Each genre boasts founders and innovators, though each genre additionally needs fresh, exciting acts to cause its wheels to continually roll. Death metal happens to be no different, and one act that's currently fresh as well as exciting is Job For A Cowboy. Debut full length "Genesis" pumped fresh blood into the genre, but nonetheless refrained from alternating between clean and dirty vocals, a fusion that some groups opt towards all too easily in an attempt to reach a wider audience. Its brutality uncompromized, Job For A Cowboy has toured alongside such acts as Megadeth, Children Of Bodom, In Flames, Amon Amarth, Chimaira, GWAR, Shadows Fall, Behemoth, Gojira, as well as performing at several festivals, including Download and Wacken Open Air. With a new album due for release, Job For A Cowboy hope to further build upon that success, and certainly possess the tools to do so.
In April 2009,
Job For A Cowboy recorded sophomore full length album (and successor to May 2007's "Genesis") "
Ruination" at Sanford, Florida's Audio Hammer Studios with producer
Jason Suecof. The studio effort marks the debut of drummer
Jon Rice with the group, as well as guitarist
Alan Glassman (ex-Despised Icon / ex-Goratory). Featuring the ever present ram's head, "
Ruination"'s artwork was designed by
Brent Elliott White. More politically oriented, the following topics are tackled upon "
Ruination"; propaganda in the mainstream media, humanitarian rights of Northern Korea, the modern genocidal government of Nubia, the use of torture in American military tactics, overruling by world governments, and police states / martial law. Through Metal Blade Records, "
Ruination" will be released on July 7th.
At Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on June 6th, Job For A Cowboy filmed a music video for the song "Regurgitated Disinformation". From mid July until mid August, the group will tour across North America as part of the Mayhem Festival. Under both Cannibal Corpse and Behemoth, Job For A Cowboy will appear upon the Hot Topic Stage.
On June 23rd at 20:00 GMT, Hit The Lights' Robert Gray telephoned Job For A Cowboy vocalist Jonny Davy at his home in Glendale, Arizona to discuss "Ruination". Missing initial calls, Davy eventually answered the phone.
Jonny Davy: Hello?
UG: Hello. Can I speak to Jonny please? This is Robert Gray of Ultimate-Guitar.com, and I have an interview scheduled with him.
This is him. I'm sorry I missed your last call.
That's ok. Anyway, how are you Jonny?
I'm great. Last night was a long night of partying (laughs).
Would it be alright if I began the interview?
Yeah. Go for it.
Could you provide some background information regarding 'Ruination'?
Yeah. We just finished recording 'Ruination' several months back. Actually, the album leaked to the internet yesterday. 'Ruination' is our first album to feature guitarist Alan Glassman, who was definitely a huge influence in writing the record's tracks. Also, 'Ruination' was drummer Jon Rice's first chance to record something with the band. The album will be issued July 7th, and we're all really happy with the way its songs turned out.
Are you annoyed that 'Ruination' has been leaked through the internet?
Leaking happens, so 'Ruination' being leaked is no biggie. I'm an illegal downloader myself, so I can't blame anyone.
Do you endorse illegal downloading then, since you're an illegal downloader?
I wouldn't say I endorse illegal downloading. I don't really think illegal downloading affects things too much, especially when you're an underground metal band. Downloading, and finding ways to get albums heard, is almost like the new era of tape trading. I can't complain - I definitely do it myself.
In recording 'Ruination', Job For A Cowboy opted to work with producer Jason Suecof. Why did the group opt to work with him?
Everything Jason has done in the last few years has been amazing, I think, and all the records he's mixed sound fucking incredible. We flew out to Florida, and recorded the album with him. He's definitely a little crazy (laughs), though recording with him was a really fun time. Jason did an amazing job, I think, and working with him benefited 'Ruination' quite a bit.
Is Jason a bit of a slave-driver then? I've read that Jason is a perfectionist somewhat, and really pushes musicians to achieve their best.
Sure, though he drives you in an extremely freaky way. He's just a really crazy guy (laughs). We're all really sarcastic, negative dudes (laughs), and have a really weird sense of humour. We meshed perfectly with Jason, as he has the same personality as us. A lot of bands who work with Jason might not understand him, and recording with him can be a very weird situation. For us though, recording with Jason worked out awesome.
"Downloading, and finding ways to get albums heard, is almost like the new era of tape trading."
I think so, for sure. For our third album, I think we want to work with Jason again, without a doubt. Working with Jason was an awesome experience.
