Alright, to start things off, this is another new lineup for BoW, right? What things do you find advantageous of this lineup over past ones?Scott [RH: guitar, keyboards, vocals]: Mark, you wanna start with this one, man?
Mark [Talley: guitar, bass]: What, for real? You're the only one who has played in every Blood lineup. I think it would probably be best coming from you, dude.
Scott: Alright, alright. Guys, I got this. Chill. Yeah, I mean, it would be easy for me to sit here and say to you that this is the greatest Blood of Wecz lineup of all time, and that every other one we had over the past 15 years was just leading to this, but I wouldn't disrespect these guys or any of the former members that we had by bullshitting like that.
Josh [Meyer: Drums]: Thanks, bro.
Scott: No worries man, I got your back haha. But seriously, that would be like completely disrespectful for me to sit here and claim that this is the lineup I've been waiting for or whatever for the past x number of years. Obviously Mark and I have played together from the past decade, but Joshy here is like the new kid, even though he's the oldest of the three of us.
Like with any lineup change though, there are advantages and disadvantages. On one hand, this is the first time I have walked into a studio as a member of Blood of Wecz and not had Ryan [Lee, ex guitarist] beside me. We were the last of the founding members, and now it's just me on my own. So for that reason, yeah it is weird, but even that cloud has a silver lining, because, it's allowed me to pick up a guitar in Wecz work again for the first time since Mark joined.
I do think that the loss of Ryan is probably the only thing I miss though. I genuinely do. There are numerous plus points to this trio we have here. From the first few weeks we have spent together, I can honestly say this is the most open-minded and creative group that I have worked with. Everyone seems to have these really electric ideas. It genuinely excites me.
On top of that, everything feels a lot more professional. It might just be to do with the fact that we are all a hell of a lot older, or the fact that we are recording in my house, and my wife is never more than like 100 yards from me. There hasn't been a single line of coke snorted, or a bottle of JD necked since we got here. That is very unusual for a Blood of Wecz album. I suppose you could call that focus. We all have a hell of a lot more focus in this iteration of the band.
Mark: And there are a hell of a lot less arguments. If one thing epitomised the Blood of Wecz years it was fist fights and arguments. I think Josh and I are probably the least confrontational people in the world, and as for Scott, well he would scarcely be able to fight his way out of a wet paper bag.
Scott: That is very true. True.
A few other publications have pointed out that trying to even replicate the success of 'Deeply Disturbed' in this market is nothing more than a pipe dream. What sets this new album apart from 'Deeply Disturbed' in terms of sound and lyrical themes?Scott: Everything. Actually everything. And that isn't even close to being an exaggeration. There is absolutely no metal influence in this new work we are producing at all. For the first time since Price to Pay, we are incorporating keyboards and synth into the sound. But it's to give it a more atmpospheric feel as opposed to making it sound more eerie and ominous, like we used to use the instrument when we were doing death metal.
I've actually had a lot of people tell me that there is no way metal will make it in this day and age like we used to be able to do, and Mind were able to replicate later. But to be honest, I'm not trying to. I fully agree that metal will never hit the mainstream again like it did back in '06 and '07. Those were the best days for the genre.
Josh: Which has its own problems with some guys in the media.
Scott: Well yeah. As soon as we tell people that we have dropped the whole metal thing, they're scrambling to their keyboards to tell the world how we are selling out, going against all that we were for a quick buck. Which is complete nonsense. This change in sound is about making something that sounds true to what we want to be doing now. We are all a lot older than when we began Blood of Wecz, and I think metal has run its course in terms of exciting us personally. That is nothing against the genre, or anyone still doing it, but for us as a band, we sat down and looked at it all and said, "Nah, this isn't for us anymore."
Mark: Will I answer the question? Haha. Sorry guys, we were heading off on so many tangents there. In terms of how it's different...wow, what can I say? Where to start? The lyrical content is less death and destruction and more life and victory. It's more sort of uplifting and triumphant in terms of theme and lyrics. When it comes to the music itself, well it's just a lot more mellow. It's still rock, don't be mistaken, but it's more experimental, and it's quite "epic", if that word makes sense. We tried to make a massive sound that people listen to and just think "Wow...this is huge." I think we are achieving it so far.
