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Currently
trekking through Europe headlining a 7-band, extreme metal bill entitled
“Bonecrusher Fest”, The Black Dahlia Murder guitarist Ryan Knight took
some time out of the band’s hectic schedule to talk to us.
MM:
So how’s the tour going so far?
RK: It’s going good, we’ve got about 4 days left after tonight.
It’s been a really fun tour. We’ve still got to do 3 UK dates and 1
more show in Holland.
MM:
What have you got planned for when it’s finished?
RK: We’ve got a US tour coming up in late February for about a
month with Obscura and Hatesphere which should be really cool.
MM:
Are there any summer festivals planned as of yet?
RK: Yeah, we’re doing Summer Breeze in Germany and Brutal Assault
in Czech Republic and a few others which I can’t remember the name of
right now.
MM:
Can you tell us what really happened at Download with regards to what is
now being referred to as ‘The Kid Rock Incident’?
RK: I think someone had too many alcoholic beverages and maybe got a
little out of hand and maybe trashed Kid Rock’s dressing room...And
this I think pissed either him off or someone in a pretty high position
at Download...Hopefully we’ll get to go back and play it one day,
ha-ha! Hopefully they won’t hold it against us forever.
MM:
How’s the response been to the new album Deflorate
since it was released?
RK: It’s been really good. It spent 3 weeks on the chart in the US
when it was released and most of the reviews have been really good and
I’m told it’s sold really well so far.
MM:
The artwork’s very different to a lot of other extreme metal bands.
What made you go with such a colourful picture as opposed to the darker
stuff that a lot of other bands choose?
RK: Nocturnal had very
dark imagery so we figured it would be cool to do something opposite to
that for this record. The artwork speaks for itself really, it’s a nod
to the old-school death metal artwork from the late 80’s and early
90’s.
MM:
It’s very reminiscent of 80’s thrash albums. Were you purposely
going for that look?
RK: Yeah, kind of. Trevor (BDM Vocalist) has a lot more to do with
the artwork than me, but the band is definitely influenced by a lot of
the old-school death metal bands and bands from that era.
MM:
Whose decision was it to name the band and was there something about the
Elizabeth Short murder that particularly intrigued you guys?
RK: Well it’s an intriguing mystery in that to this day, it’s
still never been solved and there’s a lot of speculation about what
actually happened. And also the fact that Elizabeth Short moved out to
L.A seeking fame and fortune and ended up getting murdered so in that
respect it’s kind of like the classic example of the death of the
‘American dream’. As far as who named the band, I’m not really
sure but I think it was a joint effort between Trevor and Ryan.
MM:
There are several bands named after serial killers or murder cases, why
do you think that a lot of people seem to be fascinated by this stuff?
RK: I think there’s a general interest in things that aren’t
solved and that speculation opens up people’s imaginations. For
example if you look at Charles Manson, there always seemed more to the
whole thing than just killing people and I think a lot of people are
intrigued by that side of it, like what the reasons or the motivations
were behind what happened and what the person was like. And I also think
people are just interested in death as it’s a natural part of human
existence but one that’s kind of treated as taboo in some respects.
MM:
I think the film ‘Natural Born Killers’ really summed up people’s
fascination with all this...
RK: Yeah, totally. And it was a great movie too!
MM:
Have you had much chance to catch any of the other bands on this tour?
RK: Every band on the tour brings something that someone else
doesn’t. It’s been really cool seeing Necrophobic – those guys
have been at it for a long time now and I’m really into the old-school
stuff.
MM:
What’s it like having 7 bands on the same tour? Does it sometimes get
a bit too hectic?
RK: It’s a camaraderie you know? The more bands you have the more
stuff there is to organise but we have some really good people working
on this tour and it’s been great.
MM:
You’ve often mentioned Carcass and the early death metal bands as a
major influence. Does it sometimes frustrate you when people don’t
give new bands a chance just because they don’t sound exactly like the
older bands?
RK: Well you shouldn’t have to sound exactly like someone else.
It’s fine to have influences but you’ve got to do your own thing as
well. Some people put too much emphasis on how a band looks rather than
how they sound and the most important thing is not to judge a band
purely on how they look if you’ve not heard them. There are so many
sub-genres nowadays and the word ‘core’ gets attached to everything
and that’s a bit ridiculous for sure.
MM:
The internet has a lot to do with that of course. Do you see both sides
– the positive and the negative – to how the internet has impacted
the industry?
RK: The internet is great as a self-marketing tool but it makes it
so you don’t have to work as much anymore because there are bands that
people perceive as ‘big’ just because of their internet presence
that really aren’t. It’s good that you can promote your band so much
but everything is quicker and bands disappear too quickly because people
just want to move on to the next thing. Not all of it’s like that –
there are some bands that have gotten big off the internet that I think
are great – but there’s a lot of crap out there that gets noticed
just because of Myspace or whatever. People booking shows now actually
look at how many Myspace plays you have as opposed to how many albums
you’ve done which kind of sucks to be honest with you.
MM:
What’s your take on the downloading issue?
RK: That was inevitable. It was always going to happen and I really
don’t see any way to stop it. Even if you were to make it completely
illegal and come down really hard on it, people would find another way
round it. And I’m not going to lie, I download stuff! There’s more
ways for bands to make money than just album sales. I think in the next
5 years, most labels will go under because CD sales are at an all-time
low. Most bands make more money off touring and merchandise anyway. With
the advances in technology, anybody with half a brain could’ve seen
this coming.
MM:
When it started, do you think the industry could’ve been better
represented by not having a band like Metallica fronting the whole
thing?
RK: Well yeah. I mean,
Metallica have made so much money it probably wouldn’t matter if they
never sold another album, ever, you know what I mean? For bands that
actually need to sell CD’s it was far more of a problem. I don’t
know who would’ve been a good representative but maybe someone who
would’ve put the point across a little better than just shouting
“you’re stealing our music”, etc because I don’t think anybody
really gave a shit about that.
MM:
When you’re off the road and you’re having a break from metal, what
stuff do you listen to?
RK: Erm, Butch Walker who’s a singer-songwriter, Imogen Heap,
stuff like Ella Fitzgerald and I like Muse a lot too...
MM:
Some people think it’s somehow weird that extreme metal bands listen
to stuff like that...
RK: I know, and you can’t be metal 24/7 and when I come off tour
metal is probably the last thing I want to hear!
MM:
Cool. Well thank you very much for talking to us and have a great show
tonight.
RK: No problem, thanks a lot man.
Interview by: Adam G
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