For George Clarke and Kerry McCoy of Deafheaven, it’s the ritual before the creative process that’s more important than the ritual during it.
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For almost thirty years, Tom Keifer has had seeds rolling around in his head. All day long. They never stop. But Keifer wants it no other way.
Keifer achieved tremendous success as the frontman for the 80s hard rock band Cinderella, selling over 20 million albums worldwide. Throughout his career, Keifer's creative process has involved the sifting of these "seeds," as he calls them. These seeds take the form of melodies and lines that he's always juggling in his mind. Those that he forgets are probably not meant to be anyway, he figures. But those seeds that stick around for weeks or even months are probably, in Keifer's view, meant to be songs. It's not surprising, then, that Keifer's songwriting process always starts with the lyrics. The guitar hooks, he says, are "the easy part." He can write those all day long.
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This site is woefully short of interviews with metal songwriters. I've been a Lamb of God fan for a while, but it was only recently that I watched the 2014 documentary about the band "As the Palaces Burn." No less a metal god than Slash calls them one of the biggest metal acts in the world in the trailer (below). I was impressed by the introspection and thoughtful responses in the band member interviews, so I figured that Mark Morton, guitarist and songwriter for the band, would make a fantastic interview. And boy was I right.
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This site is woefully short on metal, which surprises me given that I grew up listening to the likes of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. My tastes have expanded, but I still love to revisit my roots (and play "Hallowed Be Thy Name" at ear-splitting levels). Sadly, the only other metal interview on this site is with J.D. Cronise of The Sword.
A few weeks ago I was at the Red Palace here in DC. Above the din of the bar, I heard a killer riff (you can always hear metal over crowd noise). I was mesmerized. I asked the bartender who the band was. "Red Fang," she replied. "They're from Portland, and they're awesome." And she's right. So last week I talked with Bryan Giles, one of the songwriters and guitarists in the band. He's in the passenger seat in the video below. Their new album Murder the Mountains(Relapse Records) drops in April, so read my interview with Giles about his creative process, including how endless repetition is an integral part of his songwriting.
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