|
To start the Interviews section of
Deaf Sparrow with a huge BANG!!! we could not think of a better
band than British hardcore act NOVEMBER COMING FIRE. Unlike Deaf
Sparrow, these lads are quasi-veterans to the scene. With one
full-length and an EP on their backs, they have already toured
with established bands like DOOMRIDERS and DARKEST HOUR. Their
last release Dungeness, is also one of the most overlooked and
underrated records of 2006, but some secrets are meant to be
widespread.
 :
Please introduce
yourself and the band. A bit of history please.
I’m George (guitars). I have been playing in NOVEMBER COMING
FIRE for five years. The band is made up of myself, Ruari,
Gareth, Bones and John. John is the newest member, joining two
years ago.
:
You hail from Kent in
South East England. Americans are usually super duper ignorant
when it comes down to geography and other topics like the world
that exists beyond its borders. Tell us a little bit about your
town. How did it influence you? Was there a hard music scene?
NCF comes from Kent, we are all from smaller towns; Ashford, New
Romney, Canterbury and John is from the midlands, so its kind of
not a representation of geography in this band.... Or I suppose
it could be seen as just that, we all have to travel far to
practice, especially John... so I guess it could be seen as
successful in spite of geography! Geography is our enemy! Haha!
:
Many people get into hardcore because their town/lives suck and
they use the music as an escape. Could this be applied to
NOVEMBER COMING FIRE? And how were you introduced to the
hardcore genre?
I think we were drawn to it in a similar way to most, we're not
dumb, and you reach a point where you look for something more
than the shit fucking local bands pretending to be something
they're not, and having to pay lots of money to see your
favourite bands in a horrible 6000 capacity venue. It’s cliché,
but you reach your late teens and you want to 'feel' something,
stop being a consumer and make a difference to your own life.
Hardcore in 1981 was born out of middle America, bored average
kids who lived in a world full of apathy..... it exists
everywhere, and when you notice it, you want to react, so you
get in a hardcore band, or become a fucking DJ, or a Hip Hop
producer, or something else in which you can set your own rules
and fuck off the rest of the world.
:
For a while there was
a movement known as the ‘Canterbury scene’ which spawned bands
like SOFT MACHINE, CAMEL, and GONG. Can you educate us a little?
I know these are old bands, but did their work help form your
attitude towards music?
Not really, no. The guys from those bands, and Caravan used to
come in to the record store I used to work in. That was pretty
cool, to think they all played alongside HENDRIX, PINK FLOYD and
all that cool shit. I guess they were the underground of the
60's, and so in some way, yeah we owe them, but not really
consciously.
:
You named your band
after SAMHAIN’s third album. Why? How much do you love that
band? And what about DANZIG and THE MISFITS? Your music does not
seem to be influenced that much by either one of those. There
are certain parts of the record that are quite moody and I guess
we could trace those sounds back to the atmosphere of SAMHAIN,
but which bands influenced you and inspired you to form a band?
When I joined the band, we were called the HALLOWED. We weren’t
really into it. As people we rarely agree on anything, so one
day I had a text off Ruari, it said 'NOVEMBER COMING FIRE, lets
fucking do it!' I said yeah fuck it! Not so much me, but Ruari,
Bones and Gareth LOVE SAMHAIN, Live for DANZIG... we're all
massive MISFITS fans and all love DANZIG. I think it was more of
one of those teenage tributes you think fucking rule, but we're
still together and stuck with it, and fuck it, I don’t mind one
bit being associated with SAMHAIN!!!
It makes me laugh when people expect us to be some sort of
tribute band though; some kid from America was giving us shit
because we weren't legitimate Goths. Like it was invalid to have
that name because we didn’t fit what he thought we should!
I think if we've been influenced musically by those bands.
You're totally right, it’s more to do with atmosphere. We want
to sound like ourselves, but it’s records like those ones that
made us form this band. I guess other bands would in the
beginning have been AT THE GATES, THE HAUNTED and shit like
that. We were a full on metal band, and have just evolved as
time has gone on, trying to push ourselves further with each new
writing spate.
:
I haven't heard your first release Black Ballads, but Dungeness
is supposed to be quite the departure. What brought such change
about? Or should I say evolution? Or should I say development?
Or should I say growth? Or should I say progress? Really, what
should I say?
You can say all those things! Early on we realized we can't get
too comfortable with anything. If things start to get easy, we
tend to naturally move on. Black Ballads is a lot more raw than
the demo material. A lot more 'Hardcore' you could say, but
there are real elements of progression on that CD. I think we're
constantly hinting at where we're coming from and where we're
going next in our music, you just have to listen hard enough!
Dungeness was the hardest 18 months of my life. We knew the
records we loved, and we decided that it had to be, in our
opinion of standing up against them. The writing took so long
because John had only just joined and we were really trying to
see how the dynamic of the band would form like that. We knew we
wanted a ma-hoosive bass sound before John even joined, so soon
as he did, we worked on the sound together. Now we're totally
pleased with it.
