The latest in a series of interviews with cutting edge, influential, and compelling artists involves our hometown heroes: Starring Janet Leigh. Fresh off their U.S. tour with Unearth, Matt “Zaddy” Zadkovich took the time to answer some of Hearwax’s questions. For the uninitiated, SJL play an aggressive mix of technical death metal, fusion, and grindcore (a mix that effectively breaks the damn blender, it is that chaotic.) For a primer, refer to our review on their latest monstrosity Spectrum.

To get things started, your band name; is that a Hitchcock reference I notice? If it is the one I am thinking of, this name definitely suits the nature of Spectrum.

The band is name definitely a Hitchcock reference. It refers to Janet Leigh’s role in the film Psycho. In the same way that Hitchcock used his movies and actors as a conduit of his vision, so do we use our music in the same fashion . The shower stabbing scene in Psycho is one of the best examples of absolute intensity, which is something we strive for. This film in general was entirely revolutionary, and we aspire to do the same with what we create.

What exactly is it that draws you as a band to the chaotic, dare I say it, psychotic side of metal? Although rapid time signature changes have become a fixture in the current crop of heavy bands, you guys have certainly used it to a greater degree thus far.

I remember when I was first getting into this kind of music, I was absolutely blown away by what was going on. So much information in a short period of time, it floored me. I had to understand it, and made it my mission to understand it, and to learn how something like that could be written. Over the next few years of working with different guys SJL came about. I like that this music is without borders, the sky is the limit. It is an interesting task to write something that chaotic because of all the dissonance and time changes, and to take those ideas and make it something musical. A lot of the time it’s what we hear in our heads, and getting it to translate into music.

Following my last question, how important is writing and structure when crafting an album like Spectrum? To go further, how much of the composition is done in a program such as guitar pro versus having instrument in hand with the band, if at all?

Writing and structure are crucial to this kind of music. Due to the angular time changes on Spectrum it’s so important that everything be executed to both accentuate where the time changes are, but also to keep the cohesion of all ideas so that you don’t lose the listener when jumping around. It’s a fine line.

We try to make the writing process as organic as possible. Someone comes to the table with an idea or series of ideas, and most of our writing is done by jamming out these ideas together. I find the writing for this kind of music is in movements so to speak: a series of ideas that seem to work well together and are then heavily edited and subject to the scrutiny of all members. It’s about making the best music possible, and we want to make sure we’re all happy with it before we bring it to a public forum.

To date we haven’t used guitar pro for any of the writing process. When some of the guys were first getting into playing this kind of music, we would write out the time changes on a white board so that everyone would remember it, and run things with a metronome as much as possible. We have used a handful of programs/technologies to make the click tracks (portable drum machines, powertab, nuendo) but for the most part just work it out with instrument in hand.

I actually do wanna learn to use guitar pro because I’ve heard some fantastic things about it from musicians who do use it.

So, most of us know Toronto is a great Petri dish for hardcore, but what about death metal; Your latest release had some hints of a Cryptopsy influence. Any other like minded bands we should know about from the city? Hell, anywhere?

Toronto has always been a diverse music scene without one specific metal/hardcore sound. Cryptopsy is definitely one of our influences, I’ll be the first to acknowledge that; but as far as bands along the lines of us in Toronto, there are not very many. Montreal has been known for technical death metal bands for years so I’ll stick Ontario based bands. Tech death bands worth checking out: Terrorhorse, Norris, Monolith, Dismata (RIP), Grizzly (grindcore), Speak of the Devil, Mortify. Bands in general that are a must listen: all the bands I listed above, and Titan. These guys make better doom metal/hardcore than most bands I’ve ever heard. A wall of sound that is both captivating and seething with anguish. Amazing.

Your record label; Metalblade/ Ironclad is a big pond. Admittedly, Ironclad seemed an odd fit for your style, but how does it feel sticking out? I almost imagine being on a label feels something like Carl Weathers’ situation from Predator; “pushing pencils”… In reality is it easier or harder having a label backing you up.

