1.Can you give us an introduction to the band? There are five members of The Matador at the moment. Our drummer Sam is the only original member of the band and he started the band probably 7-8 years ago now. Johnny is our main songwriter and plays guitar along with Ryan. Nate our singer is the newest member of the band; he joined about a year ago now. I'm Josh and I play bass and do some backing vocals also. We are based on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.
2.How would you describe the musical sound that is present on your recordings and also how does each recording differ from each other?
At the moment we have only one proper release, our 2011 EP Descent Into The Maelstrom. Prior to that we did release a demo that contained 2 tracks that we are reworking for our upcoming album. When I (Josh) joined the band in 2008 we were playing a more chaotic noise-core style of music similar to Norma Jean and The Chariot. We progressed away from this style when we wrote Descent Into The Maelstrom towards a more post metal vibe, taking influence from bands like Cult Of Luna, Isis, Neurosis etc.
Our new album will be released as 2 parts and each part again will be slightly different stylistically to what we have done before. Part 1:Destroyer is very guitar driven, very sludgy and heavy. Part 2:Creator is a lot more melodic, and even progressive in some parts, which will contrast with the heaviness of Destroyer.
3.The ep you released in 2011 was a concept based on the writings of Edgar Allan Poe, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this author and also are there any other writers that you have an interest in?
We were searching for cool ideas to base the album on and stumbled across Poe's short story which became the title for the album. Danny our old singer had co-incidentally designed a shirt using Poe's face merged with a skull so we thought tha tied in well too. We liked the macabre and darkness in Poe's writing and we thought it matched our music well so we went with it, we never really set out to make a 'concept' record it just king of happened! Personally my favourite writers are Jeff Noon, William Gibson, Micheal Marshall Smith, Philip K. Dick, Clive Barker and Neil Gaiman.
4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'The Matador'?
I guess the idea of a bullfighter dedicating his life to trying to tame savage beasts can possibly be seen as a very lonesome life, but also on the flip side he can be seen as a hero, a barbarian, a warrior and possibly even a bit mysterious. I think Sam said he liked it because it sounded cool!!
5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
We were fortunate enough to launch our EP playing with The Chariot, who were one of our favourite bands. The show was pretty hectic, the biggest show we'd played at that stage and we had an absolute ball, they were so crazy live too it was an awesome night. We've also played with Doomriders which was another great show. We played a festival called Bastardfest with some killer Australian bands like Psycroptic, Blood Duster, Astriaal, King Parrot, Fuck I'm Dead, Aversions Crown, I Existand heaps more. We are playing with Deafheaven tomorrow night so that should be an amazing show too!
6.Do you have any touring or show plans for 2014?
Well as previously mentioned we are playing with Deafheaven as part of their Australian tour. We have plans to do some touring in Australia to promote our upcoming single and then album so hopefully we'll be playing a lot more this year than in previous years - we finally have a solid lineup so that really helps!
7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
We will put out a single and film clip hopefully in the next month and see if we get any interest from that. Hopefully someone digs it enough to want to release the album!!
8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of underground metal?
We've had a pretty awesome response actually. Its so cool to have people from all over the world checking out our band. The internet is quite a useful tool for getting your music out there these days. Bandcamp has helped us reach fans in places like Iran, Turkey, Greece, Singapore, Germany, Brazil, Russia, France and many more that we probably wouldn't have reached otherwise, and that blows us away! The EP also got some really good press and reviews from magazines like Decibel and Blunt and also some blogs like Heavy Blog Is Heavy, Invisible Oranges, Metal Obsession, Decoy Music and your awesome blog!
9.When can we expect a new release and also what musical direction will you be going into on future releases?
Our single Destroyer will hopefully be ready to release early February with Part 1 of the album to follow a month or so after that. As i mentioned above our album 'Inclinaturum Humani Generis' will be released in 2 parts - Part 1:Destroyer will be heavy and sludgy and Part 2:Creator will be less abrasive and more melodic. We have a heap of songs and ideas that won't fit on the album that are again different - we try to progress all the time will keeping a certain sound in mind when we write. It will always be heavy but to varying degrees - and there will always be melody!
10.What are some bands or musical styles that have had an influenced on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Well obviously we all grew up listening to metal and hardcore and the various sub-genres within but we try not to limit ourselves in the styles that we listen to, except maybe dubstep, techno and country and western!
Recently we have been listening to Deafheaven, Everything In Slow Motion, Russian Circles, Hope Drone, Deftones, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Palms, ROME, Chelsea Wolfe, Aversions Crown, Portishead and heaps, heaps more. We've talked about doing a Portishead cover actually!
11.Outside of music what are some of your interests?
Ryan and I both have kids so we do lots of Dad stuff! Johnny is just about to have his first kid so we are changing the band name to The Matadad's. Sam loves to pump weights and Nate loves being drunk and mysterious.
12.Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview? Thanks for the kind words about our EP and thanks for taking the time to check us out! We can't wait for everyone to hear the new songs and check out our new film clip!
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