What It's Like When Doves Cry:
(Gotta love Simpsons References...)
Regarded in some circles as one of Canada’s best kept secrets, and with a debut album praised as much as 2002’s Character Assassination was, Soulscar are set for musical world domination, don’t believe me? well I had the chance to talk about it with bass player extraordinaire Brent MacKenzie, and several other topics including their forthcoming sophomore release.
NoC – Brent Lockman
BM – Brent MacKenzie
NoC: For those unfortunate souls out there who have not heard of Soulscar, could you provide a little insight into the band's history and roots?
Soulscar came to be in 1997, with Andrew putting out demos in 98 and 99. They were well received, with some encouraging reviews. I joined the band in 2001, we did a small promo ep with Jeff Waters, and finally released Character Assassination in 2002. 2003 brought us the additions of Igor Cheifot on drums and Stas Mikheev on guitar, and we began doing live shows locally. We did a show with Devin Townsend, which was great, and recently opened for Dimmu Borgir when they came through Vancouver in July. We’re finishing our second album, which we should be releasing it mid-late October.
NoC: What would you describe Soulscar's music as? And what are your influences?
BM: The music is a melodic blend of death, thrash, and aggressive heavy metal. Our influences come from all over, but the most direct links will be to the technical styling of At The Gates or Carcass. Most of the vocals are death rasps/screams, but there are some cleans in there as well where the music calls for it.
NoC: What would say is the largest lyrical inspiration?
BM: The lyrics on Character Assassination were created based around characters in movies and their situations, which fit with the "Character" theme. As for the new album I can't speak for Andrew, but what I've written is drawn from whatever happens to move me or needs to be expressed. There is no set structure or guidelines to the lyrics, just as long as the band agrees upon them.
NoC: Character Assassination was unleashed upon the world in 2002, to huge amount of praise, kudos, quite possibly offerings of virgin sacrifices. I dunno, anyways how are the sessions for the new album coming along?
BM: I'm very happy with the album thus far. We chose 10 songs that we we're all very happy with, and we've recorded everything except for vocals and some of the guitar leads. Then we'll see if any of the songs need anything added or removed, and start the mixdown process!
NoC: Could you run us through your songwriting process? Is it different this time around?
BM: The process has always started with Andrew coming up with riffs or an entire song, and then presenting it to the rest of the band and chew through it together. Writing for the new album has been the same manner, but now that we have a full lineup there is a better exchange of ideas and trying new things, which has yielded some awesome tunes.
NoC: Do you prefer being in the studio, or out on the road?
BM: enjoy the creative aspects of the studio and how it feels the first time you listen to the album once it's been completed. Our road experience has been minimal, since we just started playing shows in 2003, and hasn’t done many outside of the Vancouver area. In saying that, the live aspect of the band is awesome. I love the energy of the crowds and their interaction with the band.
NoC: Could you describe Soulscar’s live show in one sentence?
BM: A Soulscar show is intense, entertaining, aggressive, and usually involves a wicked cover song that we all love.
Or, to quote a fan:
"Did somebody get the license plate of that massive truck of KICKASS that just hit me"
NoC: Do you have a favorite song to perform live?
BM: Impossible to pick just one, so i'll pick one from each era of Soulscar
Out of the demos, I'd pick SSRI / Cutter, the first two tracks off the Abandoned EP. We play it as one song live, and it moves through a few different moods and feel changes. It's an awesome song to play live.
Next is Fatalist Mantra, off of Character Assassination. That song crushes me every time we play it. I love it.
Finally, we have a song for the new album called Without A Shadow. This is another song that goes through different moods, and the chorus just floors me. I can't wait for everyone to hear i
NoC: Is there a plan for a cross Canada tour anytime soon?
BM: Nothing is set currently, we're still face first in the new album. However once it's out I would love to tour and check out the metal scene all across Canada.
NoC: If you could pick any 4 bands to tour with, what would they be?
BM: Strapping Young Lad, Killswitch Engage, Slayer, and a ton of others. I'd also like to do shows with different styles of bands. Dredg blow me away, and I'm really digging the new Lost Prophets record. That would be a cool tour!
NoC: How did the deal with Galy come about?
BM: Eric Galy had heard about us through the grapevine, and picked up the Character Assassination album based on a recommendation from Adrian at Unrestrained. He dug it a lot, and thought it deserved to reach the masses.
NoC: What's it like being part of the underground scene in Canada today? How about the scene out there in B.C?
BM: I'm proud to be part of what's going on in Canada, and especially B.C. There are so many wicked bands in town and they're all very supportive of each other. The only difficult part about it is when you have to choose which bands to see 'cause there are two or three different shows on a Friday night.
NoC: Let's try this... rant about any subject you want, just pick one and go nuts.
BM: There's a site called "Eric conveys an emotion" (www.emotioneric.com) where people send in requests for Eric to take a picture of himself in a particular emotion or action. Obvious ones are happy, sad, gassy, drunk, etc. Then there is the not-so-obvious stuff like battling your evil shadow self, and it's just the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. However, it hasn't been updated in ages, and now I can't even log into the site. Maybe he's updating it. Luckily I can still order the Subservient Chicken around. (www.subservientchicken.com)
NoC: What would you like Soulscar's legacy to be? In 20-30 years what would you like Soulscar to be remembered as?
BM: Global musical domination. Hah! Honestly, I want people to remember Soulscar for however they enjoy the music and what we are to them. If they want to read into the music and find messages and live by the Scar, then that's cool. If they want to throw a cd on at a keg party and do some drunken house moshing, then that's cool too. I want to reach as many people as possible, and let them enjoy us how they want to.
NoC: What can we expect in the future from Soulscar?
BM: Well the new album is the first thing on the list, which should be out around fall 2004. From there, lots more shows, some tours, and hopefully some gigantic European metal fests which gets recorded for a DVD / Live cd. But for now, releasing the new album.
NoC: And we're done, on behalf of everyone at NoC, I'd just like to thank you for taking the time to do this, and turn the last words of this over to you, any final words of wisdom?
BM: Just a huge thanks to everyone for checking us out and supporting us. Cheers!
http://www.soulscar.com
Live Images taken by Andrea Larsen.
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