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Abdullah
(Picture taken from the Abdullah website, Thanks Jeff)
The Goblin caught up with Jeff Shirilla from USA-doomsters Abdullah and here is the result of our chat.
1. To start with, can you maybe give the reader the history of Abdullah and the members of the band?
Jeff: I wish the history of our band was a little more interesting, but it's pretty typical. I was playing drums and doing some vocals with a sludge band called Sloth, but we had a falling out of sorts and I found myself out of the band. I had always wanted to start something of my own anyway so that I could express myself rather than simply regurgitate somebody else's ideas, so I figured now was the time to get something going. In the beginning, I went through members like a revolving door. Everyone I found just wanted different things out of the band, and I was beginning to think that Abdullah was doomed to exist as one of those one-man-studio-project type of things. Luckily I hooked up with our guitarist Alan through a flier I had hung up in a local record store, and we really hit it off. We both shared the same musical vision and wanted the band to go in the same direction. In the months that followed we wrote and recorded both the "Snake Lore" demo and our self-titled album. After that we finally hooked up with other members to round out the line-up and start playing live, but the first incarnation did not work out. After working with a few drummers and bass players, we finally found the right guys. The current line-up is Jim Simonian on drums, Ed Stephens on bass, Chris Chiera on rhythm guitar, Alan on lead and me on vocals.
2. How would you like to describe your band to a person that never heard
Abdullah, both in terms of music style and attitude?
Jeff: I'd say that we play a melodic brand of doom rock with hints of gothic, psychedelia and classic metal. The music is heavy, atmospheric and emotional.
3. How do you write your songs. Is it one person coming up with all ideas
or is it teamwork? Are you writing the songs while rehearsing or at home?
Jeff: Up to this point I've probably written 85% of the material by myself, but I'm hoping that this is going to change now that we have a full line-up. I usually write the stuff by myself... locked in a room. I demo it out by myself and then pass it on to the other band members to learn the parts. I want things to be more dynamic this time around, though, so we can incorporate some new sounds into our style. We're going to try to write stuff as a team during rehearsals and see how that goes.
4. When it comes to personnel, Abdullah has grown quite a bit since the
"Snake lore" days. When and why did you feel it was necessary to
add more musicians to the band? Was it simply to be able to play live or was
there another reason for it?.
Jeff: Well, of course, the main reason to add more musicians was so that we could play live. You have to understand that in the beginning we tried our best to hook up with other people to jam with, but that just wasn't happening. Since I could play drums and sing, and Alan could handle all guitar and bass duties, we figured that instead of continuing to waste our time and energy in auditioning people who didn't have a clue as to what we were doing, we'd concentrate on writing material and demoing it out by ourselves. By the time we were signed to MeteorCity we still didn't have a solid line-up, and in order to get our album out by late 2000 we had to record it by ourselves again. After doing things like this for so long, we got pretty comfortable with it, but we still wanted to take the band to the next level. We finally hooked up with a rhythm section in the winter of 2001, but things quickly turned sour as those guys wanted Abdullah to head into a crustier, sludgier direction that we personally wanted to move away from. Like I said in response to the last question, we finally have found a line-up of talented, dedicated musicians, and beyond just being able to play live now, we're hoping that the full line-up will help to further evolve our sound.
5. When it comes to musical influences, can you maybe give us some examples on what I can expect to find if I would go through your record collection? Do you all have somewhat the same taste when it comes to music or is there anyone that differs from the rest of the band?
Jeff: Speaking for myself, my influences are all over the place. If you took a peek at my record collection you'd find everything from death metal to hip hop, jazz to grindcore, and everything else in between. For instance, I'm listening to Stuart Copeland's "Rumble Fish" right now, and have Trouble "Run to the Light" on deck. I have to admit, though, that my allegiance usually lies with rock music and metal, but just listening to the same old stuff over and over would really get boring. Alan's pretty much the same way. We share an almost disturbingly similar taste in music. I can't speak as well for the other guys since I've only known them for a relatively short period of time, but they're all into what we're doing and no disagreements have ever arisen over musical tastes. I think we're all pretty much on the same page.
6. How has the media response been to your latest album, in terms of reviews and stuff?
Jeff: It's been overwhelmingly positive! We've received glowing reviews all over the place, including bigger music magazines like Kerrang!, Terrorizer and Metal Hammer, and our album has made it to a bunch of critic's "best of 2000" lists. That's not too say that we haven't had our share of mediocre or lukewarm reviews, but I can count the downright nasty ones on one hand! Hope that doesn't sound too egotistical...
7. If I´m informed right, you guys are from Ohio, right? How is the "Stoner" scene there? Is it easy to get gigs, or do you feel that it would be easier if you lived in N.Y.C. or L.A.? Or is it as hard/easy no matter where you´re from?
