Interviews : Suffocation (Mike Smith) 28/09/2009

Suffocation have been credited as one of the many death metal bands who pioneered the scene in the late 80’s. Their sound become synonymous within the brutal death metal movement thanks to the bands rhythmic styles and complex song structuring.  Drummer Mike Smith, has been apart of Suffocation‘s history since the bands early era, relentlessly offering a barrage of his commonly sort after techniques which has labeled him as the master and founder of the illustrious blast beat, otherwise known as the “Smith Blast”.

Metal Obsession had the pleasure to speak with Mike Smith about Suffocation‘s latest release ‘Blood Oath’, some inside news of the bands upcoming endeavors and of course their upcoming tour with Arch Enemy and Winds of Plague in Australia.

———–———–

Metal Obsession: Hello Mike, it’s Megan from Metal Obsession, how are you?

Mike Smith: I’m good. I’m one interview deep already, so I’m all warmed up and ready to roll.

MO: Excellent. SO you’re looking forward to the Australian tour in November?

MS: Definitely. There’s nothing that I can complain about, about Australia except for the long-ass plane flight that it takes to get there, other than that it’s all good. The fans, the people, the food, the kangaroos, and everything about it, it’s just refreshing. I can’t wait to get there.

MO: It will be your second tour of Australia. What were your first impressions of Australia after your first Australian tour in 2007?

MS: Priceless. It really is a priceless place to visit. The vibe is just compared to being from the US all my life, to fly over there, it was definitely seems to be like a breath of fresh air. Everything just felt real peaceful and in place, and good, so I’m looking forward to that again, and we need it. It’s a really stressful time over here in the US at the moment with this recession and everything else that’s going on, all the nonsense around me, I’m looking forward to going over there and vacate for a while, and while I’m there, I guess play a few shows to say “hi” to the people!

MO: When you guys first toured Australia, I had only heard one or two songs on late night video shows or on the radio. I took a gamble and went to your show, and needless to say I was really impressed!

MS: We try, we try our best. Our live show has always been one of the most important things for Suffocation. We do what we do on the albums, but we have always been a live, hands-on band first and that’s what we only ever hoped for, for all the opportunities to get good shows, good tours and get up there in the peoples’ face, cos we know that without that, we won’t get linked up with any tour packages and I think we grab a lot of fans first time around.

MO: This time around, you’re touring with Arch Enemy. Are they a band that you’ve always wanted to tour with?

MS: Not necessarily, we wouldn’t pick them out of a hat and say “we need to do that”. We’ve played with Arch Enemy in Europe, played some pretty big festivals with them, and they definitely are a good band. At this point, we want to tour with any band who one, can draw a different fan base, which Arch Enemy does, and can hold their own on the stage.

We’re not locked in that mentality where we need to be on a death metal tour. That’s not where we’re at at this point, we’ll sit up as drastic as we can in order to get out in front of the most people and the best mixture of people. Arch Enemy is one step in that direction, and we’re glad to be on it and we want it to be one of those shows to be really something to remember.

MO: Will there be any older material in the set list?

MS: Always. I would love to go and do a whole Blood Oath set, but we have so much material that we need to let people know while we have the chance to do it, that we always range back from our first album and try to play a little bit off each, so they get a full documentary of what Suffocation is and leave at least with a little more knowledge than what they came in there with. You’ll definitely get songs from every album.

MO: I know that some Australian metal fans can get finicky and they especially love to hear the earlier stuff from a lot of bands.

MS: The good thing with Suffocation, we did what we did with Blood Oath and that’s fine, that works for the mentality of the kids that are out there right now. If you do become a Suffocation fan through this album, and you decide to go through our back catalogue, it only gets more extreme and more intense, which I think is a never-ending gift to any true music fan out there. That’s why we will always keep those albums fresh and current, at least in the live aspect.

MO: You released Blood Oath in July. How has the feedback been that you’ve received for that album?

MS: Excellent so far, I haven’t heard any negative feedback thus far. It seems that everybody realises what our mentality was when going in to writing this album. It is our 20th year, it is a time where you really have to come out with a message to the kids listening, and you have to come out legible because there will be a lot of new listeners who may just be picking up a Suffocation album for the first time and we needed to make it where you can get a grasp immediately upon hearing it, and I think we accomplished that on this album and because of that, the responses have been positive.

MO: Suffocation parted ways between 1998 and 2002. What was the reason behind the band’s split and subsequent reunion?

MS: Just tired of the same old same old, I guess. Band members picking at each other, tired and needed to get a break, the touring industry at a standstill and you weren’t really making any significant leaps and bounds and it was just time to sit back and watch the scene and see if any of the focus is being made to where we can come in, re-evaluate it and give them what we think they need. The formula to get through it is extreme, you can’t just come in and do whatever you want, play whatever you want and be relevant. We took that time to breathe, live with our families, get the love back for it and try and come up for Round Two, and Round Two seems to be the more successful episode that Suffocation has had.

MO: So how would you compare Chapter Two of Suffocation to Chapter One?

MS: It’s night and day. We’ve done double the amount of touring, if not tripled it, compared to the first version of Suffocation ever did. Our business sense this time around is completely top notch. We’re coming into it with a business mindset first and then the fun of being a musician and touring second, which is important.

We’re trying to boost our careers individually but at the same time, we’re trying to be ambassadors for what is the extreme metal scene. At this point, we have so many years of experience beneath that, we can really make decisions that we know will impact the most, and thank God our record label, Nuclear Blast, understands that and we can work as a team doing that and they actually take opinions from us and run with it and make it right.

