CHIODOS By
Cosmo Lee / Photography By Leandra Jean
The
first rule of CHIODOS is to say the name right: Chee-oh-dose.
The second rule of CHIODOS is to talk about CHIODOS. Spread the
word. This band is going far. Actually, it has already. Hailing
from Flint, MI, this sextet has already toured the US seven times
for its first full-length, The Heartless Control Everything. Its
new album, All's Well That Ends Well, should take CHIODOS even
further. The band has tightened up its sound, a rich mixture of
screamo, hardcore, metal, and even classical music. The album
has passionate performances, sharp chops and some of the best
song titles ever ("One Day Women Will All Become Monsters,"
"No Hardcore Dancing in the Living Room"). If this is
your first encounter with CHIODOS, strap yourself in, and get
your spirit fingers ready.
What's
your name, what are your band duties, and if your house caught
on fire, what's the one thing you would save?
Craig: Sing, my record collection.
Brad: Keys, my Xbox, dude.
Matt: Bass, my dog Jessie!
How
did you come to name yourselves after some horror B-movie directors,
and why did the band shorten its name (from THE CHIODOS BROS.)?
Craig: One day in early high school, Matt and I were out renting
cheesy horror flicks and came across a masterpiece entitled Killer
Klowns from Outer Space. We skipped the video store and went to
the mall to purchase the video. Fell in love and watched it a
few hundred times. Then we picked up a movie called Critters and
also fell in love. Then the rest is history.
Matt: We went through some member changes and decided to go for
a new sound. So we thought a new name was suiting.
What's
the scene in Flint, MI like?
Craig: The scene in Flint is awesome! There are tons of great
bands and a ton of kids that absolutely love music. We all grew
up going to our legendary local venue, the Flint Local 432. If
it wasn't for the venue and the incredible amount of support from
the Flint scene, we wouldn't be where we are today.
How
did you hook up with Equal Vision Records, and how has it been
with them?
Brad: We were contacted by one of their representatives, Angel
Juarbe, about a year and half ago. We recorded some new material
for them and a relationship clicked immediately, we knew it was
a match made in heaven. Ever since signing with them, we have
been blessed with so much and are very fortunate to be working
with them. Equal Vision's rad!
CHIODOS
songs are layered and complex. What's the writing process like,
and how long does a song take to come together?
Craig: All 6 of us sit down together and come up with ideas for
the songs that we want, and how we want them to come across to
listeners. We usually try to stray from the stereotypical "verse
chorus, verse chorus" song structure. All of our songs take
different amounts of time to be completed. Some just flow and
are created within 15 minutes, others can take up to 4 or 5 months.
Your
image isn't very metal, but your sound has some metal and hardcore
in it. For the harder stuff, who do you look to for inspiration?
Craig: We listen to a lot of different music. A lot of our harder
stuff comes from listening to foreign speed metal like CHILDREN
OF BODOM, DRAGONFORCE, and SONATA ARCTICA.
The lyrics contain a lot of relationship issues and people's
names. Do these come from real life?
Craig: All of the names used in the album are definitely real.
We aren't here to sugarcoat our feelings at all.
In
"Expired in Goreville," the first line is "It's
dropping to the terrain at my feet." What is "it,"
and what does the title have to do with the lyrics?
Craig: In the original lyrics, I talk about my gut feeling as
if it were dropping to the ground. That feeling when your stomach
feels like it's weighed down and you have something caught in
your throat.
In "The Words 'Best Friend' Become Redefined," there's
a cool little drum machine breakdown. How did that come about,
and might CHIODOS explore more electronics or future remixes?
Brad: It derived from a spontaneous jam session. We often like
to throw random changes in our songs and it just fit.
Matt: We are actually going to be working with beats and samples
a lot more in the newer stuff that we are writing.
The artwork by Paul Romano (MASTODON, THE RED CHORD) is amazing.
How did you hook up with him, and what's the concept behind the
art?
Craig: I have always been a fan of Paul's work. I actually have
some of it tattooed. We were ecstatic when we had heard that he
was willing to do the record. As for the artwork concept, it's
themed around Charon, the ferryman of the dead of the River of
Styx.
There
can never be too much of...
Craig: Patrick Swayze.
Brad: Time spent on Sidekicks.
Matt: McDonald's, I LOVE MCDONALD'S!
You've
been on tour with THE FALL OF TROY and TRANSISTOR TRANSISTOR.
How has that been?
Matt: It's been a blast, all the guys in both bands are a riot,
especially Andrew from Fall of Troy, what a character.
What's the craziest tour story you have from this year?
Brad: A couple weeks ago in New York we saw a bum raise money
outside a show only to get hit in the head with a bottle while
taking a drag from the crack pipe. Then the bum next to him beat
him up and took his money. Poor dude.
Matt: I've almost been abducted by aliens, seriously.
Melodic vocals are key to your sound. How do you maintain your
voices on the road?
Craig: We definitely have to force ourselves to sleep, and to
drink a lot of water on the road. A lot of vocal warm-ups are
also key in getting our voices ready to play.
Evidently,
fans hold up "spirit fingers" during your shows. For
those not in the know, what are "spirit fingers"?
Craig: Spirit fingers are a dance move dating back to the 1800's
brought to us by the Vikings at Stonehenge. Or just a totally
radical thing where kids hold up their hands and move their fingers
in the air.
What's
the weirdest venue CHIODOS has played?
Craig: SUPERHAPPYFUNLAND! It looked like the home base of Charles
Manson - cockroaches, crazy drawings on the walls, and, seriously,
paintings of the guy that owned it. Actually, a band called FROM
FIRST TO LAST was also on the bill, but left because there weren't
enough kids there to play to.
You
guys filmed a live performance video for "All Nereids Beware."
What was that like - it looks like someone vomited during the
shoot?
Matt: That was me. It was very tedious, hot, tiring, and long.
The director Andy Deyoung was very cool and it was a lot of fun
making it, though.
The
band is shooting a video for "One Day Women Will All Become
Monsters." How has work on the video been?
Craig: The video is done! It premieres on Yahoo Music on October
11th! Totally check it out. It was an amazing video and we can't
wait to see how people react to it.
Do
you really believe that one day women will all become monsters?
Craig: Yeah, dude.
Brad: They already are.
Matt: In the future.
Any last words or shout outs?
Go rent Samuel L. Jackson's masterpiece entitled The Caveman's
Valentine. Also check out our friends THE WEAKEND, ANATHALLO,
and TAKING BACK SUNDAY.
The
first rule of CHIODOS is to say the name right: Chee-oh-dose.
The second rule of CHIODOS is to talk about CHIODOS. Spread the
word. This band is going far. Actually, it has already. Hailing
from Flint, MI, this sextet has already toured the US seven times
for its first full-length, The Heartless Control Everything. Its
new album, All's Well That Ends Well, should take CHIODOS even
further. The band has tightened up its sound, a rich mixture of
screamo, hardcore, metal, and even classical music. The album
has passionate performances, sharp chops and some of the best
song titles ever ("One Day Women Will All Become Monsters,"
"No Hardcore Dancing in the Living Room"). If this is
your first encounter with CHIODOS, strap yourself in, and get
your spirit fingers ready.
In
"Expired in Goreville," the first line is "It's
dropping to the terrain at my feet." What is "it,"
and what does the title have to do with the lyrics?