Push to Fire: Q&A with Lock Up

Push to Fire Q&A: Lock Up
by Leo Kindred
Lock Up
Grindcore supergroup Lock Up are back with their first studio album in nearly a decade. Now with new record Necropolis Transparent the band, whose members boast an impressive CV including, At The Gates, Dimmu Borgir, Pentagram & Napalm Death, are ready to unleash a storm of death metal grind once more.
In true grindcore fashion, Lock Up bassist and UK metal titan Shane Embury spoke to Push To Fire, giving short sharp answers on short sharp songs in a rapid fire interview.

Cheers for agreeing to talk to us, how are things with Lock Up at the moment?
Doing a lot of press for the new record and getting ready for our show at the Obscene Extreme festival in the Czech Republic in July.
Is the new record Necropolis Transparent ready to be let loose on the listeners of the world? What can we look forward to, more furious death-grind I hope?
I would say the production is heavier yet cleaner and the songs are fast and furious but a little longer here and there, and style wise we have brought in some thrash and death metal to the chaos also.
How did you come to point where you wanted to write a new album after such a long gap since your last album Hate Breeds Suffering? Was it difficult recording a full length together after such a gap?
Well we had to deal with the unfortunate death of our guitar player Jesse Pintado, after that we did not want to continue. It's only in the last couple of years with getting our new guitar player Anton that we felt the urge to record another album. It wasn't difficult for the new album musically as I wrote a lot of the earlier material and Anton is well versed in classic riffing so with Nick (Barker, drums) we put it all together perfectly.
When you all get together what are you aiming for with Lock Up that is different from say, Napalm Death?
I would say musically it's darker than Napalm Death is and appeals to our old school boyish nature.
Who or what inspires you musically?
Lots of early and new grind bands and horror soundtracks.
You all have been involved with a large number of hugely important bands which includes Napalm Death, At The Gates, Pentagram, Disfear, Testament...how important is Lock Up to you?
It's important to all of us, to me I get to express myself lyrically more than with Napalm and it's not as politicaly motivated lyrically as Napalm and that appeals to me somewhat also.
What happened with the Maryland Deathfest, I'd heard you'd had to cancel?
We had problems getting our US visa's in time, we have them now so we hope to get over there as soon as we can.
Given Lock Up members are involved with several other projects does time management between different band commitments ever become tough to handle?
At times the schedule can be really difficult but that is the nature of the beats unfortunately. I am happy we got to do the album so let's just hope we can play some shows.
I read your new album features former vocalist Peter Tägtgren of Hypocrisy, what was it like working with him again and why did you bring him into the new album?
I loved Peter's voice and I always said that if we did another record that I wanted Peter on the album. Originally I would have liked him to sing on more of the songs but he was commited to the new Pain record but what he did was imense and it is the icing on the cake for me.
Has it been tough continuing as a band with the sad passing away of guitarist Jesse Pintado in 2006?
We didn't want to carry on after Jesse's death and the band was quite disfunctional then as well anyways, so it was only when we asked by the Damnation Festival in the UK to play that we considered it really. We feel it's the right move forward but it was and still is a delicate situation.
Who's the best grind band in your opinion?
Fuck knows. Your asking me? I loved Nasum.
Does the release of the new album signal you'll be more active and touring regularly?
I sure as hell hope so. It was a lot of fun playing the shows we did in Europe last year so more to come!
Necropolis Transparent is released July 1st via Nuclear Blast records

Much thanks to Shane for taking the time to answer our questions. For more information about the band visit their MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/lockup.

Push to Fire Q&A: Lock Up by Leo Kindred Grindcore supergroup Lock Up are back with their first studio album in nearly a decade. Now with new record Necropolis Transparent the band, whose members boast an impressive CV including, At The Gates, Dimmu Borgir, Pentagram & Napalm Death, are ready to unleash a storm of death metal grind once more. In true grindcore fashion, Lock Up bassist and UK metal titan Shane Embury spoke to Push To Fire, giving short sharp answers on short sharp songs in a rapid fire interview. Cheers for agreeing to talk to us, how are things with Lock Up at the moment? Doing a lot of press for the new record and getting ready for our show at the Obscene Extreme festival in the Czech Republic in July. Is the new record Necropolis Transparent ready to be let loose on the listeners of the world? What can we look forward to, more furious death-grind I hope? I would say the production is heavier yet cleaner and the songs are fast and furious but a little longer here and there, and style wise we have brought in some thrash and death metal to the chaos also. How did you come to point where you wanted to write a new album after such a long gap since your last album Hate Breeds Suffering? Was it difficult recording a full length together after such a gap? Well we had to deal with the unfortunate death of our guitar player Jesse Pintado, after that we did not want to continue. It's only in the last couple of years with getting our new guitar player Anton that we felt the urge to record another album. It wasn't difficult for the new album musically as I wrote a lot of the earlier material and Anton is well versed in classic riffing so with Nick (Barker, drums) we put it all together perfectly. When you all get together what are you aiming for with Lock Up that is different from say, Napalm Death? I would say musically it's darker than Napalm Death is and appeals to our old school boyish nature. Who or what inspires you musically? Lots of early and new grind bands and horror soundtracks. You all have been involved with a large number of hugely important bands which includes Napalm Death, At The Gates, Pentagram, Disfear, Testament...how important is Lock Up to you? It's important to all of us, to me I get to express myself lyrically more than with Napalm and it's not as politicaly motivated lyrically as Napalm and that appeals to me somewhat also. What happened with the Maryland Deathfest, I'd heard you'd had to cancel? We had problems getting our US visa's in time, we have them now so we hope to get over there as soon as we can. Given Lock Up members are involved with several other projects does time management between different band commitments ever become tough to handle? At times the schedule can be really difficult but that is the nature of the beats unfortunately. I am happy we got to do the album so let's just hope we can play some shows. I read your new album features former vocalist Peter Tägtgren of Hypocrisy, what was it like working with him again and why did you bring him into the new album? I loved Peter's voice and I always said that if we did another record that I wanted Peter on the album. Originally I would have liked him to sing on more of the songs but he was commited to the new Pain record but what he did was imense and it is the icing on the cake for me. Has it been tough continuing as a band with the sad passing away of guitarist Jesse Pintado in 2006? We didn't want to carry on after Jesse's death and the band was quite disfunctional then as well anyways, so it was only when we asked by the Damnation Festival in the UK to play that we considered it really. We feel it's the right move forward but it was and still is a delicate situation. Who's the best grind band in your opinion? Fuck knows. Your asking me? I loved Nasum. Does the release of the new album signal you'll be more active and touring regularly? I sure as hell hope so. It was a lot of fun playing the shows we did in Europe last year so more to come! Necropolis Transparent is released July 1st via Nuclear Blast records
Much thanks to Shane for taking the time to answer our questions. For more information about the band visit their MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/lockup.