SOURCE – Given that it’s been 2 years since Desolation, is it frustrating to see things shut down just as the band is about to get into high gear?
Phil Pendergast (Vocals, Guitars) – Yes, we had a European tour to look forward to and multiple festival appearances in the coming months as part of the initial tour cycle for Doomed Heavy Metal, so we were bummed when the pandemic caused the music industry to grind to a screeching halt. That said, given that DHM is a special release rather than a full length album, the stakes surrounding its release were lower and the blow, though not insignificant, wasn’t nearly as devastating as the ones faced by so many of our peers with new albums arriving during the age of COVID-19.
SOURCE – What do you see as the most striking elements of Doomed Heavy Metal in terms of it being a Khemmis album?
Phil Pendergast (Vocals, Guitars) – It’s definitely a different entry into the Khemmis catalog, as it’s a collection of rare singles and live tracks rather than a traditional full length. Because of that, we approached it as a love letter to heavy metal past and present as well as to our fans, new and old alike. Interstitial releases like this seem to have fallen by the wayside in recent decades, but we have always thought that nontraditional releases between full lengths hold a special place in bands’ catalogs. They can show the band in a different light, you know? In our case, this is a decidedly fun release. I mean, c’mon, we put “heavy metal” in the very name! That’s not to say we don’t take these songs or this mini album seriously, but rather that we’re comfortable with it taking its own unique places in our body of work.
SOURCE – You’re working on your new album at the moment. How is it progressing?
Phil Pendergast (Vocals, Guitars) – If you’d asked me that at the end of February, I would’ve said that we’re crushing new material and can’t seem to stop the songs from flowing out of our fingertips. Sadly, we haven’t been able to get together in 10 weeks because of COVID-19. We’re tentatively planning to begin rehearsing again in a couple of weeks, though, so we look forward to picking up steam again and diving back into the creative process.
SOURCE – How long does the process take from the initial songwriting development to the studio work and reaching the final product?
Phil Pendergast (Vocals, Guitars) – It varies by project, but we generally take 6-9 months to write the bulk of an album. The more we’re on the road, the longer it takes, because we aren’t on a luxurious tour bus wherein we can jam on riffs while driving to the next city. Since the pandemic has eliminated all touring for at least the rest of the year, we can more or less focus on songwriting. Once we have the songs roughed out, we do full preproduction (i.e., we do a full demo of the entire album on our own before heading into Flatline Audio with Dave Otero) and spend a few weeks tweaking small details and rehearsing the songs as much as humanly possible. From there, we’ll spend 4-5 weeks in the studio w/ Otero before handing the masters over to Nuclear Blast. We’re tentatively eyeing a late spring/early summer release for LP#4, though that timeline, like everything else in the world right now, is subject to change. Cross your fingers, folks!
SOURCE – What financial impact has COVID-19 had on you and your band? Have you had to cancel or postpone any tours or festival appearances or postpone an album release because of COVID-19 and how will that affect you in the long term?
Phil Pendergast (Vocals, Guitars) – We had to cancel our Spring European tour, multiple US festival appearances, and our October European run is probably not going to happen either. We’re assuming that live music won’t really return until spring 2021 at the earliest. It’s a serious blow, especially for me as I rely more on band income than the others after quitting my main teaching job last year. The silver lining, though, is that I, like so many others in the music industry, have had a strong motivation and ample time to work on skills outside of writing and performing music. I’ve spent most of quarantine learning the ins and outs of Cubase and working through countless recording and mixing tutorials. I’ve also had the time to make substantial progress on my doctoral dissertation, which I will defend near the end of 2020.
SOURCE – What other steps should record labels, music streaming platforms, and other music industry entities be taking to help struggling musicians through this time?
Phil Pendergast (Vocals, Guitars) – I’d love to see streaming platforms reshape their payout models. There’s nothing I can say about then – and the pittance that 99% of artists receive for millions upon millions of streams – that hasn’t already been said by others. The industry is trying to figure out new ways to generate revenue, from Twitch channels to virtual concerts/”tours” to working with brands/entities outside of the music industry.
SOURCE – What is the best way fans can support you financially right now? Buying vinyl and CDs, downloading and streaming your music, buying merch, supporting your Patreon page or other crowdsourcing platform (if you use one), or some other means? Is there a particularly cool piece of merch you’d like to highlight?
Phil Pendergast (Vocals, Guitars) – The best thing anyone can do is buy the music and merchandise from the bands they love. Been putting off picking up your favorite group’s new vinyl? Do it now, it might mean the difference in paying their bills this month. We have some limited color variants of Doomed Heavy Metal via the mighty 20 Buck Spin, and each purchase of a record puts money in our pockets. Buy music via Bandcamp, especially when the platform offers its No Fee Fridays.
We also just updated our US merch store and have an overhaul of our European webstore in the coming days. Not only do those purchases keep us afloat, but they help the good people at Holy Mountain (US) and Evil Greed (EU) keep a roof over their heads and food in their bellies.
https://holymountainprinting.com/collections/khemmishttps://evilgreed.net/collections/khemmis
SOURCE – Anything else coming up for you?
Phil Pendergast (Vocals, Guitars) – We are thrilled to be part of Metal Injection’s Slay at Home virtual festival at the end of May alongside TesseracT, Allegaeon, Matt from Trivium, Trevor from The Black Dahlia Murder, and so many more. It’s free and fans can donate through the event directly to MusiCares, which has kept so many of us out of complete financial ruin. We’re doing something special for that event that I think people will enjoy.
We are also part of Magnetic Eye Records’ long-gestating Dirt (Redux), a reimagining of the classic Alice in Chains album. We are very proud of the song we chose to cover, and we can’t wait to share it with the world. The label just unveiled the art and have said that the physical release is going to arrive soon.
Beyond all of that, we’re looking forward to diving back into the writing process for our fourth full length album (and first to be released worldwide on Nuclear Blast). The songs we have written are exciting and showcase some influences that may well surprise quite a few people. Rest assured, though, that they are undeniably Khemmis!
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