Interview with Age Of Evil vocalist and guitarist Jeremy Goldberg

The heavy metal act Age Of Evil has been extremely busy lately. With the release of their latest EP, Get Dead, the band is preparing to take their brand of music out on the road. I recently caught up with vocalist and guitarist Jeremy Goldberg and spoke with him about the band and their new release, Get Dead and what we can expect from Age Of Evil in 2010.

Now that your brand new CD Get Dead is complete how do you feel about it and are you satisfied with the outcome?
Jeremy: The outcome is unbelievable. The feedback has been great and everyone seems to love it. We received the 2010 band to watch from Revolver Magazine and we were featured on iTunes for four weeks in a row. The response has been as good as we could have hoped for.

What was the writing process like for this CD?
Jeremy: It is usually me and Jordan, usually we will sit down and write some guitar riffs and things like that and then we bring it to the rest of the band to work on together. We write lyrics to the music afterwards based on the vibe of the songs.

How quick are you guys in the studio? Can you usually knock it out in a few takes or does it take a bit longer?
Jeremy: The recording for this EP went really quickly. When we decided to do the Skid Row song, “Slave To The Grind,” we did not know how to play it so I took out my phone and we learned it by ear, and then literally recorded it a few hours later in like one or two takes.

Give me some insight into the title of the EP, Get Dead. Is there any special meaning to it?
Jeremy: It is an inside joke that started between us a couple of years ago. The first time I remember seeing the phrase was when Jordan wrote it on one of his guitar cases. We all thought it was kind of a funny phrase and might be a good name for a song or an album title. When we listened to the music that we were writing we thought it would be cool. While we take everything in this band seriously and we are very professional, we also like to have fun. The lyrics are supposed to be fun and entertaining and they are not supposed to be taken word for word or literally.

When you guys started writing this EP did you have a preconceived idea of what you wanted it to sound like or did it just evolve naturally?
Jeremy: It evolved naturally. The two new songs that we wrote for the EP are pretty heavy and pretty fast but they still have melody to them as well. It is all about the groove, attitude and melody for us. At the time, we wrote the songs I think all of us were pissed off for some reason or another and that is what came out naturally. You can definitely hear the aggression in the songs.

When you began to put the EP together were you concerned at all about commercial success?
Jeremy: For this EP we were not really concerned with commercial success. The new songs we are writing for the full-length album will have a more commercial feel and will appeal to a broader audience although it will not be any of that sterile radio stuff you hear all the time. It will not be like that at all but it will be kind of like Megadeth meets Van Halen or something like that. With this EP it was just natural; whatever came out that is what we did.

Which song on the EP do you feel the most satisfied with?
Jeremy: I always go back and forth between “Get Dead” and “Cruel Intention”.

How did you guys decide to cover Skid Rows, “Slave To The Grind” and Judas Priest “Hellion/Electric Eye”? Were there other covers you considered?
Jeremy: We played in London with Girl School about a year ago. We wanted to play them a song that they would appreciate. We did not want to do an original song because they would not necessarily know that so we thought about doing a Judas Priest cover or an Iron Maiden cover. “Slave To The Grind” was really last minute. We just wanted something that was really aggressive and had a really good melody. It was not really about choosing a Skid Row cover it was more about choosing a really good song. We also did a cover of “Still Of The Night” by Whitesnake but we did not have time to finish it so it was not put on the album.

I really like your cover of “Electric Eye”.
Jeremy: Thanks that was really fun to do. We pretty much just recorded it like we do live and that gave us that raw energy.

What is the toughest lesson you have learned in the studio?
Jeremy: Well, making every little thing completely 100 percent perfect is not what it is really about. It is all about the emotion and the attitude. We are not really into all the Pro Tools kind of things such as auto tuning or punching in guitars. We always do things as raw as possible so that when we go to play live the songs sound as good as or better than the album. This is really important because if you can’t play your songs live you probably should not have recorded them to begin with.

What about live? What is the toughest lesson you have learned in the live setting?
Jeremy: Every time we play live we just bring it like 150 percent. That is probably the most important aspect for us when playing live. You can listen to the album at home and you can enjoy it but when you go to a live show, you want to be entertained. We play with all kinds of bands and learn all kinds of things from them.

What are your touring plans for 2010?
Jeremy: We just got back from an East Coast tour and we will be playing this month in Las Vegas. Hopefully we will be doing some shows in Los Angeles after that. In the summer, we will probably be doing the European festival route that we usually do. The two biggest things for us this year are touring and finishing the full length album.

Any closing words?
Jeremy: Thanks for the interview. For anyone that has not picked up our EP it is only five buck and it is twenty-five minutes of ass kicking music. You can keep up with us on our social networks and you can even download our free iPod touch or iPhone Apps so you can stay up to date with us.  [ END ]