Skeletonwitch - Scott Hedrick
Posted on November 10, 2007 at 8:00 am by admin
How many out there love old-school metal? With every crazy modern band I get into, I find my tastes widening to encompass the old-school of the 80’s and 90’s underground, which is why it was damn fine to hear from Skeletonwitch guitarist Soctt Hedrick!
Way Too loud!: There seems to be poetic air to the lyrics. Where does the inspiration come from? I was reminded of Mercyful Fate a bit.
Scott Hedrick: Our singer, Chance, comes up with all the song titles and the lyrics. He’s into all things dark. Being a drummer in the past has definitely helped him develop a nice rhythmic cadence. Thanks for the Mercyful Fate compliment.
WTL: I’ve also noticed the lack of subject matter about present day political affairs. Do you feel as though bands are beating the same subject to death, and perhaps preaching to the converted?
Scott: For us, music is an escape. We respect and have no problem with others putting their political views into their music, but it’s just not something you’ll see from Skeletonwitch…….unless the next president is sworn in wearing corpse paint.
WTL: John Baizley seems to be a new popular guy to do album art, especially with his Baroness albums, as well as the new Pig Destroyer and “Beyond The Permafrost”. How did you get hooked up with him?
Scott: John has been a friend of the band for quite a while as we’ve had the opportunity to play shows with Baroness many times over the past few years. It started with John doing a shirt design a couple of years ago, then our ‘Worship the Witch‘ EP, and he was the obvious choice for ‘Beyond the Permafrost.‘ John’s art is absolutely amazing.
WTL: Was there a process for the art? It looks like he got a perfectly fitting frosty theme going.
Scott: We were extremely happy with how it turned out! We sent John the song titles, lyrics, and a long list of imagery that we really liked. After that we went back and forth a few times as he sent us continually developing sketches.
WTL: You’ve changed band logos twice. Are you planning to stick with one logo, or continue with a theme of different old-school logos? (I like both)
Scott: We are pretty fond of the one we are currently using. We don’t have any plans to change it.
WTL: Are there any plans to have your first album, “At One With The Shadows” re-released?
Scott: Not at the moment. But we aren’t ruling it out for the future.
WTL: When you formed Skeletonwitch, was it to conjure the spirit of 80’s and 90’s underground scenes?
Scott: We really didn’t have a specific goal or ideal when we started, and to some extent we still don’t. We really just work on writing/playing the type of metal that we want to hear and that gets us stoked. If someone in Skeletonwitch comes up with a riff and it gives us all chills then we know we’re on the right path. That being said, we are huge fans of 80’s thrash and 90’s death metal as well as a healthy dose of black metal.
WTL: It seems that there’s been a trend lately in the resurgence of 80’s thrash and crossover, with some people stating that part of the reason they started was to combat emo and metalcore. Has that become part of your mission over time?
Scott: We don’t necessarily consider ourselves to be a part of the “pure” 80’s thrash and crossover resurgence due to our black and death metal leanings. However, it is an honor to be placed in a category with great bands like Municipal Waste and Toxic Holocaust. Combating emo and metalcore is not really a concern of ours. As you can probably guess, those styles are not something we’re really interested in, but we just don’t care enough to trash talk or combat it.
WTL: On the flip side of the coin, every kind of metal has come back. Some theorize that metalcore has helped. How do you feel about this? Most real metal bands seem to have lots of people in relation to the hardcore crowds as well as slightly more contemporary music fans at their shows.
Scott: Because metalcore is so popular, I suppose it could be a gateway for people to get into “real” metal bands because it’s extremely accessible. We try not to over-analyze though. If somebody digs bands that we love, it’s easy for us to relate to them regardless of whether our tastes may differ at certain points.
WTL: This question goes out to your funniest, wittiest band member, to come up with a great lie about the band name (since bands get asked about it way to often.) Unless of course the real story is funnier than anything you can make up.
Scott: “Skeletonwitch” is actually our singer Chance’s middle name. You can check it with public record: “Chance Skeletonwitch Garnette.” We figured, with a middle name like that, how could we not use it!
WTL: Is there any band you’d like to tour with that’s both feasible and not obvious? (Friends and similar/big metal bands are obvious)
Scott: Turbonegro or Kampfar.
WTL: I love old school! The pointy guitars that could be used as weapons at a show that goes bad, bullet belts, spiked gauntlets, every dude in the band with long hair (that’s hard to do now guys!)
Scott: Fire up the fucking skullheads!
The Official Skeletonwitch Website
Skeletonwitch at MySpace
Skeletonwitch at Prosthetic Records
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