Old Masters
Volcanoes
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Homepage: http://www.myspace.com/oldmastersroll
Feature By: Jonathan Earley
Photography By: Melissa Floyd \\ Alisha Carie
C-buz: Could you explain a bit about the history of the band?
Old Masters: We formed in June of 2008 with hopes of becoming the next Chrome. J.S.Carie and Coffin Joe Harmon remain with only the bassist to fluctuate. In the beginning our bassist began as Jeremy M. Carie but ended subtly when he moved to Austin, TX. Now David "Lyrch" Petro rubs the 4 string with artful anger.
CB: How did you come up with the band name "Old Masters"?
OM: Joe came up with that. I think he heard his Graphic Design teacher use the phrase referring to classically trained artists: Goya, Rembrandt, and Michaelangelo.[He] said something about "we are going to be learning the techniques of the old masters". Thank you David Williams.
Video: Chris Knoy
CB: How would you describe your sound to someone who's deaf?
OM: Imagine the sound you'd hear when a toy truck backs up over a bobblehead Mickey Mantle.
CB: Could you talk a bit about your new album - the artwork, the coloring book, the recording, the songs.
OM: We recorded the whole album in our practice space here in Columbus. With the help of Josh Metivier loaning us a 32 track Pro-Tools rig and giving us a basic tutorial on micing drums and amplifiers we took off from there. We taped all the drums and percussion first and layered instruments accordingly. The whole album was recorded in stereo to get that throwback sound of the Kinks. This cd is best experienced through headphones to get the full affect of the pans, random noises, and sonic synths.
Being poor, we wanted to keep the cost of the CD down to sell it for six dollars. At the same time we wanted it to be packaged insane. CD's are kind of pointless anymore, you can just download or copy, so your really just paying for packaging. At the same time I think they are an essential part of any album. I (Joe) had some different ideas for the booklet; treasure map, guide for contacting the dead or ritual sacrifice, but it ended up being a coloring book again mainly from being poor. The book was going to be the most expensive thing to print, but I sort of had access to a black and white laser printer from work. Being confined to black and white on crap paper, it seemed obvious to make it a coloring book.
CB: How long did the recording process last? What were some of the challenges of putting it together?
OM: The entire recording process spanned about 3 months not constantly but 2 or 3 days a week. The biggest challenge for us was recording "Solarcast from Hypothetics." Adam Cooley (Scissor Shock) sent us a spoken word mp3 track via email for the interlude of the album. We spent a good week figuring out how to import his track into our Pro-Tools recording device. Once we luckily, finally, ultimately layed his track down, I layered the bubbles through a straw, delayed guitars, bass, and some bongos. The goal of this song was to get a Twilight Zone consciousness.
Video: Adam Cooley
What would you say the over-arching philosophy is behind your lyrics and the imagery used in the album artwork?
OM: All these songs were written over the past year. The lyrics have a spontaneous impulse that can't really be defined. A lot of them are improvisational scribbles. One is about a meteor bitch slapping the earth in 2012. A couple are about sporadic dreams, being locked up in the crossbar hotel for finding a virgin plant in a polebarn.The philosophy with the imagery is whatever you get out of it.
How do you think the world will end and when?
OM: I (Justin) am convinced the Mayan calendar is the key to the end. But then again I'm still waiting for the third Anti-Christ to dominate our planet with nuclear warfare.
I (Joe) think Old Masters will have a role in it. Soon we will be recieving our own bail out bill, and the writings of the ancient text will reveal Hulk Hogan as cosmic enforcer. Then singularity will hit and a giant monster truck will come down from the sky and squash everything.
What are your top 10 favorite movies of all time?
OM: (Justin) 1. the Wizard of Gore 2. Mullholland Drive 3. Punch Drunk Love 4. Manhattan 5. Down by Law 6. La Dolce Vida 7. Persona 8. Holy Mountain 9. 8 1/2 10. Pink Floyd: Live at Pompei
(Joe) 1.) GI Joe: Rise of Cobra 2.) Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan 3.) Star Trek VIII: First Contact 4.) Spookies 5.) Star Trek: The Motion Picture 6.) T2:Judgement Day 7.) Forbidden Zone 8.) Star Trek III: The Search for Spock 9.) Tetsuo the Iron Man 10.) The first Turtles movie
CB: If you could live in any time period, which would you choose?
OM: (Justin) 1940's New York City. (Joe) Dinosaur period Jungle or 900 trillion years from now.
How would you rank the following in order of radness? Zombies, Robots, Aliens, Pirates, Ninjas, Mutants. Did I leave any out that are radder than these?
OM: Princess.
What are your plans for the future of the band?
OM: It's a secret.
CB: What are your thoughts on the Columbus music / art scene? Should there be change? And if so, how should things change?
OM: Everyone is doing their own thing and it's great. There are a lot of great albums being made that haven't gotten any recognition because it is hard to get your work out in this town. The same thing goes for photographers and painters. It seems to me there is a lot of narrowmindedness and uni-directional thinking going on and it's sad because of the creative ability this town has to offer the rest of the country.
“A nice venue for local talent is crucial for Columbus. It would bring more of an artistic culture for expression and individuality to be noticed”
CB: Anything else you'd like to say?
OM: High level of appriciation for Old Masters music to bring awareness to the droids, CHUDS, and Skinwalkers about our debut album Volcanoes and Wind.
I'd like to bring attention to some of my favorite local acts:
The Anonymous Que Pasa, Mono Bear, Scissor Shock, Baloo is a Bear.
Thanks for interviewing us.