Latest / Ghost Cult Magazine Podcast / PODCAST: Episode 716 - The Evolution of Misfire: New Album, New Energy

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PODCAST: Episode 716 - The Evolution of Misfire: New Album, New Energy · Ghost Cult Magazine Podcast

• 0:00
  I think Costa brings the melody. I think there's a lot more
• 0:02
  melody in the in the guitar solos in this record compared to
• 0:05
  the first record. Me and Jim, we're big fans of
• 0:08
  progressive as well, so we wanted to put that into the new
• 0:11
  album and, you know, to see what what's going to work for us and
• 0:15
  how the fans are going to react so we can complete our idea So
• 0:19
  what what we want to do. And that that was the first
• 0:22
  album with this lineup. And we know each other way more
• 0:26
  now and we I think we have a clear idea how we're going to
• 0:30
  continue for the future of the songs that we write.
• 0:40
  Never grow up, it's bad, it's bad for you.
• 0:42
  What's up everybody? It's kefighostcultmag.com.
• 0:46
  I am joined by the guys for the first time ever from misfire.
• 0:49
  How are y'all doing? Doing good man, thanks for
• 0:51
  having us. Some we don't have the the names
• 0:56
  up on on Zoom here because we are super professional and and
• 1:01
  have the names hidden. But if you want to just
• 1:03
  introduce yourselves before we begin, I appreciate it.
• 1:05
  Just so I keep it straight, who's who?
• 1:08
  Yeah, I'm, I'm James. I play drums for the band
• 1:10
  Misfire. I am Tim Jensen.
• 1:12
  I am the vocalist of Misfire. I'm Costa them guitar player
• 1:16
  misfire. Welcome, welcome.
• 1:17
  Great to meet you guys. So much going on new album, big
• 1:22
  tour, music videos, lots of stuff going on with the band,
• 1:25
  lot of activity. I'm super stoked the publicist
• 1:28
  put us together. We're close friends and but I
• 1:31
  but I'm thankful to get to introduce their bands to the
• 1:34
  world channel to lizard ear split.
• 1:36
  And you know, I'm always thankful to do what I do.
• 1:38
  I was a band guy for many years, so I I know all the trials and
• 1:43
  travails of, of try how hard it is to do band in this day and
• 1:47
  age without getting too political.
• 1:49
  The world is on fire and it's just a tough time to kind of
• 1:53
  support your dream. So let me just say, hopefully
• 1:57
  this interview helps. This press helps all these
• 1:59
  things help you guys. That's the main.
• 2:01
  The main thing for me is I want to help bands get to where I did
• 2:04
  not get to. Thank you so much for that.
• 2:06
  Fucking awesome of you, man. Yeah.
• 2:08
  Thanks, I try. I've been doing this a long time
• 2:10
  and you know, at this point, like, you know, my whole
• 2:13
  self-interest is like, how do we keep this genre alive and going
• 2:17
  and promoting And it's it's constant work.
• 2:20
  It's just like being in a band. Actually having a music website
• 2:23
  without like corporate backing. It's it's, it's just like having
• 2:26
  a band. Hey, check out my stuff.
• 2:27
  Hey, check out my stuff. Hey, check out my stuff.
• 2:29
  But. So much competition, yeah.
• 2:32
  So hard, but we're we're we've been around 13 years almost.
• 2:36
  So we're doing the thing. You know, we're on all the
• 2:37
  things. But a product of the environment
• 2:39
  is coming out in early May on Monarch heavy, the great monarch
• 2:42
  heavy, famous label for crowbar and Black Label Society.
• 2:46
  And and you know, so many killer are dudes in creeping death and
• 2:50
  and even ace freely. So so many good bands on that
• 2:53
  label. Just give us the origin story of
• 2:56
  the band, obviously from Chicago.
• 2:58
  How did you guys meet and form? I have my opinions about what
• 3:02
  the music sounds like, but if you want to share sort of the
• 3:04
  group influences, that's cool. Sure.
• 3:07
  I'll start with the history of the band.
