Paranoid / Sludeglord Tag Team Interview with DOCTOR CYCLOPS, Part 1

Doctor Cyclops is a bluesy doom power trio from Italy.  Their second album 'Oscuropasso' has swiftly become a favorite here at the Paranoid Bunker.  Steve Howe from the Sludgelord and I teamed up to interview the band recently.  As a stoner/doom blogger I have been influenced by many, Steve Howe included.  I learned from Steph LS of the now defunct and much lamented Temple of Perdition blog many things, one of which was to not double up reviews and interviews of the same band around the same time.  I haven't written a full review of 'Oscuropasso' because we did this interview, but hopefully you'll get to know not just the band, but also get a good idea about the music from the words herein, it's depth and where it comes from.  But for the record I think it's an ACE album!  A huge thanks to Steve, Chris, Francesco and Alessandro for taking the time out to make this happen!!!!

You can catch Doctor Cyclops on their upcoming German tour at the following sites and dates:
28.02: CH Luzern@Bruch Brithers
01.03: CH Tbc Switzerland
02.03: DE Stuttgart@1210
03.03: BE Antwerp@Rodeoshow
05.03: DE Berlin@Cassiopeia
06.03: DE Wurzburg@Cafè Cairo
07.03: DE Leipzig@Bandhaus
08.03: DE Nurnberg@Artischocken

You can also check out the band on their own official website here.

And now, the interview

SL = Sludgelord

PH = Paranoid Hitsophrenic

SL = Hi Guys. Thanks for doing this joint tag-team interview as we have came to call it. Can you tell our readers a brief history of the band and where it is today.

CHRIS: Hello to you. Doctor Cyclops started as a live power trio in 2008, although the project was born earlier, when me and Francesco decided to play music together. We were childhood friends, from the same little village on the Appennino Mountains called Bosmenso. We focused on the trio formula after seeing Bill Steer’s Firebird in 2005 I guess. then we practised a lot, with different people, till 2008. First line up  was built with a different drummer. We started playing live, and we tried to do it more often as possible. We began in a cellar and we finished playing Europe… In 2010 Alessandro Dallera joined the band on drums, and that’s it. In 2012 we released our first lp, Borgofondo, through the german label World in Sound, and now the second one’s. We are currently getting’ ready for a german tour, which will start on February the 28^th.

PH = I seem to detect a strong late 60’s early 70’s heavy prog and blues / proto-doom influence to Doctor Cyclops music.  Is that accurate?  What are some of your favorite old records?  (‘Cobweb Hands’ suggests Uriah Heep …)

CHRIS: You’re right, apart from Uriah Heep, which we surely dig but we wouldn’t put between the main influences (at least not the conscious ones!). Ok about the early seventies taste and proto doom influences, but I’d also add “modern” influences with a vintage sound…people such as Firebird, Cathedral, Spiritual Beggars, Witchcraft, Blood Ceremony…we due them a lot, as we actually forged our taste listening to them. Favourite oldies? Jumbling I’d say: Captain Beyond (Captain Beyond), Dust (Hard Attack), Sir Lord Baltimore (Kingdome Come) , Aardvark, Truth and Janey (No rest for the Wicked, Erupts!) and Witchfinder General (Death Penalty) between the bests. Between the “moderns”: The Ethereal Mirror (Cathedral), Deluxe (Firebird), Another Way to Shine (Spiritual Beggars), Firewood (Witchcraft), Hisingen Blues (Graveyard), Blood Ceremony (Blood Ceremony).

FRANCESCO: We have plenty of influences, tons of bands that can illuminate you… Aardvark, Arzachel…I’d love to hear our song Cobweb Hands played by Atomic Rooster anyway!

ALESSANDRO: There is a lot of 60s and 70s, sure, but I feel like I’m playing a new kind of music and not an old one. We are seeking new frontiers.

SL = Where did the name Doctor Cyclops come from. Any particular meaning or life changing event influenced you to call your band that name.

