The Metal Web - Unearth Interview

w/John "Slo" Maggard

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: I know your current release The Oncoming Storm was re-recorded, and actually is a re-release with a couple of extra bonus tracks attached. Is the band currently working on new material and when can the fans expect a new release?

John “Slo” Maggard: Actually, we just released another album, which is of all the old stuff that we did combined on one track with a live set on it as well and that's called, Our Last Days of Eulogy. We did all the material while we were on Eulogy Records in Florida. It was just released within the last week.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: That's just of the older material?

John "Slo" Maggard: Yeah, from our first EP. I think there is a bunch of tracks off Stings of Conscience on there. I think there is also a full live show of us at the Downtown in Long Island.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: The Downtown in NY?

John "Slo" Maggard: No, it's a club called the Downtown on Long Island.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Yeah, it's New York. I'm actually familiar with the club.

John "Slo" Maggard: Ok, cool! I thought you were referring to the city. (Laughs)

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: No, just New York period. (Laughs)

John "Slo" Maggard: New York State or New York Island. (Laughs)

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: But there is no new material yet?

John "Slo" Maggard: No. Were currently working on new material for our brand new full-length album that will hopefully be released right around the beginning of the summer. We’re going to start tracking the album sometime late February, early March.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Any title for that album yet?

John "Slo" Maggard: Nothing yet. Right now, we have 3-4 complete songs. We're just working it out right now and writing and touring at the same time and when we get home we'll get down to business.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: One word that quickly comes to mind regarding The Oncoming Storm is “variety”, yet it’s all still very much Unearth. At that time, was there a conscious attempt to expand your composition while retaining the band’s core distinctiveness?

John “Slo” Maggard: Hmm, that is a good question.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: It is a good question, huh? (Laughs) I read an interview where you were like, I like more in depth questions, and so, I'm giving them to ya! (Laughs)

John "Slo" Maggard: Thank you! That makes my life a lot easier. Thank you very much! I appreciate that. (Laughs) When we were writing the album, we were writing what we wanted to hear at the time. At that point, in our bands history the musicianship of the band itself had grown. We acquired a drummer that was better to exemplify what we were trying to come across musically and then at the same time the rest of the players had grown as musicians so we were able to do a lot more with what we were trying to do. We just stuck to the core of what our influences have been from the get go, kind of like a hybrid of Iron Maiden/Hatebreed type of thing. Therefore, we just kept going with that. But, we were better able to write better songs and just form better complete songs then in the past. So, that's basically how that album was written. We weren't necessarily trying to do a certain thing; we were just better utilizing the tools that we had at that point

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: From start to finish, each song on The Oncoming Storm seems to have matured musically as well as having their own unique quality that sets them apart from the rest of the album. Like the songs, do you feel Unearth has reached a certain maturity and what unique quality do you feel sums up Unearth?

John “Slo” Maggard: I think our one unique quality is of variance and the type of guitar riffs that we use and the way we structure those riffs in a song. I think that like you said, we have matured as a band and our writing has matured ten fold in my opinion. We know how to fit parts better than we did in the past. I don't think that there's a waste of time during any point in any song. I feel like it flows smoothly and that we get from point A to point B and you feel like you actually listen to a complete thought and that it didn't drag out at certain point. For me that means a lot, to be able to do that. In the past, Stings of Conscience has some really good material on there but I don't think that the song structure was there. There was a lot of parts where that your like, yeah, their cool parts but I don't need to listen to it as many times or I kind of feel like it's dragging right now. But I don't think there's any of that on The Oncoming Storm.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Speaking of the songs, most of the album was written from a political standpoint stemming from 9/11. But, then you come to the last track False Idols that is so removed from the rest of the album. What was the concept behind this particular track?

John “Slo” Maggard: False Idols is a song that's more or less about the fake side of entertainment. It was our stand against bands, movie stars or anything that create with a false pretense of just making a lot money. We are not necessarily into the concept of making a lot of money. If we do, that's great but we are certainly going to do it on our own terms and do it with something that we artistically believe in. That was our statement artistically against that type of motive.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Did you ever have a bad experience or something?

John "Slo" Maggard: No, it's just the ethics from the underground metal/hardcore scene that we came from. That scene was always a place for kids to go when they felt like everything else was just a crock of shit and they could find something that was real and intense and that had meaning and it was very aggressive. Through that avenue, we've learned how to be artistic, creative and learned how to structure songs and write good songs. So, we believe in that core ethic that we had to begin with when we were kids when we started this band.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Though the band has had so much success, if you could change one thing about Unearth what would that be?

