Transcript of an interview I recorded with Kurdt Vanderhoof of METAL CHURCH - 1/08/19. Full article here. .MAL-
On the line with me right now, Kurdt from METAL CHURCH, Kurdt, thanks for taking my call. KURDT- Oh, hey, absolutely, great to talk to you. MAL- I remember where I was when I first heard that first METAL CHURCH album. And I thought what the f... it just knocked my socks off. Take me back to those early days. What was it like from the inside? KURDT- Oh, my God. Well, we were young, we were immortal. And, you know, we felt like we were, you know, that particular time, you know, being in a metal band that was getting some attention, you know, all of us, you know, we felt we were part of something, well we were, you know, part of a movement, very new, exciting, you know, push to change things, you know, it was a real sense of community. And we were all on the same page, yet we all were had our different sound and a different approach to it. So it was extremely exciting. You know, especially being you know, in your early 20s and having, having your music career taking off was pretty cool. MAL- First album METAL CHURCH I mean, that just burst on the scene. Now. As I mentioned, I remember where I was, when I first heard that I was trying to sleep I'd had like two hours sleep the night before, and someone put on the first METAL CHURCH album. So that was the end of sleep. KURDT- Glad we could help. MAL- One thing that still blows me away and I listened to it again yesterday. But the riff to 'Metal Church, tell me about that. How did that come about? Don't tell me you came up with it sitting on the toilet. KURDT- No, no, that was a collaboration between Craig and I, I'm pretty sure that one was. I know I did 'Beyond The Black'. But that one was you know, I have to give Craig some credit for that. Because Craig and I, Craig would always be the one who came up with really the weirdest stuff. Because that's the way his brain worked, you know, but it was like, if you could narrow it down, it would be like just amazing. But it would be something that no normal person could come up with. But Craig and I collaborated on that one. Definitely. So I gotta give him credit, both of us credit on that. MAL- Well, well done still probably the best riff ever. KURDT- Oh, well, thank you. MAL- Right, let's skip forward. We've got a new century, the band's there kicking arse. Tell me about the decision to get Mike Howe back in? How did that come about? KURDT- Well, when right before he did Mike and I had reconnected just kind of as friends because we hadn't really spoken to each other in a long time. And we just connected and I was trying to put together some kind of project and I thought, hey, maybe Mike would want to sing on something, just some kind of casual, something fun, actually, with my friend Nigel from SAXON, and we've been talking about it for years, but never been able to get anything together because our schedules are always conflicting. But you know, we had talked about that. And Mike and I just kind of got in touch. And round about that exact same time, our last singer decided to just abruptly leave the band. And so I was of the mind that, okay, if METAL CHURCH is to continue, I don't see METAL CHURCH having a fourth singer, that's just too much. That will be, I'll take it as a sign from the good Lord, that it's time to stop. But I had been, it was uncanny that Mike and I had been in contact at this exact same time. So I presented it to him. And I thought if the only way continues, if Mike comes back. So, you know, and it was just like, so we discussed it. And Mike really, you know, it wasn't an immediate thing, he had to really think about it and really kind of look at how you know differently, and I did a lot of explaining of how to do how the business works now and how we did business, as opposed to how things worked when he was in the band, you know, before the band broke up. MAL- Yeah, it's a different world these days. KURDT- Completely different world and we manage ourselves, for the most part, we make the records ourselves, we don't have anybody breathing down our necks, anybody else telling us what to do? Anybody, you know, we're not spending millions of dollars making records and never seeing any money. You know, all these kinds, it's all just very, very much do it yourself, in working with Rat Pack records in the states and Nuclear Blast, obviously. But there, it's a smaller operation now. So we're basically we're in control. And that was a big issue for him. So over a few months, we started working together to see if we could come up with some good stuff that he was into, and, and eventually worked at a Mike and I together and we're still coming up with great stuff. And then he came back to the band, because that was the only way I was really could see a way forward with METAL CHURCH. You know, fourth singer? That's just No, no, but getting somebody back, you know, from our past? That made sense. To me, that was a way to go forward legitimately. MAL- And how is the world traveling for METAL CHURCH these days? KURDT- You know, considering we've been around forever, and I don't like to call ourselves old, I call ourselves veterans. But