Latest / Ghost Cult Magazine Podcast / PODCAST: Episode 809 - Tyler Sturgil of Xoth Previews The "Exogalactic Tour"

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PODCAST: Episode 809 - Tyler Sturgil of Xoth Previews The "Exogalactic Tour" · Ghost Cult Magazine Podcast

• 0:00
  Maintaining the relationships and all that stuff is a big part
• 0:04
  of, you know, running a band just like a family, you know?
• 0:07
  And some of my best teachers I had would tell me like, best
• 0:10
  advice I'd give any band is a don't break up.
• 0:13
  So I think it'll take 10 plus years typically to get anything
• 0:17
  significant your way unless you're really lucky.
• 0:27
  What's up everybody? It's Kifi from ghostcultmag.com.
• 0:30
  I'm super excited to be joined by Tyler from Zoth.
• 0:33
  Did I say that correctly? I don't even know.
• 0:35
  Yes, you did. All right, yes, practice paid
• 0:38
  off. I was like, I don't know.
• 0:40
  Yeah. Do you get it?
• 0:41
  Do people get it wrong all the time?
• 0:43
  Occasionally, so we've been saying just like David Lee Zoth
• 0:46
  haha. Yes, I love it so much.
• 0:49
  Actually, I'm rewatching Sopranos right, so I just saw
• 0:53
  the episode where David Lee Roth is at the card game.
• 0:56
  I don't know if you're a fan, but that's one of the.
• 0:58
  Never seen it was one of those shows that's on the ever going
• 1:02
  list of things to watch that I don't have enough time for.
• 1:06
  It was peak TV. Want to?
• 1:07
  Yeah, it was definitely peak TV. David Lee Roth playing cards
• 1:11
  with like the main characters in The Sopranos and Lawrence Taylor
• 1:14
  of the new, formerly of the New York Giants.
• 1:16
  So those guys could have had a conversation about many things,
• 1:20
  how rock'n'roll is similar to athletes and sports.
• 1:23
  But anywho, you guys are going on a big tour.
• 1:26
  You have a huge 2025 on tap. You probably already have done a
• 1:31
  bunch of things getting ready for this.
• 1:34
  Your last record was a couple of years ago, EXO Galactic, which
• 1:36
  is killer, brutal technical death metal.
• 1:39
  But give me a little origin story for the band.
• 1:41
  This is our first time talking, and I want our audience to get
• 1:45
  to know you in the band. Yeah.
• 1:46
  Well, so really Doth was born out of the ashes of a previous
• 1:51
  project of mine where I just wanted to make some music, some
• 1:56
  metal that I combined. Like all the things I like
• 1:59
  instead of being like highly focused on one genre or specific
• 2:04
  style really was just, but something that's just like
• 2:06
  really epic, melodic, still really heavy.
• 2:10
  Like that music that really like tells a story taped like that.
• 2:13
  So after my last band broke up, actually our final show of that
• 2:17
  band, we had a Woody, our guitar player, and Jeremy, our drummer
• 2:22
  played in that band for one show.
• 2:24
  And that went really well. We just decided to cut the past
• 2:27
  off and start anew. That's how that the band came
• 2:30
  around. Bolt it's hard to do that.
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  I think, you know, this, these things haven't changed much in
• 2:36
  40 or 50 years in terms of a working band.
• 2:38
  And let's face it, underground metal, death metal, technical
• 2:41
  death metal, we're not most of us are not going to be
• 2:44
  gajillionaires. And and you know, it's you got
• 2:47
  to want to be there. So it's hard.
• 2:49
  I always say that a band, a successful band can be amazing,
• 2:52
  but an you know, like you can have a very good band with great
• 2:55
  music and not like each other and not get along and be on the
• 2:58
  different page business style and it could be like a loveless
• 3:03
  marriage. Yeah, I am maintaining the
• 3:05
  relationships and all that stuff is a big part of, you know,
• 3:10
  running a band just like a family, you know.
