{"id":17347,"date":"2013-07-28T10:30:09","date_gmt":"2013-07-28T00:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=17347"},"modified":"2013-07-27T15:37:35","modified_gmt":"2013-07-27T05:37:35","slug":"jon-stockman-of-karnivool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2013\/07\/jon-stockman-of-karnivool\/","title":{"rendered":"Jon Stockman of Karnivool"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n<\/a>\u201cThere\u2019s definitely a lot going on, so it\u2019s hard to sort of capture exactly everything that we wanted to in a first listen. I think that\u2019s where it comes from writing it over such a long time as well, you know songs do get quite complicated in terms of the textures and how much is actually present in a song\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

From Bio: Revolution is a chaotic and unbalanced affair. It challenges the state of things, and for those who revolt against the status quo, it bears both great risk and reward. These truths are as vital in art as they are in any other realm, and it is within these redefining upheavals that Australian hard-rock architects, Karnivool thrive. With their acclaimed 2005 debut, Themata<\/em>, and 2009\u2019s ground breaking follow-up, Sound Awake<\/em>, Karnivool established themselves as one of the most vital forces in progressive modern music, Karnivool have belied expectation again with album number three, the brazen and introspective, Asymmetry<\/em>.<\/p>\n

About to head out on tour in Australia is support of their new album \u2018Asymmetry\u2019 we chatted with Karnivool bass player Jon Stockman about the album, touring and time signatures\u2026<\/p>\n

Firstly, how pumped are you to finally have the new album out there?<\/strong>
\nOh extremely pumped, it\u2019s just been such a long process once again and I don\u2019t know, there\u2019s points when it\u2019s just inconceivable that you\u2019re ever going to get to the end so it\u2019s such a rewarding feeling to get it out. We\u2019re really excited to about to go out on tour with it as well.<\/p>\n

The name \u2018Asymmetry\u2019 is there a meaning behind it you can share with us?<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s something that sort of sums up the balance or imbalance in the dynamics on the record that we were sort of playing with and I guess there\u2019s some of the heaviest stuff we\u2019ve ever written and some of the lightest stuff we\u2019ve ever written but still some cohesion throughout the record, probably more than we\u2019ve managed to get on our past releases, so it\u2019s just pointing to that in particular.<\/p>\n

Four years seems to be the gap between albums for you guys, is that something you set out to do on purpose or does it just fall into place that way?<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s actually every time we try to narrow that gap and it just happens to be that way *laughs* I think this time around it was interesting as with \u2018Sound Awake\u2019 we spent four years in the studio and rehearsal studio writing it and that was like a lot more hours than we spent doing \u2018Asymmetry\u2019 and the first two years after \u2018Sound Awake\u2019 we actually didn\u2019t get much time to write anything, so the last two years we\u2019ve been writing it. It\u2019s definitely something that we\u2019ve failed to avoid I\u2019ll say that *laughs*<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s start getting ready for 2017 yeah?<\/strong>
\nYeah maybe, that\u2019d be a safe bet, but once again we\u2019ll try and make it quicker this time *laughs*<\/p>\n

Is there a concept that you\u2019ve approached this album with as to me it feels like it needs to be listened to as a whole rather than specific tracks\u2026<\/strong>
\nYeah that\u2019s right, it\u2019s especially I guess because of the way to starts and finishes, we were kind of using certain themes of things that we were thinking of and things we were interested in in this period, I guess that\u2019s sort of like a further example of how \u2018Asymmetry\u2019 applies in the actual flow of the record and how the set forms symmetry but it\u2019s not identical\u2026 there\u2019s the very first song \u2018Aum\u2019 is like the dawn of creation, that\u2019s what we were trying to capture and by the end of the record you get to death, but we wanted something that still had a certain warmth about it in the way that the first track did so it wasn\u2019t about a fear of dying or the hopelessness or sadness associated with it, it was more about the peace and surrender that comes with that, so there\u2019s that sort of aspect to it. Across the whole record it sort of flows from these points, and different songs have different references to things that can happen in life itself, not necessarily all of them, that\u2019s sort of a general thing we were thinking of for that. There\u2019s definitely a lot going on, so it\u2019s hard to sort of capture exactly everything that we wanted to in a first listen. I think that\u2019s where it comes from writing it over such a long time as well, you know songs do get quite complicated in terms of the textures and how much is actually present in a song\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>You say complicated, so the time signatures, some of them are just fucked up on the album, how the hell do you remember what to play?<\/strong>
\n*laughs* Well I guess it\u2019s weird because we never actually set out to write a song in some kind of fucked up time signature it just happens to be in that time signature, If anything the hardest thing is actually playing it live and performing it at the same time I guess, so we can translate it and not make it look like maths. I think on this one there\u2019s one in 17 and another in 15\/8 and I think we\u2019ve done just about all of them now. *laughs*<\/p>\n

You had Nick DiDia produce the album along with Drew, but what did Nick bring to the table on this album that helped shape it?<\/strong>
\nWell the sound of the record is something very much that he brought, in particular the way that we recorded it was done deliberately so it wasn\u2019t as much as a polished product as we probably could have done and it was a bit rawer and the way we tracked it was to make it sound more like the band sounds rather than trying to individualise it too much, so there\u2019s an element of rawness and an organic kind of experience that he allowed us to get, so that was a significant thing he brought. He also helped us a lot and got involved with structuring songs as well which was really helpful, we butted heads at times but that was all part of the process.<\/p>\n