When we decided to sign with Ironclad, it was not an overnight process. We were talking to a handful of labels, and admittedly some offers were better than others, but these guys seemed really willing to work with us to find a common ground we could both be happy with. This impressed me right off the bat.

We are certainly not like any other Ironclad band, and I’ve come to believe that is a good thing. These guys have been great about backing us on what we’ve been doing, even if it is different from the bands they have typically carried. Thus far our relationship with Ironclad has been extremely positive, helping to put us closer to the spotlight of the international metal scene.

It is often difficult for smaller bands to get the recognition in the media without having some kind of backing that adds to their credibility as a band. It was one of the biggest hurdles we were facing, and so far Ironclad has aided in that immensely. This was the next logical step for us to take it to the next level as a band.

Funny you mentioned Predator because the newest song we’re working on is called that HAH!

When having a label backing you, there is a much greater commitment that bands must make. This is not just a game anymore, you sign a contract, and you are committing to deliver. Some bands talk about taking it to the next level, and it is a risk for labels to take on bands for that reason because it’s so hard to tell who’s going to actually do it. Life on the road is not an easy thing compared to the day job lifestyle, but as far as I’m concerned it is well worth the struggle and is so rewarding.

We were in no hurry to sign our deal, we took our time with it to make sure it was something we were all happy with, and something we could deliver on. And for us it was the right decision.

The concert. We all look forward to them, especially in Toronto. How do you guys like to enjoy a live show? (when you are not playing of course) and likewise, what is the recommended state of mind for a guy or gal going into your show?

Live music is by far one of my favourite things. There is a feeling you get as a listener that can only be experienced to understand it. No words will fully explain the connection, the exhilaration and the intimacy that is a live performance. I find myself in one of two places most times at a live show: in the back watching and listening, or if my back allows me to (one to many injuries over the years) up front headbanging my life away haha.

For people coming to see us, I’d say keep an open mind. For a first time listener it is basically an aural assault and a lot to take in. Most audiences of ours are not the moshing type (aside from the odd mosh riff here or there); they more often just go crazy or intently watch. Fine with me either way, as long as people enjoy it that’s all I care.

It is pretty nuts that your new album is a debut. There has to be a demo out there that I can find at Sonic Boom or the like… Am I right in this assumption?

We’ve had 3 prior releases to this full length. We released a demo in 2004 called “Welcome….Now You Can Never Leave” which had older versions of Ex You and Fingertips on it. We had a split CD with Closed Casket Funeral in 2006 that had Mistress and Wrath on it, and we released a split 7″ in Germany in 2007 on Four Seasons Records that had Wrath on it as well (that split had Closed Casket Funeral, War from a Harlot’s Mouth, and The Anti Doctrine).

In our early days we had gone through some substantial member changes which had hindered our progress in releasing a full length. Once those issues were sorted out, we started label hunting with some demos we did in 2006, and decided that we would record our full length self financed in 2007. We were in negotiations for a good chunk of 2008, settling near the end of the year. So yeah, some of these tracks have had minor releases over the years, but as a complete album this is the first time.

It’s like a chronology of progress and struggles through the last 5 years, really a moment in time for us.

Spectrum has been on shelves for only a few months… is it too damn early to gets hints for what comes on the next release? Even just a little one? Otherwise we will assume it will be smooth jazz and synth arpeggios.

Oh I loves the smooth jazz haha! We have about half of a new album written right now, and from those who have heard the newer tracks, the general consensus is that it is VERY different. The songs are a little more linear, less angular, but still technical and brutal and dense. There’s definitely some more traditional metal (thrash to death to power metal metal of all things haha) in there than before, and we’ve been pretty selective with the harmonies we’re using been the guitars. The dirty parts are dirtier, the cleaner parts are cleaner, and everything in between. It is certainly a progression for us in the writing department, and I feel it is a positive move forward.

I’ll be quite interested to see what people think of it.

That about wraps it up, cheers for answering these questions. Care to leave with some of your favourite Hitchcock films?

The Birds, Psycho (clearly haha), those are my 2 faves. Thanks again for the interview!!!

Matt
SJL