I:Hi I'm Paul with guitarist and frontman Jimmy Him of The Nimrods, we're gonna get right into the questions!Jimmy can you please describe how your tone has changed over the years?
J:Well, at first when I played garage/punk I wanted a really dirty tone.Not mega distorted but really fuzzy with feedback, like Hendrix basically.Then when we did our little hardcore prog thing it was a more modern tone I guess.Really clear and heavy, but like no bass so Davey had to really max out his bass, that's why he started using 5 strings and now he just loves them.After that it was the super proggy stuff with like tons of bass and treble like no mids, and full out,perfectly clean distortion.That was a REALLY good tone!My new tone that I'm using for the more techy less prog stuff is similar but dirtier, more fuzz I guess, but we clean it up on the album so that everything can shine through, we use a bit more treble and we also use more midrange.I like it a lot, very Decapitated-ish.
I:Since you're in a new, more brutal and technical period of your music, who are your biggest influences?
J:Hmmm.I'm going to say Decapitated,Atheist,Nile,and Suffocation.Really cool original bands.Decapitated just has so many crazy riffs on the first 3 albums and the newest one from 06 has such innovative shit.Then Suffocation like invented Tech-Death and they're so brutal and just chunky.And then atheist also pioneered death metal and they've got that rocking death/jazz thing going with crazy bass, Davey likes them the most haha.And Nile is pretty innovative too,lots of cool riffs that are nice and exotic, just all around awesome.
I:You seem to be a big death metal fan, when did you start liking it?
J:I must have been like 13 I think.A lot of people were trying to revive the whole Bay Area thrash thing so I figured I might as well check out that.Then a lot of death metal people started showing up in those crowds to and I became a fan.
I:Favorite bands?
J:That's a good one.I'll give a top ten. Decapitated,Death,Atheist,Immortal,Suffocation,Cynic,Meshuggah,Necrophagist,Nile,and The Faceless.
I:What does a band have to have to make you like it?
J:A good instrumental section.And I don't just mean guitar, I mean bass and drums too, and keyboards if they use them.Bands like the Jimi Hendrix experience where everyone was at the top of their game, a more modern comparison would be I guess Suffocation or really the perfect example would be Death, everyone just kicked ass because Schuldiner wanted stuff to be perfect.
I:Are you a perfectionist?
J:Sometimes. There are times where I'll allow songs that aren't perfect onto the record and won't care but usually I want good shit on my album.It has to be good.
I:What do you have to say about recent struggles with guitarist Jaska LAtvala?
J:Well it's just personal stuff man.We've been writing stuff how we like it and he wants other stuff.
I:I see.How do you plan a solo?
J:I'll listen to the track A LOT and then I'll plan in my head and hum what I think would kick some ass.Afterwords I'll just noodle around 'till I get it right.
I:What do you think about people calling you a "Guitar Hero"
J:I'm flattered, I'm just glad people like what I'm doing you know?
I:What about people who don't like what you do?
J:Well, really I don't care if someone doesn't like metal, a lot of my friends don't, who cares?But when someone attacks me directly because I pissed them off or they're having a bad day or something, I think they just don't understand the music.I mean seriously, half of these pop divas have less IQ points than I have fingers.
I:Do you think people will get mad about you saying that.
J:Um, DUH.I don't even care anymore, I ignore stuff like that.
I:Anyone in the industry that really grinds your gears?
J:RRH is a bit of an annoying prick, half the time it seems he acts like an asshole just to get a reaction or piss people off.He's a decent guitarist though, I like blues.
I:Alright that's all the time we have thanks.
J:No problem dude.
