The name Whoretopsy might give you a bit of a laugh, or ruffle your feathers a bit depending on how serious you take things but one thing for certain is the band have been on a successful run of shows in the last few years touring with some of deathmetal’s elite. Currently they are on a headlining tour around Australia in support of their latest album “Never Tear Us Apart” so we caught up with drummer Jake to chat about the shows, the new songs and touring with their favorite bands.
Andrew: How’s the tour going at the moment?
Jake: Yeah it’s not too bad, I’m about to fly out in about 2 hours to head to Perth.
Andrew: Ah yeah and we’re based in Perth so it’s good to see you come over. Have you been over here before?
Jake: Na not myself, never been there. Whoretopsy hasn’t been there either since they started.
Andrew: So a bit of a new experience for you guys then!
Jake: Yeah tomorrow looks like it should be a good one so I’m hoping for the best.
Andrew: Yeah I follow the local scene pretty well so you got a couple of good bands, Earthrot and Sanzu in particular are pretty proficient in the death metal style so should be a fantastic show.
Jake: Yeah Sanzu are fucking sick!
Andrew: So you are supporting your new album “Never Tear Us Apart”, I assume you’ve been playing some new songs so far?
Jake: Yeah our live set for this tour pretty much includes all of them except two.
Andrew: Oh really?
Jake: Yeah everyone’s running into each other when we start playing them so we’re happy!
Andrew: [laughs] That’s what you want to see, some action in the moshpit I guess!
Jake: Yep!
Andrew: So the new album came out a little while ago, have you been getting much feedback from the press and things like that?
Jake: Yeah we’ve had lot’s of good reviews, online magazines and stuff. We’ve had some good ones which point out some little things that we could of done better, which is good so we can improve on that on the next album. But so far we haven’t had anything bad at all really, it’s all been good.
Andrew: Where does this album fit along with your other stuff? Did you feel you needed to try and do something different or did you want to follow up on what you did last time? How was the whole process for you guys?
Jake: Well this time around has been pretty different, I myself only joined the band probably a year ago as the new drummer and I write a lot of guitar stuff as well. So I come in as a different writer and just try to mash up something different but still sounding like Whoretopsy so there’s a lot of different influences in there and it sounds a fair bit different but still relatable to the old stuff.
Andrew: So who are your biggest influences then on either the drums or guitar?
Jake: I’ve got a different bunch, a lot for me include Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation, Oceano, Slipknot. There’s a lot so I would be here naming 200 bands.
Andrew: Well I definitely hear some similarities, at least on the lyric front, with Cannibal Corpse. Is there a sort of particular thing about trying to start controversy or how is the lyrics for you guys? Is it entertainment for you, how does it go?
Jake: The lyrics, what Storma (vocals) is aiming for is sort of a funny spin on say, Cannibal Corpse lyrics or Suffocation. Cannibal Corpse will have a direct ‘I will kill you’, ‘I will take your guts apart’. Storma just puts a funny twist on it. Some songs are direct and sound full on if you go through all the songs on the album, a lot of them are pretty hilarious if you read through them.
Andrew: Yeah well one of the songs that stands out is “30 Shades Of White” which seems to be a pisstake on 50 Shades of Grey so I know what you mean. There’s a lot of humerous takes on everyday life and popular culture.
Jake: Yeah and using Aussie culture and slang to make it a bit more unique to us.
Andrew: Yeah absolutely! Now the other thing and I hope I’ve gotten this right but you guys are also touring with Nile a bit later this year right?
Jake: Yeah in late November, we do Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
Andrew: Back in Perth again in a couple of months!
Jake: Yeah and hopefully we can get a good crowd over there so we can come back more often.
Andrew: Yeah absolutely! Touring with Nile is probably going to be a big deal for you guys as Nile are, or I think they are, one of the best bands in death metal. But who are some of the other bands you have toured with over the last couple of years?
Jake: We’ve had Psycroptic, Goatwhore, Disentomb. We had a show with Suffocation and Decapitated. In the past before I joined there was Cannibal Corpse, Dying Fetus, Obituary, there’s a lot. Dyscarnate, they played with Cradle Of Filth, Origin, Kataklysm. Before I was in the band, they had done a lot of big supports for bands like that and at the moment we are trying to get back into the swing of that, supporting our favorite bands.
Andrew: That must feel good to be touring alongside some of the biggest names in extreme metal. For you personally, what has been your most memorable or biggest highlight?
Jake: Probably being at the side of the stage watching Kevin Talley from Suffocation play drums, that was pretty ridiculous because he’s been one of my favorites since I started. I met George Kollias (Nile) on his clinic over here and I’ve been looking up to him for about 6 or 7 years playing extreme metal drums and now I’m getting to tour with him.
Andrew: Yeah he is a phenomenal drummer, the stuff that he does on the drums I can’t believe is a human doing that stuff. It’s unbelievable!
Jake: Yeah I think on that tour I’ll sound pretty slow! [laughs]
Andrew: [laughs] But that must be a good motivator to not just practice even harder but to put on your top game at a show I guess.
Jake: Yeah every time I’ve played gigs like that, you wander up to the stage a bit nervous but as soon as I get into the seat, I just hit as hard as I can and go as fast as I can. It’s a good kick up the arse I guess. We’re getting into that a bit more and with our headline tour, we’re just putting as much energy as we can into the show. So some people are coming back and all these big bands we play with, it’s a good motivation to get into that mindset.
Andrew: Well we’re looking forward to seeing you tour with Nile and also tomorrow night’s show at the Civic Hotel in Perth. As far as the current tour so far, has there been any crazy stories or memorable highlights that has happened so far?
Jake: Yeah there has! Back in Queensland one of our guitarists didn’t even make it to the room, he just slept in the hallway in front of the elevator after a big night. We’ve done some weird shit [laugh]s, I won’t mention it.
Andrew: [laughs] All part of the touring lifestyle I guess!
Jake: Yeah just being drunk out on the town and doing some stupid shit.
Andrew: That’s good to hear! As I said, we’re looking forward to seeing you guys come over to Perth and definitely looking forward to seeing you with Nile which should be a fantastic tour. Thanks for your time and we will see you tomorrow night!
Jake: No worries mate, I’ll see you then!
WHORETOPSY 2015 AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES:
September 18th: Civic Hotel, Perth
September 19th: Enigma Bar, Adelaide
September 25th: The Brisbane Hotel, Hobart
September 26th: Club 54, Launceston
October 8th: NEXT, Melbourne
Tickets and tour details can be found HERE.
Also catch Whoretopsy supporting Nile with Unearth in November at the following dates:
Nov 19: Max Watts, Brisbane 18+
Nov 20: Manning Bar, Sydney 18+
Nov 21: The Corner Hotel, Melbourne 18+
Nov 22: Capitol, Perth 18+
Tickets and tour details can be found at Soundworks Touring.
