Interview . 36 Crazyfists w/ Brock Lindow

Interviewer: Marc van Bebber . 24/11/2010 . city: Cologne . venue: Essigfabrik

Punk76: Hey Brock, how was your day so far?
Brock: It was good, walked around a bit. I love Cologne man. I didn't get on the bus to go to the city center but I've been here a couple times and I like this city.

Punk76: After playing Braunschweig yesterday it's your second German show today. So what do you expect from tonight and the other German dates?
Brock: I think that the German crowds are pretty close to the English as far as like being energized and stuff like that. When you go to France it's not that fun as playing here. I don't enjoy playing France really much and when we're there I was so glad we're coming to Germany. Last night we played Braunschweig and we have never been in that city before and it was awesome. There was a great crowd and tonight Cologne will be way better. It's a big city and we have been here before a few times. I remember the past shows here being great and so I think it will be good! All the German shows should be pretty bad ass.

Punk76: It's a long way from Alaska to Europe. So what are the things here you guys most looking forward to?
Brock: The biggest things are the shows. We're going to places where some people don't really speak that good our language and they know all the words of your songs. So that's a trip and I just look forward to the shows coming over here. It's a lot more fun for my band playing here than it is in the States. It's just better for us over here.

Punk76: And why do you think it's better here than in the U.S.?
Brock: I don't really know. It's just the crowds are better. I think in Europe in general the crowds are better than in the States. It's pretty reserved there and it's not as crazy as it is over here at least for us.

Punk76: May you compare the fans over here with the crowd over there?
Brock: I don't think there's much of a comparison because I think that the European fans are way better and always have been for our band. Maybe not for everybody but I just think that there are a few places in the U.S. which are good for us but in whole Europe is way better.

Punk76: You guys are on tour for many years now. Which were the most beautiful places you traveled to and why?
Brock: Australia! It's awesome over there. It's very beautiful and you have the beaches. Every time we've being there we've gone in February which is like summertime over there. So it's nice and warm. It's a good place to be.

Punk76: Your new record has been released this summer and it's called 'Collisions and Castaways'. May you tell us something about it and the story behind it?
Brock: The story is basically based on issues and mistakes of my life and taking ownership for them. It's like reminding me constantly that there're things to work on and so in a roundabout way it's just a kind of coming to turns with what I've done in the past and what I need to do to never doing them again.

Punk76: How do you think the record has being received by your fans?
Brock: It seems like it has being received pretty good. The press has been really cool to us and I haven't heard from any of our fans that they're disappointed with it. It came out last July I think and so it's not that new anymore. It's nice to be here in Europe now playing the club shows because we play three or four new songs and I can see the people know the songs. So that's pretty cool.

Punk76: The record has been produced by Steve, your guitar player. He also produced your last album 'The Tide and its Takers'. What was the point for the decision to produce the record by your own?
Brock: We did it both times because we're comfortable with it. Steve has been doing our demos since we're eighteen years old and so I think in the end we're just like why pay somebody else a bunch of money when he can do it. He knows the band better than anybody and I think he's awesome in what he does. So we're all pretty happy with it. I don't really see why get some expensive producer to come in and change the band. I think that's a bunch of bullshit. I'm not looking to reinvent anything so I'm just looking to write some songs that mean a lot to me and are going to be fun to play live. I enjoy having Steve and it's a nice relaxed atmosphere and a good vibe. He knows what I'm trying to do and I know what he's trying to do so it's a good thing.

Punk76: What's the biggest alternation on that record in comparison with the former one?
Brock: Well this record is probably a lot more aggressive and lyrically it's darker than any album before. I guess it's the most metal album that we have made. We're not the most metal band at all so for us it's a very solid heavy record which I'm glad to have now. We had heavy songs on the other albums but this one is in a whole way pretty aggressive and I enjoyed riding that record that way. The most stand out thing about the new album is that it's definitely the most metal album we've created.

Punk76: Do you have a favorite song on that record?
Brock: I love all of them but if I had to choose I would prefer 'Caving in Spirals' because that is kind of more like a rock song and there's no screaming on it. I enjoyed writing that song because I knew I was going to take a break from screaming. 'Mercy and Grace' is another song I really like and I didn't scream that much on. When you ask about which songs I like playing live then I have to say 'In the Midnights' at first. That song is really fun to play.

Punk76: May you tell us something about the collaborations on the record and what they mean to you?
Brock: Both of those guys, Adam (12 Tribes) and Raithon (Plans to make Perfect) are two of my best buddies and they have been on other albums before. Neither of them is in a band anymore so when we were writing the record it was like 'Hey you guys want to sing a song with us again?' and because they don't have any musical outlet anymore it was perfect. They are just good friends of mine and that's the reason. The song they're both on is called 'Anchors' and it's about friendship. Also there is a guest singer on 'The Deserter' but that's a different deal. That boy named Brandon Davis and he's in a band called Across the Sun. They're good friends of us for a few years now and his band is very heavy so we thought we should put him on that song. So if you listen to 'The Deserter' you will never think that's our band because it doesn't sound like us. It's more like pretty free in metal and so he sing on it mostly because it fits more his band style. It was fun to do and that's the story behind those collaborations.

