SOURCE – This year, you released a single called Blood Feast. What was the inspiration behind it?
Paul Waller (Vocals) – On the surface level you can assume that it’s just about the Herschell Gordon Lewis splatter movie classic, Blood Feast. But if you peel the skin off of it a little then you’ll see that there is an observation there where I specifically question the government’s Brexit policy when concerning the arts. I found the glee in which a high percentage of people in the country backed a bill that hinders new artists being able to travel freely was proper gross and far more macabre than any horror movie I could write about.
Each song on the new album follows that path. You get hit with the horror of it all, big riffs and catchy choruses but scratch the surface and it reveals a far more social political angle at play with the lyrics.
SOURCE – As many bands in the metal industry appear to be releasing more and more singles rather than just albums, do you plan on going that route, as well?
Paul Waller (Vocals) – I’m into it I guess. I used to obsess about listening figures and stats when we first started out and I know it makes sense to have your presence known by releasing song after song with the current streaming model of Spotify being God but, I have to be honest, I don’t care any more. If we have a single or an EP, then we will put that out. If we have an album then we will put that out. If the label wants to split it over singles. That’s cool. If they don’t, well, that’s also cool.
I have an inkling that people that like to listen to OHHMS a lot, well, they tend to do so on vinyl. Physical media is still an awe inspiring thing and if you have the set up then why not do it that way. But I like it all. I love it when a band puts out single after single or when a release comes out as one big piece. Just make it good. That’s more important.
SOURCE – What would you like people to know about Rot?
Paul Waller (Vocals) – That it is so far the only album of ours that I still listen to on heavy rotation a full year after we have finished recording it. I am super proud of the whole team, the band, producer, artist and label.
I also can not wait to get the physical product in my hand as I think the artwork is simply sublime. It’s so rare to have an idea in your head and then for the artist to totally nail what you were going for on the first pass. What Samuel B. Thorne achieved is exactly what was needed to present this group of songs. I’ve never experienced that before.
SOURCE – At this point in the band’s career, how do you balance out the fan expectations for what you create and deliver versus your own personal expectations? Do you find they work hand in hand?
Paul Waller (Vocals) – Hmmmmmm. Good question. A lot of the ‘fans’ that I’ve become friendly with over the years prefer the thicker, sludgier, longer and oblique tunes that we put out in the earlier days rather than what we do now. But, when we toured these shorter blasts over the past couple of years they’ve gone down really well with audiences too.
Hopefully there is enough of the more recognisable style of Ohhms in the mix to keep the older fans happy but if not, well, that’s okay, there are a ton of other artists out there chewing up that pasture, they can milk one of them.
SOURCE – Were there any songs on the new album that seemed more of a challenge to the band than others?
Paul Waller (Vocals) – Sure, ‘Sisters’ was the biggest hump I reckon. The dual vocal and poppy element to it was pretty complex to get our heads around. That’s when having a good producer really helps. I’d worked out all the vocal patterns and backing vocals and a huge as all hell chorus to take the edge off this otherwise brutalist song that the guys had come up with.
BUT that chorus was only used one time. I knew that it wasn’t enough so I placed a second go around of it at the end of the song. But it wasn’t working. Our producer Ian Sadler, he could see that I was frustrated and suggested a simple move of the second chorus to the middle of the song would work wonders. None of us were convinced so he went away and cut the song up and pasted it back together, making this Frankenstein monster of a banger and finally, we could see how it all fit together, it was awesome. So we learned it that way, then we recorded it and that’s what you hear on the album now… It was so close to the bin that one…
SOURCE – With making a living at music seemingly becoming more and more difficult, what steps do you believe should be taken to make things better financially for musicians?
Paul Waller (Vocals) – Be the best. Be in the top 1%. If your band isn’t in that top 1% then that’s okay. Just do it for the love of creating art. There is no money left in the industry. At the moment at least. The current model favours everyone but the artists.
Saying that, you don’t have to cripple yourselves financially. Bands will always find a way to exist. All artists do. It’s something inside us all. That need to create, well, it’s powerful stuff.
If the powers that be could just grant us freedom of movement in Europe again though, that would be a start. Even when we lose a bit of money or break even, sometimes we might earn a few quid, all that money stuff, that’s not what I remember. I remember travelling around in a van with my mates. Visiting new places and meeting new and interesting people. That’s the best.
SOURCE – Tell us about the new track Mephisto Waltz and the video you shot for it. How important are videos in the promotion process these days?
Paul Waller (Vocals) – They are really important, but again, I promise I’m trying not to be a downer with it but I simply don’t care about videos. Unless they have real artistic vision, as much as the song itself, then I don’t see the point.
Well, I do see the point, it’s another platform where people can discover you and for some people an ad filled YouTube and an ad filled spotify account may be all they have. So I get their value. It’s just 95% of them… Well, I don’t get their artistic value. It’s bullshit. It’s nonsense, it’s noise that gets in the way of the art of the song.
The video for The Mephisto Waltz was put together by our bass player Chainy on his phone. I sent him a few out of copyright black n’ white movies and told him to go at it. Then our drummer and his partner at the time placed the wording over the top. It was simple and cost effective and thankfully it didn’t take anything away from Mephisto but it didn’t add anything either.
SOURCE – Before I let you go, is there anything you’ve read recently that you think other people would enjoy?
Paul Waller (Vocals) – Oh 100%. I read a very decent rock n roll memoir by Ian Winwood called Bodies. He is a fantastic music journalist and truly captures the spirit of being in a band in his book. Another recommendation would be the autobiography of film critic Kier-La Janisse entitled House of Psychotic Women. If you like horror and you like thoughtful and provocative women then this is a must as well. Both have handed their lives over to their passions and the world is a better place for it.
Thanks a lot for asking to chat. This was fun.
Contact:
Video: