PipemanRadio Interviews DeathCollector About Bloodstock 2024

0:00 Hi, you have unto censure? Wow for you. Young whycoume of America. It's time for the Adventures of Pipe Man on W four c Y dot com. West Pompeach is number one internet radio station. Here's your host, the pipe manor.

0:45 Lord. This is the pipe Man here on the Adventures pipe Man W four c Y Radio. And I'm here with our next guest, who is performing at. A festival that I absolutely love, like. One of my favorite. As you my listeners know, I go to festivals all over the world and this one's one of my favorites. And so h man, I'm sorry. I'm gonna miss it though, because my daughter's getting married. But you guys need to. Go to Bloodstock and you need to see this band right here. So let's welcome to a show. Death Collector.

1:29 How are you. We're doing well? We all doing well. I think the real reason I'm not going is cause I don't know if I'm ready for death yet. So uh, I'm staying away. Yeah, we're not. We're not we're not currently taking collections. So you're okay, oh okay good. I feel like maybe it's like you know, uh, you going to Bloodstock would be like being in church and they're passing and played around except their collect in your souls. Yeah yeah, it's like a chalice like full of just like individual souls, you know, everyone just has one, you know. Yeah, there you go. So tell us how this road to Bloodstock started.

2:15 Oh well you can the how did the death collect to stop? How did you collect your starter? How did we end up playing a Bloodstock? Which is a question you could. Do either one mine with how you were getting the bloodstock, but you can tell them anything you want. Okay, Bloodstock. We were invited to play, so we were asked if we went to the slot in the Sophie stage, So we said, yeah, go for notting to lose. You mean, it's great to play Bloodstock. Insane lineup every year, Yeah, like this year, like you've got like day Side, You've got Carcass. Got to say this, tons of bands that I would have grown up listening to, like they're playing at it like as well. So I'm really looking forward to it this year, like and I'm delighted like that we were asked to play it, especially in this Olfie stage.

3:00 Is what the second stage? Do? You know? It's the great Spoctor's always a good turnout as well. Likes, so really really really looking forward to this. I love that stage and the concept of it too, you know, oh yeah, because not many I've been talking a lot about this because not many people outside the UK are aware of what Bloodstock does and what that Sophie Lancaster stage means. And you know, it's terrible what happened, and it's amazing what Bloodstock does to support it and keep that alive because you know, metal heads, punks, goths, whoever we are, you know what, we're just people and you know, we go through lie crap and it's really unfortunate happened to Sophie Lancaster and her boyfriend and going home, just going home from a gig, and just because you're a goth you get to death. Like I just don't know what's wrong with the world. That is the reason that would happen. But I love the fact that Bloodstock makes so much awareness to it, has a stage decade to it, and now you guys are playing on that stage and that's yeah.

4:21 It's no small thing. It's it's also as well because Sophie Lancaster's mother passed away recently, like a few years ago, so like you know, so in a way like the stage will keep that memory going. I don't think they're ever going to change the name of it. I don't think they ever could. But it's not of like like Sophie Lancaster's. It wasn't a unique experience. It happens to alternative people from school all the way through to adulthood. Even now, I still get shouted. At by you know, not like normal people just shout goth at you, and it's. Just like, yeah right. But it wasn't for places like Bloodstock spreading that awareness, it wouldn't have reached places like you in America, it wouldn't have reached another place around the world. And that's solidarity.

5:05 We all feel it, like, you know, no one should ever have that done to them for no reason, like no good reason. No no actual ethical or moral reason to do that anyway. But you know, it's just it's one of those things that unites most people who are on this subject of the like outside culture, subcultures. You know, it just it is what it is. But bluzz circ will give their credit like that. If it wasn't for them spreading the awareness that they are, I do think it would get forgotten about, and it would be a thing that is spoken about only through people like. Us exactly, and people that know are living in the area, and you know, we all have probably dealt with it at some point or another. Oh yeah, I unfortunately dealt with it with cups when I was a teenager.

