by Cathy A. Campagna
Bloodsimple is the latest
incarnation of singer Tim Williams
and guitarist Mike Kennedy of
the seminal New York hardcore
band Vision Of Disorder. On their
second record, Red Harvest, the
group, rounded out by bassist
Kyle Sanders, guitarist Nick
Rowe and new drummer Beven
Davies, achieves a fortified metal
sound brimming with an organic
passion that successfully pushes
the limits of the ordinary or
expected.
The record slices open with
the spoken word intro from The
Doors’ classic “The End,” and
from then on, gushes with
Kennedy’s distinctively complex
time signatures and Sanders’
lucid rhythms with more suction
power than quicksand.Williams’
vocal dexterity puts him in a
league all his own. He told The
Aquarian how he maintains his
ability to expel both murderous
snarls and thriving, full-bodied
bellows while on the road. “You
got to kind of stay out of trouble.
I drink tons of beer and I do my
thing, but the main thing out here
is definitely rest. I do a decent
amount of exercising throughout
the day just to stay sane and not
get too fucking bored, and again,
stay away from the fucking
bullshit that’s out here. Rest is
the number one key.”
It’s no wonder that Chad Gray
of Mudvayne and Hellyeah chose
Bloodsimple who flawlessly blend
the accessible and esoteric to
be the first artists on his Warner
Brothers imprint, Bullygoat
Records.The five-piece are not
trying to prove they are from
Sweden and inundate with speed
that somehow lacks purpose, or
just grunt out lyrics whilst
neglecting flair, prose and heart.
They are clearly students of
Pantera and Metallica, but with
a contemporary witchery all their
own. In the simplest of terms,
Bloodsimple’s Red Harvest is a
true juggernaut.
The record is phenomenal,but
what about the visual side of
things.Have you made a video
yet?
We made one and we weren’t
exactly thoroughly satisfied with
the way it came out, so we are
re-editing it and then we will see.
We are about to shoot another
one and send it to the
Headbangers Ball. I think we are
going to pick ‘Dark Helmet,’which
is a pretty aggressive song, and
it has some depth to it.We started
doing a video for it on our own
with some b-line footage and
things we have gotten off the
internet and various tapes and
things like that. Then we are
going to add some live shit from
Dallas and then we are going to
edit it all together and put it out.
You need to keep things in house
these days.We have people in
the band that are talented within
the editing realm.We’ll do it on
our own and that’s it. Especially
in this day and age.
There are rumors of a DVD
coming out as well.
We are working on the logistics
of that.We have all of it edited
and it’s a finished product. I don’t
know when it is coming out.I think
they [Warner Bros.] might release
a couple of web episodes first,
and then they are going to release
it sometime next year.
What can people expect?
Shenanigans! We don’t really
take ourselves too seriously, so
all kinds of stuff like that.
You also covered The Doors’
‘Five To One.’ How did that
come to be?
Yeah, we did that at The
Machine Shop [studio] when we
were doing the record. We
figured we wanted to give
something to the people.We were
taking a long time with the record
and they were writing into the
MySpace saying they wanted
to hear new stuff. So we said,
‘Fuck it, let’s do a cover.’We said,
‘Let’s do The Doors, let’s do it
right!’We did, and it was fun.We
recorded. It might come out
sometime, but as for now, we just
recorded it and put it on
MySpace.
You have been on some really
cool tours out in Europe,
playing with Alice In Chains
and Metallica. Any good war
stories?
There would be too many.The
major underlying factor would be
hanging out with these cool, big
bands.They really inspire you to
do better and they had a heavy
hand in the inspiration for the
record we just did.We wanted to
step it up and stay relevant, and
to do that we knew had to take it
to the next level. But not go too
far off where people go, ‘What
the fuck do these guys think?’
We had a great time hanging out
with Jerry Cantrell, Mike Inez and
Corey Taylor. Meeting the guys
in Metallica, and hanging out with
Vinnie Paul here and there. It’s
pretty cool now.
This record has a great chance
of putting you guys up there
with those big names.
We just buckled down and
wanted to do a more live type of
heavy as opposed to more
contrived stuff.That was another
motto for the record. Let’s make
it heavy, make it feel more organic
and alive.
That really comes through.You
even introduced the title track,
which feels like you’re listening
to a live CD.