CHRIS: We know there is a science fiction movie from 1940 called like that, but it is not strictly connected. The band name came through a phone conversation between me and Francesco. We were discussing about some possible names and we agreed that “Cyclops” was perfect: good rolling sound, and evocative meaning, as the cyclop’ s mythological figure brings to mind loneliness, majesty and freakness. At the time Francesco was taking his degree, so we simply thought that the Cyclop could be a…Doctor. It came like a joke. Then we googled it and we found out about the movie! Which was  a freaky one, to say at least! A perfect coincidence…More like a sign I guess!

PH = So, tell me about the songwriting process for Doctor Cyclops, because I hear sounds flooding in from two conflicting sources, each one reaching towards the surface and threatening to submerge the other in the process.  How does this clash of real solid heavy blues and the more metallic doom stuff all come together?

CHRIS: Oh, it’s simple: different tastes. Most of the stuff comes from riffs or piece of songs composed by me or Francesco. Usually when we have an idea we bring it to the rehearsal room, and then we develope it together. It’s rare that just one of us come out with an entire song by himself. We put the riffs together, Alessandro drums on them heavily and we keep on working on it till we are satisfied. Usually the lirycs come after the instrumental part. About the differences and conflicts you hear in the sources… Well, I’m the one with a melodic and bluesy/seventies taste. Francesco is more into the heavier parts. Doom, prog, metal style. Alessandro plays the drum in a seventies way but with a little of 80ies taste… Put it together and that’s it!

FRANCESCO:  well, it’s rare that a song born in the rehearsal room. One of us usually brings an idea in…a riif, or a song structure…then we develop it together, as without the alchemy of our parts it would end with being musically speaking one way orientated, and boring.

ALESSANDRO: We have different tastes, but we found our balance…we’re like a pyramid, you know..

SL = Now congrats on your new album. We love it here at Sludgelord and Paranoid Hitsophrenic. Was it a hard album to write and record for. Did you have much fun making it as we did listening to it.

CHRIS: Oscuropasso has been a strange album in a way. Not hard to write, as the songs were ready since a long time, but hard to produce I’d say. We spent a lot of time (we’re talking about months) mixing, trying different cuts on the master, looking for something we probably didn’t know ourselves! We started with the idea of making an obscure doom/rock album, but it was like the songs themselves didn’t want to sound really like that…At a certain point we decided to let it go in the direction it seemed to have choosen by itself. And to me now it sounds like a kind of proto heavy metal record with many different influences… I liked this in the studio process: that we chose a direction and we’ve been pleasantly wrongfooted. But there have been moments which were not funny at all, such as the mastering process.

FRANCESCO: Personally I recorded my bass lines overdubbing them to the rest, so it was pretty comfortable to me…just like playing along on a record!

ALESSANDRO: Oscuropasso is like the sequel of Borgofondo… I was concentrated to give the best performance on every song…

PH = I wanted to talk briefly about the album title ‘Oscuropasso’ which seems to have several meanings when you think about it, but how would the band describe the album title and how it ties into the music?

CHRIS: “Oscuropasso”, like “Borgofondo”, is an Italian word which doesn’t have a real translation. It is literally some like “Obscure-pass”: you know, like a mountain pass. It’s a place you have to go through to get into something else. In our case it is a metaphorical way to introduce people into another world. It is the natural succession for Borgofondo, and also an homage to our own language. As for the music…I guess it is enough “obscure”!

FRANCESCO: I like to see this title strictly connected with Borgofondo in a wordplay evoking Borgo Prund, the one in the Dracula movie by Herzog. Oscuropasso continues the Borgofondo’s tale…it doesn’t matter if you are in the village, or still along the trail.

ALESSANDRO: Oscuropasso to me is like a Great Grey Garden where the souls must reckon with their secret fears seeking for freedom.

SL = Obviously you will be playing these tracks live on future gigs in 2014. What will your gig setup be to perform some of these tracks live. Especially Rotten Trolls. As that is one epic kaleidoscope of noise and moods.

CHRIS: Our setup is really simple: we are three people, so just guitar, bass, drums and vocals. We recorded the songs keeping this in mind, so generally we didn’t put that many overdubs or stuff we couldn’t really play live. Nothing that would really make the difference, I mean. On some of the tracks we put the Hammond organ, but treating it like an ornament and not as an essential part of the song. Maybe the live sound will be in some parts a little bit raw comparing to the record’s one, but we like the idea that people can get different feelings from studio and live stuff. A good example? Truth and Janey: the studio album is “clean” and well finished. When you listen to their live “Erupts!” You find out a completely different thing: rough, heavy, rotten…awesome!!!