• 3:12
  And so my best teachers I had would tell me like best advice
• 3:16
  I'd give any band is a don't break up.
• 3:18
  So I think it'll take 10 plus years typically to get anything
• 3:22
  significant your way unless you're really lucky.
• 3:27
  That is correct. And Speaking of 10 years, you
• 3:29
  guys are over 10 years in this band and three full lengths and
• 3:34
  an EP which I went back and listened to all of.
• 3:36
  So any reflections on this? You know, like obviously it came
• 3:41
  and went for 10 years and we had kind of the whole global
• 3:43
  pandemic and we all suffered like a psychotic break in
• 3:47
  collectively as a human race. So like you know, thoughts on,
• 3:51
  you know where you guys started out to now?
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  It's been a good trajectory. You know, we all had been in
• 3:57
  previous bands and learned from those mistakes.
• 4:00
  The start of this one, like thinking we wouldn't make
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  mistakes for the made plenty. But just I feel like, you know,
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  each each album and the process of recording those and playing
• 4:10
  them and learning what to do and what not to do has been a good
• 4:14
  trajectory. When our second album,
• 4:17
  Interdimensional Invocations came out the end of 2019 and it
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  it started to get traction like the first thing we put out that
• 4:24
  was like, OK, maybe this will lead to some touring and
• 4:28
  something better. But yeah, then the pandemic hit
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  and it did just feel like a big knife knife in the middle of
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  progress, both in like no shows and just an overall motivation
• 4:39
  to work on stuff. So it definitely like been doing
• 4:42
  the band for 11 years, but there's like a year and a half
• 4:45
  to where it feels like it's it's slowed down quite a bit.
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  And you pressed some beard. Yeah, yeah.
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  And some people were like, oh, it's great.
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  I wrote a bunch of music and did all this.
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  I got to stay at home. Well, a lot of us just were
• 4:57
  depressed and didn't work on anything.
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  So that's like where I was at, Yeah.
• 5:02
  Yeah, totally OK, by the way, because I've talked to some
• 5:06
  underground bands and some of the biggest artists in the world
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  from across the spectrum, and they were all like, yeah, like
• 5:11
  I'm an introvert and it was amazing.
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  Or I'm an extrovert and I was miserable or I just didn't.
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  I didn't know what the state of the world was going to be for
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  the music industry and what we were coming back to.
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  So I just didn't feel creative and that's OK.
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  You know, I think people don't understand that like in between
• 5:28
  albums, typically you live life, you go on tour a little bit, you
• 5:31
  promote the album, you do press like this interview.
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  But you know, you're not like in suspended animation.
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  You are living life to get experiences that you will
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  hopefully put it to your next thing.
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  So I did. I do feel like there's been a
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  nice growth musically from album the album.
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  And I really love the the growth from the last record to now.
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  So like that, Yeah. You know, obviously the band
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  loves space, so let's talk about that for a second.
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  Clearly space themes. This is not new, but I love how
• 6:01
  you guys do it. Yeah, so I mean, I've always
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  loved sci-fi and fun stuff like like that.
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  I'm more on the like, you know, more like Total Recall, movies
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  like that rather than like, not that I don't like Star Wars or
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  anything, but I like these kind of heady sci-fi movies with
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  espionage and all stuff like that.
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  Whether it's movies like that or, you know, book series like
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  Red Rising is something I really like or like video games like
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  Mass Effect, HP Lovecraft, cosmic horror, just anything
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  space. And then also, you know, Carl
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  Sagan's cosmos and just like the real deal, just, you know,
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  pondering the big questions of the unlimited possibilities.
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  So I think we're like very space cosmic theme, but you know,
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  everything happens in the cosmos.
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  So you can have songs about anything you want really.
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  Right on. In space, no one can hear you
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  scream, but on Earth we're screaming all the time.
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  I definitely don't think we have a shot against any alien race.