Jeff: We are from Ohio, and here in the northeastern portion of the state the stoner/heavy rock scene is pretty healthy. There are a ton of cool bands from right here in the Cleveland area like Boulder, Disengage, Keelhaul, Sofa King Killer, Bruhaha, Red Giant, Rebreather and Fistula that could neatly fit into the confines of the "stoner" scene. It's pretty easy to get gigs around here since there are a bunch of clubs that feature live music and the scene isn't too saturated. It's just like anything else, though... sometimes it's hot, sometimes it's cold. Alot of the clubs you have to kind of "prove" yourself to in order to get booked regularly, but in order to avoid the dreaded "local band" tag you don't want to play out too much anyway. We mainly try to hook up with touring national acts when they come through town. So far we've played with the likes of Electric Wizard, Warhorse, Spirit Caravan, Penance, Pentagram (kind of), Sixty Watt Shaman, Internal Void, Place of Skulls, Bottom, etc. etc. I think bands in bigger cities have a way harder time getting booked since there's so much competition.
8. What is your definition of the term "stonerrock?" A lot of people use it to describe almost every kind of heavy rock/metal today. Are they wrong? Some say that Kyuss or Sleep were the first real "stoner" bands. What is your opinion?
Jeff: I'd say that if a band plays an overtly 70's-ish, fuzzed out, groovy style of music with a predilection for weed, fast cars and space ships, they're abiding by the definition of "stoner rock." I definitely feel it's wrong to label all types of heavy rock music as "stoner," though. I think as a whole the scene is pretty limited in it's flagrant adoration of Fu Manchu, Kyuss and Monster Magnet, but there are plenty of bands out there that rise above this simple "imitation is the highest form of flattery" thing like Solace, Tummler, Slow Horse, Penance, and, of course, there are so many others. I'd agree with you that Kyuss and Sleep were the forerunners of this modern "stoner" scene, but I'd have to also add to that list Monster Magnet, Fu Manchu and, to a lesser extent, the earlier transmutations of the Seattle grunge movement.
9. You´re signed to Meteorcity but you released your "Snake Lore" on the British label Rage of Achilles, right!? But had you been in contact with Meteorcity before that, or did they "find" you after that release?
Jeff: We had already signed the contract with MeteorCity before Rage of Achilles contacted us about giving "Snake Lore" an official release. MeteorCity was cool with letting us appear on that label while we were signed with them. It was a nice arrangement because it gave us a little advanced exposure before the release of our self-titled album.
10. Was "Snake Lore" the first Abdullah material that you recorded?
Jeff: No, there were three demos prior to "Snake Lore." The first was a recording of the improvised jams that we came up with during our first ever practice that I later dubbed vocals over, the second was a short 3 song demo in the vein of EyeHateGod and Acid Bath with just me and our original bassist, and the third one was a demo that I recorded completely by myself that captures more of the sound that Abdullah embodies now. "Conundrum" and "Now is the Winter" both come from this demo.
11. How is it to work with Meteorcity? Are you getting the back up you need and deserve?
Jeff: MeteorCity's been very good to us. They're completely behind what we're doing, and use the best of their limited resources to help us. I think that they have the best label going in the scene right now, and if they keep making the right decisions I think they have the possibility to transcend it.
12. Any tour plans or gigs for Europe?
Jeff: Man... I wish. The reality is that we don't even have any plans for a small U.S. tour in the works. I think it'd be silly and even counteractive for us to embark on a national tour at the stage that we're at since so little people actually even know who we are. I'd rather wait to hook up with a band that already has an established fan base to tour with so we can get some real exposure. I hear too many horror stories of obscure underground bands embarking on their own tours and playing to tiny crowds of less than 20 people because no one's ever heard of them, and therefore are hesitant to venture out and see them. What's the point, you know? These bands come back broke, demoralized and defeated most of the time. I'd rather continue honing our skills as songwriters and just playing locally until the right opportunity presents itself. We've already spoken briefly with a few bands about hooking up with them on certain legs of their future U.S. tours, and things are looking good. If we ever had the chance to tour Europe, you'd better believe that we'd jump on it!
13. How is your new material sounding? Any changes in your sound?
Jeff: So far the stuff I've come up with is a little darker and a little more metallic, while Chris and Alan have come up with some more rocking, up-tempo stuff. It should be interesting. When we wrote "Snake Lore" and, to a larger extent, our self-titled for MeteorCity, I think we pandered a little too much to what we felt was expected from us: by that I mean, we concentrated on writing more straight-forward doom and stoner-ish compositions. On this next release we're not limiting ourselves to any certain style. I'm sure that our sound will still retain the same feel that we've created with past efforts, but overhauled with more variety and experimentation.
14. When can we expect a new release from you guys?
Jeff: We're hoping to have a new full length by mid-2002, and hopefully an EP before that.
15. If you could make one wish that would instantly come true, what would it be?
Jeff: I know this sounds starry-eyed and clichéd, but I'd definitely have to say world peace. Let's end the violence and conflict. Let's not let religious and cultural differences become barriers. Let's come together as a functional global community.
16. And finally I must ask about the band name, how did you come up with the idea for that one?
Jeff: It comes from a rather silly and embarrassing source. We came up with it when we were more of a sludge-core type band that intended to aurally assault the listener's senses with our music rather than trying to find the point where beauty meets darkness. I won't comment further on its origins, but I will say that the name now reflects the same mysterious and sensual foreboding that we try to convey in our music (and just for the record, for all of those emailing me in protest... it has nothing to do with Islamic religion... we are not trying to defame Allah... please lighten up). Thanks for the interview, Johnny! Good luck with Rock 'n Roll Goblin!
And thank you, man/The Goblin