Velcro: How long were you guys playing music before you all joined forces?
Sanford: Bill was in Wickerman, Jason was in some bands out west. I think Scott Kelley from Neurosis was in one. Brain and I have been in several bands together since we were 14; none of them went anywhere. I`ve done a lot of electronic/noise stuff throughout the years, and I was in a band called Behold! the Living Corpse with this crazy fucker called Andy Slater, you may know him (otherwise known as Velcro Lewis).
Jason: I`ve been playing guitar in bands since about 1990, too many to mention and most not worth mentioning...always noisy, though.
Velcro: With that said, how do you think all the years of playing and writing heavy music between the four of you have helped in the success of the band on the level of writing great material, pulling it off live and so on?
Sanford: I think our strength is not so much in our experience in heavy music but the diversity of music that we�re into, our knowledge of sound, and openness of approaching the songs. We never write or have an idea where we say, "That`s not us;" it either sounds good or it doesn`t. We never said, "Let`s form a doom band." When we got together we just agreed to try and do something no one else had. We just wanted to write something heavy, deep, and full of texture to have movement at all times.
Jason: It`s a unique process to me... and a long one. We refine our songs dozens of times before we ever play them live, and then usually another dozen times before we record them. As for pulling things off live, I personally see the live show and the recorded music as separate entities. Live is a more primitive and aggressive vibe for me. I don`t go to a show to hear a song sound the way it sounds on CD, I go to feel it, you know?
Velcro: Yeah, I know what you mean and I think it`s definitely a great way to keep things fresh, especially if you spend a long time refining their material. People that have your CD are used to the way it sounds on their stereo, but when they see you live, you give them a different perspective on the songs, and a whole other dimension to the loudness of it all. Buried At Sea are truly the loudest band in Chicago. Has that been a goal of the band, or just the way you feel your music has to be played and presented to the listener?
Sanford: We feel that the sound of the band is just as important as the songs themselves and that when we play it should be an experience not just another show.
Jason: We aren`t trying to be the loudest band really, but we are trying to create something physical, something that you can feel. The discordant tones, the layers of noise, it`s just the way we write it and the way we want people to experience it.
Velcro: What made you decide on the band name? I remember a few earlier names that you didn`t settle on... the name is fitting.
Sanford: We wanted something to describe the sound. The sea is a huge body of dense mass and constant movement, and to be buried in it would be pretty cool, and the Saint Vitus reference was a plus.
Jason: Yeah, Buried At Sea just kind of came out of nowhere as we grappled with naming the band...I just remember Brian saying, "How about Burial At Sea?" and I replied, "Buried At Sea," and that was it. It seemed real easy and natural compared to anything else we were kicking around.
Velcro: You pay a lot of attention to sound production, and your recordings sound great; would you ever consider letting someone other than Sanford engineer or produce your albums?
Sanford: I would love to have someone else engineer and we have, my partners Stan Wood and Jason Van Hoose. As far as production, we know what we want and how to get it - I see no reason for an outside producer.
Jason: I agree. I look at production as the final phase of writing a song, and who knows how we want something to sound better than we do? The production may not please every listener, but it will sound the way we envisioned and intended.
Velcro: Lets talk tech here. Tell me about your favorite pedal/amp/guitar/whatever you guys can`t live without. It is a dorky question, I know, but with such great tones and sound, you have to have some love for your gear.
Sanford: Well Sunn amps are definitely a favorite among the band. I`ve been collecting them for a few years. They`re cheap, loud, and mean. They just have this sound that could just rip your head right off. I use Gibson guitars, we use a lot of pedals: EHX, Z-Vex, Mooger Fooger, basically too many to list
Jason: Yeah, Sunn amps, obviously. I mostly play an aluminum-neck Kramer Travis Bean copy. It takes a beating like no other guitar. I also just picked up a Les Paul, which I`m really starting to warm up to. Pedals? I got lots, and they don`t always stay the same. I use Z-Vex, Electroharmonix, Fulltone, and some of those Line 6 modeling pedals.
Velcro: She Lived For Others But Died For Us is a lengthy title for the new release. Where`d you get the idea to call it that?
Sanford: The name came from the photo on the artwork. It`s a picture of Brian`s great grandfather when he was in medical school (in the early 1900`s). It`s him and four other students standing above a corpse of a woman, and carved into the front of the table reads "She lived for others but died for us." That is actually on the table we didn`t alter the photo in anyway. Brian and I have been wanting to use that photo for a record cover since we were in high school. So we figured it should be the title.
Jason: I think that photo suits the mood of the song really well - kinda dark and creepy. That picture is just eerie...very H.P. Lovecraft.
Velcro: How was it working with Steve O`Malley on the art direction and layout of the new record?
Sanford: Working with Stephen was great. He was originally just going to do the etching, witch I think is amazing, but he ended up doing the design as well. Sunn0))) uses our amps when they play in Chicago, so it`s a barter system.
Jason: O`Malley listened to the album, did the etching and had it back to us in a matter of days. I think it`s fucking awesome, and it also manages to fit the mood of the music in a different way than the photograph.
Velcro: Kevin Sharp (of Brutal Truth fame) sings on your new record, do you think you`ll be working him again on anything? That guy is crazy.
Sanford: Yeah, he loves to party, but so do I, which has ended up in "daiquiri madness" and "ass punching," but that`s another story. Kevin`s awesome. We`ll be working together a lot. I`m recording his new band, Venomous Concept, and he does our website that`s still in the works.
Jason: I know nothing of this "Ass punching," but I do hope we do more with Kevin.
Velcro: Oh, I know you like to party, and that`s why this interview is being done over email, so I don`t have to meet you in some rat-hole bar with a tape recorder and a note pad that`ll most likely get destroyed by the end of the night! And on that note, tell about some crazy shit you guys have gotten into, especially when you tour down south.
Sanford: We played this Rebel Heart Fest in Alabama. It was on a field in the middle of nowhere and behind the stage was a frog-breeding cesspool that smelled like something ate a ton of shit and crawled into it and died. We were hanging out with Weedeater there, and Dixie pushed Shep into the pool. Shep went flying head first into this thing. The funniest part is when he got out he said that this was the closest he`s had to a shower in two weeks. Bill got pictures to prove it, that and Dixie tackling a grill and beating off on top of his van. Those guys are awesome and good friends of ours.
Velcro: Last time I tried tackling a grill, I ended up be afraid of BBQ for a month! Speaking of BBQ, when is the Buried At Sea boys` country album comin` out?
Sanford: Sooner than later I hope, that`s all I`ve got on that one.
Jason: We have to get some more guitars...you can`t play country in our tuning.
Buried at Sea:
Brian Sowell - Bass, vocals, keyboards, tapes
Sanford Parker - Guitar, vocals, keyboards, tapes
Jason Depew - Guitar, keyboards, tapes
Bill Daniel - Drums
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