Rockezine.com interview with Cradle of Filth on Jul 27, 2004

with Dave Pubis on Jul 27, 2004

"Sweet" was the word that I uttered after finding out I could interview Cradle of Filth. A fan since I heard "Nocturnal supremecy" they stood high up on my "must see" list. Dave Pubis and Dani were in Amsterdam to promote the September 27th release of Nymphetamine, their 6th studio album. I talked to Dave about life in the band, life on the road and everything in between..
		Dave: (upon hearing my accent) you’re not Dutch are you?? Mark: no, Irish ... I live here for a while now
		D: it just took me by surprise that’s all, so is it nice where you’re from? M: no, that’s why I´m here!
		D: I´d like to move here, the women are beautiful, in England they’re fuckin rubbish! M: well, you’re in a famous band, so that’s half the trouble!
		M: is there much of a difference between COF and Anathema? Are you given an idea of how to fit in /what to wear etc? D: oh no, nothing like that, in fact I´m sure if I was in Anathema still and wore pink PVC pants and cowboy boots they’d say “that’s shit” but Dani would probably say “wow, cool!” you know what I mean? So they’ve probably got more criteria to fit into than Cradle have..
		M: but you all have a sort of black leather uniformity goin on ? D: well it’s just a theme innit? I mean James for example, (the guitarist) has got long blonde hair, but no ones ever told him to dye it black...Its a blank piece of paper and you can make up your own character. If you got a creative mind you can come up with some cool ideas, I’m 34 now and going grey so I got in just at the right time to dye me hair black!! I just say it’s my job but in actual fact I´m terribly vain!! Just kidding..
		M: and how does the musical side of things work? D: totally different
		M: like the pressure of having to learn all the old stuff and then develop your own new stuff.. D: yeah, for example, Anathema songs can be played while drinking a beer, but with Cradle you can hardly get a drink in between songs! Its like pick up a bottle, Adrian starts the countdown and were off again!! It’s a very sobering experience I can tell you.
		M: So how did it come about that you joined Cradle? You played for a year with them on tour? D: well, 10 months..I had to back ´em into a corner really.. I was under the impression that they were having auditions, and when I arrived there was nobody else there, just me!
		M: bonus! D: exactly, after that they said, “right, we got 10 months of touring coming up and you’re coming with us “, not whether or not I wanted to, they just told me!! So when I got back I asked the guys was I going back to my home town or am I part of this thing or not, and like a day later they say “ well you can join if you want”, it wasn’t like they threw a party or anything... well I spent 10 months getting to know the fuckers so I said I might as well!
		M: but had you left anathema at the time? D: well it happened so quickly I think Vinny (anathema) was ehum, well kind of accused me of doing it behind his back, as I remember at the time he said something like “ so, when did you plan this??” Yeah right , like someone could plan joining a band like cradle of filth !
		M: like, “who will I join today ?!?” D: exactly yeah. Maybe ill join Metallica next you know? Martin was a good friend and played sessions for anathema and left for cradle after about a year, so martin knew my dissatisfaction with Anathema, he’d been there and lived it, seen the arguments etc and I just wanted to work you know. So I just told ´em I got 10 months with cradle and I´m going to do it, and they said if you do it you’re gone, so I said fuck it, I´m gone! ..... I was flat broke too. A week later I got the call from martin to try out with Cradle.. I havent spoken to them since, do you know them? (Anathema)
		M: well doom metal wasn’t really my thing, although I loved Paradise Lost´s early stuff .. D Really ?? I´m good friends with Greg (Mackintosh, guitarist paradise lost) and them, they’re actually mixing the album round the corner from us.. (in England)
		M: met the guys after a concert in Dublin in the SFX hall.. D: oh when?? Nineteen ninety....?
		M: pfffff, must have been ´93 / ´94, just hanging round and we spotted someone opening the stage door, so we popped in for a chat n some beers, it was cool! D: no way?? Miserable cunts! Did you ever get into Gothic?
		M: no I started off with Shades of God... D: oh, its just I done some artwork for gothic..
		M: and they didn’t ask you to join ?? D: Ironically enough, me and Greg were talking about a side project, after listening to an album called Vynil Dissent, we were listening to that all the time and thought “we should do a band like this cos its fucking cool”...and then Paradise Lost exploded and I never talked to him again !!
		Looking at a pile of CDs on the table in front of us, obviously belonging to Dave.. M: you guys been shopping? D: nah, we nicked them!! Were professional thieves.. Actually Epitaph invited us round for a few minutes so we just took as much shit as possible! I listen to a lot of horror-punk bands. So I grabbed a couple of them, the Necromantics etc...
		At this stage Dani sits down beside us M: so the new album, it’s going to be released in...? Dave: September 27th... Dani: unless you download it before that!
		M: how do you feel the new album compares to the other ones ?? D: well, were very aware of the bands history so its easy to get into a tempo of getting new material together, we know who we are but we don’t replicate ourselves, were very aware and we wont go changing who we are overnight, were not fuckin Metallica, suddenly changing to a fuckin country and western band ...were into continuing what we’ve done.
