{"id":16720,"date":"2013-06-05T07:30:57","date_gmt":"2013-06-04T21:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=16720"},"modified":"2013-06-04T22:27:21","modified_gmt":"2013-06-04T12:27:21","slug":"monster-truck-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2013\/06\/monster-truck-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Monster Truck"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n<\/a>From official bio: The term Rock n’ Roll gets thrown around pretty haphazardly. One can go as far as stating it\u2019s been bastardized to the point of being unrecognizable, ironically shouted on stages worldwide, and classified dead or MIA by the very musicians that once upheld its standard. Enter Monster Truck. There’s something comforting about a band name that delivers exactly what you expect to hear. Born in 2009 from the ashes of various Canadian Indie bands, Monster Truck began as a sonic affront to the very industry its members were bred from\u2026<\/p>\n

With two EP\u2019s prior and just releasing their debut album \u2018Furiosity\u2019 this truck won\u2019t be slowing down anytime soon\u2026 trust us\u2026<\/p>\n

Hungover and road weary, we chatted to Monster Truck guitarist Jeremy Widerman about their new album, touring and labels in music\u2026 we dig these guys and they are most certainly one of the best things you\u2019ve never heard.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re just about to release your debut album, now, to save me doing a review, can you give us say five words that you think sum up the album perfectly?<\/strong>
\nMan we\u2019ve only got one word and it\u2019s the name of the album and it\u2019s \u2018Furiosity\u2019 and when I say that, people conjure up ideas of anger but I think it\u2019s more just intensity and high energy kind of rolled into a word that we feel like we kind of invented. So yeah, just the combination of Ferocious, Energetic and Intensity, so I guess that\u2019s three words that sum it up ok\u2026<\/p>\n

In putting the album together, how did you approach it compared to your previous two EP releases?<\/strong>
\nWell in terms of song writing, we didn\u2019t really approach it any differently at all, we just kind of concentrated on songs that really come together quickly in the jam space and if we had to over work them too hard, we usually just scrapped them and moved on to something else. One of the main differences in putting the listing of tracks together, on the EP\u2019s we really tried to keep it together all on the same vein, where you only have four of five songs to make an impression, I think putting too many different styles of song writing on an EP can be dangerous, as no one really ends up understanding what your band is about\u2026 if you\u2019ve got a hard song, then groovy and then ballady you confuse people, so with the EP\u2019s we tried to keep it all along the same vein, but when we put together this album we were allowed the space and time to put in a couple of different songs and make sure that it had a very diverse pallet so it didn\u2019t wear the listener out and you\u2019re not just getting pounded by twelve rock songs, more of a metal tune in there then maybe a ballad, then more soulful and then the other six or seven standard upbeat rock songs.<\/p>\n

So it doesn\u2019t sound like it was it a tedious thing, and it all came together nicely and fell into place?<\/strong>
\nYeah well we had the time to do it like that which was really nice, we put together the record over the course a year and a half and we also recorded it once before and had it totally fail and we learned a lot from that experience. We went to LA with a different producer last Spring and it really didn\u2019t turn out to be what we wanted, and in having that failure, we learned so much about ourselves and about the songs and it made it that much easier to really know how to approach it the second times and the mistakes we made.<\/p>\n

Was there ever a time after you\u2019d thought you\u2019d failed where you thought \u2018why are we bothering?\u2019 or did you know that you just had to do it right?<\/strong>
\nIt was really a process of everybody coming to terms with that idea, I got a bad feeling while we were doing it, I was in a really bad spot while we were recording it, as a week into it I got the feeling that things weren\u2019t going the way I\u2019d hoped and it wasn\u2019t sounding the way I wanted and I didn\u2019t have everyone on my side, so it was kind of a situation where I thought there was a good chance I was wrong as everyone had been drawn in thinking it was going well, so it really took a long time afterwards when it was finished for me to even have the confidence to put my foot down about it and have everyone on the same side where we all thought it wasn\u2019t good enough. The turning point was our label spoke to us and said that maybe we should so better, and as soon as they said that it was almost like a house of cards toppling, where everybody was on the fence and then the label was like \u2018you know you can do better than this\u2019, then everyone was like \u2018ok let\u2019s do it again\u2019\u2026 at that point it was full steam ahead and I really couldn\u2019t be happier with how it turned out the second time.<\/p>\n

You worked with Eric Ratz, more known for his work with punk style bands, why was he the right choice to help you create \u2018Furiosity\u2019?<\/strong>
\nI think he\u2019s just generally known for loud and big tones, he\u2019s not the kind of guy that just uses a standard game plan for every band, he really tailors the style of music and the type of band he\u2019s working with. That\u2019s his strength, to be able to adapt and get the giant sounds that work for whatever band he\u2019s recording.<\/p>\n

The label \u2018Vintage Rock\u2019 or \u2018Classic Rock\u2019 seems to follow you around, does that bother you in any way? Can\u2019t we just call it rock and roll?<\/strong>
\nYeah, I agree with that. It doesn\u2019t bother me, if people want to call us a Classic rock theme band that\u2019s fine with me, the label that bothers me is \u2018revival\u2019 because it kind of insinuates that rock had died at some point, and I don\u2019t think there\u2019s been an absence of really high energy rock bands in the last years, but to suggest that we\u2019re trying to bring back something that\u2019s dead, I don\u2019t really think that\u2019s the case, I don\u2019t think we are a revival type band because we have a lot of modern influences and a lot of elements to our music that is Modern Rock, and at the end of the day, you\u2019re right, I\u2019d rather just call it rock and roll and be done with it, so you kind of hit the nail on the head with that one.<\/p>\n