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  What do you think I if? Some, if an alien race is able
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  to get here or is not already here without us knowing, their
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  technology is definitely more advanced.
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  So unless someone's coming to like, usher us in and give us
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  technology to to help out there, we're probably doomed if someone
• 7:15
  comes to reap the evolution harvest or something.
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  Yes, we will be ruined quickly. I always think of the early
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  Highlight Zone original series episode To Serve Man.
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  It's always my guidepost for everything in sci-fi.
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  But yeah, we don't stand a chance.
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  I really think so. But I'm hopeful and I and you
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  know, I hopefully we're not in a new dumb dark age where people
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  are not interested in exploring and scientific discovery and
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  things because not only is there's a whole vastness of
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  Earth that we don't know about, the universe is infinitely vast.
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  It's not, you know, we're just discovering things from light
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  years away, and we're just seeing like, a flicker of their
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  future memory, you know? Yeah, I get a little poetic on a
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  Tuesday. It's amazing.
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  I think there's 100% other intelligent life it'd be.
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  I think it'd be like mathematically impossible for
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  there not to be just with the how infinite everything is so.
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  I don't how far back in your like life does this passion and
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  interest go like to childhood? Well, as a kid, I was into, you
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  know, anything aliens or monsters, any, any scary I was
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  really into whether it's aliens or zombies.
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  So. And I've always dreamt about
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  space and going out there just, yeah, always a vivid
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  imagination. Right on.
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  That's good. You need that.
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  We used to get told when we didn't have toys.
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  You use your brain, it's the best, you know?
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  Then your imagination is the is the best playground, right?
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  Yeah, exactly. You get a cat friend.
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  Yeah. I'm, I'm cat sitting, so I'm not
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  in my usual studio. I saw him pass through behind.
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  Oh, lid rollers are essential when you have one of those fur
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  balls. Yeah, man.
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  And then of course, beside the subject matter, obviously
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  musically you guys are reaching for some very high minded stuff.
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  You know, obviously you played for a long time.
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  Do you, are you constantly working on your craft or do you
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  have you like achieved a certain level of technicality you're
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  comfortable with and you're good and you're just writing and
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  creating stuff with within the framework you have or are you
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  always trying to improve? I'm always trying to improve.
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  Practicing and studying guitar is like the main focus of my
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  life and has been for 25 years now.
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  Whether it's technique or studying other songs, learning
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  music, writing like playing piano or whatever, I'm just
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  always striving to be better. Yeah right on.
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  I thought EXO Galactic was such a strong album.
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  Do you demo and pre pro a lot of material first or do you all
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  create as a group? There's a lot of writing going
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  on at home, whether that's doing a Reaper session and doing a
• 9:59
  demo or, you know, using a program like Guitar Pro to
• 10:03
  notate thoughts out. I have to do all forget stuff.
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  So there's so many things going on all the time.
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  So yeah, lots of hiding at home and then taking it into the jam
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  space and playing with everybody.
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  And then it usually will change and morph as other people add
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  their parts or give their two cents and arrange arrange
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  further. Is it is a song done when it's
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  done on the album and then you go out and and slay and play it
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  the way it is? Or do you continue to kind of
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  jam live and feel things out and slightly change things as you
• 10:33
  play live? It's pretty much done and dusted
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  once we start doing it live, I might add, like a little
• 10:40
  improver flares and some of the leads and just like a little
• 10:44
  sassy element there. But for the most part, like I'm
• 10:47
  really comfortable if I do. Here's the solo how it's
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  written. I know exactly how to play it
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  every time and it's I feel more confident going into it that
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  way. Right on, and in terms of this
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  upcoming tour, save this huge tour, which I'm super stoked
• 11:02
  for, hopefully we'll get to cover you some somewhere along
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  the way. We have people all over the
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  world covering shows and festivals for us.
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  So what are you most excited about about getting this on the
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  road again? For me personally, I've never
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  played, there's like the only place on this tour I've played
• 11:17
  before is Denver. Everything else is new.
