Interview with Gallows Of Sedition

We all get sick of the word "Brutal" used to describe bands but there is no better word to describe "Gallows Of Sedition".Their sound is thick,dense and heavier than your fat aunt.I actually think they are one of the best bands going around at the moment.Check out the tunes on their site for clear evidence of that.They are also true promoters of the Doom scene,Ron has a site called Gradations Of Morbidity which is essential viewing for doom heads.I also think if things fall into place they could finish up being one of Americas leading Doom bands.Check out this killer interview and add their site...Support the Doom ! 1.Thanks for doing this interview.Lets start off by giving everyone a history lesson. When and how did the band get together? Ron: Thank you for speaking with us! Me, Seth and Ben have all known each other for a while and have worked with each other in the past on different projects. We all share similar interests and approaches to music so it works out nicely. Gallows of Sedition was formed around 2007. 2.What is the musical background of all the members of the band.Have all you guys always played Metal ? Ron: I came up listening to all the great hard rock bands of the 70's. Bands like Sabbath, Kiss and Blue Oyster Cult all really had a profound affect on me at a young age and set me on the path to wanting to become musician. My Grandmother was the first to pick up on this, she got me my first guitar, a record player and a copy of Kiss Alive II when I was about 8 years old and I've been doing this ever since. I've always played rock/metal but do have an interest in other sorts of music as well. Classical guitar, film scoring, ambient noise are some other areas I can see myself pursuing at some point. Seth: When I first started playing I was learning the typical: Slayer, Metallica, Sabbath and the like. Shortly after that I started playing more punk stuff and later in life other things but have always stayed playing metal. Ben: Yeah, metal, sludge, doom ... I like a lot of different music, but it's all I've ever played. 3.What is your opinion on the west coast doom scene and how does it compared with the rest of the country ? Ron: I've noticed that a lot more doom bands are popping up in the area, quite a few good ones actually. Yidhra and Stonehlem are the first that come to mind, but to say that there is any sort of "scene" here in Los Angeles for doom would be stretching it. You gotta go to the Bay area for that.....On the whole I'd say that it's growing on the West Coast in general, but we've got some cathing up to do with other places. Seth: I agree with Ronnie. From a live prospective though, LA seems to be the worst of the West Coast. Like other places, when bigger bands come through there will be a turn out but not much if any for smaller bands. LA is a bit jaded possibly due to the high amount of shows here and other activities . Whereas San Francisco and up ( Portland, Seattle, ETC) seem to be some of the best spots in the country. There seem to be some pretty strong pockets throughout the US so I am not really sure if one region is really can claim top spot right now, though LA does seem towards the bottom for sure. 4.What about recordings,what have you done so far? Ron: Nothing really noteworthy to mention unfortunately. We have some good opportunities to get some real releases under our belts but thus far we've only recorded our demo and this Song called The Bridge due to what seems like never ending issues with drummers. 5.There is so many sub-genres of doom metal these days.Where does Gallows Of Sedition fit in ? Ron: Oh man, I dunno, I guess we're on sort of the "extreme" sludge end of the doom scale....."Extreme" is one of those words one doesn't like to use when describing their music though haha..... Seth: I am not sure if we totally fit into any one sub-genre more than any other. Not that we are so unique or anything ridiculous like that. I think we might have some elements of sludge or drone or whatever. We are still in some ways kind of finding direction in some things and hopefully will incorporate more things into future writing 6.What is the latest news on recordings. It says on your profile page you are working with Blind Date Records... Ron: Right, Marcel of Blind Date has been very supportive of the band and has given us the go ahead on a 10 or 12 inch EP, and an exclusive limited edition vinyl re-release of our demo. We're also contributing a track on one of the upcoming Blind Date "Cloned" series recordings. Cheers Marcel!! 7.If you wasn't involved in making doom metal what kind of music do you think you would be making ? Ron: I'd probably be doing some sort of soundtrack type shit. Or maybe something along the lines of a Mogwai kind of thing.... Seth: Grindcore. Ben: Maybe grindcore, some noisy rock or some good d-beat or crust punk. I'm sure if I end up playing anything else it'll be heavily influenced by doom metal. 8.Who is your major influences ? Ron: As a guitar player I'd say Ace Frehley, Tony Iommi and Buck Dharma. Ben: I've always admired balls out & innovative/creative underground vocalists like David Yow, Julie Xmas, Nivek Ogre, Barney Greenway, Mike Williams ... 9.You have a drone/doom kind of feel,is it hard to play that slow? I feel bands like you guys don't get the credit they deserve. It is not as easy as it sounds ! Ron: Drummers seem to have a hard time playing it haha...... Seth: Not having a steady meter underneath you adds to the difficulty for me and playing slow really makes mistakes much more obvious. 