Photo by Ester Segarra
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English, at least the English kind, can still be a second language to me. My conversation with Electric Wizard vocalist/guitarist Jus Oborn was a bit loopy, thanks to (a) his having undergone two straight days of interviews (mine was the last), (b) us sometimes not understanding each other’s accents, and (c) a dodgy phone connection. Sometimes Oborn answered questions I didn’t ask; sometimes he didn’t realize I was even asking questions. It felt like an awkward first date. About heavy metal. As if first dates about heavy metal could be anything but awkward.
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How was your press day?
I think it’s been OK (laughs).
Do you like doing these types of things?
It’s hard work (laughs). I’ve done a lot of interviews today already.
Is there any question you wish people would ask you?
I wish people asked about “Venus in Furs”.
It’s one of my favorite songs on the album. What inspired it?
The song is about evil women. Every song on the album is a meditation on a different type of evil. When you say the term “Venus in furs”, people get the image in their mind of a dominant female. So that’s our “evil woman” song. It’s a classic doom theme.
What does Liz [Buckingham, guitarist and Oborn's wife] have to say about this?
I think she’s pretty down with it (laughs). She knows the power of evil women.
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“Venus in Furs”
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What did you want to create with Black Masses?
This album is a heads-down heavy metal album, sort of like headbanging speed. We wanted stuff we could play live. We’ve done a lot of gigs recently, and we just wanted some new shit that would translate well in a live situation.
It’s interesting that you said that, because you’ve said that you don’t want to tour.
Yeah (laughs). Well, I don’t like touring. I like performing, though. You know what I mean?
Is Electric Wizard the type of band that rehearses several times a week?
No. We rehearse once a week. That’s about as much as we can manage. I’d like to rehearse a few times a week. That’d be cool. I like smoking weed and jamming. You get a lot of ideas that way.
What’s your practice space like?
It stinks (laughs). It smells rotten. We’ve always been forced out of everywhere we’ve rehearsed. We’re too loud (laughs). It’s never anywhere permanent. It would be cool if it was.
Do you have any good stories from the recording sessions for Black Masses?
It was pretty horrific most of the time (laughs). It was pretty sleazy, the part of town we were in. Hackney – it’s pretty much like a Jack the Ripper sort of area. I was inspired to write some of the more hateful songs on the album, like “Scorpio Curse”.
From interviews I’ve read, you seem to have an aversion to London. Where does this come from?
I have an aversion to big cities, I think.
Why?
They’re probably not as good as they used to be. I know London’s not as good as it used to be. Soho’s shitty now.
When and how was London better?
In the ’70s and early ’80s, I think. It was a lot more sleazy. You could go to grindhouse cinemas and see sleazy movies.
So they cleaned up the city.
Yeah, yeah, totally.
Did Margaret Thatcher have something to do with that?
Oh, yeah, definitely. Fuckin’ bitch!
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I know you guys are into movies. What films have you seen recently?
It’s outrageous, what movies you can get now, thanks to DVDs and downloading. You can see everything you’ve ever dreamed of these days. In the past week, I’ve seen a few Blood Island movies, two of them, John Ashley movies. I saw [???] Vampire last night, which I quite enjoyed. I like black & white [???] trash.
If you could choose anyone to direct an Electric Wizard video, whom would it be?
Probably Jess Franco. The dream would be Mario Bava, but maybe it’s not possible now (laughs).
What movies have helped define Electric Wizard’s aesthetic?
The Jess Franco movies, some biker and sleaze exploitation stuff. God, there’s so many movies! Jess Franco, some of the Euro-sleaze…
What is it about sleaze that appeals to you?
I enjoy certain elements of the world. The world’s fucked, and the world’s turned this way, but there used to be a time when you could enjoy this stuff. The really good movies still seem pretty disgusting.
I was wondering if ’60s girl groups were an influence on Electric Wizard.
Geez, in a little way…
Obviously their sound was not heavy, but they had some of the same ghostly reverb.
