I first came across Owl
Maker when I received their promo the other month. I give it a listen
and I was impressed by Owl Maker's take on the classic Hard
Rock/Heavy Metal sound. Taking influence from the legendary 70s era
of Hard Rock/Heavy Metal, Owl Maker weave a more modern sounding take
with great vocals from Simon Tuozolli.
Simon receives
excellent support from Jessie May on Bass and Chris Anderson on
Drums.
Their debut EP –
Paths Of The Slain will be released digitally on March 16th
2018. I'll be reviewing this EP within the next couple of weeks.
Until then you can read this interview with Jessie May who provides
OWL MAKER with the heavy thumping bass that helps define the bands
sound.
OWL MAKER are ones to
look out for.
Hi
Jessie. Thanks for doing this interview. How are things with you
today?
Good! Got the day off
from work for Presidents Day, can't beat that.
Before
we discuss your new EP, can you give a brief overview of how the band
formed and where it is today?
Owl Maker is based in
Southern Connecticut. We formed in the summer/fall of 2016 and
played our first show a little less than a year ago. Simon, Chris,
and I had all played in the same circles for a long time, so it was
just a matter of time until the three of us got our own band
together.
Why
did you choose Owl Maker as the name for your band?
I'm a school librarian,
and I had just ordered a new set of mythology reference books around
the time the band was brainstorming for a name. I started flipping
through the Native American one and came across Owl Maker: the Lakota
crone goddess who guards the Sky Road, which is the entrance to the
land of the dead. If you have the wrong tattoos, she casts you back
down to earth! Pretty metal.
What's interesting is
that I can't find too much more information about her, beyond what is
in the encyclopedia. Any sources I find on the web don't add
anything new, so Owl Maker is a bit mysterious. I will have to
continue my research...
How
would you describe your overall sound?
I've been told that our
music is hard to put in a subgenre -- but if I had to pick one, I'd
just say heavy metal. Our drummer Chris comes from a death metal
background, while I've spent a lot of time playing rock and folk in
addition to metal. I also enjoy listening to stoner metal a lot.
Our frontman/guitarist
is a professional musician and audio engineer -- Simon is probably
best known for his work as one half of the occult metal duo Vestal Claret. So you put all those musical backgrounds together with the
occasional gratuitous Moog riff, and you get.... Owl Maker.
You’re
about to release your debut EP – Paths Of The Slain. What can
people expect from the record?
Variety! Songs like
"Ride with Aileen" and "99" are more rock n roll,
while "Freya's Chariot" definitely takes a page from Amon
Amarth in terms of riffs, drumming, and subject matter. "Witches"
mixes hardcore punk with some Wicca and Sabbath-worship. And as for
"Mashiara" and "Lady Stoneheart," you'll have to
tell me! Although we are a "male-fronted" band
(buwahahahaha....), most of our songs are from a female narrator's
perspective.
What
is the main theme of the record?
Sticking it to The Man
in all his guises.
Who
is releasing the EP and what formats is the album being released
upon?
That's to be
determined. One way or another, it will be out digitally on March
16th; we plan to do a physical release in late spring or summer.
Updates will be posted on our Facebook page.
What
influenced you when writing and recording the record?
Our songs take
inspiration from literature, mythology, and history -- although
sometimes it's our own spin on things. Like in the song "Mashiara,"
which is based on characters from Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time
series, the narrator in the song has pretty much the opposite take on
his situation than the same character in the book.
Also, I was getting
divorced while I was writing most of Paths of the Slain and the
material that will (hopefully) be on a subsequent release... There
are no songs that are specifically about personal feelings, but that
experience has definitely woven a few threads into our music.
Was
recording the EP an easy or hard experience?
Easy for me and Chris
-- probably harder for Simon because he was the one recording it!
Simon also added a lot in terms of guitar and vocal harmonies, so I
think it was a bit of "writing in the studio" for him.
Then we sent the EP to Arthur Rizk to mix and master, so Simon got a
break lol.
What
is the song-writing method in the band? Is it a group collective or
down to one individual?
It's collective. I
write the lyrics and what I see as a bass/rhythm guitar part. Chris
and I finalize the arrangement and then pass it along to Simon, who
writes a bunch of guitar wizardry and vocal melodies. He also edits
and adds to the lyrics where needed. I think of it as a situation
where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
I should also note that
our friend Christopher Baldwin wrote the lyrics for "Lady
Stoneheart" -- he is in a punk band with Simon and me called Jimmy Junk Bird and the Stiffs. It was fun to have him collaborate
with us on that because he is such an imaginative writer, and he
occasionally lends us his wacky vocal stylings when we perform that
song at shows.
Do
OWL MAKER play gigs and tour often, or do you just focus on your
local musical scene?
At the moment we are
focusing on local and regional shows. It would be great to have the
opportunity to travel; we'll have to see how we can make that
feasible.
What
is your local musical scene like? Are there lots of places for you
to play to the masses?
A lot? No.
Unfortunately, many metal-friendly venues in Connecticut have closed
over the past decade. Luckily, there are a few steadfast holdouts
like Cherry Street Station in Wallingford and Cook's Cafe in
Naugatuck that continue to support original metal -- and there are a
few across the state that don't exclusively cater to a hard
rock/metal crowd, but are willing to host a metal night once in
awhile if they know you can pack the place.
I'm also hearing about
a lot more underground/DIY shows lately -- in fact, my friend Quinn
hosts a monthly punk and metal concert series in a Stamford piano
store! No lie! When times are tough, people get creative....
Do
you have an advanced setup or basic setup when performing live and
recording in the studio?
Our setup for
performances is pretty basic -- we don't use a backing track or
anything, so what you see live is much more raw than what you will
hear on the EP. As far as recording in the studio, I can't tell ya
what's in there but it's what Simon does for a living -- so probably
pretty "advanced" lol. I'm the wrong person to ask though,
I just show up and grab his Fender Jazz Bass! You can read more
about the studio gear here.
If
you could have been a member of any band (regardless of genre), which
band would you be a part of and the reasons why?
Oh man, that's a tough
question.... This is not a definitive answer, but I think it would
be awesome to play with Zeal & Ardor. As a folk music nerd, I
love Manuel Gagneux's interpretation of Delta Blues. To take
African-American music that reflects such an evil part of American
history (slavery, Jim Crow...) and meld it with music that is thought
of as "evil" but practically never associated with
African-Americans is really giving the finger to The Man in a lot of
different ways. Plus, the dude is half Swiss! Middle fingers all
around, and killer music...
Will
you guys be recording a full length album later this year, or it too
early to tell?
Too early to tell. At
the moment we've got three songs written and one "in the
chamber." I wanna write one or two more and just bang out
another EP, but Chris says we should suck it up and put out a
full-length! I guess we will cross that bridge when we come to it...
Thanks
for doing this interview. Before you go do you have anything to say
to your fans? Best of luck with the new EP.
First of all, Steve,
thank YOU for taking the time to check out our material and interview
the band. I know this is a labor of love for most of us....
To all our fans (or
future fans?!), find us on Facebook and Instagram - @owlmakermetal -- for news about Paths of the Slain and future releases.
Thank you for
supporting underground metal
Written
by Steve Howe and Jessie May
Thanks to Jessie May
for doing this interview. Thanks to Curtis at Dewar PR for arranging
this interview. Paths Of The Slain will be released digitally on March 16th 2018
