INTERVIEW: Derek Kerswill of Tangents

Courtesy of moderdrummer.com

Drummer Derek Kerswill has manned the kit in a lot of metal bands, including Unearth, Seemless and Kingdom of Sorrow. Currently, he is working with his new band Tangents, which just released its first album. We reviewed it here. Derek was able to chat with us and we talk to him about a great number of topics including the formation of Tangents, his thoughts on the modern metal scene and what he would do differently with touring.

—–

Buzzlegoose: What made you want to do Tangents with your background in metal?

Derek Kerswill: The funny thing is I am, I wouldn’t say I’m the least metal guy on the planet, but the metal I do listen to is very prog. Opeth, old school Metallica, Testament. New metal, I’m very disappointed in the state of modern metal. I was in the road in a daze hanging out with these bands, as big as they are, as to what’s going on. You’re trying to play good music, and these kids just don’t give a shit. It’s all about fashion. They don’t give a shit about music. True metal is all gone. Asking Alexandria? Are you kidding me? I’m not afraid to say it. We’re going out there on tour and listening to five bands trying to be Unearth? It’s just a pain. They don’t care.

I would listen to Radiohead and Interpol and Arcade Fire back before they won a Grammy. The Kingdom of Sorrow record I’m extremely proud. I still listen to Pantera religiously. Seemless was a huge part of me emotionally. I wrote a lot of stuff for them. This was just where my head was at at the moment. We get older, that happens too. I’ve always been open, I’ve got a very diverse palette. Classic rock was always blues based. That was what initially inspired me.

What was your inspiration for the album?

Dave [Witham] had a batch of songs he had been working on and sent them to me looking for production ideas. He was looking for a reaction. But I also think he was looking for me to get involved. I had previously managed his band Of the Hour. But I was like ‘wow, this is great. This would be a great opportunity to collaborate with someone I admire.’ I contributed lyrically and some songs, like one it meant a lot to me about connecting with a person. I was on tour and missing my wife. There’s some personal stuff on there.

So was a lot of this Dave’s stuff and you jumped in and helped finish it?

A lot of Dave’s stuff was a concept record that he was floating around Clive Barker, an author. He did stuff emotionally for us. I told [Dave], it was very important to me that everything be open to interpretation so people could take what they want from it. I just wanted people to get what they wanted out of it. It became collaborative, but it started half of it as demos that ended up on the album. I’ve always had a theory that one person can’t create genius. You need a team. Dave and I could work virtually while I was on tour [with Unearth]. We would send each other stuff. When I came home from touring we tracked drums and then he finished. The whole album was just the two of us.

What was it like writing this kind of music at the same time you’re playing shows with Unearth?

It was such a contrast. Two ends of the spectrum I was doing at the same exact time. I remember being in Europe and the first demos and stuff went up online and our beautiful power pop was playing and then I go out on stage and it’s all [makes loud thrash metal sounds]. It was really interesting [laughs].

What’s your favorite part of touring?

Honestly, I hate it. I don’t enjoy it anymore. I was going crazy. I’ve done everything I wanted to do. I’ve seen every place I’ve wanted to see. Unless big money gets involved, to me there’s not a real reason for us to be out there other than regionally because you’re beating your head against the wall sometimes. It gets harder because there’s less and less money.  I do love playing the shows. But I’ll never forget, when I was younger, every musician’s dream is to be on tour. But I remember seeing this interview with Green Day when they first got huge, it was probably right around when Woodstock ‘94 took place, and they just looked miserable. Someone asked them, ‘you’re on top of the world right now, whats the problem?’ and they said, ‘for one hour you have the best job in the world but everyone forgets the other 23 hours’ and it always stuck with me.

Yeah, that’s something fans and the like never think about, the time in between shows for musicians.

Yeah, exactly. I’m in a reorganization point in my life right now. It was just too much. It’s so much sacrifice. A lot of us have families now and to be gone for the amount of money we’re making you question whether it’s worth it. I can say this though, I have been to and seen places I never thought I’d see. At this point in time, after six full years of touring, I’m just repeating everything. I’m not feeling anything anymore. Before it was like ‘wow, I haven’t been to Latvia, I haven’t been to Estonia, I haven’t been to Finland, I haven’t played that festival.’ I’d play Japan again, it’s awesome there, but you just question [touring] now. Do you want to sit in a parking lot all the time and drink beer and spend nights trying to fall asleep and be away from family and do it every day? It’s not fun.

