Interview & photo by Rachel Jablonski
Hot in the death metal scene today, The Black Dahlia Murder made a stop in Iowa City, Iowa on their daring trek through the Midwest in wintry February. On tour in support of their latest album, Nocturnal, the band lit up the stage particularly with two big hits “Everything Went Black” and “What a Horrible Night” from that album. Before the show, I was able to catch up with front man Trevor Strnad.
Rachel: You are one of the latest bands to join Zune’s “Ignition” and “On the Road” programs. What do these programs entail?
Trevor: Zune is an mp3 player that Microsoft is pushing. They’re cosponsoring the tour and help pitch in on the advertisements and stuff like that. They did a piece on us where they followed us around for a day and tried to get a sense of what it would be like to be on the road with us. They interviewed us about the ins and outs of touring life and all that stuff so it’s kind of cool. They will have a few different video clips available on their site.
Rachel: How has this tour with Hate Eternal been so far and has it been difficult with the uncooperative weather?
Trevor: It just started getting difficult the last little while. We are down to two bands now – 3 Inches of Blood dropped off citing weather as the issue, but we hadn’t even got to where it was a bad yet when they dropped off. So it seems like there’s something up with that I’m not sure what it is. Decrepit Birth just can’t afford it really. They just had band problems being the opening band and not having as much money as everybody else so shit like that can be a major issue. So I understand that, but 3 Inches is kind of surrounded in mystery still. But the tour has still been going since they left. I think overall the tour has been really great. We’ve been really happy with it.
Rachel: Have you been seeing not as many fans coming out because of the weather?
Trevor: No man, I’ve been really surprised. I would imagine that. I mean every time I go outside I think, “There’s no way kids are going to come to the show. Why would they do that to themselves? This is horrible!” But I keep getting blown away. Last night was really cool in Minneapolis/St. Paul. It was fun. We’re excited for tonight.
Rachel: You’re out next with Animosity and Brain Drill. Will you be hitting similar clubs as on this tour?
Trevor: No, we’re going to smaller market areas that we don’t get out to as often. So that’s cool because I like small, intimate shows. It’s a lot of fun when there’s no security or barriers and you can just do your thing and kids can go crazy.
Rachel: One of your musical influences is Carcass who is confirmed to be at the Wacken festival in Germany this year. Do you have plans for any European festivals this year and what would it mean to you to see Carcass live?
Trevor: Oh man every day I think about it. I want to go SO BAD dude because I mean I HAVE to see them. I want to see At The Gates too, so bad, but Carcass I want to see more. Iron Maiden is playing there too and dude we played there last year and just getting a taste of what it’s like to be there… I can’t even imagine watching Iron Maiden with 100,000 metalheads. That would seriously be the coolest thing I can imagine. So I have to get there. I have to see Carcass.
Rachel: What are the chances of maybe playing as well?
Trevor: Oh, I don’t know. I have no idea because at some festivals there are politics of playing two years in a row, they won’t let you. So I’m not sure, but playing with them would be a dream. I’ve at least got to see them. And knowing that it’s happening… it’s so cool. In my world that is the coolest thing that could possibly happen. So it’s just exciting times in metal right now. I’m going to do my damnedest to get there, even if I have to sell my soul.
Rachel: Do you play Guitar Hero?
Trevor: No. John, our lead guitarist, plays it. He’s a video game nutcase. He has every system that comes out and spends all of his money on that. He plays Guitar Hero and he shreds. He’s great.
Rachel: You have a new drummer from All That Remains. How did you get hooked up with him?
Trevor: We met him while he was out on tour with All That Remains and he was pretty much like I don’t want to be with these guys at all. We knew our drummer Pierre was going to leave in the coming months and we were looking around for guys. So we established that contact then. He ended up going to try out for Job for a Cowboy and I guess he didn’t want to do it or it didn’t suit him or something. So he went back home and on a whim he ended up in Michigan to be with his girlfriend while we were searching through all these drummers and shitting our pants basically because we just couldn’t find the right guy. The pressure of the recording was coming up and the album was largely unwritten because of all the member changes we had. So instead of in between tours working on stuff like we normally do, we were teaching new guys the songs and stuff like that. It was a scary time, the making of the new record, but really happy how it came out.
Rachel: That new record called Nocturnal has a lot of dark lyrical content. What was the lyrical intent for this album?
Trevor: I just wanted to make a really traditional death metal record in terms of all the thematic aspects. The lyrics, the album cover, and the music too are more sinister than the last record in the way that it sounds, the chord progressions and stuff like that. It seems like so many young people are getting into metal right now and are getting into the band. So I just wanted to make a really clear statement on this is death metal, this is what it’s all about. Just to make an awareness of it because it’s such an underappreciated kind of music. Hopefully we can be a gateway band that gets kids into the underground because there are so many good bands out there if you just comb through them a little bit you know? There’s so much awesome shit.
Rachel: What do you think is attributing to the younger kids getting into death metal?
Trevor: I don’t know man. It just seems like that whole scene was obsessed with breakdowns for awhile, kind of like Killswitch Engage kind of stuff, so there were so many bands coming out that were like that. They were heavy but they had some singing parts too and I think kids just got bored with that. There are still tons of people that are into that, but they may have just been looking for something else. I think that blast beats and the whole shock value aspect of it is really attractive. It was attractive to me as a kid for sure. It’s the same thing I think, it just kind of caught on. There’s a lot of bad stuff happening within the music that’s coming out right now. It’s so saturated with bands that there’s just some really horrible stuff out there. But also, with all of these young people getting into it, it’s exciting to see what’s going to happen. There are a lot of good bands out there too.
Rachel: What’s up next for The Black Dahlia Murder?
Trevor: We’re off for a couple of weeks just chilling at home for a second. Then we go to Mexico for the first time for a few shows, we’re pretty stoked about that. I think it will be really cool. Anytime we are close to the border a lot of Mexican kids come out and they are super brutal. I’m really excited to go there and just have a good time. Then we have plans to do Puerto Rico, we’re talking about Alaska, we have South America dates booked now, so just getting out there along the same rigorous tour schedule where we pretty much take every tour opportunity we can. Where we’re just like “where haven’t we been in the last while? Let’s go there again.”