Usurper Interview

The Gauntlet: What is up with Usurper?

Jon: We are starting to work on the next album now, writing new songs. We are just starting to demo. We are in a lull right now. We were hoping to tour more and play more shows for Cryptobeast but we didn't really get a chance to do anything major. We did a few cool weekend things in Canada and Mexico. We just got back from Norway which is really kickass. We have just been doing stuff on our own in the States; four or five dates here and there. We are going to do a couple more shows this summer and then really work on the album. So we are all going to go into the studio in early 2007.

The Gauntlet: Not til 2007?

Jon: Maybe later this year. It all depends on what good shows come up between now and then. We the 'Cryptobeast' album, we wrote it really quickly. The whole thing came together in probably two months, which for us is really fast. The band had lineup trouble and everything for a while so we couldn't really focus on writing anything new. Rick, our main songwriter and guitar player, has written some music for songs and some lyrics. I have a couple songs, but I don't know if we'll use them. If it comes together really quick, we'll go in the studio much sooner, but we haven't even really talked to the label about scheduling to make it all work out. We don't feel any pressure from the label so we'll just see how it goes. If everything goes quickly, that's fine, but if it takes a while to write everything, then it takes a while and that's fine too.

The Gauntlet: Is the band planning on making a more aggressive album? 'Cryptobeast' was more aggressive than the previous albums.

Jon: With all of our albums, we don't decide if the album is going to be slow-mid paced or aggressive. It is just whatever happens when the songs are coming together. We will usually write 15 songs and maybe keep 10 of them. Whatever we are feeling like is what we will put out. This isn't our living and we don't keep our finger on the pulse of the underground music scene. For us it isn't a concern at all. Whatever comes out is whatever it is. I would speculate that the next album that comes out will be a pretty aggressive album as that's the way we have all been feeling. We are really digging playing the more aggressive stuff live right now. This is kinda the mode we are into right now. We will have to see what comes out.

The Gauntlet: That's good to hear. I just had to make sure Usurper wasn't going to be asked to play 2nd stage at Ozzfest next year, or the metalcore stage.

Jon: [laughs] It sounds cheesy to say, but we got this endorsement from BC Rich and they got these baritone guitars that they tune down to A. We are going to start fucking around with songs that are de-tuned. It's like this whole new dimension that we haven't explored. It will be interesting to see what comes out of that. But playing with the standard tuning and messing around with it is interesting. There might be some really slow super heavy shit or fast de-tuned stuff too. It is hard to say at this point exactly what we will do.

The Gauntlet: Was 'Cryptobeast' written with Joe on drums?

Jon: Yeah, he was involved in the writing for 'Cryptobeast'

The Gauntlet: So the drums shouldn't be much different on the new album I take it?

Jon: No, they will probably be a little more cohesive but Joe's drumming has really been stepped up a lot. His drumming is…he is just an animal. It is amazing to watch the guy rehearsing. He is just completely high energy. The drums will never wimp out whatsoever.

The Gauntlet: Will Neil Kernon be brought back to produce again?

Jon: Yeah, that is what we are planning on. We have been talking with Neil again to get him psyched up again. We always like Neil, he has to take a pay cut to work with us as we can't pay him his normal rate. He has always been very gracious with us. The fact we can work together so well in the studio is great. We are a bunch of weird guys with strange personalities and bizarre senses of humor. Neil has the same fucked up sense of humor so that in itself makes it work well.

The Gauntlet: What about lyrical content? Can we expect the usual cryptozoology, paranormal album, or will we see Usurpers social-economic side?

Jon: [laughs] Having a politically tinged album isn't what metal is all about. Us singing about politics isn't heavy. George Bush isn't heavy. It has nothing to do with Usurper. Two of the songs we are working on now deal with a Luciferian theory and the other is starting off to be more of a metal anthem type song. Lyrically we aren't going to be reinventing the Usurper sound.

The Gauntlet: You would never use Usurper for any agenda you might have?

