Latest / HEAVY Music Interviews / Arterial Spray With BILL STEER From CARCASS

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Arterial Spray With BILL STEER From CARCASS · HEAVY Music Interviews

• 0:00
  You know, Bill, how are you, mate? Good? How you
• 0:02
  doing? Yeah? Good, good man, It's good to talk to you
• 0:05
  again. Man, it's been a little wid Yeah. Where's the last song?
• 0:10
  I think it was for Torn Arteries. That was the last time we
• 0:12
  had a chat. Yeah, quite possibly him. Yeah, well a lot
• 0:17
  has happened since then. You got married, didn't you since? Yeah,
• 0:22
  that's right. God, when was that? That was right? Right?
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  As like lockdown was tapering off and we still had some restrictions in place here,
• 0:32
  but but you know, things were relaxing somewhat, you know, people
• 0:36
  starting to, you know, cautiously go out and do little social things and
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  whatever. And mate, of course, carcass are finally coming back to Australia
• 0:46
  this April with the Black Dolli murder and freedom of Fear. Uh, it's
• 0:50
  finally happening, dude, It's finally yeah, because as yeah, I'm sure
• 0:57
  you're aware. There was what we were supposed to do right when the news
• 1:03
  about the pandemic sided to come through, and I mean everything was booked for
• 1:10
  us. We were about, i mean practically about to fly the following week
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  and there were just a couple of days there where it was really difficult you
• 1:17
  know, we're going back and forth and whether we should take the risk of
• 1:19
  flying out. Obviously, in the end we didn't, and I guess it
• 1:26
  was the right decision because if we had, we wouldn't have been able to
• 1:30
  leave Australia for a very long time. I mean, there are many worse
• 1:34
  places to be stuck. But you know, in terms of you know,
• 1:38
  home and family and friends and stuff. Yeah, ages, I guess you
• 1:45
  know the band the Who, not like the UK band, the other band
• 1:49
  from Mongolia, they got stuck. Yeah about that, well, I mean,
• 1:59
  you know, yeah, obviously good side that, you know, it's
• 2:01
  it's a lovely place to visit, but I guess there's that uncertainty if you
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  don't know how long you're forced to stay somewhere. You know, that's right,
• 2:09
  that's right. And well I had plane tickets. What was it,
• 2:13
  download festival? You guys are going to be doing download And I had plane
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  tickets the whole thing. I was ready to go as well. And yeah,
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  but at least we're getting a second chance. Yeah exactly. I mean,
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  this it just it nicely completes a circle for us, you know.
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  So I'm glad we're finally getting to return I mean, you know, I
• 2:32
  always say this, but it's it's a great place to visit just as a
• 2:37
  tourist anyway, So you know, being able to go there and play some
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  gigs at that, you know, it's great. Is this the last of
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  the Torn Artery cycle? Like, I know it's sort of being drawn out
• 2:50
  a little bit, but are you sort of slowly ticking off that box for
• 2:53
  this touring cycle? I mean, I suspect not. I mean, you
• 3:00
  know, we've done a fair bit off the back of that record, but
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  I think compared to what we did the Surgical, it's just scraping the surface
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  really, because we did about five years touring and festivals and so on and
• 3:19
  to support that record. I mean, personally, I'm hoping it doesn't become
• 3:23
  five years again with this one, because I mean, you know, half
• 3:27
  the decade a long time, and it's quite nice to get creative and work
• 3:31
  on new things and records. But I guess, you know, we've got
• 3:38
  at very least another year of solid touring ahead of us, and then beyond
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  that, I mean, I think that's just something that we'll have to figure
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  out between the guys in the band. You know, not everyone's going to
• 3:53
  agree on what's the best use of our time. You know, some people
• 3:55
  really like recording. Some people just want to be out on the road.
• 3:59
  Some people like a bit of both. You know, where do you sit
• 4:02
  in that in that are you are you recording dude or doing dude? I'd
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  say I'm in the kind of middle camp, you know, like both.
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  I feel like probably most musicians would say that, you know, like they
• 4:16
  need both, that they're very different things. Will the rewards you get from
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  recording fantastic because it's a very exciting moment when you're putting something down that will
• 4:30
  last. I mean, obviously it can be nerve wracking because you know,
• 4:33
  if you open up that side of your brain that worries about how good it
• 4:39
  is or how it's going to be perceived, you know that that can be
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  stressful perhaps, But but I think if you just lose yourself in what you're
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  doing and commit to the moment, you know, it's just a really exciting
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  process. You're never you know, going into the studio, you never know
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  quite how it's going to develop, and it's very warning to come away with
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  something that you're at least partially happy with. You know, it's never one
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  hundred percent. Life is a totally different thing. It's you know, it's
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  like you're going out there to represent, you know, all the music you've
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  made. You know, you're you're playing material that's already been tested out.
