Editor’s Note: It was an awesome time discussing “Lanterns” with vocalist Brock Lindal of 36 Crazyfists! They recently released their latest offering via Spinefarm Records and they spent some significant time touring with DevilDriver, Cane Hill, and Tetrarch. We had to reschedule it because one of my contributors was going to interview him as his local band, Katastrophes Tomb was opening the show at the Val Air Ballroom in Des Moines, and based upon the time slot of the interview and Katastrophes Tomb soundcheck, we couldn’t make it work. Special thanks goes out to Jon and Amy for setting the reschedule up with Brock of 36 Crazyfists. Without further delay, here is my interview with Brock of 36 Crazyfists!
M.T.C.: What does a day in the life on the road for 36 Crazyfists look like?
Brock: Loading in the club around noon, I have a quick meeting with the tour manager, I introduce myself to the promoter, and pretty much my day is done after that until it’s stage time. I try to venture out if it’s a city that I really enjoy and things that I’ve enjoyed in the past. I try to keep it fresh, but a lot of times, it’s just hurry up and wait, it’s kind of like Groundhog’s Day of some sort.
M.T.C.: Doesn’t seem as glamorous as Hollywood makes it out to be?
Brock: Probably not! After all of these years of still doing it, it’s a lot of fun and that’s the reason we are still doing it, so it depends on what tour you are on, and that you’re with really good friends, it could be a million different things to make one tour different from the other tours.
M.T.C.: How did the tour with DevilDriver go?
Brock: It’s great!
M.T.C.: What have been some crazy memories that you’ve had with DevilDriver?
Brock: I don’t know about anything too crazy, but once you’re touring with your old friends, it makes it a lot more fun. We’ve been out with the DevilDriver boys several times. We’ve toured together in Europe, and we’ve toured together in Canada and the United States, so old friends and still making memories with great shows. We’re grateful that they took us out again, its more fun touring with bands that you’ve toured with in the past.
M.T.C.: For those that haven’t picked up a copy of “Lanterns” yet, what can people expect from it?
Brock: Really, it’s just another chapter in the life of our band, dark, moody, heavy rock-n-roll album, I don’t know if it’s really new direction that I can pinpoint, but it’s got a couple of acoustic tracks on it, it’s a good balance of heavy and not-so-heavy, so we’re excited with it. We’re just grateful to still be doing it and all of the people have been super positive with the two singles that we’ve released from it. We’re just happy to be back out on the road and showing it to the people, who really dig what we do every night, everything is cool man!
M.T.C.: When you approach that studio, what is the mindset that you have, and say that you’re not feeling it when you’re in the studio, what gets you motivated?
Brock: When I’m there, hopefully most of the time I’m pretty prepared, so that goes with listening to the demos for months before we actually begin to record them, so the mindset is to speak clearly and get it out, and get the whole thing out emotion wise, and try to capture the moment, capture the lyrics, capture all of the things that are necessary to convey the message of what I’m trying to get across, mostly for myself, there’s some self-therapy during the process as well. Just trying to be as prepared as possible. That’s what my mindset is usually.
M.T.C.: What’s the single “Death Eater” talking about?
Brock: The whole record is about when you take the title of the album “Lanterns”, it’s a metaphor for a light, a beam, or a way out, and “Death Eater” is about a man trying to put one foot in front of the other, leave the past in the past, and build on to a more positive future. That’s basically the inspirational surroundings of the entire album.
“Death Eater” by 36 Crazyfists
M.T.C.: You are endorsed with PCK HCKY! Tell us about some hockey and how did that endorsement come about?
Brock: I am the biggest hockey fan in the music industry, hands down! *laughs* Self-proclaimed of course. I have a blog that I wrote called “Snipe City” for Metal Insider, and an old friend who runs Metal Insider told me that there was a guy from PCK HCKY that wanted to collaborate with me on a blog together, so I met Matt, who owns PCK HCKY, so we started to write together, and then just through that, we started repping the PCK HCKY stuff, it’s been a good relationship, and we always look forward to seeing them when we come through Lansing, Michigan, and see what they got on the horizon for their new line. They’re really cool people and they’re doing some really cool hockey apparel.
M.T.C.: Who is your favorite hockey team?
Brock: Philadelphia Flyers!
M.T.C.: What does 2018 look like for 36 Crazyfists?
Brock: We are on the road until Halloween, we are taking November and December off, and starting January 2018, we start our U.K./Europe tour, which goes on to Australia and Japan, that’s as far as I’ve seen so far, we’ll be on the road I’m sure until next September. We will be doing the European festivals in June again, something big in the States again, hopefully in the spring. It’s just going to be criss-crossing the globe. Just trying to spread the word.
M.T.C.: Fun question for you, you see Donald Trump in the mosh pit how do you react?
Brock: *laughs* I see Donald Trump in the mosh pit, I guess I would be most curious to see how his hair would hold up. That would be the most interesting part of that entire thing. It’s pretty damn interesting, Donald Trump in a mosh pit. I’m going to be wondering how that hair looks.
M.T.C.: I’m giving you the floor to add anything else that you want to add in regards to the band or “Lanterns”
Brock: A big thanks to everyone who picked up the record already! We’re very grateful. I hope to see everyone at the shows! Just a big thanks to everyone who is interested enough to pick it up!
M.T.C.: Thank you so much Brock, and we will talk soon!
Brock: Thanks for the coverage and I appreciate it!
And there you have it! Thanks again to Brock for taking the time to interview with us! Starting in January 2018, 36 Crazyfists will be touring in Europe. Check out the tour dates below!
Thursday, January 18th- Cathouse in Glasgow, Scotland
Friday, January 19th- Academy 3 in Manchester, England
Saturday, January 20th- The Academy in Birmingham, England
Sunday, January 21st- Islington Academy in London, England
Tuesday, January 23rd- La Maroquinerie in Paris, France
Wednesday, January 24th- P60 in Amstelveen, Netherlands
Thursday, January 25th- AB Club in Brussels, Belgium
Friday, January 26th- Jungle in Cologne, Germany
Saturday, January 27th- Dynamo in Eindhoven, Netherlands
Sunday, January 28th- Die Stadtmitte in Karlsruhe, Germany
Monday, January 29th- Werk 21 in Zurich, Switzerland
Wednesday, January 31st- Sala Razzmatazz 2 in Barcelona, Spain
Thursday, February 1st- Sala Rocket in Bilbao, Spain
Friday, February 2nd- Nazca Events Club in Madrid, Spain
Sunday, February 4th- Legend in Cesano Boscone, Italy
Tuesday, February 6th- Backstage Halle in Munich, Germany
Thursday, February 8th- Randal in Bratislava, Slovakia
Friday, February 9th- Hydrozagadka in Warsaw, Poland
Saturday, February 10th- Rock Cafe in Prague, Czech Republic
Sunday, February 11th- Musik and Freiden in Berlin, Germany
Click here for tickets and further information, and to let 36 Crazyfists know that you will be there!
Find 36 Crazyfists at the following locations:
Click here in order to pick up a copy of “Lanterns” or download it on Spotify!
