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Spreading The Ashes With GREG WILKINSON From AUTOPSY · HEAVY Music Interviews

• 0:23
  All right, my name is Greg Wilkinson from Autopsy and fucking stoked to be
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  here, you knowd for brother, thanks for joining us today. We're fucking
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  styke, have you? Yeah? Hell yeah, hell yeah. So Ahtopsy
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  recently released your latest album, Ashes, Organ's Blood and Grips. So how's
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  the only reception beating for it? It's been good? Actually yeah, I've
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  been uh it seems you know, it's kind of scary putting two albums out
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  within a year, you know, a year apart and stuff, and you
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  know, I think some people were definitely a little nervous that, you know,
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  how are they gonna put two records out and make them good? You
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  know kind of thing. So you know, I feel like the reviews have
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  been overall pretty warm to it, and people seem pretty excited about it on
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  that subject, right, Like my spans as I get older, I sort
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  of I slide down with their with their output of records. But you guys,
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  like you said, you've just done two and twelve months. But where's
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  the energy coming from? You know? I think, you know, I
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  can't speak on behalf of before me joining the band, but you know,
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  there was that whole covid lockdown thing that I think kind of kind of maybe
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  maybe built a little backup, and then me joining the band and and also
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  having input and all that kind of stuff. You know, there's four of
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  us that all write songs, so you have four people, you have a
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  big fucking break from shows, from writing records, from recording, like the
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  whole world shut down for like a year and a half or something. So
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  I'm sure that those were all elements that came into play. But then you
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  know, in the end, the fact of the matter is is, you
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  know, I think once we get the wheels rolling, we just keep going.
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  So that seemed to have seems like we just kept going, you know,
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  so connectic energy, that's the That's my answer. Tell us a bit
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  more about ashes Olgan's Blood and Crips from a musical point of view and what
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  you're gone forward with the album. Yeah, you know, I think I
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  kind of feel like there's a uh, you know, on Morbidity Triumphant.
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  I was new to the band and they already had a lot of songs written
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  before me joining and stuff, and then we wrote more together as as we
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  got closer to recording and stuff. But you know, it was kind of
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  when I wound up joining the band. It was sort of like I said,
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  there's this kind of backup from not doing stuff for a few years,
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  and then we kind of just jumped in, all four on the floor.
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  I think we did. I think we did in the ten shows last year
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  and recorded an album, and so this time around, I feel like there
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  was just this energy that just kept going. Like it was almost like,
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  Okay, we recorded an album, We're fucking we're playing all these shows.
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  It's great, but you know, we still have all this this creative input
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  with the new energy of the four of us playing together. And I think
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  that what we were going for on this one was sort of documentary documenting the
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  new energy, you know, and writing an album together as opposed to you
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  know, finishing an album together, which is sort of the last one,
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  you know, So I think that was kind of what we were going for.
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  I felt like, I, you know, although they gave me free,
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  free liberty for base and all that kind of stuff on the last one,
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  this one it was I was there from the step, but you know,
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  the floor up writing with them. So I think we all kind of
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  were able to show our strengths and weaknesses, you know, And I think
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  also being able to kind of produce this record ourselves was something that was kind
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  of fun because we gave us a little more time to work on stuff,
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  you know, in this studio as well, and make sure we're not just
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  trying something out and we got two minutes and then say do we like it
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  or not, I'll fuck it throw it away, you know. So so
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  you know, that's sort of what we were going for, was just taking
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  that that whole momentum that we just built over a year, year and a
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  half jamming together and and you know, making another piece of wax. You
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  know, you're very co So I love those lives. Probably, Like how
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  does this album differ sonically to Mobidity Triumphant Sonically? I think it's it's a
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  little I'd say it's a little more uh intentioned, I guess for lack of
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  better words. You know. Morbidity was definitely because when I joined the band,
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  we had something happened where it was like a joined we started kind of
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  like learning stuff, and then we had a show and then we got back.
