Matthew
over at Taste Nation LLC - A Music Consortium, has been harassing me
for a while to do some interviews together. I said sure, why not.
We're both admirers of all things LOUD & HEAVY. The next part was
deciding who to interview. Matthew suggested German Sludge/Stoner
Rock collective – Slow Green Thing.
I
thought that was a great idea. I had just listened to their new album
– II, and thought their new album was superb. It's potent mix of
Stoner, Sludge, Doom, Psych and Grunge that will hopefully gain these guys
a wider fan-base.
If
you haven't heard II yet then I recommend stop what you're doing and
listen to the album now. It's a thrilling and exciting album from the band. You can read my review here.
Matthew
and myself contacted Slow Green Thing and they kindly agreed to do
this joint interview which we are both grateful for. Anyway, here's
the interview with Slow Green Thing.
TN
= Taste Nation
OOTS
= Outlaws Of The Sun
OOTS
– Hi guys. Thanks for doing this interview. How are things with you
today? Welcome to the first joint interview between Taste Nation and
Outlaws Of The Sun.
Thanks
for the invitation, we are very fine, just released our LP and
everyone seems to like it.
TN
- Why the name Slow Green Thing? Any connection with the movie "The
Blob"
The
name was a crackpot idea – we preferred the name “ooze” because
it made the teenage mutant ninja turtles mighty - but 1000 other
bands like this name too. “ooze” is a green slime. Once our
former bass-player said a little depressed in German: “lasst uns
doch einfach langsames,
grünes etwas
als namen nehmen!” (Let’s take a name with words like slow
green something
in it). So the quick translation of this monologue is finally our
name – SLOW (langsames) GREEN (grün) THING (etwas). …...
What
the hell is “The Blob” - a must see movie?
OOTS
– You've just released your new album – II. Congratulations on
such an awesome album. It seems it's becoming quite a favourite
amongst the Doom/Stoner Metal community. Have you been pleased with
the response it got so far?
After
releasing “I” and the very unexpected, positive reactions all
over the stoner-world – we had a little clue what could happen, but
the reactions for “II” in this very short time after releasing
are overwhelming – no one expected that.
TN
- I hear the late Layne Staley of Alice in Chains in your Vocals.
Are they an influence?
Yes
Sir – Alice in Chains are big in influencing the vocal-style and in
some riffing (but riffing is more influenced by hard rock from the
70's) – but actually more the last 2 records without Layne, but I
still love the Layne records. But “Black Gives Way To Blue” and
“The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here” are great records and even darker
than all AiC stuff before. It was the main reason to work with
harmonies.
OOTS
– For a first time listener. How would you describe your band’s
music and what surprises awaits them on your new album – II?
It
is always difficult to describe your own music. I think to compare it
with other bands makes it easier, or to tell the influences –
better a third party describes the music – so what would you say if
anyone asks you to define Slow Green Thing? ;)
I
guess, the unexpected moments for stoner-doom listener could be the
solo guitar that is not a classic doom solo-guitar but more
Blackmore-style – the other thing is maybe the singing... so SGT
mixes a very lot of influences without sorrows about irritating the
listener – because we do it all for us in first place – the
result seems to be liked by some more people, too ;)
TN
- I've noticed you are not signed to a label. Do you prefer the DIY
route or are you looking at labels to Partner with?
For
“II” we joined FUZZMATAZZ RECORDS and we are very happy with the
work of Marek. Without him we would not have done the vinyl.
OOTS
– Was it a hard or easy album to write and record for? Looking back
would you change anything about II? Or are you happy with the final
result?
Song
writing is very fast, always – I got some riffing ideas and after
30 minutes with the guys in the rehearsal room, the main framework of
the songs is done. It is so much fun with these cool band mates,
because it's so easy to make music with'em or it is easy because they
are so fine....
For
me the record is perfect if you consider the fact time and the money
.... of course the sound will never be heavy enough – a production
like you can hear from AiC or Monster Magnet is perfect, for me …
but for us, everything is fine and we are very proud.
TN
- Your favourite band(s) you have shared the stage with?
DOZER
(with my old band), GREENLEAF, FARFLUNG, GLOWSUN and on 8th July we
will support MONOLORD.
OOTS
– What's the song writing dynamic in the group? Is it down to one
individual or is it a group collective?
It
is a mix – I create the riffing and the vocal base at home. After
that in the rehearsal room we fit the stuff together and create the
bridges, solos and some other specials and think about the
arrangements – in the end every song became a full-band-song.
TN
- Are you planning a major Euro tour to support your stellar new
album "II?"
No
– 3 of 4 have family with very young kids, that and fucking work
makes it hard to tour for a longer time – but not to misunderstood
– we all love our families and like it very much to spend time with
them ;) - work is bullshit, even more… but in the end, we are lazy
boys… for me - music would be like work too, if I had to do it too
often in row. But I guess 2 weeks of rocking would be OK - I hope you
all know what I mean.... but we will see, maybe someday, when people
cry for a tour, we will do it. Till now no one asked us for a tour.
OOTS
– You're releasing your album on some lovely looking vinyl. Did you
have some label help with that or are you releasing it by yourselves?
FUZZMATAZZ
RECORDS. It’s actually a small label in middle Germany with some
nice bands, so just have a look at it.
TN
- Your wide stylistic range can put you on the stage with a wide
variety of bands. Do you have a wish-list of who you would like to
play with or what festival(s) you guys would like to play?
We
rocked the Stoned from the Underground in 2014 and would like to play
there again. Also every big Stoner/Doom/Hard Rock Festival (like ROCK
IM WALD, DESERTFEST, ROADBURN…), where you can find a big music
interested crowd, is always interesting for everyone.
What
about bands, we would love to play with... that list is actually
never ending - let me dream: Black Sabbath will not end up after “the
end” and would ask us…
TN
- Just so you know, the Dixie Chicks are making a comeback and are
touring.
Oh,
really?
TN
- From your touring to date, what Country / City has the hottest
girls?? Dresden ;) Actually, we don’t see too much chicks on our
gigs or festivals, mostly we meet long haired, drunken and stoned
dudes with strange habitants.
OOTS
- You're from Germany which has a well-respected and vibrant
Sludge/Doom/Stoner Metal scene. What is the scene currently like in
Germany? Do you have regular opportunities to play gigs in Dresden or
do you have to travel to other areas of Germany to perform regularly?
If you could change anything about your local music scene, what would
it be and why?
It
is awesome to live in Dresden if you like that kind of music, almost
every week there is a concert in the neighbourhood. A lot of them are
stoner/doom/metal stuff. I really hope it will go on this way. I
really enjoy visiting concerts of my favourite bands just 5 minutes
away from my home.
And
our local scene is fine as well – a lot of talented and nice bands
to play with, having fun and some beer. We
sure travel to some nice gigs and festivals, but then it’s a bit
hard to do it work. There are many factors that should be fine…
TN/OOTS
– Well guys thanks for doing this interview. We both thank you for
taking the time out in doing this joint interview. All the best with
the new album. It's a stunning record which we both rate very highly.
Thank
you for the request – interesting questions – it was fun!
Cheers
from Slow Green Thing and Sven
WEED
ON!
Words
by Matthew Thomas, Steve Howe and Slow Green Thing
Slow
Green Thing - Links
Taste
Nation LLC - A Music Consortium – Links