5:49 You know. Yeah, that's classical, that isn't it, right? Like, and they're the ones they are supposed to be set in the example. So I think we ourselves set the example. And that's what's great about Bloodsteck and and and bands like you. Absolutely So tell the listeners who have never heard your music before, how you guys would describe your music not by a genre, because I hate that crack like boxing and artists into you can only play this music, you know, because I think artists they have their own idea what their music is, and that's what I want to hear. Yeah. Like, like as Mick said before, like to me, like we're kind of an attitude, like we are an old school kind of feel in regards of raw, unadulter and straight to the point, like in your face, like this is the music, this is what we're doing, This is our message.

6:45 No bells and whistles. It's purely raw, unadulterated and heaviness. Uh. We get coined into old school death metal because we have a lot of signatures that are considered to be that. But even then that's purely just for p pools like familiarity, like oh I like that. But. Personally diverse though. Yeah, personally I hate the term old school death metal. Yeah, death metal is death metal. That's it. It's just so happens where all guys playing it, so it's the real. Deal, you know. Yeah, as an old school metal head, I agree with you because it's like we as old school people. The new death metal people are like, oh well that wasn't really death metal. We're death metal now, and it's like, okay, I think it's all.

7:35 It's all metal to me. Yeah, the guy come from the school of like, like my introduction to death metal would have been you know, like the compilation albums you know, like road Runner would have released, not like a death Door that would have had like say this ones the side Obituarry Welse ex order would have been honest and like it's called a death door. So my assumption is like an or twelve year old at the time was thinking, oh, this is what death metal sounds like. You know, So anything that basically had a road racer logo, I just bought it and tied it was death metal, even though like it's nice, it could be trash, it's faster like likes order, but like they had hatred and anger and attitude in their lyrics and into the music, which align is with death metal anyway. So it's it's all about the attitude more than anything else. Like I think debt metal kind of devolved into like gymnastics, like going who can tread as fast as can?

8:31 Who? Yeah, last as fast as can At the end of the day, it's about writing catchy riffs that people can get behind, like three or four in his and that's it. Yeah, I mean, like death perfect example, he didn't write ridiculously complex things. He wrote what kind of sounded good to him, and then everyone went, ah, let's do that but more right. And I think that kind of technicality that like that's specifically nailed was perfect. And then after that it does get a little bit like the fastest competition, the noodlelist competition loses a bit, you know, it's a bit like. All right, I laughed too, because I remember me and my friends in the eighties like going the faster the better, every ding it's fast and it's funny. Me and my best bro who passed away in September, we were we were driving up to a festival a couple of years ago, and we were listening to some of our old school bands and he turns to me, he's like, I don't know, I remember this being faster one of them. We were listening to his Venom okay, and he's like, I remember this being faster. I'm like yeah, because then it was the fastest, you know. But here, let me play something for you now, And that's true. My first introduction to death metal was was you guys are going to love This was the first ever crossover show where punks and metal heads could be in the s room. Like, because

10:02 I was a metal head, had long hair, I couldn't go to punk shows. I got my ass beat vice versa. So this was the first one. It was at this place called the Sun Valley Sportsman's Lodge. It was like an Elks lodge, okay. Yeah yeah, And so on the punk side, it was coc pre pepper cool, it was suicidal pre crossover. Yes, nice and it was the Descendants, okay. And then on the metal side was this span Savage Grace, who just came out with a new album after. Like forty years. Yeah, it's under cover.

10:44 Is this? It's the band actually have the album right near me. They they had this I think the one with that on the cover. I'm thinking of Sodom when I think of that. Okay. Uh, this band had like their first album was a Dominatrix, so they had a Dominatrix on the cover. A hot metal check and then and they toured with Motorhead and stuff like that. And then there was also Dark Angel yes yep, and wait for it, this was my introduction death metal. Possessed oh yes, yes yeah.

