Even though I'm far, far away from San Francisco, thanks to the magic of the internet, I was able to interview the former drummer of the band Light This City, who will go down as the second most underrated band of the decade.
Anyway, he now runs the punk label Creator-Destructor Records and has his own punk band HeartSounds which is totally worth checking out and who's first album debuts on August 25.
Dasher: Heartsounds is a pretty significant departure from the sound of Light This City. It's like when Free Dominguez switched from industrial to lo-fi indie after Kidneythieves broke up. Were you at all concerned about how your new band would be received by old fans?
Ben Murray: Haha, I don’t understand that reference, but you are definitely correct. Laura and I were a little bit concerned, but then again we didn’t really give a shit. We never cared what people thought with Light This City, and we certainly don’t care with Heartsounds. We understand that LTC fans aren’t necessarily going to enjoy the type of punk rock that we are playing now, but that is what Laura and I grew up on, and it is what we are enjoying playing now, so fuck it! However, I will say that the response has been really positive so far which is a nice surprise, and makes us feel great about the record.
D: I noticed that what set light this City Apart from other melodeath bands was the sense of fun that your music brought forth without destroying your integrity like Soilwork and their numerous clones. Was it your intent to create a unique and fun sounding melodeath band to get away from the way that metal has been such a dark genre since the 90s?
B: That’s awesome that you heard the “fun” qualities of our brand of metal. I definitely think a lot of that came from my writing, as I wrote a lot of the more melodic riffs, etc, but the whole band definitely had a youthful innocence that I think appealed to a lot of our fans. We always wanted to maintain a fun image and not take ourselves incredibly seriously. We would always hang out with our fans and become friends with a lot of them. We never forgot about the fact that we were just kids playing music and having a great time, and I think that shone through on our records. We actually enjoyed rehearsing and hanging out together. I don’t know too many bands that would constantly hang out with each other on and off tour, but LTC definitely did. All of that contributes to the sort of youthfulness that you hear.
D: I really liked the guitar tone that Light This City Had. Instead of sounding like a jackhammer like 25757096709670678034679 other bands, it sounded like confetti was going to explode out of it. What tuning and effects pedals did LTC use?
B: We didn’t use any effects pedals, but were tuned to Drop C for our records. The tones varied from record to record, but Zack Ohren (who engineered our albums) had a big role in that, and helped us dial in an awesome tone. I know we used Engl heads on “Facing the Thousand”, but I couldn’t even tell you what we used on “Stormchaser”! Towards the end of our career, the guitar playing in the band had stepped up so much that I was able to relax a bit and settle into the role of just the drummer more so than before where I was writing most of the music.
D: Can I get some insight into what caused the breakup of Light This City and is there any possibility for a reunion in the coming years?
B: Everything that Laura and I stated in the press release/blog about the breakup is 100% true, but maybe I can shed some more light on the situation. Her and I basically decided together that we didn’t get the same satisfaction out of the band that we had in previous years. That innocence we loved had dwindled, mostly due to bullshit scene politics and the idea of relying on the band as our sole career option. We were in thousands of dollars of debt, and the tours were getting kind of stale to us. We felt incredibly disconnected musically with the bands we were sharing the stages with, even though we made amazing and lasting friendships with most of them. Laura and I would always listen to punk music in the van, and we have never stopped enjoying that style of music since we were really young, and we thought it was time to go back to school and finish it this time, as well as start a new path musically. It just felt like the right thing to do, and I usually try to listen to my instincts. We felt it was unfair to the other guys to drag on when our hearts weren’t in it 100%. I would say we are much happier now and in a better place. That being said, the past 6 years of Light This City, since we started the band when I was 14 and she was 15 have been so rewarding and mindblowing. We accomplished things we never would have dreamed of!
D: I'm surprised that Heartsounds sounds as good as it does. I'm already a fan. Was there initially any concern about learning to play a new genre?
B: There wasn’t any learning involved really, aside from kind of learning how to sing. Laura was so used to screaming that it took some adjustment and a lot of practice, and I had never done anything vocally at all. In that sense, we worked our asses off for the last year to make sure this record would sound awesome. Musically, I wrote all of the songs and it actually came really easily and smoothly given that I grew up on this kind of music and constantly still listen to it. Some of favorite bands of all time are Strung Out, Bad Religion, etc. I love the songwriting involved with those bands on a completely different level than with metal. There are so many different elements involved, and it was really refreshing to approach a different type of music after 6 years of melodic death metal.