Oh, yeah. And Screaming Lord Sutch and a bit of early Serge Gainsbourg, that sort of stuff as well. Liam [Watson, producer] is pretty much the aficionado of Joe Meek and stuff. He really likes the early horror rock ‘n’ roll stuff. So that was a big influence, it seems, to be honest. It’s funny you picked up on that.
What is Liam like?
He’s like a mad professor, a crazy professor from a ’60s Munsters episode.
I know you’re into analog media and analog recording. Are you an analog gearhead as well?
We’re big amp freaks. We like Laneys and Sound Citys. I like cabs, big cabs (laughs). And certain solid-state stuff – Conqueror and things like that are pretty cool.
You like solid-state stuff more than tubes?
No, no, I prefer tubes, definitely. But there are some interesting sounds – some of the fuzzes from the solid-state ones are pretty cool from the ’60s. And as far as guitars [go], me and Liz are obsessive about [Gibson] SG’s, different versions of them.
Production-wise, what were you going for on Black Masses?
We were trying to make it sound like the ’60s, like the heaviest band of the ’60s ever. It was kind of a sick idea (laughs).
How do you feel about the result?
I like it. To me, it sounds right. We did what we set out to do. It sounds pretty fucking weird.
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Do you ever feel like you were born in the wrong time?
Maybe.
And if so, in what time would you have been preferred to have been born?
Medieval times (laughs). It seemed easier back then.
There was no electricity back then. You couldn’t have played metal.
You wouldn’t need it so much then (laughs). No, musically, a few years earlier would have been cooler. Who knows? At least we have the chance to be the heaviest band now. We try.
Is that your goal, to be the heaviest?
I think, yeah, in some ways. It’s been the goal for a long time.
There are a lot of bands now that are heavier in a conventional sense. They tune down lower, or they play slower. What does “heavy” mean to you?
Now it’s just an intensity, I guess, rather than sonically. We’re prepared to meet that challenge, I think. There’s an intensity to the music and an efficiency to the technique right now. We’re going to try to marry that to advances in other ways, the heaviness. We’re going to rise to the challenge. This album is very much meditating on heavy metal, on pure heavy metal.
What does “pure heavy metal” mean to you?
An attitude of trying to be heavy. There was a point when heavy metal bands tried to be heavier than each other, to be more extreme. Everything was a step up. And not just necessarily technically, just in attitude, from Black Sabbath to Motörhead to Venom to Slayer. We’ve just got a dedication to enhancing that artform to a certain degree, keeping the heaviness going, and trying to perfect and intensify what we do – to turn the screw, so to speak.
Is it weird to play with groups like Moss, who have that super-slow, time-stretched, almost avant-garde vibe?
Yeah. But it’s fun. Plus, live, sonically we can match any one of those bands, to be honest. Anyone could sound good production-wise, but live, it’s different. We can match any of those bands sonically if you put us on a stage together, easily.
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Do you follow modern metal?
Not necessarily, but only because I’m a bit behind the times myself. I certainly like extreme music when I hear it.
What are you listening to these days?
Nothing new, really. I haven’t heard anything this year, because I’ve been doing the album shit. I’ve been listening to Alice Cooper, mostly.
His ’70s stuff is fantastic.
Yeah, he’s awesome. I’m just going through each album, one by one, like I just got it. I also had the Welcome to My Nightmare DVD as well, so that was pretty cool.
He’s perhaps a precursor to some of Electric Wizard’s vibe.
Oh, yeah, definitely. I was drawing parallels between the horror sort of element and the stuff he was doing in the ’70s. You’re getting into the same sort of veins.
Is Electric Wizard how you make your living?
Yeah, just about. You’ve got to work at it hard. We’re playing a lot of shows, so that always pays off. But it’s hard fucking work.
Because of downloading, is it harder these days to make money off of music?
Yeah. You gotta sell a lot now to make it. And selling a lot isn’t easy because everyone’s downloading. But then maybe that sorts out the men from the boys. There’s going to be less bullshit now.