11:26 And after that that was in LA, and Possessed and Dark Angel were both from the Bay Area. And then you know, I was at the first Slayer show ever, the first Metallica show ever, and they left LA and went to the Bay Area. So after that show, me and my bro used to hitchhike up to the Bay Area from LA and go to Possessed shows because we were like, oh my god, this is the fastest, heaviest, loudest, most evil music there is. First time it was you know, nothing that was really quite compared to it. Now, that's Seven Churches album is absolutely super influential. If you ask me, it's the first step metal aum. I know people say Screen Bloodygore, I'd say Seven Churches.

12:09 And we believe that was the first death metal album then, yeah, for sure. And they weren't caring about the technicality so much. It was again like you said, how fast, how great the riffs like the song The Exorcist, The riffs in that is just like to me, one of the best riffs ever in any song ever. Yeah. So, so tell us what we can expect from a live show from Death Collector at Bloodstock or anywhere else. Lee, all right, fine, Like I'll try to include you man, I'm like, ok, yeah, all right. So from a life experience, it's going to be is the word I'll use that will cover it all is that I love that we we're going to go up there with no pretense, no over the top like anal precision and over professionalism. We're going to do our jobs. We're going to play the music we love and we're going to do our best performance.

13:12 But we're not going to be focusing so much on ourselves in that regard, We're going to be looking at the audience trying to get them moving, and it's all about that kind of energy and attitude. And I want we want to be infectious on stage. I want everyone to be having such a good time with us, because I know I'll be. I know these guys are going to be. It's going to be a great show. I'm so excited. That's what music it's all about, right there. Yeah. Yeah, too many bands get too caught up in their own ego on stage. It's ridiculous. You know, something goes wrong and they're having hissy fits and it's like it's not perfect, and I'm like, yeah, that's life. We talked about that back in the media in the press tent, because you know, we see what goes on and hear what goes on, and it's like a private thing we talk about, not a public thing. But yeah, there's certain bands you can just tell they're getting up there, they're just going through the motions. They don't even like each other, you know. And then there's those other bands that just get up and they're just being real, like you said, genuine but having fun, yeah, and feeding off the crowd because that's what it's about.

14:21 You know. It's like. You as the artists up there, you have that crowd to feed off of. That was one of those things during the pandemic. I was like, man, how are bands doing these live stream concerts because I don't know. If I could do that. So well, it's just more like a practice instead of a live show. It feels like that, to be honest with you, Like I did a few live stream gigs throughout the pandemic with my band is sella Cult and another band that it's being called Brigandiata or Doom Bands Bust. The way to these live streams were set up, there was three bands playing on the bill, so we still had each other to kind of hang out with or whatever, like have our own kind of party going on, and we'd play anyway. And the people that were recording it, they were like you could see the screen. You can see all the comments coming up in us, you know, as bans were playing, and there was like donations being taken, like there were the money any proceeds was that was raised was like donated to local charities and things like that.

15:26 So it was for yeah, yeah, yeah, so and it was good to see like guys that work work in that industry who were completely shut down for two years, that had nothing to do, They're able to get back into an environment where they could set up like lighting rigs, camera rigs, guys that were involved in say like front of house doing the audio as well. Like they were back doing what they loved, you know. So it was good. It was it was a necessary evil at the time. Like I can understand why a lot of bands won't do it either, like because they're not getting the interaction from an audience, you know. Yeah, but there was like people there that were working on it, so we could see their expressions knowing. Well, see that's cool, that's cool to hear that, because at least you have somebody, because if you were playing to nobody, you know, yeah, you're pros, you're gonna do it.

16:15 But it's not the same for you. It's not the same. Yeah. There was some really good live performances that I saw. I think it was that Trivium did some really good ones and some of the bands did some high quality. Ones Cause of Death, yeah, which is really cool. And it was also the first time those bands actually got time to rest for a bit, you know what. I mean funny you say that, because that was something else I was going to talk about here, and I've talked about a lot. Okay, so you guys are basically a lockdown project that sprang into being a band. And that goes along with what I've been saying all along is if you were to take one positive out of that lockdown, is that bands and musicians that were on the hamster wheel for so long where you don't even have a chance to think of if you even want to be doing it the way you're doing it, because like gig, the gig, the gig, right, write an album on the tour bus to the gig, and like all the creativity and the fun is kind of gone. That I think the lockdown caused artists to be able to reanalyze how they wanted their music career to be what they wanted to be and get creative again, get that creative spark that got them into music to begin with.