FRANCESCO: I’m glad that we have a good bunch of songs to chose between, so that you can give variety to the setlist. Playing the same set every night would be pretty boring, although I know that a lot of bands do it. Playing Rotten Trolls in particular is really exciting to me, as the “war toms” at the beginning recall the audience and you know that you are gonna tell them a story…it’s like a suite, a little music-opera.

ALESSANDRO: It doesn’t really matter which song you are playing…the key is to communicate any single image you want to be connected whit the song…in Rotten Trolls we are on the same ship sailing towards a new adventure!

PH = I think one of the most appealing things of ‘Oscuropasso’ is the combination of different sounds all coming together to create something distinctive.  I would never have expected the church organ at the end of the mostly bluesy ‘Angel Saviour’.  Somehow it struck me as a very cinematic idea.  Do you pull inspiration from a lot of unexpected sources such as horror films and 60’s psychedelic soundtracks?

CHRIS: We do like disturbing movies in general…whether they are horror or cinema d’essai.. Herzog (in Nosferatu and Kaspar Hauser mostly) for example has a great photography and lights, and his landscapes are unique. Really inspiring. Also Night Flyer is a good one, or Dario Argento with the Goblin soundratck…  

Interview continued in Part 2 on The Sludgelord blog!

Paranoid / Sludeglord Tag Team Interview with Mos Generator's Tony Reed, Part 1

Tony Reed, from Port Orchard, Washington (across Puget Sound from Seattle), is the guitarist / vocalist / keyboardist for Mos Generator (he also plays in Stone Axe, Treepeople, Goodbye Harry & Twelve Thirty Dreamtime). The band is about to release their new album 'Electric Mountain Majesty' on Listenable Records. This is the third tag team interview between Steve The Sludgelord and I and who better to talk to than the legendary musician / producer?  Let's dive right in, shall we ... - LK

SL - Hi Tony, Can you tell our readers how you became involved with music. Any life-changing event or album that inspired you to become a musician?

Hey guys, thank you for taking the time to come up with these great questions. I would have to say that my parents were a big influence on my love of music. Music around the house ranged from Motown to Sabbath and god bless those K-Tel records :). The first album I heard that had a major impact on me was KISS Alive!  I heard a cassette of from my older cousin. It had no cover so I didn't even see what the band looked like at first. Then when I saw pics of the band I was completely hooked. They looked really cool to a 9 year old.

Artwork by Adam Burke.

PH - You had 12 songs recorded for ‘Electric Mountain Majesty’ and decided to go with 10 on the album.  What happens to the other two now?

Our new label, Listenable Records, has licensed a few of their releases to a Japanese label. Hopefully that will happen with Electric Mountain Majesty. The Japanese releases always have bonus tracks so we are ready if it happens. 

SL - You have just finished recording your new album. Can you tell us what people can expect from it?

As with most bands, we are always trying to expand our sound. On Electric Mountain Majesty we actually went back to a more raw and live sound. A few of the songs are actually demos that we thought turned out good enough to use on the album. After the positive feedback we got from the "In Concert" album last year we wanted to try and harness the live energy on a studio record. On some songs I think it really worked. There are a few songs that were studio creations and probably won't be played live. It's weird to try and explain this but I think it's our most uptempo and our most downtempo album at the same time. "Nomads" was a very mid-tempo album. Electric Mountain Majesty moves to each side of that a bit more.

PH - I hear you actually went over to Denmark to record the ‘Wingmakers’ album with the guys in Doublestone.  Is that something you do often, travelling far and wide to record bands?  And what was the experience like?

Actually I am on a flight back from Australia right now where I worked on the new SEEDY JEEZUS album. We recorded in a legendary Melbourne club called The Tote. I set them up just like they were on stage and let em blast out their brand of high energy hard rock. I like to make the bands as comfortable as possible. Setting up like they are on stage and just cranking up with using headphones seems to be very effective. I have been to Denmark twice to work with Doublestone and the band and me were both very happy with the results of that technic. I have done other traveling as well but I also do a lot of mixing for bands that have recorded at a studio that is close to them and then they send me the files to mix.  

