If you haven't heard of Withdrawal you either refuse to acknowledge their existance because of their heavy hard riffs, or you've been living in your parents basement, talking on the B9 board for hours on end. I had the chance to ask Adam some questions when they came back from their tour with Creatures. Adam is a super nice guy and Withdrawal plays with a great deal of intensity and energy. Check them out as soon as you're done reading this.
So, who are you and what do you do in Withdrawal?
my name is adam eldritch. i am the lyricist, front man, visual and artistic director for the group withdrawal. as well as defacto van driver, as the rest of my band tend to induldge alot in pschadelics and i am straight edge.
Whats it like being the only straight edge guy in Withdrawal?
Actually, our new guitar player is straight edge, i forgot about that. he plays in a straight edge band called ill fated. they're really great. it's kind of a hassle having to babysit the rest of the guys some nights but i deal.
thanks.
When did Withdrawal come around, and how did you guys start?
withdrawal started practicing in february 2008, and started touring in may of 2008. we had all known each other from our previous bands together, and going further back my twin brother joel and i had known gord in since middle school. and of course, i shared a womb with my brother.
it just so happened that all of our bands had broken up the same year and it was fairly natural that we'd start a band together and so we did. we tried out a different drummer at first but he had other things going on in his life and luckilly jeff stepped up to the plate. he is an integral part of the writing process. we had a different guitar player as well, but he couldn't handle the stress and pressure of the artist's meager lifestyle we lead so we had to part ways with him.
When did you form your opinion on Religion?
contrary to popular belief and most peoples initial reaction when they see our visuals and lyrical content or our affiliation with the holy terror process church of final judgement, we don't hate religion. i certainly don't and in fact i find lots of religious imagary and lore to be infinitely inspiring from an artistic standpoint. particularly the works of gustav dore, the divine comedy.
that being said, i think there is nothing sadder than someone who needs a ghost in the sky and a firey boogy man in the earth to dictate their lives. those people are foolish, often rich, white, homophobic, racist north americans. the worst people on the earth are people who don't have common sense, and to trust in a higher power than yourself is laughable.
we are a holy terror affiliated band, which is an offshoot of the social darwinist abraxas foundation and it itself being an extention of the church of satan. we believe that the strong rule the weak, and the clever rule the strong. we live in a society where rich, white, christians are telling you that you can't do what you feel like doing because they don't think you should, because of a couple of scribbles someone wrote on papyrus thousands of years ago when the world was thought to be flat and the sun revolved around the earth.
Summarize your opinion on God, for the readers who may not understand what that last questions was about?
he doesn't exist. if you think he does, your prayers are falling on deaf ears. stop throwing away your emotions and prayers and take control of your mind and your life. while we're at it, if you're in a christian hardcore band stay out of our scene.
What's the percentage of luck that you found a group of guys that all hate God and religion the exact same way?
well evidently not too good, because we don't hate god or religion the same way. each of us have our own thoughts and opinions on the matter but if you wanted to say that we operate on a similar wavelength of distaste for god and religion i think you'd be correct. but to say that anything 5 vastly different people from 5 different walks of life is the exact same would be wrong.
You guys recently finished up a tour with Creatures? How was that?
it was great. being from a area so far out of the north american touring circuit we were very fortunate to have a mutual friend from california suggest they get in contact with us about setting up the tour. the guys in creatures were also nice enough to let us accompany them into the north eastern united states. they're similar to us in that they've sacrificed alot to create the music that they like, their singer stephen has had a broken collar bone for a little over a year now but he can't afford to fix it AND tour so he chose to tour. i respect that alot, and we're eternally thankfull for the chance they took on us touring with them.
it was our first time out there and for the most part the response we received was great. alot of great shows with some of the only interesting hardcore bands out there. we played a frat house in ann arbour, michigan that was probably the best venue i've ever been to in my life. we got hit by a bus in new york city, and we broke down just outside of boston. those are the kinds of storms you have to weather though. we got to see just how awful and scary baltimore, maryland is. that was quite the culture shock.
Where was the best show that you played on that tour?
tough choice: the metal frat in ann arbour, michigan was great because they set up a vegan buffet for the bands and the show was in a giant frat house. a pretty rowdy show... alot of kids came out to support the scene there, i enjoyed it. metamora, illinois was great too just because we played a really good set. it was just one of those nights where i think everything came together well.
Who was the most influential band on Withdrawal?
i can only answer for myself, but i would have to say carolina gypsey lifestyle leading apocalyptic metalic hardcore legends "catharsis". musically and lyrically they were on an entire seperate level than any of the bland 90's metal mosh drivel that was coming out around the time. perhaps more importantly than that, they were a thinking person's hardcore band and they toured everywhere. they were fiercly independent and did things their own way, which is also the reason they are only remembered by a select few in hardcore as the bands who did things differentlly tend to not catch on.
they are highly suggested.
Top 5 Bands you are listening to right now?
alot of variety here, but tegan and sara, depeche mode, the sisters of mercy, crucified and carcass.
Top 5 records being played?
tegan and sara - sainthood (not their best work, but a couple of really great and quirky pop songs)
depeche mode - black celebration (in my opinion, the greatest and darkest album of all time. timeless)
slowdive - souvlaki (great pop songs awash in spectral and shimmering waves of sound)
nitzer ebb - ebbhead (dark industrial tinged EBM, great production on this record.)
crucified - split with steel nation (the best active hardcore band in hardcore today. scathing and blistering)
Top 5 worst World Leaders? In descending order haha
truthfully i don't really pay any attention to politics, so anything i would state would be an uninformed and uneducated guess. i live a selfish personal lifestyle and no amount of political reform is ever going to feel like it's directly effecting me.
www.myspace.com/withdrawal13
