Discussion: High on Fire

Discussion: High on Fire

Written by Steven Kowalski

Sunday, 22 March 2009 19:32

It’s the day before the Scion Rock Fest in Atlanta and the energy was high as the crews worked to prepare for the show. With acts like Mastodon, High on Fire, and Neurosis on the bill, nobody was concerned the rain was going to affect turnout. The Main Stage of the event was located outside and was slowly developing into a mud pit, a thought that seemed to tickle everyone’s inner child. Mud and metal – what else can you ask for?

Before the show, Swigged had the chance to sit with vocalist/guitarist Matt Pike and drummer Des Kensel from High on Fire to discuss their upcoming album, the difficulties of the road life, and Matt Pike’s upcoming role in the Sleep reunion shows.
High on Fire - "Rumors of War"

Read the interview after the jump!

So there are talks of an upcoming album in 2009, considering anyone special for the producer slot?
Matt Pike: Oh we’ve definitely talked about it. Jack [Endino] is definitely up on the list. We couldn’t NOT consider Albini, of course. And also there’s Kurt from Converge. We’re brainstorming about the way we want this thing to go before deciding.

Has the writing for the album been going any differently?
Des Kensel: It’s been hard. We’re always trying to challenge ourselves and do better.

Matt Pike: Exactly – so we’re getting more intricate in our song writing and actual playing. Some of it is rudimentary – not as difficult as it seems – but at the same time there is complicated chord work, key changes, and other really cool things. It’s been going good – we’re leaning on the whole Black Sabbath kind of thing.

How have you been able to draw from your experiences working with greats such as Albini and Endino?
Matt Pike: It’s going to definitely help us more when we’re actually recording than anywhere else. There are different sounds you can get – clean, dirty, close up sounds. You can get cave-like sounds, like you’re on the side of a mountain.   There are just so many things you can do, and all the producers we’ve worked with just have a different style and a different way of showing it. It’s taught us how to mic things a certain way to get what we want to hear. It’s all still an experiment; you never know what you’re going to come up with when you have that much experience behind you.

What kind of sound is the band going to be aiming for?
Matt Pike: Don’t know yet – we’re working on that. It’s a secret.

Des Kensel: The High on Fire sound.

Is there anything that you wish you could have done on the previous albums that you want to try in this upcoming one?
Matt Pike: The last record was an emotional rollercoaster – we went up and down and up and down.   This one, so far of what we have, is emotionally uplifting but still dark. It difficult to explain, but it will definitely grab your attention.

This will be your first record with Koch, what were your reasons for parting with Relapse? How has that transition been going?
Des Kensel: It really has only just started.

Matt Pike: That’s totally right. It had to do with us bettering ourselves as a band and taking that next step. Realizing what is good for us does not mean it’s always in the interests of Relapse or another label. It’s definitely not a personal thing but we need to step up and do something bigger because we’re getting bigger.

Des Kensel: Koch just got this new guy, Scott. He used to do stuff for Combat Records way back – so he’s sort of a metal dude.   Koch has a lot of hip-hop so I think by signing us they’re trying to branch out. They just made us an offer we couldn’t refuse.

Matt Pike: It’s not like we’re getting rich off it, but it’s fair.

To change subjects a bit, when you were in Sleep, what was the deal with the Orange Amps?
Matt Pike: That was more of Al’s thing. If you know anything about the guy you know he’s very compulsive, so he wanted to buy every Orange Amp in the world. He was willing to sacrifice everything to own all of them. It was just a phase. He also called himself Luke for two years. He thought he was Luke from Luke’s Wall by Sabbath. I’m the first one who fed him acid so it’s half my fault. [Laughs]

With the hype surrounding the Sleep reunion shows coming up in May, has it been more difficult keeping your concentration on High on Fire?
Matt Pike: Not at all – I’ve just been working extra hard. On our days off with High on Fire I just have [the members of Sleep] come up and practice. I’ll just sum up all this Sleep shit in one little blurb. Doing the reunion is going to be badass. We’re going to play Holy Mountain the first night, Jerusalem the second night and we wrote a new song – or rather an old song that we never finished – and we’re going to record that and do a DVD. There you have it. There haven’t been any bad vibes.

In a previous interview, Matt, you mentioned how High on Fire served as a “personal therapy” – how has the band outgrown that?
Matt Pike: We’ve just done so much. Des and I have been on the road for 10 years, fuck. We’ve been through a lot of shit together and always come out forgiving each other for whatever or with new songs. We’ve always had chemistry, and then we found Jeff. You know, George was great, Joe was great, but Jeff is awesome because he’s into taking some of the writing responsibility. Before, Des and I were totally the ones who did all the shit.

