Interview
with Superchrist 2012
by
Pert “Berg” S.
Some
days you want to put your fist in someones face. If you haven't ended up on
this site by coincidence, you probably agree some relentless black thrash or
crust punk will take off the edge. But
some days, you want to put your fist in someone face, with a bit of a style.
You want to mock your opponent, before bitchslapping the sucker to sleep.
I
think it was good 8 years ago when I first found Superchrist on Myspace, back
in a day that site was still relevant. As a sucker for "cool" lyrics,
their song "Fuck you twice" hit that sweet spot. Think Motörhead, but
a bit of more groove, and hell of a more swearing. And drinking. And ass. No
wonder they call themselves a "beer metal" band, it's all about
drinking, partying, having a fucking good time with your friends and giving a
middle finger to the rest.
Now,
years later, while browsing another social portal, it was brought to my
attention Superchrist was in fact ready to unleash their latest "Holy
Shit" to unsuspecting by-standers. As I had been talking with the main man
Brad for a while taking up some writing again, I decided to get in touch
(inappropriately, one might add) with Chris Black and The Pit Viper to see what
they've been up to recent years.
Take beer!
---------------------------------------------
Hell-ou, how are we all this fine evening?
Pit Viper: Tere! Meil on suurepärased!
No persse, sellist algust poleks
jutuajamisele küll osanud oodata!
How would you introduce SUPERCHRIST to someone who has never heard you
before?
PV: I would introduce the band as 'beer metal' with a delivery of
speed,
gallop, strut, and a thinking man's smut. And if that doesn't work,
then two
greased fingers -- each with a hang nail -- applying pressure to one's
puckered
starfish shall do the introductions nicely.
CB:
And he
only changes the grease once every ten butts.
For a band with name like yours, and
with religion-themed covers and album titles, you don't sing much about
religion and stay within rather down to earth drinking-fighting-ass
topics. One
of my favorites and probably the one that got me hooked to SUPERCHRIST
is
"Fuck You Twice", very MOTÖRHEAD-like theme, yet with a over-the-top
black humour twist. What're your main influences when it
comes to lyrics?
(re-ordered for better flow)
CB: My main influence is the melody for the vocal, or
sometimes it’s a
line, or piece of a line, just an image, you know? I start
from a tiny
piece that seems to work and then build the song from the inside
out. I
don’t decide what I want to say until I start writing. And I
do a lot of
revisions.
While listening to your songs, SCEPTER
springs to mind, especially when lyrics are concerned. They were based
in
Chicago, have you guys ever heard of them?
PV: Scepter are ace!
CB:
They are
my favorite Chicago band. I moved here in 2000, so I almost
missed seeing
them live, but caught their very last gig in 2003. There was
no sense of
it being a farewell show at the time. They just kind of
stopped doing
anything.
So both would appeal to same audience,
would you say? Just more Motörhead in Superchrist and Hellhammer in
Scepter.
You should get John to guest on a EP or something, he did the black
metal
project Hellrealm after Scepter, but nothing for 5 years or so.
CB: I guess we have the same
sort of simple “FM
radio” songwriting approach. Hooks
make
hits, buddy.
PV: I think so. Though we're more rock'n'roll, we do shows in Chicago
and on
the road with all manner of underground metal, punk, and rock bands.
And the
bills all seem to work out well. We've got a good network of friends
all over
the U.S. and even in Europe that knows how to put the right combination
of
bands together. In that regard, the shows just seem to be getting
better as
time goes on. Overall, we all know what we like and with whom we want
to share
the stage.
Staying true to your past, your next
album "Holy Shit" is released by different label from your earlier
LPs. How do you find working with HELLS HEADBANGERS? Their release
schedule
must be backed up, your album has to wait for a late May release while
it was
really finished in January.
CB: Actually that is a normal turnaround for a release that
will have
formal promotion and distribution, and given that this idea only came
up in
January. We had the
tour booked long
before the deal or even any conversation took place.
Releasing the CD
ourselves would have meant no problem to hit the deadline, and the
Hell’s group
has worked hard to make sure that was still the case. They
have been very positive in accommodating
our schedule. So, no complaints from us. It was
hardest on our
layout guy, actually, who had to basically create the art from
scratch.
