Cancer Bats have been a musical force of nature since its inception eleven years ago. With each new album, the band pushes the limits of its sound and and the members evolve as musicians. Now that their fifth studio album, "Searching For Zero", is being released, we sat down with the guys to discuss the making of the new record, working with Ross Robinson and their tour with While She Sleeps.
- Hey guys! Thanks for talking with me, are you looking forward to your upcoming tour with While she Sleeps?
We're so pumped for this Sleeps tour, it’s going to be the best !
- How would you describe Cancer Bats show to someone that’s not seen you guys before?
For someone who's never seen us before I would say our band is a giant ball of Canadian hair and beards just spitting and yelling and making all types of noise...., in a good way.
- A few years ago you did the pentagram tour performing six times in one day all over London, any chance of a repeat performance on the next tour cycle or was once enough?
We had a blast doing the Pentagram rip for DSOL but I 't think we'll ever do that again. Everything worked out so perfectly that day I wouldn't want to try and attempt it again, I feel like we'd curse it. [laughs]
- How did the title of the new record come about and does “Searching for Zero” have any special meaning?
“Searching For Zero” is the idea of us finding a new common ground to move forward. After 10 years as a band this is our new starting point to move forward. We've dealt with everything and now moving forward, everything is positive for us. Good vibes only!
- What made you decide to work with Ross Robinson as a producer on the record?
Ross’ name was presented to us and we looked back at all of his past work and it just made sense. Also speaking with him and realising he's the most stoked dude ever, it was just a match made in heaven.
- Do you have any plans to play European festivals this year?
We've got some festivals lined up for this year, but we're hoping to come back next year and really crush anyone we miss out on this Summer. There's just too many amazing places we all want to go!
- The new songs (“True Zero” and “Satellites”) sound more doomy than most of your previous recordings. Was this deliberate and what music were you listening to during the writing process?
I think this has just become a natural progression of the band. We all love stoner rock and doom and sludge so I'm sure all of that creeps into what we're writing. We all were listening to a lot of Black Angels, Witch, Graveyard, Neurosis, Church Of Misery, Nebula, Kyuss, Fu Manchu and tons of stuff like that. Just getting stoked on great records !
- How do you try to capture the energy of your live shows on record?
That's Ross’ specialty of channeling those vibes and I think it really takes someone who has been working with so many aggressive bands for so long to really understand all the little tricks that it takes to capture that raw live sound. He is truly the king of the vibe.
- Most critics are in agreement on the high quality of your previous albums, do you feel any pressure to make an album that lives up to expectations?
We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to really outdo the last albums and to create something different. With DSOL I feel like it was us really nailing a lot of ideas we'd been working on since we started the band, so from there it was really important for us to move things forward and build from there and to not just write DSOL part 2.
- Are there any songs on the record that will surprise longtime fans?
I think there are a lot of surprises, but for longtime fans, I think they'll be really stoked to hear some fresh new ideas coming from the same sound and four dudes they've been hanging out with for the last 10 years.
- Thanks again for taking the time to talk to me, do you have any final words for your fans?
Thanks so much for doing the interview and I can't wait for everyone to hear the new album and to come party with us in April!
– David Gilmore