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  I haven't even been to a lot of these cities, so could be a
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  whole 3 weeks of all new ground for me just to see what the
• 11:26
  scenes like in these other States and cities on the East
• 11:30
  Coast where it's a lot more dense.
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  Everything's closer together. Heard stories.
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  I've been to shows out out east but never played one though.
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  All right. We've got a lot of requests over
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  the years and we are delivering, so show up.
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  Right on. Yeah.
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  Please come out and support live music in the underground or else
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  we can't come back. Like I have to say, it's like a
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  very every single post, every single band.
• 11:56
  Why don't you play X? Where are you?
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  When are you coming to my town? We were just there.
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  Why weren't you paying attention?
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  So like, like I said, death metal especially, you know, you
• 12:05
  have to want to be here. Most of our most fans in the
• 12:08
  genre, we, you know, people want this music.
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  So they want to be on the lookout.
• 12:13
  Hopefully they're checking out Ghost Cult, you know, Ghost Cult
• 12:16
  in sites like ours to find out when the tours are hitting.
• 12:19
  But yeah, definitely, you know, pay attention when a band
• 12:22
  announces a tour and put it down in a calendar or something,
• 12:25
  because I cannot tell you how many times.
• 12:27
  When is Cannibal Courts playing my talent?
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  Hey, they just played there. You missed it because there's so
• 12:31
  much noise to cut through. But you know, I am, I'm stoked
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  for you all to get all over the country and hopefully people get
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  to hear this thing. And I I assume you're working on
• 12:40
  new music now for another release?
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  Yeah, Now working on our fourth album this, you know, we've been
• 12:46
  trying to focus on getting out and playing more.
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  Just think that's like a the the next album I think will go a lot
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  further once we plant the flag in a bunch more cities.
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  So that's kind of been the focus of this year.
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  But there is a lot written for the next album and just need to
• 13:03
  finish. Easier said than done, but we do
• 13:07
  have a lot written. It's just the way the way we
• 13:10
  write it will be like, here's 15 ideas.
• 13:13
  There are these songs and like, OK, we got to pick 8 and finish
• 13:16
  them actually. And then you know, you got to
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  like pick up where you left off a lot of times.
• 13:20
  Sometimes you plow through and finish a song quickly.
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  But it's always been a little more chaotic for me.
• 13:27
  Working on improving but. Fair enough.
• 13:29
  You know, having standards and having standards for yourself is
• 13:32
  very important in life, not just in a band.
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  So that's helpful also. It's like I basically I want to
• 13:39
  write for our albums. It's like I want to be write the
• 13:42
  metal music that I would really want to listen to.
• 13:44
  If you know that doesn't exist already.
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  There's like 8 songs, all killer, no filler, not too much,
• 13:51
  not too little. It's really what I strive for.
• 13:54
  I'm not too familiar with Seattle outside of the big, big
• 13:57
  bands. What's the local scene like
• 13:58
  there? Is there a local scene?
• 14:00
  Are there some bands you can recommend that maybe are below
• 14:03
  our radar we should be checking out?
• 14:04
  Yeah. There's a ton of great bands
• 14:06
  here. There's a lot of metal fans in
• 14:09
  just the general Puget Sound region.
• 14:11
  Getting them all to come out to a show is a little easier said
• 14:15
  than done. But yeah, some good bands.
• 14:17
  We're friends with Oxygen Destroyers, a good one from up
• 14:21
  here, Infernal Realm, Old Machines.
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  They're from Portland, but you know, close enough.
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  Those are three. I really like a bunch health
• 14:28
  slot. That's they're really good, kind
• 14:30
  of endless really, but Solicitor, Illuminator,
• 14:34
  Skeletor, tons of good stuff. Nice.
• 14:36
  They may have some trademark problems with that last one,
• 14:39
  but. They changed one of the letters
• 14:41
  so. Oh, there it is.