How would you compare 'Ruination''s production to 'Genesis'' production?
Andy Sneap mixed 'Genesis', and mastered it. 'Genesis' sounds too polished and too clean, I think, and with 'Ruination', we just went for a more raw sound. 'Ruination''s songs have hardly any edits, and you can really hear the mistakes. It seems as though every album that's being released is just picture perfect; they're clean, have no mistakes, and just sound really edited. With 'Ruination', I think we did a pretty decent job. We achieved good production, though the album doesn't sound too over-produced.
So you wanted 'Ruination''s tracks to better resemble a live group?
In contrast to 'Genesis', we just wanted 'Ruination' to sound more organic.
'Ruination''s lyrical content is rooted in a political vein, so could you shed more light on this?
Yeah. I grew up with a single mom, and she just took me around. My family is Dominican Republican, and all of my family from that country is extremely political. They'd take me to rallies and protests - I was roughly eight to ten years old, and didn't know what the hell was going on. I would just hold signs on the street (laughs). Actually, my great grandfather was the president of the Dominican Republic, so I was somewhat bound into that. When we wrote 'Ruination', I already had that political blood in me I guess. When writing songs, the US presidential elections took place, and of course, coverage of that was everywhere. How much in people's faces it was was almost a mind-fuck, so I think that's one of the reasons why I went down a much more political route with 'Ruination'.
Do you buy into the hype that Barack Obama will allegedly sort everything out?
Hell no (laughs). All of 'Ruination''s songs are about modern topics, such as human rights in North Korea, the genocidal government in Nubia, and propaganda in the mainstream media. No, that's something I definitely never bought into. The Republican and the Democratic card is the same coin just flipped over. A corporate lead pulls the strings, and everything is driven by money.
You mentioned that your family took you to rallies as a child. Did there come a time where you questioned things, and branched out on your own so to speak?
Then I was too young to even think about that, really. To me, it was just fun being able to yell and scream with my family members. I guess my own views never really kicked in until I became a bit older.
Ok. As you mentioned, guitarist Alan Glassman had a big effect upon 'Ruination', and you've made reference to his grind background in the past. How did he place his stamp upon 'Ruination'?
Alan was in the band Goratory, who were a goregrind band from the Boston area. After Goratory broke up, he really wanted to be in a band. He joined Despised Icon, and toured with Despised Icon several times, so we knew him really well. He was due to quit Despised Icon, and somehow, the timing was right, so he just joined us. You can definitely hear his influence on the band, I think. With 'Ruination', we did whatever we wanted, and never thought about it.
Did Alan Glassman feel that Job For A Cowboy was personally a better fit than Despised Icon?
(Laughs) If you you ask him, I'm sure he'll say yes. Despised Icon's members are all French Canadian. We're all just typical dudes, and if we didn't even know each other, I think we'd eventually hang out with one another. In terms of personality, he's a perfect fit for Job For A Cowboy for sure, so I'm glad things panned out the way they did.
Also, 'Ruination' is the first Job For A Cowboy album to feature drummer Jon Rice's playing. Given the fact that 'Ruination' and 'Genesis' feature different drummers, how would compare the drum sound 'Ruination' has to the drum sound 'Genesis' has?
When it comes to metal, Jon is a little elitist. He's one of those guys who's a mammoth computer, and knows everything. He's a metal encyclopaedia. His influences range from everywhere, I think, and he can play just about anything on the drums. Many death metal drummers have difficulty in grooving, and attempting to have feel to their drumming. In other words, Jon isn't a drum machine, and is actually a legitimate, awesome, all round drummer. With 'Ruination' you can definitely tell, I think.
So Jon's drumming has much feeling?
Yes. Jon has some groove to his playing - that's the best way I can describe his drumming.
Musically speaking, how does 'Ruination' differ to 'Genesis'? You've stated that 'Ruination' is "more aggressive", and "mature".
For sure. With every album, I think we'll likely mature. We'll venture in different directions, grow older, and have different influences. 'Genesis' had the same pace to its songs, and was just pretty modern death metal. 'Ruination' is a little more quirky, I guess. A lot of our older fans from the 'Doom' EP (2005) will enjoy this, I think, as well as even the newer ones. With 'Genesis', we almost lost some fans due to the huge change. With 'Ruination', we'll likely make some older fans happy, along with newer ones.
So you'd say that 'Ruination' incorporates some of the older sounds, featured upon 'Doom', as well as some of the sounds featured upon 'Genesis'?
