By Andrew Bansal
Hailing from Toronto, Canada, traditional heavy metal warriors Cauldron will finally release their third studio album Tomorrow’s Lost in North America on April 30th via Century Media/Earache. The album has been out in Europe since October 2012, and very soon it will be North America’s turn to get a taste of it. To coincide with the release, the band will also embark on a North American tour, including headline shows and some shows as support act to Diamond Head. They’re also confirmed to partake in the second edition of ‘Orion Music + More’, which is Metallica’s own music festival. A few days ago, I spoke to vocalist/bassist Jason Decay to discuss all of these things. Check out the conversation below, along with the music video of the song ‘Nitebreaker’.
I was checking out some songs from your new album ‘Tomorrow’s Lost’ which is coming out in North America in late April. But it’s already been out in Europe for a few months. How’s it doing over there?
It’s done very well for us over there, both critically and for the fans, and for us too I think. It seems to be our best record yet. It’s doing well for us and we’ve already done a six-week tour over there which was also our best tour yet. So yeah, it’s been good so far!
Was that your own headline tour for six weeks?
There were about 15 shows with a band called Vanderbuyst from Holland, and the rest of the tour was our own. It was very good for us.
That’s cool, man. The main thing I was wondering about this album was, it’s already been out for so long in Europe but did not get released in America. What’s the reason for the gap? Were you just waiting for a good distribution deal?
For the longest time I didn’t even know what the reason for the delay was, because no one would tell me (laughs), and then it turns out that it was because our label Earache was between distributors for a while. I guess around the time it came out in Europe, they had just lost their distribution in North America so they were waiting to sort out a new deal which they have now with Century Media. So now it’s finally coming out!
Yeah, it’s good that your record is getting distributed by Century Media. As far as I know, they do great distribution for all their bands. So that should be a good thing for you I guess.
I think so too. The gap is going to hurt us a bit, in terms of press and stuff like that, but I’m glad that it’s with Century Media now at least. That’s good for Earache at this point.
So, obviously during this six-week tour you would have played some of these new songs and before this you had only two albums to pick from. It must have become a bit boring to play songs from only two albums, but now you have more songs to play.
(Laughs) Well, now we have a hard time picking which songs we’re going to fit in, because now we have so many. Because before this we had the two full-lengths and before that we had the EP, and before we were playing Goat Horn songs. Plus we’ve always done a bunch of covers. So, at this point there’s so much to choose from. I think we usually have about 20 songs rehearsed and can play only 12 a night.
You have this US tour coming up at around the same time as the album release. I believe it’ll be your first US tour for this album, right?
Yes it will be. It’ll be our first US tour in two years now.
And that previous US tour is the one you did with Holy Grail in 2011, if I’m not wrong? I saw that show at the Viper Room in LA.
Yep, that was our last tour in the States before this. I remember that show! We spoke for an interview then too, right?
We sure did! Coming back to this upcoming tour, you’ll be opening for Diamond Head in some of the shows. That must be something you’re looking forward to. Have you played with them before?
Well, we did the Keep It True festival with them back in 2007, and I remember they had kind of a rough set because I think the power went out half way through their set. So, we didn’t get to see the full Diamond Head experience but now we have like 7 or 8 shows with them so we’ll get to experience the full-on Diamond Head, see their full set and hopefully get along with them.
Coming to the album, I was watching the video you put out for the song ‘Nitebreaker’. I think you’ve gone along the same path that you took for the previous two albums, in terms of the music itself. Would you say you’ve kind of stuck to the same approach for writing music?
I don’t think we are stuck to it, but rather we have stuck to it on purpose. I’ve always been a fan of bands where I know what I’m getting, bands whom you can rely upon to deliver what they’re already known for, and the whole reason you like them for in the first place. At the same time I’m not been one to change much. I’ve always been into the same thing. Until I achieve with it what I want to, I have no plans to stop doing what I do, I guess. So yeah, it’s just more of the same from us and hopefully we can take the sound we’ve already established, and if anything, just improve upon it.
