Carcass, one of the pioneers of the grindcore genre, released its last album ‘Surgical Steel’ in 2013, and the band will be soon be seen performing in India for the first time at the BIG69, metal music festival in Mumbai. Founding member, bassist and frontman of Carcass, Jeff Walker speaks to Radioandmusic.com about the band’s upcoming performance in India.
This is probably the first time you have come to India, how excited are you?
It is my second time. I don’t do “excited” ha ha! We still have not picked up our visas yet so there is still time for this to fall through!
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What do you think about the metal scene in India?
I don’t have an opinion. I have no real knowledge of it. This is a trip into the “unknown”.
Do you have any musical idols?
No. There are people I admire, but I do not idolise anybody. That is part and parcel of the reason I play in a band – I think I can do better. That is not arrogance, just artistic determination.
Any special songs for the Indian audience?
No. We have a set that we have performed in the USA, Japan, South America, China etc. We have never played in India, so why would we play “special songs”? Given that we have not performed any songs, then surely any song we do will be “special” for the audience, no?
Any places to travel in India, post your performance?
Hopefully we see a bit of Mumbai whilst we are out there – we are only there for a few days.
Do you agree with the popular perception that Carcass created the genre “melodic death metal”?
Well we influenced bands that DID go on to exploit that term, but we do not consider any of our albums “melodic death metal”, nor grindcore, nor death and roll. We are just a multi facetted death metal band.
What are your memories with your previous band members?
A strange question. I really do not know how to answer that. I am too preoccupied with the present to mull over “ex members”. I am still friends with them all so…..
You released ‘Surgical Steel’ after a gap of more than a decade, and got some amazing responses. Did that surprise you?
Well it could have gone either way – I was prepared for either a fantastic OR a hostile response. I tend to consider every contingency – so, no, no real “surprise”. We thought we would make a VERY strong album and the response has bore that out.
Have you heard Indian music and who is your favorite artiste from here?
I do not want to appear ignorant, but obviously I have heard Indian music, and its influence on artists like say the Beatles, but I do not claim to be a fan of any artists.
Tell us about the next album/single that you are working on. Any collaboration on the cards with any Indian artistes?
We have not started any writing in earnest; we have and are too busy touring. That said I think Bill and Dan will be getting together shortly to start jamming on new riffs. We have no collaborations with ANY other artists planned, Indian or not. CARCASS is not a novelty act!
Where do you go from here for your performance?
Back home, some time off before shows in Greece – hopefully this will give us time to work on some new material. We would like to get an EP together in time for when we play Japan again in September.