To segue into something that a lot of people are still clamouring about, Scott after the controversial business with Arianna Harley, I'm sure you've noticed that Hey Lolita is back to working on material for prominent rival, North Hill Records. Any words on that?Scott: The sensible side of me would refuse to answer this. But you know, it's a part of my life that happened, it was very much a reality, and ignoring it won't make it go away, so sure, I'll play ball. I don't mind anyway. I just hope the wife doesn't feel too pissed off at me.
I said my piece about Hey Lolita signing with that label when it happened a couple of months back. I mean, I was very much pissed off that it was done on the down low as it was. I accept that there was no way Arianna and I could have worked at the same label again after what we had done, but if there had been some contact on any level from North Hill then I would have been a lot happier. As it happened, they just plucked them away from us.
However, I have made my peace since then with Nadia and Ryan. We are the three oldest heads in this industry, and I think it was important that there wasn't some massive war going on between us. It doesn't help the industry in any sort of constructive way at all if three of the most powerful people, that being record label owners, are trying to get one over on each other constantly, you know?
With regards Hey Lolita; I wish them all the best in their career, and I hope everything goes well for them. I always felt sorry for Jared Nevo, as it seemed like Arianna and I had ruined his chances of having a career that he probably dreamed about for years. So, most of all, I'm glad for the guy that he managed to get another chance to do what he loves.
A few days ago you three held an online press conference where you announced the 'World Tour of New York', anything you can spill about that?Mark: exciting times. I didn't actually see the conference, as I was busy at the time, so I don't know how many people know the reasoning behind it. But essentially, with Scott and I having families and marriages to deal with these days, there was no way we could commit to heading overseas for month after month, you know? So we decided that we will play the majority of our shows in one venue. I don't know how much I can say at the moment.
Scott: Say what you like, dude. Seriously.
Mark: Haha, thanks. Well, the majority of the gigs will be happening at Madison Square Gardens. It's a venue that has played host to Wecz many many times, and it has always been kind to us. Plus, we both live in New York now, so it makes sense to make sure that we can both go home at the end of the night rather than having to be far from our loved ones.
We will be playing in other venues as well though. We are planning one in South America, something in London, Paris, Germany maybe, and a couple of other little shows in other countries. There is also the very much secret show at the end that I cannot tell you about. Read the rumours if you want though, they're out there, and I think some of them are right.
Scott: 99 per cent of them are right. Almost everyone is saying the same thing. I can't confirm what it is at the moment though. We have been told to keep it a secret until the guys in charge are ready to announce ticket sales and stuff. Can I tell them the support bands?
Josh: Haha, it's basically your band, man.
Scott: Oh yeah! Well, yeah, we have just finalised our support bands today as it goes. How about that huh? You thought you were getting a standard Blood of Wecz interview, and you end up with a Picture Perfect exclusive. Lucky you haha. I think these choices will probably raise a few eyebrows. Well two of them will anyway, the other one is probably the sort of thing that people would expect.
Opening the nights on tour for us will be my little protege Casey Johnson from StarFactory. I really loved working as Casey's mentor on that show. It was brilliant fun, and she is a wonderful talent, and as everyone knows, I signed her up as soon as the show was done. Now I want to give her another break with this tour. I also want to give the fans the chance to see one of the best young singers in the world at the moment live. I think she will be wonderful.
Next up will be Sara Daniels. I don't know a lot about this girl, but I heard a few of her tracks when her agent called me up, and she sounds really exciting. She plays a sort of pop rock that I think could really build up the sort of hype we'll be feeding off as headliners.
And lastly, there will be TopLads. I think most people would probably have expected them to be coming with us, given that they are the brightest prospects in rock at the moment, and we are like the grandfathers. It should be fun. I'll pack my Werther's Originals and my book of tales from the road, and we can see if we can't teach the new blood a thing or two about touring. In all seriousness though, they are a wonderful young band, and I'm excited to get the chance to work with them on tour.
