George Fisher/lead vocals
Robert Barrett/guitar
Pat O’Brien/guitar
Alex Webster/bass
Paul Mazurkiewicz/drums, percussion
All Access Magazine, a one on one interview with Cannibal Corpse’s bass player Alex Webster.
Alex introduced himself, I introduced myself and we took our spot in the last corner of shade under the press tent and began the interview.
Metal Blade recording artist Cannibal Corpse had just released their CD titled, ‘Evisceration Plague’ this past February. How are fans reacting?
“It’s been really good so far. It’s actually been selling quite a bit more with this one than the ones previous. Everyone seems to have liked it. We’re the kinda band that does not change. We may try a different scale or something. The overall feeling of our music is very much Cannibal Corpse style death metal, the kind of death metal we started out with.”
I proceeded to ask about their reaction to being “shunned” as a death metal band, basically from the very beginning.
“We didn’t have a plan on what we were doing in the first place. We just wanted to make a really gory, fast, aggressive death metal band. We didn’t expect any kind of commercial success in the first place. So when we were starting to have some problems with sensor ship and things like that, it didn’t surprise us a whole lot. If anything the amount of success we did have is what surprised us more than any of the sensor ship problems.”
Reading the bands biography I learned they were being banned from performing in certain countries, and their albums were not allowed in some stores to sell because of their controversial album art and lyrics. I’ve always wondered how they dealt with that for so many years. Even now days, when things like that are more acceptable I’m sure they still feel the heat from the religious part of the population. I am really impressed with the bands attitude about the whole thing though. Talking with Alex about this issue, I got the impression that the band didn’t let politics get in their way of doing something that they loved doing and they did what they had to do, make more death metal.
Do you ever sometimes think to yourself how some of these metal bands got their names or what made them get into the horror scene? That’s something I have always pondered, especially with the bands that I am really into. And I finally got an answer from Cannibal Corpse, I asked Alex what made them go the “gory” route.
“It was just the bands we liked, like Kreator, Death, Sodom and Slayer. Those kind of albums had a lot of violence on them. I think generally when you’re making a band you kind of want to go that extra edge. Like ‘oh this band is gory, let’s make it gory a little more’.
I asked if it was more for a shock value and he responded with, “Our old singer Chris was with us in the beginning, so I can’t really speak for him. But once he was out of the band, me and our drummer Paul did most of the lyrics. We tried to make like each song is a miniature horror movie.”
While we were waiting to get into the venue, we were hanging out and talking to a couple guys that were parked next to us and I asked one of them, “If you could ask a band a question, what would it be? What would you like to know?” He said he would ask about their personal life. If they had any hobbies, family, every day stuff. I thought that was a good idea because all you really hear about is the bands new or upcoming album and how fans react to it and all of the publicity they have. So I decided to ask Alex an “everyday” question.
“What do you do when you’re not touring? Do you have any hobbies? Family?”
“Yea, I’ve got family. I’m married. I hang out with my wife and our two dogs. I don’t have any hobbies at the moment. I’ve been strictly concentrating on my music lately. I need to get another hobby actually. I’m always touring. I need to go out and go mountain biking or something. Something that’s totally different.
Alex is also in a band called “Blotted Science”, that he calls his side project.
All in all, the interview was very pleasant. On the contrary to the beliefs of others, just because you participate in a band with controversial lyrics and art, doesn’t make you a horrible person. Alex was very polite, he didn’t curse or talk about unpleasant subjects. He just answered my questions to the best of his ability and I was very pleased. To have a conversation with someone face to face, then see them on stage completely tearing up the stage with his bass, tends to give you a different perspective on people.
Thank you Alex for taking time out of your busy day to talk with All Access magazine, I appreciated it.
