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Bleeding For Your Art With KRAGEN LUM From HEATHEN · HEAVY Music Interviews

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: This is Craig and Lum from Heathen and I'm here
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: to talk with you about our new live album, Bleed
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: the World Live, which comes out today. Make sure you
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: check it out, get your physical copy, and hope you
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: enjoy it as much as we enjoyed playing all the
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: shows and making.
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: The record fantastic. May thank you for joining us today.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: As you say, he didn't have just today release Bleed
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: the World Live. Like live albums are a long process.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Makee Beers have been recorded since twenty twenty three, So
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  Speaker 2: is it a relief to finally get it out of there?
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, we we we started working on it
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: actually last year and then we got we got an
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: opportunity to go out on tour again with Symphony X
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: and it you know, for us, with having a melodic singer,
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: it's cool to be able to go out and play
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: in front of a different audience and simply the excess
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: audience is a little different from ours. So we took
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: the tour and uh, you know, it kind of delayed
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: things a little bit, but we're glad to finally finally
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  Speaker 1: have it done and it came out great. Zeus did
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  Speaker 1: a killer job with the mix it sounds amazing. It
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: sounds like you're there at the show.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: So and have you had any any early feedback, You've
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  Speaker 2: got faith to listen to it before the relation and
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: let you know what they thought.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah, all the feedback that we've gotten so far has
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: been great. Actually, you know, one person mentioned that it
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: was like if you closed your eyes, you were there
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: at the show, and that was exactly what we were
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: trying to do. We we made sure that when we
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: were recording, we recorded not just the band, but also
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: the audience at every show so that we could really
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: get the live live album feel. You know, those classic
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: live albums that we used to love, you know, Live
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: After Death and Trip You and you know many many
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: other ones, but those you can you feel like you're
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: there because the audience is is so prominent, you know,
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: feedback from the crowd and everything in the in the songs.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: And I think modern live albums are kind of missing
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: that because a lot of bands they record the show,
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  Speaker 1: but they don't record the audience, and you're kind of
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  Speaker 1: missing an important element for the live show.
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  Speaker 2: I'm straight and as a band man, like, how do
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: you approach your live album? Does it? Mike preparing for
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  Speaker 2: the show is any different now one, did you actually
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: being recorded?
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: No, not really. I think it might. It might impact us,
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  Speaker 1: like if we were only being recorded one night, for example,
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  Speaker 1: But with this in this case, we we recorded every
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: single show on the tour that we did with Overkill
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: in twenty twenty three, and literally like recorded every show.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: So we had a lot of stuff to go through
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  Speaker 1: and kind of pick out like what the what the
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  Speaker 1: best or most powerful performance was something something great, you know,
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: that had to happen in that particular song. So it
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  Speaker 1: took a while to go through everything and kind of
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  Speaker 1: find the the golden nuggets, so to speak. But I
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: think it came out great in the end.
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  Speaker 2: And I remember when you guys are sitting back listening
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: to those shows like where any of you is really
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: critically young performance. So I listened to guy like I
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: ate above night there or.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, you know, it's live. So sometimes that
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  Speaker 1: stuff happens, and you know, not every show is your
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: best show, and sometimes it's when you got five guys.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: You know, every once in a while there's like a
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  Speaker 1: a magical show so to speak, where everybody's just on
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: and we had one of those. There are several songs
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: from a show in Houston, Texas that were all on
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: the live album because the show was so good. So yeah,
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  Speaker 1: it can be hard to listen to it, especially if
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: you if you didn't have a good night one night
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  Speaker 1: or something. But it happens. It's we're humans, David, and.
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  Speaker 2: You mentioned that it does happen, so there would have
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  Speaker 2: invariably been a few mistakes here and there. Did you
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  Speaker 2: leave any of them in these songs for authentaity sacred
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  Speaker 2: as you're trying to runs?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, we tried to make sure that the that
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  Speaker 1: the songs were really well represented. So you know, of course,
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  Speaker 1: you know that if if Dave isn't isn't perfectly on
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  Speaker 1: rhythm or on pitch or something on something, but the
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  Speaker 1: whole performance sounded good, you know, we went with it,
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  Speaker 1: you know, and that happens. That happens with you know,
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  Speaker 1: with any with any live concert show. You know, there's
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: it's not necessarily about perfection. It's just about getting the
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: feeling and about capturing a you know, capturing a great performance.
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: You can never fully recapture the live sound of a
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: band on stage. But you've mentioned putting the audience in
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  Speaker 2: But like what other things did you do to make
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: sure that the album was as close to the live
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: experience as you could get.
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: Well, So, one thing that we do with Heathen we
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: use these digital amplifiers called Kemper's, So I have, like
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: I'm not to get too guitar nerd, but I use
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: a specific amp mesa Boogie Mark four, and I had
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: that profiled and put on this digital amp. And when
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: we play on stage, what we do is we feed
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: that into a tube amplifier and speaker cabinets, so it
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: sounds just like the amp itself, right, but we're able
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: to feed a direct out to the front of house.