we, it's pretty amazing that we still get to do it and people show up, like we've already we've been, we're just over in Europe for a couple of weeks doing festivals, we go back over next week for four more festivals. We get to go back to Japan, we're going to Australia for the first time. And you know, at this stage of our career, there's all kinds of new things happening. So I didn't really see that coming. You know, so it's, it's pretty awesome. And it's not lost on me. You know, it's it's being extremely grateful. And I feel very blessed that I get to continue to make music and then people still seem to enjoy it and people show up all over the world. So that's not something that I take lightly. And so it's it's, it's pretty amazing. It's pretty amazing. Very grateful. MAL- Now with us being stuck over here, way on the other side of the world, for many years, not too many people would tour here, you'd get the odd one. But the last few years, we're getting hit hard with bands coming over from overseas and METAL CHURCH, I gotta tell you, that's one I thought I'd never see. KURDT- Well, great. Yeah, I think what because, again, the music business is so different now. You know, you survive by playing and touring now. And that's how you do it. So hey, you know, so, you know, so then for you, the people that have been kind of out of the little bit out of the way, it's a good time, because everybody says, Hey, well, let's go like what we said, well, I've been trying to get down there for a long time. You know, and so that's, I think so in that some of the upside of the new music business, MAL- How's the most recent album going for you, KURDT- Seems to be great. People really seem to like it. And you know, and we're, you know, we're still getting, we're being able to play new places, and still continue to go play on, you know, on the back of the record, and, you know, people like it. So you can't, it doesn't get any better than that. People like it, too. That's great success. It's not measured on you know, how much money you make, or how many copies you sell anymore, for me. It's more about, you know, the fact that people like it, and it provides you the opportunity to continue to go out and work. MAL- Because as we touched on before the whole industry has changed. So sales these days are measured in a different way, because a lot of people are streaming. I prefer I myself prefer to still actually have a copy of a CD actually hold something in your hand. KURDT- As do I. I have vinyl. MAL- Yes. You can't get them to autograph your phone can you? KURDT- No, you can't. And what the hell? I mean, they're missing, this generation of the people that live on the streaming. Yeah, it's a convenience. And yeah, and that's fine. But if you're an actual real music fan, you're missing half of the whole the art form. I mean, to me, it's the music. Yes. But the other half is, is the art that goes along with it, and the lyrics and the packaging, and all those kinds of things. Because I only listen to pretty much other than my iPod, you know, when I'm working out or traveling, but at home, I only listen to vinyl. And I've been rebuilding my vinyl collection. And I'm thrilled that most records are coming out on vinyl now. You know, because that's, you know, there's a whole there you can you can see the artwork, and you can pictures and you can us old guys can read the text. Yeah, you know, and all that kind of stuff. I mean, CDs are fine, but they don't sound as good. You know, vinyl sounds better. If it's a you know, properly record vinyl sounds better. You know, you get all the artwork and yeah, you know, there's, it's about the whole art form, which is the album not just one single, you know, it's about it's about the whole album, the sequence of it, and then looking at listening to the record, staring at the artwork, reading every word on the cover. And, you know, and just, you know, it's all that whole experience that, you know, growing up that made me want to do this and, you know, the streaming thing and all that. It's just, they're missing out on it, and it makes it so disposable. MAL- It does doesn't it. It's all about attention span, though, I think. KURDT- Yeah. Totally. Yeah, absolutely. MAL- Anything else you wanted to mention? KURDT- We're thrilled to be coming down there. And the fact that we, you know, we actually sold out a show in Melbourne is pretty amazing. And so I mean, we're really looking forward to this. I mean, it's going to be it's going to be a very meaningful trip for us. And so we're really excited to meet some fans and spend some time and because after the shows we do, we're doing some VIP stuff. But we also do a meet and greet after the show too. MAL- It's great to speak to Kurdt from METAL CHURCH, very excited about METAL CHURCH coming to Australia late August, two shows in Melbourne, one in Sydney, one in Brisbane. Kurdt Best of luck with everything. Thanks for talking to me. Can't wait to see the band. KURDT- Oh, we can't wait, man. Thank you very much. We're thrilled to be coming down there so we can't wait. Comments are closed.
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AuthorMetalhead who hates bad parking. |