{"id":2004,"date":"2011-10-07T13:11:02","date_gmt":"2011-10-07T02:11:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=2004"},"modified":"2011-10-07T15:59:54","modified_gmt":"2011-10-07T04:59:54","slug":"mark-hunter-of-chimaira","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2011\/10\/mark-hunter-of-chimaira\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Hunter of Chimaira"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>When it comes to recording an album, adversity doesn\u2019t stare you in the face much harder than having three of your band members depart the band just as recording is about to begin.\u00a0 In the face of adversity, flagship member and singer Mark Hunter and guitarists Rob Arnold and Matt Devries, along with collaborator Ben Schigel bunkered down and in 8 weeks churned out another brutal Chimaira album, The Age Of Hell, <\/em>now the bands sixth. \u00a0Having now completed their lineup, the band is about to head off on a headline USA tour and then head back to the shores of the UK. \u00a0As for Australia, well it sounds like early next year beckons?<\/p>\n

With the album being released locally here in Australia on 3Wise Records, we recently spoke with Chimaira singer Mark Hunter and talked through the making of the album and just how he believes the musical landscape has changed in recent years.<\/p>\n

Hey Mark, thanks for taking the time to chat today.\u00a0 So where in the USA do we find you right now?
\n<\/strong>I’m actually at home right now in Cleveland, Ohio, we are getting ready to go on tour in a little over 2 weeks.<\/p>\n

So are you right in rehearsal mode?
\n<\/strong>Nope, haha!\u00a0 In domestic mode right now and then rehearsals start next week.\u00a0 I’m mentally preparing for the calm before the storm.<\/p>\n

The Age Of Hell has been out for a month or so now in other parts of the world and it\u2019s recently been released here in Australia, how have fans reacted to it?
\n<\/strong>It’s really great to release your sixth album and still be able to impress your fans with new music and have them say strong comments like they feel this is your bands best album.\u00a0 As an artist, you’re always trying to improve and see that the fans are right there with you, it’s definitely reassuring!<\/p>\n

Given the adversity you faced making this album with the lineup changes, it obviously must be an able that you feel great satisfaction with, simply because you made it!
\n<\/strong>Precisely!\u00a0 It’s never fun to go through adversity but you have to look at that adversity and turn it into something positive.\u00a0 When we were finished with the album there was definitely a mixture of emotions.\u00a0 There was the pain of it all came out and then at the same time you are standing on the mountain and think phew, we did it, now lets get to the next mountain.\u00a0 It’s definitely not easy, but nothing in life is.\u00a0 If you want it that bad you’ve got to bust through whatever obstacle.<\/p>\n

Once you had things in place and ready to go, did you find that you actually felt a bit more creative freedom in the end with the album?
\n<\/strong>Yes for sure.\u00a0 Bands are interesting.\u00a0 You get a group of guys together and you have a common interest being heavy metal, but you also have a bunch of outside interests and maybe some of those clash.\u00a0 So you spend the first few years trying to convince your band mates that this band is really good and they may not agree, just like you do with your friends.\u00a0 It’s getting past those boundaries and being able to bring some of my other influences in, but still have it maintain the integrity of the project we are trying to put forward.\u00a0 It’s a little bit of a wall to get through over time and also confidence comes into play and I know where I personally have reached an age where I know who I am as a musician, what I am capable of and I don’t want to have any fears of trying to expand beyond that now.<\/p>\n

As far as recording goes, I think I read that it took about 8 weeks.\u00a0 Is that the usual amount of time it has generally taken you, or did you find this album to be quicker, or longer than normal?
\n<\/strong>That’s about right on par with other albums.\u00a0 In the past we have been way more prepared, but this one wasn’t about preparation, it\u2019s about making the best product that we could.\u00a0 So it was a bit unnerving moving forward and writing a song from scratch and you have no idea where it’s going to go and come out like.\u00a0 Meanwhile the clock is ticking and you could spend like 2 or 3 days on this song and at the end of it, you think this song sucks!\u00a0 So there’s always that risk, but in this one the gods were smiling on us as everything we turned out, we were hi-fiving each other!\u00a0 Luckily we didn’t experience any major hiccups other than the personal situation.<\/p>\n

With the line-up changes during the process, did you actually re-write the songs?\u00a0 Is the album a mix of songs written whilst you had the old lineup and then songs you also wrote once you decided on who was actually going to make the album?
\n<\/strong>Right, I know what you are saying.\u00a0 It’s a mixture of the two, but it ways heavily on the experience after the line-up change.\u00a0 There are a couple of tracks that were written before hand for example like Clockwork<\/em> which I had written in my basement and Born In Blood<\/em>, Rob had written on his protools rig probably in like his bedroom or something.\u00a0 But then organically the rest of the songs came together in the studio.\u00a0 I’ve got to say out of those 12 songs, or around 15 if you want to count the b-sides at least 8 or 9 were from the point of after the line-up was settled.<\/p>\n

