Andy: Alright, so you`re Ichabod. Tell us who is in Ichabod, and what each of you plays.
Dave- Greg Delaria plays bass guitar, Ken MacKay on Vocals, Phil MacKay on drums and myself, Dave Iverson, on guitar.
Andy: Where did the name Ichabod come from, and what`s it a reference to? Ichabod Crane, or something more nefarious?
Dave-I�ve always been fascinated with the Washington Irving tale �The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,� since I was a little boy. That said, when I started the band I called the first incarnation �Headless�, but we found out that there was some Euro/death band by that name. Ichabod was a close second choice based on the same theme. I�m a high school English teacher too, so it was a good choice in the way of keeping things literary! The name Ichabod translates loosely to �The glory hath departed�, which we�ve ran with as well, thematically.
Andy: What`s some of the history behind the band? You guys have been around for quite awhile, let`s make sure everyone is up to speed before we get down to the nitty gritty.
Dave-We were all in Boston area Hardcore and Metal bands growing up, but wanted to branch out and do something new. We wanted to create something still heavy, yet very open-ended, experimental, and transcendental at the same time. No limitations on creativity based on any �scenes� or being part thereof. I had also been dabbling in a psych/indie/shoegaze band at the time, but really missed laying down the sludge. Ken & I decided to form the band at a Neurosis/Nile show, and the rest was in the hands of fate.
Andy: Now, your latest album is called 2012, let`s talk about that a bit. When and where was the album recorded?
Dave-The album was actually recorded about 2-3 years ago, but didn�t see the light of day for a while due to delay after delay with artwork, licensing, etc. The bulk of the album was recorded by Devin Charette at Mad Oak studios in Boston, with additional mixing done at God City studio in Salem MA.
Andy:2012 means a lot of different things to a lot of people, but it`s most associated with the end of the world in certain religious systems. Why did you call the album 2012? Is it a concept album? What does the concept of 2012 mean to each one of you?
Dave-It�s only a �concept� album in the sense that all of the songs are based on paranormal/unexplained phenomena type subjects. �Giving up the Ghost,� for example, is about a man�s search for the Yeti, or Sasquatch. Ichabod�s entire catalogue of material could be said to have similar themes. The occult, transcendental, spiritual, magickal, paranormal, etc., are all very prevalent in our songs and artwork. The prophetic leanings of 2012 just fit nicely into our conspiratorial, late-night talk show, reading-John Keel books-by-candlelight while burning incense and listening to short wave radio world view.
Andy: What does "the end of the world" even mean to you? Does it mean the end of civilation as we know it, humanity living out in the post apocalyptic desert Mad Max style, or does it mean that the earth is going to explode and we all die a fiery death? What do you think the chances of these kinds of things happening in the year 2012 are?
Dave-We sure as hell don�t know. That�s the point of the song�will it be annihilation and war or will it be transcendence and ultimate peace? Or might one lead to the other? We don�t propose to have any answers, we just raise more questions. An unconscious society is the biggest problem we really face, so raising consciousness and making people question things is a goal unto itself, eh? If we�re able to do so by spewing on about the �end� of the world and the shape of things to come, then it�s proven a valuable medium.
Andy: If you could pick a year when human society as we know it WILL collapse, what year will it be, and why?
Dave-We won�t bore the readers of this interview with complex apocalyptic prophecy theory and prediction�I will say this-I don�t think mankind can or should go on in the state of perpetual sleepwalking we�re in. Something or someone will wake us up out of our stupor, and the wakeup call may well not be pleasant. How long can resources be depleted mindlessly without repercussion? How long can failed political/social systems hold the disgruntled populace under their control before there�s a mass uprising? How long before Gaia strikes back against her pillaging by humanity with more frequent and intensifying natural disasters? These are all questions we should be asking ourselves lest we be willing to face the consequences. Canned food and ammo are going to be the stocks and bonds of the near future if we don�t change our path.
Andy: I`m sure if you guys are writing albums like this, you`re drawing some of the subject matter from literature, philosophy, religion, the esoteric, etc. What are some of the non-musical influences for the album, and how do they tie into the actual music?
Dave-As stated before, we�re all into the UFO/conspiracy/paranormal/spiritual themed material, probably from a steady dose of �In Search Of� with Leonard Nimoy, comic books, and organized religion as children. Now we draw many of our themes from Coast To Coast AM radio, John Keel, William Cooper, classic literature, world religious systems, Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung, mythology, pseudoscience and cryptozoology, and plain ol� human life experiences such as love & hate.
Andy: You`ve chosen to include a killer cover of Pink Floyd`s "The Nile Song" on 2012, how does this fit into the grand scheme of the album?
Dave-Needless to say, we�re all fans of Pink Floyd, and love the heaviness of the original. We added a lot of psych/synth stuff to sort of merge early Floyd with their later sound, an interpretation as filtered through the Ichabod lens. It fits lyrically and musically I�d say, quite nicely.
