JD, Scott, & Travis
| Thank you all for taking the time to talk to me. I had a few readers ask me this, so would you mind please explaining what a "nociceptor" is for those reading this interview? |
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JD:
A nociceptor is a sensory receptor (in the body) that responds to damaged tissue by sending impulses to the brain that are interpreted as pain. In other words, nociceptors are why we feel pain when we get hurt.
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| Thank you very much. I actually never knew this word existed until I got the press release for it. Now, onto Among Insects. Was it always a plan to create such strict Technical Groove Metal for this act, or were other ideas tossed about? |
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Scott:
Not necessarily, we actually started out being groove/electronic, but still with heavy polyrhythmic sequences. We are actually very open to all kinds of elements as long as they are thoughtfully written, so to speak.
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| I saw you played live with bands like Nevermore and Meshuggah. How long was it since the group formed before you guys started playing out and able to perform with these bands? |
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Scott:
What the fuck!!! I must have passed out from shock, I don't remember that at all. *laughs*
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| *laughs* Ahh, the wonders of the internet. Will they never cease to fail me... |
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JD:
I think it took Nociceptor about a year to get on stage. We went through several home recordings before we thought the material was show-worthy. We have never played with Nevermore or Meshuggah, but I think Travis might have played several shows with them in Threat Signal.
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Travis:
I've never gotten the chance to play with Meshuggah, but I have played with Nevermore a few times with Threat Signal. It was amazing playing with them! I got to play on the same stage and hang out with one of my guitar idols (Jeff Loomis) for a few nights.
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| Maybe I just misinterpreted the press release. Sorry, guys. Anyway... Why did you title this release Among Insects? Does it have a special meaning? |
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Scott:
That line is taken from one of our songs "The Fell." For me, it means that we are constantly and increasingly surrounded by social stimuli that is becoming more harsh and survivalist oriented like the world of insects, and in turn, becoming more harsh and survivalist as a response to said stimuli.
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JD:
I have always felt that it is indicative of a need to move beyond one's current status...to evolve and become something more. God we sound pretentious. *laughs*
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| You include clean singing, which is a nice unique touch to the music. But, they seem to conflict somewhat with the screaming due to how mellow they are. Was it intentional to have the vocals this way, were you meerly testing the waters, or are there plans to handle them differently on future releases? Please explain. |
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JD:
We have always appreciated the aspect of contrast in music. Setting polarized parts right next to each other makes them stand out. Sometimes the music insists on the vocals going a certain way, and at other times, we have to create by trial-and-error. I have a fetish for making chords out of voice parts, and I think that's why there is a pervasive choral feel to the vocals. For future releases, I think the plan is to go for a more orchestrated approach. Personally, I'd like to mess around with more melodic layering, but it totally depends on what each song calls for.
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| The first four tracks of Among Insects are all linked together, and then the rest of the release isn't. Why is this? Are the first four tracks conceptual in some way? |
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Travis:
Nah, there's no big concept behind this. We had all of the tracks written and wanted an intro, and a short track leading into Botfly. I threw those together pretty quick and we liked how it sounded. Those tracks just happen to be the first four on the EP.
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Scott:
Actually, the fist two are linked, the third and fourth are linked, and the seventh and eighth are linked. The Intro was written to flow into "The Fell" purposefully, as was "Emergence" written to flow into "Botfly". "Cuntagion going into "Angus" just kind of felt right, the overall goal was to have an album that had a fluid like quality to it.
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| All of this was done in a home studio. What kind of gear was the band working with when recording to achieve the overall quality it has? |
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Travis:
We recorded all of the guitars and bass at my house, and vocals were recorded at JD and Scott's house. I used a Fractal Audio Axe-fx Ultra, which ran into a Presonus Audiobox. This was all recorded into Logic 8 Pro for the guitars. The same applies for bass, but we used a Schecter Stiletto 5 string. Drums are all programmed with Toontrack's Metal Foundry. For vocals we used a AKG 420 condenser running into a PreSonus TubePre preamp, then into an Art HQ-231 2 channel 31 band EQ, through a PreSonus Firepod and into a pc running Cubase. Chris Purvis from the band Friend For A Foe mixed and mastered Among Insects. He did an amazing job!
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| Is the band, or would the band be interested in linking all the songs together in some way, not necessarily to make it one giant song, but as if to keep a continuous flow from song one until the finish like you did with some of the tracks here, but for a future release? Why? |
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Travis:
We originally had the idea to do this. At the same time that we were finishing up the recording (and thinking about adding interludes), Periphery's debut album had just come out. I felt like if we had also done this.we would have just come off as a copycat band or something. *laughs*
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JD:
We all love run-on songs so it's inevitable that at some point we will make an album that doesn't stop from beginning to end.
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| Were there any problems working with this home studio, or just any difficulties in the recording process in general? |
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Travis:
Nope, none at all! It was actually a very smooth process and we finished up the recording relatively quickly.
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JD:
I think my biggest problem was a lack of engineering expertise. I am not a sound engineer, so when we were pre-mixing, I just had to listen through whatever speakers (or headphones) we had available and mess around with faders, buttons, and knobs until I achieved a desirable sound. Travis had the instrumental tracks down really well, but I had only a basic idea as to how to track vocals. I know I could have saved a lot of time if I had just known what the hell I was doing. *laughs*
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| Tell me about "Angus Mcgillicutty". Why is this song so different compared to the rest of the album, and is it actually based on anyone you happen to know? |
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Travis:
The album had pretty much all been written except for vocals when I joined the band. I brought in the songs "The Fell", "Botfly", "Cuntagion", and "Angus". JD, Scott, and Michael brought in the songs "Mollusk" and "Pornoholocaust", which were from the bands first EP The Sum of All Scars.
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JD:
To me, the song is about religion, history, and the history of religion.
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| Are there any tracks on here that have a special meaning to the band or the members? |
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Travis:
I'm not even sure if the guys in the band know this, but I wrote "The Fell" for a friend of mine (now currently my girlfriend) as a Christmas present one year.
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JD:
Lyrically, "Botfly" was inspired by a very good friend of mine who I was forced to sever ties with.
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| Is there anything else you would like to mention that I didn't get to touch on, such any tour dates or anything going on with the band? |
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JD:
We are really hoping to do a Halloween show this year. Also, we are trying put together a "Buy Nociceptor A Van So That They Can Get The Fuck Out Of Here" fundraiser, so be on the look out for that.
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| Alright, well I thank all three of you for your time. I hope all goes well with Nociceptor and all it's future endeavors, as well as your "Buy Nociceptor A Van So That They Can Get The Fuck Out Of Here" fundraiser. *laughs* Take care guys! |
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