Speaking of spilling, any word on the track-listing or title of your new recorded material?Josh: We were talking about this earlier actually. I almost spilled some info when we were doing our little random thoughts thing for our own website. As it stands now, we have one piece of paper with a potential album name pinned to the notice board in our studio space.
Mark: With a smiley face drawn next to it.
Josh: With a smiley face drawn next to it, yeah. That was myself. I did that. So, we don't have like a decisive and definitive answer on an album name yet, but we are getting there, because that single piece of paper has survived a cull that saw about 60 other potential album names ripped down and thrown in the trash.
Scott: I love how you guys say "trash".
Josh: What would you call it?
Scott: In Scotland we would say "throw it in the bin." But trash is cool. I'm the odd one out here anyway. Sorry, continue.
Josh: Bin? Well whatever floats your boat man. But as I was saying, yeah, we don't wanna go confirming any album names yet when we have still to like finalise it with ourselves, but it is pretty certain. In terms of the tracks we have, we only have two which are fully completed so far; those are called "This Day/What We Believe" which is like a sort of synth-heavy intro to the album, with like a guest singer/talker on it, and then we have "The Moment", which follows on from it. That one really heralds the start of the album for real, and puts a real stamp on it, as if to say "This is us. This is our sound."
Scott: Can we say who the guest is?
Mark: Do you wanna?
Scott: Actually nah. She might smite me.
Mark: Haha, well yeah, but you take that sort of risk almost every day, man, and you survive. In reality, we could give you a full tracklisting right now if we wanted to really get into it, but the way the process has always worked for us, we could yet end up recording thirty songs and discarding half of those, so we don't wanna go like announcing track titles that then disappear only to be released when Scott goes out in some sort of sex induced flamboyant death in about 20 years. I'm just joking, man, you know I love you.
Scott: Hey, Mark, what would you say is your favourite thing about me? I know there are a lot to choose from.
Mark: I would say probably the fact that you are so totally modest and never talk yourself up ever.
Scott: Haha. Yeah, well that is definitely one of my defining factors man. I'm a regular shrinking violet. But I meant, aesthetically. Do you prefer my face or my penis.
Mark: Your penis. Without doubt. It is a fine specimen, and I lie in my bed every night feeling jealous of Gia and the servicing that she receives from that glorious implement.
Scott: I know, right?
This one's to Scott, you've had a few other side-projects including a supergroup named District 13. Rumor is that the copies of the EP are highly sought after due to the reception of the only publicly released single, yet you haven't released the E.P. in its entirety yet. Are you planning to return to this project?Scott: Short answer - No. However, I sense you will want more than that from me, so I have also got a long answer.
Mark: Can I just say I'm actually delighted to hear that. I thought we were gonna have a Mark Tremonti/Myles Kennedy situation on our hands over the next few years with him pissing off to any number of side projects and stuff. I'm glad that that won't be the case. It will be really awesome to have this as the main focus for everyone involved.
Scott: Rambling Mark, you emotional big fucker. Anyhow, no, it is not my intention to ever do anything more with District 13. It seemed like a great idea to get involved with that project, but once I got in there, everything was so damn alien, and really really odd. It was like I was doing something just for the sake of it. I make music cos I get to make music with people that I love making music with. It's why I had to ask Mark to come back into this project.
I was happy with the track that we put out as District 13, but it was very odd to be working with people who were basically strangers. Cat Wendel was a great pro, and I'm sure she'll go on to do many wonderful and exceptional things in her career, but her way of working and mine were not compatible. Neither way was wrong in particular. In fact both were equally fine. It's just that my way was far more equally fine than her's, and she couldn't see that.
But yeah, I feel like I am home now that we have got Blood of Wecz back together once again, and I can't ever see myself doing anything with any other band again. This is just too good.