So you think Jeff will be more involved with the next album?
Matt Pike: Oh yes, and with the last one. Jeff definitely had a lot to do with the writing – which is cool because he plays guitar and bass amazingly. And Des can work with him. He’s the first bassist we’ve had where Des can go to the studio and play with even when I’m not there.   Before, like if I had to go to practice, nobody would want to play. The chemistry within the band is the strongest it has ever been.

How does the band get involved with the making of the music videos?
Matt Pike: I don’t. [Laughs]

Des Kensel: We’ve done three videos. The first one, we liked it. It was different –some friends of ours just jumped in the van and taped for five days straight. They had to edit through it.

Matt Pike: That one was really cool because it was real punk rock and shot on Super 8. And there are a bunch of chicks following us on tour. How cool is that?

Des Kensel: The second one, we really weren’t too into it. We kept fighting with the director. In that one you can kind of tell it’s not really us.

Matt Pike: It’s a cool video but it’s retarded, too.

Des Kensel: The last one we just did, the director got the job because four or five people sent us treatments and everyone had two-page big stories like a guy riding into town on a horse dragging a coffin behind him or something. We didn’t feel comfortable, really. The guy who did our video submitted a page saying: High on Fire, in a room, sweaty, rocking your fucking face off. He had the right idea.

Matt Pike: One had me riding down Broadway in Santa Cruz on a skateboard. I had to tell the guy “Listen, I got a bad knee and I’m an alcoholic, I just don’t see that happening.”

You guys have had the opportunity to be in the music business for over 10 years, how do you think it has changed over the years?
Matt Pike: It really goes up and down. One year it’ll suck and then next year there will be a bunch of cool bands.

Des Kensel: There are a lot of good bands out there that we play with. The labels are complaining about record sales being down, but the shows for us have been successful for the last few years. We haven’t had a bad turnout in quite a while.

Matt Pike: The shows are actually getting better. If anything, the people who are downloading our shit come to the shows and buy our stuff. IT really doesn’t work against you being more accessible on the Internet. It marks against you in record sales, and like if you don’t meet sales they won’t give you certain tours and such, but it’s a weird industry. All we want to do is kick ass. You either like us or don’t. If not, fuck off.   You don’t want us to play Disney World because we have ‘high’ in our name? Fuck off.

Looking back, is there anything you’d do differently?
Matt Pike: There have been moments where Des and I both question what the fuck we’re doing, but it works itself out. A lot of this business is the drive to keep going. You really do need a lot of gusto and some nuts to keep going at this. This is a lifestyle – nice homelife. I haven’t been able to keep a girlfriend in forever. Dez manages to have a kid and a wife. I don’t know how he does it.

Is it difficult being on the road all the time?
Des Kensel: I’ve only done one tour since my son was born. When we were on the Megadeth tour my wife was pregnant. That was not easy.   The Opeth tour after he was born was pretty rough. I’ve definitely gotten used to saying “good-bye” before a tour. But this is what we chose.

Matt Pike: I remember when we came back from the Opeth tour Des saying, “My wife practically threw the kid at me like a football and took off out of the house and drove away.” [Laughs]

Is there anything you guys do you prepare for the road?
Des Kensel: I try to work to get myself physically in shape. On tour you’re either on stage or in the back of the bus drinking beer. You always start off fresh, getting to see your friends at the first and second show. Then you’re up until 3 or 4 in the morning and have to wake up at 7 to drive your van. What I find harder is adjusting to life back to normal life.

Matt Pike: I seriously have to stretch and work out my vocal chords. Once you’ve been on tour for, let’s say, 3 weeks, it’s hard to do anything but sit in a chair and drool on yourself.

So when should fans expect the new record?
Des Kensel: We’re really hoping for 2009. After [the Scion Rock Fest], we’re going home to bust our ass and write it.

Matt Pike: We definitely are busting our ass, but you can’t force magic to happen. Just because you have a pentagram and some devil incantations doesn’t mean Satan is going to show up.

High on Fire is Matt Pike, Des Kensel, and Jeff Matz. For more information on High on Fire, visit www.myspace.com/highonfireslays or www.kochrecords.com.

Last Updated ( Sunday, 22 March 2009 19:55 )