Professor Ricardo: Just to start off
can I ask what made you decide to become musicians in the first
place?
Sandy Schaare: I know exactly what it
was that started me on my career to being a musician. It wasn't the
heavy stuff that I listen to now. It was playing tennis racket guitar
to Elvis Presley's 'Hound dog' as a very young 10 year old. Within six
months I had a real guitar and that was the start of the end.
Craig Williamson: I wanted to play
music to be in a heavy metal band.
John Strange: I was in the same boat
but I was too shit to play guitar so I learned drums.
CW: I was too shit to play guitar so I
learned bass.
SS: I'm too shit to play guitar so I
play guitar.
PR: I would consider you to be one
of our town's reliable and sought after acts these days. What do you
make of the music scene in Hamilton (New Zealand) at the moment?
SS: It's pretty dismal really. I think
that Hamilton for a really really long time has had a couple of
artists that have “punched out” but for the most part the
underground scene has struggled a lot. It's a town that has a
reputation for having a lot of cover bands and that type of thing,
probably because of the bar scene. There just aren't enough live acts
being pushed within Hamilton which is why we end up playing in
Auckland all the time. Although that being said I have to admit
within the last six to twelve months there seems to be a bit more of
a scene developing.
JS: I would say places like (popular
venue) Static would be largely to thank for that sort of thing.
CW: If you are comparing now with when
I started making original music it is quite sparse. In the early 90s
it seemed to be quite healthy. We would do shows and there would be
quite a few people turning up. Instead of going out to see bands
people these days must be either staying at home or doing other shit.
There has definitely been a change of attitude.
JS: In regards to Hamilton
specifically, there has always been a pretty strong undercurrent of
mainstay circles, like there being a “metal crowd” that tend to
stay relatively strong. I came from hardcore and punk and that scene
is all largely still there. As it stands at the moment I think things
are on the up and up. It helps that a lot more bands from out of town
are coming through as well, Hamilton is a tour stop effectively. Even
some internationals like Guitar Wolf.
SS: Not trying to blow our own trumpet
but I reckon it's because there are bands who stop in Hamilton just
so they can play with us. They would have to be Made In China.
Osmium, Beastwars, and House Of Capricorn. They come here because we
can get something together with them.
JS: If we're not going to be making
thousands of dollars a show we might as well have a good time with
our mates.
PR: How do you go from being a band
from Hamilton to having interest and albums out around the world?
CW: That would probably be my history
with my solo work (Lamp Of The Universe) and before that with Datura
who were around in the mid-to-late 90s. We were fortunate enough to
have a guy in Taupiri, who went by the name Cranium Music. When we
would release an album instead of push it in New Zealand he would try
and sell it overseas, build it up that way. When all of that folded I
decided to take it on myself, selling when copies we had left of
Datura as well as starting my own project. I was pretty much fucked
if I was just trying to sell my stuff to Kiwis. Maybe it was the
aftermath of Datura not being completely understood here. I never
tried to move it locally, always going overseas first to gauge their
reaction. From all of that I have gained some old, good friends in
Europe and America who fortunately trust what I am telling them. It
was all about having a platform where we could say “This is our
stuff, what do you think?”. I guess any band can do that if what
you have is good enough. There are New Zealand bands who are doing it
now – like Ulcerate and House Of Capricorn – who have
international profiles by, you know, not fucking around and putting
out international quality albums. Its easy if you feel you have a
quality product then get it out there to be heard. Our first album
[2010's Circle Of The Sun] I just put that out through my label and
we got asked to release it on vinyl, we didn't pursue anybody about
it, they came to us.
SS: It was all about all three of us
all having the same goal. Our goal was simple: put an album out. We
were all on board, we all wanted to do it, Craig has the contacts.
CW: Yeah, let's put it on that platform
to gauge how we are doing.
JS: To be honest, the biggest following
we could ever get at home would only be a piss in the puddle compared
to a place like Germany. There are tens, if not hundreds, of
thousands of people who listen to this sort of stuff there. It makes
you want to gravitate further afield to test the waters.
SS: It's easy to forget that all of New
Zealand is like one major city in Australia, and even that is not a
big market by international standards.
CW: I guess our advice to any young
band is to practice really hard and be 100% happy with what you are
doing. Be ambitious and work hard.
PR: Going back a few years to when
you released Circle Of The Sun, the album was very well received both
locally and abroad. How did all of that affect your approach to the
follow up album that you have just released?
CW: The moment that Circle Of The Sun
had come out, even before anybody had heard it, The Higher Key had
already been written. There was actually no pressure and no thought
as to how it would be received simply because the new album was
already ready. By being so far ahead of the ball you eliminate that.
Yes, we were surprised by [the reaction] but it did not change
anything about how we were approaching the second album at all.
PR: Does that make a really good
argument for being that ahead of yourself, so to speak?
CW: Exactly. I mean, I understand the
reviews, good or bad or whatever, but as an artist you just have to
do what you have to do. If we had gotten really shit reviews for the
album then we are going to have a reaction to that. Circle Of The Sun
was just a snapshot of what we were doing at the time, whether they
like it or don't like it … well I'm fine with that. Hopefully they
did like it. Good reviews just turn more ears onto what we are doing.
