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Hails Mike! It is good to finally catch up
and do an interview after being in touch these many years. How have things?
Describe the surroundings you have settled down in to do the interview?
Listening to any music? How is the weather outside?
M-
Hails Dale my Metal Brother. All is very well I am in our jam area for the
band that overlooks the Lake. It’s cold as Fuck out! I'm not listening to anything right now
actually. Just trying to wake up with some caffeine and enjoy my first skoal
tobacco dip of the day in my new house.
I just like to do this for fun. Please let us know what the first few
fanzines, demos you ordered and what distros did you frequent in the early
days? What really struck you about this new found UG back then and got you
hooked?
 M- Oh shit man lets see if my memory is still functioning from the
years of beers and abuse LOL! I remember fanzines like Pagan Pages, Wild
Rags, Leather n' Spikes, I had cool shit like the first Deeds Of Flesh,
Lividity, Nihilist demo's and ordered from distro's like Deathgasm,
Ablated,& Wild Rags.
So describe for us the first days of Evil Incarnate. What were the
circumstances that inspired you to start the band. As with all new
undertakings by dedicated people this must have been a special time for you?
What was it like recording and releasing your demos and how was the support
back then?
M- I was in NumSkull and they were deciding then to move into a
more NY styled DM compared to the Thrash they were part of in its earliest
beginnings and I was writing more Swedish and German influenced riffs that
really didn’t fit although I enjoy American Metal from all areas as well of
the states among other realms of the earth and felt I needed to express this
in my own way so I started Apollyn. Apollyn of course I found was already
taken as a name and at this point had begun jamming with my drummer Andy and
guitarist rob. At this point I came to them with the name Evil Incarnate and
logo idea to be drawn by great artist Scott Jackson. Recording anything has
always been the absolute best time for me in any band I’ve done. Our first
demos as EI were generally received very well although some thought we
missed the boat so to speak and would have ruled if we were around in 89/92
rather than 1997. As a musician you cannot expect to please everyone and
honestly we do it for ourselves and only care about what we personally think
is great extreme metal sickness...if anyone else likes it then it makes it
even better.
Tell us your history with the legendary band Numskull? Did your
experience in Numskull help you with Evil Incarnate later on? I heard they
may still be active, do you have anything to do with that and/or are you
still in contact with those guys?
M- I was just at our old NumSkull jam spot yesterday hanging out
with our old drummer Scott Creakmore. There is no plans for any new NS
stuff. The guys who are still around are there doing Lupara and running
Mercenary Digital studios. I am way too busy myself but a re-union gig at a
festival would kick ass although as said no such plans at this time. NS
helped big time with me being able to do what I've done with EI. I learned
so much from them old days it is invaluable.
So let’s talk about your vocals. Do you put in any conscious effort to
make them decipherable while maintaining the brutality? Do you think it
makes the songs and lyrics more memorable (Grave, Dismember, early Autopsy
and the like pop into my mind here)? Who are your vocal influences?
M- Definitely Grave, Unleashed, Deicide, Morbid Angel, Celtic
Frost and the like for vox, you basically nailed it perfectly and that to me
is a huge compliment, thanks. I used to make a conscious effort in the past
but now everything is just natural. For sure it lets us stand out in the
masses of ultra low or super high vox. I've been told people know its me as
soon as they here it and I’m very glad to know this as being true. It has
always helped us for sure.
So what kind of touring plans are in the works for Evil Incarnate? I
think you mentioned something about
Europe and one of the Krabathor
members would be involved? Do you go way back with Krabathor and what is
your history with them? Did I hear right that a tour may involve the legend
Paul Speckmann?
M-
Well, yes there is talks with an agency in Germany now and we shall see what
happens. I can’t say much more than this but it is being discussed to do
this in the fall over Europe. Speckmann is an old friend of Andy and myself and even more so for
Chris from Krabathor as they lived near and jammed together for years in
Europe. He has been trying to help with getting us touring again is all. Chris
(Krabathor) has been with us for a while now and is very cool. We met while
touring together our bands after 9-11 in 2001 thru
Mexico and southern USA. Not only is he a
great guitarist but of course brings into Evil Incarnate his experience and
euro connections, a definite plus.
Is it true you named your children with names like Pagan, Belial and
Magnus? Do you get much crap or dirty looks for that from the christian do
gooders? Looking back on it now do you have any regrets for these names?
Does your wife share your Satanic beliefs?
