New Keepers of the Water Towers Hold the Beasts at Bay
Already in the last eight months or so we’ve seen MeteorCity?expand its branding, name and reach beyond the long-stated conceptions of stoner rock, acquiring and promoting acts like Farflung, Elder, Eighteen Wheels Burning?and Leeches of Lore. Braving the international scene, they now release the recently-reviewed Chronicles, by Swedish?beast metal outfit, New Keepers of the Water Towers.
And a beastly outfit they are indeed. Chronicles being comprised of two previously-issued EPs — 2007’s Chronicles of the Massive Boar?and 2008’s The Chronicles of Iceman?– listeners are granted an insider’s view of the band’s early evolution. Guitarist/lead vocalist Rasmus Booberg?took some time out the other day for a quick interview about the beginnings of?New Keepers of the Water Towers, signing to MeteorCity?and what sort of monsters they might conjure in the future. Q&A and some reading music after the jump.
Talk about how the band got together. Did you have a specific style in mind?when you started out? How did you start to develop your sound?
Back in the summer of 2007, me and Tor?[Sj?d?n], the drummer, were talking a lot about metal and rock music and we had?been jamming a couple of times but nothing serious.?After being introduced to the Swedish rock band Spiritual Beggars one drunken weekend, we both got inspired to play something heavy ass shit. A couple of days later, at our lunch break, we borrowed a recording studio at our school, and in about 30 minutes we wrote and recorded the song “The Three Headed Cow” (then called, “I Feel it Coming”). The following months we recorded more and more songs in that same way, writing them and recording them in one afternoon. So in that way we couldn’t really control how it would sound, we just let it happen and hoped for the best.
That winter we decided to try and play some songs live, but we needed a band to do so. We talked to a guy named Edward Hansson who seemed to be the bass player we wanted at the time. We performed one horrible gig after returning to the studio sessions.
Anyway, some months after that we got a gig opening for a band called Mozkovitch, and we felt we needed another guitar player to play the songs the way they are intended. Victor?[Berg]?and I had been playing together in a thrash-metal band called Vexation where I played the drums and Vic played bass. But I knew he was an awesome guitarist and after showing him the songs and so on he was the new guitarist!
How did you end up working with MeteorCity, and at what point did you decide to change the name of the band from New Keepers?
Fast forward to the autumn 2008, we had then recorded two EPs and had sent the later?one to some small labels (MeteorCity not included) but we got no response. But what Tor and I didn’t know was that Edward decided to send a copy to MeteorCity. They liked it and wanted more, so we sent them the first EP as well. Dan?of MeteorCity?unraveled the idea of a combined release called Chronicles, and the rest is history I guess.
And when it comes to the name of the band it’s pretty simple. We came up with the name New Keepers of the Water Towers after writing “The Knowledgeable Kangaroo” and called ourselves that for one year but then we got tired of it and shortened it to just New Keepers. And now we’re back to the longer version again, because it is cool and simply more devil worthy.
What’s the timeline on bringing in Albin Ericsson to play bass? Was it something the rest of the band had always intended, or did you feel it was missing from the sound?
Bringing in Albin on bass was just nature taking its course. Eddie and the rest of the band didn’t share the same vision so he had to go. At the time Albin was dating Vic‘s sister, so we had all met him and he seemed like an okay guy. We had always had a bass player live so no big change there.
You can hear the growth between the two halves of Chronicles.
The difference in the two EPs is simply us evolving musically and personally. Naturally, the vision of what kind of music we want to play is constantly changing as we find new sources of inspiration, would it be in music, women or drugs or just about anything, really.
Walk me through the songwriting process for The Chronicles of Iceman. How was it different from Chronicles of the Massive Boar?
On the second EP we wanted to create something more ambitious. We stepped it up a notch, spent more time both arranging the songs and recording them. We were extremely happy with how Iceman ended up, and were thrilled to get to release it on MeteorCity.
In the liner notes, you thank Neil Young for the ultimate inspiration. How in particular did he inspire the band, and what influence does New Keepers of the Water Towers draw from him?
Hee hee, Neil is all that is awesome in this world personified. His approach to life and music is simply great inspiration for us as a band. Also Neil‘s music the only thing we listen to on tour.
Does having everyone sing open new doors for vocals? You can express different moods in different voices, but does it ever become a challenge to arrange it all?
Well, first off I have to say that we all see me as the lead singer of the band and the others just show up on some parts where it seems fitting. We have all discovered new ways to sound, and everyone singing is just another weapon in our vocal arsenal. When arranging the vocals we just try to go with the most obvious solutions.
Is there any new material in the works?
When we got the offer from MeteorCity?we actually already had the material for another record ready and waiting. So this winter we recorded a new CD and just a couple of days ago we finished the mixing process and are looking forward to where it might take us. We have no certain plans for how it is going to be released, if it will be through MeteorCity?or some other cool label or just by ourselves.
Will future New Keepers of the Water Towers releases also be chronicles? Do you ever have trouble coming up with beasts to write lyrics about? Would you ever consider writing songs about anything else, or would it just not fit with the band?
The sound we spawned this time around is of course different from the two previous CDs but we have definitively kept the same vibes going. What we intended for this album was something in between of The Massive Boar?and Iceman. In many ways that’s what we achieved, but there are some new sides of us that show up as well. We have squeezed in some High on Fire and one obvious Kyuss rip-off and a lot more you perhaps wouldn’t expect after hearing Chronicles. To answer the next question, it will contain all the beasts and mythological creatures one would expect, but it will not be a chronicle! Anyways it’s our favorite album yet and I hope people will like it!
You can never know what the future holds; we might get tired of writing about filthy beasts, even if I don’t see that happening anytime soon.
New Keepers of the Water Towers on MySpace
Tags: Beast metal, MeteorCity, New Keepers of the Water Towers, Sweden
