Very few veteran bands are able to maintain the level of passion and dedication to their craft they once had. They become disillusioned, they cave to outside pressure, or they are consumed by their own fame and fortune. For whatever reason, they no longer approach music with the same spirit. Corrosion of Conformity is one of my all-time favorites, so when they recently released In the Arms of God, my enthusiasm was slightly tempered by fear. I liked America's Volume Dealer very much, but with all of it's polish, I wondered if it was a signal of COC beginning to lose a bit of their edge. I have become disenchanted with so many of my musical heroes; I couldn't stand to watch COC burn out as well.

Once I sat down to listen to ITAOG, I realized I had nothing to worry about. This album is just as authentic and raw as anything COC has done before. They are always evolving, but you get the sense that theirs are not the sort of self-conscious changes you see with other bands. They don't choose certain directions because they want to be as big as Metallica. They forge their own path because it's what they're feeling at the time. In this one album, they have proven that each of their journeys had a purpose - to prepare them for where they are now.

Woody Weatherman sat down with me last Thursday at their Recher Theater show in Towson, MD, to discuss the new album, the current tour and many other things. I can only hope the passion he so obviously has for what he's doing comes across in written form. If not, you'll have to check out one of their upcoming shows and find out for yourself.

HH: I like everything you've done with COC, but I think Into the Arms of God may be my favorite. It draws a little from your entire back catalog and brings it all together as if everything else was part of a natural progression to this point.

WW: Yeah, this one even goes back to the early stuff back in the punk rock days. I'm glad when people can see that. I don't think we're jumping around randomly. This is a good one and we've made other good records, but this one was easier to make. We weren't pulling our hair out.

HH: When you start working on a new album how much do you think about what you've done before?

WW: You can't think about where you've been. You hope that good songs come out of your head. You get into trouble when you start thinking about it.

HH: America's Volume Dealer was much more studio polished than ITAOG, was ITAOG a reaction to AVD?

WW: Maybe in some ways, but it's never intentional.

HH: Do you you start out with a particular concept when you begin writing?

WW: No, we don't do that, but by the same token I think ITAOG takes all of those old ones and throws them into the fan.

HH: What I really like about each of COC's albums is that they compel you to sit down and listen all of the way through because they are all woven together so well.

WW: Yeah, we definitely try to do that.

HH: What is interesting on ITAOG is that the momentum peaks and crests almost methodically and then at the end when you expect it to fade out, you get hit with "In the Arms of God."

WW: [Laughs rather maniacally]

HH: The first time I heard that I snapped my neck to look back at the stereo and said, "holy shit!"

WW: Yeah, you expect it to be some mellow closer and shit.

HH: What made you decide to end it that way?

WW: After all of the tunes were finished and we were finished mixing we were trying to think of what order would be cool because that's kind of important to it. If you just mix them up and throw them on there it may not be the right feel for the record. It seemed kind of fitting because it's kind of a tough record and we thought we'd end it with one of the tougher songs.

HH: Can you tell me a little bit about how the band writes together and if it was different at all this time around?

WW: No, not really. It was the same kind of deal. Most of the time everyone shows up with their own crap and we then just start tossing it together and see what's working. We'll get together in a room and tweak things and get it together while we're all there.

HH: How long does that process take once you all get together?

WW: Fast if everyone shows up with good stuff. This time it happened really fast. It was good.

HH: How did you decide on Stanton Moore for ITAOG?

WW: It fell in our laps really. He has known Keenan for a long time. They're both from New Orleans. We were working on all of these crazy songs and we couldn't get it together with anybody that was crazy enough to do what we wanted to get done. Keenan called up Stanton out of the blue to see if he knew anybody that could handle this kind of stuff and of course Stanton being the kind of guy he is said, "yeah me, I'll be there."

HH: He's great. It's amazing that he was able to transition in so well in such a short time.

WW: Yeah, it was really natural for him. Believe it or not he comes from that background too. He delved into some of that shit back in the day.

HH: He's not here tonight. How's Jason Patterson [Cry of Love] doing as a stand in for the dates where Stanton can't make it?

WW: He's killer. He's a buddy and he's from Carolina too. He's doing a great job.

HH: You took a long break before coming out with ITAOG.

WW: We did, but it wasn't intentional. We did that live album in 2001 and shortly thereafter Keenan did that Down record and they toured for a long time. So that killed a couple of years right there. Time just rolls and rolls. It didn't seem like that long.

HH: Do you play together and keep in touch when you have down time like that?

WW: Oh yeah. Me and Mike were jamming quite a bit and he was building a studio down at the pad, which is where we recorded the record. That was strange because we usually go to some fancy studio. It was nice to be able to stay at home and have our little practice pad.

HH: What else do you do in your time off?

WW: I work on a little bit of music. I have a very, very old farm house I bang around in so I'll get the hammers out and keep that thing going. I have an old Cutlass I would work on all of the time, but I blew it up and it was beyond by abilities to repair it.