SL - Can you tell our readers how Mos Generator became about? No doubt, you have been asked this question a million times before ...

The three of us have been playing music together since 1990. We had a band together through the first half of the 90s then we all joined other bands that were touring and making records. After those bands faded, we found our way back to each other and formed Mos Generator in the fall of 2000. We are certainly musical brothers and because all of the music we have made, crap we have been through and time we have spent together we might as well be blood brothers too.

PH -Last I heard Mos Generator was planning to head over to Europe to tour around their Freak Valley Festival appearance.  Is there anything to report on that front?

Right now the details are being worked out. We will probably do May 15th - 30th through Europe. No UK gigs on this tour.

PH - And just to continue along tour lines, is there anything developing stateside?

We have limited time to be able to tour so we generally stay pretty regional in the states and then use what touring time we have to go overseas.

SL - 2013 was a great year for Mos Generator. Though I seen you live in action with Mos Generator supporting Saint Vitus on their European Tour. That tour was a great success for the band. Some people said you were better than Vitus themselves. Were you surprised the reaction you got you played on tour as you received a load of rave reviews including from myself as well?

It was an honor to be able to tour with Vitus and it was so good to play for a larger audience than we would be if we were out on our own. We definitely had a challenge every night but I feel like we would usually win the crowd after a few songs (and a few shots of jäger). It was a challenge we were happy to accept.  

***

Part 2 of the tag team interview continues on The Sludgelord blog right here.

Paranoid / Sludeglord Tag Team Interview with Beelzefuzz, Part 1

Steve, from the impeccable Sludgelord site and I had a good time doing our recent tag team interview with Borracho [part 1][part 2] and so we wanted to keep it going.  Hopefully, this will be a fairly regular thing moving forward.  No promises, but expect to see more of these in the future.  

I asked Steve who he'd like to interview next and without hesitation he suggested Beelzefuzz.  Needless to say I jumped on board in a heartbeat, it was an excellent choice.  I reviewed their debut album right here and it's become a behemoth here at the Paranoid Compound, one of my steadier go-to albums.  Before we dive into this thing I'd just like to give a massive thank you to Dana Ortt and Darin McCloskey of Beelzefuzz for doing this and Steve Howe for setting it all up!!  Part 2 of the interview will be posted to The Sludgelord site in the next couple days, I'll set the link up at the bottom of the page when it gets posted.

1. Lucas - Hi guys, can you give me a little idea of your respective musical backgrounds? What bands or projects were you involved with before Beelzefuzz and how this might have contributed to the band’s distinctive sound?

Darin, Dana & Pug.

Dana: Man, I’ve played in a few different bands over the years, they all sounded distinctively terrible! Haha! I started out playing Black Sabbath covers in a band with friends from high school. That band morphed into a group called Hallowed Cain with my friend Pat on bass, who has made the “Lotus Jam” and “Reborn” videos for Beelzefuzz. From there I played with a Baltimore band called Dead Man Sway. I always wanted to sing lead, but my voice at that time was just downright bad, not that it’s improved that much, but, man, back then it was really bad, haha. I had a lot of songs written, but couldn't find anyone that was interested in playing them. Can’t say as I really blame them, I had plenty of ideas but my execution of those ideas just sucked. I met Pug a few years ago and he liked the songs and encouraged me to slow down the tempos, make some changes. When Darin came into the band, I think the sound developed an identifiable, original characteristic to it.

Darin: In addition to Beelzefuzz I also play in a band from PA called Pale Divine, a bit more of a traditional "doom metal" band than Beelzefuzz and I also contribute to various other projects from time to time such as; Origin Konrad, Crowned in Earth and Falcon. Basically, I guess each project allowed me to concentrate for a time on a particular distinct musical vibe, from "retro 70's" to "NWOBHM" inspired heavy metal to "progressive doom/rock" that I've always had a desire to explore. Interestingly enough, upon joining Beelzefuzz I found a situation that basically incorporated all these different styles into one unique musical presentation. It's really great to be playing along side Dana and Pug.