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: So that was really great because from a recording and
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  Speaker 1: mixing standpoint, you don't have to worry about microphones with
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  Speaker 1: other instruments bleeding into it and stuff like that. There's
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: a lot more clarity that can happen, uh and it
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  Speaker 1: and I'm sure it made it easier for Zeus to
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  Speaker 1: mix it because he was able to, you know, get
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  Speaker 1: the guitar sound and have it sound exactly like you
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: know what the front of house would put out into
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  Speaker 1: this into the crowd. So yeah, we did. We did
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: whatever we could make it, make it, make it great
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  Speaker 1: sounding overall, just like we do when we play live.
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: I come back and Tom a bit made like Haveyven
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: formed in the Bay area of San Francisco in nineteenninety four,
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: although you weren't in the band until two thousand and seven, Like,
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: did the band have much impact on you personally in
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: those early years?
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I remember when I first heard he Then.
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: I lived in La as a teenager and we had
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: a radio station there called k and AC and they
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  Speaker 1: just played metal, and they had a thrash and speed
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: metal show that was on I think it was on
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: Friday or Saturday nights, I can't remember which one, and
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: I heard Goblin's Blade for the first time on that show.
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: I would tune in just to hear the new thrash
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: stuff because there was no internet or anything, you know,
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: and how also you're going to hear it. So I
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: heard it then and I immediately went out and I
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: bought the probably the cassette at that time, and yeah,
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: I mean I really I liked it because it was
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: a blend of sort of traditional heavy metal with melodic
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: vocals and thrash, and it was this combination of the two.
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: And then when Victims of Deception came out. It was
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: like it was like breaking the silence on steroids, you know,
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: like it was great. It was even even more you know,
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: of what I wanted to hear. So yeah, I loved
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: I loved those first two records, and I was, you know,
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: very proud to be able to participate in the third
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: one and you know the fourth one too.
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: So when do you come into the band it was
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: already established. How much pressure was there on you actually
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: coming into an established band and how long would it
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: take for you to feel fully comfortable in your position?
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: I mean, you know, those guys have a history or
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: the original guys I that that I don't share. So
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: in that respect, you know, I mean, I'll never I'll
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: never have all of those experiences. But I think it
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: was after touring for the Evolution of Chaos where I
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: really felt comfortable because I had had shared experiences with
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: all those guys you know, on tour and uh and
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: I had written music for that record, and you know,
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: just spending the time out on the road that's where
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: you get to know everybody. So that's where I really
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: started to feel comfortable. And uh yeah, I mean, you know,
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: those guys are not just not just bandmates but but friends.
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  Speaker 1: So yeah, I.
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: Find it amazing too, like, especially in the modern age,
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: that even IV you released four studio albums in over
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: forty years, Like, is that within the band?
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean that's a that's one of those things
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: where when we did finally get Empire the Blind Out,
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: my goal was to have a new record or like
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: the live album or something out every two years. And
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: then when we released Empire the Blonde and COVID happened
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: and we couldn't do anything for two years. So you know,
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: we did, we did have more music. The new album
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: is actually all written and we go into the studio
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: in a couple of months, so people won't have to
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: wait quite as long anymore. Going forward, we have a
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: new The new album has a has a title, it
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: has artwork, all the songs are written, all my guitar
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: tracks are done, so there there's a head start on
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  Speaker 1: it already, and and then I actually have another whole
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: albums worth of music that we have ready to go
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: after that, So we're hoping to be able to be
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: a little more prolific in terms of releasing things in
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  Speaker 1: the future.
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  Speaker 2: It's too easy my life. I know you guys have
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: just come off a hell of a troll. You come
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: off a few hell of a troll as right, But
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: have you got anything planned for a Stryer in the
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: next twelve viting much?
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: You know what, We probably will will wait until we
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: have a new record. It's hard for us to get
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: over there, you know, in terms of of just all
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: the costs involved. Last time when we went, we did
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: a couple of dates in Asia and a couple of
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: shows in Japan. I would love to do the same.
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: I would love to visit more of Australia. I think
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: we only did, you know, a couple shows, so I
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: would love to go. I've been there twice, once with
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: Exodus and once with Heathen, and I've never been to Perth,
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: so I would love to go, you know, just would
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: love to be would love to go there. We'd love
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: to add in New Zealand, you know, I mean we'
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: we we tried to cover as much ground as we
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: could on the Empire of the Blind tour and we'd
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: love to just visit anywhere else that we haven't been yet.
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: Thanks very much to be well, Thanks very much for
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: your John Brow. It's been a pleasure spake with it played.
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: The World Live is out now as you heard. There's
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: more new music on the way. So the world of
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: Heathen is getting busier and busier. Yes, all right, brother,
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: will you take care of maid and we'll see what
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: do you do?
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: Come out all right? Thank you so much man, thanks
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: for having me on