Unearth Interview
Unearth Interview with Trevor Phipps
Words by Brendan Monteiro
To describe Unearth in one word is a hefty thing to do, so many phrases and words spring to mind but probably the most dominating thought would be brutal. The five piece from Massachusetts have a sound that attacks the senses, it’s like a blowtorch to the eardrum and in a scene over run with heavyweights it’s this fierceness and controlled aggression that defines them.
After more than a decade as a band, how strong are things within Unearth at the moment?
Things are extremely strong at the moment. We have been touring the world almost non stop since the release of our latest album “The March” and the reaction has been solid everywhere we play. We have five guys who get along well in the band, our crew are all great dudes and we are playing better than ever live. We feel like we are in our prime right now.
The March is your latest offering, it’s a real face smashing album, how does it differ from your previous releases?
All of our albums have the “Unearth” sound and this one has the heaviness, speed, guitar melodies and aggression as always. We differed a bit by adding some extra “groove” with our new drummer Derek Kerswill (a.k.a. :Master of Brutal-Groove”) as well as making more compact and well thought out songs. We all feel our song writing keeps getting better with each release. We also branched out and tried some different style tunes with the more rock’n'roll based song “The Chosen” and an eight string crushingly heavy and melodic song called “Letting Go”.
Would it be correct in saying that you draw more of your influences from the metal scene than from the hardcore scene?
We love a lot of hardcore and have our influences from the genre, but the main influence in our writing is based on what we grew up listening to which is mostly Iron Maiden, Testament, Metallica, Anthrax, Megadeth, Slayer, Pantera, Crowbar, Obituary, At the Gates, etc.. While our influences lend themselves to more of the metal sound, our stage presence and way of doing things as a band is more “D.I.Y”, which a lot of times is a creed followed more in the hardcore and punk rock circuit.
How has the evolution of technology helped in the writing process for yourselves?
The main benefit we have seen for us is we can record our song ideas on pro-tools and get a better vibe for what the tune will sound like when recorded professionally. It definitely beats the old days of recording with a boombox onto a cassette tape.
Did you approach this album any differently to the previous ones?
We really made an effort to be less scatterbrained with this release and focus more on making compact and complete song ideas rather than just part after part. There are songs where we do jump from riff to riff, but we only do that if the song calls for it. It was also different for us this time around as this was Kerswill’s first time sitting in with us and writing an entire album with the band. We had jammed with him in the past before the recording of “The Oncoming Storm”, but it was great having his input and stylings on an entire record.
What is in the pipeline for the next album or is it just touring this album for now?
We have some rough ideas and a handful of riffs, but right now the main focus is to stay on the road through the summer of 2010 and possibly beyond. We all are extremely proud of this album and want more people to hear it and see the live show. We do hope to be in the studio by the fall of 2010 though.
With the whole metal core scene blowing up now, how hard is it for yourselves as a band to stand out from all the other bands that are around?
The sound of Unearth is unmistakeable. If someone puts on our disc they should smell theUnearth brand from a mile away. We were one of the first bands to combine the sounds we do, so it is easy for us to stick out in a crowd of imitators.
Do you think that MySpace has just become a platform to evaluate how sellable a band is and therefore a lot of bands get signed without just cause?
No one should ever say a band shouldn’t be there. If a band does the work and writes songs people dig, then it shouldn’t matter how they get heard. Myspace and other sites are just like demo’s from yesteryear, but just on a more widespread platform. The only negative I have seen from the internet hype explosion is there are a lot of bands coming and going very quickly. Most trends come and go within a two year span and it seems even more accelerated with the advent of myspace, purevolume, etc… We have seen so much turn over in our 10 plus years as a band and eights years of worldwide touring. It definitely strengthens our belief in what we are doing and especially in our dedicated fan base. I have always lived by the modo that the cream rises to the top and most real fans of music will stick with the bands that do it right and aren’t just following trends.
Do think that Hardcore has more of a a sense of community and friendship over metal’s competitiveness and rivalry?
Every music scene has rivalry, cliques and ego’s. If anyone tells you any different than they are full of shit. There are metal bands that are cool as hell and easy to work and tour with, just like there are hardcore bands of the same ilk. We have survived this long by walking the line and doing what we can to avoid any of the ego bullshit that drags bands down. Our main goal is to write music we love and to play those tunes in front of people who enjoy what we do.