'Beelzefuzz' album cover.  Artwork by Brian Tutlo.

2. Steve - The album has been released a few months now. Won praise all over the place. Are you happy with the positive responses so far. Have you had any negative feedback from the album. And how do you deal with negative reviews.

Dana: The response has been great! Really can’t thank everyone enough for the kind words and cool reviews. A lot of the reviews have been written in another language, so I’m not sure if its really negative or not, ha! Some things just get lost in the translation. There was one review that straight up said “the vocals sound like shit”, but, hey, you can’t please everybody. That guy is probably my neighbor who is tired of hearing Beelzefuzz practice every Thursday, his words are justified.

Darin: Since our label is based in Germany most of the promotion pretty much resided overseas. Many of the reviews we read were in foreign languages so yeah, like Dana said sometimes the translation ranged from bitter to amusing but basically overall the reviews have been really favorable. I guess the biggest compliment I've read in many reviews is that we're "unique" or that we remind people of some of the bands that inspired us in the first place. Being "pigeon-holed" intro part of a trend is never very good as you're life span is contingent on that of the trend itself. Hopefully, something that people perceive as "unique" will allow us to stick around longer than some of the current "buzz bands" that are receiving quite a bit of attention and focus these days because I think there's going to be a lot of really interesting musical developments from us in the future. I think this album is just us "getting our feet wet" so to speak.

3. I’ve read other interviews with the band and it sounds like you make great use of effects pedals, running a virtual tap dance on stage. Can you give me an idea of the set up? How many different pedals and effects will you use during a given show?

Dana: I do have a number of effects and switching going on while we are playing live. I have a 3 amp setup. 2 amps are for distortion in an attempt to simulate a 2 guitar band. 1 amp has a POG effect going through it to simulate an organ sound. Also running a Digitech effects pedal for the vocals that provides a lower harmony based on the guitar chords being played. The vocal effects pedal “reads” the guitar chords a bit slowly, so, the slower the tempo the better, great for “doomin out”, I guess, haha. I’d prefer to have someone doing vocal harmonies, another guitar player and an organ player, but, that would make travelling a lot more expensive for sure. I am definitely tap dancing on pedals when we play live, I’m getting better at it, I don’t really have to look down at the pedalboard, that is, until I hit a wrong button and all kinds of tonal chaos ensues, haha. I would like to incorporate more grandiose, Dio- like gestures while we are playing, maybe one day, haha.

4. You recently played in Germany at at the Hammer Of Doom 8 Festival and a warm-up show as well. How did those both dates go down with the German Stoner/Doom Fans.

Dana: Man, it was an unbelievable experience! Great times indeed. Definitely a big thanks to Oliver Weinsheimer for inviting us to play. Our Church Within label owner, Oli Richling made the trip happen. Oli is a true man of his word and a great dude indeed. The trip was very enlightening, great to see doom/stoner style of music is appreciated so much over there.

Darin: YES! much thanks and praise to Oli at The Church Within and Oliver at Hammer of Doom for making it happen. It was a great experience expanding our live audience at least 10 times what we'd normally play to at home. Obviously the best thing any band can hope for from a live situation is to play for as many people as possible...Hammer of Doom gave us that opportunity. The response was also great and we're really appreciate that as well!

Darin & Dana.

5. So the album is eight tracks long and they’re all great, but I happen to know that there are a decent handful of other songs lying around. Are there any plans at this point to release them, even as they now stand in demo form?

Dana: Yes indeed, some of those songs will find there way onto the next album, maybe in a different arrangement in some cases. We had actually planned on having “Peace Mind” and another song called “No Life” on the first release, but, we were a bit low on money and time, decided to just focus on 8 and save the other songs for the next release. We are tweaking the arrangements to several songs right now in anticipation of going into the studio this summer.

Darin: Yeah, plus we wanted to make sure we kept the overall length of the album "vinyl friendly." The eight songs take up just the right amount of time to allow for this. Regarding other songs, there are definitely some songs that are part of our live set that didn't make it to the album that will most likely make it to the next one. So, if there's a particular song you have in mind then chances are pretty good you'll hear it on the next album I think.

