Rockezine.com interview with Electric Wizard on Mar 01, 2002

with Justin Oborn on Mar 01, 2002

British doomsters Electric Wizard are at the brink of releasing their new album Let Us Prey. Their first two albums Come My Fanatics.... and Electric Wizard have a classic’s status in the doom scene. After Supercoven confirmed their position; on Dopethrone they took it to the extreme. Let Us Prey should have been out now, and the band touring Europe. Both the album and the tour were postponed. Therefore Rockezine got on the phone with guitarist/singer Justin Oborn.
		The release of the new album has been postponed. How come? I`m not sure. It`s just one of those things really. The pressing plants have priorities with big labels and stuff.
		Well, I haven`t heard it yet because we haven`t received a promo yet.... No? It`s supposed to be out. Get in touch with Rise Above and let them send you one.
		Are you happy with the result? Yeah, definitely. It`s fuckin’ great. It`s the best album we`ve done so far. Ehm, it`s a more purified version of the band. A lot more futuristic. We used to be retro but this is up to date. There`s a lot of different styles on it.
		What do you mean by up to date? The songs or the production? The album is self-produced. That made a difference. We didn`t use a producer this time. We knew what we wanted. About the production... the drums are more intense and up-front. We used vintage equipment and vintage mics but we used a hard-disk-recorder so we could record hours of jams. We weren`t afraid to do anything. We practiced for a week before we went into the studio. Actually we were arguing about the direction we should take. Then I said we shouldn`t argue but just try a lot of different stuff. That studio is in a forest and it is far away from everything. We stayed overnight and the vibe was very good. We were going to record an EP but when the vibe is right you gotta keep recording. So we decided to do a whole album when we were there. It`s the same studio where we recorded Dopethrone. Also the same engineer, John Stevens. It was a collaboration really. He had a lot of influence as he had some great ideas. He usually records hardcore and punk bands. He gave us a dirty and raw sound. (Laughs) He dared to make it savage!
		You`ve always had very doomy lyrics. Have they changed? It`s pretty much the same. Although they are more serious. The lyrics are not on the cover. Not that they`re not important, it`s an artistic thing. Now they’ve got to listen carefully and make their own explanation. And it`s the melody that`s important. Maybe I`ll put them on the internet. After two years or so. I want people to be confused, ha ha. Then they read it and go: `What? Oh, is that what he meant?`, ha ha.
		You always have great artwork. What`s it like this time? It`s a collaboration actually, of me and Steven O`Mally. I wanted it to be a bit vague. There`s a lot of birds of prey on it.
		You have a bit of drug image. Does it limit you? It does limit you in a way. It seemed funny at first: `We smoke more pot than anyone else`... So what!
		Electric Wizard is a heavy doom band. Don`t you ever want to do something `lighter`? I listen to a lot of different music. But even when I try to do something different we always end up as Electric Wizard. Let Us Prey is classic doom. There`s a fast song on it, a bit Stooges kind of song. And also a mysterious horror movie soundtrack song. Even though there`s different stuff it`s all dark and heavy. I don`t think we`ll ever do a happy song. Someone shoot me if we do, ha ha ha.
		What inspires you? Everyday life. Your culture. Musically Black Sabbath, Black Flag, you know; real heavy stuff. Lyrically pulp fiction books, a lot of horror movies and H P Lovecraft. I took the theme of The Outsider of H P Lovecraft. Everybody feels alone every now and then and being alone is good. Birds Of Prey are alone too. I don`t know; I think it`s just a cool thing.
		What do you do besides Electric Wizard? See my girlfriend, ride a BMX and read comix. I don`t work a lot. If I don`t spend everything on tour I can get some money out of Electric Wizard and that`s more fun than a job. You do need a break though. But after a tour of thirty gigs you think: `Wow! I can play guitar really good,` and the vibe is ok. Then we want to record right after the tour.
		So your plans after the tour? To record I suppose? Yeah, we want to record immediately after and get into a cycle of recording and touring so we can make living out of it.
		How about the other guys. Do they write material as well? I write about 50% of the music, they a quarter each. Then I arrange a mixture of things. It`s a joint effort really. They’re just lazy, ha ha ha. And I write all the lyrics.
		When`s the tour? I still don`t know. They leave things to the last minute.
		Will it be with Warhorse? I hope so. They don`t have a guitarist at the moment but they have someone to fill in for the tour. Our first tour in the US was with them. The second one was with Enslaved and Macabre. Someone must have thought: what would be the weirdest line up ever! ha ha ha. But we got along well personally. We were all similar kind of people. A bit of a loner. Every show was different; sometimes there were more black metal kids, sometimes more of our fans. But the audience liked it. Everyone was totally enjoying it.
		To end the interview with the main reason to do it. The new album: What do you expect from Let Us Prey? In Europe and Britain people tend to think of metal as children’s music. It`s got loud guitars, so what? We want to be recognized as a serious band.
(Walter de Korver)