Lamb Of God interview

It's been real good, man. It's been a lot bigger than I expected it to be. So it's turning out to be a good tour.

Where are you guys headed after the Sounds of the Underground?

We're going to be home for a while. We have a little break to take and then we gotta decide on whether or not we'll go out for the fall or sit down to start writing the record.

Are there any bands you're excited to see very night?

Strapping Young Lad is always fun to see. Every Time I Die is always fun. There's so many bands that we've toured with so much like Unearth, Throwdown, and Every Time I Die...and...Clutch. It's awesome to see Clutch.

How'd the European tour go for you?

It was real good, man. Holland and Paris especially were really really good shows for us.

Obviously you said you were looking at writing new stuff, but is there anything you guys have been throwing around in terms of riffs or anything like that?

Well, I'm always writing shit and Mark's probably always writing shit too, but we just haven't gotten to a point where we're home long enough to dedicate a practice to throwing around new ideas. If we are going to get together to practice it's because we have a tour coming within a week or something.

As far as personally speaking, are there any new changes you want to kind of incorporate into the sound or pretty much keep things the way they are?

Nothing I can really think of off the top of my head, I mean, of course in the same way that Ashes... is different than Palaces...we'll hopefully have growth as a band and not write the same record twice.

Being signed to a larger label, do you still feel like you still have the same artistic freedom? I know you signed a deal with Epic saying they wouldn't touch you and you'd just write whatever you want, but do you ever feel like there's ever any sort of unspoken pressure?

No, not creatively and not artistically at all. Time-wise, there's time constraints that are put on us that are sometimes difficult to reach and maintain, but artistically and creatively they are completely out of the writing process.

I've read probably about a dozen interviews with you guys, and I don't think I ever read anyone ask how exactly you guys write a song.

I'll sit at home and Mark will sit at home, and we'll write riffs. We'll go through a good part of the day just writing riffs, and then we'll meet up with everybody and practice. It could be...I get there and Mark isn't there yet or something and me and Chris will fuck around with something, or vice-versa, where Mark will be there, and sometimes me and Mark will get together beforehand and work on stuff. So it pretty much all stems from the guitars, riffage-wise, and then everything else kind of falls into place.

I read an interview with Randy where he basically said he enjoys doing shorter sets. Do you share that same sort of feeling, and headlining a tour like this, do you feel like you're kind of being pushed a little too far ever?

I guess it all depends on the crowd and it depends on the show, in particular. There's been some really fucking hot, hot clubs, where it would've just been awesome to only play for 45 minutes. But if you're into it, and the crowd is really into it, and you've just got the crowd, then it's a whole lot of fun to be up there and do what we do.

Not that it matters to most people, and I don't know if everybody in the band has the same viewpoints as Randy, but do you feel like most of your fans are aware of your sort of political stance on things?

You know, it's not necessarily that we even have a stance or a party platform that we're trying to preach form, it's that Randy and Mark write the lyrics, and they convey a lot of things that I would say in a sense is an attempt to make people aware of what's going on. Not necessarily preaching or saying this is one way or another, because we definitely don't have a steadfast stance and we don't all agree with Randy, that's for sure. But we make things hopefully so that they're a little more apparent, so people can walk away and make their own decisions on stuff.

...so you can actually use the music to inform people.

Yeah.

How do you feel about the metal scene in general, and are you pleased that it's gaining more popularity in the way that it is?

Of course, it's my job. [laughs] But I think it's cool, man. It's one of those things that's come around again. It was big at a point, and there's a lot more raw energy that's associated with metal now with a lot of the metalcore bands and the hardcore bands. There's a lot more relatability—  is that a word?

Yeah, sure.

Is it? I think there's a lot more relatability to a lot of the bands that are coming up in this scene right now, and it's just a no-holds barred type of music. Especially teenagers get pissed off a lot about shit, so it's a good forum and a good medium, this style of music, for kids to attach themselves to.

Currently, if you had a chance to choose as far as bands that are currently active, are there any bands that you'd like to go on tour with but you haven't necessarily gotten the chance to?

Um....wow. You know, I think it would be awesome to tour with Megadeth and Metallica, just because that's what I came up on. I mean, in their present state, it's kind of....off-putting and disappointing to me, but still...they're...fucking...

They're the bands you grew up loving.

Yeah, you know. And they're still fucking...at least, Metallica's still fucking huge.

You guys have had relatively the same line-up from the start, do you consider that to be a rarity, and what would you attribute how you've been active for so long without having any line-up changes to?

I think it's part of our charm and appeal that we are who we are and we have such a family vibe. All of our personalities make Lamb of God's personality. So you really couldn't take one of us out of the equation and still have the same entity that's being presented.

Have you or anyone else in the band ever attended college or anything that was completely unrelated to music?

Oh yeah, yeah. I think we all went to college. Mark's the only one who has graduated thus far. I went to art school. Mark, I think, is sociopolitics, or socioeconomics, or business, or some kind of crazy shit. Campbell went for...I don't know, but I know we all did time in college. I think Randy might not have gone to class. I think Randy just kind of hung outside the dorm where everyone lived and sold drugs, but he was there.

Do you still see yourself being as heavily involved in music maybe ten or fifteen years from now?

I don't know man, that's a good question. I hope so. I hope that, maybe not so much on the road all the time and being as exhausted as we are all the time. Hopefully we'll be older and a little more sensible. But I hope to be surrounded by music my whole life.

Is it hard to balance your touring lives and home lives being out as much as you guys are?

Yeah, of course, because all of us have personal relationships and families that we keep at home. It's just as important for us to spend time with them in order to maintain this as it is to tour to maintain this. It's equally as important to take a breather from what you do to continue to stay fresh and stay fun. We'll take a little time off and stretch our wings a little bit.

As far as your family goes, what do they think about what you're doing, and are they aware that thousands of people come out just to watch you play your instrument for a while?

Yeah, they love it. I have a wife and son, and you know, of course they're completely supportive. My parents have both come out, they came out on the Slipknot tour. They just love...my dad's always in the mix, just always coming out to different shows. I think everybody's family is fairly supportive and extremely proud of what we've accomplished.

Any bands you've been listening to a lot lately?

I haven't picked up any new music in a while, except for the new Throwdown CD, which is awesome. That's the only new music I've been listening to, usually it's just old favorites. Lots of Johnny Cash...lots of mellow music. I'm surrounded by this shit every day, you really can't...you can't come back to the bus after you play a show and put on Carcass.

What are some of those mellower bands that you're into, if you don't mind divulging that?

I listen to a lot of Nick Drake. What else do I like a lot? I listen to a lot of hip-hop, too. Like Clipse, they're from Virginia. Anything old by Dre. Or anything new for that matter. His new record's coming out, it's going to be fucking awesome. Yeah man, lots of country, folk, and hip-hop.

That's pretty much the end of the interview. Anything else you wanted to add?

That's it, man. Cool.