Revoker Talk About The Response To 'Revenge For The Ruthless', Touring & What's Up Next (Interview)
Tuesday, 10 April 2012
Written by Jon Stickler
Welsh metallers Revoker, who have already honed their chops with the likes of Sepultura, Cavalera Conspiracy and Rob Zombie, have just finished a mammoth charge around the UK performing alongside the likes of The Blackout and the mighty Chimaira, as well as giving a few of their own headline performances. If that wasn't enough, Revoker have just been confirmed as support for the legendary Anthrax who visit Cardiff's Coal Exchange for a one-off post Download Festival gig this June.
Taking a few minutes off from what I imagine is some much-needed time out, Revoker bassist Shane Phillips was able to talk to Stereoboard about the response to current album 'Revenge For The Ruthless', the band's time on the road and what's next for the quartet.
Thanks for taking the time to chat with us Shane. I'm going to start off talking about the album 'Revenge For The Ruthless'. It was released May last year, how have you found the response to it?
Yeah it's been pretty awesome! I mean, when the album was first released no-one really knew who we was but now it’s amazing to see so many people showing up at our shows, wearing our shirts and singing along to our songs! We've come along way since the album came out and it hasn't even been a year yet! It's been really cool to see how we can jump from a tour with The Blackout to a band like Chimaira and still go down so well with their fans, even though they have different kinds of crowds, if you get me? People seem to get what we're doing and what we're all about, you can't ask for more than that!
You worked alongside Skindred's Benji Webbe on the production of 'Revenge For The Ruthless'. I'm pretty sure there was never a dull moment! How important was he on the creation of the record?
Working with Benji was such a good experience! He's been in this business for a long time, so to have someone like him on board with all his experience was amazing, we learnt so much from him! One of the reasons why I loved working with Benji was because he always made sure there was a good vibe in the studio! We were still working our day jobs while we was recording so sometimes we'd show up at the studio after work, a bit down or whatever, and Benji was always there with a joke or something that would pick you right back up, he created such a good environment for us to work in and I think it really shows on the album! And fair play to him, he makes a cracking cuppa tea! Haha.
You've just released a lyric video for 'Born To Be An Outlaw', we've also seen the (pretty awesome) video for 'The Great Pretender'. What was your inspiration behind the songs on the album?
Yeah that 'Great Pretender' video is the best! What a good day to be in Revoker that was! Haha. It was really cool writing the songs for the first album because we all knew exactly what we wanted to do from the start, we were all on the same page! We wanted to make the songs as interesting as we possibly could, we made sure no riffs outstayed their welcome, made the chorus' as big as we could and we tried to make every song have some kind of story to it, with a beginning, middle, and an end. We tried to add as much variety as we could.
You’ve just finished a massive run of UK shows with the likes of The Blackout, Chimaira, as well as your own headline dates. How did it all go?
Ah it’s been unbelievable! We've been pretty much on the road since November last year and we've loved every minute of it! We're good friends with the guys in The Blackout so it was awesome to get to travel around with them and for them to take us to places we've never played before, like Ireland. They've got amazing open minded fans that have given us some of the best pits we've had and it was insane to see how many of them wanted to meet us after the shows and stuff! And the Chimaira tour was such a good tour to be apart of! They are all such nice guys and got an amazing crew working with them, we got to play places we haven't been before and the shows were slamming every single night!
You hit nearly every city in the UK, how does it feel to get your material out in so many different places?
It's awesome to be honest, it's what it's all about! As a band we've always wanted to play every single place we can and we're very lucky that we've been able to do just that. We've been to some really beautiful places in this country that we wouldn't have normally gotten to go to, and you know, I think its really important that bands go and play the places that bigger bands don't visit! It's a great way to gain fans and meet new people!
Now you've been on the road a bit, what do you find to be the best and worst parts of being able to tour?
Um I'd say the whole experience of being on tour is the best thing about being on the road! We have such a good time when we're away! I love every part of it, I love going to places I've never been before, getting to play in front of people every night, the late nights, the early mornings, and we've always got time for our fans so getting to meet them is always a good crack! But if I'd have to pick out a bad thing about being on tour I'd have to say the hangovers seem to last longer than they should! Haha.
What would you say are your personal favourite moments or greatest achievements to date?
There's quite a few for me to be honest! Getting a record deal with Roadrunner Records was a pretty big thing for me, I mean when we started looking at sending our demos out to record companies we all wanted to be a part of Roadrunner, they've got so many amazing bands on that label and it's awesome to be up there with them! Another highlight for me was the day the album was released, going to HMV in Cardiff and seeing our album on the shelves was such a good buzz and I remember going back there then at the end of the day and the guy behind the counter told me our album had sold out! I couldn't stop smiling! Seeing our videos on TV is always good too, all the bands we've got to tour with and meet, the fact they had to close the tent because there were too many people in there while we was performing at Sonisphere festival last year was pretty damn cool! There’s just too many highlights to list man!
We discussed that you worked alongside Benji Webbe on the production of 'Revenge For The Ruthless', in a perfect world who else would you like to work with in future?
There's a few people I'd like to work with, I think Colin Richardson would be awesome to work with! I wouldn't say 'no' to working with Rick Rubin because everything he touches seems to turn to gold but also, I'd love to work with the guys who we recorded our first album with again! We had such a good team working on it, everyone was really excited and put everything they had in to the album! Jeff Rose and Ginge, who we recorded with are geniuses and such fun guys to work with! And Benji is such a good producer, it would be awesome to work with him again in the future!
Overall, how would you say 2011 stood for you?
It's been awesome, we've got to do so much it’s been insane! It's been really good to see how much we've come along since the album has come out and to see how people have reacted to it. We've loved every minute of it!
What do you have planned for 2012 that fans should watch out for?
Well we are hoping to start getting out into Europe a bit more, we did some shows there last year and they were pretty awesome! We've just announced that we'll be supporting Anthrax on a couple of dates out there so we're really looking forward to that! And you know, we just want to carry on playing as many shows as we can, hopefully play some of the big festivals and keep growing as a band! We've started writing some songs for the 2nd album too, we have no idea when people will be able to get their hands on it but it is definitely coming! So keep spreading the word and I'm sure we'll see you all on the road again very soon! PEACE!
Thanks Shane, all the best and we look forward to hearing more about that second album!
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Taking a few minutes off from what I imagine is some much-needed time out, Revoker bassist Shane Phillips was able to talk to Stereoboard about the response to current album 'Revenge For The Ruthless', the band's time on the road and what's next for the quartet.
