Drummer John Sherman kindly shared with us some details on the band’s third full-length, Whales and Leeches (due out in October via Relapse Records), as well as some thoughts on Portland living and learning from living legends.
Whales and Leeches is actually the title of a Red Fang song that was originally released as early as 2006 (and later in 2009 on your self-titled debut LP) – what prompted you to use that title for the new record?
We have always had a hard time coming up with album titles. The first album we just gave up and called it Red Fang. For the second album we went back and forth on dozens of titles that none of us could agree on until someone shouted out something like, “I always liked the title Murder the Mountains”, which was a song we wrote years ago, but never released. Obviously, that stuck. So we’ve run into the same problem with this new album. Hemming and hawing about what to call this fucker and someone says, “Hey, I always thought Whales and Leeches sounded pretty heavy” or something. “Can we name our 3rd album after a song that was on our first?” “Fuck it, I don’t see why not! The song “Houses of the Holy” is not on the album “Houses of the Holy” and if it’s cool with Led Zeppelin, who are we to question?” So, that’s basically what happened.
Were there any specific new goals, creative or professional, that guided the process of making Whales and Leeches?
Well, the goal that we’ve ALWAYS had is to write songs that WE like and not try and box ourselves into any specific genre or style. We all have very different tastes and, obviously, there are shared tastes like loud and heavy, but we try to write what feels good and not worry about if it “fits” a certain sound. One difference this time around was a deadline. We spent so much time touring over the last few years, that we didn’t have much time to write. We started writing new riffs and revisiting old ones last Fall and really buckled down in the months between Soundwave tour in Feb and our European tour that started at the end of May. So we had about 3 months to write and record and we used every second. There was a lot of writing in the studio and making changes between takes and, as usual, writing lyrics moments before recording them. Down to the wire! But I couldn’t be more pleased with the results.
While Red Fang clearly takes its music seriously, there definitely seems to be a great sense of humor that the band has embraced, aesthetically – do you feel that rock bands often take themselves too seriously?
Well, I can’t speak for any other bands, but I know we would feel pretty silly if we tried to make a “serious” video. I figure if you’re having fun while you make it, and it shows through, other people will have fun watching it, and that’s the point, right?
In what ways do you think living in Portland informs any of your musical decisions or tastes?
Well, you know it rains a lot here and it’s pretty grey and dreary and wet most of the year, so maybe that leads to some heavy riffs and depressing or dark lyrics. Also, when there’s not a lot of reason to be outdoors, you might as well spend all your time in the practice space, right? Maybe that’s why there are so many awesome bands here.
Have you guys learned any major life lessons from touring with any of the legendary and seminal bands (Mastodon, Dillinger Escape Plan, Helmet, The Melvins, etc.) you’ve toured with over the last few years?
From Mastodon I learned that it’s possible to be a very successful band without being an asshole. Those guys were amazing to us. They could have never said a word to us and been dicks and I would have been super happy to have the chance to open for them and play to their crowd, but the fact that every one of them and all of their crew were so friendly and accommodating and generous really blew me away.
Are there any major themes associated with the album as a whole, or are there any particular songs whose subject matter you’d like to discuss?
There really aren’t, as far as I know. We like to let the listener interpret our songs however they want.
When you guys write a new batch of songs, what gets you more psyched – recording them, or playing them live?
Personally, I enjoy playing live way more than recording, but I have some serious attention span problems. Playing live really let’s you work a new song out and it always changes a bit. I’m very happy with the recording, but I always make some minor changes down the road and wish that I could have thought of them in the studio. But that’s the beauty of the live experience – you’re gonna get something different from listening to the record and unique to that night.