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  You know, it was like okay, we have a we have like
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  a month and then we're going in and recording to finish writing everything and doing
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  it. When we got to mixing, we didn't really have much time to
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  kind of finish the record off and stuff. And so I think that on
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  this new record, you know, having more time to actually mix and layer
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  stuff, I think that was like a big difference in the not only in
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  the production did it show. I'm actually really happy with how Morbidity came out,
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  you know, but I think on this one it was just a little
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  smoother of a you know, less of a punk vibe to it, you
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  know, not that we got super crazy. We didn't spend that much time
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  on the recording, but you know, the difference was Morbidity was definitely more
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  punk, like, all right, then you know, Adam's gonna mix the
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  song, we're gonna listen to it once, and we got two minutes on
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  notes for that song and we're going to the next one, you know,
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  And I thought that was kind of a cool vibe too, you know.
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  So this one is like our juxposition of it, you know, so we
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  kind of had a different vibe into it. You know, it was a
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  little both records had a lot upfront, and then on Morbidity it was a
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  little less like in the actual production time wise, and on this one,
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  we gave ourselves a little bit of time on production so everyone could take something
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  home and listen to it, and then we could say, you know what,
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  let's try this, and it's like, okay, we can do that
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  now, you know. So I think that was the difference between the two.
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  Wait have you released the singles Thripe Soul and Repit Heteral So I just
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  say that Soul someone s heard of the album sci file said they're a good
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  sonic representation of what to expect. Yeah, I think so. I think
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  I do have to say that that that ashes and organs and stuff they they
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  There's definitely a lot more variation on this record, and I would not say
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  that those two songs are completely representative of what the whole album sounds like music
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  wise. I think there's definitely other twists and turns we still you know.
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  But I felt like the intentions of picking those two tracks collectively was to say,
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  here's the fucking meat and potatoes for you know, a song, and
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  then here's one that kind of expands out a little more and it's a little
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  longer and has more twists and turns within the song. So I kind of
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  feel like that was the decision making between that. So you can definitely get
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  a good vibe of what the album sounds like, but there's definitely more twists
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  and turns in there, and it's not gonna be all the songs don't sound
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  the same, you know, as far as songwriting. So, yeah,
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  the music video for Rabbit Funeral was like a five minute horror film. Might
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  so tell us about that and what storytells it looks like it would have been
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  a little fun. Yeah, you know, I I'm not okay. So
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  we have the there's a collective in Canada. They make a bunch of great
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  horror movies and stuff, and so they actually approached us when we did Morbidity
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  to do a song and they did a killer job. And so this time
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  it was I think both of them and us were like, hey, let's
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  do another one again because it was fucking killer. And so there wasn't much
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  dialogue except that we gave them the lyrics and the music and it was kind
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  of gave them carte blanche to take the lyrics and do what they want with
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  it, you know, and you know, we're not there to oversee and
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  say, you know what we want. You know, they because quite frankly,
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  I think we have full trust in what they're going to do. We
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  know it's going to be fucking sick, so you know, I think the
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  more input just make would probably cloud it and make it weirder and more arduous
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  for everyone. So I think the intentions, I could definitely see some good
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  you know, old school horror influence and stuff like you know, fantasm and
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  different things in it, which is kind of fun. So I think that
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  that's sort of a piece of what they were going for, although you know,
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  who knows, they would know better, you know, but yeah,
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  Rabid Dog is who did the video, and there I would be worth checking
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  out their their stuff. They've got some cool shit like that they've done that
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  has nothing to do with our music video. So, oh, you sort
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  of touched on this bit before my ad, but this isn't your second album
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  with All Talk Seasons throwing in twenty twenty one by so, did you feel
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  more comfortable in your oldest song? Well settled? Absolutely absolutely. I feel
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  like, you know, before we did Morbidity, I mean shit, I
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  hadn't even been in the band for a year, so it was kind of
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  one of those I still was very new. They were I mean, everyone
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  in the band has been nothing but kind to me and saying, you know,
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  they're like, you write your own basslines, you you interpret your stuff.
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  They even let me write a song, you know, for for that
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  one and stuff. But I still was like, you know, in my
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  brain, I was like, I'm still the new guy in the band.
