Caricature just dropped a groundbreaking new EP, Unborn. The band is a Genre-busting
delivery system of heavy metal that blends clean and harsh vocals with ultra high caliber musicianship. Joseph has successfuly harnessed his personal hardships into a beautiful post apocalyptic landscape of heaviness that has quickly put the new "Unborn" Ep on many metal critics 2016 "best of's" and "top bands". I'm very fortunate to have known Joseph through social media the past few years. He's not only an incredible musician but a bright & honest human being who cares a ton about people. I set out to make this interview a vehicle to get to know more about my friend and how his mind creates such powerful musical statements. I hope you'll take the time to read and enjoy this. But don't forget to order "Unborn", it's one of the year's best!
HMT: While I hate putting genre tags on music , what would you call Caricatures core sound? And for folks just hearing about the band, what do you feel first time listeners should check out of your work?
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| Cover of UNBORN EP Available Now! |
HMT: I'm often intrigued on how musicians caught the music bug. What's your earliest memory of hearing music and who was the artist that inspired you the most to first pick up an instrument?
JS: The earliest, earliest would be listening to Hank Williams, Loretta Lynn,
Waylon Jennings, and Alabama with my grandfather while he worked in his
wood shop on weekends. That was what he grew up with [and what his more
current favorite was at the time with Alabama] and he would hum along, so I
would learn the words as best I could to take part in that with him. Aside
from the Kiss Christmas special that made me want to actually be in a band,
I remember a neighbor got a copy of Slippery when Wet from his aunt and
listening to it at his house when I was probably 4 or 5 and pretending to
play air guitar to it so that's probably the one. Maybe? I was raised by
people far older than most people my age, so I came up with a perception of
music that many might consider "antiquated" hahaHMT: You've been sequestered in Maine the past few years. Tell me about life in the woods as most of us southern new englanders look at our northern counterparts? What brought you there and what have been the transitional difficulties of finding like minded musicians in your area to play with?
JS: Aside from certain... obstacles that I won't really get into, the wildlife
and being in the woods part is pretty nice. It's quiet. Living in Atlanta,
New Jersey, New York, the Boston Metro West area things were never silent.
In the woods of Maine it gets pretty silent most nights aside from some
rednecks trying to do burnouts or whatever. So that is nice. When I lived
elsewhere, I would take trips back to Maine just to get some sleep, so
that is a plus as well as just being able to sort of disconnect a bit from
everything. Decompress. The other side of that is that there isn't much
industry at all once you get further north than the Portland area, so the
scenery and culture changes pretty drastically the further you go. Some
towns around here look near identical to the way they looked in the 1960s
save a few gas stations and road signs. Things as well as the people tend
to be a bit more worn down and the drug problem is pretty substantial. Meth
especially. A lot of people who feel very frustrated with the grind of
trying to make ends meet and not a very welcoming mood. So on one hand you
have all this beautiful wildlife, lakes, mountains, forestry, but then you
have some very hard to deal with people that are bitter about their
financial standing and who have too much time on their hands when winter
lasts for about 7 months a year.
As for being up in Maine, I went back to help out my grandmother. Her
health was not great. She seems stable now, but there were 3 occasions
where I had to carry her myself and put her into the car and rush her to
the nearest hospital. Another downside is if you need help, don't expect to
see a police officer or an ambulance within an hour of calling.
One upside is that Evan Sammons [of Last Chance To Reason] is from a town
only about half an hour away and way back he and I used to jam in his
parent's basement just before LCTR came to be. I ended up moving to New
Jersey so nothing really came of those jam sessions, but he ended up back
up near here as well so it was the natural choice to partner up with him.
Finding other people is almost not an option. There is virtually no metal
scene even in Portland. You could count the metalish related bands on one
hand really and anything further than 20 miles north of there... just
forget about it. I had met Gerry when I was living in MA. He actually sold
me my last laptop when he worked at one of those big box stores. Luckily I
have been playing around for years and did well for myself so I have
contacts for when we play shows so an almost "music collective" sort of
vibe crept up and just makes sense. I always get to bring in my friends and
have a good time to do shows and tours when it comes up. Rooting anything
up in Maine just isn't an option though.HMT: Tell me about Parm the Cat, your families top fur friend and inspiration? You've even included Parm on cover artwork.
JS: Parmesan is my number one guy. The light of my life. He was a stray. I
think he was born out in an abandoned barn and he and his mother sort of
just wandered onto the property. He came over and said hello and tried to
play one day when I was washing my car when he was super tiny but ended up
keeping what I can only assume was a safe distance. He ended up getting
infested with parasites and pretty sick. I was having pretty severe health
issues at the time and was in and out of the hospital then pretty much
confined to my bed for the month leading up to seeing his mother carrying
him into the middle of the road and leaving him there. He would cry then
crawl his way to the side of the road. His eyes were matted shut and he
looked awful. His mother would then drag him back to the center of the road
and walk off. It looked like she was actually trying to have it so a car
would hit him. I had made up my mind that I would never get another cat,
but I just couldn't leave him. I was having a hard time getting around at
the time, but i sort of held myself up using the walls then tried to get
momentum to get outside and get him. Luckily the road isn't very popular. I
scooped him up a brought him. The rest is history. He was a sweet guy and
just wanted to purr and cuddle so after a few days of his health getting
worse and worse and not being able to get his eyes open. I actually went
out and opened up a credit card that I knew i couldn't pay just to be able
to get him into a vet. I went deep into debt, but he is the most loyal and
loving being I have ever met. It wasn't ideal, but I would do it again
without a second thought.
