I wasn’t even aware of Psych Doom
Rockers – ABOLETH – before I heard their superb new album
Benthos. So this band were a totally new discovery for myself.
When I heard the album I was blown
away by the amount of different sounds held on the album and the
incredible vocal performance of lead vocalist – Brigitte Roka.
The band call their sound “Dirt
Metal” and that is a very apt description. As the album is quite
dirty in places but with a soulful blues rock groove as well. Though
Aboleth thrown in heavy Doom, Sludge and Stoner based riffs as well.
Aboleth are signed to Ulrich Wild
record label – WURMGroup. Ulrich also produced and recorded their
debut album. Another good reason why you should check this band out.
As the album does indeed sound first rate.
I was asked to interview Brigitte
(Vocals) and Collyn (Guitars) from ABOLETH. I wanted to find out more
about the band and the recording of the new album.
Here’s what went down...
Hi
Collyn and Brigitte. Thanks for doing this interview. How are things
with you today.
Collyn:
Things are amazing! We’re about embark on our first U.S. tour and
we’re very excited. With me here is the incomparable Brigitte Roka,
the voice, heart and soul of Aboleth…
Brigitte:
Awww well thank ya! Yeah we’re great, super stoked for people to
hear this album.
Before
we discuss your new album. Can you give a brief overview of how the
band formed and where it is today.
Collyn:
I stole Brigitte from another band. They had a ‘bass player wanted’
ad up at my rehearsal space. One day I had some time to kill so I
checked them out. As soon as I heard Brigitte’s voice I knew I had
to work with her, so I sent her a message asking if she wanted to
jam. Originally I brought her into the Ultra Electric Mega Galactic
fold, which was still mostly instrumental at the time. But that
splintered off into its own thing…
Brigitte:
Then after forming Aboleth it took us a while to find a steady
drummer who could tour. My friend Marco Minnemann asked if he could
record the drums for our album after hearing us play live, so he’s
the one you hear on the album. Then we finally found Bollet and as
soon as we jammed with him we knew he was the guy. Now we’re on our
first tour, we got our first album coming out, and we couldn’t be
more excited!
How
would you describe your overall sound. As you have included quite a
few different elements for a seedy and heavy sound.
Brigitte:
We’re metalheads who love the blues so our sound is stuck in a
limbo between both styles. There’s definitely a grunge influence in
there too, we’re all huge fans of Soundgarden and Alice In Chains
so that comes through as well.
Collyn:
We call it “dirt metal,” just because none of the other genre
tags seem to exactly fit. There are elements of stoner rock, desert
rock, and a dollop of old-school doom. But mostly we’re a blues
band. Just a really heavy one.
You’re
about to release your superb album - Benthos album. What can people
expect from the album.
Brigitte:
Raw, powerful vocals over heavy sludgy riffs. We tried to capture our
live energy as much as possible, in fact two of the songs were even
recorded live. The album has a lot of soul and grit, but also has
some catchy tunes
Collyn:
There are riffs-a-plenty, rippin’ slide guitar, virtuosic drumming,
out-of-this-world banshee howls from one the best rock singers of the
modern era, and a couple of acoustic numbers to sing by the campfire.
If Led Zeppelin III comes to mind, well, it should.
What
is the main theme of the album and why did you call the album
Benthos.
Brigitte:
No particular theme to the songs, but most of them are based on all
kinds of relationships, not just romantic ones. We chose the name
after I made the artwork. Benthos is another name for the ocean
floor, so I thought it was a name that would fit the cover nicely. We
also have a recurring marine theme in our visuals because our name is
based on an eel monster
Who
is releasing the album and what formats is the album being released
upon.
Collyn:
“Benthos” is being released by WURMgroup, which is the label run
by Ulrich Wild (Pantera, Deftones, White Zombie) , who mixed and
produced the album as well. On May 25th it will be available
digitally and on CD. Vinyl plans are still in the works but we hope
to be able to announce a release date soon.
What
influenced you when writing and recording the album.
Brigitte:
So as mentioned before the songs are inspired by different
relationships and people in my life. I love music that people can
emotionally and personally connect with, so I draw a lot from
personal experience when I write these. I leave the demons and
wizards lyrics to Collyn cause as much as I love that stuff, I’m
not the best at writing it, haha!
Was
recording the album an easy or hard experience.
Collyn:
For me it was easy. I tend to work out my parts in pre-production. So
a lot of what I did on the record is more or less what I played on
our early demos, just better.
Brigitte:
It was so much fun, especially the two songs we did live. There was a
lot of writing and rewriting happening in the studio which was the
biggest challenge, because to me there’s 30 ways to write the same
chorus and sometimes it takes a while to get what you want.
Ulrich
Wild produced the album. What was working with Ulrich like. As he’s
worked with some pretty heavy bands during his career. Was it a
daunting task working with Ulrich.