:
Lyrically, Dungeness seems dark and reflective. Tell us a bit
about the band's approach and lyrical content. These days every
other musician seems to have a say on politics, which finds its
way onto the band's lyrics. Has this happened to NOVEMBER COMING
FIRE yet?
Not really. Our lyrics on Dungeness were quite observational.
Gareth wanted to approach writing in a more mature way. It’s
still about his life, and what affects it, but more in an 'out
of body' way. He searched deeper and talked about things such as
himself, so honestly, that I’m completely blown away. The lyrics
I wrote are metaphorical but paint a pretty clear picture of
some sort of oppression. I have mine, you may have yours, find
it in my lyrics if you want to. As far as politics go, I am very
conscious of what’s happening in the UK and around the world
right now, but frankly, NCF is an escape, not a huge burden i
have to distribute to the world. it is my release, an aural
representation of myself and the rest of the guys. It’s
expression of our lives, our thoughts.
:
How has touring been so far? Tell us a little about your
experience touring England and Europe. What's good and what's
bad? The differences between the countries' scenes and food, yes
food, I love hearing about food. American bands usually complain
that one thing that sucks about touring the old continent is the
food. What's your take on this? What about the other bands you
were on tour with?
We have toured fucking shitloads. Not so much this year but in
our time, we have toured fucking hard. TOO many stories, i don’t
know which one to pick! We toured with DOOMRIDERS and RISE AND
FALL in Europe this year, and it was a dramatic experience to
say the least. It was cliché in the fact it nearly broke our
band. Dealing with our drummer having to stay at home sucked.
Having no money sucked. Chilling with DOOMRIDERS and R&F fucking
ruled. All those guys are such good people that I have the
honour of calling them friends. We got to see Auschwitz, and
that was real eye opener. The drive to it and the drive back had
us all talking about our grand dads in the war and how we, in
the grand scheme of things missed possibly the most important
thing in Human History by a fucking millimeter. It puts your
life into perspective and makes you grateful for what you do
have.
As far as food goes, I was psyched on the mainland! So much
food! A full spread at every show, and then dinner! And a full
breakfast the next morning! Sure, it was all basically bread,
meats and cheese, but fuck in comparison to the UK, it was
fucking out of this world. I was embarrassed to be from the UK,
some of the food we got here, or lack of was just shit. Not a
good week! Hahaha!
DARKEST HOUR was a good bunch of shows! We've played with those
guys at least once nearly every time they've been over since
2001, so to finally spend the week with them was cool! They're
party guys, as are CEPHALIC CARNAGE and DEAD TO FALL. I'm not
really into any of those bands, but that tour was about fun, and
that’s what we had. We went out drinking with them all on the
last night and had a blast... really fucking good times.
:
Dungeness was recorded by Ben Phillips. Why did you choose him?
How important was he in the making of this record? What was his
role and how did he influence the outcome? How happy are you
with the result?
We chose Ben because he is one of my best friends and one of the
most talented people I’ve ever met. To work with him continues
to be an honour. His role was and kind of still is NCF member 6.
He played drums with us in Europe when bones couldn’t make it,
he is a true friend.
Going into more detail, before the sessions, we discussed at
length what we wanted from it. What sounds we wanted for the
guitars, bass and drums. Studied a little, got some cool ass
vintage amps and went wild! He can tell us when we're shit and
what we need to do better but also when we're getting it right.
It was stressful, and I think probably too long and drawn out. I
think I possibly thought too much about it for too long a time.
We're trying to be far more spontaneous this time around as we
love the feel of almost live recordings and such. We want that
energy and that atmosphere. That’s not to say I’m not happy with
Dungeness, I am. I’m more proud of that work than anything I've
done in my life. I just want to approach music different this
year.
:
Recommend us a few records of any style and time that you
consider as seminal. Who is rocking your stereo this month?
Fuck! Ummmm..... Always TOM WAITS, any record, but Bone Machine
and Blood Money are my favourites. No More Shall We Part by NICK
CAVE and THE BAD SEEDS, BLACK SABBATH: Master Of Reality, THE
MISFITS’ Static Age, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE Songs For The Deaf,
PJ HARVEY: Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea, BLACK
FLAG 'The First Four Years', THE CURE Seventeen Seconds. Fuck I
could have a conversation about this for the rest of my life!!!
What have I been spinning this month? The new CONVERGE record,
SONIC YOUTH’s Daydream Nation, BORIS’ Pink,' THE 'STRANGEWAYS’
Here We Come,' MICAH P HINSON’S And The Gospel Of Progress,
:
What's next for NOVEMBER COMING FIRE? Are you guys writing new
material yet? If so, how is it shaping? Is it a departure or
similar to Dungeness?
As with the writing of Dungeness, we're getting even faster and
more frenetic, heavier, sludgier, slower, definitely more bleak,
dense, massive.. fuck, i don’t know! Hahahaha…hope that’s
ok???!!!?!?!?!?
:
Yeah, that’s ok.
Check out
THE JONBENET interview |