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  You know, I'm you know, I'm bass player number you know you whatever
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  that was, you know, and stuff, and so I I definitely had
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  that kind of you know, nervousness. Now you know, we've done a
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  bunch of shows together, and now that we've recorded two albums, I even
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  felt like before going into recording Ashes, like I felt like already like a
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  full member of the band, even though they were telling me I was before,
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  Like I felt more comfortable, I think, I can. You know,
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  now Chris and I have done We've done four records in the last two
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  years together, including Static Abyss, and I feel like musically, I'm more
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  comfortable knowing what everyone's gonna do and what kind of riffs are going to write
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  and what they probably want me to play you know over it and stuff.
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  So I definitely would say I feel very comfortable in the band. Now.
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  How did it actually come to band the band in my life. Have you
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  always beene a something tore felling you left? You know, It's like,
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  I I've always known Autopsy, and I've always really liked them, and I
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  think that what what has happened was, you know, they're They're a Bay
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  Area death metal staple around here. And the cool thing about Autopsy that I've
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  always liked, I've known them for a long you know, of them for
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  a long time, and then when I met them, I couldn't believe how
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  fucking cool and and down to earth they were, you know and stuff.
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  But it was they they are like the punk rock band of death metal too,
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  you know. So it's not they're not just really perfect, you know,
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  metal pretentious people. Not that I mean, there's tons of you know,
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  great different metal people that are also down to earth and cool and stuff.
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  But Autopsy is the kind of people you can approach and talked to and
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  say hi, and like talk music with them, and they listen to other
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  bands and music. They you know, they go all over the place with
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  with that stuff. And so I think I've always you know, having been
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  into Autopsy for so long when I by the time I really started meeting them
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  in the teens and stuff. I had the guys come in on record different
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  stuff. I even did Puncturing the Grotesque. I recorded that here in my
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  studio. So it was like we kind of became you know, bonded over
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  time as friends as well, which only makes you like the band more.
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  Once you get to know the people you know there, you go from like
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  they're fucking awesome. They're everything you want and metal, They're everything you want
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  in Punky. They say, it's everything that I want in extreme music all
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  rolled into one package. They they've got the doom, they've got the you
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  know, the death metal, the punk riffs, the solos, the fucking
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  insane vocals, you know that, all the stuff that you were looking for
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  in music. So I think, you know, it was one of those
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  things just over the years, it just became a natural thing for me to
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  just by the time they asked me to join, I was just like,
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  are you fucking kidding me? I'm absolutely into this, you know. So
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  yeah, it's it's a you know, I feel like most people from the
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  Bay Area, you know, in in my age group that knows of Autopsy
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  and appreciates them for you know, many of the reasons I mentioned. So
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  what's next for a chopsy? Bride the albums down? Now you've got a
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  tool coming up to provide it. No tour, We're just gonna keep We
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  got more shows, books. You know, we're we uh we mainly just
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  travel, you know, do one offs at this point and stuff. So
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  you know we're keeping busy. We just got back from Atlanta this weekend.
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  We wound up playing the Mass Destruction Fest and you know we've been We've been
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  keeping busy. But we have four shows in the works. I'm not sure
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  I'm allowed to like announce what they are yet, but we have stuff.
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  And then there's another group of shows that we're talking about. So you know
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  things are going to happen, and we will be showing up to different countries
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  and city and and uh with our with our fucking rifts and you're gonna have
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  to look at our asses while we play music for you. So we will
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  be coming out there. I play one of those countries is Astralia, but
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  we can catch up and have a beer. Oh yeah, I would be
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  killer. I would. I hope that happens. I'll keep it all half
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  way mate, and when you arrive, I'll be there the airport de Greia
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  is in head. Yeah yeah, all right, Greg, Well thanks very
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  much for your time. Bro Ashes, Organs blooded Chris out now she's a
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  cracker of an albumst so hey carry yourself and joy Wickhaed. I'm not why
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  where about the better remains good? No, my god about your wood filers,
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  No God, Don black So I thought was flo right down side?
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  What as as not a black one? Ms glass some fie No so that
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  not a chis so sad. No,