Lots of free overtime from Scott Hoffman.
Sanford pulled a 15-hour studio session to mix this too. This
is a
banged-out album, and it shows what we can do with our people under
pressure
and with almost no money.
It really does show, bands with dedicated road crew and D.I.Y. attitude
will
always beat some shitty core kid with rich parents to flash some cash.
Hands
down. And fingers up . . .
When writing new material, are you
writing it song by song and once enough songs are done, release an
album like
DARKTHRONE, or do you decide to go for an album and then write record
worth of
material in one short period of time like MOTÖRHEAD?
CB: With the last three albums, it’s been more like the
Motörhead
approach you describe. We’re trying to get on a better
practice schedule
so that we can just let the songs build up more naturally, as was the
case with
the first three albums, for the most part. “Aim Low” was
cranked out to
finish out the album. Couple others, I guess. But it’s good
to test the
songs live before recording them. The trade-off is that you
make your
audience hear songs they don’t know, and that’s not usually the best
way to go.
I imagine it must have been quite hard
to sit on new material for 5 months before unleashing it to the crowd.
Or was
it good to get a break in after the studio session?
PV: A break was necessary for it allowed us to see which songs on "Holy
Shit" would work well for out tour's set in April. But, even though we
just did a selection of them on the road, it turned out that all of
them were
doable live. So we've got that going for us . . . which is nice.
Is "Holy Shit" breaking any
new grounds for the band, or is it fairly safe purchase for the
SUPERCHRIST
fans?
CB: I hope it’s both. I hope all of our albums are both.
PV: It's a strong rock'n'roll metal album. The guitar leads
and riffs
have a lot of strut and tastefulness. There's a lot of complimenting
each
other's playing at times, which brings forth something stronger. More
dynamics
and feel were poured in as well. Overall, I think we paid closer
attention to
what each person was doing. And a listener will hear all the
Superchrist
elements. There's still that Bronze-era Motörhead presence. In
addition, one
will find some Thin Lizzy shuffle and even a song with a Misfits-esque
feel.
But I think the W.A.S.P. influence really came to the fore on this
album,
especially in the vocals. That was exciting to hear come together.
Will you ever plan to release these 2
extra songs left from the recording session?
CB: Yes, one is already released on the b-side of “Black
Thunder” 7”, and
the other is the bonus track for the LP.
After 13 years of SUPERCHRIST and
various other musical projects, how do you keep the creative juices
flowing?
CB: I don’t think about it, the inspiration is always there when I need
it.
PV: Chris is aware too that if I'm kept idle long enough without any
musical
projects to do, the neighborhood's animals start acting timidly or go
missing.
He's talked me out of the zoo's lemur cage during the height of mating
season
one too many times, so it's just easier on everyone that he involves me
in as
many of his projects as possible. (That ostrich, though he grew most of
his
plumage back, will never be the same again.)
Does having a steady line-up for past 4
years help?
CB: Of course. This is a very productive lineup, even though
we’ve been
working with Ian living in another city for those four years.
It’s a no-brainer.
That would be a great tagline for an album. “Total
no-brainer!” Anyway,
there really is no other lineup for this band. We’re stuck with each
other, for
better or for worse! And familiarity is a good thing at this
point.
Everyone in our wider group is dependable as well, and some have served
quite a
while now. And here I’m talking about Scott Hoffman again,
also certain
other people, promoters, even family members have proven they are in it
for the
long haul, and ultimately that’s what will allow us to be in it for the
long
haul as well. Hopefully we will have a longer relationship
with Hell’s
Headbangers than we have with some other labels.
SUPERCHRIST always felt like music that
is more enjoyable when played live instead of recording it in the
studio. Do
you guys get your fair share of gigs and does that help moving band
forward?
PV: Since this line up has been secured, we've toured more and really
pushed to
showcase that live element. Chris and Hank have come up with material
for "Holy
Shit" that is all aimed for a three-piece band on stage . . . or floor
. .
. or basement floor. Basically, the songs have been prepared so that
they can
be delivered without anything missing live. This is what we've been
striving
for since "Defenders of the Filth" and have continued. And in doing
this, we get stronger as a band and are able to revisit songs
that we
didn't think were for a live set and make them work.
