Hamish, our editor Doris & Ade
MY DYING BRIDE interview by Doris
My Dying Bride doesn’t
really need a special presentation. Their music, just like everything else surrounding it, builds
up on a unique approach which can hardly be described in plain and simple
words anyway... We could mention that they’re one of the most significant
representatives of doom metal, but that would be an unjust confining of their
rich musical expression. Therefore, it feels right to simply let Ade Jackson,
their bass player, to take over… We met him at Metal Camp 06 festival and, just
as he promised, he answered all of our impolitely numerous questions…
Your new album should be out later this year... Can you give us some basic info
about it (all the things you wanted to keep for yourself, to make this question
less stereotypical & boring ;o)))?
Well … the album will be called “A Line Of Deathless Kings” and I’m
listening to it now :-), it has nine songs and is approximately one hour long. We
recorded it at Academy Studios in Dewsbury and it was mixed at Chapel Studios in
Lincolnshire – the same place that “34.788%” was mixed. We are all tremendously
proud of this album, it hasn’t been easy to record, not just a case of turning
up at the studio and recording something – there has been a lot of writing,
re-writing, changes, cuts, additions, discussion, thought, ideas (good and bad)
and a whole host of other emotions and the end result really reflects that.
Listening back to some of the early recordings and comparing them to the final
product there is a world of difference and I hope it shows to everyone else as
well. I wish you could all hear the evolution as well rather than just the final
polished product.
Where will the new album go both lyric and music–wise?
The album will be typically My Dying Bride, we never set any boundaries,
we just write what feels good to us, we write music that we would like to listen
to in a way, I played it to one of my good friends and he commented that, if you
didn’t know who it was you would know it was My Dying Bride immediately, we seem
to have our own particular sound and way or writing songs – something I can’t
explain, when we get together “it” happens.
Obviously, fans always have certain expectations. Is that
burdening for you as artists?
Its not necessarily a burden but as much as we want people to appreciate
our music there is no way we can please everybody, each individual has a
favourite My Dying Bride album and would love us to keep reproducing that period
of our recording history but we move on, musically as we have to… not in any
really conscious or pre-meditated way, as thought we have a master plan before
we start to write or record, it is a very emotional and organic process. We all
know when something sounds right and when the music is My Dying Bride with the
feelings of sorrow and blackness.
One of the things which draw my attention to MDB was the name
of the band – it simply sounded so good that I *had* to love the music ;o) At
the same time, there are band names which totally push me away from certain
bands regardless of their music (I will not mention those, to avoid making them
angry ;o)))... So, how important would you say a band name actually is? Which is
the lamest band name you ever heard (please, do make someone angry ;o)))?
I think a band name is a very important part of any band because like it
or not, people judge you by your name usually before hearing the music and that
pre-conception affects their ultimate opinion, when we were considering a band
name we were looking for something that represented the music we were creating,
the feelings and emotions it represented and also one that would grow with the
band and the inevitable changes that would happen as we grew and matured
together. If we had been called “Satanic goat slaughterers” that would never had
worked would it? As for a lame band name … that is not for me to say as not
everyone wants or will agree with my opinion, it is their choice and I respect
that – except “Satanic goat slaughterers” …
Peaceville Records offered you a deal quite quickly, only one
year after you were formed. In what ways it influenced the band, given that you
were spared of all the frustration that often precedes the final winning of an
actual contract?
The Peaceville contract was a dream come true for the band, as well as
being on the same label as bands like Paradise Lost and Autopsy, it gave us a
fantastic opportunity to be My Dying Bride and devote more time to making music
with the support of the fans that bought our releases and sent us so many
letters. I suppose we did manage to avoid a lot of frustration and
disappointment by sending demos to companies and being knocked back, we were
just in the right place at the right time and had a healthy dose of luck.
Throughout your early years, you released a string of EP
releases... How come that you opted for so many EPs instead of doing full-length
albums?
