Karnivool
An Interview with Jon Stockman
by Rebecca Clark
Static Noise
http://www.staticnoise.net
As an avid music lover, I am always looking for new bands to fall in love with and thanks to Karnivool, the new music love of my life, I am on cloud 9 with amazement. Their latest album Sound Awake, which was just released in the US February 16th, is so damn good I am not sure how to describe it into words that will give it justice.
Karnivool hit a creative G-Spot with Sound Awake. There is nothing but pure soul, personality and life in every single ounce of this album. Not to mention how inspiring the lyrics are on top of the music itself. Sound Awake is simply genius!
I tend to describe bands like Karnivool as an “artistic band.” It is a category that I put other bands that I love in, such as 10 years and Dredg. These types of bands are rare gems of the music industry that tap into the heart of what music is all about. Instead of catering to what the masses want, bands like Karnivool speak to the rebels, telling us to form our own opinions and to question religion and politics.
I was able to interview bassist Jon Stockman, who will properly and wittingly tell you more about Karnivool, himself and what makes them amazing.
Static Noise: How did you decide you wanted to be a musician? Was there a defining moment when you knew you wanted to be in a band and make music?
Jon: You know as lame as it sounds, when I was really young I always liked hearing my mum play Fur Elise on the piano. It made me want to do music, but my Dad was also a drummer. I used to try and play it before I could reach the foot-pedals and I used to play along to the soundtrack of ‘That’ll Be the Day!’ I think the defining moment, though, was when I went to one of my Dad’s rehearsals and they were doing a Dire Straits cover. It was fucking loud and I think I just ran laps around the room while they played cause the energy was so huge (especially for a 4 year old), and I can remember wanting to be a musician from that point onwards. I learnt piano and eventually taught myself guitar and bass when I heard Enter Sandman.
SN: What do you think about people comparing you to tool? (I honestly think you remind me of them, but don’t sound like them, but you also remind me of other “artistic” bands like Dredg)
Jon: Well people are entitled to their opinions and I don’t begrudge them. I prefer to live in a world where people can express their opinions rather than one where they are sequestered. I can see similarities in the fact that they write complex arrangements and Maynard sings most of his stuff, but I honestly think that’s where the similarities end. In my opinion it’s just that we both fit directly in the same genre. At the end of the day, I only care what I think about in that matter. If I thought that this band was directly ripping off another band like Tool, I wouldn’t be in this band and I wouldn’t give a shit about the music that we write. I’m not saying that they haven’t influenced us in the past, but it took us 4 years to write the last record and inspiration didn’t come from anything that anyone else has done, it came from in the jam room. I haven’t heard anyone specifically point out how we’ve ripped anybody off and I honestly believe we have our own spin on the whole melodic, progressive rock thing.
SN: What was the band’s inspiration for writing such empowering anti-religious lyrics in songs such as “All I Know” and “The Caudal Lure?”
Jon: I would say that there are more anti-religious sentiments in Set Fire to the Hive, but that’s not prejudiced to religion alone, it condemns the entire establishment. It’s not as literal as that, though. It’s simply trying to remind everyone that we live in a democracy and that we should constantly question the way that system is being handed down to us. That’s the inspiration for those lyrics. Deadman also carries a bit of that. I’d say that All I Know is also geared towards the establishment, but with less of a face-spitting approach and more of a beckoning, lulling method. The sentiments in The Caudal Lure are only metaphorical, that song was originally written as the sister song to Umbra, but in more a yin-yang opposition, where Umbra talks about that darkness that’s left in the absence of light, the real us so to speak, and The Caudal Lure is about the pull of darkness around us. The references to wine are simply referring metaphorically to straying too close to the event horizon of disaster, realizing that you’re there and not being able to do anything about it. It’s almost like the feeling of knowing that you need to back out but you go ahead anyway and then you regret it, all because you’ve been lured in by some attractive quality that you can’t define.
SN: On this album you question religion…I am curious do you believe in the paranormal/mediums and ect? (I have been watching too much of the show Paranormal State lately so I had to ask)
Jon: I’m not an expert and I don’t give it a lot of thought, but I’m not so bold as to say that anything couldn’t exist, especially things that exist beyond our realm of science. I mean, we only have scales for what we know we can measure. Science has always had a bad habit of being so very arrogant when it comes to the bigger questions of the universe, but those same people 500 years ago, with the same arrogance thought the world was flat and that the sun revolved around the Earth. Wankers.
SN: What was the hardest song to record off of Sound Awake? (music wise, lyric wise or one song that was tough to lay down?)
