Interview by Ronny K. - August, 2007 |
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Interview with Matt from Senate Hi guys how is life,can you tell our readers the history of Senate? Life is great, thanks! Pat (Hamelin) was one of the guys that responded, and we immediately shit ourselves with excitement because we were all big fans of him and his other band Martyr. So anyways Pat learned the tunes in 5 weeks, we rehearsed and got along really well... a couple months later Pat became an official member of the band which has been awesome. We found Colin (Lernell) because he posted a short vid of himself jamming some Necrophagist on bass- Jay emailed him, we fell in love haha and the rest is history. And how did you came up with the bandname and what does it mean? Senate was a name I had rolling around for a musical project since the mid 90's- I wanted to do a project where I got a bunch of good musicians together and everyone would contribute something to the big picture- I wanted to call it "Senate" as though we were a purely democratic unit musically speaking. The idea and the project died, but a couple of my friends always said they dug the name We recieved your cd from 2006, And I really loved it can you tell us something about it? We recorded the record over 5 weeks last summer, but Jay and I worked on the prepro with a friend of ours who was great with audio recording the previous winter. Some of the tunes were "frankensteined" versions of original tunes we wrote early on, and a couple such as 'Draconis' and 'War Without End' were later additions that were brand new ideas. We wanted a raw, punch in the face type of debut that pretty much said "Hey we're Senate...Fuck You!" We actually dropped a more commercial tune called "Speak To Me In Binary" because we felt it was important for us to establish the core of what we are and leave no room for mixed messages alot of people thought we were retarded for dropping the most commercially viable tune from the record but we didn't care haha. How were the reactions on The great northern scenekill? excellent- On the cd I hear some influences from bands like Strapping young lad but also some pantera what are your influences for senate? We have lots of influences...old school death metal like Entombed, Death, Carcass Black Metal such as Dissection, Emperor, Satirycon... alot of Thrash such as Testament, Metallica and Kreator Can you give some short comments to the songs? Sure...'Victorious Hatred' was one of those "Frankenstein" jobs we had a tune called '8 Ball Hemorrhage' that we dropped but it had one killer arrangement in the midsection and we combined it with a bunch of killer riffs that Jay brought in over a yr later. 'Queen Of Sorrow' is the first tune we ever wrote but we made it more badass when we did the prepro for the record Jay had some heavier riffs that we combined within the original arrangement, and I had some really solid vocals for this one, so this is probably the most vocal driven tune on "Scenekill" 'Anti' is a big "Fuck You" to the scene, our local government and the apathetic nature of the people that live in our area... 'Draconis' is about a black Vampire who terrorized Nazi Germany in the mid-1940's haha...no, not really... Jay had this epic set of riffs that we turned into an epic tune vocally I wanted the intro vocal to sound like I was Blix from the movie "legend"- and it worked out pretty well Are their any plans for a new album? YES we are doing pre-prepro right now on my computer then we're heading up to northern Quebec this autumn to record some demos with Yannick St Amand (Despised Icon, Cryptopsy, Beneath The Massacre). We're gonna record 3 or 4 tunes, then spend the rest of the winter and spring finishing off the rest of the new record. We already have tons of riffs and vocal ideas, titles and concepts so we're way ahead of where we were for the first record. The new tunes are heavier, faster and more technical and i think alot of people will be happy What else beneath the music is important for you in your daily life? My daughter is very important to me and I think she is my focus i would say that having her has made me realize that everything I do and say has to be the very best effort that I can put forth, and I have to take my committments and my convictions the the farthest extreme now, or stuff's just not worth doing or saying anymore... I think its having a BIG impact on the lyrics for the new tunes I just feel that things I say I really have to mean and believe what I say now I have to leave something behind for her that isnt laced with regret haha And What do you think about the Internet in general ?is it a good thing for bands or not? I think that the only section of the industry that is hurt by the internet is that top 1%- the Britanys, the Timberlakes shit like that- people can "test drive" records now before they buy them, and that sector of the industry is single and video driven- so noone has to buy a piece of shit record to grab a single anymore, I think in the long run it will force artists to put out more solid records and that singles will be less of a focus. As for underground bands- the internet is a fucking miracle, plain and simple... What are the next plans for Senate? We are desperately trying to land a decent tour!!! That's a huge short-term priority...other than that, the afforementioned demo, writing a new record and finding a good label that we can work together with... At the end, some final words for the readers? For fans we say thank you for the kind words and support you have shown us, and for new people...Check us out!
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