At 3am this morning i interviewed guitarist Gaz Jennings. Here is the typed version of the interview....
1. Hello from Seattle, first up
i must say i am a long time fan after first hearing you for the first
time when "Forest of Equilibrium" was released in 91. Like most fans
would be wondering, why was there such a long break between "The Garden
Of Unearthly Delights" and the new album for the band?
The reason
for such a long period of inactivity was due to whether we wanted to
carry on as a band. When we did the garden we seriously considered it to
be our last album. We toured after the albums release but took time out
to see if we wanted to do another record. After a year or so break lee
and myself got together to write and see what kind off stuff i could
come up with and to see if the material was any good so we just took it
from there.
2. Hearing the new album for the first time, my first
impression was the album seems to sum up the band's career by combining
all the sounds and styles the band has ever done into the one album.
Was this just a accident or the plan all along?
I agree. We just
tried to be cathedral and do whatever came to us really and luckily it
turned out good. There's all elements of what we've tried to do
throughout our career.
3. Cathedral has always experimented with
progressive rock elements but this album seems to be more progressive
than any album before it. I know the band has always been big fans of
obscure 70's rock but was there a particular inspiration that pushed the
band in that direction for this album?
Lee and myself were
listening to a lot of euro crime soundtracks so a lot of influence came
from that plus a lot of the cool bands we both dig. There was a lot
more emphasis on more prog and less of the heavy stuff.
4.
Cathedral has become a huge influence on the doom metal scene and people
still rate the first album as a major turning point in the history of
doom metal, how do you feel about this?
I'd like to think that
we've played a part in making doom more popular but then again bands
like Candlemass,Trouble,St Vitus were there before us and are a major
influence on most doom bands that are just starting out. As for our
forest album I'm glad that after 19 years people still dig it.
5.
I read the band had excess material for the recording sessions that led
to the new album. Was it material that has been around for a while or
did you go into the recording with totally brand new ideas in mind?
We
had more material written but a lot of it never got to the rehearsal
stage. The material was out and out doom in the vein of Trouble,
Revelation, Celtic frost, Dream death etc...Hopefully we'll get round to
using this stuff in the future.
6. How do you rate the back
catalog when you hear them now? What do you personally rate as the
high-points of Cathedral's recording output?
Some of the stuff
we've recorded is pretty good and some not so good. Supernatural sounded
good when we were rehearsing the songs but the sound of the album ain't
too good. I really liked caravan when we were rehearsing the songs cos
it was a real band effort with everybody contributing with writing and
arrangements but the material is too much of a mish mash of styles like
freedom and heavy load etc....In saying that heavy load is probably my
favorite song. Fave album is probably the garden. i think some of the
production on the albums haven't been that great, in saying that the
production on carnival ain't brilliant but the album has got a great
vibe and a lot of energy. I enjoyed making that album
7. Picking
songs for your live-set must be a nightmare, how does the band come to a
mutual agreement on what to play?
We don't. ha ha ! Some songs
we have to play live like hopkins but as for picking the set, it's a
nightmare. I always want to play more obscure songs but Brian always
wants to play the more obvious songs, so me and him have debates over
that which can be quite heated but we come to some sort of compromise,
where as Leo will just pick an obscure song we've never played in years
and just shout it out and everybody kinda looks at each other lost for
words.
8. "The Garden Of Unearthly Delights" got some amazing
reviews when it was released, probably the best reviews i personally
have ever read for a Cathedral album . Is that something you thought
about when making the new album and does critical success mean much to
the band?
We never give it much thought really. Of course getting
great reviews is great cos it helps when people read them and it they
read its a good album. We have been quite lucky cos we have never had
any major bad reviews.
9. Is it a challenge keeping the band
sounding fresh after all these years and was there any point in the past
where you thought about splitting up?
Of course it's a challenge
we don't wanna keep doing the same stuff over and over. We have to
challenge ourselves to keep it interesting. As i said in the first
question, we were near to calling it a day after the last album.
10.
Moving away from Cathedral for the time being, i have to ask about your
passion for 70's rock especially the obscure variety. The 70's was a
incredibly fertile time for music, what has happened to music these days
apart from the obvious, computers, internet etc and why was the 70's so
experimental and musical in your opinion compared to today's
mainstream?
Lee and myself just dig music from the seventies.
Simple as that really. More freedom to experiment without commercial
restrictions.
11. To celebrate the release of the new album, The
Guessing Game, you have announced 6 live shows in late April / early May
2010. Taking in England, Scotland and both Southern and Northern
Ireland, it seems like it is going to be one of the all time great doom
tours. Is there anymore news on that ?
Hopefully should be a good
tour cos the two bands who are supporting us are both killer. In fact
along with Hellfueled, The Gates Of Slumber are one of my fave bands at
the moment.
12. On the new album you have no other than Alison
O`Donnell from Mellow Candle singing on "Funeral Of Dreams". How did
that come about and with all due respect to Alison, are these 70's rock
musicians still easy to find these days?
I don't really know how
it came about really. Lee got in touch with her and asked if she'd like
to sing on the album and she agree which is like the coolest thing ever.
13.
I must also make mention of the lyrics to "Journey Into Jade" where the
band celebrate the band in song. They are great lyrics and one of the
many highlights on the album, where and how did you come up with the
concept for the track?
Again Lee came up with the idea which i
thought was a real good idea. I think they sum up whats been before and
if there's any future left for us.????????
14. Cathedral has
always had very visual lyrics that conjure up many different themes and
images and you even have the artwork to match the music with the great
work of Dave Patchett. Has Cathedral ever thought about doing a movie,
say like Pink Floyd's The Wall with the animation and involve some of
that art?
I don't know that one you'd have to ask him yourself
I'm afraid. I very much doubt it.
15. Has the US got any chance
of seeing the band perform in the near future? We are all dying to see
the band live. Personally i haven't seen the band live since 1992 so its
been a long time between drinks.
I think the idea of a tour is
out of the question as three of us all have regular jobs but if the
chance came to play a couple of festivals we'd love to do it.
16.
Thanks for the interview, its been a honor to interview you. Is there
any final words or thoughts for the Cathedral faithful out there?
Cheers
for the interview to all the people who have supported us thank you for
being there throughout the last 20 years stay heavy and be true to what
you believe in and dont follow trends.