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Home  Gutter's News NILE - TO ENTER STUDIO IN JUNE
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NILE - TO ENTER STUDIO IN JUNE |
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Written by dfbe
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Friday, 24 April 2009 |
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Chad Bowar of About.com recently conducted an interview with Karl Sanders of the South Carolina-based technical death metal band NILE.
Nile is in the midst of working on their next album, but they had some free time when Karl Sanders finished his second solo CD Saurian Exorcisms. Like his first solo effort, it’s not death metal at all. Instead, it’s ambient and mellow instrumental music with exotic instruments and a Middle Eastern vibe. Sanders gives us the scoop on his solo CD, when we can expect a new Nile record, and several other subjects.
Chad Bowar: Is Saurian Exorcisms similar soundwise to your 2004 solo album Saurian Meditation?
Karl Sanders: In some respects yes; in a lot of ways, not really. I would say firstly that there is not as much "meditation" and more "exorcism" to the music. Also, a lot of Saurian Meditation was done in my home studio, with some parts recorded at the Sound Lab, and some more recorded in DOW studios. This time around it was all recorded at my home studio, and only mixed at Sound Lab. Then Punchy did the mastering at his DOW studios in Tampa.
My signal path this time around was a whole lot cleaner. On Saurian Meditations I was working with a budget tube mic pre and budget microphones, and this time around I had much better mics and an SSL channel strip as my front end. So Saurian Exorcisms is way cleaner right outta the gate. There was actually some stuff that got tossed and/or redone because it wasn’t clean enough to match up with the rest of Saurian Exorcisms.
I also had a complete PC crash back in ‘07, and many of the sound files were unrecoverable. At that time I really couldn’t afford a big fat backup drive - a crucial error in retrospect - so a lot of irreplaceable takes were just plain gone or corrupted beyond repair. "Curse the Sun" and "A Most Effective Exorcism" were the only tracks that were anywhere near usable, and those were missing huge chunks of "I can never do it that way again" kind of performances. So now I have a Maxtor external drive that is always on and backs up everything automatically every morning at 6 a.m.
Was your solo writing an ongoing process over the past few years, or did you sit down and write it in a short time frame?
The writing was spread out over a couple years. That’s why there was a long space between records, primarily because the Saurian project is of course, a side project. Nile is the gig that pays the bills around here, so it has to take priority. Nile completely swallows most of my time and resources, and really the Saurian music is more or less just a way to share with people the music I make for fun and relaxation in my spare time. And Nile doesn’t really allow a whole lotta spare time. Just to keep up the Nile guitar chops consumes several hours of my day, every day.
What are some of the more non-traditional instruments you use on Saurian Exorcisms?
Well, there the Baglama Saz, and the Glissentar, and various obscure percussion doo-dads laying around my apartment. I also picked up some authentic Tibetan bells while I was in Montreal this past summer. They are the ones you hear at the beginning of "Kali Ma" There are a whole lotta guitar synth emulations and computer manipulations as well of various obscure instruments like the Bansuri - an Indian wind instrument - and the eastern violin-like stuff is guitar synth as well.
Where does one buy a Baglama Saz and instruments like that? Where did you first discover these unusual instruments?
There is a little shop in Seattle I stumbled onto called Lark in the Morning. They have like anything and everything imaginable from every corner of the globe. I order stuff from them all the time. They really oughta give me frequent shopper miles or something. It is debatable whether or not Saurian Mediations or Saurian Exorcisms could have existed so easily without them.
Who’s your primary target for the album, Nile fans or ambient music fans?
Whoever wants to listen. I have no purist attitude at all about who can listen and who can't. I have seen a wide variety of people who enjoy the Saurian Mediations music, folks who would have never given Nile a chance. There are also plenty of Nile fans who enjoy Saurian as well, probably cause it is a break from real loud brutal metal, but it’s also dark enough to be interesting.
I played this music firstly for my own sanity, cause Nile is at its heart a death metal band, and once in a while I need a break from the constant blasting and super fast super brutal guitar playing. Sharing the Saurian music is just really giving something a bit more personal to others who may enjoy the same kinda thing. And that helps me keep my perspective on it being purely music that I enjoy relaxing with, without the whole "OMG I gotta write it this way or that way cause my whole career depends on it being fast and brutal."
Oddly enough, it seems a significant share of my audience demographic is the gothic belly dancing women.I get a pretty steady stream of emails from belly dancers who dance to and listen to the Saurian Mediations, complete with pics of them in their belly dancing gear. At first I was a bit flabbergasted I hadn't counted on that at all. Then I guess I figured "what the hell." The only real downside is that it isn't just the "lovely and charming" gothic belly dancing chicks who send me their pics. The "not-so-lovely" also share their pics. So clicking on an email from one of them entails its own fair amount of risk.