"Peace Mind" live at Days of the Doomed III.

6. Do you have any more plans to tour Europe in the near future. As you guys have a lot buzz within the European Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal Scene.

Dana: We would love to go back over, maybe do a 2 week jaunt based around a festival appearance this summer. We don’t have definite plans as of yet, but it is being discussed. 

7. It looks to me like the band is fairly spread out geographically. Does this make it hard to jam and work out new material, or is it all coming from one guy? How does that work?

Pug Kirby.

Dana: We jam at my house in Northeast M.D., about 30 mins away from Pug in Delaware and 45 mins away from Darin in P.A. , because we are in different states, it probably sounds further away than it actually is, haha. I usually have the outline to a song, when Pug and Darin come down, we jam it out, adjust the tempo and arrangements. I try not to have my mind set on only one way to play or present the song. Sometimes I’ll just have a vague melody and will play it for them, if they dig it we’ll peruse it further, if not, I know not to spend more time developing a song they don’t dig in the first place. As far as recording our practices or working out things online, we don’t do any of that. If the riff or song isn't memorable enough to play at the next practice, it probably wasn't that good anyway.

Darin: Yeah, the distance may seem like a obstacle but in reality it's probably a lot less travel than a lot of other bands...it's never been a problem. New songs will definitely generate from an idea that Dana brings to practice...he'll usually introduce a riff and we'll just start jamming on it. Pug does his thing, I'll do mine and together we just let it take shape. Gradually as it comes together Dana will introduce a vocal melody line and once the structure is more or less pretty well established the lyrics will be penned out as typically one of the last things.

Photo by Kesha Atwood Nyman.

8. Are there any plans at all to release the album on Vinyl. As it would make a fucking great sounding record. Have any labels spoke to you about putting the album on Vinyl.

Dana: Thanks, man! We have no definite plans for a vinyl release as of yet, but, based on the positive reaction and feedback, that very well could change. The songs were mixed in anticipation for a vinyl release by Richard Whittaker who did an excellent job mixing and mastering the album. I think our label Church Within will be interested putting out a vinyl release of the album once there is a great enough demand for it to justify the costs of the production.

Darin: Vinyl was one of the things we discussed early on with Church Within. I'm not sure what the timeline will be but as far as what we've discussed with Oli, it is expected to happen hopefully in the very near future. As Dana said the mastering by Richard Whittaker is definitely conducive to the vinyl release as well as the overall length of the album.

You can find 'Beelzefuzz' on CD at The Church Within Records web shop.

You can find Beelzefuzz on facebook.


Read Part 2 Here

BORRACHO Interview, Part 1

Sometimes, a casual conversation can lead you down the path to something really cool.  Today on Paranoid Hitsophrenic we've joined forces with The Sludgelord and we're going to bring you something a little bit different.  I was chatting with Steve from Sludgelord about bands we'd like to interview when he came out with the suggestion we do a tandem interview and post it in two parts, here and on his blog.  I thought it was a great idea and we both agreed that the first band that we wanted to interview was Washington, DC stoner fuzz giants Borracho.  Thankfully, the band was into it, took time out of their busy schedules and replied to our questions.  Part 1 is right here, right now and you can find the second half of mine and Steve's interview with Borracho on The Sludgelord.  Far as I know this is the first cross-over interview in the history of publication!!!  I'm sure it isn't but it's probably the first in the world of stoner rock and if it still isn't, it's the first time it's been done as far as I'm aware.

But enough about that.  Borracho fell upon the scene like a tidal wave with their 2011 debut, 'Splitting Sky', making almost everybody's year end best albums list.  Since then, they've gone through the ups and downs that bands sometimes go through with personnel changes and staying active live and on record through various splits and 7" records.  This summer the band released their second major effort, 'Oculus' and it was time for me to jump on the drunken bandwagon.  It's a super addictive album and ... well, we'll get into all of that during the course of this two part Paranoid Hitsophrenic / Sludgelord cross-over interview starting now!

1.     STEVE - Hi guys. Can you give Sludgelord and Paranoid readers a brief history of how the band came about and where it currently stands today.