Everyone’s like ‘whoa you’ve got the greatest job in the world,’ and I say ‘no you just saw the pinnacle of my day.’ And even if you’re there all day at these places, you don’t have the money or time to see anything or do anything.

What are your plans for Tangents? More music? I know you aren’t a fan of touring but have you thought about a few small shows?

We wanna keep writing and putting out music, first and foremost. I’d love to do some Tangents touring, but it has to make sense. We have to make money and not be discouraged. We want it to be under our terms completely. That’s hard to do these days. My hope is that me and Dave will write forever. It was the easiest and most enjoyable processes I’ve had making a record. I’m really proud of it. There’s things now I’d change. A lot of the stuff was real mid-tempo, maybe it could’ve been more dynamic. But that stuff comes later. We love these songs. It’s pretty powerful stuff.

I have dreams of a planetarium tour. I think Tangents would be the greatest band to pull it off, but it would take some massive research and planning. To only play planetariums, to play while people are watching the constellation show? And the acoustics in planetariums are great. I played a show in a planetarium once and people came up to me and told me how great a show it was. It would be something different and more of an event rather than a tour. It would make it more worthwhile. I’ve always had the idea of doing an outdoor tour of drive-in movie theaters. I have all these crazy ideas of touring and making it more of events and making people wanna come out and see shows.

There needs to be a new way to make people come out and see shows. No one wants to come out anymore. The whole touring industry is falling. You need new ways to do things. One way is bringing down the cost so people can actually afford it, and the other way is making it more of an event.

Do you still talk with the guys from Unearth and Jesse [Leach] and the other guys from Seemless?

Honestly, I talk to Unearth all the time. We’re all really good bros. I’ve lost track with Jesse, and that’s too bad because he’s been one of my better friends on the planet. You always come back to the people you’re tightest with. The Unearth guys always check up on me. They seem to miss having me around; I’m not just another dude in the band. That’s just really good to know. Justin Foley of Killswitch Engage fame is filling in for them right now. He’s one of the best drummers around. He’s not permanent; he just had some spare time, and they needed a temporary drummer for touring. They’re gonna be fine. He’s a monster.

Was that why [you and Unearth parted ways]? Wanting to do different things?

You mean was it like they said in the press release? [laughs] I feel like most times what they say in those things is different from the truth, but in this case that’s exactly what happened. I just had a completely new idea for this record. It’s not a knock, but I heard their new record, and it’s nothing I’d really want to play. It’s completely different than what I’d want to do. I’m an In Flames freak, I love Pantera. I want to trim the fat and get rid of the chaotic element. They wanted more aggression. I wanted more groove. I played those songs verbatim, because I spent time writing parts that let those songs breathe. They wanted more chaotic and extreme. The creative differences is exactly why it happened. I wanted to take the spirit of Iron Maiden with melodic dueling guitars, a heavy nostalgic-based record. I remember seeing Anthrax back in the day and being so happy despite it being so heavy. But they’re [Unearth] more influenced by modern bands. It’s just not my thing.

What is the one moment from your career you’re proudest of?

Wow, that’s actually a really good question. [pauses] Two things come to mind. After Katrina, I have chills thinking about it, after Katrina hit, Seemless came through New Orleans. It was some of the most heartfelt support at a show we received, outside of New England which is where we’re all from. We were on tour with Fu Manchu and they were watching us and were like ‘did you pay these guys to like you?’ The fans there just enjoyed our show. There were probably a lot of people traveling and passing through and wanted something to see. But it was great. Playing House of Blues in New Orleans was a real overwhelming night. It was not a huge show. Only 300 people saw it, but those are some of the more magical shows.

The other was being able to play with AC/DC and Them Crooked Vultures last year in front of 60,000 people. The whole reason I play is Led Zeppelin. Them Crooked Vultures has John Paul Jones and Dave Grohl. It’s like three generations of awesome. I was there thinking, ‘someone pinch me.’

One other thing is, I’ve never done a project I didn’t believe in or do solely for money. It’s tough because I never made a lot of money. If something happened to me, I’d look back on my life and feel 150 percent satisfied with everything I’ve done. That’s an old man answer. Most kids playing these days wouldn’t even think of that. But it’s important to me to attach myself to something positive.