Interview: Hot Graves: Discriminated minority - STALKER MAGAZINE inside out of rock´n´roll

Hot Graves: Discriminated minority

You can hardly get any deeper underground: Hot Graves are from Gainesville, Florida, USA – that´s pretty much all you can find out about them even from their own website. Another Metal medium describes them like “Archgoat, Discharge, Revenge, Hellhammer and Wolfbrigade with their genre-smashing amalgamation of black metal, thrash, crust punk, war metal and heavier-than-hell slabs of primitive death metal ... Throw in the odd sizzling guitar solo, a quartet of Southern drawls sweet as Waffle House sizzurp, sick Anti-Cimex & Discharge covers and a tongue-in-cheek, fuck-you attitude, and you’ve got yourself one hell of a good time.” (http://www.metalinjection.net/latest-news/desecration-time-hot-graves) Guitarist Myk and Bass player Tim Hutchens tries to fill us in here...

When did Hot Graves form? Could you tell us about the new Hot Graves Demos CD? When did these sessions take place?
Myk: We formed in the later part ov 2007, and started playing shows in March ov 2008. The first demo sessions were recorded during that time before we started playing shows, and the "Goatshed Dirthrash..." demos were recorded in the months following, mostly at our rehearsal space. Both were released separately on Satanik Recordings in special limited hand-assembled packaging with CDRs, booklets, fucked-up images and things. The "new" demo CD is just a compilation ov those two demo releases, minus two later songs, plus 3 ov our original demos that no one besides band people really got to hear, also on Satanik Recordings.

Who did most of the writing for the band?
Myk: I write the majority ov the riffs and lyrics for Hot Graves, and Hutch (Tim) writes some lyrics and riffs here and there, and they get assimilated into the stew accordingly.

Any controversies considering "Kill for Satan" and other tracks on the CD?
Myk: I doubt we are a big enough attention-getter to warrant any true controversy outright, but i did notice that our video for that song on Youtube has a considerable amount more plays than our other songs, probably due to the name. The fact is that if i thought Satan/The Universe wanted me to kill someone, i´d probably do it. But nobody knows that, so I´d say we get more controversy for covering punk songs, but even that is minimal.
Tim: Huh, I always figured the "Kill 4 Satan" video had more play because it´s more of a "real video" than the blogumentaries, but you´re probably totally right. But yeah, anyone who would get mad about a song like K4S probably doesn´t have their ear to the underground metal scene, so we slid by under the radar. But if you´re asking what´s it´s like being a group of openly atheistic and/or anti-theistic people who let our views be publicly known in a Christian majority country, that´s a whole ´nother kind of thing. Being a member of a very under-represented and discrimnated-against minority (atheist) is not always a comforting thing, especially when you´re at a rural gas station in South Carolina and the locals ask ,"You ain´t from around here, now is ya?" if you know what I´m getting at... But we definitly haven´t aroused the anger of the religius communities like a certain Danish cartoonist or author Sam Harris have, who both require private security to avoid being murdered by people who think they are carrying out gods will.

What inspires the band to write? Could you name some of your influences in music? Are you guys horror film enthusiasts?
Myk: What inspires me to write is the never-ending fountain ov riffs that keep swirling around my head and bothering me until I do something about them. The rush ov getting four dudes playing this thing you imagined and having it sound awesome is pretty inspiring too. My influences in music are too vast to get into right now, but concerning Metal and Punk... Our sound basically revolves around musical ideas established by bands like Hellhammer/Celtic Frost, Discharge, The Accüsed, Bathory, etc, and the way that we blend them together. I like horror films, but you´d really have to talk to Hutch and Matt about that one....
Tim: I´m a BIG horror movie fan but I feel like saying I´m a fan of "horror" films is like saying I´m a fan of "metal". I´m a big metal fan, but I´m a fan of Black, proper Death, Doom, Thrash, 80´s cheesy shit.. but keep your mall metal, nu metal, "slipknot" shit to yourself. I´m really into post-apocalyptic horror (espically Italian) right now, I like 80´s slasher flicks, almost anything with zombies in it, the Universal monsters, 50´s monster movies, some cannibal movies, Italian giallo movies (even though they´re not really horror films they have an appropriate gory level to be added here), most Troma films, kaiju movies but I´m not really into Japanese horror, the American remakes of Japanese horror or any of the new style "Saw" kinda horror, that shit sucks. Saying something like "I like horror movies" requires a caveat. I´m assuming you asked about horror films because of the connection between metal and horror. I think that has to do with an overlapping aesthetic, case in point, check out video for "Get killed Tonight".

How did the band get its name, and what bands were you in before you joined Hot Graves?
Myk: We took our name from one ov our favorite MIDNIGHT songs, which is about having sex with fresh corpses. Immediately prior to, and during the inception ov, starting Hot Graves, I was in Thee Kvlt ov Ouroboros (ultra-sludge and Black/Thrash mix) and By The Horns, which Matt and Dusty were also members ov (kinda melodic Swedish-styled Death Metal). Hot Graves started as a side band for all ov us.
Tim: I was in Secrets She Kept (blackened death metalish) who just put out a new CD that I was a part of (so go get it!), and we used to play shows with Thee Kvlt and By the Horns, so it was a real easy desicion when Myk asked if I wanted to do Hot Graves

Are there any D-beat bands that you like currently?
Myk: I like a lot ov what I hear, especially from bands like Framtid, Okkultokrati, Wolfbrigade, Fear ov Tomorrow, Distress, etc. I like bands that blend it too, like Dishammer and Choke, Thirst, Die and even Acephalix.
Tim: Yea, I´m a big fan some D-beat bands, some that I like that you didn´t mention Myk; Order of the Vulture, Tragedy, Warvictims, Disable, Malveillance (when they play D-beat) and we´re always looking for cool new shit. I´ll going to have to check out some of the bands on Myk´s list.

How does the band acquire its unique sound? Did the band agree on how the music should sound?
Myk: It´s as much about the kind ov parts we won´t allow, or the kinds ov repetition we won´t allow, as it is about the styles we choose to operate in. To me, Hot Graves is meant to be the ultimate crystalization ov what is best about these types ov Metal and Punk that we have enjoyed over the years, without ripping any one band or style off directly. The Ultimate Style.

What lies in the future for the band?
Myk: We have a full-length album coming out on CD from NHR Records (Canadian Black Metal mongers!), and on vinyl LP from Greyhaze Records (very interesting upstart label!) which is in the final stages ov production currently. It is titled "Knights In White Phosphorus" and it will slay you all with D-Beat Deathrash glory. We have a 7" coming out that Greyhaze is doing for us as well, and another split 7" that is just kinda up in the air at this moment, be we´ve already recorded for it. We´ve already begun writing the new album, and we are coming along pretty swiftly with menacing, tough-guy shit. I´m sure i´m forgetting something....
Tim: CASETTE TAPE OF COVERS! All of the cover songs we do and then some will all be put together on casette and done up real proper like.

www.hotgraves.bandcamp.com
http://www.myspace.com/hotgraves
Author: John Wisniewski, transl. K. Weber, photos: Satanik Recordings
Date: 2011-04-03

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