock Festival in June with Kingsize Blues, although of course others are awaiting confirmation, definitely worth keeping an eye out for various appearances during these summer months, as last year we really enjoyed the slot we had at TMF.

R13: What is the lowest point of Interlock so far?
JohnVarious problems with getting out on the road and playing in front of the fans... not good, but something we're remedying right now.
HalYeah, live bookings really. It's basically boiling down to tackling the bureaucracy that is the stop gap for getting your band's performances onto key venues here, there are just so many people with only red tape to offer.
R13: And the highest?
The top of Chris' head... he is the tallest member after all.
HalOr perhaps the gig we did in Scotland. That's pretty high up the country. It's also quite a pointy country. Honestly though, there are great moments like when you get a whole venue screaming parts of the songs back at you, it never fails to surprise me when that happens and it reinforces your belief in what you're doing. TMF was one of them, I'd say another is almost any we get to do in Buckinghamshire. Bunch of nutters.