Do you set out to do things differently on each record as they all do sound like their own, is it a case of not repeating yourselves?<\/strong>
\nI think when we write music it\u2019s interesting to us in the first place, so we don\u2019t actually go in there trying to write something, you know what I mean? By the nature of that it\u2019s always going to be different and we\u2019re not really too bothered in trying to match anything that we\u2019ve done before and that\u2019s not to say that we won\u2019t I guess by the same sort of process but it\u2019s something that we\u2019ve never really paid too much attention to so that we don\u2019t get trapped by it more than anything.<\/p>\n

So in that case, with three different albums now, can you give me one word to describe:<\/strong>
\nThemata:<\/strong> I\u2019d say that\u2019s about \u2018Hooks\u2019
\nSound Awake:<\/strong> Lures
\nAsymmetry:<\/strong> Probably about \u2018Burly\u2019<\/p>\n

All about fishing?<\/strong>
\nYeah\u2026 If anything we hope we don\u2019t make a sinker if anything\u2026 *laughs*<\/p>\n

The one thing you guys do more often than releasing albums thankfully is touring, and you\u2019re back in Australia to play some shows, what can we expect to hear at these shows?<\/strong>
\nWell it\u2019s going to be featuring songs off the new record and it\u2019s the first time we\u2019re going to be playing them live, so we are pretty excited about that, it\u2019s just fresh tunes from us and it\u2019s just a fresh way to start off a new touring cycle as well. So they\u2019re going to be some really exciting shows for us and hopefully everyone else that comes along as well.<\/p>\n

Have you had a chance to play any new ones live yet?<\/strong>
\nYeah we\u2019ve played a few of them, we were road testing a few last year and on the European festivals we just did we did a couple as well, and we\u2019re really happy with the way they\u2019ve translated live and there\u2019ll be more than that on this Australian tour.<\/p>\n

Now, you\u2019ve just been overseas playing some festivals including the Download festival, tell us about that experience\u2026<\/strong>
\nWell Download was amazing, it\u2019s a huge festival, so many bands are playing, it\u2019s horrible weather even though it\u2019s the middle of summer, it just becomes a mud fight and some ends of the grounds and some of the bands that were playing were amazing, like Iron Maiden had a spitfire fly over the audience just before they start *laughs* and all sorts of crazy shit like that, it was really good.<\/p>\n

To me sometimes it feels like you guys sit a little under the radar yet so many people are huge fans, I know Slash is for instance and has mentioned you in an interview he did with us once, how does it feel to have that sort of praise?<\/strong>
\nOh it\u2019s amazing I can\u2019t tell you how awesome that feels, I really can\u2019t express it, it\u2019s such an honourable thing for people to do for us and on or behalf to be that supportive of your music, it\u2019s really special.<\/p>\n

After the Australian tour, what does the rest of the year look like for the band?<\/strong>
\nWell once we\u2019ve finished this Australian tour we\u2019re going back to Europe to do another month of touring over there and I\u2019m not sure at this stage what the very end of the year hold for us, but there will be a lot more touring next year as well.<\/p>\n

Is that in Australia or back overseas?<\/strong>
\nBoth and we\u2019re actually trying to get back into our writing this time so that we can maybe make it less than four years *laughs*<\/p>\n

Well good luck\u2026<\/strong>
\nCheers *laughs*<\/p>\n

I guess you need to balance Ian Kenny\u2019s time as well?<\/strong>
\nYeah that\u2019s right, we\u2019ve been pretty successful at managing that, so we\u2019re pretty independent of needing Kenny to be around all the time and that\u2019s good because it doesn\u2019t hinder anything really. Good management and good organising, that\u2019s about all it comes down to *laughs*<\/p>\n

Well thanks for your time Jon, see you at the show and hopefully we will hear something sooner than 2017\u2026<\/strong>
\nYeah hopefully, I\u2019d like that a lot\u2026 *laughs*<\/p>\n

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

From:<\/strong> Perth, WA, Australia<\/p>\n

Band members:\u00a0 <\/strong>Ian Kenny \u2013 Vocals, Andrew “Drew” Goddard \u2013 Guitar, Mark “Hoss” Hosking \u2013 Guitar, Jon Stockman \u2013 Bass, Steve Judd – Drums<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong> http:\/\/www.karnivool.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Current release:<\/strong> Asymmetry (Sony Music Australia)<\/p>\n

Catch Karnivool on tour <\/strong>with special guests<\/strong><\/em> <\/strong><\/em>Northlane<\/strong> in Australia at the following dates:<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Tuesday 30 July 2013 \u2013 THEBARTON THEATRE Adelaide, SA (All Ages\/Lic)<\/strong>
\nTickets from www.venuetix.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Thursday 1 August 2013 \u2013 MELBOURNE TOWN HALL, VIC\u00a0(GA Floor\/GA seated balcony)<\/strong>
\nTickets from www.oztix.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Friday 2 August 2013 \u2013 MELBOURNE TOWN HALL, VIC\u00a0(GA Floor\/GA seated balcony) \u2013 SOLD OUT<\/strong>
\nTickets from www.oztix.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Sunday 4 August 2013 \u2013 THE BIG TOP, LUNA PARK Sydney, NSW (All Ages\/Lic) <\/strong>
\nTickets from www.oztix.com.au<\/a> and www.bigtopsydney.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Wednesday 7 August \u2013 EATONS HILL HOTEL, Brisbane, QLD <\/strong>
\nTickets from www.oztix.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Sunday 11 August, METRO CITY, Perth, WA<\/strong>
\nTickets from www.oztix.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

All shows over 18s only except Luna Park & Thebarton Theatre (All Ages\/Lic)<\/p>\n

Tickets for all shows on sale now <\/strong>from www.karnivool.com.au<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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