Me and Machine, we were just
like, fuck it. It just felt right.We
just left it on there, just going off
in the studio, no microphone
stand, just ripping through that
song like it would be a live show.
The vast textures of the record
help make it so powerful also.
Like you’ve managed to make
the seismic bass of ‘Dead Man
Walking,’ the staggeringly
jaggedness of ‘Killing Time’
and the sadly tragic ‘Truth
(Thicker Than Water)’all mesh
together.
We always like to have a
landscape and a spectrum, that’s
important for all the records we
have ever done. It was written
over a long period of time. Like
we started writing a little bit when
we were in Europe and Japan,
so a lot of time passed. As the
record started to take shape we
started writing more progressive
songs. Like ‘Killing Time’ was
one of the first songs that we
started to write, and it managed
to make it onto the record, which
is pretty cool.We didn’t want to
disappoint the fans of the first
record [A Cruel World], you know,
real Bloodsimple fans.We wrote
a few of the songs really for
them. Some straightforward
Bloodsimple songs that were
pretty much easy to digest. As
we got deeper, we kind of made
our own way.
You have had several drummer
changes already. Who is
drumming for you now?
We had Will Hunt [Skrape,
Dark New Day], now we got
another drummer. Will was on
the record with us and on the
Family Values tour. Now we’ve
got Beven with us and he is pretty
much sitting perfectly with us
right now. This might be it, the
drummer search might be over.
Beven, he is a really great guy
and a phenomenal drummer, so
we are very, very happy with that.
What keeps your fire ignited
lyrically? You’re very
unpredictable and never
repetitive in that aspect.
I read a lot of books, watch a
lot of movies, and the world is
always changing. I like to stay
relevant and like you said, not
try to repeat myself. That
someone will appreciate it even
if it’s just one person or 10 people.
I like to write lyrics that will make
someone come to me and say,
‘You helped me through this day.’
I like to write lyrics that amp
people up, whether it’s working
out or going to work or whatever
it is.That’s why I chose to still do
heavy music. I like to amp things
up.
You just said that’s why you
still chose to do heavy music,
so is there another side of Tim
that we don’t see. A singersongwriter
side maybe?
I wouldn’t go as far as singersongwriter.
There is definitely
some other stuff that has been
going on. I am just not ready to
bring that out yet, but yeah, there
is stuff like that.I have done some
tracks, I have done about 10
mellow tracks throughout the
years, some of them are pretty
damn good, but obviously they
are all in the demo phases.
I don’t have time right now
and I am not really focused on
that at the moment, but I think in
the next couple of years… I might
put something out like that.Yeah.
No expectations with the music
whatsoever, and that is going to
be the best part about it. It will
be no pressure, I know a
$15/hour studio in my
neighborhood, I am just going
to get with a bunch of dudes,
maybe put it on the smallest
independent label ever! No plans
to tour, none of that fucking shit,
whatsoever.Maybe do a couple
of shows in some small dives
and that’s it. Just to fucking have
fun with it.That might be on the
horizon for me.
You have been on tour with
Hellyeah since mid-October.
How has that been so far?
We know the Hellyeah guys
obviously through the Mudvayne
guys, and we did the Family
Values tour with them, so we are
bros with them. It’s been really
good, it’s been a lot of fun and
the shows have been
outstanding.
Bloodsimple has been getting
a ridiculous reaction, even the
new shit, and that’s the best part
to see, I mean, half the people
don’t even have it, because it’s
only been out a couple of weeks
and they are just freaking out
over this shit. So it’s pretty cool.
How did you hook up with
Chad from Mudvayne initially?
Oh man, that happened three
years ago. Long story short, our
old drummer Chris [Hamilton,
Downset, Saint Cain] gave Chad
a demo, and Chad liked it so
much that he went out and
started a fucking label. I think he
might have signed someone else
since then, but I am not really
sure.
But it’s been going, and he has
been really supportive, and when
we need him, he is pretty much
there, and it has been a pretty
good run so far. When it comes
to the touring circuit, he really
hooks things up.We are definitely
going to take a nice long break
for the holidays, because I have
things to attend to back home. I
was told we might do a UK run
in January, but we are not exactly
sure.
Touring is awesome, but we
are going to pick and choose our
battles. On our first record, we
toured for two years and we’ll do
a decent amount of touring, but
again, we are going to pick and
choose and do the tours that are
right for us.
