After almost 5 years since the epic “From The Ages” came out in 2013, psych rockers Earthless are back with a new album “Black Heaven” which upon first listen is going to ruffle a few feathers among hardcore fans. But rest assured, this is still Earthless and the band have lost none of their touch, this time focusing more on melody and structure. We talk to drummer Mario Rubalcaba about the new songs and what made the band decide to go in a different direction on this one.
Andrews: So how’s things with you? You have the new album coming out soon so exciting things happening in the future!
Mario: Yeah we have a new record coming out in a few weeks and we’re going to be doing a good amount of touring behind it so we’re excited and stoked to get it out there and get out and play.
Andrew: I had a preview of the album and I love it, it’s signature Earthless stuff aside from obviously one big element which probably a lot of people have already mentioned to you, is the fact that there is a lot more vocals on this album. So it’s less instrumental in that respect but it still has that signature sound so what was the idea behind the album this time around? Was that an intentional effort to have more vocals?
Mario: At first we didn’t really know what we were going to do, we were kind of a little bit – I’m not sure if intimidated is the right word – but it was sort of like, ‘How are we going to be able to top the last record, “From The Ages”‘. Because we were really happy with that one but we were like, ‘Man there’s no way we’re going to, with the timeframe that we had, be able to come up with some big monstrous half an hour jam again’. And also our heart wasn’t really into the mind space to do something like that because we had already done it so we really just wanted to kind of have a fresh approach at the time so we just said, ‘Let’s bring out the secret weapon’, which was Isaiah’s voice!
Andrew: Well he’s obviously sang on songs before in the past but this is the first time where he has become the main focus point I guess. How did it go? Did you try the instrumentals first and then added vocals or was this something you just kind of fell into naturally straight away?
Mario: No we just knew straight away like, ‘You know what? Let’s just go for something different and see what works’. So he would send down a couple of ideas, he would email some riffs that had maybe a bit of a vocal melody on it and just skeletal kind of things and we would be like, ‘Yeah let’s work on that next time you come down’ so that’s kind of how it started. Once we got in the room together we would work on these ideas and then a couple of things came out of being in the practice room like how we always are so it was a cool process.
Andrew: Yeah that’s interesting and it’s been some time since “From The Ages” came out so do you think that gap in between made you realize that you did need to do something a bit different?
Mario: We just realized that it’s almost 5 years since a record has come out so we just figured let’s work on something and see what happens and whatever works organically determines the direction. This seemed to work the most organic I think in terms of the songs.
Andrew: And the title track is of course instrumental so there are those few moments but I have to say my favorite song on there is “Electric Flame”. It has a very Earthless type sound even with the vocals but it has a fair amount of instrumentation on there a well. Was it important to still retain the sound that people know you for at the same time?
Mario: Well that song right there is a perfect example of, that’s just what happened when we got into the room. None of that at all was any kind of ideas where it was structured beforehand, so that was being in a room and remembering this one little riff that we did at this jam and from there we just started playing on it and come up with different parts while we played it. I had a vocal melody to try out for it and later on we were making demos of it and he overdubbed some vocals to it and it turned into that.That is my personal favorite song as well because it has a little bit of everything that we had done and it has the crazy moments where it just takes off. Then it also has, not a pop song structure but to me it has a pretty catchy riff in the beginning.
Andrew: Now you recorded this out at Joshua Tree in California and funnily enough I had just spoken to John Garcia last week and he records in that area as well. Was this the first time you had recorded in this studio or had you done stuff there before?
Mario: This was our first time for any of us going out there. I’ve known Dave Catching [Eagles Of Death Metal] for a few years and we’ve talked about recording for probably the last 3 years, talked about trying to do something and then luckily we’ve been able to make it happen. So it was a really cool experience and definitely there’s some magic out there so it’s a cool spot.
Andrew: Yeah it does seem like there’s a cool vibe out there. Did that have any influence on the way you recorded or maybe even in the way the record sounded at all?
Mario: Yeah I’d like to think so. I’d like to think that it lended it’s organic and natural vibe into this being comfortable and to not being rushed and just being ourselves and just going for it. It was cool, it was just like a house with studio equipment in it. It’s not like a proper organised recording studio, in the living room there’s the recording console and amps in the bedrooms. It just has a very cool feel to it, we were recording with the windows open out in the desert!
Andrew: No neighbours?
Mario: Not too close by but yeah [laughs].
Andrew: [laughs] So as mentioned before it’s been some time since the last album came out, so in between that time I know Earthless had taken a break here and there so personally what were you up to? Did you have other side projects and things like that?
Mario: Yeah along with Earthless I was doing the band ‘Off!’, touring with that a lot and also Rocket From The Crypt had reformed as well as the band Hot Snakes. So there was a good couple of years where I was doing 4 different projects and touring with all of them so I was really busy for a while. I’m still pretty busy now, Hot Snakes I had just gotten back from a tour with those guys and we also have a record coming out in March but I think this year I’m going to focus on Earthless and get out there and do some touring and play behind it.
Andrew: Yeah and I know that you have been to Australia once or twice in the past, it was probably 4 or 5 years ago the last time that I saw you and was completely blown away by how great that show was. Is there any chance you guys may come back down here again in the year?
Mario: Definitely, we’re definitely working on something. My guess is it will probably be more towards the end of the year at this point because it takes a while to set tours up but yeah we definitely want to get back to Australia, we love Australia.
Andrew: It’s always great to see you in the country, I’ve spoken to Isaiah a few times over the years and he’s mentioned that you guys do a lot of improv on stage which I love that aspect of you guys. I would imagine these new songs will probably translate quite well live.
Mario: Yeah we definitely love playing them too. We’ve played them a couple of times live so far but we can’t wait to really play them more [laughs].
Andrew: Definitely! Well thanks for your time, really appreciate it. Congratulations on the new album, definitely killer stuff and hopefully we will see you if not this year, then next year!
Mario: Awesome man, thanks so much.
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