Metal Anarchy

During a recent interview with Sh!t Talk Reviews, Shadows Fall vocalist Brian Fair discussed the band’s plans for new music. The frontman also confirmed that the band have already secured a label home for their next release.

Fair said the following about the new label deal:

“We’ve got something locked up. I don’t know if I’m allowed to announce yet, but we definitely have a great partner for the music. We have a very progressive kind of view. They’re gonna let us kind of release it in a way that makes sense. So, yeah, we’re very excited that we got kind of the infrastructure.

It’s very different now. The traditional sort of record deal, it doesn’t have to be the way it used to be. There was such an industry standard of, like, record a full-length, tour for a year and a half, record a full-length, tour for a year and a half, that kind of cycle. And it’s been totally decimated now, ’cause you don’t need to do the… The first-week [sales] numbers don’t mean what they used to, all that type of shit. So it’s cool. But, yeah, we’ve got a good partnership that hopefully we can announce soon.”

He continued when asked about the writing sessions:

“I’m very excited to be making new SHADOWS FALL music, which we’d always thought would happen, but didn’t know for sure. When we kind of stopped touring, it wasn’t ’cause we didn’t wanna make music together or didn’t want to play. We were so burnt out. Life was taking different turns. People were having kids. Jon [Donais] ended up in ANTHRAX, so he was in the ‘Big Four’ [of 1980s thrash metal] all of a sudden. So once we finally got together to start playing shows again a few years ago, the idea of new music came up almost right away. And Jon just had a stockpile of riffs. And so far we’ve probably, instrumentally, got, say, seven-ish songs recorded that are pretty done. I know there’s gonna be some overdubs and some candy tracks. Vocally, I’ve recorded two all the way through that are done and then have probably four more that are written that are, I’d say, 90 percent there. There’s always changes while we track, like little new ideas that pop up, but it’s going along super well.

We’re gonna take our time, ’cause there’s really no deadline involved. Also, I don’t think we’re gonna release it all at once. I think now, thankfully, modern ways of doing things, you don’t have to just drop a 10-song album. You can do a few just like little chunks here and there. So we’re hoping to probably get some music out late fall, I’m hoping, at least a couple songs. And my plan, if it all goes according to me, would be to do that, drop two or three songs every chunk and then put ’em all out on vinyl at the end like as one. So in my world, that’s what we’re doing. We’ll see if it actually happens. But, yeah, getting back with [producer] Zeuss [Chris Harris] is just awesome. We’ve been working with him, really, since the demos before [2000’s] ‘Of One Blood’ [album]. And we’re recording most of it at Matt [Bachand]’s house as well. So when I get back to Massachusetts, it’s super comfortable, just get in his basement and just work on tunes. And it’s been a blast. So I’m heading back for the New England Metal Fest with OVERCAST and I’m probably gonna do a few more vocal sessions during that weekend as well. So hopefully things keep moving the way they are and we’ll get some new tunes out hopefully before the end of the year. That’s if everything goes perfect.”

He also added the following when asked if the band are officially back to active duty:

“It’s not going anywhere, but I don’t think we’ll ever be the full-time touring band we were. It’s a lot of family stuff and people have just got different things going on. Jon, being in ANTHRAX, that’s gonna be kind of his main gig most of the time. Jason [Bittner], yeah, he left OVERKILL, but he’s also got CATEGORY 7 with John Bush and Phil Demmel and all those guys, and that new record’s killer. So they’ll be busy with that. But we’re definitely gonna keep playing shows. We’re gonna keep doing festivals. We probably will hopefully do some short tours here and there, especially when new music comes out, but we’re gonna kind of pick and choose our battles, which is, again, also a nice place to be in.

When the band was our full-time job, you couldn’t stay at home for too long or there wasn’t gonna be a home to come home to. You’ve gotta go out and grind. So it’s nice to not have that pressure, but also to do it because it’s fun again. Each show that we’ve done have all been blockbusters in our minds because there’s just enough time between each one that you get that excited again. It ramps up and then it’s just like an explosion.

Me personally, I was so burnt out by the time we stopped touring in 2015. We’d been on a 15-year run where I hadn’t been home for more than a few weeks through that whole thing. And physically, my neck was shot, my back was shot. I was burnt mentally as well, so it was time to come home for a while. But then, now I’m, like, ‘Okay, cool. Let’s go have some fun.’

The only way to survive in a band like us… We’re not gonna sell 10 million records and have all that stuff. So you’ve gotta go out there and stay on the road to keep your name in front of people, keep everything exciting. You’ve gotta sell t-shirts — that’s how you make your money, [by staying] out there on the road. And, yeah, if a label is gonna spend a bunch of money to drop a record and do videos, they’re, like, ‘You’ve gotta go promote it now. You’ve gotta get out there and hit it.’

What’s driving us to record now is that we love the songs we’re writing. It’s not ’cause there’s a deadline. And the shows we’re playing is because we’re just, like, ‘That sounds like a party, man. Let’s do it.’”

He then circled back to the new label deal:

“It’s totally changed things where they’ve kind of realized their best role is as a promotional partner and a manufacturer, if you’re doing vinyl or whatever. CDs, they still make ’em, I guess, but not in the numbers they used to. And a lot of them downsized, because they had to. So it’s more about partnering with the band and label relationship and finding a way to make it make sense for everyone.

The old model doesn’t work. It’s broken. You can’t just throw money at things and think it’s gonna hit. People have too many choices. You can put out music yourself, so there’s definitely an oversaturation, unfortunately, as well because of that. So there’s just so much content, you’ve gotta find new and innovative ways to share it and keep it special. And I think the labels that are surviving and thriving are the ones who are flexible, willing to evolve, willing to work with the artists’ vision as opposed to just, ‘Cool, man. Let’s stick to the old method.’”

[via Blabbermouth]