John “Slo” Maggard: (Laughs) That is a good one! If I had to change something, what would it be? I don't think I'd change anything. I'm having a great time. We have a great bunch of guy's. We have a great time every night. I don't think I would want to change that for anything.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Now watch you'll go to sleep tonight and be like, damn, I just remembered something! (Laughs)

John "Slo" Maggard: (Laughs) Yeah, I hate Buz! I would have changed that!

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: The band currently is back on the road and have started a new tour with Slipnot and As I lay Dying. What was the story behind being stuck at the border in Canadian Customs?

John “Slo” Maggard: That was just ridiculous. What happened was we got up there and all of our paperwork was straight. We've been up there a million times and we know not to fuck with anyone at the border because they'll just keep you there forever and you'll end up in $7,000 in fines and it's just a big headache. (Laughs) So, when we go up there, we do everything right. We went up there this time and for some reason the woman that we had to go through at the customs border said that our paperwork was wrong and all of our colleagues were saying that our paperwork was right. She didn't believe it so she kept us there until someone that had more power than her could show up and verify that we were ok. That happened to be fourteen hours later. (Laughs) Once that person came in, we were cleared and we headed out. But what a pain in the butt to have to sit there for fourteen hours of doing nothing

Dawn./TheMetalWeb.com: Did you have a show that night?

John "Slo" Maggard: Yeah, we showed up the night before at 3:00 AM and then fourteen hours later we were able to leave the border. We got to the venue just in time to load on stage and had about 40 minutes before we went on.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Speaking of tours this is a question that I ask every band that I first interview. In being in a band that tours so extensively, what bands do you feel have been the worst and best to have shared the stage with and why and don’t say they were all great because we heard some great stories about you from a couple bands! (Laughs) I’m kidding!

John “Slo” Maggard: (Laughs) I bet you have! I don't think there's necessarily a worst but there has been moments where I was bummed out on another band but I still actually really like this band a lot. Their actually one of my favorite bands. But, I think it's just the intensity of the moment. Probably the worst point was right before this tour, we did a tour headlining with Dillinger Escape Plan. I don't know if you know anything about their live stage show but it's pretty chaotic. A lot of things get thrown. A lot of times, fire gets tossed out into the crowd, things of that nature. It gets kind of crazy. I think the thing that I was bummed out with the most, is that I really could see kids possibly getting hurt. There was a couple times where stuff that we had on stage was torn out of the socket and thrown around. That bummed me out. As much as it's visually stimulating and it's great to see, it bummed me out that there's a possibility that someone can get really hurt. We're the headlining band and we would feel really bad about that because we feel that we hold some responsibility being the headliner.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Yeah, unfortunately what other bands do reflects on all the bands.

John "Slo" Maggard: Right. I have nothing bad to say about that band at all but that was probably one of the worst instances that I know of just because I was concerned for other peoples well being. As for the best experiences, there's so many. (Laughs) We've had a ton of great times and experiences touring, especially within the last year with Every Time I Die and Lamb of God. At one point, those two bands and us were all under the same management and we still kind of are in a way right now. So, we would get many shows together. We would do a lot of tours together. Ever since Ozzfest 2004, we've been on the road together for the better part of year and half. We're all like brothers. We have one big van and we just rage together. We have a great time and there's never a dull moment with everybody all day long. It's fun! (Laughs)

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: That's good. You need that on tour, especially when you're touring with different bands. I've gotten some pretty funny answers from certain bands and they had no problem calling other bands out. I'm not going to say the person or band but he was like, yeah, sometimes when your in these foreign countries and your touring, they may not have running water so you may not shower for a couple days and there was a band who they were touring with and sharing a bus with that were constantly bitching about not being able to have a shower and being primadonnas about the problem. This in turn made the bus trip annoying with all their whining. (Laughs) But, that's good that you have no negative experiences with other bands because that can be really rough.

John "Slo" Maggard: Yeah, for sure. When you’re away from home, you still want to be around friends. When your good friends with a band that you’re touring with, it just makes everything fly by so much smoother. Then after, you actually miss it when you go away from it. But if your having a bum out time, by the end of the tour, your like, man, I'm glad this over with. (Laughs).

