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Interview with Ol Drake of
Evile
June 2009 by Steve Earles |
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Huddersfield’s Evile arose with the Second
Wave of Thrash, but signing to the prestigious Earache records (one
of the hardest-working labels in the business, and home, over the
years to such bands as Napalm Death, Carcass, Cathedral, Municipal
Waste, Cauldron, and Morbid Angel, you see the company Evile keep).
Evile have just completed recording their second album, and lead
guitarist Ol Drake has kindly taken the time to keep us abreast of
all things Evile’
Ol, congratulations on completing the
recording of your new album, looking back with the benefit of
hindsight, how do you feel about Enter The Grave now?
Thank you! very proud of what we've done! Enter The Grave was
perfect for where we were in 2007. I still like it as an album, but
because of what it is (which isn't meant in a negative way), I
wanted to strive to put a lot more work into the material and
performance. Enter The Grave was basically us thrashing riffs out,
and that was it. We never sat down and seriously "wrote" the songs,
which works fine as well. I just put a lot of work in on my own
writing stuff, being an annoying perfectionist.
What differences did you find in working with
Russ Russell, after working with Fleming Rasmussen at Sweet Silence
Studios in Copenhagen (apart from not being able to get any
Metallica stories!)?
For one we were in the UK, that's automatically a more 'relaxed'
feeling. Not to say it wasn't relaxed with Fleming, he was great, we
just felt more 'at home' because well.....we were, ha ha . We'd
known Russ a while before the recording, so we knew roughly the kind
of guy he was, so we were "prepared" to be in the studio with him.
With Fleming it was like "ok, this guy did Lightning, Puppets and
Justice - we have to get it done in this span of time etc". Just
less pressure really, and that's not down to any fault of
Fleming's/Sweet Silence's. I was a lot more involved in the
production of it with Russ. I like to be there for everything which
is done, not that I'm a control freak, I just want everything to be
the best it can be, and to make sure we don't miss out on any ideas
I might have forgotten. |
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That
sounds well sorted for the new album! Are you still Huddersfield’s
best kept secret, or are you out now as the biggest thing in metal
there?
Nothing's changed really. We still go out to the local pubs and
stuff. some people do know who we are, but no one goes OH MY GOD
EVILE OH MY GOD, and I'm kind of glad as it's my home, I just want
to relax.
Don’t we all! Enter The Grave made it to an
impressive 33 on the UK rock album charts, are you hoping to top
that?
Our aim is to get number 32 ha hah. It's really not about charts or
anything. If we get a chart position, that's great exposure for the
music (any excuse to be able to play more shows in more places),
but....I don't care.
A fine attitude! You’ve toured with some fine
bands, Gama Bomb, Sanctity, but especially UK thrash legends Sabbat,
one of metal history’s great ‘should have beens’, would you agree?
Sabbat were and are a brilliant band, but to be honest, I think
they're a very underrated Thrash band. In some cases, I wouldn't
call them Thrash. |
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They have such
diversity in the style that I wouldn't tie them down to just
"thrash". Sabbat definitely should have had more recognition than
they had though.
Of course, you also won Metal Hammer’s Get in
the Ring 2, though Villo Vallo commented that you ‘weren’t his cup
of tea’. I didn’t know he drinks tea, and who is he to teach
anything about tea to Evile, a band who know, nay, love their tea!
(which is as it should be!).
As a band, we're prepared to take any criticism, so it didn't
matter. HIM aren't my cup of tea, I'm sure that's no skin off his
nose. But yes! TEA!!!! Although I've gone off it recently.
Oderus Urungus didn’t try to do anything odd
to Matt, did he? (or did Matt try to do anything odd to Oderus?)
He ejaculated on him. Well no, although I did tap him on his huge
monster penis. I'm not sure if I should be proud or worried.
You got to sing Peace Sells with the mighty
Megadeth, how did Dave treat Evile on that tour?
Dave treated us exceptionally well. I'd heard all these stories and
guys saying "dude watch out for Dave blah blah" errrrm, what? He was
nice as hell to us. They ALL were, band and crew. Such a pleasure to
be on that tour.
And of course, you jammed with Exodus too. How
cool was that, and who is left that you’d like to jam with?
Sorry to be predictable, but Metallica. I've loved them forever and
still hold them in the highest regard. Jamming with Exodus was
brilliant. I actually got to play "Piranha" on drums whilst Tom
Hunting sang the song, at a sound check obviously.
I note that your t-shirt competition was only
open to those living on Earth, so Evile are prejudiced against
extra-terrestrials?
Well the underlying problem is, if they're willing to enter the
competition, they should be willing to visit earth and stop everyone
wondering. So as soon as they do, they can work with Evile.
Well, that clarifies that. Dan Fernback did
your first video (for Thrasher), was that a shock for him after
working with BFMV?
Dan was a really professional guy, so I don't think it mattered what
kind of music or band he was working with, he just knew what he was
doing, and how to get what he wanted from the band.
You had to cancel Evile’s tour with Satyricon
after injuring your jaw! How more metal can you get, has it healed
well?
It's still not fucking healed properly. They had to shave the middle
of my beard to clean and stitch the wound (I wouldn’t let them shave
all of it) so I thought why not grow it out like that. The jaw
itself isn't back in place yet, I can still feel it at an angle
You truly have suffered for metal, Ol, we are
not worthy. And speaking of dedication to metal, you covered Death’s
Voice of the Soul-much respect for that, a favourite of yours?
Death in general is a favourite of mine, but more to the point Chuck
is. The anniversary of his death was coming up and I just wanted to
do something to commemorate him more than just posting "R.I.P.
Chuck" on Facebook. It was an honour to get a mail from Jane about
the video.
He was and is a big hero to me and many
others, particularly the progression he brought to Death’s music.
Speaking of progression, what kind of progression can we expect from
Enter The Grave, obviously all the touring you’ve done will have had
a positive effect
I'm not really a fan of "talking up" albums. It always irritated me
when bands say "this is the heaviest yet" or anything. I'd rather
the music just do the talking. All I’d say is we're trying to show
people we have more to offer than just 'retro thrash'. |
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Good
attitude, Ol, let the music do the talking, I know in my heart and
soul that Evile have what it takes to outlast the thrash-revival,
all truly good bands have that. The cover artwork for Enter The
Grave was fantastic, will your cover artwork be in the same vein as
the fine sleeve of Enter The Grave?
Not in the same vein, but it is quite an eerie and deep meaning to
it. Definitely one for vinyl!! Done by Michael Whelan of Sepultura/Obituary/Stephen
King fame.
He’s a fantastic artist, I can’t wait to see
that, anything bearing his artwork just has to be good, and fair
dues for your dedication to vinyl. On a more serious note, are you
concerned that if there’s a backlash against thrash it will hurt
Evile, or do you believe you have a life beyond that anyway.
If there's a "backlash" it won't really matter to the people who
love it, so there'd be no difference. Like I said before, I'd like
to show people we're more than "a thrash band", but I'll always love
and want to play Thrash. |
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Any touring plans set up for the new albums
release?
There's quite a few things in the works but nothing final yet, but
guaranteed to get as far around as possible to play to as many
people as possible.
Finally, Ol, anything you’d like to add.
I'd like to add 14 to 7, because I like how it adds up to 21. And
also a thank you to everyone who has and is supporting Evile, and
also people who like adding 14 and 7 together.
And I’m sure there are many of them out there!
Ol, thank you for the interview, and good luck with the new album.
www.evile.co.uk/index.html |
www.myspace.com/evileuk |
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