THE SWORD
Cronise warps back to the ’70s with a B. C. Rich Mockingbird, a sweatband, and an Orange half-stack, August 23, 2010. Photo by John Carrico
You’re not afraid to upset metal purists
and openly declare the influence of a New
Orleans funk band. What inspires you to
defy expectations?
Cronise: Well, I can’t imagine trying to write a
third record that was a continuation of the first
two. We’ve done that. The first two records
don’t really sound like each other, either. They’re
an evolution too. I’m not rejecting metal. Our
next record could be all death metal. Who
knows? But we tour a lot with bands like Clutch
that are just really good hard-rock bands, and
we relate to that—an approach to rock that’s
really, really heavy, but isn’t quite so aggro.
[Tele master] Redd Volkaert is just awesome
. . . He plays country stuff down in Austin
all the time, and he’s just amazing. It’s crazy
inspirational to watch that guy play . . .
there’s that sense of hearing the guitar in a
new way every time you see him—which
is huge when you’re just watching heavy
players all the time. —Kyle Shutt
Shutt: It definitely feels good to just make
a great rock record. It had started to feel
like I couldn’t remember the last time I’d
heard a kick-ass rock album, and that was
in the back of my mind all the time. There
was a time that bands were good and made
good records without worrying what genre
they were going to fit into or how they
were going to be pigeonholed. The metal
community can be pretty brutal—sitting
around on message boards and criticizing
anything that isn’t metal enough. And you
get tired of all that. I don’t understand why
something can’t just be heavy and different.
When you recorded this album, what other
players were you listening to?
Cronise: I was playing in a ZZ Top cover band
over that time, and learning Gibbons’ stuff
was a really good education. He’s one of
the only players I feel comfortable trying to
emulate in any way. Most professional players
are beyond my ability, but I really relate to
Gibbons—even though I can’t play anywhere
near as well as him—and don’t mind trying to
steal a few of his moves.
