Interview: Weird Tales
Interviewed by Paul Hutchings
Polish psychic doom trio Weird Tales released 'Y'all Motherfuckers Forgot 'Bout Good Ol' Son of a Bitchin' Blues'. The longest album title of 2021 so far and an epic re-telling of some classic blues tunes. Following the albums release our very own Paul had the chance to sit down with the band to find out more!
The Razor's Edge: Hi guys, how are you doing?
Dima: Perfect, thanks for having us!
The Razor's Edge: Did this damned pandemic destroy a lot of your plans with Weird Tales?
Dima: For sure. We have planned to play a tons of gigs with Mati, our new drummer, starting from March. For the first three months we have prepared rearrangements of our old tracks from E.P.’s. The whole new long set with refreshed old songs, really ambitious mission we had. But then march came and lockdown… Meh
However we spent our time wisely. That’s why we are here, right?
Mati: Man, it’s total bullshit. When I joined the band we had a few months to just play together, you know, so I can become part of the band. After that, we prepared around 1 hour of a set list. Complete lockdown was called three days before our first concert. That’s fucking luck, isn’t it?
The Razor's Edge: I suppose there are still many readers who don't know you yet. Please tell us a bit about your band history.
Dima: A lot of drugs and loneliness made this source in the brain. And it still bleeds nowadays. Disease that still runs, but it has changed, lives it’s own life. And that growth in the head still exist, the source of riffs.
Mati: For me it’s Black Sabbath family stoner acid doom metal. Slow and angry. The blackest and weirdest sheep among the horde of black sheep.
The Razor's Edge: I really appreciate your new release - as you can read in my review here. Please tell us something about the genesis of this very special record.
Dima: Thank you man! We appreciate it.
So, the story. In the summer of 2019 I was crossing the border between Belarus and Poland drinking JAGDBLUT (I highly recommend this cheap booze dudes) and listening 'Got The Blues for Murder Only' by Lonnie Johnson on repeat. I made a trip to Masurian Lakes. I was chilling for a couple of days and tripping in the woods and listening to Lonnie Johnson on repeat still. That's when I first started to hear these lyrics in other arrangements. The idea came then, but I didn’t see a right opportunity to record this song. But then pandemic came and I started to listen to delta blues even more than before. I remember I listened to 'Hard Times Killing Floor Blues' on repeat and I wanted to hear those lyrics in much heavier and desperate arrangements. I came up with the riff and then thought it’s a good idea to make a concept E.P. like that, we already had two songs and I wanted to work on it.
Mati: When Dima came out with idea to record blues but doom I approved. Man, I lived in Mississippi for 2 years and even played blues/rock there with my buddy. That’s pretty original. Also, the fact that Dima came out with this idea while being in the region I am from (Varmia) really spoke to me.
Kriss: When I've heard about Dima's idea I've welcomed it with joy. I've always been close to the idea of blues in particular. And even get more excited when he showed us his ideas of those crooked riffs and stuff. I knew it'll be good shit!
The Razor's Edge: In my review I write that the vocal lines sometimes remind me of Syd Barrett on 'The Piper at the Gates of Dawn'. Do you like this early Pink Floyd-era?
Dima: It’s my favourite Floyd album. I’m not huge Floyd fan if I can say so, but first one with Barrett is the best. I can listen to it anytime and enjoy. It’s genius. I want to hear 'Lucifer Sam' covered by Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats one day.
From early Floyd also 'Careful with That Axe, Eugene' is a fucking masterpiece of song that drills my mind really hard. From Gilmour era I can really enjoy only 'Animals'.
One of the best things to do is to play it at the end of a party when everyone is already wasted. [Laughs]
Mati: When I was younger I played all Pink Floyd discography on loop. One of my favourite bands from the past. The greatest album would be 'Live in Pompeii'. The greatest balance between two Pink Floyd eras.