So are you planning a promo tour for the
new album to spread the word? (also, changed question order for better
flow)
CB: We are doing a 9-show tour starting next week. We will be
doing about
half of the album in the live set.
Probably odd question for apolitical
band, but what do you think of recent controversy surrounding SOPA and
other
piracy laws? As a recording artist, surely you have an opinion on the
matter.
CB: Haven’t had time to learn enough about it in order to have an
opinion
specifically. Generally speaking, I believe the positives of
computers
and the internet far outweigh the negatives, and I ignore piracy for
the most
part. I guess I take the “free promotion” view, more or
less. But
this was not always the case, at first I was very much against
it. But
you can’t make it go away, unless you’re Bill Cosby or Playboy and have
the
financial gunpower to afford and more importantly financially justify
going
after people pirating your specific work. Essentially,
copyright
enforcement on the internet has come down to the owner’s
responsibility, so
like with all things, that will to a great extent be the privilege of
the
wealthy. Us bottom-feeders are best off ignoring it and
meanwhile trying
to make art that someone might think is worth paying for.
Smashing Pumpkins released single called
"Superchrist". Surprisingly they hail from Chicago as well,
coincidence?
CB: Who? What? You mean we’re not the
only idiots in this
town?
Beside SUPERCHRIST, how do you keep
yourself entertained these days?
CB: Ian is my entertainment.
PV: I play live with Chris in High Spirits and Dawnbringer as well. I'm
also in
a proto-metal/space rock band, called Blue Snaggletooth. That keeps me
pretty
busy. There's also my misadventures at the zoo as noted above.
Is it just me or is that Michael Jackson
on Headbanger's cover?
CB: It’s just you.
PV: The figure looks very similar to Mike Scalzi of Slough Feg,
actually.
CB: I’m pretty sure the Driller Killer was the model here,
although I
never asked JP Fournier.
Come on, "Thriller", anyone?
No?
CB: Barely familiar, sorry.
Have you ever partied at 9764 Jeopardy
Lane, Chicago, Illinois by any chance?
CB: Everyone has.
And who left the place in worse state -
you or Anthrax?
PV: We did more damage at the Darcy's house next door. That was part of
2010's
"We Owe You A Toilet" tour.
Now kind of a stamp question from the
time I was interviewing bands for my native Estonian fan-zine. Have you
ever
heard of any good metal bands from Estonia?
PV: I've got a big interest in Finno-Ugric peoples and cultures, so
yeah, I
like a few Eesti metal and rock bands from the 80's. I really like Omas
Kojas
and M.O.T.T. The former have a bitchin' strut. Varaan, though I've only
heard
two of their songs, are cool too. Their song, "Ootame onu surma," has
an interesting title. Does that really mean, 'We look forward to the
death of
his uncle?' And T-Klaas have quite a character for a lead singer, Jann
Willem
Sibul! He's a combination of Meat Loaf, Tom Jones, and Udo and armed
with a
bombastic operatic voice. And I think the band Hetero has a pretty
hilarious
name.
Yes, in fact it's a punk song about
relatives waiting rich uncle to back it in so they could enjoy some
inheritance
money. It's by Generaator M though, but nice try, buster, haha! Then
again, I
usually got "you're like russians, aren't you?", so clearly a
progress.
PV: Ah, right. I forgot to mention Generaator M. They did have a
connection
with M.O.T.T. and some other Eesti bands too. And the Eesti are nothing
like
the Venelased! Shame to those who think
so! Soomeugrilased igavesti!
Any famous last words?
PV: Get us over to Estonia! We'll ruin your plumbing and your standing
with
neighbors and your community, but we'll do so with some charm and an
arsenal of
Hank's offensive jokes and Billy Joel piano licks. Plus, I can finally
get a
copy of your national epic, Kalevipoeg. Also, do you have giant eels in
your
Baltic waters? You know, like ones in "The Princess Bride?" Are they
for slaying or conservation? In any case, just let me combat one sea
creature
or any Baltic mythological monster during our stay. I'll do my best to
tidy up
afterward . . . maybe.