• 3:09
  We started this band at a Giordano's in 2018, Chicago
• 3:16
  style. You know, like legit.
• 3:17
  I actually didn't think about that how funny that is until
• 3:19
  just now. But me and the original guitar
• 3:22
  player sat down at a Giordano's and and and started this thing.
• 3:25
  Just said we wanted to play thrash.
• 3:26
  They wanted to see me play drums again.
• 3:29
  I had taken a a brief period of time off from my my last band
• 3:32
  and wanted to get back into it. So we went for a few years, went
• 3:36
  through some some lineup changes and in 2022 Costa and Tim
• 3:43
  joined. We did a tour and we wrote a
• 3:47
  whole bunch of music that is now this new record influences range
• 3:52
  from. I mean, I think the thing that
• 3:54
  we have in common is me and Costa have in common, like
• 3:59
  writing wise, guitar wise is like Metallica, like the German
• 4:02
  thrash stuff, like The Creator and like Sodom and as well as
• 4:06
  what was the band Death. Yeah, Death.
• 4:09
  Like we we're both big fans of the last two records of of
• 4:12
  Death. So that progressive influence
• 4:15
  mixed with the thrash influence mixed with a little bit of death
• 4:17
  metal is kind of where we come from.
• 4:19
  Right on. I I definitely picked up on the
• 4:23
  I know it's very German bands hate when you make it about
• 4:26
  being a German band, but I definitely picked up.
• 4:28
  I actually even got like a lot of destruction influence there.
• 4:31
  Sodom is amazing that we interviewed Tom not too long ago
• 4:34
  for the reissue of. Yeah, Destruction was huge for
• 4:38
  me growing up by my my previous band covered what's that one is
• 4:44
  Matt Butcher. Yeah, right.
• 4:46
  Yeah, yeah. When the drummer.
• 4:48
  Does the riff good times. Yeah.
• 4:51
  And I even felt like there's like a subtle influence.
• 4:53
  The artwork and stuff like that. I feel like is not is not a
• 4:57
  surprise. I think it won't be a surprise.
• 4:59
  We all, we all, we all love the thrash stuff, especially the
• 5:01
  German bands. And you know, no issue there and
• 5:05
  then. So like I said, how did you guys
• 5:07
  get on the radar of Monarch? They are very selective about
• 5:10
  bands they choose to work with. They they don't have the hugest
• 5:13
  roster compared to let's say Metal Blade or Nuclear Blast or
• 5:16
  Napalm, but they definitely care about their artists.
• 5:19
  This much I know from working with them for many years.
• 5:22
  Well, our, our manager is known Steve Seabury, who's at the
• 5:26
  label for a long time and, and, and Frank had been wanting to,
• 5:32
  to dive into and like a thrash band that hasn't like been
• 5:36
  established yet. So they kind of wanted something
• 5:39
  to work on and in this, in this ballpark.
• 5:41
  So luckily for us, we, we had our, you know, our, our songs
• 5:45
  together and we had an idea of what we wanted to do and it's,
• 5:49
  and it, it worked out. They, you know, they gave us a
• 5:51
  really good deal. The stars kind of just aligned
• 5:54
  for us in that, in that moment. And now we're now we're now
• 5:57
  we're doing the thing. I know.
• 5:58
  And so how long has, I mean, let me kick it to the other guys,
• 6:01
  how long has the band been working on this material that's
• 6:04
  coming out now? I think a lot of fans,
• 6:07
  especially in the post plague era, don't really understand.
• 6:11
  Like, first of all, that was a set back for everybody.
• 6:13
  Some bands put out music during that time.
• 6:15
  It was cool, introverted people did really well during that
• 6:19
  period of time. But a lot of bands, it's like,
• 6:21
  oh, how do I navigate in this future world?
• 6:24
  And I've been putting out an important record for yourselves
• 6:26
  on a label, on a pretty big label.
• 6:28
  So let's hear from the other guys like how long has this
• 6:31
  music been in the works? And you know, let's say when was
• 6:35
  it finished to so people can understand the arc of when it's.
