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Interviews

(interview) Master Nate & The Reprobates – Canada’s most interesting band at the moment!

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Master Nate & The Reprobates have been catching my ear with their awesome music for a long time now. It was about time to talk with them for my webzine.

Hi and welcome to my webzine. So, first of all, talk of the day is your new album. Can you tell me about it, the concept behind it all and as I understood this will be eventually a concept full length, what is the theme and how did you imagine the release dynamics?

Master Nate & The Reprobates -MNR’s new album “The Dusk” is actually the 3rd release in MNR’s debut 8-Album Concept set entitled, …”The Diem Series”.

“The Diem Series” is a themed set, which encompasses the span of light to dark in the physical, emotional and spiritual realms, while painting a mural of the passage of time.

Albums in “The Diem Series” include:

1. “The Dawn”

2. “The Day”

3. “The Dusk”

4. “The Dark”

5. “Tomorrow”

6. “Overmorrow”

7. “Between The Days“

8. “Between The Nights”

All albums covers align to form a Huge Artistic Mural when laid out together. The artwork from the first 4 albums has now been released to the public. The remaining 4 will be unveiled after Bare Bones Records Touring Season for 2023 has concluded.

So as you can see, this is actually a “Concept Album” multiplied 8 times. 

No other band in the world has debuted with an 8-Album Themed Set!

Not The Beatles! Not Elvis!! No One!!

That is more albums than many bands release in their entire careers….and we are just getting started.

Can you tell me more about process of making songs? You guys have such awesome and smart lyrics behind the music and how is the creation process?

For me, the process of writing songs is an unending process. It flows like proverbial water from a spontaneous ‘faucet’…so I always try to keep a metaphorical ‘cup’ on hand to catch the inspiration whenever and wherever it comes. I always carry a note book, often have lyrics written on my arm when no paper is present…and a guitar is in my hand daily.

The Song Pool for “The Diem Series” alone exceeds 100 songs. Our sister band Sofa King Addicted -SKA has 4 albums of about 70 songs….AND there are our Seasonal Side Bands as well: 

-‘The Frostbite Faction’ (Christmas)

-‘The Tombstoners Union’ (Halloween).

I write all the songs for these bands and they just seem to spew forth from me endlessly.

Is it going to be a physical release of new material? How much is merch important to you as a band?

For the release of “The Diem Series”, here’s what will transpire…

-the first 4 albums will be released online.

-MNR will then release a Vinyl “Greatest Hits Of The Diem Series -Part 1”.

-MNR will then pause to release an Acoustic Album on Vinyl and online, which features Keith Douglas (Mad Caddies).

-the last 4 albums of “The Diem Series” will then be released online.

-MNR will then release a Vinyl “Greatest Hits Of The Diem Series -Part 2”.

*MNR will then release the entire “Diem Series” on Vinyl in a Special Limited Edition Box Set!

Sneak Peak of the Acoustic Album…

Have you toured? Have you played Europe and what do you think are main cultural differences between Europe and America/Canada? Did you already play new material live? 

We have toured…just not Europe. We tried, but no European promoters would take us on. So we made our own tour!

-Last Year, Bare Bones Records (the label I founded) created “The Pirates & Punks Festival Tour” and toured Costa Rica.

-This year, The Pirates & Punks Festival Tour will run through August & September, and will visit: Canada, Costa Rica then Australia.

-Next year, in 2024 MNR plans to tour in Europe. Although nothing is formally planned, MNR intends to tour Germany and as many of the surrounding Countries as possible, with the goal of playing some shows in Paris during the 2024 Olympics.

We look forward to speaking with European Promoters and Agencies regarding this.

And yes, we have played some of our new material during the Costa Rica tour to some really great reviews!

As for the cultural differences between Europe and North America…

Even from our perspective from across the Atlantic, we can see that North American culture is much more uptight and restrictive when compared to European culture. Needless to say, we are looking forward to experiencing the shows and scenes in the much more carefree culture and atmosphere of Europe.

