John: So what`s going on?
Jus: Not much [laughs]. It`s pretty late.
John: First up, let`s talk about the new album. You worked with Liam Watson over at Toe Rag Studios with all the vintage equipment. What led you to him?
Jus: I was interested in using the equipment, really. I mean, I had heard about the studio for a long time, and it was just getting the opportunity to go there and it`s something we jumped at, really.
John: Were you hesitant about working with a guy who`s more known for more mainstream acts?
Jus: A bit at first, but everyone was telling me not to worry about it, for he`s not a commercial kind of guy. He`s got his job, so he gets paid to do a lot of work. He`s a weird, cool guy, really done some fucked up shit. But he gets paid a lot to do big records and he ain`t gonna turn that down. He`s not stupid [laughs]. But he likes to work with bands that are more interesting. We did one track in his studio and we worked together really well.
John: Which track was that?
Jus: “The Chosen Few.” That was the first track we did there. And he doesn`t come from a metal background. I think metal production`s getting kind of generic.
John: Especially the mainstream stuff nowadays. It`s all so compressed and booming. Now in addition to the equipment and all that, and since he was coming from a non-metal background, did he help you guys put together the songs or was he basically just doing the recording?
Jus: He didn`t get involved in any of the songwriting, no. That`s what people were worried about - “He ruined your songs.” He had nothing to do with that [laughs]. He`d tell us when the songs were shitty.
John: Did he tell you that a lot?
Jus: [laughs] No. It was one occasion, and I concluded that he was right in the end.
John: You also produced the Moss album a couple of years back, right?
Jus: Yeah, I did the recent one as well, just a few weeks ago.
John: I didn`t know that. Did you ever think of producing Witchcult Today.
Jus: Yeah. I mean, I produced Let Us Prey. I half did We Live but grew despondent with it [laughs] – I never finished it. I wanted to do Witchcult Today but I thought I could learn a few things from someone who knows a lot more. I was watching very carefully. I was picking up his tricks. It`ll apply to our next recording.
John: Do you have stuff recorded for that?
Jus: We`re going to do a couple of tracks for an EP at the moment.
John: That`ll be cool. You can go back to the old days and do another split with Orange Goblin.
Jus: Yeah, that type of thing. I think it`s going to be Reverend Bizarre.
John: I thought they called it a day.
Jus: They did, but they recorded one more song before they finished.
John: Ah. Now going back to the songwriting, when you guys stretch out and go into the really long repetitive riffs, how do you figure out when to end them?
Jus: Uh, we don`t. It`s always a problem [laughs]. The two songs that cut off are literally because the tape ran out.
John: I was going to ask if there were extended versions out there.
Jus: I told Liam, “They`re going to be long tunes,” but I don`t think he quite realized how long the tuneswere going to be [laughs]. A lot longer than he thought.
John: The response to Witchcult Today has been really strong, but what do you think is the most definitive Electric Wizard album?
Jus: Most definitive? Album-wise?
John: You can do song-wise.
Jus: Song-wise I`d say “Supercoven.” That`s the definitive Electric Wizard song. Especially in a live setting. A lot of times we close the show with it. It`s a song that encapsulates Electric Wizard.
Album-wise a lot of fans would say Dopethrone. It`s the sickest album I`ve ever done. It was gross, it was hard to do, it was painful.
John: How long did it take you to do Dopethrone.
Jus: It took maybe three months.
John: No shit. I remember reading about it in the Decibel stoner rock issue. That was a good read, except they took all my questions. But one of things I do have to ask is the last US tour you did, was it for Dopethrone or Let Us Prey?
Jus: It was Let Us Prey.
John: Now how bad was bad?
Jus: Well, the band finished before the end of the tour.
John: Was it because you guys weren`t getting along anymore? Was it because of low turnout?
Jus: We had already been on tour in Europe for two months. Like straight. Basically I finished the tour at five in the morning, got up to go to my sister`s wedding at eight o`clock, left my sister`s wedding around midnight and caught a plane to the States at five in the morning. You`re looking at two months and then a month... You kind of get fucked up on that. The scheduling, the short tempers, and arguing. It starts to fall apart. And there were cracks there anyway. Everything just widened.
John: You think you`ll ever make it back to the US?
Jus: I hope so. The problem now is the way immigration has tightened up. Getting visas and that kind of shit.