• 14:43
  There it is. Anything, anything to get by,
• 14:46
  get by the censors and the IP lawyers.
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  I'll be polite in this interview and not say what I really think,
• 14:52
  but not be too blunt. But yeah, man, that's killer.
• 14:56
  I'm looking to get up there and see the city.
• 14:59
  Obviously, what's if I'm I've been to Portland, but if I've
• 15:03
  never been to Seattle, what should I?
• 15:04
  What do I have to do as a rocker person?
• 15:07
  If you wanna go to some good venues, there's like the central
• 15:11
  salons, like they'll it may be the oldest bar in the city or
• 15:15
  one of them that they still do a lot of metal shows.
• 15:18
  And that's like my favorite spot downtown.
• 15:20
  And you know, all The Who or she spots are great.
• 15:23
  Me personally, it's all about like the the parks and the the
• 15:26
  lakes and the mountains out here.
• 15:28
  That's like the real, the real good stuff.
• 15:31
  Right on. It does look beautiful.
• 15:32
  I would love to see mountains from a city.
• 15:36
  Maybe I did maybe Utah as the closest thing.
• 15:39
  And it's not quite, you know, it's not quite mountain ranges.
• 15:42
  It's, you know, sort of. Yeah, yeah.
• 15:45
  Salt Lake City sort of has mountains around it, not quite
• 15:49
  the same though. Not the purple mountains majesty
• 15:51
  like the song says. I love to see anybody in there
• 15:54
  comfortable in their space with a road case of guitars.
• 15:57
  Which is your favorite there out?
• 15:59
  Of all these, but I don't have any of my show guitars out.
• 16:01
  But this is probably my 1991 RG550 made in Japan, super beat
• 16:10
  up and scratched and like plays so awesome.
• 16:13
  That's my my favorite out of all the ones I got out right now.
• 16:16
  Right on man. Those I've been on, those I've
• 16:18
  been as guitars were made for metal.
• 16:20
  They were made for shredding solos and and writing riffs.
• 16:23
  They're so good. Yeah, great guitars.
• 16:25
  I usually use Ivan as a Jackson are my 2 favorites.
• 16:28
  I use the Jackson ones live, just they're a little little
• 16:31
  pointier, a little more Zoth aesthetic, but I do love them
• 16:35
  both. Right on.
• 16:36
  And I always like to end these interviews with a wild card
• 16:39
  question, so I have one for you, coincidentally.
• 16:43
  What is your favorite movie about space?
• 16:46
  Favorite movie? Could be horror, could be
• 16:48
  scientificy, could be drama. What is your favorite space
• 16:51
  movie? It probably changes depending on
• 16:54
  when you ask, but I I did say Total Recall earlier.
• 16:57
  I love that one. Starship Troopers is a more like
• 17:01
  military epic one. Those are both Paul Verhoeven
• 17:04
  movies. And then I know about Space.
• 17:07
  Dark City I think is a good one. Right on.
• 17:10
  Yeah, it's wild that they let Paul Verhoeven make a sci-fi
• 17:13
  movie. You know, he's a wild guy.
• 17:18
  Yeah. Well, yeah.
• 17:19
  Anything like that? Right on.
• 17:21
  All right, Tyler from Zoth. So cool to meet you.
• 17:23
  Thank you for sharing all that with us today.
• 17:26
  And good luck on the tour. Be safe.
• 17:28
  Get some air tags for your gear. Don't leave the van alone.
• 17:31
  Park in parking lots. You know the drill.
• 17:34
  It's a crazy time in the world right now.
• 17:35
  It's advice I would give to everybody.
• 17:37
  Doesn't matter what city or where you are.
• 17:38
  Protect your shit and be safe and rock out.
• 17:42
  And we'll see at one of these shows, I'm sure.
• 17:43
  Yeah. Thank you so much.
• 17:45
  Nice meeting you anytime. Yeah.
• 17:46
  Thanks for hanging with us. We'll see you soon.
• 17:48
  Bye.