Andy: I`m assuming you`ve heard Voivod`s take on that same song, what`s your general opinion of that band? Would you consider Floyd or Voivod to be more influential in what you`re doing?
Dave-Yes, we�d heard the Necros� version and Voivod�s, two bands we respect highly. But we thought we could still do the song and simultaneously make it our own AND pay homage to both eras of Floyd.
Andy: Let`s talk a little about the cover art for 2012. Who did it, and how does it relate to the album?
Dave-The front cover is actually a Frank Frazetta illustration of the Sasquatch, which is the subject of one of the songs. It originally appeared as cover art for a book that was very influential on the direction of the album, John Keel�s Jadoo. The back cover relief and inside fold-out poster was done by our good friend Jason Berube. It is a 2012 collage. He�s a Boston artist and one of the area�s foremost scholars on the Mayan prophecies regarding 2012.
Andy: Mel Gibson made a movie loosely based around Mayan culture, have you seen it and what are your thoughts?
Dave-Apocalypto is a pretty good film if you�re into the giant, Hollywood extravaganzas. I think Gibson did a pretty good job showing how greed can ultimately bring down any empire, something we may be on the cusp of in modern times. It�s eye candy with a message.
Andy: I just found out yesterday that there`s actually a movie called "2012" also, have you seen that? It kinda looked bad...
Dave-It�s horrible. It�s lousy on two counts as far as Ichabod is concerned. First, it�s just a shallow, empty, fast-food-for-the-brain type of flick. It�s totally forgettable. Second, when our album was FINALLY ready to come out, it just coincidentally was released with a week of that debacle of a movie. So needless to say, some reviewers of the CD instantly had it out for us, thinking we were hopping on the bandwagon, trying to cash in on a tired, over advertised theme�So untrue and unfair. We�ve been into this stuff for years, and had the album recorded way back. Oh well!
Andy: I personally am a real fan of post apocalyptic sci-fi movies. Lots of classics in that genre, I love The Omega Man, A Boy And His Dog, The Road Warrior, etc. What are some of your favourites, and why?
Dave-All of the flicks you mention are fantastic, but don�t forget On The Beach, The Day After (in a cheesy, nostalgic-fear sense), Threads, Red Dawn, and Testament. They�re all embedded in our consciousnesses by having grown up in the shadow of possible nuclear war. Don�t even get Greg and I started on the Zombie film genre!!! This interview would go for days�
Andy: Have any of these movies had a significant influence on Ichabod as a band?
Dave-Not in a major sense�they�ve all conditioned us for the possibility of our �utopia� becoming dystopian. That�s the biggest influence they�ve had on us; changing our psyches.
Andy: Musically, who are Ichabod`s biggest influences?
Dave-Oh boy�it really spans a large horizon Andy. We�re all Black Sabbath freaks for starters, along with the Doors, CCR, Cream, etc. We�ve all got very extensive metal, crust, hardcore, doom, thrash, and punk backgrounds as well. More recently we�ve all gotten a touch into ethnic jazz, indie/psych/shoegazer stuff, and 70�s prog. If I try to get any more expansive, this too could go on for pages, perhaps even becoming a book!
Andy: Do you guys have any plans for touring?
Dave-We�d hoped to get to Europe this year, but it�s not materialized as of yet. So as of right now we�ve not got anything solidified.
Andy: How about doing any more recording?
Dave-NOW you�re talking! We�re 2/3�sdone with our next recording, Merrimack. It�s our 70�s prog/concept album opus. It�s essentially one song that�s over 40 minutes long. Technically you could break it into �movements� which are like their own little songs, but it�s cohesive. It�s the most diverse, challenging Ichabod material to date. We also have all the material for our next album after that written, but we have yet to lay any of those tracks down in the studio. That stuff is the heaviest, most well-crafted material we�ve done yet�Very catchy/hooky songs with a great balance of crushing heaviness and trance inducing psych.
Andy: December 31st, New Year`s Eve, 2011. What are each and every one of your plans for that day, let`s say from 6AM to 11:59PM to keep things simple.
Dave-It�s actually Solstice, December 21st, that things are slated to go down. I�m having a keg party/hunker down in the bunker bash. Canned food, ammo and first aid supplies gain you admission.
Andy: If you could meet one man or woman, dead or alive, who would it be, and why?
Dave-Jeez, another whopper of a question! I�ve been on a Thomas Jefferson kick lately, so I�d like to meet him and shake his hand. Read up on his political theories to see how far America has strayed from what the founding fathers intended. Jeffersonian politics need to be revived!!!
Andy: That about wraps it up for today, but before we go, here`s your chance to address the readers at large. Anything you wish to say, speak now, or forever hold your peace...
Dave-We love you. Thanks for caring enough to read this and listen to our material. We love you too Andy. Black Pyramid slays!!!!
Check out Ichabod at www.myspace.com/ichabod
