John D. Cronise - The Sword (30/11/2012)
Ahead of their appearances at Soundwave Festival 2013, The 59th Sound spoke with John D. Cronise, vocalist and guitarist of The Sword.
Hey mate. How are you?
I'm good, thanks. How are you?
I'm great thanks. You must be pretty stoked to be on the Soundwave lineup again?
Definitely, man. Very excited.
What was the experience like when you played it in 2011?
It was great, man. We had a blast, it was just awesome. I dunno how to get into more specifics than that. It was overall just a really good time.
Who are you most looking forward to playing alongside?
We're good friends with Red Fang and big fans of theirs. There are a lot of bands on the lineup that I'm not too familiar with but most of the bands I've heard of I've seen live before, except for maybe Blink 182 and Garbage. As for the heavier rock bands Slayer are always amazing, Metallica will be good, Ghost put on a good show. Yeah, all kinds of bands.
You guys supported Metallica a few years back, you must be pretty excited to get the chance to play with them again?
Yeah I was really stoked when I saw they were the headliner. It's gonna be a real party down under *laughs*
For those that don't know, how did The Sword form?
Well I was in another band that kinda started to spin it's wheels so I ended up quitting that band and I made this demo of songs and started handing it around to people. That CD was actually called The Sword already and I guess about a year later Kyle (Shutt, guitars) asked me if he could play guitar with me and my old buddy Trivett (Wingo, former drummer) moved to town so we grabbed him and a few months later we got Bryan (Richie) on the bass and the rest is history.
Where did the name The Sword come from?
I dunno the origins of the word but I mean it's The Sword. What could be more obvious and perfect and awesome than The Sword for a heavy metal band.
Makes sense!
*laughs*
For those that haven't seen you live what can we expect from a live show?
Well I'm in a band with three incredibly talented virtuosos so you can look forward to a lot of killer playing at least by three fourths of the band and then there is me. *laughs* It's loud, heavy and rock and roll.
You released a new album not too long ago. What was the recording process like for that?
It was pretty easy. Everything was pretty much ready to go when we hit the studio, we don't really like to waste time in the studio writing music because we feel that should be down beforehand because we don't have an unlimited budget or unlimited time to just kinda hang out and mess around so we just went in and did it and other than being away from home for 5 weeks because we didn't record in Austin or where I live so that was probably the most difficult part, living out of a hotel room, but the recording process itself was fun. It went great.
You guys have done a few albums now, would you say the recording process gets easier?
In a way. I guess you get more used to it and know what to expect a little bit more but then every situation is different. J (J. Robbins, producer) was very different to work with than Matt Bayles (producer for Warp Riders) was even though they are both great producers and engineers they have different rules of producing. I'd say you get more used to it is the simple answer. The studio has its good points but then it has its bad points and for me the bad points are boredom *laughs* a lot of time we are just sitting around while the other guys are doing their parts. For me, trying to do something perfectly is difficult. Not much that I do I'd describe as perfect, especially not on the first try, so just trying to be comfortable and play it and be relaxed and get it right are the types of things you have to get used to. It is a very intense process, especially for me as I'm more involved in the production as I do a little more production of the record and since the beginning I guess I'm the one who has the blueprint of the songs in my brain and I'm the one who's supposed to know what the record is supposed to sound like I guess. It's a matter of scrutinising everything. By the end of it it's very draining. When it's all over you usually don't wanna hear it again for a few months *laughs*
I can imagine it's a very tedious process but when you do finally get that end result you must feel a sense of accomplishment as well as a weight off your shoulders?
Yeah once you actually let it go. It's like working on a painting, at one point you just have to step back, put down the brush and call it done. Once you do do that it is a relief to have it over with.
Who writes the lyrics and music and what is the influence behind them?
I write all the lyrics and most of the music. The influences are far too many to name. I draw from a lot of sources from the world around me to my own personal experiences to literary sources and even academic sources so a very vast range.
What about musically? What bands inspire you?
When writing music I try not to listen to other heavy rock music coz I definitely don't wanna rip anyone off. At this point in the rock and roll game, what are we like 4 decades in? A lot of the riffs are taken unfortunately *laughs*so you have to be very careful you aren't accidentally ripping someone off or if you are you are playing it in such a way it can be distinguished from how it's been heard before. For me I try to distance myself from music when writing, especially stuff that is in our genre, to try and keep it as original as possible. Well maybe original is not the right word....umm, well I guess it's gonna have to be because I can't think of anything else *laughs*
What about growing up? What inspired you to get into metal?
Led Zeppelin. No doubt.
Good answer.
