VoiVod Interview

Seminal space rockers and genre definers VoiVod are back with their fourteenth album, and possibly their most traumatic album to date, "Katorz". With the tragic death of Denis 'Piggy' D'Amour still fresh in everyone's minds, Metal Chaos caught up with Snake to understand what lies ahead.

How are things with you, how are you enjoying London?
Pretty good apart from it's raining. But hey it's been raining in Canada for the last two weeks, but it's always fun to be here. It's been a while.
July saw the release of the new album "Katorz". How do you best describe the album?
Of course this record has an emotional side to it, it has something different to it because of Piggy's departure. Mainly the album has something different because the way we put it together, as at the beginning of the process it was mainly improv that we did after the Ozzfest in 2003. So there was no pressure from labels, there was no "you have to deliver this record right away"! This time it was more for fun and not done in a context of creating an album. When you do improv you don't think ahead about anything, it's a more natural way of putting records together because all the influences came out naturally and it's not forced. It has a sense of purity and that is what is different about this record compared to previous records.
Given the improvisational approach to the writing of the record how did you approach the lyric writing? Was this done any differently to previous albums?
The lyrics came together over two years. When Piggy got sick we stopped everything, but I didn't change a whole lot of things. I didn't want to make the record sad or make references to Piggy's death. I kept what I had on my paper pretty much the same way, only making changes to improve the song but kept it largely the same as before Piggy's death. While this album is a tribute we didn't want the sadness in it. Piggy was a really energetic person and was always happy and into life and it reflected in his music. I continued to focus on political or social issues, all mixed in the VoiVod style.
2005 must have been an incredibly tough year with the death of Piggy. How have you and the remaining band members been dealing with the loss?
Obviously it is hard to loose a friend especially a band mate. Over the past few months we've been through a lot of sadness and various bad things. I think that when we went into record this record it was a sort of therapy, we had to come up with a positive way of thinking as we were making a record and listening to the songs. As it started sounding good it motivated us to continue with the process. We wanted to share this music with the people as nothing is certain with future of the band, it is what Piggy wanted us to do. I think he would have been proud of it and something like this brings the rest of the band closer.
So I suppose the question on everyone lips is, is "Katorz" the last VoiVod release or are there plans to continue?
We are going to do another release for sure in probably in 2007. The process of recording the album on the original demo we had 23 songs, of which we just released 10 of them. We are going to release the other 13 next year. After that we'll see. People ask if we are
we going to play this stuff live, and this year I think that would be tough to make it happen. And if we want to continue with something else other than Piggy. It's a touchy emotional thing. Time will tell. For now it is still very fresh.
So how was being in the studio without Piggy? Did you find it a cathartic experience?
Piggy always supervised everything in the studio and of course he was really missed at some points, but Glen Robinson took care of most things and made it happen. Glen is a good friend to us and it was important for him also to do this record to honour Piggy's life. It wasn't a question of money or anything like that, he just wanted to do this record. Of course it's kind of weird at the start to record, especially for Michel as he had to redo the drums on the guitar parts which had been previously recorded. So he had to weave into the guitar parts and he managed to do it. It was quite a big task but he is a great guy and a great player, but at the beginning it was tough. Both technically and emotionally, being in a room hearing the guitars but not seeing Piggy around. We put all his guitars and pictures around the room; we tried to create a good environment to record. That is why it was a kind of therapy to go through. Having this record on our shoulders and not doing it would have been tougher than not doing it.
Was there ever a time when you all thought, that's it we aren't going to carry on?
Of course it was the end of a lot of things when he passed away. We took a few months break after the funeral and memorial. At the end of the day he left us with such good music it was up to us to pursue his dream. He would be proud of what we have done and I wouldn't be proud of myself if we'd have put this on a shelf and let it collect dust. His music needs to be heard as it's quite a miracle we got these tracks done. Piggy had told Michel a few days before he died what stuff he had on his laptop and his Mac, and these are the passwords. We didn't know what to expect from it though, was it good quality or poorly recorded? But everything was there, he managed to do a good job on his own. Almost like transcending death.
