1. You just signed to Meteor City, which seems to be one of the most important record labels in stoner rock business... Excited, are you?
Alan: We're very excited to be able to record an album. It's something that both of us have wanted to do for a long time. One thing I like about Meteor City is that they have a great track record so far. Solace, Spirit Caravan, Eternal Elysium, and all of their other releases have been really good.
2. Before we will all get excited hearing your debut CD for Americans, let's talk about "Snake Lore" for a second. Tell me - is it your first release?
Jeff: "Snake Lore" can definitely be considered our first release thanks to Rage of Achilles records. We originally intended "Snake Lore" to function solely as a demo to shop to prospective labels. When it ended up in the hands of Rage of Achilles they wanted to give it a full release and who were we to object? I know the sound quality leaves alot to be desired and if you listen really closely you can catch a few minor flubs here and there, but I still stand behind the release and am very proud of it. Prior to "Snake Lore," Abdullah had recorded three other demos, none of which have been publicly released. We just recently updated our website, though, with some sound clips from the first three demos. If anyone's interested in checking them out they're at www.stonerrock.com/abdullah.
3. Rage of Achilles' name doesn't ring any bell in my head... How did you find that label?
Jeff: I had heard from Andrew of the band Molehill that Rage was putting out their CD and coincidentally a few days later they got in touch with me expressing interest in Abdullah. We were the first two bands to comprise the roster of Rage and since then they've add quite a few great bands to round out their line-up. In my opinion, they have really good taste in the bands they're choosing to work with and I expect big things for them in the future. They've done a really excellent job in promoting us and getting our CD reviewed in quite a few major music rags like Kerrang and Metal Hammer. I couldn't be happier.
4. Looking at "Snake Lore's" cover artwork one cannot overlook the fact that you seem to be inspired by Aleister Crowley a lot. It isn't really popular topic among the stoner/doom bands, is it...?
Alan: No, Crowley is not a big "stoner" topic. Actually he's not a big topic for Abdullah either. I'm very interested in him but Jeff isn't, so it's more of a personal thing for me than a band thing. But we do consciously stay away from popular "stoner" topics like muscle cars, spaceships, and bongs.
5. Does your bands name have anything in common with your inspirations?
Jeff: Uhhh... let's just say that the name means something totally different now than it did when the band was initially formed. I think it fits well with what we're doing both musically and lyrically in that it conveys a sense of mystical ambiguity. I like for people that listen to our music to be able to relate some of their own thoughts and feelings to the music and I think the same goes for our name. People will see into it what they want to.
6. What do you think about the growing doom/stoner scene? Some say that stoner bands are all the same - same sound, riffs, lyrics and vocals (most likely trying to imitate Ozzy)...
Alan: I think the scene is great. Yeah, there are a few bands that sound just like Kyuss or whatever, but they're not actually the majority. I think there are a lot of really good original bands out there like Slow Horse, Solace, Church of Misery, too many to name. It's not at all like what happened with Death Metal where a lot of bands were really hard to tell apart. Everyone seems to have their own little twist that makes them interesting.
Jeff: I have to agree with Alan on this one. I'll admit that the stoner scene does host some clone bands that try to match Kyuss and Fu Manchu note for note, but for the most part there are alot of unique voices out there. With bands like the ones Alan mentioned and some others like Tummler and Penance you can immediately tell that they're a part of the same musical scene, but their individual take on that scene is undeniable. I think there is a plethora of great bands in this scene and am proud to be a part of it.
7. Two persons in line-up... It doesn't sound like you are able to play concerts, eh? Is it gonna change?
Alan: It's going to change as soon as possible. We're looking for members right now and we'll start rehearsing as soon as that happens.
Jeff: We've been auditioning people very seriously for the past month or so but until something clicks the way it did when me and Alan first met we'll keep looking.
8. What kinds of people are interested in ABDULLAH's music? Do you feel like you're a part of some specific musical scene?
Alan: I guess we're a part of the stoner/doom scene. Hopefully people who are already interested in that type of music will also be interested in Abdullah's music. I don't think we're going to be limited to only having "stoner" fans though.
Jeff: I think we have the potential to appeal to a wide assortment of people. I hear elements of doom, stoner, sludge, 70s hard rock, 60s psychedelia, gothic, and NWOBHM in our sound and think that fans of any of those genres should find something about us that they like.
9. Thank you for your time! Stay doomed.
Alan: Thank you for the interview.
Jeff: Support the underground!