• 6:38
  Coming out, some of these songs on the new record, to my
• 6:42
  understanding, have been around since the the beginning of the
• 6:46
  band. For the most part though,
• 6:48
  everything was written from, I'd say, you know, late 2022 up and
• 6:54
  up until we went into the studio in, in November of, of 2024.
• 6:59
  So it's about a a good two years for about 75% of the record.
• 7:03
  And the the other 25%, I'd say there was a couple songs here
• 7:07
  and there and, and riff ideas that have been around since the
• 7:09
  the beginning of the band. Yeah.
• 7:10
  There were even some on previous EP there was Born to Die in
• 7:13
  privacy or on a previous EP and it got rehashed and and revamped
• 7:18
  with West Coast and I and a couple arrangement ideas.
• 7:21
  I know and for you, you know, it's so hard to coast this whole
• 7:25
  so hard to stand out in the in the thrash world because kind of
• 7:29
  like the masters have done it already.
• 7:30
  So like what do you do to keep your riffs fresh and your ideas,
• 7:34
  you know, sort of modern? I love that you guys have the
• 7:36
  death influence also. So that always helps when you're
• 7:39
  kind of like a deathy thrash, but like, you know, what do you
• 7:42
  do to you know, when what do you bring to the table when you're
• 7:44
  when you're. Repeating Well, for this album,
• 7:46
  it's not, there's not a lot of that metal elements.
• 7:49
  They're just a little bit. But I will say there's in that
• 7:52
  album, there's a little bit for everyone because we have basic
• 7:56
  songs like Living the Dream. It's like ACDC tempo.
• 7:59
  We have some progressive elements in All over the place
• 8:02
  and we have super fast Thrice songs like Twist of Fate.
• 8:06
  We have day-to-day as well. We have a lot of groove stuff.
• 8:10
  And then like Born to Die. I think, I think Costa brings
• 8:13
  the melody. I think there's a lot more
• 8:15
  melody in the in the guitar solos in this record compared to
• 8:19
  the first record. Me and Jim, we're big fans of
• 8:21
  progressive as well, so we wanted to put that into the new
• 8:24
  album and, you know, to see what what's going to work for us and
• 8:29
  how the fans are going to react so we can complete our idea So
• 8:33
  what what we want to do. And that that was the first
• 8:36
  album with this lineup. And we know each other way more
• 8:40
  now and we I think we have a clear idea how we're going to
• 8:43
  continue for the future of the songs that we write.
• 8:46
  Yeah, man, so many bangers. You know, Twist is probably
• 8:49
  Twisted Fate is probably my favorite track on the record,
• 8:52
  but so many bangers for such a young man.
• 8:54
  You guys got some very impressive guests to come in and
• 8:57
  be on the record, including Rob Dukes before he was rejoined in
• 9:00
  Exodus. Like, I know that happened very
• 9:01
  fast this spring and people are still kind of in shock about it.
• 9:06
  I'm in a couple of thrash metal fan groups and people are still
• 9:09
  mad, but Rob's a beast and I'm super stoked he's back.
• 9:13
  How did you guys get to work with Rob Dukes and Rob
• 9:15
  Kavastani, who's also a both former interviewees of of Ghost?
• 9:19
  Cult here, so with Rob Dukes. Yeah.
• 9:22
  It's the house 2012 I saw first time Exodus and that was my
• 9:27
  first ever trash metal concert in my life.
• 9:29
  And that concert changed my life.
• 9:31
  So we arrived there early. It was in Macedonia where I came
• 9:35
  from. That was a big deal because
• 9:37
  nobody plays or there, you know, and I got a chance to take a
• 9:41
  picture with him because we were helping them loading in in
• 9:44
  because we arrived early. So I was the hippest kid at that
• 9:47
  time, you know, I took a picture with the vocalist of access, Rob
• 9:51
  Dukes and Jack the bass player. So few years forward I move
• 9:55
  here, join Miss Fire. And two years ago we played
• 9:59
  Milwaukee Metal Fest and I was hanging out in the backstage
• 10:03
  area where all the musician hang and I accidentally saw, ran into
• 10:08
  Rob Dukes And I went to say hi, you know, and I shared my story
• 10:12
  and he remembered the, that show and that country and we talked
• 10:16
  for more than two hours. Yeah.