D: You also switched from drums to guitar with Heartsounds. How do you like the change in instrument?
B: I always have played guitar, and wrote a majority of the music with Light This City. It wasn’t like I was learning a new instrument, but taking on the role of guitar player/vocalist has actually been really great, and I didn’t realize how much of a break I needed from drumming. However, recording the drums on this Heartsounds record was also really fun and I had a great time doing it.
D: Who are your earliest musical influences and favorite artists of all time?
B: Man, that’s a tough question, and I could probably ramble on for 10 pages trying to answer it. My earliest musical influences were all of the Fat Wreck Chords/Epitaph punk bands that came out in the 90’s. Bands like Propagandhi, Strung Out, Bad Religion, etc were heavy influences, even in Light This City. I have listened to those kinds of bands since I was about 12 or 13, but nowadays I listen to so many bands, I couldn’t even tell you! Lately I’ve been really into Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and really enjoying the new records by Amorphis, Behemoth, Spinnerette, Darkest Hour, American Steel, etc. Tons of different kinds of stuff. Some other favorite bands are Nada Surf, In Flames, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, A Wilhelm Scream, etc. It’s all really different, but it all has a large role in the sound of Heartsounds as well as Light This City.
D: Light This City was able to collaborate with Trevor Strnad of The Black Dahlia Murder and Chuck Billy of Testament. How did you manage to get them onto your albums and are you still friends with any of the bands that you met on tour?
B: Laura and I had known Trevor from BDM for a few years, ever since they came to the Bay Area for the first time. He has always been cool and we actually stay in touch pretty often. He recommends me the best music, and I usually come to him when I am feeling musically exhausted. He usually shows me something amazing. As for Chuck, that was just something setup by Prosthetic, but it was definitely surreal, and a total honor to have him on the record. I think he’s got the best voice in metal, and he made our record that much better. In terms of bands we met on tour, we stay in contact with most of them, and come hang out when they tour through SF. We love seeing those dudes, and there is nothing quite like the friendships you gain while on tour. Those seem to have a lasting impact.
D: What's it like to run your own label given the state of the industry and do you have any distribution deals with any retail chains?
B: It’s really fun and relaxing running Creator-Destructor, and I do it at my own pace. I only put out what I really enjoy, and if I also enjoy the people I am working with. I don’t have distro deals with retail chains as of yet because I don’t sell nearly enough records to want them to want to work with me, heh. However, it is just a fun project for me to get my music out there, as well as the bands I really enjoy.
D: What are your best tour memories?
B: Dude, there are way too many to name. Meeting Vinnie Paul at his strip club in Dallas was awesome, Tour pranks on Horse the Band were hilarious, touring with All That Remains was insane, Playing with Death Angel and Soilent Green every night… We just had so many good times. Even some of those long drives were pretty fun, listening to Howard Stern and laughing our asses off, or rocking out to good tunes. You know how it goes…
D: Now that you're running your own label, it has to be nice to be able to book your own tours to go along with your schedule. If you've signed any other bands, are you involved in the booking of their tours?
B: I try not to get involved in booking tours for friends or myself being that I did that a ton with LTC when I was younger, and it is painstakingly irritating. I expect bands on the label to book tours themselves if they want it bad enough, because in this day and age it isn’t that hard with the advantage of myspace, etc. Between school and work, as well as Heartsounds and my own musical path, I wouldn’t even have the time to do it.
D: Much like the black metal bands Emperor and Mayhem, it appears that when Until We Surrender is released on August 25th, you'll be sharing an artist title in the iTunes music store. It appears that the artist title that you'll be sharing is with a late 90/early 2000s band that sounds like the soundtrack to a medieval fantasy film. Do you have any concerns about punk fans thinking that you mislead them or angry Lord of the Rings nerds thinking that you sold out and should go back to "ye olde lute musick?”
B: Haha, no concerns whatsoever. Emperor and Mayhem rule though, That is pretty badass.
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