A Conversation with Brock Lindow and Steve Holt of 36 Crazyfists

This is the original transcript of the interview, only minor editing has been applied for readability. This has been the basis for articles but has never been published in the original form.

Wortraub: This is the third album you did. Are you getting a routine in recording an album?
Steve: Yeah, you know, I think we are getting a little more used to everything. To the writing process, the recording and all that stuff. So, yeah we are getting into the flow of things.

Wortraub: Are you under any kind of pressure to do the album?
Steve: No, not really. We are kind of who we are. We never really feel pressure from the label or pressure to do any certain kind of music, so it always seems really natural to us. We also take our time too, with the writing. We are picky guys in regards to the music we put out, so we make sure everything is perfect before anything mediocre gets out there.

Wortraub: Is there a drive to be better for yourself?
Steve: We definitely want to challenge ourselves to make more interesting music. Things that we all like. We all like different kinds of stuff, so we always try to appease everybodies needs. At the same time, when we wrote this new album, we were thinking about a live show. It was really important to us that the songs would be great live songs as well as songs for the record. But mainly live.

Wortraub: What is the main difference for you in regards to „Snow Capped“ or even „Bitterness“? It’s live and direct sound?
Steve: Yeah, absolutely. I think the songs are a little more straight forward. They are really to the point. Not a lot of screwing around, or dilly-dallying around with this or that. We really wanted to get to the point. To get to the point of each song and what they are about. What they are aiming to achieve. So it is a real direct and live type of record, I think.

Wortraub: Labels, tags. Most bands don’t like it when journalists tag them. How would you describe your music? Your homepage says: „(scr)emo/post-hardcore“?
Steve: That would be a pretty good description of the music. There is a little bit of each in it. There is a little bit of metalcore in it. There is a little bit of traditional metal in it. There are so many labels today, it is hard to say. You know, it has been the blessing and the curse of this band that we really don’t fit into them. I think, people from each of those genres would like our band. It’s kind of lucky for us, but at the same time it is a little bit harder for us to really grab a hold of like a true scremo audience or true metalcore audience or a true traditional metal audience. But it is cool too, I mean I am cool with it.
Brock: I always knock that emo-tag right out, no emo band I listen to sounds remotely like us. The post-hardcore thing, maybe a bit. We have bit of metal in our band, for the most part it is just a rock / metal band. I don’t know about the emo-screamo-thing. Next week they are gonna make up a new thing anyway. I always say: Alaskan Romance Core, that is always my favorite. I used to write that on our papers and stuff.

Wortraub: This might be just a feeling, but you seem to use clean vocals more extensively on this album. It is the third, kind of the „do or die“ album in regards to success. Is there a conscious effort to make it more acceptable to the rock listener?
Steve: I would not say it is a conscious effort. I mean, there are a couple of tracks on there, like „On Any Given Night“ or „Midnight Swim“ that are a little more accessible. But they are not farther off than say „Bloodwork“ was on „Snowcapped Romance“. I don‘ think it was anything way out of the box for us and there was no effort to do it. We definitely wanted to write catchier songs for sure. We want people to listen to the record and wake up in the morning and singing them when taking a shower. It is definitely about hooks. I mean, when I listen to a band I like, I end up singing them when I walk around everyday. It was an effort to be a little more hook-driven while at the same time keeping a good heavy edge to it.

Wortraub: But in contrast to the vocals, the sound seems direct and still quite aggressive? Why is that?
Steve: When I was writing the music side of it, it was really live oriented. I wanted the riffs to be something that would get people to move, to get people energy. So that really riff-driven metal stuff I wanted to get in there. So when I wrote the music it was that. But then at the same time, we really wanted some hook stuff on top of that too. It takes a little bit of both of those really great elements, and we combined that to what then became the record.
Brock: That is what I think is cool about it. We play an aggressive style of music, but we are not screaming about death and destruction. That is what is cool about our band. That is the only type of music I have ever been into. This is the type of music that makes my world tick. It would not be as cool playing soft music and singing positive lyrics. It has got to be aggressive, so that I can scream about it. Letting the energy out is what this music is for. At least for us and probably for many people that play heavy metal. Some kind of outlet of aggression.

Wortraub: You are from Alaska – I have recently talked to D.A.D. from Denmark and they have a song about Scandinavian reality, about the half-year long darkness, the winter and the cold. They proposed that Scandinavians are not normal like the rest of us. – Are Alaskans any different from the rest of us?
Steve: Yeah, I think there really is. And like they said, I think that Scandinavians are a little different. When we toured through Finnland, Norway and Sweden it felt a little bit closer to Alaska than anywhere else. That was kind of cool. The main thing is that thing about light and dark. The different seasons and how much light and dark you have. It affects your mood. And there is a lot of snow, so you are indoors a lot. And there is not a lot of outside influence as there is in bigger cities. There are really small cities up there too. Ancourage is just 350.000 and where we grew up is even smaller than that. You tend to find yourself really quickly and you find yourself in a different way, without so much outside influence. It is definitely a unique breed there as well as in the Scandinavian countries.
Brock: For sure, good or bad, it breeds some different people. We did not have a ton of things to do when we grew up. We did not have an all ages club, where we could go and listen to music. There were rather parties in the woods and underage drinking. All the people that I know from Ancourage are some pretty crazy characters. I just think that that maybe the light and the dark have something to do with it. I can’t really put my finger on it, what makes us different than anybody else, but it seems like we can drink pretty good. In some sorts we are excentric alcoholics.