Well I don't really call it metal, especially on this new record too it's just rock, man. Just rock and roll. Somewhere in the past 10 years the words “metal” and “hard rock” have gotten interchangeable and I'm not exactly sure how or why it happened. To me there are definitely metal songs on our first 3 records and there is some metal riffs here and there on the new record but to me metal is a very aggressive form of music and we do stick our foot into that arena but when people call us a metal band or use terms like “doom metal” or “stoner metal” to me that conjures up images of bands that are much darker and more extreme than we are in a lot of ways so I just call it heavy metal rock and roll because that's what they called it in the seventies before all these other terms split off from that, all these sub-genres. It's just heavy metal rock and roll, that sums it up for me.
Makes sense. Unfortunately now genre has taken over, it should be all about the music.
Totally. Totally. I think a lot of times metal kinda of in this day and age isolates itself from other genres whereas at one time, when metal was a bit more mainstream everything was a little more together. In the nineties there was festivals like Lollapalooza where you'd have a rap band and a dance group and then a bunch of rock bands all together and it seems like since the mainstream popularity of hard rock and heavy metal has declined a bit that these genres have isolated themselves from the rest of the music world and I dunno if that's a good thing. I think most heavy metal fans listen to other types of music, sure there are people that only listen to metal and whatever but I think it's good to broaden your horizons and be influenced by any sort of genre.
100% agree with that. So will you guys have any sideshows while you are down?
We would love to know *laughs* We are waiting to hear about it just like everyone else is. It's not our decision.
Fingers crossed. What about plans for a headline tour of Australia?
We don't really have any but maybe next year or sometime soon. Things seem to work a little bit differently down there than they do say here or in Europe. It seems to be you do a tour with this guy or that guy and that's it so I don't really get how it all works but if it's gonna happen it'll happen.
One last question: what do you like to get up to in your time off?
I live in a little town in North Carolina and I just like to go on hikes and hang out with my dog. Basically just chill out.
It seems every musician I talk to has a dog *laughs*
*laughs* Yeah I dunno, man. I don't know what I'd do without a dog. Luckily I have somebody to take care of him when I'm gone. But yeah, dogs are great. I actually have an Australian Sheppard although the breed is not Australian. I just love dogs.
That's pretty cool We'll wrap it up there, thanks for your time and look forward to seeing you at Soundwave.
Alright, man. Looking forward to getting there.
Matt Barton
Hey mate. How are you?
I'm good, thanks. How are you?
I'm great thanks. You must be pretty stoked to be on the Soundwave lineup again?
Definitely, man. Very excited.
What was the experience like when you played it in 2011?
It was great, man. We had a blast, it was just awesome. I dunno how to get into more specifics than that. It was overall just a really good time.
Who are you most looking forward to playing alongside?
We're good friends with Red Fang and big fans of theirs. There are a lot of bands on the lineup that I'm not too familiar with but most of the bands I've heard of I've seen live before, except for maybe Blink 182 and Garbage. As for the heavier rock bands Slayer are always amazing, Metallica will be good, Ghost put on a good show. Yeah, all kinds of bands.
You guys supported Metallica a few years back, you must be pretty excited to get the chance to play with them again?
Yeah I was really stoked when I saw they were the headliner. It's gonna be a real party down under *laughs*
For those that don't know, how did The Sword form?
Well I was in another band that kinda started to spin it's wheels so I ended up quitting that band and I made this demo of songs and started handing it around to people. That CD was actually called The Sword already and I guess about a year later Kyle (Shutt, guitars) asked me if he could play guitar with me and my old buddy Trivett (Wingo, former drummer) moved to town so we grabbed him and a few months later we got Bryan (Richie) on the bass and the rest is history.
Where did the name The Sword come from?
I dunno the origins of the word but I mean it's The Sword. What could be more obvious and perfect and awesome than The Sword for a heavy metal band.
Makes sense!
*laughs*
For those that haven't seen you live what can we expect from a live show?
Well I'm in a band with three incredibly talented virtuosos so you can look forward to a lot of killer playing at least by three fourths of the band and then there is me. *laughs* It's loud, heavy and rock and roll.
You released a new album not too long ago. What was the recording process like for that?
It was pretty easy. Everything was pretty much ready to go when we hit the studio, we don't really like to waste time in the studio writing music because we feel that should be down beforehand because we don't have an unlimited budget or unlimited time to just kinda hang out and mess around so we just went in and did it and other than being away from home for 5 weeks because we didn't record in Austin or where I live so that was probably the most difficult part, living out of a hotel room, but the recording process itself was fun. It went great.
