Lee Stanton - Thy Art Is Murder (15/01/2014)
Lee Stanton is an obscenely good drummer, which is handy considering he bashes away for the staggeringly heavy Australian Deathcore outfit Thy Art Is Murder. The man is a beast behind a drum kit, and The 59th Sound had the chance to chat with Lee recently, on the cusp of their upcoming tour with Soundwave festival.
In an appropriate coincidence, TAIM are from the fittingly titled Blacktown in New South Wales. If that's not metal enough for you...
Quickly becoming the deserved centre of attention in Australia’s metal scene since their latest release Hate hit shelves in December of 2012. International stardom doubtlessly awaits, having recently signed with German-based Nuclear Blast records. A leap that has in no way affected their approach to music making.
“(Nuclear Blast) are some of the most chilled people we’ve ever met. We met the guys in Germany, the U.K team, and even (Roadrunner Records founder and metal A&R behemoth) Monte Connor. They’re just super chilled and cool guys. They’re all just happy with us touring heaps and putting out CDs! It’s good, they actually care about their bands as well. A lot of the people in there are just old school metal dudes that just… love metal! Their lunch room is the most bad ass thing I’ve ever seen. They’ve got a giant nuclear blast logo in the carpet, and all these pin ball machines and pool tables. It’s fucking awesome.”
It’s no secret there’s many an upside to being in a kick ass band. Lee’s advice is simple to anyone curious as to how he maintains such technical proficiency and blistering speed behind a drum kit.
“Practice, practice, practice, practice, practice. That’s it.”
Succinct advice in mind, it bears well considering that TAIM was the first ever Death Metal album to land in the Top 40 ARIA charts upon release, and nabbed top spot on the AIR charts as well. It is indeed true the ARiA’s, nay, any music charts are considered by many to be a fat load of self indulgent and masturbatory shit. It was curious then, to find out Lee’s interpretation of the mainstream taking an interest in heavier bands, especially over the last twelve months.
“Yeah, that was a bit of a shock, and slightly hilarious at the same time. Just even being nominated for the award, we were all, “…Really”?! Good to see though that guys like Northlane are in there as well, and obviously bands like Karnivool are killing it. I think (Parkway Drive) will still hold the throne for a while.”
Accolades aside, Lee’s response to what the TAIM set out to make when creating Hate couldn’t be further away from what mainstream awards and charting usually notice.
“A stupidly angry and aggressive heavy record, really! Just something that lived up to the albums title. I think it was about mid-way through recording and Marshy (guitarist Andy Marsh) just made a joke, “Hey wouldn’t it be funny if we just called the album ‘Hate’”? Everyone sort of just laughed for a little bit then thought it was actually really good. Nice and simple, straight down the narrow. Just HATE.”
Google the album cover if you’re yet to see it, and prepare to be blown a way by some gargantuan fuck-off, spider-legged, three headed Cerberus-like beast nightmare rupturing up from the bowels of hell. Consider the band’s music and you’ll agree It’s appropriate, to say the least.
“We used a couple of different dudes for (each album). Pretty much, we get a basic concept, then try and hit up a few different artists. We’ll give them a part of a song and ask them to draw what it makes them feel like. Then we’ll sit back and sift through them and see which one we feel appeals to it the most.”
A predominantly international affair, being a local act on a Soundwave line up places a band in a situation where they are shoulder-to-shoulder with huge international stalwart artists that have no doubt inspired their career. Lee shares his meet-and-greet prospects.
“Obviously 16 year-old me is stoked to see Korn. If I could say g’day to one of them I’d be pretty stoked. The Whitechapel guys, and now Eddy’s singing for the Suicide Silence guys. I might just pop past and see if I can say g’day to them, too. The Dillinger Escape Plan we did Summer Slaughter with, and caught up with them again when we were doing our own headline tour there, so it’ll be cool to see those guys again. The Deez Nuts guys, we’ll probably hang around and have a couple of beers as well.”
As a drummer, it’s rare to get a turn on state yourself on a mic. Offered the chance during the interview to express his message for the kids headed to a TAIM gig, Lee hints at a request for mayhem, making sure the kids go nuts when they front up at Soundwave.
“Just have fun, have a good time. With any metal or hardcore shows the vibe is always pretty aggressive, so that just bounces back and forth off the band. So obviously the more violent shit is, the harder we’re gonna play!”