John: Just tell them that you wrote the album Dopethrone. They`ll understand.
Jus: [laughs] That`s the main fucking problem. I mean, I`ve had a few visa problems over the years. Haven`t played by the rules, so to speak. There are few things that need to be ironed out legally before we can come over again.
John: That`d be great if you could, even though touring is nowadays more and more expensive, with the cost of gas.
Jus: It`s hard. It`s a big country and there`s a big gap. There`s a big gap in between the good shows.
John: Do you have any other touring plans for 2008?
Jus: No definite plans. I don`t really enjoy playing concerts. I don`t enjoy going on the road. It`s just... shitty.
John: I heard you get treated better in Europe.
Jus: Well yeah. It`s all different everywhere. There are certain places where you get treated really well, like Japan, Greece, and Sweden. And there are some places that are just shitty no matter what. Like touring Germany. That`s shit.
John: Now after the other guys left, did you think of retiring the Electric Wizard name and doing something new?
Jus: It was a weird situation, the way the band fell apart. Me and Mark had a fistfight - that kind of ended everything at that point. Tim was still in the band, so it still was Electric Wizard as far as we were concerned. Just get a new drummer and carry on. And then Tim had a lot of problems – alcohol and drugs and stuff like that – and it wasn`t good for his mind. He said he didn`t want to tour anymore and I was like, “You know, that`s probably a good idea,” because you get too fucked up. So the band ended amicably, but I didn`t want to give up. I hadn`t gotten to that point.
John: Getting Liz in the band – was that to get another guitarist or was that some kind of weird courtship ritual of yours?
Jus: [laughs] Officially it`s because we wanted two guitars. Nah, I`ve been friends with Liz for a long time anyway, and we`d always talked about doing a band together. Because we had a similar playing style. It was a natural progression, really. I wanted a second guitarist and there was a second guitarist available. Someone who I knew could play the shit. There`s always people who can play technically, but in the spirit, it`s very hard to find the right people.
John: How hard of a transition was it for you adding the second guitarist to the writing process, with layering and all that. I was listening to We Live and Witchcult Today earlier and it`s more apparent that you`re using the two guitars more distinctively.
Jus: Yeah. On Witchcult it`s really come together. Considering that when we did We Live, Liz had been in the band for two weeks. There wasn`t any real songwriting going on between us. It was “These are the songs – play them.” In the three years between them, we play guitar all the time, so the relationship between the guitars has developed.
John: With her and the rest of the band helping with the songwriting, which of the eight songs do you think is the most band-written one.
Jus: I`d say “Drugula” or “Dunwich.”
John: “Dunwich” is a massive song. The other thing is the cleaner vocal style. Was that intentional or just a result of the production and the recording process?
Jus: Yeah, I guess it just happened. I didn`t set out with any agenda on that front. I guess in some ways I was used to my vocals so I wasn`t so eager to bury them [laughs]. I mean, usually I`m like, “That sucked. Bury the fucking thing.”
John: [laughs] Some of your past albums have had songs that have gone faster than the usual doom speed. Have you ever thought of doing an entire album of all faster songs?
Jus: I prefer the heavy doom. I get a little hankering for some speedy action, but it doesn`t last too long. I`m worn out after it.
John: Plus, using the quotes from the classic horror movies works better with the doom.
Jus: Yeah.
John: Speaking of which, how come modern horror can`t capture that awesome aesthetic from the 60`s and 70`s?
Jus: I fucking ask myself that question every fucking day. Why are they so shitty? I don`t know, I don`t get it. I think in the 60`s and 70`s a lot of people were making horror movies to break the mold, to get out of doing generic shit and do something different. Add different elements. And now it`s a genre, it`s a money making industry. Get the kids in and that`s the end. I don`t think there`s anyone out there trying blow anyone`s mind anymore. Just gross them out maybe, but that`s not what it`s about. Like Rosemary`s Baby, there`s no fucking gore in that.
John: Well that`s it for me. You got anything else to add?
Jus: Shit, I dunno. I`m just glad everyone`s digging the album. Electric Wizard`s back. Anyone that had any fucking doubts, I hope they`ve ended. There`s always people who go, “It`s not as heavy as Dopethrone” and shit - what the fuck. It`s got good songs and it is heavy.