		M: yeah dude, I noticed that (got a 6 track sampler the day before) the songs sound fresh but still with that trademark Cradle sound.. Dani: well that’s an unfinished mix that you got there, not the finished product.
		M: well its still sounds good for an unfinished mix! D: we recorded the album live, and even Colin said it was the best sounding record he’s ever had to mix. We didn’t want to do a “digital” album and ruin the production and kill the entire atmosphere on there. But we didn’t realise that it would be such a long and difficult process, sometimes you´re plugging away at a song for the 10th time round, but if it doesn’t sound right we scrap it and start back at square one.
		M: and how do tracks come together? Is there any set pattern as to the way songs get written and arranged? D: Any which way really, we all got PCs at home with sound cards. So I could send the lads 10 minutes of riffs and that would be one, or I could send Paul 2 tracks and he’d add them to something he’s done already. There’s loads of different ways we can do it. Sometimes taking 4 hours in a day and sometimes 4 months!
		M: and what was the biggest challenge on the album? D: writing the single.
		M: “THE” single ??? D: well, it’s actually a 9-minute track for a start..
		M: this is Nymphetemine I take it? D: yep, the title track.. This is how dysfunctional our “ sell-out band “ (as people like to brand it) works, the 1st title is called “gilded cunt”.... sell-out you know?? I think Dani screams cunt something like 30 times on that number..
		Dani gets called over to another interview M: but do you really give a shite about the people shouting sell-out? D: Well, there are a lot of people who would like to see us fail. If we got dropped from our label tomorrow there would be a lot of happy people.... its disturbing..
		M: but surely not surprising? D: nah, were cunts! but back to the single, its actually the middle section of a nine minute track...I mean what the fuck were we thinking about?? “Lets make it as difficult as possible for the label to market us!!”
		M: not shooting yourselves in the foot there? D: yeah, were always at that, we´re not clever at all really.. You know the criteria for a single .. 3 ½ minutes with a nice video and a chorus repeated 3 times..Bingo you’ve done it! So we go and do a 9 minute track, trashy begin with a middle section that sounds like that ballad with Kylie Minouge and Nick Cave with beautiful voices and slow like doom, and then it goes back to this horrible trashy bit at the end..What were we thinking?? Well it was pretty cool that we didn’t have to concentrate on the single, ´cos were not really a single-type band.
		M:So what’s the plans now until the album comes out? Mixing is completed I take it? D: yeah it was completed last Friday actually
		M: were you involved with the mixing? D: no I wasn’t personally. I keep me self busy with the website but I´m a bit perturbed about peoples versions of what goes on being placed on the message boards. So I decided to place factual, interesting and truthful things on there at least twice a week. Just to try and take away these anonymous mysterious vicious inaccurate horrible messages that people leave on the board.
		M: Oh, what was that about? Idle threats or just the usual pubessant ponce with too much time on his (or her) hands? D: yeah!
		M:Do you ye get that much? ´Cos I seen the documentary “living with the enemy” where a parent travels round with the Cradle because she disapproves of her son listening to the band.People seem to want to label you before you’ve even played.. D: yeah, I don’t mind the Internet, its just the problem with it is that it´s anonymous. Sometimes people can leave quite accurate assumptions of the band on there. I mean if you visit every day and leave a message saying that we’ve split up, one day you’re going to be right innit ?!? I mean last year when we parted ways with Sony, which was an amicable departure, 2 days later we read a message saying “ COF have been dropped by Sony, ha ha ha bunch of wankers anyways” and I’m wondering how the fuck some shit in Florida knows this ´cos it sounds kinds true!! Its scary stuff. But I cant go on the internet every day and say “fuck you, you cunt” to everyone that pisses us off, don’t have the time or the energy for that...so all I can do is make the website a bit more focused and factual you know? I also try and get in there with headlines myself, you know one time I mentioned somewhere about Colin Richardson doing production, and the next day its all over blabbermouth.net only about Colin, so I try and beat them to it with headlines like “Cradle are gay” or “Cradle possessed by evil pork scratchings”
		M: ha ha ha ha, sounds like Anal Cunt song titles! D: exactly, and hopefully by only including real details instead of shite people will hear the truth of what goes on.. I´m turning into a bloody journalist here trying to beat those guys at their own game.. You’ve got blabbermouth which people take as the truth, but its all anonymous bollocks that no one can prove right or wrong, but if I sent a message for posting you’d better believe ill get it right other wise ill have Dani, the manager and the record label asking me what the fucks going on...its shit.
		M: are you responsible for the running of the website too? D: Nah, I got a guy in America doin it for me, I just post him messages /info/pics for him to post, but sometimes it takes a couple of days so I have to kind of work ahead of me self..
		M: is there any band that you would like to play for apart from cradle? D: me? Well id like to play for these guys (points to his Misfits “skulls” T-shirt) that’s rock n roll! It´d be refreshing to play in a rock or punk band with influence you know..