• 10:19
  And we, we became friends since then, you know, we exchanged
• 10:22
  social media. We will from time to time, you
• 10:25
  know, texting each other. And, you know, when the time
• 10:29
  came, when we did the album and we, we were asking ourselves, do
• 10:32
  we want to have any vocal guests or stuff?
• 10:35
  So I knew who to ask 1st. And yeah, he, it was a quick
• 10:38
  reply. Yes.
• 10:39
  And he, he said that he's honored to do it.
• 10:42
  And it it's like a dream come true to me.
• 10:45
  Wow, that's amazing. It doesn't surprise me at all
• 10:47
  about Duke. She's always been a great guy
• 10:49
  and very engaging to fans. And Jackie's also excellent.
• 10:53
  I hung out with Jack too, and I've interviewed him.
• 10:55
  He's pretty great. He's got a great sort of
• 10:57
  countryside project people don't really know about, but it's fun.
• 11:00
  Like outlaw country, like Johnny Cash or Waylon Jennings.
• 11:03
  Really fun. Yeah.
• 11:04
  And then Kavastani, man. Well, I mean, Death Angels,
• 11:06
  amazing. You know, Rob is a long time
• 11:08
  supporter of ours and we're long time fans.
• 11:11
  So that's a dude. If you could get him the jam
• 11:13
  with you or write with you or drop a solo or something, he's
• 11:16
  so sick. Yeah, absolutely.
• 11:18
  That was that was something that came up through our management,
• 11:21
  our managers, our management has Testament, Exodus, Death, Angel,
• 11:24
  Prong, Saliva, yeah, you know, on and on.
• 11:28
  And we we needed where we we didn't need it, but we wanted
• 11:32
  someone to to play on this solo section that we had because
• 11:36
  originally it was just one solo. It was cool, but we wanted it to
• 11:39
  be like an epic, you know, section because we didn't really
• 11:42
  have that on the record. So who better that you know than
• 11:45
  one of our, one of our main influences, Death Angel, right?
• 11:49
  So it was a perfect fit and something that we we didn't
• 11:52
  expect and something that will remain to be an honor forever
• 11:56
  for us. Right on.
• 11:57
  Yeah, He's so good. He's so good in like, such a
• 12:00
  good dude. I bump into the Death Angel
• 12:02
  guys. I live in San Francisco and I
• 12:04
  bump into those guys all the time in metal shows and just in
• 12:07
  general. Oh, hey, crossing the street
• 12:09
  shopping, like I don't want to bother anybody with their
• 12:12
  families or their wives or girls, but like at a show, it's
• 12:15
  like, hey, what's up? Good to see you.
• 12:16
  How you doing when you you know, what's the next one?
• 12:18
  You know, when you coming back? So you know, all that kind of
• 12:21
  jazz. So really cool.
• 12:22
  And yeah, I'm so glad you guys got to do that.
• 12:25
  That's such a a great thing. And I'll let me let's talk for a
• 12:27
  second about that Milwaukee metal fest, because that first
• 12:29
  comeback fest, I think it's going to be remembered for a
• 12:32
  long time. We covered it and I, we covered
• 12:35
  the last two and I think it's going to be, it's a real, I want
• 12:38
  to just give a quick shout out to Jamie Josta for bringing that
• 12:42
  festival back because that's a thing from before you guys were
• 12:45
  all born. That was a huge deal, especially
• 12:49
  in the underground scene and have it now with major, major
• 12:53
  bands headlining it. And it was always major bands to
• 12:55
  US headlining it. But like the popularity of it
• 12:59
  and the way it came back, so well done and so well run.