M- My wife is of course a Blasphemer and proud of her euro blood line
as I am. Yes, my daughter is Pagan Lee, I have a son named Thomas Belial,
and one named Magnus. There’s my oldest son Alexzander who wants to become a
MMA/UFC Fighter. He’s only 14 and already getting damn good at it and I wish
him the best with his dream, we only live once...
The stupid fuckin religious wackos always give us dirty looks. I just look
at them like I want to kill them and they turn away.
I hear you have had run-ins with the law over LSD distribution and you
once beat the shit out of your mothers boyfriend for spray painting
religious slogans on your mailbox or some such – is there any truth to that
and surely there must be a few good stories somewhere in there to tell? Did
you ever serve any time for that shit?
M- LMFAO!!! Yes it’s true and funny you remember that. I had my snail
mail by the buckets full coming in back then at my moms and he tossed a
bunch out and put his bullshit all over the mailbox so I kicked his ass. My
mom got over it after a while. I was fuckin pissed as you can imagine if
this had happened to you. Plus he was a asshole to my mother so he had it
coming anyway. Yeah I have a felony for that LSD shit and did time for it.
I’ve since been in other troubles but nothing that will affect the band. I
got it taken care of and paid a lawyer to get it reduced from another felony
to misdemeanor. It’s all done with now and with all these laws you
unfortunately have to learn what you cannot say out of anger in a violent
altercation. I’ll just leave it at that. I have a lot of good stories to
tell but I can not do it dale. I have learned over the years people are
always watching. Silence is good... (I hear you brother and understand –
Dale).
Growing up were you forced to go to church and was this the beginning
seed for your hate towards christianity? What kind of hyprocrisy from xtians
have you personally witnessed? Do you get along with your parents?
M- My dad is a Vietnam vet addicted to street drugs and booze. He’s
crazy as fuck and my mom did the best she could aside from ramming that
bullshit Christianity down my neck constantly with help from her nut job
friends, fuckin real wackos these people she was going to church with and
dragging us with. Dude I will be here typing all day if I go on and on with
all the hypocrisy I have seen brother. I get along with my mom now that I’m
older. She knows how I feel, respects that, and I know she'll never change
her ways either but its cool, uhm, not really LOL.
Do you believe in spirits, demons and the supernatural…?
M- hmmmm, I have always been a twisted Evil fucker! Spirits and
Demons are real. Not saying it is exactly as lets say, the shit Holy Bibles
version of demons BUT THERE IS FOR SURE A DARK FORCE IN THIS WORLD. Whether
some believe it or not I know this to be a fact!
eading back on some old interviews at the time you were extremely stoked
about being signed to Morbid Records. You talked about their distribution
and how they bring their bands over to Europe for tours and etc… So looking
back now what are your thoughts on how Morbid Records worked out for you and
did it all help as much as you hoped back then? Why did you leave the label?
M- We left before the touring was settled and were still negotiating
things but for sure they helped us out a lot in Europe/Asia but mainly
Germany for sure. I left because they wanted me to change my lyrics due to
German laws and such. I couldn’t understand at the time why anyone in an
extreme scene was worried about anyone’s feelings, isn’t that fuckin pussy
EMO shit? I don’t know...I don’t really even care... We will see what
happens this time around I suppose. It’s crazy how we got shit for what we
were doing but it was and still is ok for bands to do things they do in
Porno Grind for example or like in Rap music talking about killing the white
man and raping his Bitches. Amazing how many retarded white people actually
buy and listen to such bullshit! These dumbass people even want to walk,
dress, and talk like the enemy. I hate stupid people!
So do you guys have any favourite covers you play live or in rehearsal? I
know over the years E.I. has played a lot of live shows and tours. What are
the best and worst aspects of touring? Your worst experience on tour is? The
most fucked up thing you ever seen on tour?
M- I want to start doing something from Sodom or Bathory "Blood Fire
Death" soon. We are so focused on finishing the new CD right now we don’t
bother with anything else at this time but covers are awesome. The bad thing
about being on the road is being uncomfortable since we never had any beds
on a tour bus but maybe that will change soon. The most fucked up thing I
seen or shall I say smelled on tour was this 5 gallon bucket on a bus in
Mexico with a garbage bag in it between the seat isles to hover over and
shit in next to your buddies LOL! We refused to get on the bus till it was
removed from it and told the guy were just going to have to pull over on the
road, fuck shitting in that on the bus and we all have to smell it. So,
yeah, you can tell the tour in Mexico was extremely low budget. I got the
bad shits too from the water I drank in the "homebrew" but the moonshine
stuff they had in empty pop bottles was awesome and kept me drunk.