Are you the type to follow your band’s sales numbers?
Only in the respect of impressing my parents around the Christmas table.
What do they think of Electric Wizard?
They like the idea that I’ve not compromised, I suppose. I don’t think they like the music that much, but they listen to it. That’s understandable. My mum was into AC/DC and Bad Company, Led Zeppelin. That’s kind of how I got into heavy music.
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Jus on his mum
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You’re the first musician I’ve ever talked to who got into heavy music through his mother.
(Laughs) It’s weird. My dad was kind of poncey. He was into Pink Floyd and Genesis.
Do they go to your shows?
No, not since the first one. Which is embarrassing, because they pretty much don’t really think it’s progressed that much (laughs).
Do they give input?
Oh, yeah. My dad thinks that I should look at what sells a lot of records and emulate that as closely as possible (laughs).
He wants you to be on Top of the Pops.
Yeah. In some ways, I want to get there, just without compromising, just to piss him off (laughs).
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ELECTRIC WIZARD LINKS
Myspace
Facebook
Full album stream
Our review of Black Masses
Electric Wizard @ Metal Blade
Electric Wizard @ Rise Above Records
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He probably wasn’t expecting a real interview. And he was probably high.
Yea, very short answers there.
Good work – pleased this interview was completely different to Phil Freeman’s earlier this week. Black Masses is simply stunning.
“But then maybe that sorts out the men from the boys” is an enlightened attitude to downloading…
Still, I have to say I really enjoyed reading this and even though its a slim interview I love this band so it worked well with me. Plus I now need to look up Jess Franco & Mario Bava movies.
Good interview nevertheless. It must be exhausting doing so many interviews in a row and answering the same questions over and over must be annoying, so if he did not get wordy after your well-researched questions Cosmo, then maybe not even the most high quality bud would have enlightened him.
@kris m
probably high? something tells me this guys on a perma-high
Black Masses is incredibly righteous though. It’s been snowing like a bastard lately and this album has been incredibly enjoyable to listen to at night driving through the snow.
TheWolf
Funnily enough, I just saw my first Franco movie a couple of days ago. It was called She Killed in Ecstasy. It was a pretty straightforward female revenge flick. It was pretty well photographed, though the violence was pretty laughable. Just wait until you see the death by clear, inflatable pillow. Awesome!
Bava is awesome! You should probably start with Black Sunday but I think I prefer Black Sabbath (Make sure you see the Italian version). And be sure to catch Twitch of the Death Nerve. It’s possibly the first ever slasher film.
Cosmo
I gotta say that it was pretty interesting the way you guys connected on the girl group thing. I mean, it sounded like straight up horse shit when you brought that up, so I was very surprised when he agreed with you. Very insightful, dude!
I would love to hear the audio transcript of this interview. I think the girl group question is pretty logical, after all, Phil Spector did invent that wall of sound that a lot of proper doom bands draw inspiration from.
@TheWolf
I’d add _Blood and Black Lace_ and (especially) _Kill Baby, Kill!_ to Miskatonic’s Bava recommendations. Bava did amazing things with color.
the wizard! The ew feature in the last issue of decibel was amazing, totally captured the vibe. I wish Jus did more video interviews but then again the mystique that surrounds the band is where its at.
Nice! This has been on heavy rotation all week–it definitely merits all the hype it has been getting. I can’t get enough of “Turn Off Your Mind”–catchy, heavy, and the different aesthetics it seems to be endorsing–sort of the anti ‘tune in, drop out’ aesthetic, a Buddhist mantra, a sort of quest for stillness amid noisy chaos. All the songs are quite enjoyable, even the feedback. It’s been neat bookending this record with the new Bardo Pond disc that just dropped–both bands are a different definition of heavy. I do miss some of the horror movie snippets they used to do, but that’s a minor quibble. Any idea as to a west coast tour?? We got plenty of the best fucking weed you could imagine. Jus sayin! (pun intended).
