Distilling The Swarm: Stereoboard Talks To Scott Kelly Of Neurosis (Interview)
Monday, 14 January 2013
Written by Ben Bland
Scott Kelly, co-frontman of Neurosis, took some time out to talk to Stereoboard about his work as a solo musician and his band’s near unparalleled, and ever uncompromising, position and legacy in the world of heavy music.
Hi Scott, thanks for taking the time to talk to me. It’s been a really busy few months for you with both the new Neurosis record and your new solo album coming out. Do you find that dividing your time between different projects like that can be challenging for you or is it a very natural process?
No, it’s not really difficult, because they are different projects. Whilst there are a lot of similarities I suppose within the basis of such projects the approaches are totally different, in every way. Not just mentally either, physically too. The spirit may be the same but it’s a really different deal so I think they do sort of separate one another out. It’s good to have a day between them maybe, just to figure out where you’re at. It’s just such a different mindset.
Was that what really appealed to you about making a solo record? Going acoustic is obviously a very different musical approach for you from Neurosis, yet there is that shared spirituality as you said...
I think that was a large part of it, yes. It was just something completely different in terms of approach. It was just such a different way to express myself and it was something that I felt I needed. I’m not even sure that I know why, I just felt like I needed to find a different way to do it. It needed to be taken down to the most basic essence of what it is that I do and I think if you take it down to just a voice and a guitar, or even just a voice, it makes a huge difference. It was certainly a real challenge.
Do you feel that the fact that you and Steve have been doing your solo records in recent years had an impact on the way that Neurosis works, especially with regard to the new album?
Well it definitely has. I think anything we do influences what Neurosis is and how Neurosis sounds. I think I personally have become a much better musician and a much better singer especially as a result of the solo work. It’s just so much more exposed than playing with Neurosis, than having the other guys around to support you. I’m definitely not a virtuoso musician by any stretch. I’m good at writing songs and riffs and I think I have good ideas and stuff but I’m not necessarily technically proficient. Steve is very much the opposite of that so I guess that the impact on him has probably been slightly different.
What was it like first stepping out onstage as a solo performer, especially when performing an a capella piece or something like that? I imagine it must have been quite scary at first even for an experienced performer like you.
Scary is the right word actually. My knees may well have been wobbling! It took a long time for me to get comfortable with it. Now though I feel totally comfortable with it, it’s what I do more than anything else in terms of playing shows. Neurosis’ schedules are complicated because we all have our own busy lives and we can’t always get together to play shows and do stuff as much as we, or indeed other people, may want. I always have a few months off from my job though where I can go and tour my solo stuff. Man, thinking back about those first solo shows…it was terrifying (laughs). Really, it was. It’s still terrifying but I’ve just kinda got used to it I guess.
Do you think that you being able to go away and work on your solo stuff, and in fact all the guys in the band being able to go away and do other things if they so choose, has given a new lease of life to Neurosis at all?
Maybe it has... I don’t know really. I don’t think Neurosis has ever lacked life. I think we have always done everything we have to do to keep things moving within the band. We’ve never had a time when we’ve felt like it was dying or going away. It’s always been a very lively force within us, and I think if anything it’s only grown over time. Doing stuff that’s interesting and keeping your brain stimulated creatively can only be good, whether it’s in or out of Neurosis, can only be good for the band I think.
A lot of people have made a big deal out of 'Honor Found in Decay' coming out five years after the last Neurosis record. Do you think that maybe this album has had the most natural, organic pace to its creation and development?
Kind of, but I wouldn’t say we set out with that intention in any way. I think we always take our time and I think actually the only real reason that this one has taken longer is because of what life has given us. We can only get together and do Neurosis when we can. We don’t have a schedule as such. Neurosis isn’t essential to our financial survival. We all have regular jobs. We have family commitments and other responsibilities. We work individually when we are not working together but when we get together we really focus and bring things together. The next record could be totally different. It could come in two and a half years or something. Your guess is probably as good as mine on that front.
I was talking to Colin from Amenra recently and he was saying how fantastic it was to be signed to your record label, Neurot. It just made me wonder how involved you all are as a band in the running of the label, and how important a part that is of Neurosis’ work at the moment.