Maybe, yeah. Nowadays, I use a lot more vocal range, and 'Ruination' just has many more different influences.
In recording 'Genesis', what did you learn?
Recording 'Genesis' was a huge pain - it was a nightmare. Our previous drummer Elliott quit in the midst of recording, so we had issues in the studio over drum tracks for awhile, having to re-record them. I don't know though. We just learn from our mistakes, and become prepared. Honestly, we constantly take criticism, and certainly read everything. Being in the band, you want to know what people have said about you. I think we've taken part, and actually listened.
To some of those opinions you've read though, do you feel like putting up your middle finger? You can't please some at all, to be honest.
Yeah. Obviously, people just talk shit about your band, which is always cute and adorable (laughs), It comes with the job though, I guess.
When 'Genesis' was issued, Job For A Cowboy's success catapulted, so some fans likely dubbed the group a "sell-out" or something similar.
Yeah, for sure. I can see why people would change, but that's awkward for me as we didn't become less aggressive - we were still a metal band. It would've made sense to me if we began to sing, and became extremely soft as a band (laughs). The band catapulted out of nowhere, and our success just snowballed. When I look back at that, it was definitely weird, and is pretty weird. I never thought in a million years that my band would play at Wacken, and would tour with Megadeth, and Marilyn Manson, and Slayer.
"We're all really sarcastic, negative dudes, and have a really weird sense of humour."
When I first received that phone call, I was mind-blown (laughs). I never thought anything I would record musically would ever reach the Billboard 200. It's just crazy that that many people bought 'Genesis' that fast.
You mentioned that 'Ruination''s vocals are more varied in comparison to those featured upon 'Genesis'. What prompted you to make 'Ruination''s vocals more varied?
I don't know. Listening to 'Genesis' all the time, I think the album just seemed so bland. With my vocal range, I knew I could do more, and I wanted to show off what I could do. I held back in recording 'Genesis', so with 'Ruination', I certainly went for it.
Are your vocals still really brutal, and in the listener's face? I've yet to hear 'Ruination'.
Yeah. I just use more range, and more highs and lows.
Would you consider incorporating clean vocals in the future then, something which many other groups seemingly incorporate?
No. I don't think anyone in Job For A Cowboy would be too interested in that, especially not with this band. To me, I don't think that'd make much sense to any of us.
Vocally speaking, did 'Ruination''s musical stylings require you to be more varied then?
Yeah, for sure. With 'Genesis', I didn't really show my range at all. I really wanted to show range with 'Ruination', as I definitely feel I've improved a lot as a death metal vocalist.
Did touring so extensively help a lot in that regard?
Yeah. Being in any band, especially a metal, or funk, or hardcore band, one of the greatest ways you could ever improve is to just tour, tour, and tour, and that's all we've done. For the last five months, I've been home, and that's the longest I've been home for the last four years. I don't even know what to do with myself (laughs).
Are you enjoying your rest?
As soon as you get home, it's nice, though you miss touring a lot. When you've toured for four years non-stop, touring is pretty much home.
With touring, there's much camaraderie.
Yeah, for sure. I've just been at home, and have gone to the bar, just trying to do things I've done whilst on tour. It isn't quite the same, though.
Fredrik Nordström mixed 'Ruination', so could you discuss that?
He actually didn't. We actually hired Jason to mix 'Ruination', and originally wanted Jason to mix. Obviously, Fredrik's amazing at what he does, though at the time, having Jason mix 'Ruination' just worked out better. I don't even think the fact that Jason eventually mixed 'Ruination' has been announced yet.
What are your thoughts regarding 'Ruination''s mix? What do you like about the album's mix?
When he mixes an album, that album is everything I would want a metal record to sound. Almost every record Jason mixes is borderline perfect.
'Ruination''s artwork continues a recurring theme, in that it displays a ram's skull.
The ram's skull is turning into Iron Maiden's Eddie, for sure. I think he'll be sticking around for awhile (laughs).
For each artwork cover, why did Job For A Cowboy opt to continually use a ram's skull?
I don't really know. Early on as a band, we just used the ram's skull once, and it seems as though the band has just clinged onto it, so we might as well keep using the ram's skull. Obviously, we're associated with that now, so things worked out.
In terms of 'Ruination''s artwork, where did you want Brent Elliott White to venture?