Did you decide on The End Records because of their track record with more eclectic types of music?
Absolutely. The End Records has the most incredible and interesting rosters of any label I have ever seen. They are also super nice to work with, and just as importantly, forthright and upfront to deal with. I am happy and honored to have the chance to work with The End.
Chad Bowar: What are your expectations for the album?
Karl Sanders: Who knows? It’s a side project, so it exists purely because I enjoy the music on a personal level. I am just grateful that I have the chance for others to listen and enjoy as well. Maybe because I would like to make more of these records in the future, I have an interest in the project doing well. After all, if Saurian Exorcisms goes plywood and no one buys the CDs, then obviously Andreas would not be as eager to do another one. So I hope it does reasonably well just for that reason.
Obviously the sound is completely different, but does the songwriting process for your solo stuff ever trigger ideas for Nile material, or vice versa?
Occasionally. A couple times I'll start on something, and it will become very obvious to me whether it’s a Nile song or a side project piece. “Shira Gula Pazu” could have gone either way. There is actually a version laying around with Nile guitars and death metal vocals. George and Dallas both expressed a strong interest in it when we were working on Ithyphallic; it really could have gone down the Nile path with only a few alterations from what you hear on Saurian Exorcisms. I think I just liked “Shira Gula Pazu” with the Baglama Saz. It gave it a more North African flavor then the big all-empowered, all encompassing pyramid sized Nile guitar tone. The Saz leaves room for other instruments in the mix to be heard as opposed to the Nile guitar sound , which eats up so much sonic space.
Is it easier or more difficult coming up with song titles for instrumental songs?
Well, with lyrics, there usually is a hook or chorus or some theme in the lyrics to make having a title pretty easy. But with instrumentals one has to use their imagination a bit. I usually just at some point listen to the song with my eyes closed, and see whatever imagery the music suggests to me. And that might suggest a title. Or, quite a few times, I will read something somewhere and a title suggests itself , and then I start with the title to inspire some new music.
One thing I don’t do is argue with the muse. If the music gods give you a gift of an idea, you just go with it and see where it takes you. Cause if one tries to get arrogant about it, and start making demands on the Muse, she will say (screw) you and probably go give somebody else the good stuff.
Have you, or do you have plans to play your solo material live?
Although I would really like to play the Saurian stuff live, the reality is I already tour quite extensively with Nile, and I have to balance that with being a parent. I am gone at least five months out of the year already, so it wouldn't really fair to my kid for me to go off and tour a second band. Maybe when he is grown and off to college or whatever, then maybe I could seriously tackle the challenges of touring Nile and the Saurian material.
When you’re listening to music for pleasure, is it typically metal music, Middle Eastern music, or something else?
Both. I also very much enjoy listening to soundtrack music. Movies are like the modern day venue for the new classics.
When and how did you first become interested in Middle Eastern culture, mythology and music?
Years ago, my friend and Band mate Pete Hammoura. His family is Lebanese, so I got a healthy dose of exposure to Middle Eastern culture. Of course I was also a fan of world history, particularly the Ancient Sumerians, Babylonians, and Egyptians. I am not at all surprised that I ended up in a band like Nile.
What’s the timetable for the next Nile record?
Preproduction is April and May, then we start recording in June at Erik Rutan’s studio in Tampa. Hopefully we will finish mixing sometime in July at Rax Trax in Chicago.
Are you far enough along to be able to divulge an album title or the direction of the record?
Gunter Ford would have my ass if I were to give away the title this soon. As far as the musical direction, we have upped the bar on the guitar playing this time around, and are very conscious about incorporating plenty of new and interesting extraneous instrumentation.
The last two Nile records were more straightforward death metal than say In Their Darkened Shrines, but that’s really just where we were as a band at the time. At that time I was also perhaps a bit fed up with some of the online nay-sayers who were accusing us of “gimmickry” and saying stuff like we weren’t capable of making metal without some sort of other “trickery” elements. What B.S., I know.
Every member of Nile right now can certainly play the Jesus (and Devil) out of their respective instruments. We are pretty damn confident about our technical skill level and our fever for pure metal mayhem. But that negative stuff sits in the back of your brain, entrenching itself in the most unforgiving way. I guess on some level I just wanted to lay down the hammer the old–fashioned way for awhile, at least until I stopped hearing any last remaining “Nile is nothing without its Egypt theme” internet foolishness.
Living in Greenville, South Carolina you’re pretty removed from the metal scene. Do you see this as a positive or negative?
It’s got its ups and downs. On the one hand, there are few distractions here, and one can really buckle down and get some work done. But the flip-side is there aren’t that many metal shows in Greenville. So to go see a real metal show – my personal brand of fun – I have to drive a couple hours to either Atlanta or Charlotte. I guess there’s always a trade-off in life. |
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