interview with joe sims ofaxemaster

INTERVIEW WITH JOE SIMS OFAXEMASTER
Axemaster formed back in 1985, when the thrash underground was boiling over. What
were your aspirations when starting out during a time when this new breed of music was
thriving and burgeoning?
. What we really wanted to do was to be able to be with a good label, tour, and pay the bills with
music. We didn't set out to be "rock stars;" we were too realistic for that. There were and are so
many great bands out there that it always takes a lot of luck to get to the top and hit it big. We just
wanted to be able to make a good liVing doing what we're into the most!
Describe the "original twist" included in Axemaster's traditional thrash/power metal. Has
it over the years into an approach people can instantly recognize?
I'd say the original twist comes from the fact that I have kind of a different guitar style and I show
it in my writing; especially after "Blessing in the Skies" (in the "Death Before Dishonor" era and
ever since). That's when my writing and rhythm playing got more technical. It's hard to instantly
tell the band just because we're on our 4th singer HAHA! Seriously, the music got heavier and
more thrash as time went along. You wouldn't hear major similarities in say "5 Demons" and
"Blessing in the Skies" other than a strong and heavy guitar driven sound and style that we've
always had. "5 Demons" without a doubt was a lot thrasher than "Blessing." Now we're better
than any of that old stuff and carry the overall style to new heights. I'm psyched for people to hear
our new CD when it's done. 11'11 show more of an "original twist" than ever before and will be the
most professionally done'
FOllowing the release of your demo cassette "Slave To The Blade" you had three full
lengths; "Blessing In The Skies," "Crusades" and "The Vision;" released on the
independent label Azra International. What led to your signing a contract with them? How
good of a job did this label do at promoting the band?
I got a book of record companies and sent "Slave" to a few of them. II sucked actually because I
know I could've found a lot better company than Azra if I'd have known much about the
underground scene at the time. There was basically no scene here to be able to know about it
from. We got lucky to just find an indie
metal label with how little we knew about
the underground. There were so many
labels out there to start out on and get
your name around that we had no idea
about. I guess you live and learn! Azra
didn't do much promo, hell they didn't do
hardly anything at all! They got us into the
European market though which was the
main really cool thing they did since our
music took off there a lot more. They
really ripped us off in the end ..
Disbanding in 1995, you reformed in
2006 after Unisound Records released
a compilation of your songs entitled
"Axe master
&
The
Awakening,
1985-1995."
In
what
way
did
Unisound's exposure of the band lead
to you reforming?
Well, it got us publicity and got more
people interested. When we were first
thinking about starting up again we were
really shocked at how many people knew
us and how many were into the old music.
We were already thinking about getting
this going part time but that really sealed
it to go all out with it for sure. I quit the
band I was in and started doing
Axemaster full time at that point.
Which songs from your past albums are included on the Unisound compilation? Overall,
is it a decent representation of your material, or would you have preferred to tweak it into
a compilation that represents the band more closely?
It has the best tunes from "Blessing", "5 Demons", and some stuff I did when the band was The
Awakening. II had pretty much all the best tunes that were studio recorded. The thing that sucks
is that it ain't all Axemaster so it didn't represent the band totally. The problem was that there is a
bunch of kick ass music that was never done in a studio and I didn't want to include stuff with a
bad sound. A real shame that we didn't have a way to get them recorded RIGHT because they
were some of the best we ever did. I think that's one of the main reasons we didn't go further than
we did.
Why was there a name change to The Awakening and a change in your direction before
you split up in 1995? Why did you decide to reform as Axemaster?
Because we were trying to change to something more commercial and not as heavy since it was
tough to get anywhere with metal in the 90's. That was a big mistake; I should've kept going with
Axemaster even though the scene sucked. I really regret not sticking it out and keeping moving
forward with what I was really into. I wonder a lot how far this band would've gotten if it wouldn't
have changed. We returned as Axemaster because the band is lot bigger (especially in Europe)
and for the most part I dig the Axemaster music a lot more. The Awakening was a bit mellow for
my tastes. I definitely made the right move'
What is the band's current lineup, and how well do you work together compared to your
previous lineups? How many band lineups have existed altogether? Which of them were
most instrumental in shaping the band's sound?
I play guitar, Dan Kaisk's our singer, Jim Curtis is on bass, and the drummer's Brian Henderson.
We work EXCELLENT together. The best guys I've ever dealt with in music. I can't say enough
good things about how everyone works TOGETHER as a unit. No big egos, everything's done as
a team. Everyone gets along great and I really enjoy being around them, that's SO important in
this business. We've been together with the new members since the first of the year. This is
basically the 4th lineup Axemaster's had, I'm the only one who's been in the band the whole time.
It's kinda my baby HAHAHA! It's hard to say which lineup shaped the band's sound the most
because this is the one that'll be doing the shaping from now on. I guess if I had to I'd probably
say that the lineups with Brian as the drummer shaped the sound the most since he has a unique
style that defined Axemaster percussion from the beginning. We started the band together back
in 84 and are jamming together still after 24 yearsl!l!l!
