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Nate Johnson
Posted on November 27, 2007 at 9:06 pm by admin


 Nate Johnson

I hope that Alex Erian from Despised Icon, Bob Deutsh from Prosthetic Records promo or Justin Longshore aren’t offended when I have to say the coolest guy I’ve ever talked to has been Nate Johnson. This interview was special, as he wasn’t just representing the band he’s currently in right now, which is Through The Eyes Of The Dead, but also 2 other bands that he’s still in, Premonitions Of War and Buckhunter, as well as Deadwater Drowning (an important band, so go look them up!)

I sent Nate 2 e-mails with questions, and he tried sending them back to me with no avail. He did however remember the questions from those e-mail interviews. I also technically interviewed him twice on digital recorders that failed! Fortunately he’s the kind of guy that gets stuff done! So read on and find out more about Nate, and if you talk to him in person, ask him about a previous tour he’s been on, because he’s always got a funny story about every tour! The tour he did in Premonitions Of War, Satyricon, Suffocation and Morbid Angel is particularly funny!

Way Too Loud: I remember you left a post on a blog talking about bands you grew up on, like Turmoil, Deadguy, Coalesce.

Nate Johnson: Those were definitely the bands that switched around my approach to vocals.

WTL: For you’re vocals, do you just try and be you, or is there an intention to go with death metal vocals? When people talk about your vocals and hear you live it’s like “Whoa! That’s low!”

Nate: (Laughs) I just try and get loud and as brutal as possible.  I kind of to think my way through it. Maybe I need to make some angry lyrics now. I’ll have to make some cheesy crap I guess!

WTL: What was it that was the catalyst for the metalcore over in you’re area? It seemed to be a little bit separate from the melodic metalcore, being more caustic and harsh.

Nate: I definitely know the whole North Carolina metalcore scene played into that. That was when the whole Euro metal thing started picking up, like a whole bunch of bands out of North Carolina, a lot of Tribunal bands. There was some bands around my area doing the same thing, like Harmartia. The Red Chord was one of a few bands in a long time to really blow peoples minds as far as a new sound. They influenced my old band quite a bit when we started as well.

Once Hamartia broke up, there was another uprising. There was another band with a bunch of ex-Deadwater Drowning guys, Melodic Euro metalcore with big breakdowns and some grindy stuff. There was lot of grind influenced bands, like Deadeyes Under. They’re kind of like old Converge, like noisy heavy. They played pretty much any local show that was around in the late-90’s to 2000. They were a damn good band too. I think they were on Lifeforce if I’m not mistaken.

WTL: I know The Red Chord was gaining some attention before their first album came out.

Nate: I think they were called Icpus before that. I never saw them when they were called Icpus, but I did see them a lot when they were playing the small hall shows in the Mass area.

WTL: When Deadwater Drowning came out, were you guys influenced by anything, or was it just whatever you thought was cool, and whatever came from someones fingers?

Nate: It was mostly our drummer and the guitarist, the 2 Jons (guitarist Jonny Fay and drummer Jon Dow). Our guitarist pretty much wrote all the riffs and had a lot of drum parts in mind, and the drummer could pretty much do whatever the guitar player wanted him to do and put his own little twist on it. We liked cheesy death metal riffs and huge breakdowns. We just threw it all into a blender, and enjoyed doing it! It was a very sarcastic band to begin with, and it ended that way!

WTL: What was the reaction like when you first started playing?

Nate: It wasn’t that bad, although I’m not sure too many people in the Mass area even liked what we were playing for some reason. They had the whole tight pants, silly haircuts kind of thing. We played New York one time on tour with The Red Chord, and it was awesome, so New York was always very good to us, New Jersey too. We only played a dozen shows before we broke up. It was a short run! But people were coming from all around, especially kids in bands in the area. I think the only person who really had any faith in us was Guy from The Red Chord, which is probably why he signed us! Then we broke up 6 months later, and we kind of ended up looking like a bunch of assholes!

WTL: Was the positive reaction surprising?

Nate: Towards the end of Deadwater Drowning, kids picked up the EP, and maybe we had a little hype going for us I guess. Now that I’m in Through The Eyes Of The Dead, there’s always a kid at a show that says Deadwater Drowning needs to do a reunion. Yeah, yeah, yeah! It’s never going to happen. We did do a reunion, but it was mostly myself, the bassist, the second guitarist of Deadwater Drowning, which become The Final Battle. We played a show at the 7 Angels 7 Plagues reunion show, and we did some Deadwater Drowning songs. It was fun.

WTL: I saw a video of that. It seems like the song “Slap Her Ass And Ride The Wave In” got a little bit of fame.

Nate: That was actually the last song we ever wrote. We recorded it before we did The Red Chord tour, right after our EP came out. We were playing it every so often, but it didn’t have any lyrics to it [at the time].

WTL: When you’re recorded really well,. You sound very powerful. The first time I heard a good recording of you was on the latest Acaica Strain album.

Nate: That was one of the first studio records where I was happy the way it turned out. IT usually takes an hour to get a good take on anything, but that one only took a minute. When I heard the original playback, I was like damn! I need to get into a real studio sometime!

WTL: How do you think you sound on the new Through The Eyes Of The Dead album?

Nate: I’m about as happy as I can be, because I was fairly out of practise from just sitting on my ass for a year, not really touring or doing any recording or anything else.

WTL: You really make yourself look busy with all the bands you’re involved in.

