{"id":4096,"date":"2011-12-19T19:22:16","date_gmt":"2011-12-19T08:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=4096"},"modified":"2011-12-19T19:22:16","modified_gmt":"2011-12-19T08:22:16","slug":"joel-grind-of-toxic-holocaust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2011\/12\/joel-grind-of-toxic-holocaust\/","title":{"rendered":"Joel Grind of Toxic Holocaust"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>“You know a lot of people have been saying that it\u2019s just building on what we\u2019ve done in the past, it\u2019s slightly different but it\u2019s not a total departure.\u00a0 It\u2019s just kind of a progression I guess and that\u2019s a pretty good feedback for me, that feels pretty good to hear someone say that to me.”<\/p>\n

From Bio: TOXIC HOLOCAUST mutated into existence in 1999, when Joel Grind merged his love for classic punk and metal into his ideal band. Like his influences – Bathory, Venom, English Dogs, Possessed, Broken Bones – TOXIC HOLOCAUST featured blazing riffs, gravel-throated vocals, and a deadly fixation on the evil in man and a post-apocalyptic world. Grind wrapped all of these elements up with a DIY attitude.<\/p>\n

In the tweleve years since forming the band and four studio albums, four EP’s and one live album in, the latest release being studio album ‘Conjure and Command’ this year, all is in full motion for Joel and Toxic Holocaust with no sign of slowing down.<\/p>\n

We chatted to Toxic Holocaust master mind Joel Grind about the band, their kick ass album and what fans can expect when they hit town in January to come and play.<\/p>\n

The new album has been out for a few months now, what\u2019s the reaction been to it?<\/strong>
\nSo far so good man, it seems like the press coverage and the fan reaction has been really good for it.\u00a0 You know a lot of people have been saying that it\u2019s just building on what we\u2019ve done in the past, it\u2019s slightly different but it\u2019s not a total departure.\u00a0 It\u2019s just kind of a progression I guess and that\u2019s a pretty good feedback for me, that feels pretty good to hear someone say that to me.<\/p>\n

This is your first album in 3 years, how did the songs come together for it?<\/strong>
\nPretty much similar to the way that past records have, I just sat with my guitar and kind of came up with some songs and demoed them out with a drum machine and then presented them to the band this time as opposed to make my way through them myself ha ha.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the meaning behind the title \u2018Conjure And Command\u2019?<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s basically about Necromancy and conjuring up a life form and commanding them to do your bidding.<\/p>\n

The song \u2018Bitch\u2019 or as I call it, the love ballad on the album, was that written about anyone \/ anything in particular?<\/strong>
\nha ha ha ha I was going to say that\u2019s the song that everyone thinks is about an ex-girlfriend or something.\u00a0 No, it\u2019s just basically all about the Salem witch trials and stuff and the burning of witched at the stake.<\/p>\n

This is your fourth album, but your first to feature the band in the recording studio instead of you previously doing all the parts.\u00a0 What prompted the decision to do that this time around?<\/strong>
\nFor \u2018An Overdose Of Death…\u2019 we toured for about two and a half years with these guys and the chemistry was just there and we were all pretty much on the same page and it just seemed the right thing to do.\u00a0 It just flowed so much easier in the studio having a full band, it just made it, you know, it took so much burden off me.\u00a0 When I was in the studio in the past it was more about getting everything done and making sure that everything is right and it\u2019s not really the best way to be in the studio, sometimes when it\u2019s good it\u2019s just because of the spontaneity.\u00a0 This time around I actually got to focus more on being creative as to just opposed to hurrying up and finishing the record ha ha.<\/p>\n

Did that cause you to look at the recording process differently and allow you to pick up on things you may not have before?<\/strong>
\nAbsolutely, I kind of got to see it from a different perspective and it was good to just step back and instead of just sinking, I got to just listen and that\u2019s one of the greatest benefits I\u2019ve had from working this way.<\/p>\n

Was it hard doing it that way for you being so used to your previous methods of recording?\u00a0 Were you itching to do it all?<\/strong>
\nNo actually again, it was kind of a relief, these guys the drummer and the bass player are much better at their instruments than I ever was at their instruments, so it was never like one of those things where it was I wish I could just do it myself because they were actually doing a better job than what I could do.<\/p>\n

As far as influences go, I think the list was as long as my arm which is great and gives a major diversity in the music but if I was to ask you what song \/ album made you want to be a musician would you be able to tell me?<\/strong>
\nha ha, I\u2019d probably say Venom \u2018Welcome To Hell\u2019 was probably the record that kind of made me change from just being a fan to wanting to start a band like this.\u00a0 I think it\u2019s mostly because of the fact that it\u2019s pretty raw, it\u2019s pretty stripped down and it\u2019s not that far away from what someone can do when they\u2019re starting out.\u00a0 It\u2019s pretty basic but that\u2019s kind of why it\u2019s great you know.\u00a0 That\u2019s always kind of been my motto and I\u2019ve never tried to get too technical with Toxic because of the fact that I remember the feeling the first time I heard \u2018Welcome To Hell\u2019 and I don\u2019t want to stray from that too much.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re currently on tour in Prague I believe, how have the shows been going?<\/strong>
\nExcellent man, excellent.\u00a0 We\u2019re about four weeks into the tour and we\u2019ve got about a week and a half left and I can say that all the shows went really good, a lot of them have been sold out and they\u2019ve been really crazy ha ha a lot of maniacs at that show.\u00a0 It\u2019s good to see that, come over here, we\u2019re playing with a band called Kvelertak and they have crazy fans and we have crazy fans and it\u2019s kind of pretty cool to see them all kind getting along and all kind of getting off on both bands, cause our styles aren\u2019t that similar so it\u2019s kinda cool to see that people are in to it.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the new material going down like?<\/strong>
\nYeah, actually believe it or not for the people that haven\u2019t heard us before that\u2019s the stuff that\u2019s going over the best live.\u00a0 That\u2019s kind of awesome ha ha.\u00a0 The people that have been with us for a while have their favourites from the old stuff obviously and that\u2019s going to be the stuff that they want to hear but for the people that have never heard any of it it\u2019s kind of cool to see that the new songs are the ones that are winning them over the most.<\/p>\n

