Welcome to In Conversation, a special interview column on the site where we sit down with artists and dive deep into everything music. This week, Joe and Jack with James McHenry of Blind Equation to discuss DEATH AWAITS, the world of cybergrind, and working with the likes of ZOMBIESHARK!, Rat Jesu, and Soulkeeper.
Joe: Now that the album is out, how are you feeling?
James: It’s kind of crazy, because it’s an album that I’ve been kind of sitting on to songs for quite a while; a third of the album was written between 2020 and early 2021. And then the rest of it was, it was basically the instrumentals finished at the beginning of 2022. I’ve been sitting on this material for a while. It’s just kind of crazy, having it out there and finally hearing everyone’s thoughts on it. It’s been overwhelmingly pretty positive, or people have just been like, “I don’t know what’s going on.” I’m really happy for it to be out there.
Joe: You got a few bits, like a Bandcamp daily, which was quite cool.
James: That was crazy. I did not expect that. Honestly, that was very surreal… Album of the day, fucking crazy.
Jack: What has it been like working with the other artists on DEATH AWAITS and previous records? DeathTripa, ZOMBIESHARK! and the other artists are on the record, did you write with them in mind and how did the features come about?
James: All of the features have been kind of hand-picked by myself, as I finished the instrumentals. I’ve picked some features while I’m writing the lyrics, and for example, that clean part where Rat Jesu comes in. I was writing my own part and I didn’t really like anything I was coming up with, and it was really inspired by Rat Jesu. So I was just kind of just like, “I’m gonna hit up Rat Jesu for this. She’s definitely the one for the job.“
With ZOMBIESHARK!, him and I are still really good friends. We had been talking a lot at that point and I featured on his album so it felt like he had to feature on mine. I didn’t expect like him to like add cleans or anything like that, but when he sent it back to me I was like, “Holy shit.” Because of that I redid the entire mix; he redid his feature. When he sends it to me redone it was even better, and it was really fucking sick. Then I was just like, “damn, I gotta step up my game vocally,” and then I redid all my vocals.
It’s really cool. I really like being able to work with other artists, even though sometimes I’m a little bit of control freak. Just seeing what other artists can bring, what life they can bring into songs that I already have, you know, in my head, and having a turnout in a way that you know, I didn’t expect and I love is really cool.
Joe: On the flip side to that, you recently featuered on Soulkeeper’s record. How did that come about?
James: I got a text from Eric Soulkeeper one time. A year or two ago, actually. Saying like, “hey, I want you to feature on the album.” Then Scott sent me like the part, but because I procrastinate a lot I didn’t get round to it. My other band, which is a hardcore band called Prevention, we were on tour and we’re in Minneapolis, and we crash at Jeff Scott from Soulkeeper’s place and it was like 1am. He really wanted to record the feature. So I’m in his vocal booth, which is also sort of in the bathroom, while everyone else in production was trying to sleep. I was in the bathroom, recording the feature. I learned the feature like on the spot, too. I think I kind of crushed it for being 1am and having like, half warmed up too.
Joe: You having a tour with Dreamwell coming up soon? What are you expecting from that tour?
James: It’s gonna be very sick, but I feel like there’s been a strange going on where we like fit really well on emo screamo bills. Even though I feel like our music is very like the opposite ends — it’s very digital and processed — while a lot of those other genres instrumentally are a lot more raw and very human. However, I feel vocally and lyrically we are very similar; we’re both very emotional and vulnerable, and there is where I feel the crossover comes.
It’s been really cool, so I think all those shows are gonna be great. They’re all in cities that we have played before and have always gotten like a really good reception. Except we’ve never played Fargo and our last time in Pittsburgh was like alright, but I think this one is going to be really good. And then like Minneapolis, Indianapolis and Milwaukee I know are all going to be bangers so yeah. It’ll be a really good run I’m very excited.
Joe: Why do you think cyber grind has seen more growth in America, but not in Europe or the UK?
James: Maybe a lot of the kind of origin or like legacy artists of cybergrind, Nintendo-core or whatever —— they all originated in America. Horse The Band and Genghis Tron [etcetera]. Chiptune’s way more popular in America than it is in Europe, but also Europe’s more into their breakcore and like, EDM. Those styles are huge over there.
I hope it grows in the UK so we can tour there. Maybe just one individual has to do it and do it good, as this is such a niche genre, and it’s been kind of dead for so many years too. It’s just some kid with a computer who likes metal and wants to make it on their computer without any real instrumentals but with still something going on.
Jack: You have vinyl for DEATH AWAITS. Do you see physical media being something that continues in the future?
James: Oh, absolutely. I feel it was just never a thing that was there for cybergrind and for the longest period of time, because a lot of it was just Myspace and sharing between friends. Back then, no cybergrind band was signed to the label except for like Genghis Tron on Relapse. It’s really cool that now vinyl has become more accessible and making it easier for people to order CDs, or even make them at home. Same with tapes, to see those very online genres come to life on a physical media format. I feel like it’s just kind of the beginning of that. ZOMBIESHARK! was one of the first artists to put out vinyl for a cybergrind release, and I remember that being a huge deal. And I feel a lot of artists, like myself, were kind of encouraged to put out more physical media because of that, and that inspired a lot of that. It is also thanks to BigMoneyCybergrind providing funding for other artists to be able to put out physical media when they may not have been able to by themselves. It’s incredible that pretty much every cybergrind release now has physical media, as that was not the case for the longest time.
Jack: I want to know, in your mind, what it is that makes cybergrind special?
James: I feel like one of the things that makes us special is that anyone can do it really. And it’s a very accessible way to play heavy music without getting a guitar and all the gear that comes with it. You can do it all on your computer and have it all aesthetically work. And I feel like it’s also just an approach to make heavy music on your computer without trying to make it sound authentic, to have it purposely sound very electronic robotic, noisy, and chaotic, and it’s really awesome. That’s one of the huge things: whether it has blast beats or whether it has guitars or not, I feel like you can define cybergrind in that way. The way I see it is just heavy music made out of your computer that kind of breaks the boundaries of normal heavy music norms in a way.
Joe: What are your favourite releases from this year so far?
James: One definitely has to be Dealer’s Choice by Dealers of God. It’s ridiculous. I don’t know how to describe its very weird mix of different styles of hip hop. It’s kind of irony rap, but it’s not in the same way. It’s also comedic but entrancing and mesmerising at the time same. They will throw in a random sample or a humorous part while not taking you out of the zone of the album. The new Soulkeeper and fromjoy albums, [too]. The fromjoy album is insane, and has been everything I wanted from a breakcore, Breathe Carolina-style metal album. I love the band and the album so much. Both of those are sick.
Many thanks to James for having a chat with us and answering our questions, you can order their new record DEATH AWAITS here, and read our review for it here.