Hey Lucas, Steve. thanks for having us. The band came together out of some jamming we did while in our old bands. We wanted to switch instruments and lay down some heavy grooves. Have a bit of a new challenge and a lot of fun. It was basically a side project. We put out a split 7” in 2008 with Adam West, and our debut LP Splitting Sky came out in 2011, after our old bands had hung it up. We’ve release another two 7”s and a 10” since then, a couple of videos, and played a lot of shows with some excellent bands. Earlier this year we parted with our singer/guitarist Noah, who moved abroad. Steve took over on vocal duty and we’ve morphed into a trio. We released our 2^nd LP Oculus digitally in July, and it’s about to come out on vinyl this month.

2.     LUCAS - You released ‘Splitting Sky’ in 2011.  By the end of the year, it seemed as though it was on every critic’s year-end list of favorite albums.  How has the reception been for the new one, ‘Oculus’ and in the band’s opinion, how does it stack up against its predecessor?

We were humbled by the response to Splitting Sky. As our debut full-length LP, that record was a long time in the making and is literally the document of our founding. We had attempted to record our debut LP in 2009. Ultimately we weren’t happy with those recordings, and we serendipitously met Frank Marchand, who’s become our go-to man in the studio. Debut releases typically have different goals and pressures than sophomore releases. Splitting Sky was an introduction - it had to have immediate impact and it had to be memorable. It had to put Borracho on the map and hopefully make people notice us. Based on the response we've gotten to Splitting Sky, we're psyched to think we accomplished our goals there.
 
Oculus is the next chapter - it had to maintain that quality, but also had to continue the journey, to confront the unexpected, to explore and continue to provide that awesome musical experience. In thinking about it, it had similar trials getting developed - basically being written in the middle of the uncertainty of Noah’s status in the band. We also struggled with the length a bit, wondering if we should release it as an EP to introduce Steve, and keep our powder dry for an "official" second release. In the end it didn't matter what type of release it was or how long it was, the critics and our fans have had lots of very nice things to say. And people have been buying it and eagerly awaiting the vinyl release. So I guess in that sense we've been more impressed with the reception Oculus has received, given the added expectations and trials involved in getting it out.

Steve.

3.     Was it a hard decision to carry on as a trio when Noah left the band? It must have been quite daunting for Steve to take over as frontman.

Yeah, it was not fun going through a personnel issue with one of your best friends. It sucked the most because it was only about logistics and not about personalities. I guess it'd make a horrible situation a bit better if the guy leaving the band was being an asshole. But with us, it was only about how far away Noah was from us, not at all about whether we still wanted to play together and keep it going. How many doom bands do you know that spend their rehearsal time Skyping with the lead singer 3000 miles away about lyrics! We basically wrote Oculus in this way. And as hard as it is/was for all of us, the burden on Steve, stepping up on vox and covering for a missing second guitar, was really awesome. He’s proved more than up to the task.

4.     There’s a lot of open space on ‘Oculus’, plenty of improvisational moments.  How do these sections play out live?  Are they pretty much like on the record or are these the moments where the band goes crazy, Steve pulls out the violin bow and solos extend for half an hour?

Fans that have caught us live over the last year or so before Oculus was released know that we were using our live sets to work out the Oculus material as a trio. Back then we were still a four-piece-on-ice but we still wanted to play while Noah was out of the country so we started writing instrumental material for the trio lineup. Our first shows in this period were all instrumental with the occasional Splitting Sky track. So in that sense, all of Oculus is kind of a jam, right down to the fact that we tend to play it live as one continuous piece of music. So I guess when you write material in a jam environment, it'll tend to take on those improvisational and open sections. There's very little studio trickery on Oculus besides the psych track "Eye" - so we feel that the live versions of the Oculus tracks are pretty similar to the record. And this vibe of course makes it easier to go off on tangents and be able to bring it right back, which we like to do on stage when the moment strikes.

Tim.

5.     What equipment do you use to get that Fuzz Laden Stoner Metal sound? Any custom equipment you use or trade secrets you like to share with both sets of readers.