Jon: I’d say that the Caudal Lure was definitely the hardest to record, simply because we hadn’t finished writing it! Right up until the mixing stage we were still trying to figure out how to thread it all together because we really needed to have the song on there, it was a bit more upbeat and it allowed the dynamics of the album to flow a lot easier. When we finally had a finished format it was a huge fucking relief, but it wasn’t easy and it’s still a bit weird to play that one live, although I think we’ve got it now. I’ve heard it’s kind of terrifying to listen to the end bit on mushrooms.
SN: What has been your biggest achievement so far (it can be career or personal)?
Jon: I’d say that music is definitely the most rewarding thing that we all collectively participate in and through the medium of our band, debuting at #2 on our album charts in Australia was such an amazing thing to have happen to us. Also having Sound Awake go gold in Australia was a huge stepping stone for the band. It may sound like everyday kind of stuff to some bigger acts, but we don’t have a label in Australia, we’re independent and we’ve built that up slowly over the last 12 years, so it was something of a milestone for all of us.
SN: Who is your hero?
Jon: Hunter S. Thompson. I love everything he’s written and I love the way I can pick up any one of his books, open it to a random page and laugh. He’s a god. It’s great that all his books came out as Penguin Classics too cause they’re really cheap!
SN: Is there anything you know now about the music business that you wished you would have known when you first started out? (Any lessons learned the hard way)?
Jon: That’s a hard one, I guess we’ve been lucky in that we haven’t really been burned or learnt anything the hard way, the only thing that was hard for us was getting to where we are in terms of how long it took! I have seen other bands get pretty shafted by record/publishing labels and also dodgy management. Only thing I can really say is: don’t sign the first offer! Hehe.
SN: What have been the most exciting, personally rewarding moments of creating?
Jon: It’s a pretty good feeling when you’ve been working on something for a really long time and then all the pieces come together in a way that matches everything you want the song to be. There’s a lot of truth in the saying that creativity is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration but that really does make it all the more worthwhile when you finally get there.
SN: I read that Sound Awake came from you guys jamming and being spontaneous. What do you guys do to get in the creative mindset and just let things flow?
Jon: Well…we have been known to use some degree of assistance from herbal remedies, but I think we also get inspired by the world around us in a very big way, you can hear that in Set Fire to the Hive. We also read a lot and we sometimes get ideas for songs, conceptually speaking, that stem from something that we’ve read. Other music is a great catalyst too, not in the sense that you’d rip it off, but if anything it’s a great way to calm your mind and let it relax so that you can then create for yourself.
SN: What are you looking forward to the most about this upcoming tour in the US (besides with touring with the awesomeness of Fair To Midland)?
Jon: Mainly just the fact that we’re getting back to the US and playing shows there again! It’s great to be doing the tour with Fair to Midland, they seem like down to earth guys and also we’re both compatible bands so I’m really looking forward to that and seeing their live performance. It’s also great to be touring in support of our new record, considering that it has finally come out now, it’s been a long buildup, our people having been working to make this happen in a big way for nearly 8 months and this will be the first chance to really do something on the ground from our end, it’s really exciting times for us!
SN: Think back to the first live show you performed as Karnivool, What was going through your mind and how did it go?
Jon: Well I wasn’t an original member but my first show with the band was at a place called the Grosvenor Backroom in East Perth, although it no longer does live music. It was a Thursday night in August of 2000, I’d rehearsed about 4 times with the guys and we played to about 40 people after a few other bands went on first. The only thing going through my mind was trying to not fuck up the parts. It was an ok gig, but the second one was a lot better!
SN: What do you like to do creatively or are passionate about besides music?
Jon: I don’t really do much else creatively, I occasionally write or draw, but that’s pretty rare. I’m pretty passionate about trying to read really good, though provoking books, or books that are significant in an historical sense, such as Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche. It’s a hard read but it did inspire a lot of other books that changed the course of history (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influence_and_reception_of_Friedrich_Nietzsche).
I’m also pretty passionate about science, I studied nanotechnology for a while until the touring got too busy. Also, I don’t mind the odd video game, in fact I think everyone in the band is guilty of that. Especially Buck Hunter Safari! I love movies too, but I tend to stay away from a lot of Hollywood movies. Stuff like 2012 makes me wish I was dead. As Hos said the other day, if you have the choice between having midgets gouge out your eyes with spoons whilst pouring pure ethanol into your bleeding eye sockets or watching 2012…don’t watch 2012.
SN: If there is anything you could change about the world, what would it be and why?
Jon: I’d like to have a worldwide system that didn’t centre around money, I don’t know how the fuck you could ever make that happen but it would be such an amazing thing. Money’s fucked, it allows people to behave like pigs, it drives the Capitalist Shit Machine that runs the world and its existence means that we will never be a war-free world. Capitalism needs war to survive.
