Cannibal Corpse
Wywiad przeprowadził Piotr Pyczek i Andrzej Papież
Cannibal Corpse played in Warsaw, Poland on the 8th of October. We had little time to talk to Alex Webster about Cannibals but we decided to gossip a little bit and forget about the usual stuff you ask bands. Here's where you'll learn about flu, porn movies and life without Jack Owen...
This will be the second concert in Poland on this tour. What was it like last night in Wrocław?
Ah, it was really good. There were probably about 250 people and I guess it was a little bit less from what the promoter was hoping for but the crowd response was really great. It makes us feel really welcome to play here in Poland. So we had a great time...
The crowd is not that big here today...
Yeah it seems to be a little bit small tonight. (when the first band was playing there were not more than 50 people but it got better when CC were playing - piotrek) I think it would have been better to do only one show in Poland on this tour. I think a lot of the people from last night maybe they would have come to Warsaw but they had the choice to go to somewhere a little bit closer to home
You know it is Friday so there might be more people on your show later ...
It is a little bit strange to be here and play at 7 at night. It is soooo early..
I heard that there is a disco just after this concert at 8.30 pm
Ah yeah. We are being pushed around for a disco, man. I mean it is against death metal. It's not cool at all (laughter). They will make all the metal head leave like they're sweeping garbage out of the door. It's fucking bullshit! But I guess we have no choice.
We've heard that you haven't been feeling ok. Lately..
I have been feeling ok. Although today and last night I actually felt like shit. But generally I've been feeling good. But it happens a lot actually. On most tours I do get sick so I do not know why I am not sick yet. We are on the bus and when one person gets sick... everybody gets sick on the bus.
You still have some time
Yes, we'll see. We'll see. I am sure we are going to some cold places
How's Jeremy doing on tour ?
He's been doing quite well. We're still not a 100% sure if he's gonna be a permanent replacement for Jack but (eh) he's been doing very well. We'll see what happens.
You have been with Jack for a long time. He was a part of Cannibal Corpse Family. How is it now without him ?
You know. Jack is a quiet guy and in the past few years he hadn't been talking to any of us very much which we thought was a sort of normal for him. I think that was not normal actually. He was just really starting to become detached from the rest of the band. When he quit .. It's weird..like . I don't wanna say we don't miss him because he of course wrote a lot of great songs and he was our friend but he was such quiet guy that I didn't see him very much anyway. He would usually be doing his own things on tour and not talking to the rest of us. So, you know what I mean like actually with Jeremy we hang out a lot more than we hang out with Jack. It's not as bad as you might think considering that me and Jack have known each other forever and we played in a band since 1987.
Do you have any clue how many gigs have you played till now?
You know I have to figure it out sometime. It would be pretty much impossible for me to figure it out exactly but I could give you a pretty good estimate just by looking at my t-shirts. I have a t-shirt from every tour and there are all the shows listed on the back so I would guess it is well over a 1000 by now. Because for example this year we're playing probably 120 shows or something like that. And for the Vile tour we did like 220 shows.
Don't you feel sometimes that it is like a routine and that too many shows look the same? What do you do to make you excited about playing so often?
It is just cool touring with different bands all the time and getting to watch different bands. I really think that the best thing to do is to change your set list and that makes it fun. We add different song each tour. Like for the "Wretched spawn tour" we added song from the old albums and we play those songs a lot. Now it is like playing new songs. So it is fun, you know.
Do you change your set list depending on the country you are in?
The only variation is when we play in Germany. We don't play anything from the first three albums so we play a coulpe of new songs but other than that the set list stays exactly the same for the whole tour. (first 3 albums are banned in Germany - piotrek) It is just easy that way. It is better for us if we are not thinking about too much when we're playing. Then you end up playing perfect. If you're thinking about what song is next it is easy to make stupid mistakes.
It is at least your 10th time in Poland... Anything special for us ?
We're just happy to be here again. Poland is a really great place for us as a band and I think everyone really likes Paul here because his family is a 100% Polish . Last night every one was saying his last name ....between songs there was "Mazurkiewicz! Mazurkiewicz! Mazurkiewicz!" and it was really loud. I was like ..wow man, you've got some fans here. We always have a great time here in Poland. It is a country in which we play enough and that is familiar to us. We see a lot of the same people at these shows. It is nice to see the same fans again after many years and it's cool.
So we can expect you soon here in Warsaw ?
Probably. We would like to try and wait so people do not get sick of us. Maybe a year and a half or two years from now.
So we'll meet here then ...
Most likely or maybe in a place where the disco won't take over ! That would be better (laughter)
After "Ace Ventura" you said that you would play more in films.. even porn movies..
Ha..ha.ha.. I think that we were joking around and maybe drinking during that interview. I think that's safe to say ha..ha..ha..ha.. No more movies for us I do not think we're qualified ...
Are you still happy with the last album?
Never a 100%! The production is pretty good. For me the bass could be a little bit louder. There were a few things I do on the album I wanted people to hear but that is a personal thing. I think that as a band we're pretty satisfied with it. I know for sure that the next one is gonna be better at least for the kind of stuff I like and Pat likes because me and Pal will be writing everything. It'll be more of a technical next time. Like some of the songs that Jack wrote - they're heavy and we like them - but they're a little bit too simple for me and Pat to really enjoy them. Like "Festering in the crypt" which is good and heavy song but it's really easy to play it. We like to keep our fingers busy on the fret board. The next album should be a little bit more technical.
Many bands play really fast and that is sometimes illegible for people. Do you feel like Cannibal Corpse is like a contrast to all those bands? There is lots of melody in your music and you do not always play fast.
We love the real fast blasting stuff too. I listen to all those kinds of bands that are playing fast all the time but this is not really the kind of drummer that Paul wants to be. Paul is better at doing some fast and some slow parts. He likes more straightforward stuff and it is just our style I guess. We're a different kind of band from Hate Eternal or something like that where it is fast all the time. I love those bands but it is just a different kind of death metal. Maybe it is easier for people to hear because some of the songs are slower? But we do try to have some fast ones too. Something that is very important to us in Cannibal Corpse is making sure that you can hear everything that guitars are playing. When you go too fast sometimes it is hard to hear. We want to go as fast as possible but only if you can hear cleanly every note that we're playing.
It seems that it is time for you to go. Spawn of Possession seems to be finishing. It was nice to see you again here...
Ok.. thank you very much for the interview. I hope I will see you next time. I'd better go now and put on my dirty clothes on for the concert. Hope you guys like the show...