		M: do you miss the simplicity of just getting up there and playing instead of all the hassle? Id imagine it’s a pain in the arse having to get set up... D: especially if you loose it all... you loose your fuckin make up like, every 3 days so there’s always borrowing of lipstick and eye liner going on! But it would be nice to keep it simpler, in Anathema just get out of the van, go to the bar, walk on stage, play, back into the van and of to the next show and that was it ..
		M: I can’t imagine all that gear under all those lights being comfortable to play in? D: fucking hell, yeah, it’s very physically demanding. After the first gig off a tour, when you come off stage you’re fucked basically! It feels you’ve just been in a boxing match you really feel like some ones kicked the fuck outta you..
		M: you should try being in one of your mosh pits ! Seen you guys in dynamo 99, that was pretty intense.. D: Its funny how people start up a pit when were playing, like a black metal band wouldn’t particularly get that sort of reaction. I think it must be the punkish sound like Discharge and the fans pick up on that. If you watch say, Dimmu (Borger) it’s a lot sterner and a lot more serious... which just shows were a different band ´cos of the reaction we get.
		M: you played during the daytime at festivals a lot; I always found a nocturnal setting would be more appropriate... D: we consider it a challenge you know, we cant do anything about the schedule that were given so we just take it on the chin, and after play 10 weeks of Ozzfest I think we could play on the fuckin moon right now!
		M: how was that? D: intense, you got a 10 minute changeover, 120 degrees, in full leather and direct sunlight..
		M: and what kind of numbers were you playing in front of? D: it depends on the size of the city, from like LA where you’d play to 10000 and somewhere else it could be 1000..But usually somewhere in between
		M: must have been a buzz.. D: yeah it was but it was hard you know, fuckin 10 weeks.
		M: but when you get up on stage it must be a good feeling.. D: yeah, I mean I love playing and that why I do it for, one hour a day and the rest of its bullshit.
		M: and what do you get up to when you´re not playing? D: drink; fight; recover; repeat. There’s not much food, there’s not much money so you just have to pace yourself in your own little way. There’s 20 of us when were in full touring mode and there’s usually two busses and I´m the only one with a bed on each bus. There’s a crew bus and they keep a bed for me. I´m a bit sensitive sometimes and if the boys are getting drunk and fighting and arguing I cant stand it and I got to get away from it. If I didn’t id probably quit! I might have lasted a bit longer with anathema if there was a chance to get away from the arguing, it takes a lot out of you and kills your faith and your enthusiasm and once that’s gone the only thing left to do is lavish it with loads of money
		M: you guys are back on the road in December, is that a European or worldwide affair? D: we start off in South America. 10 shows; Brazil, Mexico, Equador. In Europe were going to be doing 2 weeks before Christmas in the Mainland Europe
		M: and do you know who’s going to be touring with you? D: in America I think they’re talking about Mudvayne and Hammergod. 2 Inches of blood were coming as well but that’s been cancelled for reasons I can’t say.. Mainland Europe is rumoured to be with Type O Negative. It’s not set in stone yet but we’ll be talking with the guys next week so well know then. We good mates with Johnny and the lads. That’s one of the cool things about the band. It seems everywhere were seen as antisocial arrogant egotistical maniacs but here were are with friends all over the place, if we were so horrible they wouldn’t fuckin be there!
		M: negative press seems to have the upper hand.. D: Yeah people seem to have this image of us. But we’ve loads of pictures of us hanging with Dimmu, but the press about our relationship with them is fucking ridiculous.
		M: saying that you’re archenemies n shit like that? D: “they ripping us off but they’re better than us” is what they say.. But does it really matter?? That’s like comparing Megadeth to Metallica.We´re different bands who do different things. We actually asked Dimmu last time if they would be interested on coming on tour with us. Their only criteria was to do co-headline the bill which was fine with us ´cos we didn’t mind going out first and be able to relax and have a drink after.. So I think that would really call the press´ bluff on that subject. Unfortunatley, our touring commitments aren’t compatible, but id bet fans would be queuing round the block to see that one.
		M: and after Christmas? D: then we´ll do the rest of Europe, Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal and then up to Scandinavia.
		M: and west Europe? You guys doing a full English tour? D: Id love to do about 7 or 8 shows and include Ireland you know? When we did the download festival we had signing sessions after and we had loads of people coming up to us asking can we play in their hometown. Its all very well doing 2 nights in the Astoria but id love to put more into it and play more shows and simplify it and not make it such a money thing, just us and the crowd. Id fucking love it! We’d scare ´em to death.. ´Cos I remember we done a small show in Norwich after coming off a tour and we hit the stage like a bomb it was fucking brilliant! 600 people in the club, no backdrop no effects...beautiful
		M: ok, thanks for taking the time to talk with us, could you sign this? (Take out my old ass Vempire CD) D: oh you’re a fan? You want to know the real name of this album ?? People look quickly at the cover and see Vempire, but if you look closely its 5th – empire!
		M: oh cool thanks man, nice bit of trivia to round things up! Good luck with the new album. D: thanks man
		.
		(Mark Gilchrist)