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Colonel Blast - Interview with Ben Whitfield
Colonel Blast has been together since 2008, How did you guys meet up ? Mike, Ineal and I had been in a band before Colonel Blast, when that all went south the only person I could think of who could help us out vocally was Matt who I know from college so after a few gigs he agreed to do it full time. Andy was the last addition. We met him when we supported his band Hecate Enthroned in 2006 with our old band. We had a chance meeting when he came to watch a band that I happened to be in without him knowing, we got chatting about Colonel Blast and thats it really. How has the sound developed in that time ? The sound developed out of a few things, mainly our disappointment at how our last band ended up sounding, so righting the wrongs of that process and then the taking on board of the new members, after leaving said band behind, who brought new ideas and influence. Matt especially is a far superior lyricist to our last guy, he really thinks about what he is saying and how he delivers it. So just through playing together and pushing each other to play better and harder we have hit on a sound that we like. Hopefully we sound like ourselves! What do you think bringing Andy in has brought to the Blast ? When we recorded the album I got a bit carried away recording layered guitar parts and it became clear we would need someone else on another guitar. After the first practice hearing the parts working together we knew it was the right thing to do. We were worried at first it might detract from the raw aspect of our live show but it just makes it even heavier haha! Andy is also experienced when it comes to being in a band, he knows the pitfalls and has felt the disappointments we all have felt along the way so it was real easy for him to slip on in, like the uncle, whose not really your uncle, but your parents call him "Uncle Andy" and they won't hear a bad word said against him, even if he does tickle you at 27 years old. FTGG has an amazing vibe and energy, something carried over form the live shows ? Yeah I think so, the more we played the songs live the more the way we played them live became ingrained. When it came to recording we really pushed ourselves to thrash the living shit out of our instruments. A lot of the takes on the album are first or second ones, we were well rehearsed so it was more about capturing a performance than doing thousands on takes till it was robotic. How much of a challenge was capturing the ferociousness what you do in the studio ? We didn't really have any other objective other than we wanted it to sound quite raw and kind of live sounding. So we approached the recording process the same way we approach anything, with our best foot forward. We figured that if we went at it full tilt it would probably come out something like haha! We really wanted to steer clear of the signature sound of so many of todays death metal/modern metal bands all clicky and digital. Maybe it helped that it was a process we kept complete control over, once we'd captured something that sounded good, we all knew. I did go a little mental during the editing phase, but as a result I know the songs and everybody's individual parts intimately! For a band just starting out how frustrating is it trying to arrange gigs, do you get messed about a lot by promoters (Not mentioning anyone in particular ;)) ? We've all been in bands before now in varying genres and I'd have to say that metal promoters are generally the worst to deal with. The biggest problem is cliquey promoters who will only play their friends shitty haircut band because they will guarantee fifty 12 year olds. So it can be extremely frustrating trying to find gigs. We try to get on to gigs that we feel are going to be well promoted or at least with bands we would enjoy watching. It's better that way because you can network more easily. I think when you find a good promoter it is better to work on a more personal basis with them. We try and go to nights we aren't playing and get involved. A lot of promoters are more like what I'd call "Room Bookers". They don't actually do any promoting. Several reviews have commented on the album length, was there a plan to keep it fairly short or did it just fit together that way to tell the story ? When we got to the point where we had enough material to start thinking about an album we had eight solid tracks (the ones on the album) and one or two others. We initially wanted a 10 track album but at the end of the day we'd rather have 8 tracks and no filler songs than try and force 10 songs out and have them not be up to scratch. So we sacked off the last two and concentrated on those 8. In terms of a theme or story, Matt was writing lyrics along those themes as we went along, it wasn't really a concept as such but lyrically that was what he was thinking about at the time and I think it echoes with a lot of people our age right now. The British music scene is in excellent shape at the moment, with loads of great up and coming bands. How does it feel to be part of that movement ? Are we a part of that movement?! Haha! I'm happy that you would place us with some of the great up and comers the UK has to offer at the minute. I'd like to think that we are doing something that people appreciate and enjoy listening to, hopefully as we go along we will see more people coming to check us out. I do think there is a whole bunch of really good bands in the UK at the minute, what's more, I think that there is a lot of diversity there too. I think what we find most important as a band is the idea that we pursue things our own way, without compromise. I hope that this means we can start to stand out a little from the pack as we move forward :) So what should we expect from a Colonel Blast live show ? A Colonel Blast live show is where you will get to see the band in it's purest form. We personally get a lot out of playing our music, it's maybe a little cliche to say it is a release, but it is! It's 25 to 30 minutes of blind fury. Loud, fast, physical and loud. And fast. And we usually need time afterwards to sit and recover. What's next for Colonel Blast, can we expect more tour dates soon ? We are hoping that the album will be received positively when it is released and that that in turn will lead to it being easier for us to get on gigs or support slots. Organising a tour is something we have had in mind for a while but we aren't arrogant enough to feel we could pack out shows around the country on our own. We'd have to think about it properly and do it right with some good bands. We are always trying to book gigs though so it shouldn't be too long before we are playing more of them. Like so many great new bands, you make use of MySpace and Twitter to reach your audience. Do you think these 'tools' will be a game changer for bands like yours waiting to break through ? We try to utilise those sites a much as possible. You have to realise that a lot of people use those sites and so they become the easiest way to get information out to people en masse. I wouldn't say they are the be all and end all though. I think building up a solid fanbase by playing gigs and getting involved in your local scene is a more successful strategy in turning genuine people on to your music. You can have all the friends in the social network stratosphere but its the people sweating in the room in front of you who count. I find it funny that people are surprised when no one turns up to a gig you are playing when the only promotion was a tweet, a bulletin and a status update/event invite. So yeah I think they are definitely important, but don't get hung up on those numbers :) You've recently signed up to the PR agency Invisible Hippo. What benefits do you hope this will bring ? I've never met anyone outside of the band who will put more into it. Since we began working with Lisa at Invisible Hippo the band has been pushed up a few extra rungs that on our own we were having trouble getting up. She is responsible for putting our album in front of people who are actively looking for bands like ours rather than shoving it down the throats of irrelevant and uninterested parties. Any bands out there wanting focussed PR with a great work ethic, Invisible Hippo are the one! It's probably worth mentioning here that Lisa helps out with PR for my label as well as the band so she covers a lot of bases :) Thnks very much to Ben for taking the time to answer our questions. For the Greater Good is available for pre-order now, Colonel Blast will be hitting the road soon. Make sure you check them out. Dizzy
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