Past Work

Sonic Shocks: You’ve just released the new album Phoenix amongst the Ashes and the response has been amazing. You must be really happy?

Jade: Oh yeah. We put so much effort into this thing and when you finally go out there and play the new songs, and you see the crowd’s reaction it really brings it all to live. It’s about writing new songs and going out there and pleasing the fans. That’s what they want and that’s what we want so it’s great to finally be out on the road promoting the new record.

Sonic Shocks: Would it be fair to say the title represents the hard times that Hate Eternal have been through over the years?

Jade: Yeah definitely. It’s also a continuation of where Fury and Flames left out. That one had a more chaotic feeling and this one is about piecing things back together, resurrection, life after death that kind of thing. So it definitely brings out a more positive note from the same theme.

Sonic Shocks: J.J (Bass) joined the band for this album, how did you all meet?

Jade: Erik and J.J. had worked together, Erik had produced one of J.J.’s bands and then later on we were on tour with The Black Dahlia Murder J.J. came out to one of the shows and our bass player at the time had some issues with touring so he wasn’t very reliable and when J.J. came to the show he said “hey I’m available, guitar, bass, whatever” that gave Erik an open window and when he came down and nailed Alex Webster’s bass lines and do all the vocal parts just like Erik does. It’s a rare breed of musician that can play and scream at the same time so J.J. fit the mould perfectly.

Sonic Shocks: Erik (Rutan) writes the majority of the music, how much input did you and J.J. have on this album?

Jade: Well Erik’s the mastermind, but J.J. had a lot of input on this album, possibly more than any other Hate Eternal member prior so it was definitely more of a collaboration this time around. I mean Shaune (Kelley) was part of the last record but not as prominently as J.J. was on this one.

Sonic Shocks: You mentioned it was much more of a collaboration on this record; what was the writing process like?

Jade: Considering we live in three different places, J.J. in Jersey, Erik in Florida and I’m in Canada. We try to do a lot of the stuff over email, sending ideas etc. It’s not till we have enough ideas that we are comfortable with that we meet up and jam because paying for flights constantly is expensive so we try and avoid that. Once we have enough material we meet up in Florida and just hammer it out.

Sonic Shocks: It was recorded in Erik’s studio in Florida; did he also produce the album?

Jade: The bulk of the work was definitely done by Erik. I think he felt he had a lot to prove on this record. Fury and Flames, production wise, got a lot of mixed criticism but I think on this one he exceeded everybody’s expectations, his own as well, so it turned out great.

Sonic Shocks: A lot of bands say that having an outsider produce the record is good because having that outside point of view really pushes the band. Do you think Hate Eternal have occasionally suffered from having someone so close to the band produce?

Jade: Well Erik has a reputation for been really thorough in the studio and for this one; no one was easing up on each other. It would have been the same environment anywhere else. We really worked hard and no half assing so I don’t think it would have been any different. Obviously his work ethic is what drives this record so if anything, it was a better idea for Erik to produce.

Sonic Shocks: The artwork was done by Paul Romano who has worked a lot with you guys; how did the ideas come about for the artwork?

Jade: Paul goes into a kind of submerged mode. He’s a very creative individual and I think you can tell from the all work he’s done that he has a very abstract, very deep style so we leave it up to him. He gets some of the music in advance and the ideas come from that.

Sonic Shocks: You played Bristol last night, and it has been a long time since you guys came to the U.K. Has the response exceeded your expectations?

Jade: The crowd last night was incredible man, I mean they were just yelling nonstop. Erik had a couple of technical issues with his guitars and we had to use some of Defiled’s gear at one point and the crowd were really patient and really cool. I was messing around on the drums and doing little solos, but they were really understanding about the situation and they stuck around after the show. We really appreciate all that.

Sonic Shocks: Considering last night and the things that have happened in the past, Hate Eternal must be one of the unluckiest bands in the world.

Jade: Well since I’ve been in the band things have been pretty smooth but I know that Erik has been through a lot of line up changes and a lot of things have happened to the band which has got to take its toll. A lot of bands would never have kept going through all the things that have happened so definitely a lot of perseverance in the past. I think now we have a solid line up I don’t think anything is going to change in the near or far future. We’re here to stay, the way we are.

Sonic Shocks: You released Haunting Abound as the first single from Phoenix… why did you choose this one?

Jade: I guess because Haunting Abound might be one of the more different tracks on the record. I mean a lot of the songs are completely different to what you’d expect out of Hate Eternal but Haunting is a haunting song and we wanted to give the fans a different vibe. We could have given them a blitzkrieg right off the bat or an epic outro style track but we decided to give something different from what they were used to. Then Lake Ablaze came out after that which more of a classic Hate Eternal track just to let the fans know we’re not going to let them down, there may be some new stuff going on but there’s definitely enough blitzkrieg to keep them happy.

Interview by Matthew Tilt

http://sonicshocks.com/HATE-ETERNAL-interview.php