Steve is the main one who is involved, day to day, I would say. Steve has a really strong business sense I think, which I certainly don’t, for example. We all play to one another’s strengths in that regard, but we are all very much involved. We all have a say in the decision-making process. That’s very much the Neurosis way of working. Personally I spend a lot of the time finding bands that I think are suited to the Neurot family. I like to think I’m pretty good at getting a feel for people and how they would be to work with, because that’s a really important part of the label. We all have our roles, but it is definitely a collective experience.
I’m not going to name any names here, but with Neurosis having been so influential there are a lot of bands around who I think have essentially made a career almost out of copying your sound. There are groups like Amenra who use it as an influence, but add their own spin I think, but others that really do sound rather copycat in nature. What are your feelings about that? Does it bother you or frustrate you?
I’m not frustrated by it all. If anything I’d say that I’m more honoured. The fact that people are moved enough by what we do to be inspired to do something themselves is an amazing feeling really. I think in a perfect world I would rather that bands, in a similar way to Amenra perhaps, move things on into their own style. After all, it’s not we just woke up twenty years ago with an amazing original idea for our sound. We were totally influenced by lots of other bands when we started and those bands helped push us to where we are now. We are essentially now creating from a world we’ve kind of envisioned within our own heads.
You recently parted ways with the band’s visual artist, Josh Graham. What was the thought process behind that? Did you think that the visuals were maybe becoming too important a part of the live show?
No, it wasn’t really that. It just didn’t feel like it was where we wanted to be with the live shows anymore. It was time for a change and I think Josh understood that as well. You have to do things to keep it fresh when you’re in a band for twenty-seven years. A decision like this may seem drastic right now but it was a very mutual feeling between us and Josh. We certainly feel like the projection thing, which we’ve been doing for twenty years, was something that we didn’t want to do anymore. He didn’t want to do it anymore. There was no reason to do it if we weren’t 100% into doing it. I honestly think that the reaction that it caused internally within us as a band onstage was pretty overwhelming. I think it was totally the right move and has helped us make things a bit rawer and a little freer flowing. It’s something we’re going to go with for a while, at any rate. It really helps the intensity of the shows for us I think, and that’s what it’s all about really. It’s about making the show the most emotionally intense experience possible and whatever it takes to do that we are prepared to do I think.
One of the things I really love about the new record is the level to which Noah (Landis, keys & synths)’s contributions are a hugely important part of the sound and I was wondering how his involvement in the writing process worked? Does he often bring in ideas to start off with or come up with reactions to what the rest of the band is doing?
I totally agree with you there man, I totally agree. I think his stuff on this album is absolutely amazing. It can go either way with Noah. Our writing process can go in any direction really but I’d say the guitar riff is the most common starting point. Sometimes though we will work on things around, let’s say, a sample or just a basic idea even that Noah has come up with. He just gets to work really. He has an enormous selection of sounds with a massive catalogue on his computer and in his brain. I don’t know how he does it but it just works. He’s just got better and better at doing that as well. I couldn’t agree with you more about his stuff on this record. I think it’s absolutely devastating. I love what he’s done.
For me at least, I think every Neurosis record occupies a unique space. Each one really has its own distinct aura to it, if you like, and I was just wondering if you have any thoughts on how that comes about, as well as if you have any idea what direction things will go in looking forward?
I don’t really know. It’s hard to put your finger on something like this because it’s a pretty unique experience. We genuinely really care about each other as people and we really care about this band. We grew up with each other man, I mean Noah and Dave have known each other since they were six years old. Our lifetimes have been spent working together, doing this. Our dedication to the band and the sound and the ethics of what we do, down to how we treat people, really counts. We have been extraordinarily lucky as well as I think. We’re so grateful that we’ve had the opportunity to do this and survive, literally survive as well as figuratively as a band I think. It’s a sacrifice and a dedication. It’s not going to stop. The next progression is as yet undefined but it will be something. I look forward to it. I can feel it coming I’m just not sure where it is yet...
'Honor Found in Decay', which was the best metal record of 2012 by about six thousand light years, is out now via Neurot Recordings, as is Scott’s latest solo album, 'The Forgiven Ghost in Me'.
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Hi Scott, thanks for taking the time to talk to me. It’s been a really busy few months for you with both the new Neurosis record and your new solo album coming out. Do you find that dividing your time between different projects like that can be challenging for you or is it a very natural process?