Wortraub: You stated somewhere that Alaska tends to be forgotten by the rest of America due to its remote location. Do you feel forgotten? Or ignored?
Steve: You know, you do, but I wouldn’t say it is a bad thing. I mean, the Alaskan slogan is „the last great frontier“ which is a perfect description of it. A lot of the entire state is untouched by humans, which is fairly amazing when you consider the population of the world these days. But in the music scene – it is a tiny music scene up there so you don’t really get – well, there is not a lot, actually I think there aren’t any A+R guys looking through Alaska for bands you know. It is good and bad, both ways.
Brock: I said that basically because every time you talk about that place, no one believes that there are actually people from there. There are awesome artists there, and musicians and no one is ever paying attention to them. If you ever want to do something on a professional level, you have to leave there. It is not a well thought of place. Except if you are into fishing. It is not a metropolis for finding talents. I don’t mind that it is forgotten when it comes to people populating the place, though. I like the way it is, and it should not get overcrowded. It is my little secret. It is such a beautiful place, I don’t want it spoiled.

Wortraub: So, is it any different now in Portland? Why did you move?
Steve: The main reason was that it is nearly impossible to tour from Alaska. When we were starting to get a band going and everything was going so well we wanted to get out to as many people as possible. So we moved to Portland which was in the States, close to L.A. or to Seattle. So we could get out there and get touring and playing as many shows as we could. We are still Alaskans at heart and we still spend half our time divided between Portland and Ancourage. We definitely consider Alaska our home.

Wortraub: Your lyrics are personal, not global or political. How do you feel about politics? Are they part of art? Do they need to be?
Steve: Well, I think they do, but personally. The way Brock writes, it is really a tool for people to interpret the lyrics for their own life. And use that to relate to the music better. Although Brock is touching on topics that are personal to him, the lyrics are written in such a way that they can be interpreted by the listener and pertain them to their lives and make it more personal to them. There are subjects from the end of the world to the war in Iraque to more personal stuff. It is something that we like to leave up to the listener. And I know, that what Brock has written about, but I will use those lyrics and pertain them to my life. The beauty of music is really being personalized with it and getting it to reach you in that way. We are not trying to give out a big message. Nothing like that. We have our own believes but that is not what we are going to portrait in our music. What we are trying to portrait is live shows, having a good time and so on. Our lyrics are about being at ease in the society we are in and not like a hippie, but more like being calm in a chaotic world. Trying to make the world a better place but not by stepping on to many people’s feet.
Brock: That is for a different band. It is not like I don’t have an opinion on it, I don’t really like to talk about things that I don’t feel a hundred percent sure about. I am not trying to fool anybody with a political idea. It is just not what I am about. We are trying to connect with people and we are grateful that they come to see us play. That is about the only message we have.

Wortraub: Since „Snow Capped“ you are labeled as the „positive thinkers“ of Metalcore. Why do you think only very few bands in this genre are positive about their message? Why is it so important to you?
Steve: The main reason is exactly that. There are so many negative things in the world. In our surroundings. We want to look at the positive. We are trying to look at the best in humans as a whole. Look at the good things that you can do for yourself or those around you. If you have heavy music that is giving people energy and a positive message I cannot see you can go wrong. It is not an aggressive energy, it is an outlet. So you are outletting the things that make you feel bad, but intaking positive lyrics. It makes sense to me. But we are not message-pushers. To each their own. We are never trying to push something on people.
Brock: That is just the type of guys that we are. We are past the teenage-angst state, that we were in when we were growing up. I like to write about things that are just a little bit more positive. I am aware that our world is not a typically positive place it is just that I feel better about writing about things that are more positive. It is helping my own life.

Wortraub: How do you keep an open mind and a positive attitude?
Steve: It is hard everyday. It is more like a „learn and grow“ kind of thing. The older you get, the more you see the downfalls, the learning from your mistakes. When you are younger you are just more full of rage and mad at the things in the world. You learn from mistakes and know which direction you want to take with your life.
Brock: I am just like everyone. I am afraid to get on airplanes sometimes. I am afraid to walk out the door sometimes. But I am exited to be alive, to see the world and enjoy the fine things that this life has to offer. Those are the things that I tend to keep my mind on. I am trying to chase my dreams, seek out goals and achieve things. If you are in a depressed state constantly, you will not be able to get out of bed. That is the trip I am on, I guess.

Wortraub: If „Bitterness“ was about dwelling on destructive relationships, and „Snow Capped“ was about how to deal with it, get on and put a more positive light out. What is „Rest Inside The Flames“ about?
Brock: I don’t think it is steering too far from the transformation that I was going through on „Snowcapped“. This one is about definitely being aware that there is a war going on in Iraque and that there is people trying to do harm to other people but at the same time trying to keep a positive mind frame. I was thinking about being completely in love. That might be cheesy to some people, but that’s the way it is. I am singing about falling down a million times in my life but still having that voice in my head, that is telling me to get up, to continue on. I talk to kids all the time that tell me „This song really helped me out“ or „This lyric has really gotten me through some stuff“. I am not trying to do that intentionally. But I am glad that the music is helping kids, like it is helping me.