Interview
with
Zuul 2013
by
Bradley Smith
Your
latest album,
To the Frontlines, is showing no mercy in the underground right
now. Can
you tell me a little about its creation? How does it differ
from Out Of
Time? What lessons did you learn from recording Out Of Time
that you
applied to these recording sessions?
Z-I
guess we didn’t learn much as it took us a year again
to finish it hah! It was recorded in two
main sessions at two
different locations. Then additional parts were recorded in
two other
locations. All are documented in photo in the layout of the
album.
It’s different because we changed up the tempos a bit and let the songs
breathe
more. But it’s not too much different, it still sounds like
Zuul.
To The Frontlines is a natural progression from Out of Time.
Zuul
did a split
with Bible of the Devil. How did that come about?
Are you guys
friends with Bible of the Devil? If they were to describe
you, what would
they say? And how would you describe them?
Z-They
would say, “waste of time”. To describe them,
I’d say, “parched”. Jared’s old band The Hateful Dead, and
Bob and
Jared’s other band, It Burns, used to play shows with them and Bible
came down
to Carbondale a lot early in their career. When Zuul started
playing out,
eventually we started playing shows together. We developed a
good
friendship between the bands. Did a small tour
together. I’ve
probably seen them live more than any other band now haha And
live they
don’t disappoint. It just made sense for us to split some wax
together
and it was a good result. We also released the Bible of the
Devil/Winterhawk split 7”. Quite good as well!
Your
debut album
Out Of Time has been out for a while now. How was it
received? What
was the most inaccurate/funny/ridiculous thing you heard about Zuul or
the
music on the album since its release? When you look back at
the music on
that album, how do you view your musical abilities as a band and is
there
anything you would change about it?
Z-It
was received rather well, way better than we
expected. Not everything was positive of course.
The most
ridiculous thing was some shitty website making fun of the name or
something. Looking back on it I think it captured the
excitement we felt
as a band making those songs. There’s plenty of things we
could change
with it but it’s not something we think about.
In
another
interview I read that Zuul started after Mike played Bob a taped
collection of
NWOBHM songs. Is that true? What bands/songs were
on that tape and
what bands do you think best exemplify NWOBHM?
Z-It
was a tape of “Unsung NWOBHM Heroes” that a friend,
Alan Coulson, made for me and some other message board inhabitants in
the early
2000’s or late 90’s. It was an eye opener. It had
7” tracks by
Blitzkrieg, Virtue, Bashful Alley, Persian Risk, Desolation Angels,
Trespass,
and others on it. Highly influential to this band as it was
the common
bond as far as influences go. The story is basically
true. I don’t
think the NWOBHM influence is as strong these days on us as people tend
to
think though. There is a lot of great Metal that has a much
higher
influence now than the bands of that movement.
I
also read that
when Zuul was starting up that Carbondale was essentially the “Meth
metal”
capitol of the world. Heh heh, anyways, what is Meth Metal
and is it
still the same there? Or has a decent scene started to grow?
Z-Bob
must have said that, who knows what it means
haha There is no Heavy Metal scene in Carbondale.
There’s a few
borderline bands, and bands that are heavy, but not exactly Heavy
Metal.
Carbondale is a very musical town though. There are plenty of
good bands
here and that’s all we really have here besides some cool nature spots
and
cheap beer. Fairly lame town overall but it has its moments.
Touring
as 4 dudes
in a van, was it the experience you had pictured before you undertook
the tour,
are you “living the dream?”
Z-5
dudes! Most of the time. “Waste of Time”
kind of deals with the subject and how it affects people in the
band.
Touring isn’t easy but it can be fun. You get to know each
other better
and can bond in that respect and on the flipside you can’t wait to get
off the
tour and be alone after it is over haha It’s a good feeling
becoming
tighter musically as a band as the days go on. If the drives
aren’t too
long it is ok but the longer the drive the harder it is to enjoy
it.
Something stupid happens usually at some point and that can either be a
good
thing or a bad thing. All in all it has its ups and downs but
as long as
you are reaching people and getting to play your music it is worth it.
How has it been
working with Planet Metal? Is it cool working with Chris
knowing that he
is in some killer bands, most notably, High Spirits?
Z-I’ve
known Chris for at least 13 years now so it doesn’t
affect me knowing he does cool stuff. He’s a friend and any
success he
has I know is well deserved because I know he’s worked hard to get
where he’s
at. It’s comfortable working with Chris, and we enjoy working
with him as
a friend and a peer.
Since
you guys are
from Illinois you get a lot of association with the Chicago metal
scene.
With Chicago currently being the center of the gun control debate due
to high
gun violence rates I was wondering your opinion on the whole
issue? Which
side of the issue do you stand on, or does it even matter to you at
all?
Why?
Z-Don’t
care. Not going to talk politics .
With
the song
Skullsplitter and multiple references to beer, what are your thoughts
on
American beer culture? The Europeans a lot of times look down
on American
beer, but what do you think? And how do you think America
compares to
European beers?
Z-I
personally quit drinking recently but when I did I
loved American beer. Not the usual Budweiser(sorry Brett!),
Miller,
Busch, blah blah blah…but the craft beers are where it is at!
It’s a
great time for beer makers and beer drinkers. A revolution
for the
palate. No longer do you have to drink whatever the big boys
are making,
you can drink according to what tastes best to you.
I
think Europeans change their mind when they get to sample
some of the craft beers here. I think American beers blow
away the
European beers. I got to sample some of their’s last year
when High
Spirits was in Germany, Denmark, and Sweden, and I wasn’t very
impressed.
I couldn’t wait to get back and drink some IPA’s. They were
ok for what
they were but beers under 5% don’t cut it anymore haha
So what are your
upcoming plans for Zuul? Any important shows or new music we
should be
aware of? Or are you guys going to just take it easy and rest
on your
laurels?
Z-We’d
love to take it easy but that is not the way we
are. We are always writing new music and that will probably
be the focus
for the next months. No important shows to speak of as of now
but an East
Coast run in being planned for September, keep an eye out of details as
they
come together.
Thanks
again for
the interview. Leave us with some profound messages to get
your fans
through all those smoldering nights.
Thanks,
Brad, for the interest and thanks to those who
happen to read this and take interest. Get in touch with us zuulbooking@yahoo.com
for merch, or if you want to see us in your town. We also
have a small
label with some cool titles for people to check out. Our
facebook page is
here https://www.facebook.com/#!/OnslaughtOfSteelRecords?fref=ts You
can email us at the same address for questions regarding Onslaught of
Steel. thanks!