The Metal Web - Tourniquet Interview

w/LUKE EASTER

Dawn/The Metal Web!: The name "Tourniquet" has a couple different meanings. One, a spiritual meaning, and two it’s a device to stop bleeding with an injury. So in which way is the name "Tourniquet" properly suited for the band and why? I'm assuming it's the spiritual aspect of the meaning, as you are known to be a band that writes with spirituality in mind.

Luke Easter: The name is allegorical. The literal meaning is what you said, a tourniquet is a device to stop the bleeding from an injury. We believe that that’s what Christ wants to do in all of our lives. The Bible says that He heals the broken hearted and binds their wounds. Christ is our tourniquet.

Dawn/The Metal Web!: The current release and title track "Where Moth and Rust Destroy", what is the connotation behind both?

Luke Easter: People in general are very focused on owning things and having money. There’s nothing wrong with having nice things, and being comfortable within reason. If that is your sole purpose for living, then there’s a problem. Jesus asked the question why do you worry about what you have here in this life, where moth and rust destroy, instead of storing up treasure in Heaven. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what kind of stuff you have, or how rich you might be; it matters where your heart is, and what, if any, relationship you have with God. That’s the concept behind the title track.

Dawn/The Metal Web!: For people who do not know "Tourniquet", how would you classify yourselves musically?

Luke Easter: We are a band that plays heavy music with a lot of classical influences. We try to make interesting music that challenges the listener, while still being accessible.

Dawn/The Metal Web!: You had "Bill Metoyer" produce this album. Have you worked with him before and are you happy with the outcome of the album?

Luke Easter: Bill has been working with us since day one. In a lot of ways, he’s like an additional member of the band. He’s got a great ability to sift through the ideas we throw at him, and make them reality. I really can’t imagine working with someone else at this point. We’re very happy with how the new album sounds. Bill is one of the best.

Dawn/The Metal Web!: I see Ted helped co-produce. Was the rest of the band involved with any of the producing or mixing?

Luke Easter: Ted was there with Bill from start to finish, plus he wrote all of the music on this album. I came in to do the vocals, Steve came in later to do bass, and Marty and Bruce came in at different times to play lead parts. All of us have input during the process. Obviously, on the songs I wrote lyrics for, I had a good idea of how those parts should be sung, but overall Ted had the most influence on the final outcome. It’s necessary in any creative project to have someone who has a clear vision for how things need to turn out. In "Tourniquet", Ted is that person, and I think he does a great job.

Dawn/The Metal Web!: Your Bio quotes as saying "We've never been a band that has been content to rehash our past work. We have always consciously tried to move ahead and cover new ground, musically and lyrically". So with that said, in all aspects how do you perceive "Where Moth and Rust Destroy" surpasses past albums?

Luke Easter: I think that this album, more so than any of the others, is really a culmination of everything that came before it. This album feels to me like all of the other albums were a training ground to prepare us for "Where Moth And Rust Destroy". This record is really heavy while still being catchy. I think it’s a great balance of musicianship and technical prowess combined with good songwriting. We’re proud of our past work, but for me, this is the best we’ve done yet.

Dawn/The Metal Web!: What do you feel makes "Where Moth and Rust Destroy" a "unique" album?

Luke Easter: We realize that we’re not re-inventing the wheel, we’re a metal band. There are certain elements that are common to the genre, and we incorporate those elements when we make our music. At the same time, there are so many different sounds, so many different instruments and musical styles, it seems limiting to not explore them as well. I think instruments like the bazuke, sounds like the sonar pings in “Archeteuthis” and some of the different vocal styles we employ are just a few of the things that make this album stand out a bit from the Metal rank and file. Plus, our lyrics are a bit different than the average metal album.

Dawn/The Metal Web!: If you could select a specific track or tracks that would best display "Tourniquet", what would they or it be and why?

Luke Easter: I can’t pick one song on this album that most epitomizes the “Tourniquet sound”. I’d have to say it’s a toss up between the title track and “Drawn And Quartered”. Between those 2 songs you’ve got all of the things that people have come to expect from us. There’re cool leads; there’re shouted “Metal” vocals; there’s great riffing; there’re weird spoken parts; there’re odd “non metal” instruments like dobros and bazukes; there’s straight singing. I think if someone wanted to know who we are, what we do, and what we’re about, they could listen to either of those songs and get a clear picture.

Dawn/The Metal Web!: With this album Tourniquet hired "Marty Friedman" (ex-Megadeth) and "Bruce Franklin" for the guitar lines. What was it like to work with "Marty Friedman" and how did that come to be? Great guitarist I may add.

Luke Easter: Marty and Ted have been friends for years, so when we went in to start his album and we didn’t have a lead guitar player, we asked Marty and Bruce Franklin if they would help us out. Both of them are great guitar players, but more importantly, they’re great people. It was really easy working with both of them. I hope we’ll get another opportunity in the future.

Dawn/The Metal Web!: When writing the leads did both guitarists Marty and Bruce contribute in the writing or was the writing done solely within the band itself?

Luke Easter: The songs were written and the basic tracks were already recorded when Marty and Bruce arrived. Ted had some idea of what was needed on the songs, lead-wise, but there was a lot of room for creativity as well. What’s the point of having players like Marty and Bruce come in, if you’re not going to let them play?

Dawn/The Metal Web!: Your currently auditioning guitarists to replace "Aaron Guerra". What does this guitarist have to possess in order to obtain a position in Tourniquet and has there been anyone thus far to catch your eye?

