An Albatross – Eddie B. Gieda III
Posted on October 29, 2008 at 8:00 am by admin
We’re suckers here for artists willing to put themselves on the line to play something crazy from the heart and forge a new path, so it was great to fire off an e-mail to vocalist/percussionist Eddie B. Gieda III to find out some more crazy trippy stories. Don’t forget to check out their their latest effort, “An Albatross Family Album”!
Way Too Loud: How did you come to the title of “The an Albatross Family Album”?
Eddie B. Gieda III: The title “The An Albatross Family Album” developed over the recording process during the first half of 2008. The overall “feel” in the studio possessed an inherent “family vibe” so to speak. Virtually every musician who’s worked with the band throughout it’s lengthy history contributed to the tracking of the album. Friends and former bandmates would frequently stop by and help us get free. The “Family Album” concept grew organically from the experience.
WTL: Your album title made me think – there’s quite a few albums of heavy/crazy music that actually don’t contain lyrical content to warrant the parental advisory sticker – meaning death metal bands can be sold through Wal-Mart.
Eddie: Is there a parental advisory sticker on our album? From what I recall, the level of profane language is kept to a bare minimum, especially when compared to our previous efforts… If having a parental advisory sticker on our album prevents our music from being pedalled by swill merchants like Best Buy, Target, Wal-Mart or any other community-depleting/undermining uber-capitalist entity, then I’am 100% for it! Long live the local record shop and a community’s economic sovereignty, y’dig?
WTL: How did the writing process work for this album?
Eddie: It was a meticulous and strange process. About a quarter of the material was written in the band’s previous incarnation, with our old guitarist coming up with basic riffs and structures. Daniel, the new guy, came in and we started expounding on older material and jamming in our Wilkes-Barre, PA rehearsal space on the rest.
Typically the guitar, bass & keys come up with riffs or nearly-completed songs and the process of layering everyone else’s parts serve to add complexity to the tunes. Most times the essential riff becomes snowballed into a completely different sound/song…
WTL: What did you achieve on this latest album that you haven’t been able to do before?
Eddie: I’d have to say that the recording/studio experience, for the most part, was executed under the least stressful circumstances in which we’ve ever worked. Daniel engineered and co-produced the vast majority of the record in his studio, Hypersnakes, in New Jersey. Having the ability to spend as much time as we needed to get proper takes and to hone in on the sound we wanted was crucial in creating a record we are all happy with.
I have never been very happy with much of the recorded output of this band, except this album. ELST, WATLV and Blessphemy were all created on extremely tight budgets and finished in fractions of the amount of time we spent on “Family”. I believe that the sonic quality is clearly higher when comparing it to past endeavours.
WTL: Is there a particularly influential band to An Albatross that you love to talk about? Perhaps a few?
Eddie: As a band, we try not to get too into band-worship or citing particular bands as “influential.” I will say that personally, 60’s and 70’s psyche and prog albums have had a very heavy influence on me as a person and have influenced my contributions to the band quite a bit.
We have also toured with Blue Cheer and DMBQ, who are my top 2 favourite bands to watch – so it’s safe to say they have a sway on us…
WTL: Can you tell me how the art came about, who did it, how you worked with them, and the representation (if any). It looks old-school cool, and trippy!
Eddie: We’ve been working with Seripop from Montreal for a great deal of time a this point. This is our fourth record we’ve managed to extract amazing artwork from them. I really dig continuity in a band’s presentation of itself. If you look at bands like pre-Black album Metallica w/the Pusshead artwork or Yes using Roger Dean for all of their albums – you just KNOW the distinct aesthetic of a band. I feel it’s important…
WTL: What’s your position on downloading, since you’ve provided some of your songs for free download.
Eddie: It’s entirely dependent on the artist. Free downloads are an advantageous way for bands to accrue a following. However, I feel that downloading intrinsically subtracts financial support for artists to be able to continue to do what they do. I think it’s about time that people start realizing that creating music and recording music is work – and workers deserve to be paid.
It baffles me that not only did/does most of the music industry purport the philosophy that the sole reward of creating music IS simply creating and performing music – but now the fans seem to share the same attitude. I really don’t care too terribly much either way – I’ve never expected to make any money from playing in a band, but I can sympathize with musicians who’s livelihood depends on it.
WTL: Are you able to keep a close, personal connection with your fans, especially after performing?
Eddie: Most definitely. One of my favourite aspects of being in this band and performing is making friends and connecting with people.
WTL: I’ve heard your live show called psychedelic and circus-like. Do you add anything to the live environment besides the instruments you play, and yourselves?
Eddie: Theoretically, it’s about an emotional and spiritual bloodletting on the stage night after night, in front of a crowd of five or a crowd of five hundred. Theoretically.
I feel that soul is intangible ingredient that makes a MOVING show happen.
WTL: Are the any particular crazy live antics that you simply love to do all the time?
Eddie: Injection of love, freedom and perspiration into the space we inhabit for an hour a night…
WTL: I’m guessing your crazy live show has gotten you into trouble several times with venues.
Eddie: A few. I honestly don’t find what we do all that “crazy” or outlandish – there are plenty of bands that upstage us as far as that’s concerned. Somehow, however, we wind up playing shows where the police are called at least several times per tour…
WTL: How have people reacted to you in venues larger than you usually play?
Eddie: If you ask me this question after we finish supporting Enter Shikari in the UK (1,500 capacity venues), I’ll have a better idea. It’s a slightly different schema – performing to that many people – than it is 50 in a small club.
WTL: What’s led to a few lineup changes?
Eddie: Touring, drinking, drugs.
WTL: How many members do you have currently (your MySpace page makes it appear as though there could be between 5 to 7 members playing live). What led to the addition of more people? I’m not %100 sure about this, but weren’t you for a long time a 3-piece?
Eddie: Currently we function as a solid-base as a five piece. We occasionally have Kat Paffett on second keys and frequently have Ed Klinger on supplementary percussion.
There were two or three shows back in 1999 when we played as a three piece band. Essentially, we wanted to play like Discordance Axis and have the guitar/drums/vocalist line up. Fortunately, it’s progressed to a bunch more members making it infinitely more complex than we could have done with simply the original three person line-up.
WTL: Many bands hate to be labelled in terms of genre, and you seem like the humorous type. Have you ever made up a genre for yourselves, or would you perhaps like to create one right now? Unfortunately, Static-X has gone with “disco death metal”, perhaps precluding you from that term.
Eddie: Naw, I’d prefer not to try to moniker that. Most “genres” of music don’t really experience an applicable one until the music is long gone and nearly forgotten.
WTL: Before I ask you who you’d like to tour with, I’d personally like to see you with I set My Friends on Fire, Spark is a Diamond, Foxy Shazam and The Dillinger Escape Plan. However, I’d also like to see you play before Slipknot, going with the crazy live show theme. I’m sure barely any of their fans would get you, but you’d put out %100 on every show.
Eddie: We’ve played with Slipknot before at a festival in France. I ate lunch around those guys, they looked like pro-wrestlers – big and intimidating type dudes. Essentially, I’d just dig touring with any band who’d have us. I live and love for being on the road.
WTL: Since bands get asked about their band name all the time, have you ever lied about your band, name, or made one up?
Eddie: No, the band name is metaphorical and should be left at that. It’s open to interpretation.
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