SS: The thing about being a musician is
as soon as you walk on stage you are putting yourself out there to be
judged. Never mind your albums or whatever, you are opening yourself
up for criticism. It makes you resolute to be even better and work
even harder.
CW: There was no deviation because of
the reviews, no trying to make a “part 2” or anything like that.
There you are, you're in that moment doing it, you move on, you do
something else. You can't go back to when you were eighteen years old
and write an album. Everything has got to progress.
JS: Even as it stands we have more than
our third album written. The follow up to The Higher Key, whatever it
might be called, is already planned out.
PR: You have been on the bill with
some excellent homegrown talent as opening for visiting foreigners.
What has been your favourite show you have played?
SS: Beastwars at The Thirsty Dog
(Auckland) for me. It's only a little venue and it was so packed. We
might not have even played a very long set, it was all a bit of a
blur.
JS: Stonerfest in Christchurch, 09 I
think, that's going back a bit. Playing to a whole bunch of
unfamiliar faces and seeing that crowd were at least superficially
way more into it than any other audience we have ever had. Sometimes
you play to a semi-circle of crossed arms but in Christchurch they
were already partying before we started.
CW: Mine was with Left Or Right and
Mountaineater at King's Arms (Auckland) last year. Those guys are
just so easy to get along with. The southern charm came through that
night.
JS: That was the same week as our gig
with Russian Circles, too. Converge at King's Arms was a funny one;
playing to a bunch of hardcore kids. I'm not sure they got it.
PR: What would be your dream gig,
either to play at or just to see?
CW: Roadburn
JS: Roadburn.
SS: Sabbath. Original line-up. At
Roadburn. With Neurosis and Sleep.
PR: What is the best part about an
Arc Of Ascent show for you guys?
CW: Finishing.
SS: It probably is finishing because
you come off, you are buzzing, and it's time for a beer.
JS: You get that moment of honest
reflection before people come up and start talking to you about it.
CW: You hit that last note, say thank
you and they are either cheering or you can look into their eyes and
see that they weren't that into it.
SS: As soon as we are done we tend to
know if we have nailed it. If I turn around and no-one is looking at
me I know we did not nail it. Most of the time we do.
JS: I think the best part about an Arc
Of Ascent gig are the two days afterward when your ears are just
going [dull beep].
PR: Thank you, guys
Album Review: Arc Of Ascent - The Higher Key
Arc Of Ascent are a ridiculously hard-rocking trio from Hamilton (New Zealand), consisting of vocalist/bassist Craig Williamson, guitarist Sandy Schaare, and drummer John Strange. In the review for their debut auspicious debut album The New Zealand Herald wrote that “Not since Shihad's Killjoy has a New Zealand album - or many other albums for that matter - lurched with the power, brutality and beauty that Arc Of Ascent's Circle of the Sun does.” Such a wealth of expectation must have made the follow-up record difficult to conceive and execute. But two years later that is exactly what they have done. It is called The Higher Key and it fulfills every promise of the first album as well as blowing expectations out of the water.
The first thing that strikes you as opening track 'Celestial Altar' starts up is how good the album sounds sonically. It is clear that much of the past two years has been spent refining their sound and getting every single tone on the record pitch perfect. As such the highs soar higher and the lows cut deeper than ever before. There is a magic in all of this that is hard to put your finger on. Perhaps it is in the wordless chanted chorus of 'Elemental Kingdom' that bleeds into Schaare's blazing guitar solos. Or maybe its in the ominous vocal harmonies of 'Land Of Tides'. More likely though it is the rock-solid groove that the band establishes on the first song and holds onto until the very last note has faded from your speakers. This unity of purpose culminates on the gob-smacking closer 'Through The Rays Of Infinity' that lives up to its name and much more. The Higher Key maintains a deft balancing act between mountains of sludgy guitar squall and deliberate rhythms throughout, garnering the odd comparison with Tool or Black Sabbath along the way.
What you have in The Higher Key
is a more focused collection of songs than Circle Of The Sun,
a lot of which owes to the fact that album was written, recorded, and
produced within a much shorter period of time than their debut was.
This more deliberate approach might not make for any obvious singles
(Circle Of The Sun's 'Godhead' was destined to be such) but it
makes for an engaging listening experience which will be hard to top
this year. The key to their success is that these three gentlemen
work seamlessly together like a single three-headed, twelve-limbed
rock monster. Basslines and guitar riffs share the spotlight, each
knowing when to wax, when to wane, and when to freak out with
reckless abandon. Drummer John Strange is again a workhorse on the
kit, pounding away as if his very life depended upon it. The
Higher Key is a wonderfully crafted and heartfelt record that
gracefully sidesteps the dreaded sophomore album slump and is bound
to put the band back on the map.
Rating: A
Recommended tracks: Celestial Altar, Elemental Kingdom, Through The Rays Of Infinity
No comments:
Post a Comment