That giant 28 minute long song "Stampede" that came out earlier this year
is the story of us, but the focus is really about him. He;s in the art,
there are samples of his purs, chirps, and meows from the first 2 years of
his life. I didn't feel that an average length song was befitting of such
an extraordinary little guy, so that song came to be. HMT: We've been friends through social media for a few years now. I always admire that you are not one to mince words and you stay true to your values. What pisses you off about the music industry these days? What band or artist is the antithesis of who you want be as a musician?
JS: I will never be one of these people who proclaims themselves to be holier than anything or that his view of the world is the be all end all, but I have been around long enough, traveled and met enough diverse people all over the world, where I at least hope that I a somewhat accurate perception of my own life and have fashioned and honest lifestyle for myself. I would never hope to be treated any better nor any worse that I treat others. I am aware that many times people are not mindful enough or simply do not care to treat others well and with respect. So that would be my number one thing. Egos. Bands/people who do not treat others as equals or who extort things from others or manipulate others to get things just gets on my nerves. I, personally, would be more at ease if people would just be fair to one another and not play this bullshitting game of creating fake life stories or who act fake to people. It's needless and generally comes from people who having something to hide. The same goes for a lot of these start up labels. Buyer/listener beware. I'm not even trying to start anything, but I will be honest here. Rings of Saturn and the main dude [possibly only actual member] Lucas Mann is quite a piece of work. He knows what he does. Anyone that has ever used production software and guitar pro is aware of what he does so why pretend? There is talent in being able to compose those pieces. It's a different type of talent, but it's still talent so the extent he has gone with it is something i feel is insulting all around. His attitude just makes the entire situation worse. Plus his failed kickstarter for a solo record that included a video where he couldnt even come close to miming along with what was clearly a guitar pro file being played was just something else. I don't want to be the guy that paints himself as hard to work with or a talker of shit, but come on... there are limits.
HMT: 2016 has been a real grab bag of craziness. Between election talk, dead
celebrities and Harambe, everyone seems to have an opinion and they are
quick to voice it. Do you long for the pre Internet days as much as I do?
Have we devolved as a species? JS: Though I honestly do believe that we as a global culture and species are devolving, I think the biggest problem is also what could have been the internet's biggest strength. It gives EVERYONE a voice. On social media those voices are pretty much equal. Someone super educated in a subject that is also very well known is at odds with people who have no idea what they are talking about and made a snap decision based off a headline. Then people with extreme views can then find other people with extreme views and then justify their own extremeism by reasoning out that it's somehow "normal" just because, in a world if over 7 Billion, they found 4 people on a comments section voicing the same opinion. The race to the bottom with that sort of behavior is at a fever pitch. Intelligence and compassion are being drown out by people who do not care about facts or betterment of anything who have nothing better to do than to post replies every 2 minutes revoicing the same misguided and degradative sentiment regardless of it's ties or lack there of in reality simply because their egos have gotten so out of control by a handful of people clicking/tapping the "like" button on stuff they post over the past few years that they can't handle any notion contrary to their own. People have become massively polarized and radicalized and it's only getting worse. The internet could have led to a new age of enlightenment and progress, but instead people decided to use it to soapbox and oppress others. I want to go back to not having to see such cruelty to others on a constant basis.
HMT: As much has technology has improved our way of life, I feel like post Internet society really lacks the depth of people who knew the pain of blowing into a NES cartridge hoping the game wouldn't stall at the start menu. How directly do the things you were into as a kid (comics, movies, toys..etc) influence the person and artist you are today? Do you feel musicians rely too much on technology and production to cover the lack of polish that comes with time and practice?
JS: I would be remissed to mention that it took until 2015 for me to find out
that NES games actually had a save function as long as you never took the
cartridge out. If i had known that when I was a poor kid playing my lawn
sale find obsessively, it would have been a game changer. [dat dat chhhhh]
As a person, like all generations before us since the dawn of humanity, we
are influenced by the world around us and the things we do to pass our
time. Our world has changed drastically in the past century and now we have
a far more customizable world than ever before. We have televisions, cell
phones, laptops, tablets, ect in which we can play and see only what we
want. More stores to buy content that speaks to us on a personal level. For
me comics and cartoons were huge. Captain America, Spider-man, Ghost Rider,
the X-Men, Superman, ect. These were the people I wanted to be. I saw
heroes standing up for others and protecting others who were unable to do
so for themselves. It's a value I hold close. I don't have super powers,
but im 6'2" and not a waif so the reality is that I physically as well as
mentally can stand up for others. I may back down from fights if someone is
just stirring the pot, but I haven't backed down from a bully since I was a
skinny 3rd grader getting beat up on the playground. That isn't going to
change.