Did you find that the whole events surround the lineup changes influenced the album directly in a lyrical or musical sense?
\n<\/strong>No not really, I didn’t want to necessarily make songs about that.\u00a0 It’s definitely going to be there in my soul and the pain of the words I am choosing to use there is a connection of course.\u00a0 But for me to sit there and sing about my old band mates would just feel short sighted and I couldn’t bear to do that.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a couple of years since your previous album, do you think the musical landscape has changed in that time?
\n<\/strong>Yes I definitely do, it’s always been changing.\u00a0 There are times when I feel like we are all going up the ladder together, this feels like a time where we are all going down the ladder a bit.\u00a0 But I look at it as all of a distraction.\u00a0 I used to be wanting to be involved in all of that, like what’s the industry doing and how many records is this band selling etc, trying to get in the rat race and be competitive.\u00a0 But then it’s like wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, lets break this down into reality…\u00a0 We are musicians that play music for our fans and ourselves…everything else is either the icing on the cake and\/or a distraction.\u00a0 That\u2019s the main foundation and that can never change, no matter what’s going on in the industry.\u00a0 If record labels cease to exist tomorrow, so what?\u00a0 Does that mean nobody is ever going to listen to me sing again?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 So you have to have this appreciation for the death of things, as out of the death of things will come new methods and if you can adapt to the new method and still be relevant, you are playing the game and doing the right thing.\u00a0 If you bow out and go into extinction, that’s nature!\u00a0 As an artist, if Chimaira was to end tomorrow, I would be like, you know what…I had the best time ever!\u00a0 I got to play with every single band I grew up listening to, I got to travel the world and I lived.\u00a0 I got a better education than I would have ever got going to college or school.\u00a0 You get to learn about real people, real culture, real experience.\u00a0 So that will never go away from me no matter what happens.\u00a0 So my motivation now is hey, I love doing what I do, I’d like to continue doing what I do and continue going around the world, go to Australia and do a walkabout.\u00a0 You know what I mean, can’t I still do do that if the industry goes to shit?\u00a0\u00a0 You telling me the fans are going to go, umm you know what, Warner Brothers is out of business, I’m not going to listen to Chimaira any more.\u00a0 That’s not going to happen…. So you’ve just got to stay strong and ride out of the wave.\u00a0 And if it’s over with, then it’s over with.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Four years since you did a national headline tour of the USA, you must be looking forward to getting back out there?
\n<\/strong>For sure and it’s long overdue.\u00a0 We haven’t done a full headline tour in the US in almost four years, so it’s going to be a homecoming of sorts and will feel good.\u00a0 I’m looking forward to it!<\/p>\n

Where are you at as far as your set list goes these days, with six albums worth of material, I dare say you will be keen to include a bunch of new tracks?
\n<\/strong>It’s going to be a good mixture of the two.\u00a0 We want to focus on the new material, but we also appreciate people are there to listen to their favourite songs that they’ve been listening to for years.\u00a0 We want to just make it as diverse as we can and try to please everyone and make it as well rounded as possible and as lengthy as possible as that’s what we always get yelled at for! “The show wasn’t long enough….”<\/p>\n

You also have a big UK tour coming up next year, has that been one of the stronger markets for you outside of the USA?
\n<\/strong>It’s definitely been a magical place for us.\u00a0 It’s where we have had some of our biggest shows and most surreal experiences over there.\u00a0 It’s one of the first countries to have really embraced us, both the fans and the press.\u00a0 So it’s always a good feeling to go over there and we are really looking forward to it!<\/p>\n

And as far as the prospect of an Australia tour?
\n<\/strong>I think you guys can do the math and figure when we might show up haha!<\/p>\n

Oh, so you mean around February\/March I take it haha?<\/strong>
\nI will not confirm or deny if that’s correct haha!<\/p>\n

Mark, it\u2019s been great chatting and we shall see you in 2012 it sounds like!<\/strong>
\nLikewise, thank you so much and we will see you out there very soon!<\/p>\n

Essential information<\/span><\/h2>\n

From:<\/strong> Cleveland, Ohio<\/p>\n

Band members:<\/strong> Mark Hunter \u2013 Vocals,\u00a0 Rob Arnold – Lead Guitar,\u00a0 Matt DeVries \u2013 Guitar,\u00a0 Emil Werstler \u2013 Bass,\u00a0 Austin D’amond \u2013 Drums,\u00a0 Sean Z -Keyboards\/Vocals<\/p>\n

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

Latest release:<\/strong> The Age Of Hell (26 August 2011, 3Wise Records – Australia)<\/p>\n\n

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