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Like yeah, get me away from this guy! (Laughs) But, now you know I'm going to ask you if you have ever had any of those negative experiences?

John "Slo" Maggard: No, actually, I have never felt that, wow; I cannot wait to get away from these people.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Yeah, right! (Laughs) I'm kidding.

John "Slo" Maggard: (Laughs) Like I said, the only time that I felt that way were not against other bands but probably my own band. Especially when you've been around each other for far too long, 24/7 and you just want to kill everybody.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: (Laughs) It's like a marriage. You are with them 24 hours a day. It's tough!

John "Slo" Maggard: Exactly. It sucks too because we go to work and we still each other. We go to our van or whatever we are in at the time and we still see each other. There's never getting away. At least when your married and you have a home life, you have a job that you go to get away for 8 hours. (Laughs)

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: I happened to catch a viewing of your newest video Endless. Can you tell us a little about the "making of" because it seemed as if you were playing to a home based crowd? The audience seemed very receptive, great video!

John "Slo" Maggard: Actually, it was not even close to home. Were from Massachusetts and we played the New England Metal Festival the night before that show was filmed for the video and then we flew to California where that show was, it was a place called the Showplace. A small club probably holds 400-500 people tops. Kids just went crazy and ballistic. It was amazing. It was a great time. The next morning we flew to Japan. (Laughs) Then right after that, we went to Australia. So, it was quite a run of events. It was a good time though.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: I noticed the kids are literally running on top of people rather than just moshing or crowd surfing. Is that like a new thing? (Laughs)

John "Slo" Maggard: Yeah! You would never catch me doing that. (Laughs)

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: No, I would not trust anybody. Usually I'm safe because I'm in the press pit. But, I thought that's what made the video was that the crowd was so chaotic. Usually, you'll see them crowd surf but these guy's were "running" on top of the crowd. It's something I have not seen. (Laughs)

John "Slo" Maggard: Yeah, there was a lot of running around and crazy stuff. Just running on heads... (Laughs)

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: You have stated several times that you like to gamble and have aspirations of becoming a professional gambler! Who taught you how to play poker so well?

John “Slo” Maggard: I come from a long line of gamblers anyway. (Laughs)

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: There is help for that you know. (Laughs)

John “Slo” Maggard: (Laughs) Yeah, I know! They needed help. Believe me. I’m probably the first in my family to actually turn a profit at it. My father plays poker. My brother plays poker. I have a lot of friends who play poker. I’m a numbers and odds type of guy. I can manipulate figures real fast in my head. I had to fool around online with it for months and got really good at it and was turning a profit every month and earning a paycheck doing it. I started playing at casinos and that became really profitable. In the mean time, I played a lot of other games. Black Jack is actually the game that I’d really would like to go professional with. I play hold ‘em just for fun and I’m actually better than most of the players that you’ll find on low end tables. I can fuel up a bank roll basically out of $50.00. Walk away from that with $2,000.00 and go play some serious Black Jack at that point.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Now you don’t tell the casinos that you count numbers. (Laughs)

John “Slo” Maggard: No! (Laughs) With Black Jack, if you’re a card counter they will black flag you and kick you out.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Sure, that’s why I said that. I was making a joke. (Laughs)

John “Slo” Maggard: (Laughs) I don’t card count. I actually just wrote a book on progressive betting methods and theory. I’m searching for a publisher right now. So, hopefully this interview gets out and pushes that somewhere. (Laughs)

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Sure, we have a lot of fans from all walks of life. We’re pretty well-known on the net.

John “Slo” Maggard: Yeah, I know who you are. It sounds good.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: It’ll get out. Maybe you’ll get an email saying I want to buy your book or I want to buy the rights. Just remember to cut me in! (Laughs)

John “Slo” Maggard: Indeed! (Laughs) That’s basically where I’m going with that at this point, just writing about it instead of necessarily playing it as much these days.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Well, good luck with it! Let me know how it turns out. If I receive a check in the mail, then I’ll know. (Laughs) John thanks for taking the time in interviewing with me. With that said, do you have any final words for The Metal Web!?

John “Slo” Maggard: Thanks for hanging out and talking for a few minutes. Thanks to all the people that read up on us. Thanks to everyone who has gone out and bought our album and have come to the shows and had a good time with us.

OFFICIAL SITE "UNEARTH": http://www.unearth.tv

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