With the frankly storming Dark Ages to promote, Vancouver's Bison BC have
been making their way around Europe over the last month or so, along with
Kvelertak and Coliseum. Ahead of their set in Leeds, Push to Fire caught up
with guitarist and singer James Farwell to discuss the tour, their music, and why
you really shouldn't liken them to Mastodon…
So, how has this tour been so far?
The tour has been awesome; the shows have been really good, and the dudes on the
tour (Kvelertak and Coliseum) are all awesome guys. It's been a lot of fun!
Have you had a chance to tour round Europe before, or is this the first time
you've been over here?
No, we were here in 2009 with The Ocean and Burst; we did a full month in
Europe, including two UK dates, but it's nice to be here a little bit longer this time
round.
Are there any places that you've not been to yet that you're hoping to tour next?
Well, on this tour, we were lucky enough to go to Denmark. Sweden and Norway,
and I've always wanted to go there. That was great too, because we didn't get to hit
those places last time; and also, as cheesy as it sounds, I'm excited to go to Paris too…
When you were in Norway, did Kvelertak show around some of their old
haunts?
Yes they did! We were in Oslo, and we had a day off, and… put it this way, we had
a lot of fun!
You released Dark Ages earlier this year; compared to Quiet Earth (Bison's
previous album) it sounds a lot heavier and more progressive. Is that something
you set out to do?
I think it's natural for bands to progress with each album, so I guess that's where
that comes from. (Jokingly) Maybe give it to our fourth album and then we'll start to
decline…! I think we figured out what we wanted to do a bit more… the excitement
of a record label wanting to put out your record and being able to go on tour is
awesome and very humbling, but also, it makes you think more about what other
people want, "I hope they like this…" etc. But with Dark Ages, personally, I didn't
really care; I thought a lot of people would hate the album after it was done because
it was quite a bit different than what we've done before. I think it's more of a serious
piece of work; everything was more serious, like the content, arrangement… we took
a lot more time with it.
Was the production process much different?
It wasn't that much different. The writing of it ended up being a little bit rushed;
we'd just come off tour and we had to go straight into the studio, which was a lesson
for us: we will never do that again, we will never be rushed into the studio again, we
will never work to some crazy deadline again.
It didn't suffer this time; if anything I think it added a certain tension that the album has.
Also, it was a little bit more personal, so there was more care put into it.
Was the deadline self-imposed, or did the label set it?
It's this stupid industry thing where they want a spring release, because you want to
start touring in the spring, rather than in the winter. We're just finishing our tour now;
after this stretch, I get to go home and hang out, and not live in a van… it's another
one of those dumb things, which, once again, was a lesson; we'll know for next
time…
Are there any central themes to your music?
We're not political people, by any means, and we don't wear that stuff on our
sleeves, but if you live in Vancouver, you almost have to be. There's so much crap
going on that even if you try to hide from it or ignore it, it's still there and it still
affects you. This is quite a depressing album for me; it's quite morose, but I'm OK
with that…
Who contributes what to the writing process?
The arrangement and everything is everybody; as for writing the songs, it's either
me or Dan. We have our own songs, and we bring them to practice, we show it to the
dudes, then everyone jumps in and that's when it really starts coming together.
I've read a number or articles comparing you to Mastodon and High on Fire…
(Sighs heavily)... Jesus Christ…!
Don't worry; I'm not going to do the same thing! I was actually going to ask, do
you welcome comparisons such as this, or would you prefer to be recognised on
your own terms?
No, I don't welcome them, quite frankly! I'm one of those polite Canadians that
will just nod my head and think "I don't really understand, but whatever", but really,
it's idiotic to compare us, especially with Mastodon… I'm a musician, I listen to their
music, but I can't fucking play that!
So do you have quite a broad range of influences?
Oh fuck yeah, and current metal is definitely NOT one of them. I like the bands
that we tour with because I like getting to know people and figuring out what they're
about, but there's a lot of fake, poseur bullshit in metal at the moment. I mean, it got
hip for a while... that's disgusting! I'm 38 years old; I'm not looking to be Mr Cool
anytime soon, because I've never been that guy…
I was actually going to ask if there were any current bands out there that you
particularly like, but I guess maybe not…!
That's also such a hard question… I don't know; I love the new Coliseum record, I
love the direction that they're going in. It's like "I don't give a fuck": they're changing
things up, and I respect that 100%.
What's been the highlight of being in Bison thus far?
Now that's any easy question: the highlight of being in Bison is that we're a
travelling band, and I get to come to Leeds, talk to you guys, play a rock show in
a place I've never been before.
I NEVER thought I would get to travel like this, especially in a band, so that is the highlight. Travelling, meeting people, and playing
music for different crowds every night.
So, once this tour's over, you mentioned you're going home; is that going to be an
extended break?
Well, it's Christmas time, so we'll go back and hang out with our families, and
we've got to go back to work…
So you guys still work full time then as well as doing Bison?
Oh, fuck yeah! It's the funniest thing; it's very flattering when people talk to me and
they're like, "you have a job?", but being in a band in this day and age… Holy crap, it
is definitely a labour of love for a long time, and that's how you can tell the bands that
do it for the right reasons. I don't have no guitar-shaped pool! I like the tunes, I like
hanging out with my friends, and I like travelling, so at the very least I get to do this.
Sure, I have to go home and go back to work, but there's always the next tour to look
forward to!
So finally, have you got any plans for next year? How about any festival
appearances?
Oh, that's definitely something we're looking to do… Yeah, we're cooking
something up right now. We're going to take our time over the next album. We're very
proud of Dark Ages; it's a good record, so we want to ride it for some time…