SN: Are you involved in any causes that you believe in?
Jon: I’m not a member of any causes. We have played benefit gigs that raise money for research, such as MS Fest in Tasmania. Also, I have contributed to Movember! Prostate cancer is bad news.
SN: What is your favorite color? Tell me about it.
Jon: Green, although I don’t wear it much. Always liked it as a kid, I’m also partial to blue.
SN: What is the most meaningful thing a fan has done for the band?
Jon: Although this isn’t a strictly fan story I’ll tell it anyway; we played in Louisville Kentucky and some of the guys in the support band got us a little Louisville Cardinals cooler and filled it full of bourbon samplers. That was pretty awesome. Also we just played with a Hungarian band called Haelo in Munich, Germany and they brought us a little hamper with some home made grappa-style spirits made from vegetables and fruit, Hungarian sausages, Hungarian beer, Hungarian bacon and some sweets too, that was fucking cool as well. In terms of fans though, the most meaningful thing people have done, and this is in a lot of places, is journey miles and miles from where they live to come and see us play. It happened heaps in the US last year when we came and it also happens in the UK and Europe. A very special thanks to all the people that make the journey for us!
SN: If you have any tattoos pick one and tell me what it is and why you got it?
Jon: No I don’t have any tattoos or piercings, I’d really like to get a tattoo one day but I still haven’t settled on the exact art and I don’t want to get one if it means nothing.
SN: What can fans do to help spread the word about the band?
Jon: I think our fans do an awesome job of spreading the word, they post things on other bands websites and forums discussing bands, we have a lot of people telling us that they got into us from a message on a chat forum. Thanks to everyone who is helping us to put our music out thereJ
SN: Does the band plan on doing anything on twitter, facebook or myspace to interact with the fans more?
Jon: We already interact pretty extensively on all 3 of those websites, we run those websites and reply to a lot of messages. Anyone can always send us emails too, which we do get as well. Mine is jon@karnivool.com.au and if you change jon to one of the other guys you can reach them as well. We also love doing video blogs, they’re a big hit with a lot of people. We’re actually doing some right now for the European leg of the tour so stay tuned!
SN: Any last words?
Jon: Well it’s a pretty long interview so I should probably say adios! Hope to see you guys at the shows soon!
Thank you to Jon for taking the time to do this interview!
Karnivool is embarking their US tour with Fair To Midland this month! Be sure to check to see if Karnivool is coming to a city near you! And be sure to pick up their new album Sound Awake. You won’t be sorry, I promise!
Static Noise will be at the NYC show on March 31st, so check back next month for a show review and photos!
March 17 – Austin, TX (SXSW)- MANIC FEST DESTINY @ The Belmont (ACOUSTIC) – 4:00pm
March 18 – Austin, TX (SXSW) – Full Metal Texas @ Emo’s Main Stage – 12:15pm
March 18 – Austin, TX (SXSW) – SIN Party @ Antone’s – 4:00pm
March 20 – Austin, TX (SXSW) – Aussie BBQ @ Maggie Mae’s – 12:00pm
March 20 – Austin, TX (SXSW) – MANIC FEST DESTINY @ The Belmont (ACOUSTIC) – 4:00pm
March 20 – Austin, TX (SXSW) – Aussie Showcase @ Maggie Mae’s – 11:59pm
March 21 – Corpus Christi, TX – The Pavilion @ Concrete St**
March 23 – San Antonio, TX – Scout Bar
March 24 – Houston, TX – Scout Bar
March 26 – Jacksonville, NC – Hooligan’s
March 27 – Augusta, GA – Sky City
March 28 – Charleston, SC – The Oasis
March 30 – Baltimore, MD – The Quarter
March 31 – New York, NY – Gramercy Theater
April 1 – Philadelphia, PA – The Note
April 2 – Hartford, CT – Webster Theater Underground
April 3 – Providence, RI – Club Hell
April 5 – Toronto, ONT – Wreck Room
April 7 – Cleveland, OH – Peabody’s
April 8 – Louisville, KY – Phoenix Hill Tavern
April 9 – Chicago, IL – Penny Road
April 10 – Flint, MI – The Machine Shop
April 11 – Madison, WI – The Annex
April 12 – Minneapolis, MN – The Rock
April 14 – Denver, CO – Marquis Theatre
April 16 – Sacramento, CA – The Boardwalk
April 17 – Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour
** w/ Deftones, Sevendust & Drowning Pool
For more info on the band check out their official websites:
http://www.karnivool.com.au/
http://www.facebook.com/karnivool
http://www.myspace.com/karnivool
Follow Karnivool on twitter:
http://twitter.com/KARNIVOOL