So I guess the question in, when are you coming to see us down here in Australia?<\/strong>
\nI don\u2019t have an answer for you, I know it\u2019s in the game plan, right now the record just came out and we\u2019re seeing where it\u2019s getting traction and people are enjoying it. Right now it seems everywhere is which is great but it\u2019s really about seeing how scheduling works out and what offers we\u2019re getting and who really wants us to get over there, so time will tell on that one but I guess time will tell soon.<\/p>\n

Touring wise though, are you heading out to any territories soon to get the music out that you never thought you would be?<\/strong>
\nA little bit with this tour we\u2019re finishing up now, I\u2019m in Florida as we speak, we\u2019ve been down here for four days and it\u2019s awesome. The surprise and the shock has come from the bands that we\u2019ve opened for, they are the situations the most that we all stand around and say \u2018How the hell did we get here?\u2019 Last year with Deep Purple, then Slash and now this Summer with Alice In Chains, just situations that I never expected us to be in, so to me that is the most surprising element of what we run on,<\/p>\n

I was going to ask that, so how does it feel when an artist like Slash picks you guys to open for them?<\/strong>
\nIt was kind of mind boggling because they kind of told us we were in running for the tour and we kind of dismissed it as we all thought there\u2019s no way that\u2019s going to happen, so let\u2019s just not think of it too much, Right around the time I\u2019d forgotten about it we got the call that we got it and again, it\u2019s really kind of standing next to yourself and saying what the hell is going on? What alternate reality is it here that we get to go open for Slash. That whole tour was amazing, he was so good to us and an unreal experience from top to bottom. Like on the first day of the tour he just came up and introduced himself and he seemed to take a real liking to the band and was available and approachable and just generally a treat to kind of watch and learn from, you really can take a lot of lessons from him, especially these days where he\u2019s sober and worked his ass off, nonstop. He\u2019s an inspiration to say the least.<\/p>\n

Not to mention that it\u2019s pretty cool when a guy like that wears your T-shirt\u2026<\/strong>
\nMan, that was a moment I will never forget, I was walking down the hallway of the venue, I turn around and I see him standing there with our shirt on and you don\u2019t know what to think, it\u2019s just such a\u2026 one of those moments where you think you\u2019re dreaming.<\/p>\n

Now from listening to your album, is it fair to say that your live show is pretty much as we hear on record?<\/strong>
\nI think it\u2019s better, I mean that\u2019s what we\u2019re told by a lot of our fans too, they love our records but there\u2019s nothing that lives up to the live show and I think that\u2019s a testament to the musicianship of the group and I think that\u2019s the way it should be. I would hate it if the record sounded better than our live show\u2026 that would be a disservice to music in general, I think that best way to experience music is in person, it is live and I have a great amount of pride when we play these shows and people say it sounds even better, you know?\u00a0 You get a big feeling in your chest and you get all the energy from the performance, it\u2019s real special to us.<\/p>\n

After starting as a side project, were you surprised as to what Monster Truck has now become?<\/strong>
\nYeah man, I mean the inception of this band and quitting the band I was in at the time was my middle finger to the music industry and my departure from trying to make a living out of it, trying to impress anybody, trying to get on to festivals or get a record deal, any of that stuff I was absolutely completely irrelevant to me and the only thing I wanted to do was play songs I wanted to hear and that was how the group kind of started in my mind and I think the other guys in the band were kind of on the same page. Different levels of decree and different levels of distain to the music industry, I don\u2019t know, I got run through the grinder with my other band, so I just didn\u2019t have any patience for it anymore and just wanted to do something for myself.<\/p>\n

And it turned out well\u2026<\/strong>
\nYeah\u2026 Now we\u2019re in it deeper than I\u2019ve ever been in my entire life, it was the last thing I ever thought was going to happen and here we are and I\u2019m just rolling with it.<\/p>\n

In only four or so years together, what has been the biggest thing you\u2019ve learned so far as part of being in this band?<\/strong>
\nWow\u2026 let me think about that for a sec\u2026 you know, honestly, I have to say and I think I maybe touched on this earlier, but the biggest thing I\u2019ve learned and it\u2019s mostly been about song writing, is just the general situation of when you\u2019re working on something and having it come together, the easier it comes together or the more it lays it out for you, the better it usually turns out. I feel like our other band wrestled with ideas and stubbornly you\u2019d work on something for weeks that in the end ended up getting scrapped anyways, and I really learned from this band, in looking at this catalogue of songs and how they really came about, the ones that really wrote themselves so to speak ended up being our favourite songs to play and took the last effort and really came from the heart, a special place where song writing should come from. I\u2019ve kind of latched on to that idea moving forward and really starting the songs from an emotion or from a visceral part of yourself and letting it unfold naturally and that\u2019s probably the most important thing you can learn about writing music and I\u2019m glad we\u2019ve gotten there.<\/p>\n

Well thanks for your time Jeremy, all the best with it and here\u2019s to having a beer one day. Thanks for the time today.<\/strong>
\nI would absolutely love that man. No problem at all.<\/p>\n

Essential Information<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n

From:<\/strong> Canada<\/p>\n

Sounds like:<\/strong> Rock and Roll!<\/p>\n

Band members:<\/strong> Jon Harvey – bass, lead vocals, Jeremy Widerman – guitar, vocals, Brandon Bliss – organ, vocals, and Steve Kiely – drums, vocals<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong> www.ilovemonstertruck.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Latest release:<\/strong> Furiosity (Dine Alone Records) out now<\/p>\n\n

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