MO: While we’re on the subject of record labels, how has being signed to Nuclear Blast compare to being signed to Roadrunner Records or Relapse?

MS: Night and day. Plus, Nuclear Blast at this point is the biggest label out there for one, and two, they’ve been involved with Suffocation since our EP, Human Waste. They are definitely fans of Suffocation, they are the biggest in terms of getting your records in the stores, out to the people and in the magazines and in the press and they’re fans first. They’re definite hardcore Suffocation fans foremost and you can feel that in our everyday relations with them. It’s more routine now as it is an employer/employee relationship.

MO: In the early days of Suffocation, and even in the early days of extreme metal, metal was dominated by white Anglo-Saxon males. Did Suffocation experience any racism, or was it even seen as an issue, in the early days?

MS: No. Truthfully, we’ve had a really good, peaceful career with that and I think one reason that that is is because you cannot deny our legitimacy in this. We come out and we play at the top level of what this is supposed to be, and we’ve done it earlier than most.

You’d have to be completely ignorant and totally backwards in your way of thinking to come to us first thinking as a racist and not realising what our music and our time in our genre has done for countless bands. In that sense, I’m glad to say that the mentality of the fans and the listeners put the racism thing under the table where it should be, and got to what’s important, which is our legitimacy and our skill at the time.

MO: Well, if Vanilla Ice and Eminem are allowed to play rap, then  African-Americans can play metal…

MS: Back in Motown with Chuck Berry and BB King, that was “metal” back then, so make no mistake of what metal was when it started and it just formed into what it is now. African-Americans have never been strangers to being on the cusp or on the cutting edge of any musical genre.

MO: Some of them are actually better musicians than the whiteys…

MS: [laughs] I didn’t say that! But hey, since you said it, I have to agree.

MO: And I’m a whitey so I can say that!

MS: I have no problem with that statement at all.

MO: There’s a rumour doing the rounds that there’s going to be a video game and/or a comic book based around Suffocation. Are the rumours true?

MS: They are true. They should have been well under way and out to the people now, but politics and the business of it just makes the process slower than it should be. We have the DVD coming out first, and that has taken precedence over the video game and comic book but the people just want that so bad, so that’s where all our focus and time is going and every opportunity we’ve had has been a bigger opportunity in the Suffocation story.

That’s why the DVD hasn’t come out, because every step we take is DVD-worthy, just like this second trip to Australia – we would love to get that on a DVD because it’s DVD-worthy and that’s what’s holding up our progress with everything additional to that but yes, the video game will be coming out, and the comic book is all supposed to be in unison and coming out together. The fans have got to be patient, the days go by so quick you can only get so much done where you put your full attention to it.

MO: Is there a working title for the video game and comic?

MS: No. Not at all, that will come last. What we’re interested in and focussed on is the content. If the content is watered down and frivolous, then the title isn’t going to save it. We always want to make sure that the content is what it should be, and once that is done, the name will automatically come to us.

MO: What’s on the cards for Suffocation after your Australian tour?

MS: We have to do a South America run, there’s a bunch of places in South America that we haven’t played yet and we can’t wait to get there as well, that will end up finishing out 2009. Our 2010 schedule, it’s too early for me to speak where the press can actually quote me on, but we’re good half to three quarters of the way booked and in place with 2010 where there is definitely not going to be a shortage of Suffocation appearance across the world, across the States.

MO: This wraps up the interview, are there any last comments you want to say to the Australian fans?

MS: Blood Oath. It’s a gang mentality. Death metal and extreme metal has to be led with a gang mentality because they are not just led on our own will. It’s holding us back, and we all have to understand that the music has to stay true, our vibe has to stay true and if we can do it thirty years like we’ve done already, for as long as the genre has been here, we can do it for thirty more.

Keep a blood mentality, keep the truth, keep the truthful people around you and we will get through this with flying colours, once they’ve opened the door they won’t be able to close it. That’s what the Blood Oath mentality is about and Suffocation will definitely do their part to help get us through. Us and the whole genre in general.

MO: Thanks for taking the time to have a chat and talk about all things Suffocation, and the Aussie tour.

MS: Thank you, it was a pleasure. Take care.

Band: Suffocation
Date: 28/09/2009
Origin: New York, USA
www.suffocation.us
www.myspace.com/suffocation

Interviewer: Megan Masters
Interviewee: Mike Smith (Drums)

Metal Obsession Review: Suffocation – Blood Oath

———–———–

Suffocation are touring Australia this November with the almighty Arch Enemy. Make sure to get your ticket as they are selling fast!

ARCH ENEMY AUSTRALIAN TOUR w/  Suffocation and Winds Of Plague

Nov 1st – Capitol, Perth*, 18+
www.moshtix.com

Nov 3rd – Fowlers Live, Adelaide*, Lic/ AA
www.moshtix.com, www.venuetix.com.au

Nov 5th – The Forum, Melbourne, 18+
www.ticketek.com.au

Nov 6th – The Roundhouse, Sydney, Lic/ AA
www.ticketek.com.au

Nov 7th – The Hifi, Brisbane, 18+
www.hifi.com.au/brisbane

*Arch Enemy and Suffocation Only

www.archenemy.net
www.suffocation.us
www.myspace.com/windsofplague
www.myspace.com/soundworks_touring
www.centurymedia.com
www.nuclearblast.de
www.riotact.com.au