Kriss: I've never been into Pink Floyd that much... I throw responsibility for that on my friends who constantly reminds me of “how great they are”, “they're much more than just music”. Man I got sick of it a long time ago, But I guess that curse is startin' to wear off and with time I appreciate them more then before. Some things just come with age and I guess I still have plenty, right? RIGHT?!
The Razor's Edge: Could you point out some other bands that inspired or still inspire you?
Dima: Blue Oyster Cult
Mati: Pain of Salvation
Kriss: I won't be very original if I say Black Sabbath. But wait with rolling your eyes... For me Black Sabbath is not drying the well out of ideas. You can think that you've heard enough of 'em and still wake up someday to something “you've never heard before”, even if it's just a nuance. I guess it's the factor that still keeps 'em fresh to generations to come.
The Razor's Edge: Is there a vivid scene for your musical style in Warsaw?
Dima: Yes, there are plenty of cool bands. That’s the cool thing about Warsaw. I came from Belarus and in my hometown music is dead. Like literally. So in that comparison, making music and having fun in Warsaw seems absolutely possible.
Mati: I am from the north of Poland where there is plenty heavy music going on (Vader is from my city for example), but Warsaw scene is pretty diverse where many different bands from all over country and region play. We will see how the local scene will operate after the covid lockdowns.
The Razor's Edge: Are there any other young Polish stoner rock/doom or psychedelic rock bands that you would like to recommend for our readers? I'm a big fan of Major Kong, for instance.
Dima: Go and listen to Doomster Reich and Shine!
Mati: I was impressed by a band called Hermopolis we played a concert with.
Kriss: MAG is for sure is my favourite right now. They manage to marry doom music with Polish language not necessarily making it sound “english-like” which is something! And remember that pronouncing some of Polish names can summon demons... [laughs]
The Razor's Edge: What was the last record you listened to before answering my questions?
Dima: Self titled Crawler record form 1977
Mati: 'Twilight Of The Thunder Gods' by Amon Amarth from 2008.
Kriss: Budgie – 'Squawk'
The Razor's Edge: Are you a fervent vinyl collector?
Dima: Man it’s a black hole. I had money issues before I had vinyl player and now I just don’t wanna talk about it [Laughs]. It’s hard to call me a fervent collector. I definitely fervently want to have a lot more vinyl. For now I have to be very accurate in choice, my collection is not so big but it has a lot of goodness and gems in it.
Mati: I have a few vinyls, but don’t have a record player as of right now. Maybe it’s better for my budget.
Kriss: You can say so... I'm not a schizoid who looks after every scratch onto UV light in the store before I buy. But collecting my favourite albums on those plastic plates is a habbitable hobby.
The Razor's Edge: Which albums released in 2020 did you appreciate the most?
Dima: I really dig 'Everwill' by Giants Dwarfs And Black Holes and 'Anatomy of Abuses' by Serpent Cobra.
Mati: 'Forever Black' by Cirith Ungol
Kriss: 'MAG' by MAG
The Razor's Edge: Do you have a favourite festival? Where would you like to play in the future?
Dima: Tales of Doom in Basel. Guys invited us to play last year but we couldn’t make it. So we though about 2020. We hope in this year live music will start to come back.
Mati: I like them all. Polish Woodstock, Mystic Festival, Oragne, Opener… All the mainstream festivals are great for their variety of artists. My dream is to go for Wacken (Maybe Bloodstock in UK?) and playing there would be a pleasure.
Kriss: Anywhere in Germany.
The Razor's Edge: Last question: What do you generally think of social media platforms?
Dima: Its cool it exists. I mean you can have benefits from it and even enjoy it. Contact with a lot of interesting people and fans and so on. But it’s time consuming. For now we are trying to manage it and be present, but maybe tomorrow I will say fuck it I’m bored or I don’t have time. Like I said, cool that it’s exist.
Mati: As long they are not abused the social media platforms are great for communication.