You must be pretty comfortable working with your guitarist Ian by now. This is the third album and you know each other’s style of writing and playing. It must have been an easy process for this album.
Yeah, we actually have 7 or 8 skeletons already written for the next album. It seems like we collaborate more as time goes on. When the band started, I was the only one writing the songs, and at this point now it’s about 50 per cent me and 50 per cent Ian. And I think that’s why we’re able to write our album quicker and quicker each time, because now there are two writers instead of one. We have the same taste, same vision and we’re fans of the same music. So it’s a real easy collaboration.
Talking of the music videos, you did one for ‘Nitebreaker’ obviously, and one for the previous album as well. It’s good that you’re actually filming for music videos and putting some thought into it. Usually bands these days just put out lyric videos or YouTube videos with just the audio. So, is it important to you to give a visual representation of the music through these videos?
Yeah, it’s been one video per album so far, and for this new album we’re actually thinking about doing two. I think a lot of bands are doing videos but I don’t know how creative they’re being with the videos. We try to make a video that someone would watch even if they’re not into the music, the video that has replay value.
And that would get you some more fans as well, just from people who’re watching the videos alone.
Yeah exactly, and it’s just another creative outlet. I think our videos have been pretty good so far, specially the last two, and we’d like to try and make a second one for this album if we get a chance. At the same time it requires a lot of work and costs money as well, so it’s hard to make them but we enjoy it.
Coming to your own musicianship, are you still using a Rickenbacker bass?
Yeah, but it’s a copy. It’s a fake one. I still use it!
I asked because whenever I see somebody with that bass it catches my attention straightaway, because of Lemmy, obviously. When did you actually start using it?
It was November 2009. I had the bass for a couple of years but I never really played it. I just sort of carried it around as my backup bass. And then, we were on tour in Edmonton. I used to play a BC Rich Warlock but I broke it that night and ran backstage to grab my Rickenbacker copy. I’ve been playing that ever since, and my BC Rich Warlock has been lying in pieces ever since.
So what do you use for backup now?
Well, when we go to Europe I don’t use a backup at all. I only bring the one. And when we play over here, I guess I’ve been forgetting to bring a backup because I didn’t bring one on our last Canadian tour. But you know what, it took me two-and-a-half years just to break a string, so I didn’t need a backup. And luckily when I finally did break a string it was in the jam space so it was no big deal. I do have two more basses, a BC Rich Bich and a BC Rich Ironbird, but I don’t use them. They just sort of sit in the case and rot.
Why do you use a copy of the Rickenbacker? Have you not felt like using the real one?
Well, the copy is identical. The only difference is, there’s no name on it. I can’t afford a real one and I don’t know if I would be comfortable owning a real one because it’s worth a lot more, and it would be a lot more responsibility. I couldn’t just lose it backstage and I would have to keep my eye on it all the time. The one I have, it sounds and plays good enough for me so I’m happy with it.
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Cauldron Tour Dates:
Apr. 12 – New York, NY – Saint Vitus *
Apr. 13 – Boston, MA – Cambridge Elks Lodge
Apr. 14 – Seymour, CT – Dewey’s *
Apr. 15 – Montreal, QC – Les Foufounes Électrique *
Apr. 16 – Quebec, QC – Coop l’Agitée *
Apr. 17 – Ottawa, ON – Mavericks
Apr. 18 – Kingston, ON – The Mansion
Apr. 19 – Toronto, ON – Hard Luck *
Apr. 20 – Lansing, MI – Uli’s Haus of Rock *
Apr. 21 – Chicago, IL – Reggie’s *
May 02 – Nelson, BC – Spiritbar, Hume Hotel
May 03 – Vancouver, BC – Astoria
May 04 – Portland, OR – Ash Street Saloon
May 05 – Medford, OR – MusicHead
May 07 – Los Angeles, CA – 5 Star Bar
Jun. 09 – Detroit, MI – Orion Music + More festival
* with DIAMOND HEAD