• 13:02
  I'm really grateful on my side on it as a journalist to be able
• 13:05
  to say that we've covered it and that's that.
• 13:07
  First one especially was they went out of their way to make it
• 13:10
  killer. I'm really proud of that.
• 13:11
  You guys got to do that. Yeah, hopefully we get to do it
• 13:13
  again 'cause it was a blast. And you're exact, you're, you're
• 13:15
  right. It was it was really well put
• 13:17
  together and the vibe was killer.
• 13:19
  Definitely want to make the next one.
• 13:21
  I don't know about this year. So maybe the 2026.
• 13:25
  It seems like it's going well and it's not going to stop,
• 13:28
  which is great. So you guys got this huge tour
• 13:30
  coming up. I know there's been some.
• 13:32
  I'm not going to ask you to address the controversies of the
• 13:35
  rotating second headliner, but opening again for Exodus.
• 13:39
  You get to hang out with Rob every night.
• 13:42
  Yeah. And, and see them do it.
• 13:45
  You know, I'm so thrilled that he's back and they're going to,
• 13:48
  you know, probably pump up some of this more heavier Duke's
• 13:51
  error material and hopefully that will also inspire.
• 13:54
  The next record is also the anniversary of Bonded by Blood.
• 13:56
  So you know, you're going to hear the classics, all the all
• 13:59
  the old school jams. And then Havoc is now on the
• 14:01
  tour. And those are great guys.
• 14:02
  We've interviewed David before and they always bring it hard.
• 14:06
  So what a great opportunity. The Swarm of Horror is
• 14:10
  officially the name by the way, and I even love the poster.
• 14:13
  It's actually kind of also fits with your vibe.
• 14:15
  It's so it's so punky and 80s and 90s crossover metal.
• 14:19
  Looks like Adri poster to me. Brash Green, Yes.
• 14:24
  Puke green always like that's our color.
• 14:26
  Also like one of our big colors. So yeah, tell us, what are you
• 14:30
  most excited about? Obviously beside playing an
• 14:32
  Exodus and Havoc every day. Well, apparently Rob's going to
• 14:35
  be coming out, you know, here and there to play the song that
• 14:38
  he's featured on with us, which is like insane.
• 14:41
  Like, so. So there's that.
• 14:43
  Yeah. Just playing these songs live
• 14:45
  and, you know, after, after being in the studio with them
• 14:48
  and getting them super tight, like the way that they're
• 14:50
  supposed to sound is how they sound now.
• 14:52
  And it's going to be freaking killer to to play them in front
• 14:56
  of, you know, a crowd, like a crowd that Exodus and Havoc
• 14:59
  going to bring. I mean, that's, that's huge for
• 15:01
  a band like us. And yeah, we, we just can't wait
• 15:04
  for, for for every night. Yeah, man, we're definitely very
• 15:07
  excited to also hit some new territories that we haven't been
• 15:11
  to yet and also return to a a couple that we've been to and it
• 15:16
  it's just going to be an exciting time all around, man.
• 15:18
  Fuck yeah. I know what's it, what's the the
• 15:20
  city you haven't been to that you want to go to the most?
• 15:23
  There's there's a couple, but I'm really looking forward to
• 15:26
  going to Birmingham, AL. I've never been to Alabama and
• 15:29
  I'm just really curious to see what the metal scenes like down
• 15:32
  there. Sam.
• 15:33
  They love the hardcore there, so I know they probably, they have
• 15:36
  quite a bit of metal shows. It's, you know, we'll say no
• 15:39
  disrespect to Birmingham. I know it's a it's a college
• 15:41
  town and but I know they do the big hardcore fest there every
• 15:45
  fall or they have been from the last few years.
• 15:47
  So they definitely can turn out the crowd.
• 15:49
  So I have a feeling for Exodus. They're going to they're going
• 15:52
  to show up and hopefully they show up early and represent for
• 15:54
  you guys. I always like to end these
• 15:56
  interviews with a wild card question.