As well, we are filming “The Bare Bones Records Hardcore Travel Show” during these tours. So we look forward to experiencing and showcasing Europe’s extensive history, as it’s the roots of the North American culture which we have experienced our whole lives.

Out Soon: Season 1 -Costa Rica

Slated To Be Filmed: Season 2 -Australia

In Pre-Production : Season 3 -Europe!!!

What was the highest and what was the lowest point for MNR so far?

The highest point for MNR is right now! Talking with you about MNR in Croatia, while I am in Canada, having the 1st half of “The Diem Series” AND our Acoustic Album Mastered and slated for release, pending International Tours…the high point is today!

The low point was every single time we have built something, only to have it fall apart. We commited to the Costa Rican your, only to have our drummer quit. We had no time to find another, so the band from England we were touring with (Hinge) loaned us their drummer for the tour.…*Thanks Matt for doing double duty!  Dann and I hadn’t jammed in 9 months, had no drummer, brought no gear, and boarded the plane to Costa Rica with nothing but confidence and guitar picks.

…but we did it, and we filmed the 1st Season of The Bare Bones Records Hardcore Travel Show, AND we turned the biggest possible challenge into another high point!

This year, we’re comin’ fully loaded and ready for war!!!

Question that went through my mind as I read the newspapers the other day. Does the situation in the world look line 1930s more and more? Does history repeat itself?

I do agree that history repeats itself, and that there are unprecedented global challenges…however, I don’t think we can compare it to the 1930’s.

My Grandfather grew up in the 1930’s in Ontario, Canada. The son of a farming family, he had it hard. I remember my Grandparents telling me stories of what Christmases were like for them growing up in the 1930’s. They woke up, went downstairs and they each had a bowl on the kitchen table. In it was left an orange. That was their Christmas gift, as oranges were exceedingly rare in Canada at that time, and in that season. But that’s what they knew…and they were happy! More importantly, they knew how to be happy with what they had! Comparatively today, we live in excess.

Our Christmases exceed those of the 1930’s a thousand times over. Today, when we feel we have it bad, we are still living in excess by comparison.…even most homeless have phones. We’ve never had more (usually at the cost of the environment), we’ve never had it better (usually at the cost of someone else)…but few seem happy. Few seem at Peace. Back then, most had nothing…and most we’re happy. Many found Peace. No, this is not like the 1930’s…this is something else entirely.

What do you guys do for living? I almost wrote ‘ordinary lives’ but I thought one thing. When you are into punkrock and music for long time and it becomes indivisible part of you, this actually is ‘ordinary life’ or is it not? 

I got my 1st job in 1994 (when I was 14) working for my small town. I took that job so I could buy a Gibson SG. I held that job til just last year, largely to finance music. Before I departed that position, I financed a career’s worth of songs, which MNR is now unveiling. Now, I work where I choose…and when I choose, making music the Priority of my Life. We are the sum of our imaginations, and I don’t imagine myself to be confined with no options nor means of egress.

How much would MNR make compromises in possible situation: You are signed to a record label, I am not talking about major, but some, let´s say, bigger name in punkrock/indie label and they tell you to do something this or that way, how far would you be ready to compromise in given situation?

I have built Bare Bones Records and our bands so we answer to no one. We do everything on our own and do a better job because there is no outside influence, nor vested interests beyond our own. Even when it comes to the songs, I am very secretive for fear of outside influence. I have a very clear vision of these songs in my head. No one else is hearing what I am hearing, so no one is then qualified to influence what they have not yet heard. 

We record in a reverse order. I go into the studio and track guitar and vocals alone. Dann usually hasn’t even heard the songs before he enters the studio later on to pay down bass, much of which he writes on the spot. Then drums are usually done last. Our new drummer Kyle tracked drums of 27 MNR songs in a 2 day session.

Dann and Kyle (The Reprobates) are both Troopers and have many, many unseen gifts, which are perpetually at work beneath the surface. Without them…it does not happen!  It’s unorthodox and counterintuitive…but that’s just how it has to be. And that’s why we’re coming out of the gate with over 100 original songs! It works for MNR!!!

