Monday, February 28, 2011

Monsoon Cobra Gets Intimate with Burning Ghats

I started writing this blog just a few short months ago; you see, I had tied one on one night because I'm such a winner that Friday nights usually consist of 1) drinking alone and 2) falling asleep on the couch.  It's not so horrible as it sounds, mind you; sometimes I'll actually get the gumption to do something that I wouldn't normally do during these lonesome excursions into being quite drunk.  Shortly before Thanksgiving, I was anticipating the year's top 10 lists that were going to be dropping soon, and I decided, in a misled drunken haze, to write my own.  I published it on Facebook and it got a good response from people that I know who are actual writers.  They encouraged me to do this stupid blog, and in a subsequent misled drunken haze I took over the domain name.  And here I am.

But not being a writer leaves me at a distinct disadvantage.

You see, there are lots of things that I am not when it comes to this blog; I'm not a journalist, and don't propose to be telling anybody anything that could be construed as "news" or "actual information" or "not a fart joke."  I'm not a researcher, and therefore write off the cuff, shooting from the proverbial hip so that my writing style matches my lifestyle, which is to say it's crawling with half truths and things that I say just so there will be a continuous river of words falling out of my mouth.  That's the way that I do it.  Lastly, I'm not an interviewer; I don't really know anything about the process, and I don't have the technology to actually take down anybody's words in an accurate way.  I think they have something to record peoples' voices now, but I have no idea what they're called or where to get one, and I'm not leaving my apartment to find out.

However, I have, over the course of my Interbung writing time, gotten a handful of bands to agree to do email interviews with me.  Until just recently, none of them had ever panned out.  But then Burning Ghats sent me a reply to some interview questions I had sent them last month; better late than never, I guess.  So without any further ado (and keeping in mind I have no idea what I'm doing), here's my interview with Canada's Burning Ghats.


 For the uninitiated, who are you and where are you from?

Burning Ghats, From Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

Explain the name Burning Ghats in excruciating detail for those of us who refuse to Google things.

[Nice try, but I'm still not going to google it.-Ed.]

The production from your guys' demo seems to differ quite a bit from the production of Fool's Gold.  What were your ideas on what needed to change going into the recording of Fool's Gold?  Was it recorded, produced and mixed by the same team?

A different band and different tunes, demanded a different recording technique. Oh and we were super broke. Wait until you hear the new one…it’s completely different again.

I clearly can't write interview questions very well.  With that in mind, do you guys have any plans for a new release?  Perhaps a full-length?

We just recorded a new 5 song EP last week.  If all goes according to plan, which it never does, it should be out sometime later this year.  Keep your ear holes peeled. 

The album artwork for the demo and Fool's Gold are awesome.  Who made those for you?

Our bass player Cam Strudwick is an artistic genius and not at all cocky.  You can procure his services here: http://www.strudmac.com. He also answered these interview questions. 

Do Burning Ghats have any shows/tours lined up in the near future?

We play locally about once a month. We have some big plans for this summer, playing some festivals, hopefully crossing the border and going east as well.

As you can imagine, I've got an obscenely large following in the United States who hang on my every word.  Are you guys going to be able to make it to the U.S. so that we might be able to enjoy your live performance and yell slogans at you?

It’s quite difficult for a small band like us to get that far into the U.S., especially with your archaic border standards, but that being said, it’s definitely in the works. You guys have cheep beer right?  [It's cheaper than gasoline now.-Ed.]

I heard that Canada has some rules about really promoting Canadian programming on television and radio.  Did I just make that up?  Have you guys been able to take advantage of that for your own gains?  What was the best children's variety show you've ever played?

You might be half right.  There’s no way we could have been the 16th most played LOUD band in Canada for independent radio for the month of December 2010 without the intervention of some governmental support.  Stephen Harper loves to thrash.


Who handles the songwriting in the band?  Do you guys write as a unit, or is there someone who rules with an iron fist?

Colin and Kevin definitely do the bulk of the writing, then Chad and I come in and screw everything up.

I've never seen a picture of you guys, but I assume several of you have beards.  Whose beard is best?

Personally I like that weird wiry stubble that Kevin sometimes gets when he forgets to shave for 6 months, but Colin’s pure ginger facial sheen is hard to beat.  I think Chad had a bird’s nest in his neck beard one time; that was pretty cool.  I guess since I’m answering these questions, I can vote for myself as beard champion, ‘cause lightening bolt side burns are all the rage in Canaduh. 

I speculated about your probable influences on my dumb website.  Clarify for me who you guys count as actual influences and what Canadian metal d00dz are/should be into.

Of course, everything we do is completely original and has never been considered in the realm of musical possibility before us. That being said, Defleshed, Pig Destroyer and Converge seem to come up quite a bit at practice, and lots of our friend’s bands are just killing it over here. Oh yeah, and polar bears in toques playing hockey.

Give me some insight into some contemporary bands from your scene that we should all also be paying attention to.  Or do any of those actually exist?

I could go on and on about how awesome the underground bands are in Vancouver, but I’m sure I’ll miss someone.  Definitely keep an eye out for Memorial, Anion, Ancients, Silverback Gorilla, Impeders of Progress, Cooked and Eaten, Baptists, The Villain Avian Symphony, Tempest, and of course, me and Chad’s other band, Burn In Hell. 

According to my site traffic, you guys are the hottest new sensation on the Interbung.  How have I personally changed your life for the better?

The gift of focus through hate is the gift that keeps on giving. [I assume this means that they hate me, which is puzzling and acceptable.-Ed.]

Have you had any labels interested in you?  What is next for Burning Ghats in general?

We turned down Sony and Warner cause they wanted us to grow beards.  We’ve got some things in the works for the new EP…keep your dicks crossed.

Thanks for taking the time to answer my asinine questions.  Say something in Canadian for us American pig-dogs to marvel at.

Arguably an intrinsic human trait, mankind loves to organize, classify and create “the other”. This preference has, for the majority of human history, defined societal construction by a small number of naturally occurring and constructed classifications. Physical development in humanity’s earliest beginnings, through to family lineage, race and religion have all defined the organization of civilization and culture.  Escaping or molding any of these roles on a personal level has been virtually impossible and even with the organization of thousands still took decades or even millennia of development, evolution and strife to transform.  Just love, man. Just love. [I had this translated, and it means "Come on, baby, just the tip."-Ed.]

I'd like to thank Burning Ghats for their time and I look forward to hearing any new music that they can sling at us, so stay in touch, my Canadian Bro-Slices.

Go to Burning Ghats' Bandcamp page and procure yourself a free download of their Demo and the subsequent EP, Fool's Gold right here.  And if you're feeling saucy, there's a sweet new cassette comp available for the low low price of $3 that features many of the bands mentioned above.  Support metal!  Or wait a couple days for when you can steal it.  Whatever.

2 comments:

  1. more vancouver bands?

    http://witchofthewaste.bandcamp.com/

    ReplyDelete
  2. My first shameless band plug in the comments!

    Keep them coming, people

    ReplyDelete