• 15:59
  You kind of help me out. Maybe we can get Giordano's to
• 16:01
  give you guys a, an endorsement or something, or maybe a music
• 16:05
  video and a Giordano's. I have I had a bad experience
• 16:09
  with Giordano's, but I'm not going to hold it against Chicago
• 16:11
  pizza. I'm originally a New York guy,
• 16:13
  so you know, there's no changing our pizza preferences to the
• 16:16
  rest of the country. But I, I, I have not a huge fan
• 16:19
  of the Chicago pizza. But if there's another food from
• 16:22
  Chicago, what is the food people?
• 16:24
  I have my opinion, but what is the food people need to get
• 16:27
  beside pizza? The.
• 16:28
  Italian beef sandwich is my is what I'm going to say.
• 16:31
  Right there with some fucking Jardinara on it, man.
• 16:33
  My man, that's right. That's the right answer.
• 16:36
  There's, I'll say 2:00, You got to get a Polish, You got to get
• 16:39
  a Polish, Chicago style Polish. And there's one burger place
• 16:43
  called Au Cheval in in a city that has the best burger I've
• 16:48
  ever had in my entire life. Like hands down the best burger
• 16:52
  period. So yeah, Au Cheval.
• 16:54
  Since you're from another place coasted in, that's your opinion
• 16:56
  of Chicago food. Do you enjoy the Chicago food or
• 17:00
  is it still? Yeah, but I love the food in
• 17:03
  Chicago. It's great.
• 17:04
  It's different than where I came from.
• 17:06
  But there's also a lot of restaurants and, you know,
• 17:09
  similar food. So I'm not missing anything.
• 17:12
  But still, I change my diet and stuff.
• 17:15
  So mostly I eat Mexican food. But no, I love here and there
• 17:18
  are some great deep dish or some Chicago burger.
• 17:24
  Yeah, that's great. I'm going to say personally,
• 17:26
  yeah, Mr. Beef was a life changing experience for me.
• 17:29
  I'm not going to lie. They go because of the Bear TV
• 17:31
  show. Sorry, but I love Chicago, by
• 17:34
  the way. I've had nothing but great times
• 17:35
  there, especially for music, for metal and punk rock and stuff.
• 17:38
  And I got to go Wrigleyville over Portillo's.
• 17:41
  I know that's a controversial take, but that's my take.
• 17:43
  I can't do Portillo's. I did it once.
• 17:45
  I was like, no. Yeah, I haven't, I haven't done
• 17:47
  a lot of Portillo's to be honest with you either.
• 17:49
  It's just, it's like, it's cool, but like they have everything,
• 17:51
  but like it's, I don't know, there's better stuff.
• 17:54
  Portillo's is #1 the. Fighting begins.
• 18:01
  Yeah, look what you started. Yeah, well, I will say the
• 18:04
  portillas is everywhere now, right?
• 18:06
  Because they have them in LA and they have them in Vegas.
• 18:08
  And so they're popping up as a chain now.
• 18:10
  I don't know if it's wise, but we shall see.
• 18:16
  What are you going to do? What are you going to do?
• 18:18
  Hey guys, super cool to meet you.
• 18:21
  I'm really excited for this new record and I just want to wish
• 18:23
  you the best on the road. Be safe, lock up your van, keep
• 18:26
  somebody with your stuff, get some air tags and put them in
• 18:28
  all your gear and protect yourselves because it's tough
• 18:31
  out there. But not to scare you, I
• 18:33
  sincerely am rooting for you guys and I love this new record
• 18:36
  and I can't wait for everybody else to hear it.
• 18:38
  Thank you so much, man. Hopefully we're out your way
• 18:41
  sooner sooner like, but we're looking at we're looking at
• 18:45
  October, November probably actually so.
• 18:47
  We got people everywhere, so I may just send somebody out to
• 18:51
  one of these other places and again, you know, we'll we'll be
• 18:53
  doing metal fest I think again too.
• 18:55
  So we'll catch you soon. Thanks for hanging out with
• 18:58
  Ghost Cult. I really appreciate you guys and
• 19:00
  be well.