Valient Thorr: Interview

A North Carolina-based band of brilliantly-bearded dudes that dig everything from bluegrass to death metal, survived a tour with Motorhead, and just released their fourth album, rock'n'rollers Valient Thorr obviously have plenty to talk about. But who would've thought that politics, kidney transplants, and life on the planet Venus would fit into all that. New-Noise beamed a few questions through to the band's frontman, Valient Himself, and got totally spaced out.

Hey Valient, how does it feel to be getting your new album, ‘Immortalizer’, out?
I'm glad to finally get some feedback. I always hate the time between finishing a record and waiting to hear what people think of it. Those few months are always tedious.

Did the band put specific time aside to write the record or was it just a case of writing since (last album) ‘Legend of the World’ came out and eventually having enough songs for something new?
Both actually. We took three separate writing sessions for this one, finishing the process in Cali in January before recording in Seattle in February.

Do you have to be in a particular place for inspiration or do songs just come to you?
Usually one of us comes up with a part, and if everyone likes it we all add our pieces to it and it becomes a song. Of course, being in certain places can facilitate that process.

Do you have a favourite song of the new ones?
Hmmm… I don’t know. We all have different favourites I think. And like with any good record, it can change from time to time. Mine at the moment would be 'Parable of Daedalus'.

Does that make it your favourite Thorr song ever- If someone only had time to listen to one of your songs which would you pick for them?
I don’t know about that. That’s like asking someone who their favourite child is. But if someone wanted to get a gist of the band, I’d say listen to 'Mask of Sanity' because it probably best represents our sound, new and old style.

Do you have any specific aims for the record- anything you’d like to do or anywhere you’d like to go with ‘Immortalizer’ that you couldn’t with ‘Legend…’?
I’d like better promotion and distribution. Well, we have better promotion, so I’d say better distro. So that the most people possible can be exposed to the messages. I’d also like to go rock places we haven’t gone before such as Australia and Japan. (and Brazil, Argentina, Poland, Russia, pretty much everywhere else…)

Did you take any efforts to stop the album leaking on the net? What’s your opinion on downloading music? Do leaks mean less sales?
Yeah, we didn’t let anyone have it until the last minute. But what are you gonna do? Yes, leaks mean less sales and it's also no fun when everyone has the album before its even released, that’s like ruining Christmas, but it’s a tough situation.

Artists can’t possibly pay the recording bills anymore because so many people consider what we do to be something that they can get for free. Yes, in the beginning, back in the Napster days, I was guilty of downloading songs and just checking out all these things I could never previously find. And there’s the catch. Most true fans will buy your album if they can find it. But if you don’t have good distro, then how can they get their hands on it? They’d rather steal it. I mean I still don’t think its so bad if there’s an album that they only pressed 420 copies of in 1973, and theres only five of them left in the world, and dudes on eBay want 600 bucks for it. Sure, then go ahead and download that, but support the bands you like, buy their albums, so that they can make more, because if you don’t, then, eventually, they won’t.

Are you actually under any pressure to shift units?
Well, we did things DIY style up until we hooked up with Volcom Entertainment, and although we live in a different world now we are doing okay by them. We would love to sell more, but its not like its going to stop us from making music. This is our life. So, no we don’t feel any pressure.

Do you like being in the studio or is it all about the live show?
I love both.

You’ve toured with bands like Fu Manchu and Motorhead- rock royalty- has everyone been as great as you thought they’d be? Anyone let you down?
No one has ever let us down. We’ve had such good luck with great touring partners for the last few years. We always try to do the best by them, and really warm up the crowd, heat up the room.

Would you take a tour with bands that sounded completely different to you?
Yeah! I think that’s one of the great things about our band, we’ve played with everything from death metal to bluegrass. The Avett Brothers to Gogol Bordello, Joan Jett to Bane, Helmet to Against Me! We seem to have crossover appeal.