17:31 Definitely, for us it was just why not kind of moment we were like, well, we've got these tracks, might as well do it? Yeah, go on. Then that's that's how De Collector came to be in the first place. It was it was it was out of boredom during lockdown. Yeah yeah, yeah, I'd met Andy before before the pandemic and we win a couple of gigs with Memoriam while he was Dill with Memoriam, and I kept in touch with Andy then afterwards and then should the pandemic happens, and I've seen Andy had a post on Facebook saying like he was thinking of doing like these kind of online covers if anyone was interested though to hit him up. So I shot him a message and said, hey, man, I said I want I went to play guitar. I'd be more than happy to do it. Like so he came back to me. Then he goes, okay, he goes the thirty year anniversary ball Throw or war Master, he goes, want to do a song from that? Straight away, I'm like going, okay, I'm getting to play a ball toour song with the drummer from ball Shoer. No pressure, but yeah, So it came together that way. We did a couple of other covers then, like we had other musicians in on it as well, like that played in different songs, Like we had Jason from Aglac, like he played keys on a battery tune and he played bass, and then Tombs covered that we did around the time when LG. Petra had passed and we had Dave Ingram from Benediction doing vocals on a track, with Steve Marher from Abandoning Carnet doing vocals on another track, and then Guard from the Ark and heeded vocals on

19:01 the Bold Shore cover. So I was getting totally behind you looking at doing other covers. So I was kind of take to myself, what will we do next? Might do a song from maybe Autopsis, Severed Survival, or maybe something from Death Screen, Bloody Go or something. So I said it to Andy as I going, how would you feel about doing another cover? And he goes, look, he goes, the covers are fun and all that. He goes, how'd you feel about doing original music? So? Sure is it? Why not? Let's try it? Why not? So wrote We wrote the three songs that were on the times up BP, and we were continuing to work and other stuff as well at the same time. So Kieran and Leading came on board like after myself and Andy had the songs written, and then we decided to record them then and release them. And then it just fucking grew Legs. Then after that and took Afflict you know, oh yeah.

19:49 Yeah, And that goes right along with what I'm saying. It's like I've said all along that some of the best music ever. We look forward twenty thirty years, we'll come o that line. Do you know, the Lockdown itself sucked? But if you're going to look at what good came of it, And here's an example, like, if it weren't for that Lockdown, would Death Collector be playing that Bloodstock. It probably wouldn't exist at. All, exactly exactly. So that's badass in and of itself. So how do we tell people how to reach out to you guys on socials? Check out your merch, check out your tour dates, music, all that good stuff.

20:31 Right, So the first place you can always find this on is just go to our band camp because a lot of it's all our merchan done from there. But social wise, our link tree is attached to every single platform we're on, so be it X or Twitter as you can call it, Facebook or Instagram or link trees there which shall have all like the things that we got coming up and whatever else would be on there as well. And also our ePK is on there as well. If anyone's watching, nice and I think we should make a movement to change the name of Twitter again. Let's just call it ex Twitter. That's what I saw.

21:11 You guys have a TikTok. Yeah, I run that. So tell me either the craziest or most fun TikTok that you've done that. I've done personally, or the band's one. Quite The band's one is quite straightforward. It's just this gig that live show TikTok itself. The craziest thing that I've done was, oh, so many things are screaming like a vampire. In one of them, I was running through the house and then the sunlight hits me and I died. I do like little funny little clips videos, like dumb stuff. I do like some like news following things as well. So I did like a postbark coadera and it got like hundreds of thousands of views, and I've been I've gone viral a few times on TikTok now, so I've got about fourteen followers.