Nate: I was mostly just playing bass in a band, for The_Network. And doing backups here and there, so it’s not like I was constantly using my voice.

WTL: How many bands are you officially in right now?

Nate: Uh… 3 I think.

WTL: Premonitions Of War, Through The Eyes Of The Dead, and who would be the other one?

Nate: Buckhunter!

WTL: The joke band?

Nate: Oh no! Buckhunter is no joke! It’s a really heavy rock band.

WTL: That was the one I hadn’t heard anything about until I talked to the drummer from I Hate Sally.

Nate: Yeah, I just met that guy a couple of weeks ago! Good kid!

WTL: Premonitions Of War did 300 shows in one year, but how many shows did you do with them in that year?

Nate: I think I did more than 200 shows with them that year. They were touring pretty well, and then the record came out [“Left In Kowloon”], then they went right back on the road, and I think I joined the band about 2 or 3 months after that record came out. From there, they were just getting on everything they could. They went out with The Red Chord a bunch of times, Between The Buried And Me. They did some stuff with A Life Once Lost. They just kind of hit the road and played everywhere they could

WTL: They had a lot of lineup changes, so how long did that take them off the road? A week or 2 every time there was a lineup shift?

Nate: They had plenty of friends back home that would play for them when they needed it, like old bassists and things like that. When they called me up, they were in the middle of a tour with Anal Blast and The End. I think they were 3 days out when I got the call. I quit my job that day and drove out to Ohio the next day, and 2 days later we were back on tour.

WTL: How do day jobs work with you?

Nate: At home, I try and find as much work as possible, even if it’s random. I started my own landscaping business, and I can do jobs here and there when I have everything lined up. It’s kind of hard because I just started it.

WTL: Do you sleep much?

Nate: Occasionally, yeah. The more I sleep, the less aware I am of things going on. If I sleep too much, I’m too tired, so 3 or 4 hours of sleep, and I’m good!

WTL: Are you still going to do anything with Burnt By The Sun? It seems like a lot of your priorities have changed since you joined Through The Eyes Of The Dead.

Nate: I’m always talking to Teddy. When those guys finally get around to doing the last album. I know Teddy wanted me to do a song on the album at least. And if they want to do a tour, Mike really can’t do it, so Teddy mentioned that I might be the guy for the job. Mike has got a ridiculous voice, and his lyrics are great too!

WTL: What other bands would you like to do guest vocals for?

Nate: Hmm… maybe… Turmoil! Yeah, that’d be great! They’ve been recording a new album recently, and I think it’s going to be coming out next spring. I hope!

WTL: Weren’t they on Abacus before that label fell apart?

Nate: Yeah, they put out their discography.

WTL: Did they go on to Century Media, or did they go on to some other label?

Nate: They might be… I think the Abacus deal was a leftover thing from the last album they put out on Century Media. I think that’s why they went to Abacus. I could be wrong though. I think they might’ve signed to Eulogy.

WTL: Who would you like to tour with that’s both feasible, but not obvious?

Nate: I would love to do a tour with Turmoil! Mostly because I’d love to hear that band every night as loud as possible! Then I can just jump on kids heads! And Clutch too, but I think that any band that I’m in, except Buckhunter, would go over like a fart in a church!

WTL: If Lamb Of God needed a new vocalist, how fast would you be there?

Nate: You know, I would totally be into it. I don’t know if I’d skip out on Through The Eyes Of The Dead to do it though.

WTL: The reason why I choose them is because I know you keep moving around to bigger and bigger bands, and I was trying to think of one that would fit vocally, since you’re not a singer. You don’t sing at all, do you?

Nate: No. In the shower, but that’s about it.

WTL: That’s why I picked them. I think that would be one of those times where Through the Eyes Of The Dead wouldn’t be offended if you went and tried out for a band.

Nate: (Laughs)

WTL: Not that I’m saying I want that to happen!

Nate: Oh no! Randy has a great voice!

WTL: Is there anything you like to do in your spare time that doesn’t involve music? You seem to like to keep yourself as busy as humanly possible.

Nate: I don’t know. Just hang out with my friends back, go out to bars, chill. Nothing too crazy. Hang out with all the good folks, like Wade, the merch guy.

WTL: Are you able to keep a girlfriend while touring?

Nate: Yeah! Hooking up with a girl on tour is a thing that I’m good at not doing! When I get too drunk, I start worrying more about beer than I do about contracting herpes on the road! (Laughs) It’s a lot easier to not get herpes than it is to drink beer! (Laughs) Even when I was in Premonitions Of War I had a girlfriend on the road. As long as they can handle it, I’m good with it.

WTL: Most people think that when you’re in a band that’s how you get a girlfriend, but in the real world that’s usually how you lose a girlfriend.

Nate: Yeah, that happens too. I think chicks that are into dudes into bands at that level are just stupid to begin with. I don’t really need a girlfriend that listens to death metal all day long! I tour all month long hearing blast beats all day, I don’t want to hear it when I’m home. Actually I do… (laughs)

WTL: How is it that you’re able to remember every possible detail about every tour, or even that e-mail I sent you? I had sent an e-mail to you 3 months ago, and you still remembered the questions on it!

Nate: I don’t know! Sometimes I don’t remember much. I don’t remember a lot of parties, but that’s the drinking/blackout thing… I guess it’s touring in bands and stuff. I try and stay on top of it because it’s kind of important.

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