Punk76: Let's talk about your lyrics. What were the points you want to express with that album?
Brock: The last previous albums I have been writing in this kind of victory through struggle content. I was really into that and I was really like that so it helped my life. But when I start writing this album I can't do that way anymore because I've done it already. So I started looking at where my life is now and it is way better than it was in my early twenties but there are still some things you fall into and forget to not do them. In my twenties I had a problem with drinking and stuff like that and it kind of set me back for a long time and I didn't realized that until I got older. So it's to remind myself that I never want to go back and in turn you still have to work on yourself every day to become a better person. That's what it's about for me.

Punk76: You guys are back on Roadrunner here in Europe. Is it like going back to the roots?
Brock: I love Roadrunner Europe and was really sad to gone away from them. What happened was that we wanted off of Roadrunner U.S. because they’re very big and we're not really selling enough units for them to pay attention on us. So we wanted to go with Ferret because they're much smaller and super cool people at all. At the time all the bands that were on Ferret in the U.S. were also on Roadrunner worldwide. As we signed with Ferret they went worldwide so we couldn't do this split deal and we have to get off of Roadrunner here. They did that for a year and it didn't work out for them so they decided to close the worldwide office and let all there bands go where ever they want to for the rest of the world. As soon as we knew that we called the guys from Roadrunner Europe and talked to them about getting together again. We love being on Roadrunner over here because they're all amazing people and they’re working really hard for their bands.

Punk76: You're on tour with Devil Driver which are good friends of yours. What are the differences between being on the road with them and touring with bands where you don't really know the guys?
Brock: That is a major difference. I don't really enjoy touring without bands that I like. I've been on tours where you don't know anybody and the first couple weeks sucked because everybody is quiet and stuff like that. I mean by the end we're all kind of like friends but I really prefer touring with my friends. We've done several tours with Devil Driver over the years and they're probably my favorite current metal band because I love what they're doing as a band and as people. You feel very welcomed around them and I'm now 35 years old so I'm not interested in touring with people that put themselves over the rest and where you're not allowed to come into the venue until 5pm and non of the dressing rooms are for you. Even if Metallica is calling me I'm not interested in touring with them.

Punk76: Let's talk about doing music videos these days. Is it more a personal decision of you guys doing maybe one music video for every record or is it only a financial thing?
Brock: The biggest problem with it is that there is nobody playing them anymore in the States. MTV for example doesn't play that stuff. We have a channel called Fuse that used to have a metal channel or a metal hour but I'm not really sure when they're playing that stuff. England has like Crank TV, Metal Hammer TV and stuff like that which are all video channels. So this is awesome but the whole thing is that music videos are cheap to make and when there is not a place to service them to get your money out of it the labels start dropping it. We just did a film to show us on that tour and we just started today with a cut of 'Reviver' which was the first single of the record. I don't know when it's going to be serviced but I watched some scenes and it pretty kick ass. It's not live so it's just the visuals with the album track on it. It's kind of a bunch of clips from shows but not all playing 'Reviver'. I can tell you that there are different songs at times and that it not fits perfectly which is fine to you. It was for free actually because Jägermeister asked if we would wear a wristband or a shirt and they will pay for the whole production which includes seven camera guys.

Punk76: The name 36 Crazyfists is based on an old Jackie Chan movie. I read a few times that you guys aren't so happy with it anymore. If there’s a chance to choose a new name for the band which has to base on a movie again which one would you like?
Brock: 'Avatar'! No, just kidding. Good question man! What's about 'Machete'!? Yeah, that's a great movie! We'll go with 'Machete'.

Punk76: What can we expect from 36 Crazyfists in the future?
Brock: December 1st is the 17th anniversary of the band. So I hope we make the twenty. It would be cool to put out another DVD or something like that but nothing special is planned at the moment. We've been out since May without a break so we're about to have December and January off. In February we're going to South America and Australia with Devil Driver again. After that we will try to do some festivals but we did a lot of them last summer and we don't want to do the same ones back to back. We never have done Leeds and Reading in England and I would like to do them. After that and the Mayhem Fest in die U.S. the record will be out for a year and we will probably kill each other by then. So we will maybe take a little break and start then writing the next record.

Punk76: Ok Brock, that's it for now. Thank you for the interview!
Brock: Thanks for your time! I appreciate it.

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36 Crazyfists - Reviver