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Interview
by SashaS
6-6-2005
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More on: 3 Inches Of Blood
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| 3 Inches Of Blood: blasting at Donington |
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Advance and annihilate
Toward Download 05: 3 Inches of Blood
You know the usual tags of division in metal... 3 Inches Of Blood have done everything to annihilate these distinctions, either on their album ‘Advance And Vanquish’ or live. With their dual vocal attack - the founder members Cam Pipes [real name, truly] and Jamie Hooper - twin guitars and rhythm section to build bridges, this band is ready to take you different places.
The Canadian metal band 3 Inches of Blood write about pirates, swords, cyborgs warring in the future and Heavy Metal. The one pre-1985 and of Brit-origin: the shrieking vocal assault of Rob Halford, the epic guitars and storytelling of Iron Maiden, the pirate theme of ‘Running Wild’, and mostly, the lasting influence of the British New Wave of HM, be it Diamond Head, Saxon or Motorhead or the US outfits inspired by it, Slayer (early period) or Metallica’s ‘Ride The Lightning’-era.
3 Inches of Blood recently visited Britain for a RoadRage stint and are returning for the Download 05 Festi at Donington. We hooked up with the band’s guitarist, Justin Hagberg, who started off by telling us how happy they’d been hitting the UK stages.
“The reaction’s been great and considering that the album’s been out relatively a short time, we’ve head an amazing reception. It looks like people have responded well to our music and we are already talking of coming back and doing our own tour. Sometime after the summer, I guess.”
“Today is the last day of this tour and it is going to be special. We’ve gotta a lot of things to do, press, soundcheck, meetings, the usual day’s work. We don’t party hard after every gig, just crowd around a crate of beer after we play. We try to make the most of it and the bands we are touring with, Trivium and Still Remains, are great guys and fun to hang out with.”
“The best thing is all three bands on the bill are different sounding and attract people who all appear to come with open mind. These bands play different kinds of music and fans appear to be interested in hearing different types of music, like different kinds of music and do dig it.”
Swollen shadows
Before recording the current album, the band went through some line-up changes, bringing in former Trial bassist Brian Redman and Goatsblood drummer Matt Wood. To fully incorporate them into the group, the band delayed recording the sophomore disc for a month. Recently the band went through additional changes by bringing new guitarists, Justin and Shane Clark, both former co-players of Jamie and Cam in previous bands.
“In a sense and to a certain degree [it‘s a new band]… For instance, I‘ve not played on the album because the members Shane and I replaced left after completion of the recordings. We joined afterwards and we‘ve been in the band for several months. We are already planning on working out and writing new material.”
Is that a sign of frustration, having to play parts created by someone else, you’ve had to contain with?
“Maybe a little bit but when I joined I knew I’d be playing parts recorded by someone else; of course I’d be happier if I played parts I created myself… I heard the album before it was released, being friends with the members, and loved it; the way I see it is only the first step of getting to write my own parts… All in all, it is a great opportunity and I really have to congratulate the guys who wrote the stuff.”
Are you already working on some new ideas?
“Sort of; Shane and I - we play with other bands when we are at home - have been discussing ideas for the band and working on some songs and the band liked what we pitched their way, the rest of the band loved it.”
Bosom the witch
Originally formed in 2000 in Vancouver, British Columbia, they had no idea they would someday sign to the world's biggest metal label (Roadrunner) and tour with a platinum hard rock band such as The Darkness. Hooper invited Pipes to lay down backing vocals on the demo EP and he stayed on. The band’s album ‘Battlecry Under A Winter Sun’ was released in 2002.
3 Inches of Blood signed to Roadrunner last year and have also contributed a track to the MTV2 ‘Headbangers Ball Volume 2’ compilation.
Do you share influences with the rest of the guys, the NWoBHM and Iron Maiden in particular?
“Partly because I used to play more the Black Sabbath way, even more straight rock but I dig all these guys and have learnt new styles and new techniques since joining the band and our future music will combine what new I’ve learnt lately and the stuff I used to play.”
What was the attraction of Brit-metal when you had Kiss and the rest of easy influences just across the border?
“All I’ve heard from other members was that it sounded more alien, distant and exciting than what they were hearing on the radio. It also had great sounding guitars, the songs were about different things than the usual American stuff and that’s what they really liked.”
Your song subjects appear to address Maiden-like historical and futuristic themes?
“It’s Cam and Jamie who are the writers and what inspires them is what their read, hear and imagine; they are getting things in perspective and it may appear to be about something medieval but it really isn’t. It’s a great way to comment on the present without being accused of being prejudiced, narrow-minded and politically incorrect.”
3 Inches of Blood visited Europe before and supported The Darkness; are you glad to have missed that occasion?
“The Darkness are cool and it would have been great to tour with them; I’ve had such a great time with this band that I don’t regret anything. It is my first time in the UK and that alone is a great thrill. We played Dynamo Festival and that was a dream-cum-true because I always wanted to go there - but I played there! It is all an amazing experience and would not trade it for anything!”
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3 Inches Of Blood appear on Download's Napster Stage on Sunday, 12 June
SashaS
6-6-2005
3 Inches Of Blood album ‘Advance And Vanquish’ is available now via Roadrunner
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