HH: You're wearing a camouflaged hat. Are you a hunter?

WW: [Laughs] No, I just have it in case I want to hide out in the woods.

HH: Sometimes you gotta do that. How was the tour with Motorhead?

WW: That was so much fun. Everyone probably always says shit like that, but it really was. Those guys are the true deal. They're not fooling anybody and they tear it up.

HH: They are a little crazy on the road too, I'm sure.

WW: Yeah! It's real. There's no fake bullshit. It was a blast and they treat us good. It's weird but we've kind of got the same crowds - not exactly because we're different bands, but it seemed to fit. People that like Motorhead will probably like us even if they don't know us and vice versa, though everyone knows Motorhead.

HH: How do you think you fit in with the bands on this tour (Alabama Thunderpussy, Crowbar, Weedeater)?

WW: It's good. I didn't quite know what to think right off the bat. Now that I've watched all of the bands and hung out with them, I can see we've all got a good thing going on. It's good.

HH: And they're good guys?

WW: Yeah, everybody is very friendly. We keep getting lucky on all of that stuff. I would tell you if anybody was an asshole. I'm not polishing it up, they're cool.

HH: Oh come on, would you really tell me?

WW: [Laughs] Yeah, I might not mention names specifically, but I would tell. We have toured with assholes before.

HH: Ooh, who were they?

WW: I'm not going to tell! [chuckles]

HH: Alright, alright. What's the weirdest thing... [Bryan Cox from Alabama Thunderpussy walks into the room] ha, maybe this is good timing, what's the weirdest thing you've seen on the road?

WW: Right there! [Laughs and points to Cox] I don't know. Most of the weird stuff you can't really talk much about, but it also gets to the point where you get desensitized. We've been pretty calm lately, sorta. I forget things. I think I wipe it all from my mind. There's always weird stuff, whether it involves people falling on their head or whatever. There's always something funny.

HH: When I interview artists I always want to ask about their local scene, so how do you feel about Raleigh? First when you were trying to make it and then now.

WW: Yeah, I've always known a lot of people in bands in the area, but I think like anywhere else there was always more of a tight scene back in the day. That whole hardcore thing when we were kids was pretty tight knit.

HH: Do you have any advice for bands trying to make it today?

WW: Yeah right! In this day and age -- may the force be with you. We lucked out to have come out when we did because it was a lot more DIY and you could get away with it. Now there are 40 trillion bands out there. I guess it depends on what they want to do with it. If they want to make a living at it they might get lucky and eek out some kind of living or they might just have a good time and if that's what they want to do it's easy.

HH: That's probably the way you should approach it, as if you're never going to make it, but you're going to have fun.

WW: That's the way I've always approached it. We've stuck with it and done our own thing all along and didn't jump on any bandwagons. A lot of bands do that and maybe they have a short heyday, but then six months later -- huh? who?

HH: Exactly. So who are you listening to right now?

WW: We're always listening to old Deep Purple and Captain Beyond and weird old bands and some new shit. High on Fire is bad and Eyehategod is sick, but you know I always go back to the old stuff too. The standards -- the Thin Lizzys and the Sabbaths.

HH: What inspired you to get into all of this?

WW: Probably ZZ Top and to form this kind of band it was going to see Black Flag and Bad Brains.

HH: DC!

WW: Yeah, I used to drive to DC quite a bit - back in the day when there was the Wilson Center and they would have all of the crazy bands. I'd go up to see Void and Minor Threat and some of those other crazy old bands.

HH: Do you have any other projects coming up?

WW: We're touring forever on this thing and then more Motorhead in Europe and then more, more, more.

HH: Where do you see COC a few years down the road?

WW: I'd like to do another record and maybe with Stanton because he says he wants to. Maybe we could write together this time cause we didn't really get a chance to write with him. The tunes were already there and of course he came in and it was a different world, but it would be cool to actually write a whole album with him.

HH: How do you feel about unauthorized downloading on the Internet?

WW: I'm kind of indifferent to it because it has been going on for so long. Some people just do it to check shit out and when they like it they go buy it. I hope it doesn't kill the ability for bands to be able to make records. It remains to be seen. Who cares about the major label? I'm not worried about how much their pockets are getting lined, but you have to wonder about that with the bands.

HH: Well that brings up and interesting point. What's your relationship with Sanctuary?

WW: Pretty good - as good as it gets.

HH: There's no pressure from them to be more mainstream?

WW: No, none of that. We've been through that before with Sony. They'd say "we don't hear the song, go back in the studio." We didn't have to put up with any of that with Sanctuary. We finished the record and gave it to them and they were happy.

Thanks Woody. COC continue to live by their own rules. They have a strength of character which will ward off all of those things that kill their peers. In this way, they remind me of one of my favorite quotes:

"Rage, rage against the dying of the light." - Dylan Thomas

*All photos © 2005 Joel Didriksen for www.kingpinphoto.com

// posted by Heather Huff @ 6:21 PM

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