The EPs were part of our contract with Peaceville, so we had to do them
really, I think they were a great way of releasing short pieces of My Dying
Bride at the time, a little insight into our minds, moods and emotions while we
worked at touring and creating a new full length album. We are releasing two
singles/EPs for this new album so things seem to have come full circle strangely
since you have asked this question. The first one is an edit of a song called
“Deeper Down” from the new album and both will feature some exclusive content as
well. There will also be a video to accompany each one.
Your 1993. tour, even if very successful, bared the mark of
constant misfortunes (i.e. serious automobile accidents, theft of equipment &
illnesses)... How do these things affect the band and its motivation for the
gigs?
That really was the tour from hell! We were touring Europe in
November/December and crashed both the vans we were using, not together, in two
different accidents, the one I was involved in was on the motorway on the way to
Vienna, because of the lack of space for gear and band/crew – the gear was
loaded into the van first and some bed mattresses were placed on top, the band
then had to lie on these for the length of the journey – no matter how long it
was. We had about one metre of space between the mattress and the roof of the van,
in minus temperatures, snow and rain. Anyway, as I was saying, the motorway to
Vienna, in the snow, we must have hit a patch of ice and the van skidded all
over the three lanes of the motorway and ended up hitting the barrier in the middle
of the road, bouncing off back into the middle of the three lanes of traffic!
Fortunately a truck driver had seen what was happening and slowed the rest of
the traffic down! It could have been a lot worse had we tipped over which we
weren’t far from doing. We had to get the van recovered to an Austrian garage
and they lent us another to continue with till our was fixed, however, there
wasn’t enough room in the new van for all out gear so some decisions were made
and we took the minimum we needed to play the gig – my Bass gear was: a Bass
and a lead – no amp … We have never lost our motivation despite having to bear
whatever hardships life on the road has thrown at us – after all it is what we
love doing.
In early nineties you recruited a violin/piano player who
enriched your sound with additional layers of suggestive atmosphere... However,
when he left the band you didn't find the replacement. Why?
We did a lot of soul searching after Martin and the Band parted company
and we decided to take the decision, for better or worse, that the violin as not
to be replaced. It was something the band had done for a long time and to
replace it just because we could, would have been the wrong reason. We have
tried a couple of other violinists since but none has ever brought that feeling
back. We never tried to hide that lack of violin and filled the parts as best we
could with keyboards.
In what way did your song writing process change after
Martin's departure? Did it at all?
There was no real change, if anything it got easier because we did not
have to leave room for violin parts, because of the way the instrument sounds
you can’t play it over any sort of music so we had to make allowances for that
sometimes as, then, it was a very important part of the band suddenly we had
some more freedom to play My Dying Brides music slightly differently.
You played as a support act for bands like DIO and Iron
Maiden... Given that your music has little in common with theirs, how did
DIO/Maiden fans react at your performances?
The reactions were for the most part good after they had got their heads
round what it was we were doing, the fans of Dio and Iron Maiden can be, for the
most part, somewhat traditional and having My Dying Bride took a bit of
listening to sometimes I think. There are always some hardcore fans that don’t
want to listen to anything other than Dio or Iron Maiden but that is only
natural for bands of their stature and history but we can only be ourselves and
do our best.
How do you form a set list for festivals, when you have to
approach a mixed audience?
He he, with lots of discussion, arguing and usually songs written on bits
of paper and drawn out of a hat :-) Its so hard given the length of our songs and
the number of songs we have now – also bearing in mind that we are usually
touring a new release and want to play some new songs as well! It is never an
easy choice, what with songs like “Cry Of Mankind” that we HAVE to play or we’ll
get killed. It’s a democratic choice at the end of it, usually someone brings a
list in and it gets critique till we are all at least 60% happy with it.
One of your songs from which intrigues me is “Catherine
Blake”. What inspired it? Who is Catherine Blake?
There is no ‘real’ Catherine Blake that the song was written around, she
(such as she was) was merely used as a vehicle for carrying the thread of the
lyrics and the meaning of the song.