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  But it's a challenge in a different way. Of course, Sometimes you're supporting
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  an act and their audience isn't particularly interested in you, so challenges can you
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  win them over or at least make them tolerate you to some degree? You
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  know, I couldn't learn that with Cacus, though everyone loves Cacas. Have
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  you when that give me an example of when recently that that's sort of happened
• 5:48
  for you? Because at all? Oh no, no, I mean no,
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  I mean no, it really does. I'd say the most recent example
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  the Arch Enemy Behemoth tour across Europe really last year. I can't even remember
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  when that was. My brain's foggy, but yeah, I mean that was
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  like that was an arena tour, so straight off the plat a group like
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  us is going to be uncomfortable because we just we're not designed to play arenas.
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  And for me personally, that was never an ambition. You know,
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  It's something I never really wanted to do, but that was the nature of
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  the tour, and we're playing beneath those bands and it's their audience. So
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  yeah, quite a few of those gigs the audience was I would say disinterested.
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  It's probably the nicest way of putting it. Oh man, they lost
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  Cock is one of the best bands on the planet, so a man,
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  that would have been It would have been cool to hear some of those songs
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  though through those massive, massive pas. Like I'm sure, yeah, I
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  mean, yeah, yeah, I mean I think you know, don't get
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  me wrong. I mean, I totally love club venues to me. That's
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  where you know, most of the real music happens. But I mean,
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  if you get up to the size of something like a nice old theater there's
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  like two or three thousand capacity, that's fantastic too, and those rooms often
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  sound really, really good. But the real thing is just they're just these
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  huge, anonymous boxes. You know. Maybe sometimes they have I've got a
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  big sound, but often it's just kind of vibeless. Really, yeah,
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  I kind of get that, Like the bigger, bigger is sometimes like I
• 7:34
  prefer the smaller club stuff too. Like the venue you're playing in Brisbane,
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  I see there recently. I think it was Sepultur that it was phenomenal.
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  It was just the sound, the vibe of the venue, perfect sort of
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  size, and man, I think you guys just you're gonna love it.
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  You're going to absolutely love it. But you're great. As as we mentioned
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  before, you in the Black Dahlli boys over with you and I love those
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  guys and I think it's special that they're coming back to Australia as well,
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  considering you know, we lost Trevor a couple of years ago. You know,
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  have you been in touch with those guys about are they friends of yours?
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  Because I know that they class carcass as one of the influencers. Yeah,
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  I mean we did tour with them, you know some years back.
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  You know everything one got along well. I'd say probably of all of us,
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  maybe Dan and notice them better than the rest of us. But yeah,
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  I mean we're definitely looking forward to playing with them. And yeah,
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  I mean from what I recall it, you know all those years back that
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  it's very difficult in a good way, a very difficult group to play with
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  because their energy level is so high. You really do right around the risk
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  of looking lame if you play after them. I mean, we were sort
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  of when this was initially floated, the idea of the two bands together,
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  We're like, great, now can we make sure that they play after us?
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  But yeah, I mean it's you know, that's that's the kind of
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  stuff you want though. You know, you want someone to give you a
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  kick up the ass. You know, you might be having a bad day
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  or a low energy day, and if then you watch watch the band play
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  and you know that evening and it's like they're giving so much and pumping the
• 9:33
  room so much that you feel like, well, I've got I'm going to
• 9:37
  have to do my bit, you know. So yeah, I mean that
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  should be really good. And freedom of fear as well. They are friends
• 9:46
  of mine, really really good people, but fucking one of the best bands
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  that we have in this country. Have you heard them yet? Have you
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  checked them out? No? Not, no, No, I'm looking forward
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  to it. They are they just make sure you just if you get a
• 10:01
  chance. I know, I know what it's like. It's busy when you're
• 10:03
  on the road, you're trying to get everything sort out. But if you
• 10:07
  get a chance, man, just make sure you check them out because they
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  are just they should be doing all the international stuff you know, touring overseas.
• 10:18
  They are very very very good and really good kids. Yeah, Stylistically,
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  what kind of thing is it? I don't know, kind of maybe
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  closer to what Flesh God Apocalypse do. But they're just they're just great man
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  and great people. So that's my little jacking about my I mean, they're
• 10:37
  friends of mine, but they're a great band. So yeah, yeah,
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  yeah, yeah, good good stuff. So it's going to be an absolute
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  killer package. Of course. Another thing I wanted to ask you about was
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  next year Mark's forty years, well not including the breakup and reunion, but
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  forty years since the band first began. I believe when you were back in
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  school. That's a long time. Everyone starts off with that dream of being
• 11:00
  a full time musician, touring the world and doing all that kind of stuff.
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  But do you remember when it actually sunk in that you guys are going
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  to be in it full life, you know, where it sort of really
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  sunk its teeth in and it became a serious thing. Wow, I don't
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  know if it ever really did sink in fully. Probably the closest to that
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  would have been the period around let me think, well, around the recording
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  and release of Hard Work I guess because somehow or other we'd ended up on
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  a major label in the US, which is never part of the plan.