Jon: No, absolutely not. It would never happen. For starters, there are five of us. All five of us have different views on politics and everything…on everything! You couldn't find five people who have such different views. We would never find a common political theme to write about. For us, Usurper is about escapism. It is a departure from all that. This isn't something you need to think too hard about. It's to bang your fucking head and to go off on, not to ponder realities existence and all that shit.

The Gauntlet: Usurper has released countless albums, when will we see a live album?

Jon: I think it will happen. Right now we are trying to do a live DVD. That is our main thing right now. We would like to release a live DVD with the next studio album as a package. We have some good footage. As far as a live album, I think a DVD would do more justice. Part of Usurper is the head banging, the smoke. We need to capture that visual attitude on stage. That's equally as important as the actual execution of the songs. To have a pro-recorded live set to be recorded and released, I don't see why we wouldn't. It would be fun to do. We wouldn't do it as a cope out to replace an album. Maybe to release with an album. We care about the love of the band and not selling albums. I think if we released just a live album, it might be seen as a cheap shot to sell some records.

The Gauntlet: I've never seen Usurper play live, so a DVD would be great.

Jon: We have been hiding out over the years. With the lives we have now it's way better than we used to be. We feel we are on fire right now. We are playing tight. The headbanging is just unbelievable. We are having fun. When we were younger and playing live shows, we were nervous. We would sweat a lot of the details. Now we just go out there and jam and have a great time. We aren't trying to make an impact anymore, we just are playing and having a great time and it shows.

The Gauntlet: Are there any plans for US touring?

Jon: Right now, no. If something came up and would work out we would do it. Right now our priority is to do the album. We just headlined the Inferno Festival in Norway. For us to headline was really bizarre. We don't think we are a high enough caliber band to headline, especially at a festival like that. But it worked out well. Now we are trying to parlay it into some more European festivals or a mini tour. We don't sell a whole lot of records so it is hard for us to get out there. It is difficult to justify going out places. That is where the problem always starts. It is a double edged sword. If we sold more records, the label would give us more money to do that, but to sell more records we need to be going out and playing the big shows. It is a vicious circle. It is hard to get us to Europe. It is our main live goal; to play Europe more. We are a bunch of old fucking bastards.

The Gauntlet: Usurper will be playing MM3 this summer.

Jon: Yeah, we are going on around 8 or 9pm, but that might change.

The Gauntlet: Being in an extreme band from the US, do you feel embarrassed to be lumped in with the bands that think they are extreme?

Jon: It's hard to have an unbiased answer to that. Being in the band, we always think that what we do is different than everyone else. We know that our music isn't the most original style. We know we aren't bringing a completely new style to the table. We also aren't an innovative band, but we don't feel like we get lumped in with the US bands. We have more in common with European bands like German thrash than whats on MTV now. If someone heard the name Usurper and lumped us in with other bands in on MTV, then they have never heard Usurper before. If we are, I think that's just ridiculous. I don't think we have much in common with those bands. A lot of the bands trying to be extreme are just trying to go for a certain extreme sound and get a certain fan. For us, we don't really care, we are just shooting for that heavy riff to headbang to. If it comes out sounding like death metal or black metal that's fine. We aren't trying to fit into any particular scene.

The Gauntlet: A lot of critics in the old days have compared Usurpers sound to Celtic Frost.

Jon: That's a tag we picked up early on in our career. In our old albums, I think our old singer did sound a lot like Tom Warrior and our guitar tones had a riffage that could be compared. With the last 3 albums, I don't think you can make the comparison to Celtic Frost. It's cool to be compared to such a super heavy band, but at the same time I want to say 'have you guys listened to the album?' With 'Cryptobeast, everything from the tempo and the register of the vocals to the tuning and drums. I don't see it anymore so much. It is a tag we picked up in the '90's that has stuck with us.

The Gauntlet: Atleast they compare Usurper to the classic Celtic Frost albums, and not 'Cold Lake'.

Jon: [laughs] Yeah, thats good.