Even if their record was released two months ago, Dave Lombardo flew to Europe for a short promo tour!
Hello Dave how are you?
Dave Lombardo (drums): I’m good, very good. Excited to be in Paris, it’s been a very long time.
How was the signing sessions yesterday?
D: It was good. There was a bunch of kids there, we had a really nice time. Then I had a really nice dinner after.
So you’re here for Philm’s promo. The album is already out for two months now. Isn’t it weird to do the promo after? Was it because of schedule issues?
D: Yes schedule issues… I was supposed to be here a month ago, it just didn’t worked out.
“Fire From The Evening Sun” is an intense record. Which musical approach did you have? Was it all based on experimentation and imagination?
D: It was based on imagination and based around all of the influences that each individual has. Like I’m very influenced by latin jazz and I really love punk, I love regular jazz. I’m into many different styles of music everything from thrash to classical to punk to ambiant… I’m into soundtracks so many many different styles. It’s like a combination of everything.
Because it also looks like there were no limits.
D: No there’s no limits. And I think that being creative helps the band to form its unique sound so I don’t put any limitations on the band members and tell them “oh no I don’t like this, it’s too jazzy” no: “bring it” because by interpretation it’s still heavy so if you bring jazz elements or funk elements it’s okay because we are all creating music in an heavy form.
Which feelings were looking for? As a musician but also for the crowd. What did you want them to feel during your songs?
D: I don’t think about that, I don’t think about the feeling of the fans or the public have. I think what I do want them to know is: we’re musicians expressing ourselves in the most purest way because there’s no limitation, I think that’s the most important. I want to show them that I was working with two really really good musicians and although you don’t know them I chose them because I know they’re very good. And I want to share them with the world. I think all we did, all I did, is to make sure that it was good, powerful, good songs and good piece of art. That was the most important for me.
Did you consider at one point a fourth member or even more? Like an additionnal guitar player or keybords for more musical possibilites.
D: Yeah! Keyboards. Not really a keyboard player but something for sounds, textures and ambiant, like a backdrop. Everything on the record is played live, we can even play “Corner Girl”, the last song, which is the piano song but of course we had to use percussion and I did bongos and lots of kind of stuff. So we can play it but it won’t sound exactly like on the record, it’ll be more like a variation.
What were the most difficult things to achieve on this record? During writing/recording/mixing/mastering sessions
D: Finding a record company! (laughs) That was hard. I think the mixing was a little difficult. We had two or three different mixes and we weren’t happy until the very last one. See that else… that’s pretty much it. Everything else was pretty smooth.
How much time did you guys put to record the album?
D: Well it’s funny because we recorded the first album and while we were doing it, we were already writing the music for the “Fire From The Evening Sun”. After we delivered and released “Harmonic” (2012) we started immediatly working on this new one. Now as we were recording for “Fire From The Evening Sun”, we wrote 7/8 new songs for the new album. So right now we already have new stuff for the next album! We have six songs recorded, two songs that we still have to record and we have to write two more.
Which topics are you dealing with through the songs? Like on “Omniscience”, “Luxhaven”, “Fanboy”…
D: Death, murder, Satan. What else? Demons, witches… (laughs) Well that’s a Jerry question. Jerry the lyricist, he’s an interesting character, you guys would find him very interesting, trippy dude. We call him, his nickname: Satellite because he’s just hovering in space. (laughs) His very spacy but he’s an amazing guitar player. You know “Omniscience”, I don’t know what’s it’s about (laughs) I need to read the lyrics and I haven’t read them. (laughs) I know that there’s a lot of songs about girls. Jerry has an affinity to write lyrics about women, which I like, it’s not a bad thing you know. (laughs)
Does live shows take your music to a brand new level? Is there more improvisation and groove comparing to the CD? Knowing that you have more freedom on stage
D: Yes absolutely. This band is very different on stage. We’ll play all the songs on the album and songs from the first album but it depends on the crowd. We’ll play all the heavy songs if we’re opening for a heavy band, if we’re opening for a band that diverse we’ll bring more melo songs. It takes to a new level, we’re very powerful on stage. When the band performs live, you have to experience it that’s why I want to bring this band on tour. I feel that the public needs to experience this band. About the freedom, we can but we don’t. Fans want heavy stuff so we’ll not add eternal solos or whatever. But if we play with a jazz band for example, we’ll improvise all night long, we could improvise very well.
Which three songs could describe the best the record and why?
D: “Corner Girl”, “Omniscience”, “Lion’s Pit” and “Train”. These are all very different on their own ways.
