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Metal hails Blake! Thank
you for taking the time to do this interview with me. Please introduce
yourself to the readers of Canadian Assault.
Blake Meahl, Leo, Entrepreneur, lead guitarist
for Huntress.
When did you and the other members of huntress meet? was it
long until you all decided to form the band? What is the "current" line-up?
I have known our other guitar player, Ian
Alden, since the 6th grade. We met when cheating on math homework together
that neither of us had done the night before and have been buds ever since.
He and I have been in a couple of other bands together over the years
called Trigger Renegade and Professor. Professor was a riff worship band
that Jill booked at a club she was promoting for. She saw us play, fell in
love and joined forces to create Huntress.
We had a falling out with the old Professor rhythm section after about a
year. Eric Harris, who had been a close friend already, said he would do me
a solid and fill in on bass. But he ended up digging what we were doing and
having so much fun he stuck around. Carl Wierzbicky had been a friend of
friends for years by playing in my personal favorite underground band “Dark
Black.” When we found out he was available I freaked out, it was just meant
to be.
For the readers who have never heard the band how would you
describe the bands music?
Huntress is a focus on the dark and heavy without forgetting the value of
the song, and keeping all things real. We love metal, but have no desire to
be the fastest, heaviest, shreddiest or most obscure. Some dude has already
accomplished all of those things. We love what we love and Huntress is a
tribute to that. Put a heavy metal loving, operatic screaming, banshee
witch on top of it and here we are.
The band recently released it's debut cd Spell Eater through
napalm records, how did you all come in contact with the label? Are you
happy with the job they have done so far? Do you find it hard to work with a
label that is overseas?
We released the song and video for “Eight of Swords” on our own in an
attempt to generate some label interest, and it worked. By the time we
decided we would work with Napalm Records we had 7-8 offers on the table.
Napalm had the most sincere interest and commitment to what we were doing,
and had the most artist friendly offer. Besides that, we
have always known that Europe, and particularly Germany/Austria/Switzerland,
was where we would be best received. The American metal scene is dominated
by “core” and “good cop/bad cop” bands which we try to shy away from.
The result has been great! Napalm are taking amazing care of us, and Spell
Eater even charted on the German top 100 in the first week! I am writing
this interview from a tour bus on our way to an open air festival in
Germany sharing the same stage as Megadeth, Kreator and
Behemoth! It’s amazing.
How has the response been from the press and fans for Spell
Eater?
The response has been pretty incredible. Seeing Jill’s face in magazines
all over the world including Terrorizer, Metal Hammer, Kerrang and Revolver
has been a trip! There will always be critics (pretty much only about the
way Jill looks); but haters gonna hate, and we welcome it. The more people
give us attention the more power we gain.
Does the band have any upcoming tours/shows in support of
spell Eater? where are some places you will play?
We have two 6 week tours in the works that have not been announced yet. One
in the US for this summer and another in Europe and UK for
the fall.
Who are some bands you have played with so far? if you could
set up a "dream" show/tour who are some bands {past or present} you would
love to play with?
We just came off of two back to back US tours with the likes of Dragonforce,
Holy Grail (my brother Tyler Meahl plays drums for them!), Turisas, Alestorm
and Arkona. We pretty much just have wet dreams nightly of touring with
King Diamond and Judas Priest.
 The
band recently released 2 videos for the songs "Eight Of Swords" and the
title track Spell Eater. What did u all decide to make the videos? How long
did take to shoot/make the videos?
The videos were made by a buddy of ours, Simon Chan. Videos are easy for us
but a mother fucker for that poor guy. We shoot for two days and then he is
stuck editing them for a month or so. Jill has come up with the concept for
both videos and Simon has done a hell of a job
bringing them to life.
Are you and the other members happy with how they came out?
Are you planning on making any more videos for this release? Is their any
particular song off of Spell Eater you think would make a killer video?
I think we are done making videos for this record. It would be a blast
making more, but we are ready to start focusing our efforts on the next
record. Can’t never stop!
You handle the guitars for the group, at what age did you
start playing guitars? Are you self-taught or have you had lessons when you
first started out?
Ian and I handle guitars as a team. He has the golden right had for rhythms
and I tackle the leads. We actually both had the same guitar teacher in
high school, but I don’t think he had much impact on us to be honest. He
spent more time talking about his AA meetings and 12 step program than
showing us anything useful. He was a great player, but I was too stupid to
pull the good stuff out of him.
Who are some of your influences, favorite guitarist? Do you
play any other instruments besides the guitar?
My two favorite players for years have been Uli Roth and Brian May. Old
Scorpions and Queen records have the tastiest licks around. Ian and I both
sang in Professor if you consider than another instrument. Other than that
we are masters of the tambourine, steel drums and skin flute.
Are you or any of the members of Huntress currently playing
or working with any side-bands or projects in your spare-time? If yes please
tell the readers a little about them.
Eric is a maniac road warrior. He plays bass and sings in another band
called Gypsyhawk. It is a good times Thin Lizzy-esque rock band that
fucking rules. They have a record coming out at the end of August on Metal
Blade. When we are not touring with Huntress he is touring with Gypsyhawk,
literally nonstop.
What does the term underground metal mean to you? Also I was
curious the bands music is definitely rooted in the "classic" heavy metal
style. So I was wondering do you listen to much of the newer genres like
death, black, doom metal etc.. if yes who a re some of your favorite bands from these scenes?
It is funny that you mention Death and Black Metal as the newer genres.
Really, those have been among the biggest influences for this record, but
those genres are already 20 years old! Death, Dissection and Mercyful Fate
are some of my faves that drove this record. Being on tour for the last 3
months I see more and more why we are considered “classic.” We play 6
string guitars, our drummer doesn’t use triggers, we don’t have programmed
samples and Jill sings out with melodies. For us this is just natural, but
to many it means classic.
Well Blake we have reached the end of the interview, thank
you again for your time do you have anything you would like to add before we
end the interview?
Get stoned and play it loud!
http://huntresskills.com/
http://www.myspace.com/huntresskills
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