INTERVIEW with UNEARTH frontman Trevor Phipps

UNEARTH, formed in 1998, hails from Winthrop, Massachusetts. Their debut album, The Stings of Conscience, was a popular offering in the underground metalcore scene. Their music is mixture of metal and hardcore, categorised by complex, harmonized guitar riffs, harmony-oriented bass riffs, rapid kicks, deathgrunts/screaming, and politically based lyrics. They are also well known for playing seven-stringed guitars, while the bass player plays a five-stringed bass....which means they can play circles around any of us... including FoundryMusicGreg, who was chosen to fire off interview questions to frontman Trevor Phipps...

FoundryMusicGreg: You’re kicking off a tour with SLAYER soon. Opening for them seems to be the badge of honor for any metal band looking to break out to a wider audience, especially since their fans are so diehard and not too shy to boo openers. What are you expecting from this tour?

Trevor Phipps: I fully expect us to go out there, do our thing and win over any non-believers. I know a ton of our fans are stoked to come see us play with the mighty Slayer, so the shows will be good regardless. That being said, we know the diehard Slayer fans can be tough. We are ready for it and know that our brand of modern day metal will speak to their crowd.

FoundryMusicGreg: I know it’s been a couple of months, but you wrapped up a tour with BLEEDING THROUGH, TERROR, THROUGH THE EYES OF THE DEAD, and ANIMOSITY. You headlined in bigger venues than before and played longer sets, so have you noticed any differences between those shows and previous tours?

Trevor Phipps: The only thing that was different was the size of the venues and the length of our set. The band and crowd energy was the same as all the smaller venues we have played in the past. It felt good to be able to hit the stage and play a full hour for our fans.

FoundryMusicGreg: Your live show is out of control and the energy of both the band and crowd is palpable. You’re known for pounding back beer funnels while playing at the same time. I’ve noticed this going on since the Sounds of the Underground Tour in 2005. Who came up with this idea and how did it start?

Trevor Phipps: I honestly think it just happened. We started doing the beer bong thing after the shows while partying with other bands on tour and one day we just decided to bring it to the stage. The crowd fucking loved it and it has been a staple in our set for almost two years now.

FoundryMusicGreg: III: In the Eyes of Fire came out in August. It’s being well represented in the live set after two years straight of Oncoming Storm songs being played. What new songs have been getting the best reactions?

Trevor Phipps: The newer songs that people seem to dig in the live setting a lot are “Sanctity of Brothers” – we get some sick circle pits during that tune, “Giles”, “March of the Mutes” and “This Time Was Mine”. On our headlining run we played every song from the record except “Big Bear and the Hour of Chaos“ (instrumental), and every song got a great response, but the ones I mentioned seem to be the “crowd favorites”, much like “The Great Dividers”, “This Lying World”, “Black Hearts Now Reign”, “Zombie Autopilot” and “Endless” were crowd favorites from The Oncoming Storm

FoundryMusicGreg: You close out the album with an instrumental, “Big Bear and the Hour of Chaos”. What is that title a reference to?

Trevor Phipps: We wrote and recorded that song all in one hour during a late night drinking session at the studio. We were done tracking drums for the record and had another hour to kill before we headed back to the hotel. So we just started jamming on some ideas we had brewing and that came out. At the time we were all drinking 40’s of malt liquor called “Big Bear”, which inspired some of the creativity. So basically, we got a good buzz on from “Big Bear”, put together some ideas and recorded it all within one “chaotic” hour…hence the name.

FoundryMusicGreg: Your single, “Giles”, has an interesting lyrical concept. It has a real storytelling vibe to it. What’s the story behind the character Corey?

Trevor Phipps: “Giles” is about a Puritan era farmer named “Giles Corey” from Salem, Massachusetts who chose to be tortured to death over a hanging in order to save his land for his sons. Both Giles and his wife were accused of being witches and would have to admit to being witches if they wanted to be hung instead of tortured into admission or death. On top of the death sentence, the city seized any land a “witch” owned and all remaining family members would no longer have access to it. However, if a person did not plead and died during torture, then the family would be able to keep the land. Corey was sentenced to torture by being crushed by stones. Before he died from the pressure, the sheriff asked Corey if he wanted to end the punishment by simply admitting to being a witch. All Corey said was “more weight”. The story is inspiring as all hell and was something I have wanted to write about for years. It is the heaviest story I have ever heard and the music in “Giles” fit perfectly.

FoundryMusicGreg: Metalcore, which has quickly become a dirty word just as much as “nu-metal”, is getting over-saturated with bands. However, bands such as yourselves, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, SHADOWS FALL, BLEEDING THROUGH and a few others are considered the upper tier of the genre while also branching out. What do you think of the current state of Metalcore? Do you think it’s gotten to be too much?

Trevor Phipps: Once a certain sound takes off in any style of music, there will be many copycats and the genre will eventually become stale and flooded. “Metalcore” is definitely in that place right now. That being said, you can never stand still with music. You need to keep things different to make it interesting for both the band and the fans. I know we started in the hardcore scene, and I am proud of where we came from, but we have always been a metal band. Of course there are hardcore and punk rock influences in our sound, but there are those same influences in bands like METALLICA, IRON MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST, and PANTERA. No one called those bands Metalcore. Hell, Pantera and Metallica even have “breakdowns”. Whatever it is, people can call us what they want to. We know who we are and we love the music we write.

FoundryMusicGreg: You’ve been on Ozzfest in 2004 and this past summer, and on the Sounds of the Underground in 2005, of which the DVD documented your on and offstage insanity quite well. Which of these tours boasted the higher level of drunken debauchery for you guys?

Trevor Phipps: I would say SOTU 2005 was the party tour of the century. It was one stage, an outdoor summer tour, 14 bands and all of them being good friends. The tour was even put together by people that have been involved in this growing scene for years. SOTU ’05 was one of the coolest tour experiences I have ever had.

FoundryMusicGreg: The idea of buying physical albums is becoming less and less important to many music fans. Where do you stand on the issue of downloading entire albums, whether its done legally or illegally?

Trevor Phipps: I am on both sides of the fence here. Album sales are very important to a band and their career. If you don’t have the sales, then the big tours won’t happen for you. It is also hard to gauge how big a band really is without the physical sale to prove it. Labels are also suffering with the decrease of album sales, which directly affects the bands. If a band doesn’t sell enough copies to warrant a decent sized recording budget, then bands resources for good recordings will be limited and then the listener suffers with a shit recording. However, the more people that listen to our tunes the better. If the people that steal our music online buy a ticket to our show and purchase a t-shirt, then of course I back it. If people download the songs legally, then that is cool. That counts towards record sales and royalties. I am an old school guy though. I like the actual disc to play and the artwork and lyrics to look at. Hell, I even go as far as liking the smell of a brand new CD booklet. Maybe I am just fucking crazy, but the smell of new paper and ink is damn good.

FoundryMusicGreg: Are there any places left in the world that you want to play that you haven’t hit yet?

Trevor Phipps: Mexico, South America, South Africa, Moscow, Ireland, South Korea, Finland, Iceland, Alaska, Hawaii, Sweden… and some other places that escape me right now.

FoundryMusicGreg: It’s the end of the year. What bands or albums of 2006 stand out as the best to you, whether it’s metal or any other genre?

Trevor Phipps: TERROR’s Always the Hard Way is my favorite disc of the year. Also Johnny Cash’s A Hundred Highways is stellar.

Check out UNEARTH online at:

Unearth.tv

Myspace: Unearth

UNEARTH's latest disc, III: In the Eyes of Fire is available now!