22:01 Get me out. But you know, it's really cool for that kind of stuff. But it's yeah, the stuff that I've done on it, I think that's probably the wildest one. Oh no, I did a live stream, so you put yourself live. Never done it before. My ego loved it. So I'm just. There like doing this live stream. It's all funny in that, And I got bombarded by Christians like literally like, wow. Loves you, Jesus loves you, praise him, praise of Jesus. Think you can be saved, you could be saved. And I'm there, like. I started and I started speaking in like tongues, right, but I was growling. So they're like and they were just like, they're like, Jesus, Jesus saved, Jesus saved. They're like that you like spamming the chat like somehow that's going to do anything.

22:45 I couldn't help it. I felt a bit bad. I was like, I probably scared the living shit. That's the funniest ship ever. That reminds me. I was doing that. That's above so below the. Should have started, according Lluins and the extorsis. I was saying like pig latiny stuff as well. I suppose it didn't get banned. I love it. And you know what's funny about that. There's two things that made me laugh about that is one is I was just talking about on my live show last week, how to get rid of Jehovah's witnesses that come to your house. And the first time I was effective, I was a teenager.

23:29 I had. Slayer playing through my guitar amplifier in the background when they knocked on my door and I was wearing Ozzy Diary of a Madman's shirt, and they I just said to him a very straight face, I'm like, sorry, I'm a devil worshiper, and they ran so fast and never. Yes. I had the same experience as well when I was about thirteen or fourteen. They came knocking at the door and I had like first d a side out blasting the living room and answered the door wearing shirt the one that says to kill God. I think the song that was playing when they hit the door was I Am the Antichrist.

24:13 It was like, I Am the Antichrist. All left Lunt oh Man. It was like it couldn't have been planned more perfectly. But then I also wanted to talk, which is good and funny. Tomorrow on my live show, I'm gonna be talking about Gojira because of that oh yeah, fucking insane performance at the Olympics. Like, first of all, when I heard they were playing the Olympics, I'm like, oh my god, maybe this year Jethrotel won't win a medal award and oh my god, it was so awesome. But what I think so funny is all these idiot Illuminati people that think that go Jira playing at the Olympics is another sign that the Illuminati is taking over and the whole thing.

25:05 I'm sure you've seen all over the net the Satanic Olympics and I'm like, oh my god, maybe it was. I literally said this to people on social media. I was messing with people that were doing I'm like, maybe it's just because they're a French band playing in France. Exactly what a concept. The most un satanic band I've ever heard. The lyrics are about whales and saving the planet and pollution. So it's like, that's what I love about people that think they know metal, especially when it comes to a band like a Giro or a band like you guys, where they don't even.

25:47 Know what the words are. They just hear. Satan. Satan is what gives you that voice. Maybe if they wanted a Satanic French band play at the Good of astat spell Omega or something like that. Right, yeah, and see they changed it, those idiot people change the Olympics logo to say six sixty six and saying that's what was put up on the screen. Well, go Jura was playing. Find what you look for in the world. That's what I've noticed. I'm telling you. Well, even like the old days, remember backward masking, Okay, like you were told what it said, so then you would listen like, oh, yeah, that is what it's saying.

26:28 It's probably just saying blah blah blah that and you're like, oh, yeah, I heard that. Yeah, it's because people just hear what they want to hear. Like I always say, like you project out what's inside you. But if you keep seeing evil everywhere, maybe it's because you're afraid of your own evil. I've always said that. I love that. That's a great I mean. Because I understand, Like, so the things that you like think of think a bad or negative, they come from a base understanding of you. You are the perspective of that understanding of what's bad or good. Your moralities created from your experiences, et cetera. So when they say things are evil and the bad like like homosexuality and things like that. That's probably because they have feelings themselves. Well, let me, let's be real.

