Goes Cube
An exclusive heart on heart interview with vocalist David Obuchowski How did the band form?
Me and Matthew Frey started the band back in 2003. Matt and I became close friends during college, and did all kinds of creative shit during those four years. But then after college, we moved to separate cities and got jobs. Music had always been a life-long dream for me, and my relationship with Matt was one of those things where we were constantly. I mean, like, every single day inspiring each other to do weird creative things. So about two years after I graduated, I went out to visit Matt in Brooklyn, New York, and decided right there in that first hour of seeing him that I was going to move to Brooklyn, and we were going to start a band. That's a very simplified version of how the band formed.
How was the recording of "In Tides And Drifts"?
It was good, but it was also stressful. In the end, recording is probably one of my favorite things, so I'm pretty much always going to say I love it. But the recording of "In Tides And Drifts" was not without its stressful moments. We were already on a tight schedule (due to a tight budget), and recording way more music per day than most bands or producers normally let themselves do. But the first day, we couldn't record anything due to some technical problems with the board (a really huge, old thing from the UK). So we spent the first day and a half waiting for it to get fixed by some very weird dude who liked to talk about how weird he was and who invited us to his AA meeting, as if it were a totally sweet party. Well,
anyways, once we finally got that sorted out (actually, we didn't do the sorting out: we did the waiting around while the producer and technician sorted it out), we started to get rolling. Problem was, we ran into more technical issues with our equipment. Anyways, all of this ate up a good two or two and a half days of recording time. That meant we had about four days left to track an entire album. But we pulled it off. And once we got rolling, it was amazing. Our favorite experience was when Jaymay came in. She quite honestly walked in the door, got in front of the mic, stunned all of us, including our very experienced producer. Any concern we had that we'd have to "work" at getting the takes right went straight out the window. She sung both songs as if she were the one who wrote them, and she did an amazing job. She did about three takes of each song she sung, and all of them we amazing. We picked our favorite ones (the ones where she sung in a more improvised style). So what you're hearing on the record are single takes. No edits. No tricks. It's literally her just singing it straight through and perfectly. She stuck around while we recorded more shit, and having never listened to metal, she had fun watching and hearing it all come together.
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Finally, we ended up having to mix it at night during offhours due to the limited budget. And then once it was done, we let it sit there for a few months only to listen to it again and decided to remix it all over again (and thank god we did). So it was great, but it was a bit of a challenge at the time. But we wanted a very raw and live feel, and I think that rather than let the time constraints frustrate us and compromise the record, we sort of used it as a way to make the record even more aggressive and live and raw and brutal and all that.
What was the concept behind the album?
There was no unified concept to begin with. At least, not consciously. "In Tides And Drifts" represented our favorite of all the songs we'd written since our first album. but, that said, a concept always reveals itself. I always use live shows (and practices, obviously) as opportunities to workshop lyrics and ways of playing a song. So rather than writing a song, and it being a set thing, it will change over time. And only right then and there in the studio will I finalize lyrics and all that. That's not to say that I rewrote all the words to tell some grand story or narrative or whatever. But, there did turn out to be a very consistent theme. And I'll say this much about it: Where "Another Day Has Passed" (our first album) is about getting to a place, "In Tides And Drifts" is about dealing with that place.
How does it differ from previous releases?
It's probably what everyone says, but first of all, it was the best material at that time. (And then our subsequent EP on Coextinction was even better.) I guess there might be some bands out there that go into a studio and say "this record's not as good as the last one, but let's record it anyways" but that's not us. Our songwriting process dictates that we have to think the song could be potentially our best song yet. If it feels only so-so, or not as good as others, we throw it out. So, that's the first thing: at the time, we believed it to be the best thing yet. Otherwise, it was a much more aggressive record and dynamic record. I think our first record, "Another Day Has Passed", has mostly mid-tempo songs with only one or two truly heavy songs. But I think there are only a couple of mid-tempo songs on "In Tides And Drifts", and even those are far more brutal. Another difference is that while there are less "pretty" parts on "In Tides And Drifts", I think it's actually a prettier record. We decided to step back and say, "OK, let's only do a clean part if we really think it's gorgeous". And then, you know, we took it a step further and decided let's get someone with a gorgeous voice in the
studio and do some guest vocals. I think Jaymay's two appearances on this album make a world of difference. I mean, she's got an unbelievable voice, and given her influences and style (folk, jazz), she's brings a whole new perspective. Lastly, the production on "In Tides And Drifts" is completely different. Though it's the same producer (Dean Baltulonis), we all agreed that we wanted "In Tides And Drifts" to have a rawer and brutal feel because, in fact, we felt the songs really lent themselves to that. From a production standpoint, in our planning sessions, we put on Slayer records, Old Man Gloom's "Christmas," and Napalm Death's "Enemy of the Music Business." We weren't looking to copy the production (in fact, all three have vastly different sounds), and we didn't think they were necessarily "perfectly" produced from some universal standpoint. But our view was that the production was perfect for that particular record. So we really tried to understand what they were doing and how the sound related to the songs. What makes Dean a master and a wizard is that he's able to construct this totally new sound, and yet it has all these touchpoints. Over the years, we've really developed a trust with him. He knows where we're coming from and what we're looking to accomplish, and we know that he won't neglect that. And from there, he creates this whole other thing on top of that. Dean's just a brilliant producer.