Luke Easter: The right person needs to be able to play the songs correctly, but also needs to be able to improvise a bit. Our songs are very structured, and a lot of the parts need to be played very precisely. A good lead player is a must. We need someone who can play the parts Aaron or Marty or whomever has played, but who also has their own personality as well. It’d be nice if they can do some of the shouting vocals, as well. Finally, it really doesn’t matter how good you are if you can’t get along with people, so we’re looking for someone who’s easy enough to get along with, as well as someone who plays well. We’ve seen a couple of promising auditions so far. Hopefully we’ll be able to make a decision soon.

Dawn/The Metal Web!: I realize at the moment your auditioning, but has there been any discussions on touring in support of the new album?

Luke Easter: We’ve been concentrating on finding a suitable guitar player, so we have not been planning any shows yet. As soon as we have a guitarist, we want to play as much as possible.

Dawn/The Metal Web!: I know this is your second release with Metal Blade. But I see in your discography the mention of "Frontline" or "Frontline/Metal Blade" with some of your previous albums. Who was "Frontline" because their credited up to 1996 with the album "The Collected Works"?

Luke Easter: "Frontline" was a Christian indie label out of Southern California. We were signed to them for all of our releases up to "The Collected Works". They licensed "Psycho Surgery" and "Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance" to Metal Blade. In 1999 we signed directly to Metal Blade.

Dawn/The Metal Web!: Tourniquet has recently acquired ownership and rights to seven previously recorded albums "Stop the Bleeding", "Psycho Surgery", "Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance", "Tourniquet Live CD", "Vanishing Lessons", "Carry the Wounded", and "The Collected Works". Can you tell us what transpired with this?

Luke Easter: Frontline went out of business in the late 90’s, and their catalog was acquired by another company. That company did a series of re-issues of albums by various artists from the Frontline roster, a couple of which were Tourniquet albums. In my opinion, the re-issues were not very well done. They were putting 2 albums on a CD, so songs were being cut for space, and there was no artwork and no liner notes. It’s cool that the material was available to the people that wanted it, but it was a shame that it wasn’t being released in the way it was originally intended. It took some time, but we finally were able to reach an agreement that gave us ownership of our back catalog.

Dawn/The Metal Web!: Due to acquiring these rights and ownership, you chose to re-release three of the seven albums. What lead to the bands decision on the three that you chose "Stop the Bleeding","Psycho Surgery", and "Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance" as opposed to the others?

Luke Easter: We released those first because those were the first 3 releases. At that point, "Stop The Bleeding" had been out of print for a while, so that was always going to be the first one re-issued. The plan is to re-release them in order.

Dawn/The Metal Web!: Will any of the previous albums be re-released as well and if so, when?

Luke Easter: For now, we’ve been concentrating on the new album, but we plan to release the next set of re-issues as soon as possible.

Dawn/The Metal Web!: Tourniquet’s first DVD "Ocular Digital" was just released and features 2 live concerts from California and Holland as well as a video of "Ark of Suffering". Can you give us some information on it?

Luke Easter: We have played in a lot of different places over the years, but there are still a lot of places where we have never played yet. We also get asked for footage of the early days before Aaron and I joined the band. We played the Flevo Festival in Holland in 2001, and the show was filmed. We also had video of the first Tourniquet show ever, so it seemed like a good idea. "Ocular Digital" is a good look at 2 very different eras of Tourniquet as a live band.

Dawn/The Metal Web!: Speaking of "Ark of Suffering" it’s a track about animal abuse. I can relate due to the fact that I’m an animal activist and have been for a long time. Can you give us insight on how you became involved with animal abuse and what are you doing in the way of animal protection?

Luke Easter: As Christians, we believe that we have a duty to behave responsibly with the things God has given us. That includes the Earth and the things in it. We are not directly affiliated with any Animal Rights organizations, but we have tried to raise awareness in the metal scene. Songs like
“Stereotaxic Atrocities” and “Ark Of Suffering”, and videos like the one for “Ark" have made a lot of people stop and think twice about their role in God’s creation. Do you want to be a tyrant and kill and maim and abuse because you can, or do you want to protect and nurture the ones that God has given you power over? That’s the real question we’re asking with those songs.

Dawn/The Metal Web!: Another DVD not yet available is "The Unreleased Drum Solos of Ted Kirkpatrick". Why the delay in releasing and what will the DVD consist of once it is released?

Luke Easter: The drum solo video was previously available on VHS, but we’re working on an updated version to be release on DVD. It’ll have the original version of "The Unreleased Drum Solos of Ted Kirkpatrick", plus it’ll have some goodies that haven’t been seen before. Maybe we need to change the title, though. I mean, if was previously available, it’s not really the "Unreleased Drum Solo", is it?

Dawn/The Metal Web!: To date I’ve heard so many good things about "Tourniquet". If you could focus on one main thing that keeps the band on top, what would that be?

Luke Easter: Over the years, we have done our best to continue growing and developing as artists and musicians. We have never been a band that has been content with what we’ve done in the past. Instead, we’ve always tried to surpass whatever we’ve done before. We’ve also stayed serious about our faith, and we’ve never shied away from it when it’s been brought up. Everything we do, we try to do as well as possible, and with our integrity intact. I think it’s that honesty, that willingness to take chances artistically, and the efforts we take to maintain a high level of quality in our work that has kept people interested in Tourniquet for so long. We are very blessed. Over the years, we’ve seen a lot of bands come and go. We’ve seen styles and tastes change. In spite of it all, we still have an audience. We are very thankful for that, and we do not take it for granted.

Dawn/The Metal Web!: I’d like to thank you for your time. With that said, do you have any final words for The Metal Web!?

Luke Easter: Thanks for taking the time to come up with these great questions. We appreciate the interest in Tourniquet. Maybe we can do this again sometime.

OFFICIAL SITE "TOURNIQUET": http://www.tourniquet.net

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