Circuses Without Bread: Torture Garden Interview

Liverpool based experimental metal band Torture Garden are preparing to issue their second LP, politically inspired double CD The Great Depression. Nerve met up with them for an interview.

By Richard Lewis

Liverpool metallers Torture Garden are set to release ambitious double-disc LP The Great Depression. Their second full-length collection, it is a sprawling set of industrial/experimental tracks heavily influenced by current social/political events and laced with uncompromising lyrics.

Comprised of founder brothers Adam and Matt Ford (singer and guitarist respectively) and joined on bass by Pete Lovering, the band take their name from the 1899 Octave Mirbeau novel of the same title. A scathing attack on the corruption of the French state and society, the book touches on themes that would nowadays be described as anti-capitalist, the latter-day versions of which dominate The Great Depression.

"It's extremely political", Adam says of the LP, sat in a city centre cafe. "Politics are my obsession, everything I do is an extension of that and it's a way of sharing my political thoughts. Not in a direct way necessarily, but through metaphors." "This album is a lot more direct than previous things we’ve done’, Matt says. "Our last album (Dead Romantic 2011) was more philosophical, inspired by the Romantic poets. This one is very much of the now, when there’s been an economic crisis been going on for five years."

Where the album title immediately summons up images of the world economy post 1929 Wall Street Crash, and to a lesser extent the ongoing debate whether the world is experiencing one presently, Adam drew the term from a different source. ‘"I came up with the title before the economic crisis, it’s mentioned in Fight Club. ‘We have no economic crisis, our Great Depression is our lives’ and I got that parallel" the singer explains.

While the lion’s share of Torture Garden’s lyrics are socially/politically themed, the vast majority of contemporary bands steer well clear of the subject. "I think people are scared of politics generally", Adam suggests. "It’s not something people talk about or form organisations about like they did in the seventies and eighties when there was lots of political music, so it’s gonna find it’s reflection in the culture."

The recent furore concerning the passing of a certain former Prime Minister and a song from The Wizard of Oz demonstrates the depth of feeling over politics and music being mentioned in the same sentence. "You can’t even have a mildly critical song the radio", Adam states incredulously. "The recent number two single [Ding Dong the Witch is Dead] wasn’t played ‘cos the BBC didn’t like the reasons why people bought it. It was written way before Thatcher, it doesn’t even mention her. There’s no way the BBC will play anything critical of the government or the current political set-up.’

Citing the industrial grind of Godflesh, Laibach and Ministry in addition to opaque US proggists Tool as inspirations, old-school influences also permeate the band’s sound. Sepultura - the Brazilian metallers who found huge success without having to dilute their sound - are cited as a treasured influence. "Max Cavalera (former lead singer) is so passionate in his delivery, he wanted to experiment all the time and expand, each album is different. They were very politically minded, them and Rage Against the Machine were one of the last ones to do it that directly in metal", Adam enthuses.

The band who were largely responsible for inventing the genre, Black Sabbath also come in for particular praise. "The background they came from, industrial Birmingham, they were true to it. That apart from their music is inspiration to me. They weren’t pretending to be something they weren’t, they were being honest and writing about what meant something to them", Matt states.

Closer to home meanwhile two of Liverpool’s most successful exports in recent years are saluted. "It’s baffling how little attention metal in Liverpool gets, how small an audience there is for it", Matt says. "Liverpool has produced Carcass and Anathema and we have elements of both."

The latter day ‘post-hardcore’ denizens that currently make up the pages of Kerrang and Metal Hammer don’t interest the pair. "Metal for me wasn’t about trying to fit in, if anything it’s the opposite of that. The kid who hasn’t been invited to the party stood outside wishing he was in there", Adam explains. "Metal is undoubtedly an extreme form of music, to be seriously into it you’ve got to be somewhat extreme yourself. You’re not gonna get any Lib Dem bands are you?’ Adam asks rhetorically. "You’re not gonna get any indie-schmindie bands", Matt adds.

Self-produced and recorded at various locations including Sandhills Studios, The Great Depression has taken over a year to come to fruition. "The first recordings were done about twelve months ago, some of the riffs and ideas date back about ten years", Matt says. "It’s just been a case of finding the right use for them then piecing them together".

In a practise relatively uncommon practice to metal, samples feature heavily on the album. To give the material an extra, contemporary edge, the snippets of dialogue and found sounds will be sourced as near to the LP release date as possible. "There’s gonna be a lot of samples on there, some we’ve already established", Matt explains. "The last few days before the release date we’re gonna collect as many samples as we can that are relevant to current events and stick them in."

While collating and incorporating all the pieces so near to the deadline is an ambitious task, the most audacious element of the project is its length. "It’s gonna be at least 100 minutes long, it’s gonna be a double-disc edition’, Matt states. The move is especially daring for a grassroots group as the manufacturing costs of the CDs and the packaging almost double with the XL running time. Any thoughts of jettisoning some of the material and truncating the running time to eighty minutes to fit on a single CD was a non-starter for the group. "It’s gotta be done really", Matt says. "It’s what we need to do", Adam nods. "It’s all the ideas we’ve had around the subject, it’s gotta be done this way."

In line with the extended running time, the track lengths fall anywhere between just shy of three minutes on to cuts that stretch out to twelve. Observation piece 'Friday Night on Hope Street', from demos disc Rotisserie Of Pain (inspired by Adam sat watching people from the steps of the Catholic cathedral) stretches into double figures. "The idea was that these people are tired and going home from work and the buzz of Friday night. But then, what if there was a nuclear bomb go off right now and everybody died?’", Adam suggests. "A nice cheery thought!", he laughs uproariously.

Adorned with a striking cover entitled 'Resurgence' (right) created by local artist and Nerve contributor John O’Neill and dedicated to the Liverpool dockers, the new album’s artwork is a visual summation of the bleak but hopeful attitude the music within exudes. Aside from physical CD releases, the entire album is being made available for streaming and free download. "We’ve taken the position that we do this because we want to do it and we’re never gonna make money off it, so fuck it, give it away", Adam shrugs.

In addition to the media landscape informing Adam’s lyrics, his recent work at demos and rallies has inspired many of the tracks. "I’ve become a bit of a public speaker and found myself really enjoying that’", the singer explains. "Bizarre as it sounds, when I’m doing music it is a public speech and a political speech on this album. I have a specific message to get across and I want to confront people with what I think through the vocals. The medium is different but the message is the same. All the time I’m been writing these lyrics I’ve had a political perspective."

In line with this the lyricist takes a positive view on the long-standing debate over politically motivated lyrics possibly altering the social landscape. "It contributes to a culture which can contribute to a movement which is a different thing", Adam states. "It gives people songs to sing on demonstrations or listen to on their iPods on the way to demonstrations or whatever it is. Culture can affect politics as well as make people see things in a different light."

The Great Depression will be released on July 1st.

Check out the trailer to the LP here: http://tinyurl.com/nnxe2zg
Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/torture-garden
Torture Garden can also be followed on Facebook, Twitter, and Reverbnation.

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