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  In fact, we'd never had a plan of any kind. Really. It
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  was just kind of moving the thing forward in increments, you know, like
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  from let's try and do a demo to like, oh okay, well maybe
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  we'll do some gigs and then well I think we could possibly do an album
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  now. You know. It was just very small steps, but significant steps
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  for us, you know. So the mazing label thing was just really a
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  big surprise, something we weren't quite prepared for. I mean, obviously it
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  didn't work out particularly well, but just looking back, it's bizarre, how
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  the hell did that happen? So that that phase I think would have been
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  the only time where you felt like, well, this is almost looking like
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  a career, you know. But yeah, well, I mean here it
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  is. Now you're touring the world and doing these massive festivals. Do you
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  feel that Caucus is more I guess financially successful now since the reunion? Oh
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  yeah, I mean there's there's simply no comparison. Yeah, I mean yeah,
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  I mean, for a start, the festivals that we do most summers,
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  and you know, our peer group that they did the same thing.
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  I mean, that whole scene just didn't exist during the original incarnation of the
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  band. And as anybody in a group will tell you, if you do
• 13:11
  enough festivals over the summer, that is going to keep your band asploat financially
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  because often there isn't you know, a large amount of money in touring.
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  You know, you're doing that for a multitude of reasons. One might be
• 13:26
  to promote an album to you know, obviously, because that's what bands do.
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  You go out and play. It doesn't generate the kind of money that
• 13:37
  would yeah, necessarily ensure a band's survival. I mean, it can do
• 13:41
  if you're really food, but you'd be surprised having bands just you know,
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  kind of around the break even stage for doing it. You know, a
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  four week tour or whatever. Yeah, that's it, and it's hard work,
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  you know, people, you know, I guess people have this perception
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  of bands that everyone's in the Taylor Swift flying in private planes, and it's
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  far from it. It's usually vans and smelly hotels and you know, you've
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  probably seen your face share of that. But you're still at this slogging it
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  and doing amazing I mean everyone, As I said, everyone loves Carcass,
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  and I'm excited for the future of what Carcass has got a hold and we
• 14:22
  got a new some new music on the way in some shape or form.
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  Not at the moment to me, I mean, as far as the eye
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  can see, we've just got tours, dates, festivals that would pretty much
• 14:37
  take us up towards the end of the year and then beyond that. Yeah,
• 14:43
  this is something that we just have to be kind of in some way
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  discussed between the various band members because you know, we had a similar situation
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  after we really surgical Steel, we got deep into touring. After a couple
• 15:00
  of years, I think one or two of us thought, well, maybe
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  now we should start gradually working on some new material. But then you discover
• 15:09
  not everybody's on the same page. So you go back and do another year
• 15:13
  or two of touring, and then before you mail it, half a decade's
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  gone. So I'm kind of hoping we don't mimic that situation too closely,
• 15:22
  because you know, five years is a hell of a lot of time.
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  But yeah, we've got to be at a point where everyone wants to record,
• 15:33
  So if and when that time comes, around great, but you know,
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  it doesn't feel like it's particularly close right now. And what about other
• 15:41
  projects on the side. Have you got other stuff you're working on outside of
• 15:46
  Cockets. Yeah, I've been doing some demos on and off for I guess
• 15:52
  a few months a year or so with a couple of friends in Leeds,
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  and we haven't decided to call it, but we've done a whole bunch of
• 16:03
  tunes, maybe round fifteen or so, with the idea that at some point
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  we'll pick the best numbers and record them properly for an album, because I
• 16:14
  just really wanted to do something about nature for quite a while. I just
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  didn't really have the confidence or any kind of visionable way forward. But you
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  know, my friends were very sort of helpful in getting me started on that.
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  And yeah, I mean it's it's just nice to have another, you
• 16:33
  know, another outlet few music, because I mean Carcass doesn't record very often
• 16:37
  as we just so, you know, I mean, I actually enjoyed being
• 16:42
  in a studio, so it would be Yeah, it would be really nice
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  if I could make an album with someone else. Really what kind of stuff
• 16:49
  like what Gona? I mean, I don't know, it's very hard to
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  assessed, but I mean I could come to I mean, it's pretty much
• 17:02
  I just let out wherever was going to come out. I didn't really think
• 17:06
  in terms of genre. I'm imagining that, you know that. You know,
• 17:11
  my main influences are going to come somewhere between that kind of seventies bluesy
• 17:15
  hard rock stuff, new wave of British heavy metal. But it's in that
• 17:19
  type of vibe. It's riff rock. But we've really tried to finesse the
• 17:25
  songs, like really worked relatively harshed by my standards on the arrangements, you
• 17:30
  know, so I feel like we couldn't we couldn't ever call it fire Birds
• 17:34
  because already this has quite a different vibe to it. Yeah. Yeah,
• 17:38
  wow, i'mkay to hear it, man, o'kay to hear what you got,
• 17:41
  Coconut, that's for sure. Yeah yeah, unreal man. But hey
• 17:47
  man, in the meantime, we're going to see you and the Carcass Boys
• 17:49
  down here in April with the Black Delli Murder and Freedom of Theme. We'll
• 17:53
  have all the links on the website and down on the show notes. Bill.
• 17:59
  It's always great to talk to you, man. Let's let's have it
• 18:02
  soon Yeah, enjoy the receive your day brother, see you soon. Yeah
• 18:04
  he's sick, okay chahm