Having said all that, although I like to be open-minded whenever possible…MNR has no need to compromise for anyone. Take us or leave us!

Are there any spooky or scary urban legends in place you live?

There’s a spooky experience that hits really close to home…

When I was a child, our family was building a house. It was not yet finished when we had to vacate our old home. So during the month or two interim of having no home, my family stayed at my Grandparents house until we could move into our new home. All the bedrooms we’re filled, and me being the youngest, was given a mattress on the living room floor as a sleeping area (which was on the ground floor level). For reference, this was a rural Canadian Road going through fields and wooded areas, about 15 minutes outside of the town.

One night, an ex-husband showed up at his former wife’s house, across the road…to kill her & her new boyfriend, and to abduct his children. He shot and killed the boyfriend, but the wife and kids got away and ran through the fields to our house, to hide from the killer. I was awoken to the wife and kids trying to open the living room door and windows, screaming “HE SHOT RICKY!!!”

The screams and cries are something I will never forget.

I wrote a song called “Another Man’s Life” about the incident.

Here is a video of both the Acoustic and Electric Versions of the song. (Released on upcoming albums: “The Dark”, and the Acoustic Album “How Did I Get Here?”)

So, for the end classical zine boring question. Is there anything else you would like to add? Thank you so much for your music, your time and your friendship.

In closing, I really want to Thank You Vlad! What you do is such an invaluable service. By your sharing and exposing music, you are creating opportunities and connections.

Without you, everything I’ve just said stays within. Words are one of the most powerful things on this planet. Music is one of the most inspirational things to people.

You facilitate Power and Inspiration Vlad!

On behalf of MNR and Bare Bones Records

…Thank You!!!

Reviews, Various

(interview) Klabautamann

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It was about time to talk with Klabautamann, this interesting black metal entity for my webzine.

1.First of all, hails from Croatia and welcome to Kraykulla Webzine. Could you tell a bit more about musical entity called KLABAUTAMANN for readers who didn´t hear of your opus yet?

What is the meaning behind the name?

Hi there! Klabautamann started out as a teenager fun project back in 1998. That’s when the name came up. It’s the misspelled Version of Klabautermann, which is a ship’s kobold usually appearing as a sign of bad fate. It’s a rather stupid and comical name, but we stayed with it anyways – even after we became more serious about the band, haha.

2. As I understand, you are a one man black metal band, did you play live yet, or are there any plans maybe to play live with session musicians?

You’re right, since Flo left a couple of years I’m the only remaining permanent member. When it was still the two of us, we did play some gigs with guest musicians, which was a really good experience. Currently I don’t have concrete to play live again – but I still have the desire to do so some time, so who knows?

3.Your new sixth full length album is coming out in May. How was the writing and recording process? How do you write songs? What comes first, riffs or lyrics? As I understand, it is a concept album, what is the story behind the album? What is the main difference behind this opus and previous ones?

The guitar parts and arrangements are done before the lyrics. We’ve always done it like that and I still do it that way. After the songs assume shape, I browse through the lyrics by some friends of mine and myself and see if there’s anything that fit’s the songs musical idea. For me it’s important to create an intense atmosphere.  That’s why for me more  important than the meaning of the lyrics is the sound of them and the feeling they create.

In a few short words the album is about everything in life being limited, numbered. It’s a deeply personal topic for me, as it refelects my personal losses of the past years. There have been very sad experiences for me, but the one thing I could take way with me was the following: it’s the finiteness that makes our time to precious. Don’t waste it!

4.How did the cooperation with Zeitgeister come about? Is there going to be physical release or only digital?

Zeitgeister is a small label operated by some fellow-musicians – like Christian, Jan and Flo from Valborg – and me. We’ve released stuff there earlier and as it’s our own label we can do things exactly the way we want. So it was a natural choice. The digital release as well as CDs are already available, the LP version will come out beginning of May 2022. It’s a really high-end version in a beautiful gatefold coming with full-size booklet. You can order all this on klabautamann.de

5.How is the underground music scene in the place where you live?