You guys have done a few albums now, would you say the recording process gets easier?
In a way. I guess you get more used to it and know what to expect a little bit more but then every situation is different. J (J. Robbins, producer) was very different to work with than Matt Bayles (producer for Warp Riders) was even though they are both great producers and engineers they have different rules of producing. I'd say you get more used to it is the simple answer. The studio has its good points but then it has its bad points and for me the bad points are boredom *laughs* a lot of time we are just sitting around while the other guys are doing their parts. For me, trying to do something perfectly is difficult. Not much that I do I'd describe as perfect, especially not on the first try, so just trying to be comfortable and play it and be relaxed and get it right are the types of things you have to get used to. It is a very intense process, especially for me as I'm more involved in the production as I do a little more production of the record and since the beginning I guess I'm the one who has the blueprint of the songs in my brain and I'm the one who's supposed to know what the record is supposed to sound like I guess. It's a matter of scrutinising everything. By the end of it it's very draining. When it's all over you usually don't wanna hear it again for a few months *laughs*
I can imagine it's a very tedious process but when you do finally get that end result you must feel a sense of accomplishment as well as a weight off your shoulders?
Yeah once you actually let it go. It's like working on a painting, at one point you just have to step back, put down the brush and call it done. Once you do do that it is a relief to have it over with.
Who writes the lyrics and music and what is the influence behind them?
I write all the lyrics and most of the music. The influences are far too many to name. I draw from a lot of sources from the world around me to my own personal experiences to literary sources and even academic sources so a very vast range.
What about musically? What bands inspire you?
When writing music I try not to listen to other heavy rock music coz I definitely don't wanna rip anyone off. At this point in the rock and roll game, what are we like 4 decades in? A lot of the riffs are taken unfortunately *laughs*so you have to be very careful you aren't accidentally ripping someone off or if you are you are playing it in such a way it can be distinguished from how it's been heard before. For me I try to distance myself from music when writing, especially stuff that is in our genre, to try and keep it as original as possible. Well maybe original is not the right word....umm, well I guess it's gonna have to be because I can't think of anything else *laughs*
What about growing up? What inspired you to get into metal?
Led Zeppelin. No doubt.
Good answer.
Well I don't really call it metal, especially on this new record too it's just rock, man. Just rock and roll. Somewhere in the past 10 years the words “metal” and “hard rock” have gotten interchangeable and I'm not exactly sure how or why it happened. To me there are definitely metal songs on our first 3 records and there is some metal riffs here and there on the new record but to me metal is a very aggressive form of music and we do stick our foot into that arena but when people call us a metal band or use terms like “doom metal” or “stoner metal” to me that conjures up images of bands that are much darker and more extreme than we are in a lot of ways so I just call it heavy metal rock and roll because that's what they called it in the seventies before all these other terms split off from that, all these sub-genres. It's just heavy metal rock and roll, that sums it up for me.
Makes sense. Unfortunately now genre has taken over, it should be all about the music.
Totally. Totally. I think a lot of times metal kinda of in this day and age isolates itself from other genres whereas at one time, when metal was a bit more mainstream everything was a little more together. In the nineties there was festivals like Lollapalooza where you'd have a rap band and a dance group and then a bunch of rock bands all together and it seems like since the mainstream popularity of hard rock and heavy metal has declined a bit that these genres have isolated themselves from the rest of the music world and I dunno if that's a good thing. I think most heavy metal fans listen to other types of music, sure there are people that only listen to metal and whatever but I think it's good to broaden your horizons and be influenced by any sort of genre.
100% agree with that. So will you guys have any sideshows while you are down?
We would love to know *laughs* We are waiting to hear about it just like everyone else is. It's not our decision.
Fingers crossed. What about plans for a headline tour of Australia?
We don't really have any but maybe next year or sometime soon. Things seem to work a little bit differently down there than they do say here or in Europe. It seems to be you do a tour with this guy or that guy and that's it so I don't really get how it all works but if it's gonna happen it'll happen.
One last question: what do you like to get up to in your time off?
I live in a little town in North Carolina and I just like to go on hikes and hang out with my dog. Basically just chill out.
It seems every musician I talk to has a dog *laughs*
*laughs* Yeah I dunno, man. I don't know what I'd do without a dog. Luckily I have somebody to take care of him when I'm gone. But yeah, dogs are great. I actually have an Australian Sheppard although the breed is not Australian. I just love dogs.
That's pretty cool We'll wrap it up there, thanks for your time and look forward to seeing you at Soundwave.
Alright, man. Looking forward to getting there.
Matt Barton