Around the recording & release of the “34.788%... Complete”
album you had dramatic line up changes, plus I have the impression that you
don’t like discussing that album... So, I’ll keep it short. Is it a chapter of
your career that shouldn’t happen, or would you say that it had to happen and
help the band redefine itself?
It’s not an album that we don’t like discussing – there are some great
songs on there like “The Whore The Cook And The Mother” and “Under Your Wings”
both of which we play live often. There was a lot of turmoil in the line-up at
that particular time and it did show in the music but it is still My Dying Bride
in every way possible – maybe it was a bit too much for some people initially
but the more you listen and the older that album gets the more people tell us
that they like it now, as opposed to when they first got it.
You’re handling most of the non-musical stuff for MDB
yourselves – management, artworks, etc. It definitely gives you the chance to be
in control, but it also must be time-consuming... How does it work for you?
We have had a lot of help from Calvin for the past few years, he tour
manages for us and our gigs are organised by our promoter – we just have to look
at the ones he sends us and say yes or no. There is a lot of work still to do
after that like writing, organising merchandise, art, interviews etc etc, but we
try to pass it out evenly between us to get the job done, we have never seen the
wisdom of paying a manager to talk to someone that we could talk to ourselves!
The current line up sounds like a strong unit again, so...
how does it feel to be a part of My Dying Bride today?
Phenomenal, that’s about the best way I can describe it, with the new
album sounding as good as it does, some great gigs this year and next to play
some of it live and some of the best friends you could ever find, I wouldn’t
want to do anything else, there is no feeling that I have ever had like being
part of this band right now.
Your music could allow use of some female vocals. How do you
feel about it?
If the music truly needs the addition of female vocals I am sure we will
put add some, we are careful not to do something just because we can though,
like the violin it has to be part of the whole song and not just added in
because it will fit. We have already used some female vocalisation on “Black
God” and hey were great – we’ll have to wait and see ..
Some time ago you played in France as My Dying Bridge...
Cool, huh? After that episode, did you consider switching to this, much more
cool name? ;o)))
I did try believe me but the idea wasn’t so popular with everyone else
for some reason, just like when we were called “The Dying Brive” … can’t these
people read for heavens sake :-)
How did you feel when Aaron forgot the lyrics of “She Is The
Dark” while you performed on Metalcamp? The audience seemed to be very
supportive...
It was just one of those things... The audience were great, very
supportive indeed and we didn’t have to dodge anything thrown at us, Aaron is so
very nervous before a concert it was bound to happen at sometime – once in
sixteen
years isn’t too bad a record and it proves that we are just human after all.
Honestly, before meeting you at Metal Camp, I believed you’re
a bunch of doomy guys, but you turned out to be quite friendly, funny and
not-so-very-depressed ;o) Do you go through a certain change, another state of
mind when writing and performing music?
Definitely, the My Dying Bride on stage is not the same as
the My Dying Bride as people, we get so much from our music, the feelings of
sorrow, misery and darkness that its can’t fail to move you when you are playing
it, we are enraptured with the emotion of the music and performance, it couldn’t
be ay other way – I still get chills and the hairs on the back of my neck
standing up performing – I don’t mean to sound conceited but it is a type of
catharsis, a release, something to pour your heart and soul into. As such we
purge ourselves in a way, of our negativity and put it into our music. Off stage
as you found out we are just normal guys wanting to watch bands, meet people and
enjoy the festival as much as anyone else.
A couple of nutty questions to end with – pick
you poison:
a) having sex vs. performing live
A hard one (no pun intended). Sex is the most special, intimate moment
lovers can share, embracing each other and sharing tenderness, My Dying Bride
live has essences of that intimacy but portrayed to many more people. I honestly
could not live with out either one without feeling that part of me was missing.
b) eating vs. drinking (not implying anything ;o)))
Are you questioning me on my beer consumption at Metalcamp Doris? Its
part of the job you know. I'll eat first then drink – or there will be no room
for food.
c) being poor vs. writing three-minute hits
I am poor and don’t write three-minute hits .. do you know something I don’t?
Am I doing something wrong?
d) ABBA vs. Lordi
Lordi – they have better legs.