Interviews: GUTSAW

This is a new interview with the Death Metal band GUTSAW from the USA. Check out the entire interview and give them a follow on their FACEBOOK PAGE. 

1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, you plan it or come out just like that?

Necro Nick: I planned it that way. We had started with a different band name in the beginning. After discovering that the name we were using was also being used by another band I chose to change the name. It was sort of like a metaphor. I was trying to say that our guts are like the pipe dream most people hold onto. The happy place where everything is perfect and not at all flawed. Now I have a particular fondness for chainsaws, as well. I wanted the metaphor to represent the saw as the truth. So GUTSAW was the reality of society’s own pipe dream. It brought the truth about this world to light. How mankind is not what it seems. We don’t all live the way we thought we’d be able to. How lies and corruption breed and take the beauty and hope and destroy it. Life is ugly and brutal and that was our plan. Reveal what society attempted to hide from our eyes.

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

Necro Nick: When we were starting making music we always used to attend shows and watch bands perform. We were so lucky to live in a spot where a venue existed that featured international bands who were way ahead of their time. We were all too young for most of the gigs, but we began to see bands playing death metal after some time. I always liked the guitar, loud and distorted, even my favorite songs that weren’t metal always had vocals that were the type that was belted out, screamed, and yelled where the singer sounded like they were on the edge of losing consciousness. Once I heard how fast drummers were going with their feet and hands, seeing singers scream entire songs and guitars heavier and even more distorted than I ever imagined, it gave me chills. The long hair, the head banging, I fell in love. I knew right away that is what I had to do. Make extreme music and keep it disgusting. Nothing pretty or glamorous. Just pure blood spewing horror!

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?

Necro Nick: No, when we formed I didn’t know any of the other guys. They all went to school at different campuses. I didn’t expect to find like-minded individuals in my town. There is something about this place, the people here have such talent. I always thought we were a different breed, so when we met everything clicked like we knew each other for years. The chemistry was there from the start. None of us had prior bands really. We were just lucky to cross paths.

4. Each band member's favorite band?

Necro Nick: I will always love this band Impaled. They really got me inspired and since growing up and becoming friends with these guys made me grow exponentially as a performer and an artist. Such creativity and mind-blowing skill in each of those guys. I love everything they do.

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

Necro Nick: As I get older I get inspired by total strangers I observe everywhere I go. I see people and I think I can write songs about these people endlessly. I love seeing horror films and that has made it into a few songs, other bands inspire great lyrics from me. I like to incorporate all of my favorite things about this genre and make my favorite vision of what I believe it should be. Like a chef adding ingredients to a dish that would make someone die with happiness. I like lots of songs that tell stories, too. Make short chapters of books into a whole album of concepts surrounding murder, cannibalism, and famous headlines from newspapers and tv. It is difficult not to see or read something happening around us and not write a song about it. Brutality is everywhere. It just keeps getting more popular!

6. Where was your last gig?

Necro Nick: It has been a while. This upcoming album is 2 years in the making and we last played at the world-famous Rainbow Room in Hollywood. The famous bar Lemmy (RIP) would hang out at. I remember we had a show at The Merrow in San Diego, it has been so long that it is hard to put a finger on where we last were. I ended up taking a photo with the Lemmy statue on-site at the Rainbow Room, it is against metal head law to pass up that chance.

7. Where would you like to act?

Necro Nick: I would love to play outside of our country. We have toured here and it is great, but we have big hopes to play out in international cities. I love the people there, it is so much different than America. There are so many legendary festivals happening, especially since we are in the summertime. I miss meeting all the people and seeing how the other parts of the world are. That’s one thing this job is great for.

8. Whom would you like to feature with?

Necro Nick: If we got opportunities to tour on a package with Exhumed in the future that would be great. They inspired a lot of bands and have always been so active with performing. They never stop and even Napalm Death, they are so inspiring in how they do anything they have to do not to miss a show. I love that tireless work ethic and the fans love them for it. For any bands like Aborted or Benighted, I really love seeing high-energy and really technical death metal directly. The fans go nuts!!

9. Who not?

Necro Nick: I would probably be thinking about bands where the shows have no moshing, where the crowd just stands there holding onto their beer and not even banging their heads. I have to feed on the energy and the participation of the audience and a lot of those power metal bands and old-school bands make me wanna take a nap instead of waking up the beast within to go wild. I’ll tap the snooze button on all of those bands.

10. Have any of you ever suffered from stage fright? Any tips for beginners on how to beat that?

Necro Nick: Growing up I was always shy. I didn’t have anything to say to people. I normally would keep quiet and mind my own business. Nobody out there would be talking about subjects that interested me. After I was older and a little more ballsy I stopped caring about that so much. If you’re scared of the crowd booing you and hating what you’re doing up there, first I would make sure I am warmed up. You gotta be able to pull off what you’re trying to send out. The listener wants to get excited and not see some cold and stiff corpse on stage barely moving. So I say go for a run before the show or do some exercise. Your head will feel a lot better and your adrenaline will take over. If you’re old enough to consume alcohol that works well, too, but don’t overdo it. You’ll perform like a backward motor putting all your effort in the wrong places at the wrong times and execute your music like a baby sucking his thumb.

11. What bands have inspired you the most?

Necro Nick: Going back to before when I mentioned who I would like to be featured with and who were my favorite bands. Impaled was such a big one. I love gore and bands like Exhumed and Carcass. A lot of the European bands throw lots of blood into it. Doctors, surgeries, blood, and guts. I love all that stuff. I would have to say I was inspired most by them

12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?

Necro Nick: I remember a fan asked me for my sweaty underwear from after the show. I was like, I have a clean pair hahaha. It was a show we did on tour in Oakland which is near San Francisco at one of my favorite clubs. I remember so many people were there and they all were shocked. It made it such a memorable show. I wonder how my underwear is doing these days.

13. What do you think of your fans?

Necro Nick: I think our fans are a crucial part of our success. Without the fans, there would be no band. It would be hard to sit there making art knowing no one cared about it. The fact we have people willing to play our music and buy the products and even take photos with us or ask for our autograph is surreal. Kinda strange because we don’t feel like we are deserving of that. We’re humble and still are amazed by the fans who approach us and tell us that our music made them feel some type of emotion, even if it is anger! I loved feeling that when I was a fan and not making music. Gets me fired up every time knowing we have people that believe in us and support the art we create. It makes it all worth it. 

14. What do you think of our site?

Your site is so essential to bands and fans. It brings them together. It gives them the information that wouldn’t have if you weren’t around. I always needed an outlet that had all the articles about bands I was into and made me grow as a bigger fan if I was able to get inside the mind of the artist and learn their process. It also is cool getting exposed to bands you would never hear about. I found so many I ended up loving who I never knew existed before. It is crucial for sites like this to exist and keep pumping out content. The bands and the fans need it now more than ever!

15. Something to add?

Necro Nick: Gutsaw’s upcoming album, “All Lives Splatter” is now available for digital pre-order over at our official Bandcamp site. It is going for $7 USD all the way until its release date on September 30. We are gonna have another brand new single come out at the end of August. Go and check out the first two singles and music videos. They both are available now on all digital platforms. Let us know what you think of the music videos, they were a blast to make. Check out our shirts and get your Gutsaw stickers and all. We collaborated with Slam Worldwide so check their channel for the music videos and Follow us on all social media platforms. Search Gutsaw and until next time stay dead!!!