It’s been 5 long years since we heard new material from 36 Crazy Fists but the wait is finally over! “Time And Trauma” is the latest effort from the now 20 year veteran band and we caught up with vocalist Brock Lindow to discuss the new songs and what the band has been up to during that time.
Andrew: Hey how’s it going?
Brock: I’m good man how are you?
Andrew: Very good! How’s things with the band at the moment?
Brock: Everybody is good! Just getting ready to take off for our upcoming tour to kick off the record cycle next week over in Europe so just kinda tying up the loose ends around home and getting ready. Getting excited! Talking to Australians all day!
Andrew: Yeah obviously you have been to Australia a couple of times now. Any plans to come here this year at all?
Brock: Yeah absolutely. Unfortunately we didn’t get the invite for Soundwave this year but hopefully we will the following year. But that being said, as soon as we didn’t I went straight to our booking agent and said we need to do our own tour down there so that’s in the works and hopefully by the end of the year we’ll be down there. It’s a tremendous place to play music there, I really love Australia and have had such great times there in the past so we’re looking forward to getting back.
Andrew: Awesome! As you mentioned you got a new album coming out “Time And Trauma” and this is the first album that you have put out in about 4 or 5 years so how does it feel to have this thing finally out?
Brock: Ha it feels really, really good! We’ve been sitting on the album since about June of last year so that’s kinda normal I guess. Once you turn something in you got the promo the machine rolling and all those things. We tried to get it out late last year in the fall but during the holidays and things like that it’s not usually the best time to put out an album. So we’re glad we waited and now we’re a couple of weeks away and I’m really excited about it and so far so good. The new label has just been killer, really getting some good relationships with them and like I said, about to kick off the tour next week. So everything is good, really kind of grateful for how excited I still am. I think a couple of years ago I was a little more burnt out and now we got the new album done and new label, new management. It’s just kind of a fresh outlook on everything and to me that’s something I’m really stoked about.
Andrew: Yeah it does seem like with the new album and new label and even a new drummer, it does seem like a new beginning for the band. It’s 20 years since you guys first started and it seems like it’s a clean slate starting again.
Brock: Yeah I think it’s good to take the break. Initially I thought we had to get back out there so people don’t forget about us and blah blah blah but now that we have taken this time and seeing all the positive response from our fans and the excitement that is around the new album, that makes us feel good so I think the big pause between the last album is going to be real helpful to us. I’m grateful for what we have achieved so far.
Andrew: So obviously 5 years between albums, what changed in between that time for you guys as a band and how did it affect the album?
Brock: Well the writing of the record was kind of a dark time in my life. My mother passed away and so I was just trying to deal with that entire process of leaving the most important people in my life and also she was a huge supporter of the band and came to all of our shows so all the boys were kinda affected by it. And then shortly after that my drummer (Thomas Noonan) who I had been in the band with for over 20 years – I had been in a band with him before 36 Crazy Fists started – so he was just over touring and I totally get and respected it and so he retired from the band. We ended up getting Kyle Baltus who we had known for many years and just a great drummer who really looked up to Tom and they play very similar. So that was a big change in the band and then the healing process of learning about the fragility of life and finding some peace and closure in the writing of this album which is kind of it’s own story. And it took about 5 years to kind of let the dust settle so it’s good to be in front of those things but a lot of life has lived in the last 5 years and it kind of closes the story on the new album.
Andrew: Did you find the lyrics became more personal than before because of all this?
Brock: I think all of my lyrics have always been pertained to my life so it always seems very personal to me and that’s kind of always been my outlet for music. I always perceive it to having an emotional escape of some sorts but this record in particular though never as such an important lyrical content that affected me so greatly. I think it’s the most important lyrics that I have ever written for me personally. That in turn makes the record extremely special to me and extremely important for me as well.
Andrew: How do you think this will affect the live performances of these songs. Because they are so personal, do you find that it will be more energetic on stage? How do you think this will play out on tour?
Brock: I think it’s a bit of both. I think it’s going to be a bit of therapy and still learning to progress in my life through song and at the same time, it’s just got such an attachment to my soul that it’s going to be conveyed nightly and I’m excited about that. I think all the songs have always had their own lives and their own story so I try not to put too much stake on one more than the other but this record in particular has a batch of songs that really connect deeply with me and it’s going to be exciting and I’ll be up for it.
Andrew: One of the songs I wanted to ask you about was was the second song on the album “11.24.11”. What’s the meaning behind that title?
Brock: That’s the date when my Mother passed away and I wrote that song that evening. And so it’s got that whole timeframe where I was in that song, I know exactly where I was and what kind of sadness I was dealing with. And also a bit of anger and all the things that can make a good, rowdy song work loud.