I talked to Brent Elliott White back and forth through email. He's an amazing artist, I think. I actually talked to many artists, giving them 'Ruination''s lyrics as well as the album's topics. Three versions of the record's cover exist, I think, and the one Brent Elliott White designed is just on the spot perfect. I think he nailed it right on the head, so we used that one.
Do you feel that 'Ruination''s cover has more depth than 'Genesis''? It seems as though more is happening in the background.
Yeah, for sure.
Job For A Cowboy recorded a music video for "Regurgitated Disinformation".
Roughly three weeks ago, we actually went to Philadelphia. We just played in a really small club, so that we could convey the energy prevalent at one of our shows. "Regurgitated Disinformation"'s music video will be solely black and white, and will be released really soon. I'm really stoked about the way the video came out - it looks awesome, I think. It was a pretty crazy show (laughs), with stage dives, and craziness occurring non-stop.
Is there a reason why "Regurgitated Disinformation"'s music video will be issued in black and white?
No, not really. I don't really know why. "Regurgitated Disinformation"'s music video just materialized that way (laughs)
What do "Regurgitated Disinformation"'s lyrics touch upon?
"Regurgitated Disinformation"'s lyrics are about propaganda in the mainstream media.
"All of 'Ruination''s songs are about modern topics, such as human rights in North Korea, the genocidal government in Nubia, and propaganda in the mainstream media."
The mainstream media just feed you a certain individual, and show that individual so much to your face, making you think "This is the right guy". It's just irritating, and bothers me that, especially in America, people don't dig deeper, and attempt to find more information. This is as opposed to just the broken record which is repeated over and over again, and to the point where it makes yourself believe that something's right, or that you need to do something.
To promote 'Ruination', will future music videos be released?
I hope so. We have an ongoing idea for a real music video, though we'll see what happens.
Does that depend upon Job For A Cowboy's touring schedule?
Yeah. Right now, we'll tour as part of the Mayhem Festival summer tour. Right after this, with everything pending, we hope to shoot right to Europe immediately following that. We'll see how that works. I really hope it works, since I really miss playing in Europe a lot.
So whether another music video will be filmed for 'Ruination' depends upon whether Job For A Cowboy has several weeks free in between tours?
Yeah, it's difficult. After the summer, our touring schedule will be constant for another year and a half, so whether we film another music video depends on that.
As you mentioned earlier, throughout July and August, Job For A Cowboy will perform as part of 2009's Mayhem Festival upon the Hot Topic stage. What type of performance can fans expect from Job For A Cowboy?
It's going to be a lot of fun, I know. Marilyn Manson has some weird fans, definitely (laughs). Obviously, Slayer is a part of the bill. Our stage has an amazing lineup that I wish we could tour the world with, with bands like The Black Dahlia Murder and Whitechapel. I'm just really stoked about the Mayhem Festival tour, I guess - it'll be like summer camp (laughs).
Are you scared ever about supporting groups like Slayer? Slayer's fans are extremely hardcore, and sometimes, they don't lend much support to the supporting groups.
I'm not really worried about it, since it'd be different if we were due to support them as part of a smaller lineup. Definitely though, we've had our fair share of performing as a part of weird concert bills that we didn't suit, as well as people not liking us. Just with that festival vibe, I don't think there'll be any of that.
So you feel that the Mayhem Festival's audience will be more varied?
Yeah, for sure. The Mayhem Festival's audience will be extremely varied. With these types of festivals runs, people are more open minded to everything.
You made reference to touring Europe. Have any European shows been booked?
Honestly, my favourite spot has always been Germany - every time we go there, it's always awesome. Right now, European shows are in the works. We're trying to work something out, though we don't know if it'll fall through or not. Nothing is confirmed yet, though we're hoping to tour Europe around September to October.
For Job For A Cowboy, what do you feel the future holds?
I don't really know. I never really look at it that way. Everything's snowballing. Strangely, we're becoming bigger all the time. I don't have any expectations, or anything. We all just love playing, as well as being in this band. I just hope it'll remain as fun, as entertaining, and as enlightening as it has been.
So Job For A Cowboy likes to take each day as it comes, and just enjoy life?
Yeah, that's definitely the way we take it. We take one day at a time, and just enjoy it.
For the fans of Job For A Cowboy, do you have a message?
'Ruination' leaked. Download the album if you want, though if you like the album, you should possibly buy it (laughs).
(Laughs) Thanks for the interview Jonny.
No problem.
All the best, and take care. Bye.
I'll talk to you later man. Bye.
Interview by Robert Gray
Ultimate-Guitar.Com © 2009
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