As an artist both with music as well as painting and graphic design, like
anyone else, i incorporate the color schemes and soundscapes I grew up with
because they are things that brought me joy as a child. Big bold colors
over the 90s. Melodies and scales that we all grew up with in video game
and show tunes all seep their way into the pallet in which people create
with.
As for the technology: I see a lot of people making blanket statements
saying that protools ruined this, beat detective destroyed that, blah blah,
but the reality is that these are all tools. They can be helpful. Sometimes
you can play something great but you are not having a great day and its the
ONLY day you have in a studio and if someone has the abiity to do something
but lacks the money to sit around and run up bills then it can be great.
Those things also breed
On the other hand we also have a rash of metal bands and country singers
putting out records they cant perform ever... under any circumstances, yet
they pretend its real and then run a backing track and mime to it. A lot of
fans don't see it and are not familiar with using the tech or get used to
the sound of a severely pitch corrected and quantized performance and the
digital artifacting that you can hear in a mix, but they believe what
dishonest people say and then it creates an unrealistic expectation for
other artists. "Why can't so and so play this when blah blah can!? They
suck" Well Blah blah can't play it either nor can he even play the music of
so and so nor would he ever be able to because he actually cant really play
at all. It's a crapshoot. There is even a level of expectation now to have
super autotuned vocals and overlay quantized and edited guitars and it kind
of sucks. I personally would rather listen to what people can actually play
or at least someone who is using the technology in an honest and creative
away. HMT: Speaking of pop culture, you've gotten to meet some of your favorite comic book artists. List your top five favorite comics, artists and toys you currently own.
JS: One good thing about the majority of comic artists is that they are
genuinely nice and appreciative people and they are mega fans of the
industry themselves so more times than not, its refreshing. If we are
talking about collectible type things or just mementos the one i favor most
is a book that isn't even valuable: Marvel's Heroes For Hope issue that was
done for charity to provide food for impoverished areas of the world. The
cause was good and it had the best of the best of the late 80s artists. Ive
carried around to cons for years and now have about 30HMT: You're not only an incredible musician but you also customize instruments. When did you start really getting into modifying and building instruments? Were any of the latest instruments you've worked on used on your latest recording?
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| Customized Guitar by Joseph Spiller |
HMT: You have a new Caricature album slated for this year. Tell me about the line up for this latest release? Is this like Prince (r.i.p.) situation where you play all the instruments to get the recording pretty much set and then put together the pieces of the band to compliment the final product?
JS: The next one is just an EP, and though i play everything else. I cannot
take credit for the amazing guitar solos on "Spark" and the title track
which my friend Ray Suhy [Six Feet Under, Nels Klien, East Of the Wall] was
gracious enough to contribute and are probably my favorite part of the
whole thing. On the production side, Gerard Vachon [plays the sweet solo on stampede] did the final
mix. I engineered everything and produced and James Murphy [legendary
guitarist of Death, Testament, Cancer, Obituary fame] did the mastering. It
sounds awesome. Some things like guitar noises and vocals were not over
edited and kept real but still powerful and I'm not sure how people will
react to that, but its an honest recording that I am really proud of and
it's made even better because I got to complete it with my friends.
It's sort of a Prince situation I guess. There is also a full length that
will come out sometime next year though. That has Evan on drums. I wrote
some drum parts which I'm sure he listened to and used some elements of but
I just told him to do whatever he wanted and it's awesome. Like with
everything else, I try to keep this to a collection of my friends so its
fun. Evan is the main drummer.
Unless someone absolutely cannot make it, then that is who you will be
seeing live as it has been for the past 2 years. HMT: I really enjoyed the single "eat shit and die". I noticed some similarities between the art/font to that of the band Every Time I Die. Are my eyes deceiving me? Is that track on the new release?
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| Custom Guitar by Spiller |
HMT: You recently played in my neck of the woods and was subject to the theft of your head phones while you were on stage. Michale Graves this week reported his entire trailer being stolen at a hotel he was staying at before a gig. Is it me or is theft becoming an increasingly larger problem than it used to be? Do you feel venues and organizers should take greater steps to prevent access to bands belongings? It's happening so much and such a large scale, do you feel any of this is organized?
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| Spiller in Studio |
HMT: While we are on the subject of touring, do you see Caricature touring to support the Unborn EP?
JS: With winter coming up pretty much now it's a crapshoot this time of year. There is a small tour and some one offs in the work that should be announced shortly to support the EP, but there will be a much more elaborate touring schedule for the full length that hopefully will be out for summer. Knock on wood.
HMT: I'm pretty excited to hear that James Murphy is helmed to master the album. How did you guys hook up with Murphy and what has the experience been like?
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| James Murphy (Death, Obituary, Testament) |
HMT: I've spoken about bandcamp with a lot with our past guests. I recall you posting about having some issues with the way they handled paying out to artists and several website glitches. Have things within the site gotten better since we last talked about this earlier in the year?
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| https://caricature.bandcamp.com/ |
Unborn is now available! For More Info Follow Links Below
http://www.youtube.com/caricatureofficial
Cool Band Grownman; thanks for this!!
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