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A rather rainy night
hellcomed Back to the Grave and British classic act CANCER. An open air
stadium for a venue as a landscape and the sound of falling rain and people
coming and going easily set the mood for many tens of minutes of amused
conversation – even if a bit ‘artificially’ cheerful on one of the sides.
Preceding the band’s concert at MetalCova (first edition of the festival),
The Grave and Cancer gathered to discuss a number of relevant (and some – to
the point – irrelevant) matters. Here are the words. In the meantime,
guitarist Rob left the band. BTTG – Good evening. Would you care to present
yourselves to the readers of Back to the Grave? CANCER – We are Carl Stokes (drums) and John Walker (guitars and
vocals). BTTG – The
‘Johnny Walker’?... John – And Red Label [laughs]. Carl – It’s his middle name really. [Bassist Adam joins the ritual] BTTG – CANCER are back, after seven years of
silence. What were the main reasons for disbanding CANCER? And why have
CANCER reformed (the weight of the money issue?)? John – We had had enough. We had had enough with the labels and the
pressure. BTTG – Did it ever occur to you to start your own
external-influence-free label? Carl – Yes, 7 years later! [laughs]
We are independent now and this time we decided to do it on our own terms. BTTG – But what exactly did motivate you to put a
stop to all CANCER activity in the past? Was it the scene, the people?...
BTTG – What have the band’s members been doing
during this 7-year-long interval as far as music goes? John – We kept an interest, so to say. I teach guitar and I did some
other stuff too. BTTG – Anything worth mentioning? John – I did some BLACK SABBATH in a band and we played a whole set in
a festival in BTTG – An appropriate name, I would say… Carl – Well, it was all about BLACK SABBATH anyway!... And I also was
involved in music. I carried on playing drums, I did a bit of production – I
never really stopped being involved with music; I only stopped being involved
with the music industry and the suckers. It reached a time when music was
suddenly unimportant and we remember the underground and what we are doing
now as the best times. BTTG – It is a time when you have control over your
music. Carl – Yes, definitely. And then, eventually we couldn’t do anything.
We were constrained by success – and we weren’t that successful! [Laughs] They wanted to make money, but
unfortunately, with a name like «Cancer», it won’t get you too far. We’d
never be on «Top of the Pops» or «World Music Awards» with a name like
«Cancer». And these people (at the label) thought they would achieve that.
They were living in non-reality. But they had their big fancy flats and we –
CANCER – had nothing. Our reality was still the music and they got all the
money, but they also lost lots of it. That makes sense! BTTG – You came back with a renewed line-up to escort
the traditional members Carl and Jon.
What do you think of the new members? Carl – Yeah, we’ve got Adam (bass bombardier) and Ron (guitar). Well I
think we’ve got the best we can do, we enjoy it. It’s still in the same
tradition, we all try to enjoy ourselves and back then it wasn’t working that
way. So now it works again, ‘cause we're enjoying being back. BTTG – CANCER’s return reminds me of that with
SUFFOCATION and some other bands – Carl – That’s probably because they also got disappointed with the
whole scene. With us it wasn’t about the people or the music, it was about
what surrounded it and being limited by a label. BTTG – If you nowadays had to choose a label, would
you choose a particular brand name or…? Carl – There is a great label called Gory Grooves. It’s from the BTTG – We were going on about the line-up… Is it
easy to find musicians in Carl – We are not strictly from
BTTG – [To
Adam] There is an orgasmic look on your face just by playing in CANCER.
Am I right?
John – When we started it again we were starting a new band. It wasn’t
like coming back together, because we didn’t want to do that – we wanted a
new band. Carl – It was progressive and started with casual conversation. It all
happened very slowly until we reached where we are now. John – We got some solos done, some ideas and it all developed from
that. BTTG – Is CANCER a new band because it has a new
line-up, or are the ideas/ circumstances different too? You are still playing
the old songs, of course. Have you given them a different approach? John – Well, there is a different approach. I think it just answers to
the fact that we are different people now, with a different lifestyle, you
know. It is a different approach,
but it’s not intentional. Carl – You will hear a version of Into
the Acid tonight. BTTG – Speaking of versions, is CELTIC FROST’s Dethroned Emperor a usual set-list
song? Are CF and British bands of the 80’s some of the big references to
CANCER members as a whole? John – We played it in 1991, when we used to get together. Carl – Not necessarily, I mean, we brought it back because it’s a song
we really enjoy. We haven’t even rehearsed it particularly, and that’ll keep
up the surprise element!! CELTIC FROST were quite the influence for a lot of
people and bands at the time. We recorded our version for Corporation$. BLACK SABBATH was too. They are all very
important. BTTG – Would you say that CANCER has a typically
British sound? Carl and John – Exactly, yeah. BTTG – I mean, it is not like I can relate the sound
directly to ANATHEMA’s or MY DYING BRIDE’s, but – is it the climate, the rain
and all?... John – Yeah, you could say that [laughs]. Carl – [laughs] I think it
has to do with our environment, we are surrounded by factories and all the
