The Red Chord are pioneers in their genre and among the best. We talked to their vocalist Guy about their latest album, flesh eating zombies, side projects and, well, music.
So, you’ve come a long way in the last years, from Robotic Empire to Metal Blade is a huge difference. How did it come to all of those Steps?
Lots and lots and lots of touring, I guess. We've been a band now for about 7 years and been on tour for the better part of the last 6.
What are the good and the bad things about big and small labels?
Small labels you'll get more attention but sometimes less resources. It's the big fish, small pond idea. Big labels, it's really easy to get lost on the roster because your sales are less significant.
So Prey for eyes was released some days ago, how are the responses so far?
So far so good. I'm happy overall.
What has changed since Clients?
We have a new guitar player, who wasn't actually on the new record. Life is good overall. We've been a band for a good while and I still feel like we're very relevant, writing great, cutting edge stuff and I don't really see an end in sight.
You were featured on Maris The Great’s site, how did that happen and how did you like it.
It was fun. Maris is a gay zombie who works with gore makeup/special effects. He's been coming to our shows in Denver, Colorado for years. He 'kills' bands on his site after interviewing them. His goal is to kill every band ever so that his band, Maris the Great and the Faggots of Death can stannd as the best band ever. Our pictures were a bit shocking. I can't say that I would've let a gay zombie buttfuck me like one of the other band members did (not mentioning any names...check out the feature to see what I'm talking about).
He is kinda strange don’t you think?
I would have to say so.
What are your main musical influences concerning the Red Chord and what do you listen to at home?
Everything. Literally. Lots of random metal and hardcore all the way to bands like Queens of the Stoneage, Nine Inch Nails, Iron Monkey, everything to do with the Wu Tang Clan, Muse and Radiohead. We're influenced by everything. I often cite Human Remains, Suffocation, Converge, Death, Deadguy, Cynic and Buried Alive as being our early influences.
What does a typical tour-day look like? Sleep/play or go crazy/play/party?
We're pretty mellow. Not much partying. Lots of playing and less sleep than we'd all hope for.
 Your latest album was recorded at Trax East right? They were responsible for some great hardcore classics. How does it feel to record there now?
We were bigs fans of so many Trax records. It's an honor to have had the experience of working over there. I was an enormous Deadguy fan, so the whole time I was tracking vocals, I kept telling myself that maybe, just maybe I was singing in the same location Tim Singer had been as he was tracking his stuff for Fixation on a Coworker and Work Ethic. I got really bummed when I found out it was in a different room.
The Red Chord moves between genres like metal, hardcore and so on, what are your personal musical roots and how did you get into those?
A little of everything. See the laundry list above. As far as agressive music, I got really passionate about heavier music during the grunge years with bands like Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots. That quickly turned into Anthrax, Pantera, Napalm Death and Neurosis. My early show experiences were very influencial. Lots of hall shows with bands like Cave In, Converge, Ten Yard Fight, Gambit, Cast Iron Hike, Blood for Blood and other local metal and hardcore bands.
Guy, you are involved with the Black Market Activities Sublabel (?) of Metal Blade. Isn’t that a lot of work besides the band? How do you manage to get all those things done?
It actually isn't a sublabel. It is independently owned and operated. Metal Blade is my distributor. They help immensely. Prosthetic Records had a similar deal back in the day when the first Lamb of God and All That Remains came out. They later split away and did the label freestanding when it was big enough. Metal Blade handles a few titles via licensing for Europe, also. But yea...it's a lot of work for sure.
Everyone in the band has some projects besides the band (like BTSS, Stomach earth, Black Market Activities and so on) doesn’t this get in the way of touring and band related things at times?
Touring has been a constant. With the wireless age upon us, operating the label from the road is getting easier, although the artist workload is pretty crazy right now. I actually have an employee right now, too for a change, which rules.
 Tell us about the artwork of Prey For Eyes.
The layout is a very open interpretation of some mythological tale combined with a play on the word 'Eyes' and use of optical illisions. Paul Romano took some Greek (I think) concept about souls being consumed by a great being and cleansed. The are re-birthed in the form of eggs and when the egg hatches, out comes a lion. The lion later becomes a great warrior. The soul is presented in the layout as a white bird covered in oil. The woman consumes the bird to cleanse the souls within her body and the process continues.
Did you tell Paul Romano how it should look like or did he just do what he wanted to?
I gave suggestions, but he definitely did his own thing.
What inspires you to your lyrics and how important do you think they are for your music?
Very. I couldn't sing something in an aggressive band like this without being passionate about it. The lyrics are much more surreal on this record than in the past. The inspiration is quite random...everything from dreams to people to theories and current news serves as ammunition.
So, that’s it for now, thanks for taking the time, if there’s anything else you wanna say, go on.
Thanks for your time. Look for The Red Chord to come back to Europe in Nov/Dec with The Black Dahlia Murder & Job for a Cowboy. See you soon!!
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