Interview: Jeremy Gomez of Red Method
Interviewer: Tim Finch
In the next few weeks Red Method will be releasing the long anticipated 'For The Sick' via Depraved Records and then heading out on a UK tour. In the run up to album release day Tim sat down with front man Jeremy Gomez to talk all about it!
The Razor's Edge: Welcome to The Razor's Edge!
Jeremy: Cheers buddy!
The Razor's Edge: Red Method may not be familiar to some of our readers, so to introduce yourselves; who are Red Method?
Jeremy: I am Solomon J Lucifer Christ! I am the vocalist of Red Method, Jeremy Gomez.
The Razor's Edge: You’ve come to the band from Metastasis and Alex from The Defiled. How have your past bands influenced the sound of the new one?
Jeremy: Well we are not very far off in what we are doing with Red Method to what Metastasis was and what The Defiled were. I guess both bands were industrial kind of electronic based metal bands. I think the difference between Metastasis and The Defiled is that Metastasis was much heavier, aggressive and more death metal. The Defiled were more mainstream, more groove, more accessible.
The Razor's Edge: So how did you and Alex come together on this project?
Jeremy: Me and Alex go back quite a while since my first band Ted Maul. We took The Defiled out with Ted Maul back in the day. Alex was quite interested in our style we always said we need to do something together. I always had it at the back of my mind, when Metastasis was coming to the end, it was time for me to start something fresh and inject some new blood into a new project and a new direction; slight new direction. Do something with fresh people, bit more groove, less death metal. More catchy and bigger grooves. Alex was at the back of my mind because of our past history and music tastes which are quite similar. I gave him a call, showed him the demos and he really liked them. So I invited him to join the band, and I invited Quinton Lucion he was the guitarist for Kill For Company. So I combined it all and the creation came out that is Red Method.
The Razor's Edge: Your album, For The Sick, is due out at the end of the month. We’ve given our advance copy a spin and are loving it. How happy are you guys with the end result?
Jeremy: Oh I'm really, really happy. We were exploring new territory, more melodic. It was a new way of seeing the song writing. More pop based but really heavy kind of grooves. What I used to was more kind of death metal, 300 mph. It was kind of a slight step back but everything had to sell the song. It was all about what the song needed, required and it was all to serve the song in its entirety.
The Razor's Edge: The album is produced Scott Atkins [Cradle of Filth, Sylosis, Amon Amarth]. How was it working with such a legendary producer?
Jeremy: We went to Scott as he's a long time friend of mine, he's the man. He really liked the demo's and what we were doing and he wanted to help. We created what is now 'For The Sick'. He did a great job on it. We put in extra time where we needed it, making sure the sound was clinical. It's a polished album, it's great, it's huge, its groovy. It has elements of all metal genres.
The Razor's Edge: There will be some who draw comparisons in the albums sound to that of early Slipknot. How do you feel about that?
Jeremy: I am happy for them to compare us to any band. If you really look at it what band comes out now that you can't compare to someone else? Every single band that comes out, there's not one that you can say "holy shit thats original". It's not that we've copied Slipknot or anything like that, yes people say we sound like Slipknot. I guess we have a similar lean in style of music, in patterns, in rhythms, in vocal styles more on the Slipknot side than Trivium or Metallica. I agree and I'm proud that we are compared to such an amazing band.
The Razor's Edge: The song 'The Absent' deals with the issues surrounding Alzheimer’s and Dementia. What was the driver behind the song’s focal point?
Jeremy: It was a song written very carefully. It is a heart pounding song in itself. It's quite full on, its got huge groovy sections, its got huge drop downs and it's got a melodic catchy chorus. The song really lyrically is about Dementia and Alzheimers. It's about me losing both my nan's to the disease last year. It was a heavy time for me, my nan brought me up. I saw the deterioration of the people I most loved. Both my nan's passed away a month from each other of the same disease. I wanted to do something to raise awareness on how awful disease it is and still theres not a cure for it and I think more needs to be done. It's really a crushing disease; to see you loved ones go in such a way, that they don't recognise you. I had to do something, I use music as a therapy and I touch on quite deep life issues that have scarred me or had a profound effect on my upbringing and my life. I like to talk about real things not fantasy things, At the time I was writing the album, all these tragedies happened around me and I had to release it somehow. One of my releases was paintings and the other was this song.
The Razor's Edge: And it features Mikee Goodman from Sikth. How did that collaboration come about?
Jeremy: He's a very close friend of mine, the whole of Sikth are. I used to live with the drummer and he was in Metastasis, and we were all very close together back in the day. It's the same as Alex really, we've always talked about doing something together, he was very interested in it and we thought our vocals styles would go very well together. Having Mikee in there expressing those kind of emotions through the song I thought this was the perfect opportunity to have him in. He listened to the track and loved it. I gave him his section and he did his vocals, we got it down and its on the album.
The Razor's Edge: And then Jason Mendonca [Akercocke] features in ‘The Narcissist’s Prayer’. Another great collaboration, that song has a more industrial feel than the others. Was that Jason’s sway?
Jeremy: Not really, no. The song is more industrial, it was originally part of another song that didn't make it to the album. Although it didn't make it, that industrial section we wanted on the record because its very dark, very moody, very emotional, feels like you're in a chamber. Jason is very close to me and I though it would be good to hear his input. His vocals were great and works fantastic on that track, it serves a purpose.
Lyrically it was a thing that I came up with, due to a boss that was a narcissist basically and made my life a living hell. We spoke about the topic, there was no saying what he did and didn't want to sing. I gave it to him and say be free on it and do what you need. It was something we really wanted to do for many many years. I've been on an Akercocke record and I said I need to get you to do vocals for us.
The Razor's Edge: You’ve created a distinct atmosphere with your music on record. Was that intended from the get go or did Scott help refine that?
Jeremy: The direction and aim was there in the beginning. There was a lot of work put into the record prior to everything. Scott did have a huge amount of input on the record, in terms of structuring, making it more accessible for all the people out there. He did have a lot of input, shortening the songs, making it more in your face, really he notched it down and made me realise so it is more accessible in terms of heaviness. I've done death metal songs for years now but I didn't want to end up with another amazing death metal album. I would be ending up with a similar product. This needed to serve something a bit more, it had to be more personal, I had to walk into the songs a bit deeper. Scott made that, he had a great vision and he did help with the structure and put the message across quicker int he songs. He's a great producer, he has ears like an owl. If he hears something slightly off he'll make you do it again and again. He'll literally destroy it until you've got everything right.
The Razor's Edge: Your'e about to hit the road throughout March and April. What do you say to those fans yet to buy a ticket to convince them to come to your shows?
Jeremy: They are going to see and absolute mental, create lunacy show. Theatrical, full of energy, full of chaos. They are going to witness all of us seeing red. Once we hit that stage every colour fades away and what come sin is red. The anger, the emotion, the energy. Everything gets pulsing through our veins at 100 miles an hour. We are a strong, energetic band, controlled chaos. So I tell them come when you get the chance, enjoy it, bring friends, buy out merch, support us. We've got free posters to give out and the album will be cheaper at the live shows!
The Razor's Edge: Once the tour is over what’s next for Red Method?
Jeremy: We've got a few more little runs here and there through May. We've got some festival... Amplified, we've got <festival name removed> although I can't mention that yet and we're getting more confirmations through. And we are booking a UK/Europe tour for the end of Europe. A lot going on and a lot of gigs.
The Razor's Edge: Thank you for talking to us!