Good interview. EW I think is the closest thing to ‘cool’ that metal has, but in a good way. Dopethrone is one of the greatest of all metal albums.
Good interview, in spite of the brief answers. As I’ve said before, not every interview subject is going to completely spill their guts, no matter how thoughtful your or well researched your questions might be. Nice job of doing a lot with a little!
I like that he gives brief answers and interviews are rare. His music speaks for itself.
Carm and everyone else – The audio transcript of this interview would be awful to hear. Oborn exhausted my prepared questions faster than any other interviewee I’ve had. In less than 10 minutes, I was just ad-libbing questions and trying not to fall on my face. Suffice it to say, I’m no Terry Gross yet.
Oborn, however, was completely gracious and affable. His speech patterns were very English – wry and succinct. If you look around the Internet, you’ll find that most other interviews with him read like this one. It’s a testament to J. Bennett’s interviewing skills that he got substantial answers of any length out of Oborn for the Decibel cover story.
Migration is heavier than anything EW has done. Full stop.
@TheWolf
I usually feel too out of my depths to comment much here — writing about the music I love puts me at a loss for words — but on the Euro-Cult film angle, I think I can help. Jesus “Jess” Franco is a difficult beast to get close to. He’s the most prolific filmmaker I can think of, having made something like 300 movies since the 1960s. His stuff is usually of INCREDIBLY varying quality, so it’s best to wade into the ocean with something like the aforementioned She Killed in Ecstasy or the magnificent Venus in Furs. His Diabolical Dr. Z, Vampyros Lesbos and The Awful Dr. Orloff are also good entry points, as are any of his films of DeSade’s work (such as Eugenie: The Story of Her Journey Into Perversion, Marquis De Sade’s Justine, and Eugenie De Sade). I’m also a big fan of his A Virgin Among the Living Dead. Franco’s work is most often compared to Jazz — he relies on a few idiosyncratic obsessions of his own, and endlessly riffs on them, exploring different ways of approaching them.
As far as Bava is concerned, ANYTHING makes for wonderful viewing, as long as you stay away from his Westerns. Somehow, for me at least, they fall flat. In addition to the films listed above, I’d also recommend The Whip and the Body (which is a great ghost-or-is-it story) and Lisa and the Devil.
Nice Cosmo, while this may have been stressful for you, it reads smooth and fun. He seems relaxed and comfortable.
Be sure to also watch Psychomania and listen to a song from 1972 called Primitive Man by a band called Jerusalem, those two things combined are Electric Wizard
The Dopethrone Decibel Hall of Fame is probably the leanest HOF they ever published. This interview is par for the course and actually quite a bit more open/honest than what we got in that feature. Great job Cosmo.
This is by far their catchiest album…I think it’s my favorite in their entire catalog.
I found Oborn to be very friendly, but as Cosmo says, he answers questions in a sentence or two and then waits for you to ask the next one. So if you’re gonna interview him, bring as many questions as possible ’cause he’ll answer every one, but he’ll bang through ‘em like he’s on a quiz show.
Great interview Cosmo. I just bought Black Masses from allthatisheavy, using your link, hope that helps. anyway, shipping came to $6.66. \M/
http://www.prefixmag.com/features/electric-wizard/elecrric-wizard-interview/47944/
A better interview than mine (and one that took even longer to transcribe) – thanks for posting it, Ryan!
Well into Black Masses. Was listening to it in the office at work and a work colleague came into the room and said it sounded like someone was being murdered. Ok, he is 64 years of age but even so I thought it was a valis comment – this is the sort of reaction I was expecting – and that made me feel like I was listening to the right sort of music!
black masses is a step down compared to their previous albums. the tendency could be felt still on witchcult today but they managed somehow to make the best out of a dire situation. Still they are very talented and I expect groovy bone crushing stoner doom. To claim to be the heaviest bands means a lot of guts. I will remind them of Warhorse. Period. Keep high stay low.