By Andrew Bansal
Miami, Florida-based stoner doom/sludge trio Shroud Eater made it out for their first ever US West Coast run earlier this month, and are currently onto the home stretch. Bringing forth a very organic, intense and free-flowing brand of doom for the past five years, Shroud Eater released a new EP called ‘Dead Ends’ in 2013, and will soon begin work on new material. Following a great show at the Complex in Glendale CA on February 28th, they suffered from canceled shows in Dallas TX and Little Rock AR due to treacherous weather, and while on the drive to the next show in Nashville, bassist/backup vocalist Janette Valentine spoke to me over the phone to discuss this tour, the long drive from Florida, the band’s 3-piece musicianship, and future plans. Enjoy the conversation below.
Janette, it’s great to have you on Metal Assault. Unfortunately I had to miss your show in LA because of all the rain, but how was it for you? I heard nothing but good things about that show.
Yeah, LA was awesome! Basically the reason why we did this whole tour was to get out to Los Angeles. It was really great to see that so many people came out and stuck around, and everybody was super cool. I think the show was definitely worth the long-ass drive.
You made it out on the West Coast on this tour, which is completely new for you, isn’t it?
Yeah, this is our first time out West. We’ve done North-East stuff, but this is definitely our longest run.
Right. Other than the LA show, how has the tour been? You were talking off-air about some unexpectedly bad weather and canceled shows as a result of it.
The first week was great and all the shows that we’ve played have been awesome so far. Everybody we’ve played with has been great. So it was all really great up until the point when we reached Dallas and the weather turned to shit (laughs). We were definitely not expecting to have to cancel shows. Actually we didn’t cancel any shows, the venues weren’t even open.
For Florida-based bands it’s pretty difficult to come out this way, right? Basically the distance prevent you from coming here.
Exactly, you have to really pre-plan it to get out here. Everybody has got their own lives, work and stuff. So it definitely requires a lot of planning ahead of time and taking time off work, but it’s totally worth it, besides the situation we’re dealing with now. But it could be worse, and it is what is. As long as we get to where we need to be, everything is going to be OK.
How exactly are you doing this tour? In a van?
We have our band van which we rode up in. We call it Big Red (laughs). Luckily we haven’t had to sleep in her very much, so that’s good.
So, do all three of you take turns to drive?
Yeah, we take turns driving and navigating. I’m definitely not for night-time driving, so we try to keep all our driving while the sun is still up, just to avoid stupid situations, specially since we’re from Miami and not used to driving on icy roads and stuff like that. So we’re taking it easy.
I’m sure you encountered different weather conditions on the drive from Florida to the West Coast, and at times it must have been hard, but for a touring band like yours, playing live is always like a stress release. You just go out there on stage and it makes up for everything, isn’t it?
Oh yeah, absolutely. I mean, driving through the West Coast was my favorite part of the drive, to get to experience a different climate and see a different landscape. Being in the desert was awesome and being on the coast of California was amazing, with the mountains and the ocean. Then we start driving into Texas through Arkansas and onto Nashville and we’re confronted by icy, snowy trees and shit. So we’ve been through the whole gamut of what the planet earth looks like. We’re sheltered in our little happy Miami with the palm trees, the sunshine and the beaches (laughs). But yeah, finally getting to the destination, unloading the van, playing the show and meeting cool people totally makes it worth all the trouble.
On this tour you also have your fellow Miami band Orbweaver, which must be helpful not only because you have people to travel with but also because there’s something more for people attending the shows to come and see, with two Florida bands.
Exactly, it’s been awesome. They’re very, very close friends of ours anyway, and we love them as a band, so in all respects they were the perfect fit as a band to go out with for such a long stretch. Time and stress can wear down people but everybody on this tour has kept their cool and got along very well. We’ve been having a lot of fun even when things haven’t gone as planned (laughs), and it’s kind of cool to have them behind us or in front of us in their caravan so we’re able to help each other out.
Talking of your music, it’s a stoner doom/sludge kind of a thing. Where did that come from?
I don’t know, I think it just kind of became a thing. I hate to use the word organic but it really is organic. I guess some people say that because we’re from Florida we’re trying to sound like swamps and the heat and humidity lends itself to writing what you write and have it become what it is, just sludgy, doomy kind of stuff.
I think 3-piece bands have a more liberating kind of vibe where every member gets to do a lot more.
Yeah, Jean and I have been playing together for almost a decade now in different bands. I think we’ve always maintained a 3-piece lineup except for one time when we had a singer. But when that didn’t work out, we kind of forced Jean into singing. Well, I did (laughs). I urged her to do it so that we wouldn’t have to look for a singer. It’s very difficult to find a singer. Actually, it’s very difficult to even find people to play with in South Florida as it is. So just out of necessity, Jean started singing and she became better at it, and more comfortable. Once we found our drummer, we decided to keep it a 3-piece. And yeah, it gives everybody more wiggle room to do their own thing, experiment and be more creative. We keep it simple but everybody gets to do whatever the hell they want to do.
Aside from the rest of this tour, what plans do you have for the near future?
We have a few shows coming up. There’s something else in the offing which may or may not work. It might be another short tour. Definitely once we’re done though we’re going to focus on taking a little bit of a break and writing and working on new stuff because we want to record soon. The last recording was an EP and we’ve been working on newer stuff that ties in together for a new record. So that’s the plan.
That’s great. Well, I think that’s all I have for this interview. Janette, it was good talking to you. Hopefully you’ll make it back to LA soon and in better weather conditions.
Yes! (laughs) Definitely not going to do it between January and March. But we will be back there. It was a lot of fun and I think we might end up staying there for a few more days if possible too, because we didn’t get to explore much. We really want to go out, watch other bands, go to some local bars and stuff like that.
Related – Shroud Eater LA Gig Video Review
Visit Shroud Eater on the web:
ShroudEaterRocks.com
facebook.com/ShroudEater
ShroudEater.bandcamp.com
Remaining Tour Dates:
3/08 – Atlanta, GA – 529
3/09 – Jacksonville, FL – Burro Bar (w/ Hollow Leg, Porter, Atma)
3/10 – St. Petersburg, FL – Fubar (w/ Landbridge, Ulcer, Cosm)