Andrew: Do you find all these songs because you write them at a particular time that they have a bit of a historical theme to them? Do you look back on lyrics on some of your older songs and know what you were thinking at that time or what you went through at that time?
Brock: Yeah absolutely! All these songs of mine are definitely time vaults of each time in my life and it’s kind of fun to look back on. Some of these things are pretty tough times in my life so it’s good to have been able to write about it and help myself get out of them and hopefully not repeat them. But yeah absolutely each song is from a specific time in my life and it is kinda cool to look back them and see where I come from since then.
Andrew: So 20 years that you guys have been around now, what do you think have been the highlights of that time?
Brock: Oh boy there’s just so many. I mean let’s talk about Australia for instance, when this band started in 1994 if someone were to tell me that we would be travelling to Australia because of the band, I don’t think I would of believed it. So there’s just been so many killer things and most of it is the travel. I mean you get to play with your peers and some of them have been our idols and all those things are super special but getting to go all over the world, some places where they don’t even speak english and they know the lyrics to your song. There’s something very cool about that and that’s one of the things that I have been so grateful for and made sure that I never took for granted and try to cherish those moments. And I do feel like we have a second lease on life a little bit with this release and our new label and just getting to start the whole cycle up again. Not everybody gets to have a 20 year career so there’s been some really big moments like playing on the main stage at Download to playing Soundwave twice, those are things I know a zillion bands would kill to do so there’s been a lot of great highlights and like I said we’re grateful for all of them.
Andrew: Yeah that’s awesome, just great! Who do you consider your biggest influences and what made you decide to get into music in the first place?
Brock: Well in 1989 I went to Metallica here in Alaska and the next day I wanted to be in a band. They were like my gateway to wanting to be in a band. They were my first love, I love Metallica and I fly their flag pretty high still to this day. As far as singers go (James) Hetfield was an influence but I think it was just the band overall that I love. Singing-wise, Layne Stayley I kinda gravitate towards his vocals, his vibe, the whole eerieness of him and the darkness of that band. Alice In Chains is one of my favorites of all time and I think that’s probably my biggest influence.
Andrew: Absolutely Alice In Chains have some of the greatest albums ever put out. What do you think of their current incarnation at the moment?
Brock: I really dig the 2 albums that the new singer has done, I think they have stayed pretty true to the sound. My only gripe about them and I even really hate to say it but when you see them live he doesn’t have the presence that Layne had and noone would, I’m not saying that anyone could. He’s got more of a jovial vibe, he kinda dances around and smiling. Layne wasn’t like that, he put on a dark vibe. He had his sunglasses on, he stood there in his leather jacket and he just put it down and I really love that. So when I see the new version live I don’t like it as much but I’m stoked for the guys and those songs deserve to be played and I think William DuVall does a tremendous job doing those songs. I’m not slamming them at all, live I don’t like it as much as I did previously.
Andrew: Yeah I totally agree, I saw them last year myself and being a big fan of their earlier stuff and seeing it being played with the current lineup. And yeah it’s great but it is a little bit different but that’s to be expected as the singer is the voice of the band. It’s like if 36 Crazy Fists decided to get a different singer, it would be a totally different sound and it might not work as well.
Brock: Yeah hopefully not haha!
Andrew: Haha! Talking about influences, classic albums in history. If you could be a fly on the wall for the recording of any of them, which album do you think that would be?
Brock: Let’s see, I’m gonna go with Deftones – “Adrenaline”. Because when that record came out I never heard like…that album just did something to us as a band in general. I think that the early pure anger that album conveyed I would of loved to have seen that. Metallica’s “Kill ‘Em All” would of been pretty cool to see that. Slayer “Reign In Blood”. But number one album would have to be Alice In Chains “Facelift”.
Andrew: Ah yes I’ve actually been listening to that album a lot lately. Such a great album for that time.
Brock: Oh man that just keeps rocking!
Andrew: It’s funny you mention Deftones as well because a lot of people say the same thing that if they could be in the studio to witness the recording of an album, Deftones seems to come up quite a lot so it’s amazing to see how influential they have become over the years.
Brock: Yeah I mean that’s a band that noone sounds like or they don’t sound like anybody else, I think everybody tries to sound like them, us included. But just a huge fan of those guys, seen them live several times and they just seem to get better as they get older and that’s a special thing. BUt yeah Deftones, one of my favorites of all time.
Andrew: Awesome! So the new album is sounding great and we can’t wait to see you guys come down to Australia sometime, hopefully this year. It’s been a pleasure talking to you, thanks again!
Brock: Hey thanks so much for talking to me man, really appreciate it!