Having worked, toured and lived with Piggy for over 20 years, how would you best describe him? Do you think the term legend is an apt one?
I think he is a legend. The way he played with those fucked up tones he had. Piggy was a one of a kind, he was an utter original. His playing was like no other I'd ever seen, technically he was quite original. He was always trying new things, every part of his equipment was opened and modified, to try new things. He was really into design, he really was an artist in every aspect of his life. What was cool about him, was the way thinking, the way he was living and receiving life.
Which is why it must be almost impossible to replace someone like that?
Exactly! That's the big task of it. If it were like any guitar player then it wouldn't be such a big deal, OK we could find somebody. But this is more tough as we've got to find somebody and then live with them not being Piggy. Down the road time will tell, but at the moment we are in a good way of feeling. Things are still up in the air and we are trying to just promote this record and then we will see.
Once this round of promotion is over will that signal VoiVod going into hibernation until the next album is released next year?
We are all working on different projects. Jason has Supernova thing going on, Michel has his thing going on so...you know we are busy. Obviously we are not going to tour with this record, but when we record the new record in 2007 we might end up touring after that.
	"Katroz" is Jason's second record with the band. What has he brought to VoiVod?
	He has brought his state of mind and his support in every aspect that we have lived through. Even if he lives far away from us, he was supportive and at the same time he wanted to be part of it while being sensitive enough to think "these guys need time". He always managed to be at the right place at the right time. The funny thing about this record is that Piggy went to Jason's house to begin to lay down bass lines and he played his guitar parts through a 10 watt bass amp, and it is that you hear on the record. The bass lines were fine and all we had to do was re-amp those and it was alright. I was kinda ironic that we have a multi million dollar studio and you end up using a 10 watt amp.
	VoiVod have album to album made giant leaps in concepts and directions. How have you as a lyric writer found these changes? Have they been simple transitions or more painful soul searching exercises?
	This record was pretty much in your face. We have different sort of issues, but all were put into the VoiVod pot. When I write things, they aren't maybe the same as the way other people see things. Maybe it's the culture, but I have a kind of way of writing. But there is a
lot to deal with; the war in Iraq, the recent fraud scandal here in Canada amongst other things. The story is always the same, be it in Canada or anywhere, people with power take advantage and nothing is ever done correctly. We have a million ways to solve problems, but we only ever create more. Humanity might have made, but it gets to a point where the North Pole is melting but some areas have no water. The world is fucked up. Leaders and Governments just care about how much money they can make. So I don't struggle to find things to write about.
Conceptual art has always been a big part of all previous VoiVod releases. "Katorz" however has rather a simplistic cover by comparisons, was this a deliberate move away from the traditional style cover?
Michel decided this time around didn't want to draw monster or anything like that. He wanted to deliver an image of the band and not have a huge concept around it. We could have put a huge cross and called it a tribute to Piggy but would he have wanted that. We wanted to have a real strong VoiVod album but not to many concepts.
Both Michel and yourself made contributions to the Probot project. Were you pleased with the end result and how did the opportunity come about?
Basically Dave (Grohl) wanted me on the record to sing one of the songs. He called me and told me he'd made a song for me and would I like to sing on it. I was like WOW! I did my recording in 2000 but it took like 3 or 4 years to get released. Michel did the cover which was great.
Given the bands influence on numerous genre's over the years do you feel pressure when a new you come to write / record a new VoiVod album?
No because we have always been different than other bands. Some bands find a formula and keep it forever, but we always tried to do something different with every release. I think it is what VoiVod is all about, we always want to go further and surprise people and do something different. So sometimes we please people and sometimes we don't. Sometimes people want to hear want you did last time, but this is art and so far art doesn't have to be explained.

All photographs and images used with kind permission of VoiVod