10.Live shows - what is planned for the rest of 2009 ? Ron: No plans currently, although we would like to do a West Coast tour sometime in the near future (fingers crossed) 11.You have some real epic doom tracks,do you have a preference for longer pieces of music ? Ron: Not really, that's just where the songs have taken us thus far. In the future you'll probably hear some shorter, less repetitive material from us. Seth: I would not say that as far as writing goes that we have a preference as much as that it is just how it has happened to work for better or worse. Some of the songs did not initially start of nearly as long but after everything is said and done they ended up that way. I do not have any issues playing longer songs at all but sometimes it is nice to have tracks that do not take so long to get to the point. I guess it really just depends on the song for me. If you can keep it interesting or get the right kind of feel so that you can drone on with it without becoming dull then I am all for it. 12.The D.I.Y approach to music is the way a lot of bands in this scene handle things.Do you think doom metal will ever get the support it deserves from labels etc? Ron: Doom Metal is not a revenue generating form of music, and as long as it remains as such you will not see any type of major label funding or backing. While it would be nice to have some financial resources made available from a label I don't think the trade off would be worth it. 13.What is like playing live for you ? Do you get nervous ? Ron: Ya, I get some pre show jitters, but it's nothing a few beers can't handle ;-) Seth: I would say playing live, for me, is my favorite part of being in a band. I do not really have issues with getting nervous in a live context normally. I find recording makes me much more anxious than live shows, playing live usually just fun and I do not think about it too much. Ben: I love playing live. For me it's the great catharsis. There's usually too much other shit going on (time/gear issues etc.) to get a chance to be nervous. Although ... 14.You are involved in other things related to doom apart from the band.Tell everyone about those things. Ron: I have a blog called Gradations of Morbidity which is very similar to what you do ED.....Doom news, reviews and interview type deal. For me it's a way to work and stay in touch with other people from all over the place that are into doom and it's related genre's. It's all about Blogging fer doom man haha....Yup, I'm a geek. 15.When the band started did you all have the same mindset or was there some compromising that went on ? Ron: Me, Ben and Seth are very much on the same page and can communicate with each other in an effective manner. Our perspectives on what we do have never been so dissimilar that it interfered with us progressing, obviously there's always going to be some sort of compromise somewhere, but more times then not we're on par with each other. Seth: I have learned that whenever playing in a band outside of hiring members (and possibly then as well) there is always some amount of compromise. Luckily we have many similar ideas, concepts, philosophies and ethics so that for sure helps. It is one of those things where you can try and meet in the middle or find yourself doing your band by yourself. Ben: There was and is always compromise. I would say it's one constant of being in a band. I welcome and appreciate our differences in opinion because I believe the group dynamic compromise creates is integral to the creative process. I'm lucky to be working with friends like Ron and Seth that not only bring great ideas into our music, but are also so willing to compromise them to make a song better. 16.The band has some truly gruesome vocals,how important is the vocal sound to you and doom metal in general ? Seth: It is very important to me. A lot of the times vocals can make or break the band. Vocals can set the whole tone of the music and in some cases vocals can ruin the music for me. Ben: Seth took the words right out of my mouth.As a vocalist everything I do is very structured from the first time it's written. Then 9 times out of 10 it's thrown away and rewritten/phrased a few more times. I can be a bit of a perfectionist and vocals are very important to me within a song. 17.Who writes all the lyrics and music ? Seth: Ben writes 100% of the lyrics for both his parts and mine. The music is more of a collaborative. The music starts with some riffs or a whole song written out for one or two guitars and then we add drum and bass parts, start rearranging and structuring, maybe some rewriting or adding and then usually add vocals last. Everyone usually has some input throughout the process. 18.What would be the ultimate line-up for a doom gig ? Ron: For me it would be Electric Wizard (Dopethrone era)...That's it. Seth: We recently played a show with Asunder and Corrupted. That would have to be pretty close for me. Anything with Burning Witch would would be great but I fear the crowd would be rather upsetting. Ben: ... if only Sleep and E.H.G. could have played that Corrupted/Asunder show as well ...Damn. 19.How can everyone get hold of your stuff,do you still have t-shirts ? Ron: Yes we do have some mech available, Just hit us up on myspace. 20.Final words for the doomsters out there..... Ron: Thanks ED, you do awesome work in your relentless support of doom metal and the underground in general. We are grateful and fortunate to have you! Ben: Abandon all hope.