Seas Will Rise Interviews Early Graves
When we were informed we would be asking Early Graves questions, we were delighted. We knew we share a common ground with this band, one that goes beyond arm chair policy takes on Syria and international conflicts, one that goes beyond arbitrary personal diet conversations (well we do delve a little into that), one that stretches beyond discussing the pros and cons of a burgeoning corporate nature rising in underground music, one that involves more than what strings do you play, what riffs do you like, yadda yadda, something more than that…. Organized professional sports. And down tuned hardcore of course.
First off, you are from Arizona. Do they have even have professional sports there? Pretty sure that you don’t count the Cardinals and the Diamond Backs as real teams. Hell most people don’t even know that the Cardinals are a professional franchise, must less anywhere near as badass as the silver and black. Have fun with Oakland Reject Carson Palmer, honey.
The Early Graves burning church shirt is pretty iconic at this point, are you more hyped when you see that shirt sleeved or sleeveless? Correlated, what’s up with the Warriors sleeved uniforms, those are ridiculous.
Sleeves off is always a better look for this shirt. Who doesn’t want to walk around in a muscle tee with a burning church on it?
Those Warriors uniforms look so whack, but at least the Warriors are playing decent basketball these days. Can’t say the same about some of the other teams on the West.
You guys split your time between Southern California and the Bay Area. Does that distance make you more productive as a band? Like “fuck, I have been playing this riff to myself for months, time to unleash!” And speaking of Northern CA, aside from Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson being the superior 90’s point guard to Tim Hardaway, tell us more about the Golden State Warriors, more specifically, which of center Andrew Bogut’s hairstyles turn you on the most? Shaggy hipster rockstar style, or clean shorn Outback Steakhouse style?
The distance between John and the rest of us certainly has its challenges but it also has advantages. I think that him being away and not hearing the songs beaten into him gives him a fresh approach to writing to it. We just get together to tour and record basically, although I play in another band with him so I see him frequently. He is also a Raiders season ticket owner so he comes up to the Bay Area a lot.
As far as Andrew Bogut and his evolving look, I prefer when he has long hair. He looks so sassy not scoring points when his hair is long and he is taking up space with his busted body.
So John, you recently wrote a piece for Decibel about being an Oakland raiders fan, was that written ironically? Like making craft mayonnaise and wearing pantaloons, you guys are all in on Raider Nation because it’s funny right? Congruently, how do you feel about the Insane Clown Posse?
That was me, Chris, that did that thank you. I am quite proud of my shitty team. I will love the Raiders until I die, I simply cannot control myself. As far as ICP, YO LET US PLAY THE GATHERING. I am so down. Although I have literally never heard one ICP song besides the one about magnets and the mystery of how they work. I’m all in with the Raiders because I’m not a bandwagon jumper. I’ve been a Raider fan as long as I can remember. Even when Rick Mirer was qb.
You guys recently started your own label (Pure Hell!) to re-release your album We: The Guillotine, and give it the proper vinyl, packaging and overall treatment it deserved. That’s pretty awesome. Do you see yourselves maybe starting an NFL franchise that re-releases all of The Raiders draft picks over the past 35 years to give them the proper treatment Al Davis couldn’t provide?
So, you guys have a new-ish album out, Red Horse. That shit rips! Tell us, the rider of the second horse is often taken to represent War or mass slaughter. As Raider fans, does this sum up what Peyton Manning did to you on Monday night?
Stoked that we were able to have control over Pure Hell and the release of We: The Guillotine on wax. It sounds and looks awesome, really proud.
I would love nothing more than to be involved in sports as a way to make money. Peyton looked great against the Raiders, but you know what? He didn’t put 7 touchdowns on them like he did the Ravens. He is unreal and on pace to having a record-shattering season. I am not sure what to say about him other than that. Al Davis RIP.
This is the 2nd time this year we have played a festival in Tucson w/ you guys, we live 2 hours away, and you live 15… why do you come back? And what are some other “B” cites you like to play? We correlate the ancillary metro areas to college football programs. The bigger the city, usually the crummier the music scene/crappier the football program. The smaller the city the more passionate the fans. What say you?
We come back because we were asked to and that felt pretty good. We like playing in all sorts of places where people are passionate about music. But mostly, we like to play music together and when we get the chance to do it and someone wants us to play, we are almost always willing. The bigger the city doesn’t guarantee anything one way or another. I like playing in SF, LA, Toronto and Boston as much as I like playing smaller places like Tucson. I don’t really give a shit where it, I just want to play guitar. If people like it, cool, if not, I don’t really give a shit either.
Enough sports questions, let’s get to the important stuff. San Francisco has a pretty killer burrito scene. As a band that tours a lot, what region has the best burritos? And follow up…what goes in your ideal burrito?
San Francisco has the best burritos, and short of being in Mexico, Los Angeles has the best overall Mexican food. You can put almost anything in a burrito, but do NOT put lettuce in my burrito. You need a lot of cilantro, onions and the hottest salsa ever. I don’t care for Tex-Mex really so leave that shit outta my plate too.
We saw you guys play in Tempe and there was a strat style baritone in play, like us you dudes tune to B, we noticed recently you switched to EMG pick ups (huge game changer they have chrome cover option). Which pups do you use and in which positions? Is that baritone used live a lot? Is there a lot of gear turnover in general? Side note, you seem to enjoy Mesa Boogie amps as much as we do…DC-10, great amp or best amp?
Yeah we switched to EMG because they fucking rule. Right now we are using the 57/66 sets in an explorer and a flying v guitar, and then our les pauls have 81/81 or 81/85 combos in them. They fucking sound awesome. Since we tune low its nice to use pickups that really grab ahold of the sound of the string and not get lost in the shuffle. Our bad for tuning so low. The baritone that Tyler was using was a guitar he made, but he switched back to his Gibson because he got smart and realized that once you play a Gibson, there is no turning back.
We LOVE our Mesa Boogies. We both have a Dual Rectifier and Triple Rectifier and bounce between using them. They are all the old 2 channel onces, mostly revision g, but we might have a revision F lying around, I am not totally sure. The Dual Rectifiers sound a little darker and the Triples have more balls. I love Mesa Boogie amps, I would literally play any of them and be in love.
Thank you for answering our questions. Red Horse rips. Goner rips. Go Broncos. Go Suns. EAT SHIT. Stay Pissed
Thanks a lot dude. Go A’s, back to back AL West Champs.
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