How have fans been responding to the new material? kind of perplexed. And we're fine with that (to an extent). But
Our fans love it on the whole. (I mean, I guess that's what makes them fans and not former fans.) We'd been playing the "In Tides And Drifts" songs on the road for awhile, and we knew they were better than previous songs, and with how they went over live, we had a feeling our fans would really like them. And sure enough, I think the main consensus is that "Another Day Has Passed" showed people that we had a unique sound and it had some good songs and that it showed people we had potential. I think where it fell short was that there was a gulf between our live show (where we play very fast, very aggressive) and that album. So people listened to it, and they heard the riffs and the hooks, but it maybe wasn't quite as heavy or fast or brutal as what they were expecting. So I think "In Tides And Drifts" (and the subsequent EP that came out on Coextinction Recordings) not only met those expectations but went right past them. In fact, the first person to hear the album was our original bass player. After the first three tracks, he turned to me and said, "Jesus, when did you guys decide to record a thrash record?" But then there are those people who aren't fans, who either never heard us before, or who didn't like the first album. And I think this album has converted a lot of people, but it's also confused some as well. I think for the person who was never interested in us before, or who hasn't been out to see us or picked up our EPs along the way, they were a little unsure of what we were. The truth is, a lot of the "metal scene" is frustratingly trendy. If you look at the "cool" metal bands, you'll see that there are just tons and tons of tons of similarities. It's like all the same amps, the same t-shirts, the same beards, flannels, the same two cover artists, the same two or three producers, etc. And that's not to say those amps aren't great or those cover artists aren't amazing or those producers aren't genius. I mean, they are. But it's that every band tends to look and sound the same either live or on record. So while we've been honored and lucky enough to get amazing press in places like Decibel and Kerrang, there is a massive portion of the metal community who is not sure what to make of us. We don't really look the part, and neither do we sound the part. There are all these things about us that make us not part of the metal scene. But then there are just as many reasons we are part of it. So then this record comes along, and it only further confuses people. Like, ok, here's "Safety Coffin" and they go, ok, they are metal. But then here's "The Homes Of" and Jaymay's singing, and people are like, wait, hang on, this is still heavy but it's really pretty and it has clean parts and this singer has nothing at all to do with metal. And so especially with today's metal fan, they are
even music reviewers make it seem like we sit around trying to cram as many genres as possible into a song, when in actuality we just play shit that we like and that doesn't bore us. On the whole, I think we wish people would stop trying to micro-categorize so much. It's gotten so fucking absurd now that a band becomes its own category. "What kind of music are they?" "Oh, they're kind of Mastodon mixed with Isis." Those are not types of music! Those are bands! It's metal. It's heavy. Do you like it? That's the important question.
What are your favorite albums at the moment and are looking forward to?
The soundtrack/score to "A Zed and Two Naughts" by Michael Nyman. Kate Bush's "The Kick Inside." East Of The Wall's "The Apologist." I have no idea what I'm looking forward to. A couple months ago, I'd have just said East Of The Wall's "The Apologist." Truthfully, I'm the guy in the band who doesn't listen to a lot of new music. I sort of like what I like, and spend most of my day playing guitar. Whenever we're in the van, the guys school me on what's been going in the world of music.
Do you want to come Portugal?
Absolutely. Do you want to book a show?
Desig & Interview: Rick Words: David Obuchowski Photos courtesy of Goes Cube
"In Tides And Drifts" is now available for purchase at: http://goescube.com/