You do seem to tour relentlessly - when bands get big without hitting the road as hard, do ever feel a twang or anger or jealousy?
Ha ha, well not really jealousy. Maybe a bit of coldness shoots up through the spine. I can think of a few of those bands. The thing is, there will always be “flavour of the month” type deals that go down. But, when you’ve created a grassroots type thing like we have you’re able to actually have a great show anywhere, no matter what day you play on. And keep coming back too, year after year, long after other bands have crashed and burned.

Who would be on your dream tour package?
I could think of a couple of cool ones. I’d like to go out with Mastodon and High on Fire. Or the Melvins with Big Business. Hell, any combination of those would work.

Away from music, you’ve got quite an individual story to tell, can you give us a real quick rundown on how you ended up in the here and now?
Well, we crashed here. About 11 years ago - in this time stream at least. We were meteorologists, sent here from Burlatia which is inside Venus, to check out the babies that our leaders seeded here eons ago. But we became stranded here when Walt Disney stole our time machine. Simple really.

If you say so. Are you sick of answering questions about Venus yet or do you understand people’s fascination?
I understand the fascination. I just think that its important to focus on why we are here rather than where we came from.

What about the music back home? Tell us its not all metalcore and piss-poor pop there as well.
I couldn’t tell ya, we haven’t been there in millenniums. Haven’t even been in contact with them. Hell, we don’t even know if they are still there. But I can assure you, they’re not sporting spiked quaffs and checking their makeup in the mirror.

Are you hoping to play in the UK again soon? What are you most looking forward to about your next trip?
We were hoping to support a band that I wont mention in November, but it just didn’t work out. Hopefully we can get back over there ASAP.

Are there any new UK bands on your radar? Anybody you’d be hoping to see when you next make the journey here?
Its funny, because I listen to primarily UK heavy rock circa 70-73, but nothing right now has hit me lately. And that’s not to say its not out there, I guess I’m just out of the loop. We played with one band of kids on the Metal Hammer Awards boat show, something about the horizon, but it just sounded like all that emometalcore shit that was on the warped tour a few years back.

Are there any bands from back at your landing point in North Carolina that we should be listening to?
Yeah, check out Birds Of Avalon, Caltrop, Thunderlip, Black Skies, the Kickass, and Colossus.

More seriously, there’s quite a political pitch to some of your songs. Do you think rock’n’roll and politics mix?
Why not? I think its an excellent catalyst.

But do you think that a single song can change someone’s beliefs?
Absofuckinglutely. Anything that brings people to together rather that pulls them apart is accomplishing something gigantic. Socio-political commentary has always been a part of rock'n'roll, whether it was in your face or beneath the surface.

Do you think your political views might have helped or hindered with increasing your fanbase?
I would have to say helped. I look at both positive and negative feedback as feedback, so it doesn’t really matter to me.

Not that you have a problem recruiting eager admirers anyway- how does it feel to know some fans are loyal enough call themselves Thorriors?
I think that they are the ones who get what we are doing all the way to the core idea of the whole deal. We wouldn’t be where we are right now if it wasn’t for the belief of all the Thorriors.

If you could become global superstars overnight but it meant never talking to a Thorrior face to face again, would you do it?
Fuck no. We are not interested in becoming global superstars. We are spreading messages of peace and understanding. I'm not interested in sacrificing our goals for some fly-by-night horseshit. This is the real deal. We’ll gladly just keep accomplishing our goals person to person if we have to.

Even more seriously, you recently donated a kidney to your dad, how are you both doing?
We are both doing well. My old man got out for the first time on July 4th for some BBQing. A lot of earthlings from the US celebrate a their 'freedom' on this day by eating delicious foods and firing rockets into the sky. Essentially its brainwash, but they seem to have fun. Anyway, yes, he’s doing really well, and I'm as tough as ever.

Is appearing in an advert selling out?
I don’t think so. I've appeared in advertisements for several products that I use, wear, and believe in. It's one of the only ways to make money these days, since everyone steals your albums… you get me?

Would you let the American Republican party use one of your songs?
Haha, sure, but I sincerely doubt that they would be interested.

Advertising payout or not, where do you see Valient Thorr in ten years time?
Well, that’s according to if we last beyond 2012. We only have 4 years left in that case, but if we survive, well, I hope to be teaching and rocking as always.