EMQ’s with WARM GADGET
EMQ’s with WARM GADGET
Hi everyone! Welcome to our new EMQ’s interview, with Bend, Oregon based Industrial/Stoner Post-Metal band, Warm Gadget. Huge thanks to Colten Williams and Tim Vester, for taking part.
What is your name, what do you play, and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
Colten: I play guitar, bass, keyboards and do all the drum programming and production. Tim and I started writing some demos around 2008 or so. We both had a love for some of the Industrial Metal/Rock stuff of the 90’s like Godflesh, Skinny Puppy and Ministry and thought we’d explore that vibe a bit. I was already programming some pretty heavy sounding drums when we were demoing out songs and we just kept going in that direction.
Tim: I write the words and tell the tales with my mouth. Same concept with the history. Started with Colten, he brought me in and then we pieced together a live band to play the song-structured pieces that we wrote.
How did you come up with your band name?
Colten: Honestly, I think it just popped into my head and it stuck. Still not sure to this day if I like it or not.
Tim: I like it and everyone seems to think it is a reference to a vibrator or a sex toy, so that’s fun.
What Country/Region are you from and what is the Metal/Rock scene like there?
Colten: We’re from a small town called Bend, Oregon. There was a decent scene for heavy music back in the 2000’s but now it’s pretty much non-existent.
Tim: Sad as it is, he’s right. There are 13 folk or funk bands for every singular band playing heavy music. It’s a tourist town and they want travelling families happy and spending money – so that type of stuff is what is favoured by promoters…Portland is not too far away though, and the heaviness lives on up there!
What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)
Colten: We just recently released an EP called RITUALS and accompanying music videos to the songs.
‘If Only I Could’ (Official Video)
‘Full Of It’ (Official Video)
Who have been your greatest influences?
Colten: As far as guitar I would say Page Hamilton from Helmet. Ben Weinman from the Dillinger Escape Plan. Tyler Bates the composer is a big one. I’m a big fan of his scores and the fact that he joined Marilyn Manson as his guitarist and producer while in his 50’s is the coolest thing ever.
Tim: Bowie, Mike Patton, Todd Schorr…Axl Rose (not in a domestic violence/chauvinism way). I love Iggy Pop, the Stooges and T-Rex. So many influences, really. Colten has all the technical, electronic and production influences….I seemed to be affected by the fucked up weirdos.
What first got you into music?
Colten: Probably my dad. I grew up in a pretty musical family. My dad was a drummer but also played guitar, bass and keys. I used to play with him when I first started playing guitar. He always had great taste in music.
Tim: I would say my parents as well. They always had a music collection and we always listened to it. My mother always had a guitar and once played in a band that opened for The Archies. As children we lived in an area that had MTV when all of that started, so that was always a thing for us too.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician, who would it be?
Colten: Damn, so many. Off the top of my head, I would say Godflesh. The band HEALTH does a lot of collaborations and they do it very well so I’d love to collaborate with them.
Tim: I’ve always loved the moodiness of R.E.M. If we could utilize their control of mood and our control of chaotic maybe, something ridiculous and potentially cool could come from that …hahaha. Did they retire?
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
Hellfest maybe? Seems like we would fit in really well on that one.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
Colten: A roofied drink
Tim: Someone peed my pants once.
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
Colten: Share our music!
Tim: Be Excellent To Each Other! (Buy and share our music too.)
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
Tim: Are they zombies at this point…or are they just back and not dead anymore? If they are zombies and I can harness them for world domination, I’m bringing GG back. Unstoppable zombie when he was alive…(Allegedly) I don’t know if I would bring anyone back. What if they immediately went insane because they had seen the other side and knew the secrets of the universe…or something???
Colten: Bowie. Definitely Bowie.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
Tim: Making music and being able to express myself. Learning to let things flow freely and just be creative, regardless of what comes out. Sometimes I hate what comes out of me.
Colten: I enjoy the writing and production part the most by far. Playing shows can be fun but it also stresses me out.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
Colten: Get rid of the social media numbers bullshit.
Tim: Phil Spector. I would bring Phil Spector back from the dead and then kill him again. That’s the only change I would want to make.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
Colten: “Miss Machine” by the Dillinger Escape Plan
Tim: Start to finish, never skipping a track – “LIAR” by The Jesus Lizard.
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?
Tim: I feel like it has to be downloads – because that is currently the ONLY place you can get “Rituals”, our newest release! (www.warmgadget.bandcamp.com). In all honesty, I think the information on the media is more important than the media itself.
Colten: I kind of miss the CD days but I’d say downloads for sure.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
Tim: Every gig that wasn’t in a parking lot, at 2 p.m. in the middle of summer.
Colten: I can’t think of any one particular show but the best shows are always the ones that unexpectedly turn out great. You can’t plan the best shows. They’re usually accidents.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
Tim: Being successful and having more space that was not blocked by gear.
Colten Yep
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
Tim: Colten, Austin, YOU, Karen Carpenter and Danny DeVito.
Colten: Jane Levy, Maika Monroe, Rachael Taylor, Neve Campbell, Mary Elizabeth Winstead
What’s next for the band?
Tim: Work! We’ve got five or six new tracks in various stages of completion, working on gathering footage to make visual companions for those tracks and trying to get all of this music out to as many new ears as we can (Labels, take note!)
Colten: More music and videos for sure! We are currently working with Kellii the drummer from Failure and this new stuff is really exciting.
What Social Media/Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
www.instagram.com/warmgadget/
www.facebook.com/warmgadget/
www.warmgadget.bandcamp.com/
www.soundcloud.com/warmgadget
www.open.spotify.com/artist/6FHk5P7GP7CeUWk7hp1sba
www.youtube.com/channel/UCu0GjKVo5dRCjp45UraiLBA
www.componentrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/warm-gadget-hallomas-iii
Jaffa Cakes! Are they a cake or a biscuit?
Tim: They are, in fact, a lie made that has been created via propaganda by the military industrial complex to keep the general public sentient and subservient! If you have Jaffa Cakes in your home, please, please get them as far away as possible!
Colten: What’s a Jaffa Cake? I’ll have to play ignorant on this one, haha!!
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Tim: We appreciate all of the questions and thank you for taking the time to do this with us. Go buy our shit and make sure you are keeping an eye on Ever-Metal!
Colten: Thanks for your time!
Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this interview, unless you have the strict permission of said party. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