27:09 Most homophobes are the ones that really are hiding. Yeah, and I'll take that exact logic and take it to everything else that they also complain about. And now you're like, ah, that's so true. I love it. That's psychology, that's for you. So is there anything else we want to tell the listeners about what you have coming up or anything about your music before we go that we haven't covered already? So Bloodstock is going to be a very very special special gig due to the fact that Andy is retiring. M So he's hanging up the sticks, that's it. So we're going to send him out with a blast anyway, Like you know, yeah, sad to see him go, Like you mean, so great myths, great friends. Do you really enjoy playing music with him? Really blood stuck with him and hanging open him that weekend? Then like yeah, yeah, so.

28:06 Yeah it's gona but like I don't think he's I know, he's stopped playing live, that's so he might still do little things at home, but yeah, like when it comes to live, I think that's it. Now he's done. Done. He's fair, he's earned it, he's earned. The rest, you know, absolutely sixty years old, he's been drumming for forty plus years. I mean, I can't imagine, like how the kind of like relief and. Pride he has, like at least he's done something and then god, right, I'm done now totally. And that's to do that for sixty years. That's a lot of work and a lot on your body, for sure. Yeah sure, yeah, especially playing drums like at that level. That's that extreme.

28:48 I can't even imagine most people sixty being able to drum like that. Yeah, literally, Like I saw you know, you remember anvil, Like, oh yeah, I saw them on one of these, and they're like, you know, in their mid sixties and upwards. And the drummer he's like renowned like for being such a good drummer as well, and he's there playing like that, and I thought he's got one hundred dates, one hundred dates. I was like, how they're built. Different, built different stern of stuff. My friend, that generation are built different. Well, I'm from that generation. So like my daughter, my youngest daughter, sometimes I'll bring her festivals with me because I go on tour and do like a festival every weekend, and now they're even longer post COVID. It's like every festival is now four or five days instead of two or three days. Yea, and my door will be after half a day. She's like, Dad, I don't know how you do this every weekend. I'm done, Like, and I say to or I'll know how, I don't.

29:44 You know, it's it's it is something that's just built in you. Yeah, it's the way it comes down to, and that's true of being a musician. It's something that's built in you. You know. Yeah, yeah, especially when you play the type of music you do. You're not doing it to become a rock star. You're doing it because the music's building. Yeah, Like if we wanted to get famous, we'll play all the kind of bands that are more likely to get famous and known and roll that reputation. You know, we're doing this because we like music. But fundamentally, it's like the best part of it is is playing music with people you actually like. That really helps. Okay, it's to fun at the end of the day, it's all about having fun.

30:27 You're playing music with I mean that you are like that. We are of like common vision. Do you know what I mean? To write good songs, have fun, playing with have fun, playing gigs to people, meet people. Certainly not about playing money. It's certainly about not making money into it. Definitely isn't like Yeah. And I say nowadays, especially more than ever, if you're not having fun in this business, this is the wrong business because everything else is not fun. Yeah, playing festivals is the peak fun, right, and like it's just mad, it's just crazy. A few times you guys get to see bands you want to see because they happen to be at the festival and you wouldn't tour with them or or anything like that. Like you get to see bands you probably would never tour with.

31:19 True, Yeah, that's true. Yeah, very true. And so now now with you saying that, now there's three times you've gotten me depressed during this interview. From the beginning it's because I'm missing day Side and Carcass and now it's because I'm missing this like iconic set that you guys are going to do never to be repeated, and it. Will be filmed. It's going to be filmed so you can watch the whole thing like in full. So that's something. Felt only at Bloodstock. I think that ranks right up there with a couple of years ago when Machine had played as the surprise his band in the Yeah, so.

32:02 You're right up there with that. That's your set this year. Oh wow, thanks Mind, I appreciate that. Oh my pleasure. Thanks for giving us great music, Thanks for playing at Bloodstock, and thanks for being on the Adventures of pipe Man. That was good. Thank you for having us really appreciate Thanks for having us yet touch it. Yeah, thank you for listening to the Adventures of pipe Man on w for c u I Radio.