Exclusive Interviews Only Found Here at MetalCore!
Scorched Earth
Scorched Earth are a killer underground metal that got my attention big time
when I popped on their CD a few months back. Here is an email I interview I
did with Terry McCorriston and do yourself a favor buy their CD, you won't be
disappointed.
MC: Who is in the band now and did the band go through many lineup changes
to
get to what the present line-up is today and did any of the band members come
from other bands?
TM: The lineup is : Terry McCorriston-Vocals/Rythym & Lead Guitars, Sanford
Johnson-Bass, Joshua Hanenburg-Drums, and Ted Cohn-Lead and Rhythm Guitars.
There have been many lineup changes since the foundation of this band, but this
has been the same lineup for four years now. We all came from various bands
in the past, none of which are worth mentioning.
MC: How did you come up with your name and were many band names thrown around?
TM: I just always liked the term and it fit our music. We were originally called
Nazgul, but that name seemed to fit more of a Power or Black Metal band, so
Scorched Earth we became. I don't remember if any other names were thrown around,
that was a long time ago.
MC: How would you describe
your music to somebody who has not heard your
music? Do you feel your an original band?
TM: Warlike, barbaric, vicious, ruthless, sadistic, raw, violent, nuclear, I
could go on forever. I feel we are unique, definitely, and that our songs are
memorable and stand on their own.
MC: Answer the end of this question: Somebody should buy your CD because:
TM: Its their duty. (I agree 100%-chris)
MC: Describe to me what each band member is like and do you all get along
really well?
TM: We're all kind of stick-to-ourselves type of people, but once we get to
know you, you can't shut us up, haha. We all get along great, since we've all
known each other for over a decade and before we were in this band.
MC: How has the response been to the CD release so far? Have their been any
bad reviews?
TM: Its been good and selling pretty well, too. Not a lot of bad reviews, but
some confusing ones. One guy said we were "Masters of their style, but
not quite there" or something. Every sentence was a contradiction. Maybe
that's his gimmick.
MC: Are you happy with your CD release? How did you come up with the name for
it and how have you been promoting it?
TM: I'm very happy with the layout and its the first time we've had the lyrics
printed and had a big foldout and everything (what can I say, we've been cheap
bastards sometimes, haha). The name comes from a Robert E. Howard Conan story
called "The Devil In Iron", and we converted it to sort of reflect
all of us in the band. We've been promoting it like any band does, through print,
the internet, live shows, touring, etc.
MC: What are the goals for the band if there are any?
TM: To make great albums and to tour as far and wide as we can. Its about all
a band can ask to do.
MC: If you could sign with any record label who would you sign with any why?
TM: Any one that will treat their roster fairly. We've been offered deals in
the past, but never taken them due to the fact that we'd be way fucked if we
signed with them. That said, we're open to fair deals, but 'til then we'll just
release stuff under our own label (Conqueror Wyrm).
MC: How hard is it to write songs and were any of the songs on the CD tough
to write at all? Are lyrics important to the band and how does a song come
together?
TM: Its not really hard for us to write the songs, I usually write the skeleton
of the song and we'll work the rest out in practice. Some songs have taken a
few hours, others a couple of years. Our lyrics are important, yes. I think
we write about more than just the usual since many of our lyrics are based on
other literary/cinematic/historical sources.
MC: Do you have a good local following and have you shared the stage with
many national acts at all?
TM: Yeah, we've built up quite a good local following over the years. We've
played with lots of touring acts, to many to mention here. Its worth noting
that there's been shows we've played with local bands (in Seattle) that have
drawn more of an audience than some bigger bands' shows.
MC: Do you feel your a good live band and how often to you practice and stuff
as a band?
TM: Well of course! I feel our live show is where people really experience what
we're all about. We don't just stand there while we play and say barely anything
between the songs. I'm notorious for my in-between-song-banter, and I should
release a CD of just that one of these days! We practice usually twice a week,
more if we have a recording or show coming up.
MC: How do you plan on promoting the CD and stuff? Have you been sending it
out to many zines and stuff?
TM: Like I answered in one of the questions above, we promote like any band
does, through the internet, handbills, touring, sending it to zines, the usual.
MC: Do you think you can earn a living off the band and that this type of music
would ever get mainstream record sales?
TM: Probably not on both counts. You never know though!
MC: I know you have a My Space page. What is the url for it and what will people
see when they log on it and do you have an actual website as well?
TM: www.myspace.com/scorchedearthxxx
They'll see our logo, pictures and pretty much what you'd expect to see, I guess.
Our regular website is:
MC: Do you have any fans overseas and is the CD available over there at all?
TM: Oh yeah, we've gotten
mail from lots of different places/Lots of Germany, Holland, Russia, S. America,
all over. I think the oddest places we've gotten mail from are Namibia and the
Solomon Islands. Our CD is available through various distros, and of course
through ourselves.
MC: What are your thoughts on thrash metal sort of starting to make a come
back?
TM: I think in general its cool, but many of the bands are one trick ponies.
Also, I've seen pics of some of these bands' members wearing shit like leopard
print pants that, if this were back in the day, they'd have gotten their asses
kicked in.
MC: If you could book your own concert with 10 other bands besides
yourselves, what bands would you book and why?
TM:
Iron Maiden
Motorhead
Slayer
Sodom
Destroyer 666
Inquisition
Lord Gore (original lineup only)
Unleashed
Destruction
Forbidden
Reason? They're probably the best bands I've seen live (although there's plenty
of others, but you said to name ten). However, since this is my dream concert,
I'll have to turn it up to 11 and say that Scorched Earth will headline this,
haha.
MC: Do you think the underground is too crowded nowadays with too many of the
same sounding bands and not enough good quality bands?
TM: Its always been "too crowded", which is better than hardly any
bands at all. Quality bands will make themselves know, they always do.
MC: What are your plans for 2008 and beyond and when can we expect some new
material?
TM: We are currently working on our next album and we plan to record it in April
'08. New song titles include "The Gods Themselves", "Hell On
Mars", and "Devils In Iron" (we're fond of using the previous
album's would-be title track on the following album, haha).
MC: What merchandise do you have for sale?
TM: We have "Devils In Iron" and "Gods, Kings and Conquerors"
CD's for sale (Our first album, "Thy Kingdom Crushed" is out-of-print
and "GKC" is almost gone, too.) Logo short sleeve shirts are there
too. Just go to our website and look and see if there's anything you want.
MC: Any last words. Horns up for the interview.
TM: Thanks Chris, for the interview. Its good that Metal-Core has been going
strong all these years and that you're giving us a forum to vent. Hail to all
reading this and hope to see some of you on the road or elsewhere. Up the Iron
Crosses!