You moved the band down to
Florida but that did not last long and you ended up back in Chicago. How did
this all come about? Is it good to be in Chicago now or do you miss the warm
weather? I have always thought the scene around Chicago was very underrated
personally.
M-
The scene here in Chicago is one of the best in the states and any band can
tell you that for sure. Florida I thought sucked unless
you want to go for a short vacation. Plus I have a problem with my kids
disrespecting my in-laws down there and them then not even allowing me to
yell at my own kids for doing these things so I left before I lost it and
did something I would regret to my wife’s family. I get very pissed off from
time to time but have a degree from passing my Anger Management course. My
wife thinks it didn’t help me any. I actually like the cold weather too.
Are you very hands on in the studio or do you let the engineer do his
thing? Do you ever give them some old albums and say I want this record to
sound like that!? Is there anything glaring on past releases you would love
to go back and change? What is your opinion on old analog recording versus
the convenience and easy cheats (looping a guitar part or drums) of pro
tools against the natural feel of older recording methods?
M- In the studio I am listening to everything always and involved
with everyone’s tracking sessions always not missing barely a moment but I
let the engineer do his thing
with only my suggestions/direction on what we
want when needed. We haven’t done this in the past with bringing in
something saying we want to sound like this or that but I can tell you that
this time around we are going for a particular drum sound and will be doing
this for that. The only thing I wish I could go back and change on past
releases is on our Blackest CD the studio wasn’t then what it is now and
neither were my vocals. But, that’s the past and it can’t be changed so it
is what it is and will always remain one of the best things I’ve ever had
the pleasure of doing and being a part of metal history. As far as recording
quality goes I mean no disrespect to any UG band who worships the raw old
noisy sounds of the past but for EI we prefer now the top quality advances
in technology for recording. If anyone wants to sound like a studio from
lets say WW2 era that’s good for them and I understand the idea behind it
for instance raw dark BM recordings but we are on this next CD using top of
the line gear, sound, and all the new pro tools programs and the like. Hail
easy cheats! better sound at a lesser price, cant beat it and im not afraid
to admit it either. although of corpse we dont need these things with our
ultra expert skills and unlimited
budgets LOL!!!
What kind of label are you looking for presently? A larger label or are
you satisfied with keeping things on a more UG level such as your last
labels Deathgasm and Hells Headbangers? You seem to still have a close
relationship with Deathgasm - how did this union form and stay strong over
the years?
M- We would be very happy staying with labels such as Deathgasm and
Hells Headbangers or Hiedenwut (U.K.) but we want to get back to some label
that can get us bigger tours and distribution and promotional campaigns. The
relationship with Deathgasm remains as strong as ever and I made this union
as far back as the NumSkull days when Evan was just getting started thru
snail mail and his band Avulsion. We have just always been honest with each
other and became friends besides working together. In fact we are scheduled
to play Atlanta Georgia area with Deathgasm
filming and releasing our very first Live DVD. Filming is on May 16th
'09...
Give us the low
down on your recently released split 7 inch? How would it
be possible after all of these years that this is Evil Incarnate’s first
seven inch?
M- Good question about how can this be our first 7" after all these
years. I wonder the same thing myself but it is what it is. I have always
loved vinyl and we have been releasing a lot of it these past recent years.
Blaspherian features Wes Weaver from the old band Imprecation who we did the
split with. There’s another coming out with guys from Sinister and the band
is called Supreme Pain.
I believe you plan to demo some material soon? Tell us about that and
what is the new stuff sounding like? Was it by choice or happen stance that
you are going at least 3 years between albums? Any new song titles you can
reveal?
M- I can’t reveal anything about the new stuff at all. We are locked
away in complete privacy creating the best stuff of any of our long metal
histories in the scene. No one will ever hear these songs until the
recordings are done unless you are one of the very few who are allowed
exclusive access to our very private practice sessions. All I can say is its
the line up from Blackest Hymns CD, the same influences, and the
determination and drive is stronger than ever before in any of our lives.
The reason behind 3 years between cds is only due to things out of our
control or line up changes.
Mike thank you my metal brother for doing this interview. It is much
appreciated. Please let us in on any future plans and send hails to some
friends and contacts?
M- Thanks for the many years of true support to the Christ Haters and
our Blasphemies Dale. Look for our Vinyl release of "Blood Of The Saints"
out soon from HellsHeadbangers (usa)/ Hiedenwut (uk) and new shirt design.
Everyone can stay informed on shows and the new CD/DVD/Merch @
www.myspace.com/evilincarnatekult or by e-mailing me @ endless_persecution@yahoo.com
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