Interview: 36 Crazyfists

“I am very proud that we have something that is unique”

A unique selling point is something all bands strive for. To grab the attention of the audience, whether it be good or bad to have something a little bit different to make you sound out from the crowd is a crowning jewel for many bands. So since 1994, vocalist of Alaskan heavy metal band 36 Crazyfists, Brock Lindow has been making the best of the bands unique weapon. His voice. “It has separated us from the next band,” Lindow tells Already Heard. “That is something which is super important to us. I am very proud that we have something that is unique, and love it or hate it, that is my voice.”

And with the band releasing their eighth studio record in ‘Lanterns’, the band has revisited their roots from debut record ‘Bitterness the Star’, an album which put them on the map of alternative music. Lindow continues: “we have gone back to the more melodic singing aspect of our music as that is what has made us stand out in the first place, and caught the attention of many people. For us having a unique sound is more important than to be the biggest band out there.”

For nearly 25 years, 36 Crazyfists has been a band which has embodied the raw emotion that music provides for many of its listeners, something which Lindow and co do not take for granted. With the release of ‘Lanterns’ there are some critics who love it, and others not so much (This very website giving it 3.5/5), but for the vocalist if his music is having a positive reaction to someone, no matter how small, it is a win in his eyes.

“I don’t put a lot of stock into what you read in the press about a record, you have to accept both sides,” he adds. “But it is the conversations I am having with fans at shows about the record which are awesome and how people have been affected by the music positively is something that we never take for granted.”

It is this loyalness from fans which has given the band the drive they have needed to continuously produce music at the highest level, but for Lindow, that means digging deep and baring his soul once more. As he prepared to enter the studio, Lindow was left asking himself; “do I bare my grievances in public again?” He added: “Doing this band, it is that emotional release for me, and that is how I have always approached this music and it is always personal. But with this record, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to bare it all once again, and if there was something different to tell and I was drawing a blank.

“I was in a bit of a messed up place personally, and really struggling to focus and put on foot in front of the other. Once I realised that this band has always been that wonderful vehicle for me to express myself and exercise my demons, then I thought why would I go any other way.

“We need to figure out how and whom we are going to be when we go through a process, and it made me realise how important this band is for me and the brotherhood that we have. I learnt a lot about me, who my friends are and who my people are.”

And it is this realisation of the strong bond between Lindow and his fellow band members which has made ‘Lanterns’ one of 36 Crazyfists most exciting records, and with elements of their older selves thrown into the mix. But for the band it wasn’t a case of looking over old material, it was just having older, wiser heads to stretch themselves further. “I don’t look back on stuff like that. We go in with a fresh mind each time we go into recording,” Brock states.

“As the years go on you become a different person, and of course you have this history which you are attached to, but the older you get you find it hard to think what your state of mind is at that point in time. Now we are into that moody hard rock vibe, and that has just come from loving that thing and the music landscape is different now and the things which influence you are different.”

‘Lanterns’ by 36 Crazyfists is out now on Spinefarm Records.

36 Crazyfists will be touring the UK in January.

January
18 Cathouse, Glasgow
19 Academy 3, Manchester
20 Academy 2, Birmingham
21 Islington Academy, London

36 Crazyfists links:Website|Facebook| Twitter