noises. The whole place where we live is based around industry and you know,
it gets you to quite feel different and have a similar sound. A heritage. BTTG – To the point where it becomes instinctive – Carl – It is more like a reaction to that everyday course, to the vibe
there. BTTG – Are you willing to make a (professional)
living out of music? Are you doing it right now? Carl – We are already doing it. We don’t need CANCER to do it – CANCER
is something I do to enjoy. We would be stupid to do otherwise. CANCER is my
vacation from every day’s life, but I don’t need CANCER to make a living in
music. It’s a wide spectrum, like an ovo
[egg]. I mean, I don’t do this for the money, because there is not enough money
in music anyway! [laughs] John – Main thing is we have a good time. Carl – If we make money, it’s fine, that’s great! If not, that’s great
too. In the end of the day, everybody needs money to go places. BTTG – In 16 years of band history (including
interval), how do you look back at the beginning and confront it with the
present? Carl – When we started the band we had the same reasons as now, it was
a positive thing to do among friends, but the relationship between past and
future… John – What was the question again?... Oh yes, it is the same reason
why we are doing it now. We just want to enjoy ourselves doing music, that’s
all. BTTG – Somewhere in your biography is stated that it
did not take long for CANCER to find a label after the first demo. In the
band’s early beginning, you played with well-known acts, so what does it feel
now to be looked upon as a reference band yourselves? John – [Surprised] I don’t
honestly know! I can’t answer that! Carl – We don’t have that much of an ego. We still have our own
references, so it’s a bit difficult to try to perspective it from that point
of view. We just do this because we like it. John – [Humbly] But this is
what we do, isn’t it? It is all right if someone comes to us and says that –
a reaction is a reaction – but we don’t look at it that way. That’s what we
do…
Carl – All I have to say is he’ll remember that wherever he is! [laughs] He is very good. [… Thinking] I am honestly trying to
think what it was like. BTTG – I am only referring to the musician-side of
the question. Carl – Oh that! As a musician he was fantastic. The problem was, at
the end of the day he lived in BTTG – Has your
most recent EP Corporation$ been
officially released yet? I could not find information about it on the
website.
Carl – We wanted it to be small, it’s a little offering while we don’t
release the main thing. Adam – It’s a starter to the main course! Carl – We have got two new songs we’re gonna play tonight off the new
album, one of which is Devil’s
Playground. We have played these songs a couple of times just to see the
reactions. Down deep, the Corporation$
EP for us is just an appetiser. It costs them (the label) little to produce –
in fact, something like £200. We do all ourselves, it’s what it is. BTTG – Could you give us further insight into the
lyrics? Is there a leitmotif in any of the albums or between the albums? Is
the comeback also a renewed CANCER as regards lyrics? Carl – Have you seen « BTTG – So they are on the gore side– Carl – No no no! Like I said, it’s a little bit like we used to do
first, about the things that used to amuse us when we started back in 1988:
horror movies, etc. BTTG – Now that you mention it, I saw Dawn of the Dead yesterday. Carl – The original? I was part of that. [laughs] I suppose in a way, the lyrics are a bit like that: the
humour around the scumbags – BTTG – The British sort of humour?... Carl – Oh yeah, our worldwide famous type of humour. Monty Python
meets Bone Selector [?!] – BTTG – Meets who?!... Carl – Yeah exactly. [laughs]
They are in the League of Gentlemen
– not the League of Extraordinary
Gentlemen!! But back to English humour… you’ve got to have a sense of
humour when it rains. Hence the reason this interview is not that serious! [laughs] BTTG – Tonight’s concert is your second in Portugal,
am I correct? What can you tell us about the audience’s reactions so far? [Sudden
lasting silence]
Carl – The tour is nearly at an end… We got pretty good responses, BTTG – CANCER playing the tourist. Carl – We tried, but we didn’t look like real tourists. Adam – I like to travel round the coast. The good thing about touring
is to get to know lots of interesting places. We went to Estoril the other
day. BTTG – Is there anything particularly striking about
Carl – Not until it started raining! [laughs] [Indeed the night
of the concert, July 9th, was particularly rainy during most
bands’ performances] The food is also great. BTTG – Now that you mention it, I do not have much
of an opinion of the English talent for gastronomy… Carl – Well, we have fish ‘n chips! [laughs] BTTG – [To
John] It is also a bit intriguing that you are a vegetarian and play in a
band like CANCER, whose lyrics are not exactly vegan-oriented. Don’t get me
wrong, I am a vegetarian myself, but then you cannot be a zombie, as you do
not eat meat! [laughs] John – [laughing] Yes, I
suppose I can’t make it for the ‘Zombie Ritual’. BTTG – It is also a big difference between England
and Portugal as far as musicians go – you have CARCASS, NAPALM DEATH and a
bunch of other vegan guys. John – Before coming to BTTG – You get lucky if you are not offered grass
all the time. The interview is drawing to a close. Thank you for
the answers and you may now leave your last words if you wish. Adam – I would just like to say that Carl – I have a job when I go home, but John – I have a job when I get home [pause] … but Carl – Pornography is better in By Morgana – Back To The Grave Photos – Back to the Grave 2004 |