Now while you\u2019re out on the road, are you constantly writing for a new record or is it something you wait for to get off the road to write?<\/strong>
\nUnfortunately no, when I\u2019m on the road it\u2019s really difficult for me to write, it\u2019s usually so chaotic to just get to the shows and when you\u2019re at the shows you\u2019re just getting your gear ready or changing your guitar strings or warming up or doing whatever, there\u2019s not a whole lot of time to write.\u00a0 So what I do when I\u2019m on tour is I think of a lot of ideas and I\u2019m always thinking of new song ideas and titles and lyrics and stuff like that and what I kind of do when get home is just kind of work it all out when it\u2019s quiet and I just get a chance to relax and that\u2019s when I write all the stuff.\u00a0 But I keep in the back of my mind what I want to do when I\u2019m on tour it\u2019s just unfortunate that I don\u2019t get the chance to write it.<\/p>\n

Is that\u2019s why it\u2019s generally a few years between albums?<\/strong>
\nYeah because we tour so much man.<\/p>\n

How long are you on the road for this one?<\/strong>
\nRight now in Europe we\u2019re on tour for six and half weeks, we basically just did a month and a half in the US and we came pretty much directly over here to do this, so now we\u2019re gonna take a couple of weeks off in December and then fly to see you guys.\u00a0 Then do that, right when we get back Australia we\u2019re going to South East Asia and then from Asia we\u2019re going back to the USA to do another tour ha ha it\u2019s like a never ending cycle.<\/p>\n

As you just said, you\u2019re heading to Australia in January for a string of shows, what can fans expect to see?<\/strong>
\nWe\u2019re going to play a lot of songs from all of our records, we\u2019re not going to do one of those things where the band plays only their new stuff, I kind of hate when bands do that so we\u2019re definitely going to be doing stuff from all our records.\u00a0 It\u2019s just going to be intense, it\u2019s going to be loud, just aggressive and I hope the crowd feeds on that and gives it back to us, cause we\u2019re gonna give it all we got.<\/p>\n

You’ve been here once befofe, what are some of your memories of Australia from that previous visit?<\/strong>
\nYeah, I remember drinking a whole lot of beer ha ha actually I remember drinking a whole lot of liquor, mostly beer.\u00a0 You know I remember the shows being really good, a lot of underground metal heads there, so I\u2019m really looking forward to that and a lot of beautiful girls, so I\u2019m really looking forward to coming back.<\/p>\n

Have you found that the Metal fans in Australia differ from those around the world?<\/strong>
\nTo a degree, they definitely differ from the ones in the USA, that\u2019s for sure.\u00a0 Believe it or not in the USA when we play we kind of get more punks than we do metal heads, you know I think Australian metal fans are a bit more in tune with Germany and things like that, super die hard about Metal and really extreme in a way ha ha which is a good thing in my opinion.\u00a0 Really loud and a lot of head banging and stuff, it\u2019s really cool to see it.<\/p>\n

Doing this now for over 10 years, what do you personally see has been the biggest change in Toxic Holocaust?<\/strong>
\nMost of it\u2019s been a blur ha ha but hmm, I think my song writing has gotten a lot better and I think my lyric writing has gotten a lot better and I think that\u2019s just from doing it for so long and really just knowing what I need to do musically and stuff even before I pick up a guitar I know what direction I want to go in.\u00a0 Maybe in the past that was the thing I didn\u2019t have the best grip on because I was so new at it, I was kind of just winging it really.\u00a0 Now I have a lot clearer vision, I think that\u2019s the biggest change.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next after this tour?\u00a0 Do you think we\u2019ll see another album sooner than later?<\/strong>
\nI think it\u2019s going to take a little bit, we got a lot of tour offers coming up and we\u2019re going to do some of the festivals in the Summertime in Europe so if there is going to be an album and it\u2019s going to be soon it\u2019ll probably be around early 2013.<\/p>\n

Do you have a message for your Australian fans?<\/strong>
\nThanks for the support and I think it\u2019s been too long since we\u2019ve been down there so we\u2019re really excited about coming back down.<\/p>\n

Essential Information<\/h2>\n

From:<\/strong> Portland, Oregon USA<\/p>\n

Band members:<\/strong> Joel Grind, Phil Gnaast , Nicholas T. Rage<\/p>\n

Latest release:<\/strong> Conjure and Command (Relapse Records, Riot! Entertainment)<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong> http:\/\/toxicholocaust.bandcamp.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Catch Toxic Holocaust when they hit Australia in January<\/strong><\/p>\n

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