There are some really cool bands like Steorrah, Valborg and Shredhammer, but due to corona there hasn’t been much live action. Jack Slater and Pavor are also great bands I can really recommend from around here, but I think they stopped playing together a while ago.

6.Are there any notorious or creepy urban legends in the area where you live?

There’s the legend of the Loreley, which is a huge rock face localized about a hundred kilometers up the river Rhine from here. It’s named after a girl who was raped by a priest and took her life by jumping from that rock into the Rhine. After that sailors were distracted because they saw a beautiful girl sitting on the rocks and combing her hair. That way they didn’t notice under water rocks in the river. Their ships crashed into them and sank.

7.Let´s talk about horror. Do you love horror movies and literature? If you do, what are your favorites? Mine are old Hammer horror movies and found footage, also golden era slashers from early eighties. Horror movies vs horror literature? Do you read? What books do you like?

I used to be into horror stuff when I was younger. Stephen King’s „Pet Sematary” and „The Shining” are still two of my favourite books. In terms of horror movies I don’t really have any favourites, though I remember enjoying Evil Dead and Braindead a lot.

I do like to read, usually it’s biographies, adventure reports (being an enthusiastic mountaineer), or stuff related to psychology, buddhism or minimalism. I guess my favourites are currently Arnold Schwarzeneggers Biography „Total Recall”, maybe „Touching the Void” by Joe Simpson and „The Happiness Trap” by australian psychologist Russ Harris. It’s difficult to say though, because there’s so much good literature out there!

8.I read somewhere that black metal isn´t black metal if it is not Satanic. Do you agree on that? I personally don´t.

Well, at least that’s not my definition. When I was a teenager I was a lot into all that satan stuff, but when we started with Klabautamann back in 98 that phase had already been over for some time. When I listen to music nowadays I do not care if there’s a pentagram or an inverted cross – for me it’s all about the music.

9.What are plans for immediate future? Classic for the end, is there anything you would like to add? Thank you!

First I’m really excited about the vinyl release of „numbered” – and after that there’s not so much planned as per now. I do already have a new topic for the next album, and some firends like Marlon – who played drums on „numbered” – have already expressed interest to participate next time! Really looking forward to writing new songs, though it might take a while as my little son is currently the most important thing in my life, so the rest has to wait.

Thanks for the interview, take care!

And for all that are into prog rock / metal, with a  dark and melancholic atmosphere, a lot of odd beats and a hint of black metal – check out our stuff on klabautamann.de !

Interviews, Various

Interview with NightWraith: What fan of death metal doesn’t like horror!?!

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NightWraith are really interesting band based in Denver, USA and it was about time for me to chat with them a bit for my webzine. So, here we go.

First of all, hails from Croatia and welcome to Kraykulla Webzine. Could you tell a bit more about musical entity called Nightwraith for readers who didn´t hear of your opus yet?

-Thank you for taking the time to speak to me about NightWraith, I am excited to share more information about the band! We formed NightWraith 6 years ago with no preconceived notion of genre. We didn’t want to box ourselves into a specific sound because we desired complete musical freedom. Our goal was to focus 100% of our energy on creating a quality musical experience, rather than try to fit an image. We released a self-titled record in 2019, and were happy with it. There were a lot of cool ideas on it, but we were able to refine our sound and write a more cohesive album, which is apparent with our new album “Offering”. It is pulling in a lot of classic rock influences, and the keyboards give it a very ‘Deep Purple’ kind of vibe. However, the vocals remain heavy enough for this to be considered death metal, and the music explores some very classic territory!

What does death metal, or melodic death metal means to you? Or extreme metal in general?

-Death metal and extreme music has always been a healthy outlet for me, and is its own special form of therapy. Playing in bands has always been a really positive escape from some of the negative aspects that we experience in ‘everyday life’. I cherish all forms of death metal but always gravitated to the more melodic side of the genre. As a guitarist, the melodies I heard in bands like Enslaved and At the Gates were much more intriguing to me than some of the more traditional death metal. Although sometimes, nothing hits quite like the punishing riffs you hear in bands like Cannibal Corpse and Dying Fetus!