You also work on TV show/movie soundtracks. Will you do more in the future?
D: Yes I plan on it. There’s nothing in the works yet, I completed everything I needed to do. I just worked with Joseph Bishara for the movie “Insidious 3”. That was really exciting.
How did you get yourself in that new music sphere?
D: I think it’s because you establish relationships for example my friend Tyler Bates, an amazing composer. We composed music for “300”, “The Watchmen”, “Guardians Of The Galaxy” and many others. I stay friends with him through the years and he asked me to work with him on “Californication” and another TV show. And I guess from there I have another friend who works at Disney, a vice president of animation, he asked me to do the music for a Disney cartoon. Then I worked on another movie called “House Of Shock”, this one is coming out, it’s a documentary about a haunted house in New-Orleans. So one guy introduced me to Joseph etc. like “hey you need to work with Lombardo, he’s working on soundtracks”.
What are the differences about the approach you have wheter it’s thrash metal, Philm’s music or soundtracks?
D: With soundtracks you have to work with the composer. The composer will call me and say “Dave I need some drums for this movie if you want to”. I’ll get to the studio, he’ll send me sheet music and to see where I need to play or I’ll go in the studio, like for “Insidious 3” we didn’t send me any music, I just walked in there and he said “okay I need 8 pieces of drums” but he’ll tell me what to play like “okay I need very soft cymbal swells” to create something scary and then he’ll need some drums here and there. What I think I’m good at is to interpretate what the composer wants like “I know what you want”. I could speak with my drums, make my drums sound happy but also very mean and aggressive. I don’t know if every drummer can do that, it’s very very different. But it’s a lot of fun! With “Insidious 3”, just a week ago, there was a celo player, 2 violas and a violin. I was in one room, the strings in another one, and Joseph was guiding me with his hands, the movements, creating stuff and that was really great.
Are there still specific things that you want to achieve as a musician/drummer?
D: I am! I am achieving them and that’s working with as many different musicians and styles as possible, trying to incorporate fuse, just like a scientist trying different combinations.
Will you tour in support of the record? If yes which kind of band could stick to your style? Because Philm is hard to define musically.
D: Yeah, somebody said Porcupine Tree, another Monster Magnet like stoner rock or something. I don’t know there’s a lot of bands, a lot of journalists are telling me which is good. That also shows the level of musicians, if we can go from a stream to another that’s important.
What did you listen lately?
D: What was I listening to? Hmm. I was listening to Brian Eno which is very ambiant music. I take a lot from that. Sometimes there isn’t drums but I like it. Also just got the new Pink Floyd album but also Jimi Hendrix’s “Axis: Bold As Love” in vinyl and I can’t wait to go back home to listen to it.
Any advice for young bands who want to make it in music?
D: Give it up, forget about it. (laughs) You know, if you love music I don’t think you should ever stop even if you’re playing in your room with a stereo, it feels good, it’s healthy. Drums or music in general, is something you should never let go because I hear musicians say all the time “oh I used to play guitar, I don’t play guitar anymore” why not? Why did you stop? Even if you don’t do it professionally, playing in a band with friends is a beautiful thing.
For those who want to make it in the industry, learn the business. Learn and understand the business, how it works, it’s very important. If you don’t, you can find yourself in a lot of trouble so it’s very important to learn the business. Learning the business is as important than learning your instrument.
By the way are you ready for Motorhead’s gig tonight at the Zenith?
D: Yes, yes I just saw Lemmy! I’m looking forward to it, I haven’t seen them for a while.
And finally : we are “RockUrLife” so what rock Dave Lombardo’s life?
D: Playing in a band rocks my life, I love that, I love playing with musicians, artists. What else do I like to do? I love driving. I like taking on Sundays or during the week, just drive, putting some music on the radio. I love the beach, skateboarding, I do a lot of skateboarding. Going to the beach, putting my foot in the sand, just relaxing. What else? I love cooking! I’m a chef! (laughs) I love love cooking!
What’s your best recepie?
D: I do a really really go “arroz con pollo” which is chicken and rice but a very Cuban style. I make very good breakfasts, very good coffee. Oh my God, my coffee is just amazing! Amazing capuccino as well.
Did you ever consider having a little restaurant? Like Nicko McBrain (Iron Maiden)
D: Yeah that would be nice! It’s a lot of work so I don’t know if I’ll have the time to manage a restaurant too. But it would be very nice.
Website: facebook.com/PHILMOfficial