How have the addition of Dan Kaisk and Jim Curtis worked out?
I couldn't have hoped for it to work out any better, getting them was the best thing that could've
ever happened to this project. They're both incredibly talented and great guys. Them being here
is gonna make the new CD 100 times better than anything Axemaster's ever done in the past.
Brian and I are lucky to be working with them'
After reforming you contacted another Greek label known as Burning Star Records to
re-release "Blessing In The Skies" in January 2007. Was it an easy or difficult process to
find a label to promote Axemaster as Azra International had?
It wouldn't be hard to promote us more than Azra did HAHA! Basically I just sent an e-mail to a
bunch of European companies and had 3 that were interested in doing the CD. It was a hard
decision who to go with but since it was a re-release of old material we didn't stress about it as
much as we will with this new stuff. So it wasn't that hard to find someone who promoted it more
than Azra.
Describe the three bonus tracks included on the "Blessing In The Skies" reissue along
with the promotional video you made for the song "Slave To The Blade." Does the
addition of the new songs and video enhance the original recording?
We used a live unreleased track and 2 songs from "Slave". The video is one that we shot at a TV
station for a show of theirs. Since Unisound had some stuff off "Blessing" on the disc they put out
we needed to put something extra on the official re-release to make it something people would be
into buying even if they had the "1985-1995" CD. It gives it a little something extra for fans of that
era of the band. Pretty cool to have the stuff on CD too.
Describe also the packaging of this reissue and the process of choosing what was
included there, such as vintage photos taken from your earliest years. What other rarities
from the early years are there for people hearing of the band now?
All the lyrics are there and there is behind the scenes information in the liner notes. Burning Star
wanted to make this not just a music release since it's so dated, but make it more a piece of
underground metal history. So we needed the old pies and notes to show what things were like
with us back in the day. There were a bunch of photos to choose from, other than a couple we let
the graphic designer choose which to use. The one thing that it does have new is a totally killer
cover. I love the packaqinq inside and out, it's a
real selling point.
Which of your other releases are milestones
in Axemaster's development?
Well, I'd say "Death Before Dishonor" because
even though it wasn't a studio recording and the
sound's not that good, it was the release where
the music got heavier and more technical like
it's been ever since. There hasn't been any
simple just straight forward songs since that
tape which I'm really glad of. Our stuff got more
interesting at that point.
"Blessing
Axemaster
in
the
release
Skies"
"5
and
Demons"
another
have
recently been added to the iTunes roster of
Smog Veil Records. Has the internet or the
tape trading network been more helpful in
spreading
the band around?
For damn sure' I think the internet helps bands
like us a lot and hurts the real big name bands.
Getting our name around has been so much
easier on the computer than it was back in the
day with regular mail, 1,000 times easier and
cheaper. Hell, there's no comparison!
Axemaster
has been included on the
soundtracks
of the comedy/horror
flick
"Killer
Nerd,"
the
CD-ROM
metal
documentary "The Polishing Of Metal" and
the DVD "Defenders Of The Faith." How did these inclusions come about?
I don't totally recall how we got in touch with the producers of "Killer Nerd", I think they had an
advertisement that they were looking for music. I know we jumped at the chance to be included.
I've done projects with the author of "The Polishing of Metal" before so it was no problem getting
included. We just got lucky because the band reformed RIGHT BEFORE his final deadline so we
just barely made it on there. As far as "Defenders of the Faith" goes, they actually used our video
without our permission' A long time ago I had sent a copy to a guy in Greece and he used it
without bothering to tell us. We didn't even find out about it until a while after. But at least it was
good promo in Europe so it wasn't all bad..
Your songs appeared on the Azra International compilation "Metalgon" and the cassette
comps "Speed N Thrash," "Bloodzit" and "A Distant Thunder." Have these appearances
gotten you recognition where people wouldn't have noticed you otherwise?
I'd say "Metalgon" did for sure because that was internationally distributed and is a really cool
looking picture disc. "Speed and Thrash" was released locally in France so that helped out there.
The other 2 were in the US and Canada, might have done some good north of the border.
How did the band hook up with Canada's Sol Music Management in preparation to record
your next full length?
The lady from Sol Music contacted us, I think she heard about us from MySpace.
Former Anvil guitarist Ivan Hurd is supposed to make an appearance on the next album.
What will he contribute?
He's doing a lead solo for the song "The Harder they Fall". It's cool to have a serious music
veteran who spent years with a very established band be included. Makes the album even more
interesting.
What can we expect from Axemaster following the release of the new album?
We're trying to get a European tour together, that's what we really need to do since our main fan
base is there. Maybe also play some festivals over there. And of course we're gonna do all we
can to promote the hell out of this new CD!
Check out Axemaster at www.myspace.com/thebandaxemaster
AXEMASTER
614 Cleveland Road Apt. 2
Ravenna, Ohio 44266 USA
http://www.myspace.com/thebandaxemaster
[email protected]
-Dave Wolff