As one of the older bands, how do you feel about the new generation of artists, and the death of metal in terms of mainstream appeal?Scott: I love many different artists these days. As a label boss I have had a chance to listen to a lot of different kinds of music, and there are so many different styles and stars that I really genuinely enjoy. You probably expect me to say that I love the likes of Misery Loves Company, or the new Jason Smith stuff, which I do, but you would be surprised at a lot of the other artists that make up my playlist these days.
I mean, I quite often find myself sitting tapping my feet away to something by the likes of James Urie or that new girl, Mercedes Payne. I've heard what she can do, and I really like the sound she produces. And as everyone knows, I have my favourite artists as well, who I have always sung the praises of. The likes of Lily, Brandon Caulfield and Alicia Lena are always wonderful, and I'll always have time for them.
In terms of newer artists though, I think I liked the look of what I saw on StarFactory. Aubrey Mikkel is a fantastic singer. She really has talent. And then there were the two that I mentored, Casey and The Devil You Know. The talent in those two is endless, and working with them really showed me that there is a strong future in the world of music.
Mark: I like that singer, Layla.
Scott: I'll bet you do.
Mark: What does that mean?
Scott: Nothing man, nothing. I'm sure you like Pretty Little Freaks too right, Joshy?
Josh: I do, I do. I always said that they have some real talent in what they do, and I think their first album was really good. Really well executed.
Scott: You see, people are always influenced by the pussy they are getting. I jest guys, I jest. Both of those artists are fantastic. I signed PLF after all, and Layla is one of my close friends, and a great singer. In terms of metal though, yeah, I think that is dying a death in the mainstream. In the days when we had the likes of The Black Gates, Mind, Blood of Wecz and Black Gold Reign, that market was fantastic, and metal had a real focal point of really strong bands and a big fanbase. I think now that there are fewer metal bands, the fans have gone back underground. It will take a lot to pull them back out of that mire and into the mainstream again. I mean, even I don't listen to metal anymore, and we were one of the biggest players in that game. I think music is totally dynamic though, and things change. You either complain and yearn for days gone by, or you accept it and move with it. In my eyes, I see nothing to be gained in doing the former. Don't look back in anger. Ever.
Josh: Isn't that an Oasis song?
Scott: Hence why I added the Ever. It makes it feel more like my own. Hey if Liam can steal Oasis songs, then I'm sure I can too. I wrote as many of them as he did haha.
Final question here, and it's to Josh. How does it feel to be the newest member, especially coming from the background that you have as an acoustic musician?Scott: Privileged I'd have thought...
Mark: Geez man. Let the guy answer.
Scott: Sorry. Joshua, you wanna get this one man?
Josh: Haha thanks. He is partly right, though, I do feel totally privileged to be a part of something so massively popular and successful. This band was huge, and I am essentially a no one in the industry. My one album essentially flopped, and since then I have done very little apart from production work. Which strangely is how I got this job. I was working with Katie Coyle on her song House of Cards, and as well as production work, I played the drums through the track. After we finished she said to me: "I know someone who is looking for a drummer if you want." I agreed to give it a go after she did a bit of pushing and stuff, but then when I found out it was Blood of Wecz, I was a bit apprehensive.
Scott: A deer caught in the headlights.
Mark: Floodlights.
Scott: Searchlights.
Josh: Yeah, one of those haha. I found out it was a metal band, and obviously I was well aware of Scott and all the work that he had done, so I was totally apprehensive when it came to the interview, and I almost told them that I didn't want to go for it because it wouldn't suit me. But we sat down and they talked me through their plans for a change in sound and style, and I decided to give it a go. I'm definitely glad that I did, though. It's been a wonderful experience all round for me. Everything from not needing to produce anything, because Scott is doing all of the production, to the fact that I get the chance to bounce ideas off two of the biggest musicians in history. It has all been truly fantastic.
I'm looking forward to what the future holds. I can honestly say I've never been so excited about a musical project in my life before.
Blood of Wecz are currently recording their untitled-as-of-this-posting album.