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Superjoint Ritual
Interviewed by Josh Turner
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Interview with Jimmy Bower of Superjoint Ritual From 2004
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| MSJ:
How did you meet your bandmates? |
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| Uh, it's been like since '91. We've, uh, well, the band's been together since '93, but, I mean, we've all known each other since '83 or '84 or '85. |
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| MSJ: Oh, wow. Yeah, that's a long time. |
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| Known Phil that long before he went off to do Pantera and then, uh, oh, man, it's just been, you know, a long, we've known each other a long time, but we got together in '93. |
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| MSJ: I was recently listening to the the album A Lethal Dose of American Hatred. It's got a lot of aggression in it. What are the influences that went into making this album? |
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| Well, it's pretty obvious here, we're a hardcore band, you know. We're attempting to be. Our influences are early Carnivore, Old Agnostic Front, Black Flag, and then bands like Witchfinder General, Righteous Pigs, Slayer, you know, I mean, it goes on and on and on. We just, I guess the message behind our band is to, you know, maybe, look into the patent as far as what music has been done, you know, just don't look at the past five years, because they've kind of sucked. |
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| MSJ: You're right. |
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| I just don't think for hardcore it's been true. It has been like a lot of rap metal and stuff like that. I mean, to each his own, but we're trying to help true hardcore, you know We are trying to be a true hardcore outfit, you know. |
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| MSJ: In terms of the music that you are making, could you explain your songwriting process? How you come together with these ideas? How you as a band put together this music? |
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| Uh, basically, like somebody will come up with a riff and then we'll go in the practice room and work on it, come up with a drum beat, and, you know. It's not really that out there. If you are looking for some pie explanation or something, it's not that, it's really not that hard. It's just, basically, jamming, you know. We're just basically, jamming to us consists of just getting in the room and, you know, everybody start off just playing, you know, and everybody just picks up on a groove and once you pick up on that groove, come up with a groove or a sound or something you like, you know, I mean, you usually tape it, you know, and go backwards into it and add stuff to it, um, it's like writing a book or something. |
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| MSJ: Is there a theme to the album A Lethal Dose of American Hatred? I seem to get that idea listening to some of these songs. |
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| Well, I mean, it was written during when we were at war. We were fighting and we went to war when, you know, basically, we were writing this record. So, it is just we thought it would be a killer title, you know, a real brutal title for the brutality of the music. A Lethal Dose of American Hatred. It's positive negative if that makes any sense. |
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| MSJ: Listening to this album, I pick up on a lot of hostility. Is that just in the music or are you channeling some emotions? |
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| If you know anything about anybody in a band, you know, that we've all been playing in bands that are hostile, alright. Our lead singer was in Pantera, you know, and, uh, Hank does some country stuff, but it's not like this Nashville bull, you know{I laugh} and personally I played in a band I Hate God, you know, a band called Down, we're cool, I don't know, we are not trying to show off. Hopefully we can influence people to go out and listen, go out and buy other records, you know. Maybe our record might influence them to play some cool stuff, you know. We would hope, you know. |
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| MSJ: How did you guys come up with the name Superjoint Ritual? |
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| It is from a band called Dark Throne. It is a lyric from the band called Dark Throne. It just seemed to fit. It means just that, Superjoint Ritual, you know, to us, getting together, jamming, smoking, is the Superjoint Ritual. It's kind of cheesy I guess. |
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| MSJ: How did you originally get into music yourself? When did you start playing? |
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| When I was eighteen. I was touring with bands and stuff. |
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| MSJ: Did you get training? Is this just from practice over the course of these years? How did you learn how to play? |
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| Well, I mean, I did the snare drum when I was in the third or fourth grade. I wouldn't call this formal training for drumming, you know. I got my drum kit when I was twelve. I kind of stopped playing and switched over to the guitar. |
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| MSJ: To get an idea of the tastes you have in music, what was the last CD that you purchased? |
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| Um, probably High on Fire or the new Melvin's record, I like them a lot. |
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| MSJ: I like to ask of the artists if they can recall any Spinal Tap moments. |
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| Nah, that's the one thing about this band. There is no thrills. People always ask that, I just can't, I just can't. A lot of people ask that question, it's tough to answer,man cause I really don't know. Everything as a musician is Spinal Tap. That movie is not a joke. It is for real. |
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| MSJ: That's what it sounds like. Do you like what you do? Is there anything you would do differently? |
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Nothing. Not really. I've been doing it since I was 18. I've been touring since I was 18, so I'll be 36 in September. So, I don't plan on taking a job at Home Depot, you know. My job is here in music.
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| MSJ: What is your favorite band? |
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| Black Sabbath. |
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 You'll find concert pics of this artist in the Music Street Journal members area. |
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