Steve: I play a Gibson Flying V through an early Sunn Model T. My pedal board has a few go-to pedals on it. A modified Buddha wah pedal, and LPB-1 clean boost, a Boss Super Overdrive for leads and a Phase 90. I’ve got a basement full of guitars, but the Gibson V is the one. I worry about going overseas to tour because a non-reissue Model T isn’t exactly readily available. But the V and the Model T are pretty much what combine to create my tone. Nothing secret beyond that.
 
Tim: I’ve recorded both Borracho records through a 60s Ampeg SVT stack owned by Frank Marchard at Hudson Street Sound. It is the best sounding bass rig I've ever played through. During sessions, I'll just stand in the isolation room playing that amp standing right in front of it. Outstanding. I remember the first day of the Splitting Sky sessions, Frank was so excited to fire this amp up for our us because it had just come back from a complete tube job and he finally wanted to hear it turned UP. The bass tone on these records is just this amp - no DI, no process - just a mic. You just don't need anything to make this amp sound sweeter. 
 
Mario: I’ve used a 5 piece Pearl Master RetroSpec kit on both records. I bought the kit about a month before we recorded Splitting Sky, and I’ve used it on the road nearly exclusively. It has such booming and rich tone, and is a joy to play loud. It actually holds up in practice and small-room live situations against the Sunn and the SVT without being miked. No trade secrets on my end. Just bashing it out.

Mario.

6.     In my opinion, the songs on the album just get stronger as the album plays out.  Most bands like to put their two best songs first on an album, but I think ‘Oculus’ saves the best for last and I’ll tell you, it leaves me with a strong impression and has me coming back for more every damn time I listen to it.  Was this intentional or is that like me asking why your last couple children are my favorites of yours?

We had played with the sequence quite a bit at shows, since we were playing all of the Oculus material live before we recorded the record. That helped us understand the dynamics and be very comfortable with the ebbs and flows well before committing to an album sequence. Also, because Oculus is a relatively short record comprised of a relative few, relatively long tracks, sequencing was an issue. We were always conscious that Oculus would eventually be released on vinyl so the 12-inch side time limit was also a factor. For us, we've approached both our records from the "whole listening experience" perspective. We want to draw the listener into the record, keep them there, take them on a journey and leave them wanting more. So we don't have "favorite" tracks per se, we have tracks that sound perfect going into another or coming out of the previous. We intend Borracho records to be albums in every sense.

7.     What is the song-writing dynamic in the band? Is it a group collective or down to one individual. Plus have you ever disagreed on certain songs and riffs you have written in the past.

Song-writing in Borracho is a group activity. Except for a couple of examples, our tunes come together really slowly and deliberately. We'll jam on a collection of riffs for months, slowly refining them, extending them, etc. we're not hot to come up with a complete 4:30 rocker in three sessions and I think we like keeping the process fluid up til we commit them to wax so we can make sure the tune is the best we think it could be. That's probably why we have so little disagreement in the writing process - time heals bad riffs! Noah pretty much wrote all the lyrics on Splitting Sky. Oculus is sort of a transition when it comes to lyrics - Noah penned two of them, Steve wrote one and we wrote one together. We all put in on a single from the Oculus sessions we've got coming out next and the stuff we're working on now is all collaborative so it looks like we'll continue the group vocal writing dynamic.

8.     Well, Borracho never seems to sit still (maybe all that drunken swaying), it seems like the band has a million things on the horizon (video, new songs, more vinyl, etc.).  Would you care to tell us about what’s coming up and why 2014 will be the year of Borracho?

We’ve tried to keep it pretty continuous since Splitting Sky came out, just keep ourselves out there with a couple videos, 7”s, compilations, and of course playing shows. This year won’t be any different. We’ve got the Oculus vinyl coming out this month, and will have an announcement about a killer split single coming out in February after that. We’ve got another new track in the can that will also come out on a 7” a little later in 2014, and a couple cover songs we’re contributing to a compilation next summer. We’re planning a tour of Europe in the late spring, and will be launching a crowd-funding project in the new year to help us make that a reality. Otherwise we’ll continue to play shows stateside and widen that net as well, so no rest for these weary guys any time soon. 

Steve and I are only half way through our conversation with Borracho, once again you can check out Part 2 on the Sludgelord!!!