http://www.whoresofchaos.com/southern-extremity-interview.htm
Southern Extremity: Interview
by ©Scarlet: www.scarletmetal.com
June 4, 2009
Scarlet: Greetings Southern Extremity, where are you from and just how does your present environment influence your music?
Jason: Greetings!!! SOUTHERN EXTREMITY is an extreme metal band consisting of Jason Tierney (vocals, guitar), Martin Leimgruber (drums) and Andreas Eder (bass) and is based in Marling, Italy.
Marling is a small town just outside the city of Meran, which belongs to the province Bolzano in the northern alps of Italy. This is Martin's home town, Andreas is from Algund about 10 minutes away and I'm from Australia. Right from the beginning, when all I knew was that I wanted to make music, I realized that firstly I needed to find a suitable environment for me personally. I've found that here in the Italian alps and now with the formation of SOUTHERN EXTREMITY in August 2008 I'm fulfilling my plans of writing songs in my favourite genre of music- black metal. Here I've found not only the right musicians but also good friends and that have made it the ideal songwriting environment for me. The influence it has had on the music can be heard on our debut home recorded album 'Hymns of Darkness and Hate'.
Scarlet: Would you please tell me about the early musical influences of each band member?
Jason: Alrighty then, this could take a while :) I could ramble on all day about music, my favourite bands and all the concerts I've been to. Well, the first metal band anyone got into back then at school was AC/DC. Then along came Iron Maiden with the legendary Live After Death double LP. I must've listened to that album for at least 6 months without taking that tape out of my walkman. Those were the days hey?! For anyone who doesn't know what a walkman is, it's like on old school MP3 player that ran on giant double A batteries and played cassettes. Hmmm cassettes, the other format that accompanied vinyl in the record stores before CD's came along. I think I'm sidetracking here, where was I? Slayer!!!! Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Metallica, Morbid Angel, Obituary and many others. Then came the Norwegian black metal scene of the early 90's. I found that more interesting than anything ever before. Martin, being a few years younger than I am, found that Alice in Chains pointed him in the right direction, leading naturally to heavier and extremer drumming according to his own progress and experience, and eventually to the black metal scene and ultimately Mayhem!! Andreas' early influences were Napalm Death, Obituary, Sepultura and Death. Grindcore is to this day one of his favourites, culminating in his own solo project Fleischwald.
Scarlet: Which metal bands still influence the direction of your music today?
Jason: Mayhem, Immortal, Nile, just to name a few. Actually in the world of drumming it's very interesting to even stray a little from the metal scene. Drummers like Jo Jo Mayer, Thomas Lang, the late Buddy Rich are amazingly inspiring. That being said I only need to listen to a Mayhem CD and I'll be craving time behind the kit. I really enjoy playing drums but that's Martin's job so I rarely get chance these days.
Scarlet: Who wrote the lyrics to 'Hymns of Darkness and Hate' and what are some of the things about the world we live in that inspire your lyrics?
Jason: I wrote the lyrics for all the tracks. When writing I'm usually inspired by the darker side of life, namely death. Death and the realms beyond. We've all seen the complexities and contradictions of life and there's plenty to write about, e.g. nuclear devastation is the topic of 'Smouldering Earth Adrift'. 'Worlds Apart' discusses what "peace" is when faith has a bigger say, and 'Amongst Chaos' dwells upon man's own battle with the demons within himself. Ultimately death is waiting for us all and 'Nonentity' explores those realms.
Scarlet: At this time your music is an interesting hybrid of death metal and black metal, how did you evolve into your current style?
Jason: Our music evolved over a period of time that began even before SOUTHERN EXTREMITY came into existence. Martin (drums) used to play guitar with me in our previous band SZIN which was a slow metal band and on occasions he would get behind the drum kit and we'd just improvise. He's played drums for a long time and when combined with the predominantly black metal riffs I played, it was just natural for him to play fast. Some of these riffs are on 'HYMNS OF DARKNESS AND HATE' e.g. the first riff of 'Worlds Apart', the second riff of 'Overture in Ice' and even the whole song 'Undone' has been "re-done"! Basically the guitars have stayed the same but the drums are completely new. It was lacking blastbeats before and now they're in abundance :) Once we'd decided Martin was going to take over on drums it was clear we needed a new band name and new songs. This album is where we're at mid 2009.
Scarlet: How does your band feel about playing live shows and festivals? Are you all in agreement about playing 'live'?
Jason: Yes, we're all in agreement about playing live and are really looking forward to it. Since forming we've been busy writing and recording the album. Now that's finished we can drop by the local clubs and line up some gigs.
Scarlet: Exactly why is the preservation of the metal underground important to you personally?
Jason: It's important for people to have an outlet for their creativity.The metal underground provides that for both musicians and listeners alike. As it exists "online" it's established and expanding. Its preservation is basically only an issue on the live scene. Problems vary from place to place but as they exist here in the province of Bolzano we've seen the decrease of clubs willing to present live bands due to the ever increasing cost involved. Nevertheless there's still quite a good scene and good bands but compared to only 5 years ago there are clearly less gig opportunities.
Scarlet: Do you believe that the future of all metal would be better off if it were totally uncommercialized?
Jason: No. I know what you mean though. The old days of tape trading or finding a rare LP at a market are fading away. Back then there wasn't much publicity for metal at all, unless of course it was bad publicity. The scene thrived solely in the underground. Those few who are keeping the tradition alive by releasing cassettes are truly worthy of praise. The good thing about commercialism is that it's made such a huge audience for metal that now even black metal has a massive worldwide following. I know that the purists would have preferred the black metal scene to have stayed underground where it belongs and they do have a point. But that's all in the past now. Metal, where it stands today, provides countless bands with the opportunity to be heard. And that brings us to the next problem. With so many bands now on the scene how do you get heard? My theory lies within the music itself. Bands must be providing the best songs they can possibly produce! Obviously the major labels will sell you any old rubbish so bands have to decide for themselves which path they're willing to take.
Scarlet: Why did you name the band Southern Extremity and does it have any special meaning?
Jason: The band name is explained on the enter page of the website as follows, "If the northern extremity were referred to as 'Heaven'... SOUTHERN EXTREMITY. Basically what I was looking for in a band name was a different way of referring to Hell. Southern Extremity seemed to me to do the job perfectly.
Scarlet: Thanks for your time and I leave the final exit to you.
Jason: Thanks very much for the interview and for helping us reach more extreme metal fans. For anyone wanting to hear the album, head over to www.southernextremity.com It's also available as a free download for mailing list members so sign up now!
official myspace: www.myspace.com/southernextremity
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