Todd Gingell
SOUNDWAVE 2014
Saturday, 22nd February
RNA Showgrounds, Brisbane
Sunday, 23rd February
Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney
Friday, 28th February
Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne
Saturday, 1st March
Bonython Park, Adelaide
Monday, 3rd March
Claremont Showgrounds, Perth
In an appropriate coincidence, TAIM are from the fittingly titled Blacktown in New South Wales. If that's not metal enough for you...
Quickly becoming the deserved centre of attention in Australia’s metal scene since their latest release Hate hit shelves in December of 2012. International stardom doubtlessly awaits, having recently signed with German-based Nuclear Blast records. A leap that has in no way affected their approach to music making.
“(Nuclear Blast) are some of the most chilled people we’ve ever met. We met the guys in Germany, the U.K team, and even (Roadrunner Records founder and metal A&R behemoth) Monte Connor. They’re just super chilled and cool guys. They’re all just happy with us touring heaps and putting out CDs! It’s good, they actually care about their bands as well. A lot of the people in there are just old school metal dudes that just… love metal! Their lunch room is the most bad ass thing I’ve ever seen. They’ve got a giant nuclear blast logo in the carpet, and all these pin ball machines and pool tables. It’s fucking awesome.”
It’s no secret there’s many an upside to being in a kick ass band. Lee’s advice is simple to anyone curious as to how he maintains such technical proficiency and blistering speed behind a drum kit.
“Practice, practice, practice, practice, practice. That’s it.”
Succinct advice in mind, it bears well considering that TAIM was the first ever Death Metal album to land in the Top 40 ARIA charts upon release, and nabbed top spot on the AIR charts as well. It is indeed true the ARiA’s, nay, any music charts are considered by many to be a fat load of self indulgent and masturbatory shit. It was curious then, to find out Lee’s interpretation of the mainstream taking an interest in heavier bands, especially over the last twelve months.
“Yeah, that was a bit of a shock, and slightly hilarious at the same time. Just even being nominated for the award, we were all, “…Really”?! Good to see though that guys like Northlane are in there as well, and obviously bands like Karnivool are killing it. I think (Parkway Drive) will still hold the throne for a while.”
Accolades aside, Lee’s response to what the TAIM set out to make when creating Hate couldn’t be further away from what mainstream awards and charting usually notice.
“A stupidly angry and aggressive heavy record, really! Just something that lived up to the albums title. I think it was about mid-way through recording and Marshy (guitarist Andy Marsh) just made a joke, “Hey wouldn’t it be funny if we just called the album ‘Hate’”? Everyone sort of just laughed for a little bit then thought it was actually really good. Nice and simple, straight down the narrow. Just HATE.”
Google the album cover if you’re yet to see it, and prepare to be blown a way by some gargantuan fuck-off, spider-legged, three headed Cerberus-like beast nightmare rupturing up from the bowels of hell. Consider the band’s music and you’ll agree It’s appropriate, to say the least.
“We used a couple of different dudes for (each album). Pretty much, we get a basic concept, then try and hit up a few different artists. We’ll give them a part of a song and ask them to draw what it makes them feel like. Then we’ll sit back and sift through them and see which one we feel appeals to it the most.”
A predominantly international affair, being a local act on a Soundwave line up places a band in a situation where they are shoulder-to-shoulder with huge international stalwart artists that have no doubt inspired their career. Lee shares his meet-and-greet prospects.
“Obviously 16 year-old me is stoked to see Korn. If I could say g’day to one of them I’d be pretty stoked. The Whitechapel guys, and now Eddy’s singing for the Suicide Silence guys. I might just pop past and see if I can say g’day to them, too. The Dillinger Escape Plan we did Summer Slaughter with, and caught up with them again when we were doing our own headline tour there, so it’ll be cool to see those guys again. The Deez Nuts guys, we’ll probably hang around and have a couple of beers as well.”
As a drummer, it’s rare to get a turn on state yourself on a mic. Offered the chance during the interview to express his message for the kids headed to a TAIM gig, Lee hints at a request for mayhem, making sure the kids go nuts when they front up at Soundwave.
“Just have fun, have a good time. With any metal or hardcore shows the vibe is always pretty aggressive, so that just bounces back and forth off the band. So obviously the more violent shit is, the harder we’re gonna play!”
Todd Gingell
SOUNDWAVE 2014
Saturday, 22nd February
RNA Showgrounds, Brisbane
Sunday, 23rd February
Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney
Friday, 28th February
Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne
Saturday, 1st March
Bonython Park, Adelaide
Monday, 3rd March
Claremont Showgrounds, Perth