Collyn:
We’ve both actually worked with Ulrich before. I played bass on
two Otep records that he produced. And I introduced him to Brigitte
before we even put Aboleth together, because I thought she had
something special and wanted to get her name out there. Ulrich wound
up consulting her to do some session work
Brigitte:
It wasn’t daunting at all. He’s one of the most chill and stoic
people you’ll ever meet. It was helpful to get his feedback in the
process because he had us try things we wouldn’t have thought of,
some of which worked and some didn’t. At the end of the day he was
very determined to make it sound the way we want and make sure we
were happy with everything
What
does Ulrich bring to the Aboleth sound.
Collyn:
Ulrich is a master at his craft and he’s also incredibly easy to
work with. He brings great ideas to the table and brings the best out
of every project he works on, instead of trying to force some
signature sound upon everything. With this record, he kept a lot of
the rawness and heaviness while making it sound huge. And sonically,
nothing gets in the way of anything else.
What
is the song-writing method in the band. Is it a group collective or
down to one individual.
Collyn:
It’s highly collaborative. For “Benthos,” Brigitte and I would
work out a riff or a chord progression in my living room, I’d send
her home with a basic recording and she’d woodshed vocals and
lyrical themes. A few of the songs I’d written on my own but she’d
either take what I wrote and go in her own direction with it, or just
make what I wrote a million times better.
You
have a pretty extensive US Tour coming up within the next few days.
What can people expect from these shows and will you be performing
other dates later in the year. Or will you just be focusing on gigs
closer to home.
Collyn:
We‘re actually trying to play less gigs closer to home. L.A.
is great place to be based, as a musician, but not a great place to
play shows. There’s just too much happening on any given night, and
club goers’ tastes are notoriously ephemeral. That said we have
some great brother-and-sister bands here that we’d love to play
more shows with. Void Vator, High Priestess, Sasquatch, Yidhra,
Ironaut, The Freeks and Behold! The Monolith to name but a few. And I
have to give a shout-out to our buddy Skum who promotes what is
secretly the best metal night in L.A, every Wednesday at Skinny’s
Lounge.
Brigitte:
We really want to get to Europe too, as soon as we can. We want to
keep the tour going after this one ends. But we’re stoked to play
in all these places around the country where people are always so
supportive of live music, a quality that is ironically lacking in the
LA community. People can expect some raw gritty vocals, hair swinging
all around, face melting riffs and general tomfoolery. No matter what
your specific music taste is you’re gonna have a good time rockin
with us, there’s no doubt about it
You’re
also part of great bands such as Trash Titan and The Ultra Electric
Mega Galactic. What’s the current state of play for both bands. Any
new material on the horizon from both bands. Or are you focusing
solely on Aboleth.
Collyn:
I’d say both Trash Titan and UEMG are like herpes. Currently
dormant, but you never know when they’ll bubble back up like an
oozing open sore. Also there’s Sugar Fly, my funk/soul project,
which has some of the most incredible musicians I’ve ever worked
with. In fact they’re all so incredible and in-demand that we never
have time to play together. But yes, Aboleth is my primary focus
right now. It’s what I wake up thinking about. It’s what I go to
bed thinking about. Not just what we’re doing now, but what we’ll
be doing ten years from now. I think we’ve only just begun to
scratch the surface of what this band can do.
Brigitte:
I agree, this is barely the beginning. For me this is my only musical
endeavour and my main focus in life, but I’m also busy with my
double life as an illustrator and my upcoming graphic novel franchise
“Sonarium”, which happens to be based on my life as a musician.
How
hard is it for you being part of so many bands. Is this an easy thing
to juggle and be a part of.
Collyn:
Well it’s four bands, a full-time job, freelance session work and a
three-year-old daughter. So yeah, I’m never not busy. But I’d
never have it any other way. I can’t stand idle time, it drives me
nuts. I mean I probably SHOULD take a vacation at some point, just
for my own mental health. But I think one of the reasons this band
works so well is that we all have similar drives and work ethics.
Brigitte:
I was actually in the process of graduating from Art Center College
of Design while making this record and preparing for tour. I
literally graduated two weeks before the start of our tour, haha! It
was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to endure
workload-wise, because ACCD is the Hell’s Kitchen of art schools.
It was freakin’ intense managing to do both, but I did it, and now
I’m free to rock as I please!
Thanks
for doing this interview. Before you go do you have anything to say
to your fans. Best of luck with the new album.
Brigitte:
Thank you so much for having us and thank you for the support! I’d
only like to say that if you like the album and would like to see us
play, please spread the word and spread the hype to your friends and
local promoters so we can come to your city! Thanks :)
Words
by Steve Howe and ABOLETH
Thanks to Richard at Sheltered Life PR for arranging this interview. Thanks to Brigitte and Collyn for doing this interview.
Benthos will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via WURMGroup from May 25th 2018.
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