Your debut album is coming out in March. How was the writing and recording process? How do you write songs? What comes first, riffs or lyrics? As far as I understand your lyrics deal more with spiritual and mythological themes. Are you a spiritual person? What do the lyrics mean for you?

-I don’t believe many rock bands write lyrics before riffs, but I would be interested to hear about songwriters that do this. Our process always starts with a series of guitar riffs that are crafted into a song, generally in a verse/chorus/bridge type of format. Once there is some basic infrastructure of a song, 2nd guitar parts/harmonies are added, and drums follow closely behind. Bass, keyboards, and vocals tend to come last, although I would like to experiment with writing some material with keyboards as the main focus.

-The recording process was really fun for this record. We tracked everything at our practice space, which provided a comfortable atmosphere. Our engineer, Jacob St Amand, did a fantastic job and really put a lot of work into the album. We also tried some new things that we probably would not have tried in previous recordings. We changed the guitar/bass strings constantly, and kept the rhythm guitars at a fairly low gain setting. It was fun trying a new approach and Jacob had a great ear for getting us the right sounds.

-Lyrically, I tend to avoid the traditional death metal lyrics. It’s kind of all been done before, and I’m not going for any type of shock value. Personally, I prefer  to express more intellectual thoughts and ideas. I also grew up listening to a lot of hardcore bands, so the PMA (positive mental attitude) definately finds its way into the lyrics as well! “Offering” also has a lot of spiritual themes centered around some Eastern philosophy I was reading about while I was writing the songs. I am not religious, nor is anyone in the band, but I believe one can still be spiritual without religion. To me, something as simple as playing music with your friends could be considered a spiritual experience.

How did the cooperation with Reaping Scythe Records come about? Is there going to be physical release or only digital?

-In addition to a digital release, “Offering” will be released on vinyl, CD, and cassette via Reaping Scythe Records. RSR is a collective of heavy metal musicians in the greater Denver area. It was created during the height of the pandemic as a way for us to compile all of our music and ideas into a single place. From there, it evolved very organically, maintains a DIY identity, and is still in the early stages of its life. Everyone involved with the label helps with different things, which is how we keep it sustainable. I’m really excited to see how it will continue to grow in the next couple of years!

How is the underground music scene in the place where you live?

-Denver, CO USA is red hot right now for extreme music! I remember back in the day when we were trying to build a heavy scene and host heavy shows, the only big name from here was Cephalic Carnage. Now, we are home to many successful bands like Khemmis, Primitive Man, Wayfarer, and Blood Incantation to name a few. I’m also in another Denver band called ‘In the Company of Serpents’, and our most recent record ‘Lux’ got some great reviews!

Are there any notorious or scary urban legends in the area where you live?

-Yeah, the state of Colorado is quite large and contains several mountain ranges. I can’t think of any specific examples right now, but lots of weird stuff has happened in the mountains over the years, like people vanishing or having very bizarre experiences in the wilderness. The San Luis Valley in Colorado is also notorious for hosting various cults and different forms of dark magik.

Let´s talk about horror. Do you love horror movies and literature? If you do, what are your favorites? Mine are old Hammer horror movies and found footage, also golden era slashers from early eighties.

-What fan of death metal doesn’t like horror!?! Of course slasher movies from the 80’s are always super fun to watch, I love movies like Re-animator and Dead Alive. I also like to revisit some of the classics from time to time, like Nosferatu and basically any Hitchcock film. I have also been impressed with the Ari Aster movies over the last few years, I think his movies are really well written and legitimately scary.

What are plans for immediate future? Classic for the end, is there anything you would like to add? Thank you!

-Ideally we will play some out of town shows to support the new album, but we are mostly excited for people to hear the material because we are so proud of how it sounds! Hopefully we can make it to EU at some point, that would be a dream come true!

-Thank you so much for your interest in the band and I really appreciate all of your questions, it’s been a pleasure speaking with you!

Cheers,

Benjamin Pitts