NINE QUESTIONS WITH IRON AGE GUITARIST WADE ALLISON
Iron Age’s The Sleeping Eye was something of a sleeper hit for me in 2008 (pun not intended, I swear). The band’s tight riffage and rolling thrash are the closest thing I’ve heard to old Metallica since, well, old Metallica, and The Sleeping Eye delivers a healthy dose of raw, yet well-produced metal. Iron Age are one of the few bands in the current re-thrash movement I think are actually worth paying attention to, and The Sleeping Eye may very well make my year-end list.
Guitarist Wade Allison recently took some time off from Iron Age’s European run with Rise and Fall to answer a few of my brief questions. Our Q&A, after the jump.
How’s the European tour with Rise and Fall going so far?
Was cool. Went to a few places we’d never been (a couple we’ll never go back to, I’m sure) and all that. A lot of it was a pretty extreme headache and it ended up being a serious financial fiasco, but we were with our great friends Rise and Fall and they held our hands through it all.
How are European audiences different from American audiences, if at all?
Every night’s different for us, same as it has been everywhere forever. Some very enthusiastic crowds. I guess in Europe you’ll get a lot more unsolicited overly-honest opinions from the random fuckers who pay to see you.
Talk about how you ended up with Tee Pee Records.
We’d played with Annihilation Time a few times over the years and they maybe mentioned us. I was sitting on the new record trying figure out what to do with it and we started talking.
Do you find it sometimes challenging being one of the heavier bands on the label, or do you relish in it?
Nah, it’s fine so far. For the last 5 years we’ve made little sense in any context we’ve found ourselves in, so nothing new for us.
What’s the writing process like for you guys?
Long. It’s me and Jared on drums for weeks. Then Alex with some riffs. Then me and Alex and Jared. Then we start over. Then Jason sings. We get a lot more done when I’m unemployed.
The Sleeping Eye seems to have been pretty well received… do you guys read what the press says about your music? Do you care?
I’ve seen a little here or there but it’s “whatever” to me. I can’t imagine there’s anything a critic is gonna tell me about my band that I don’t already know.
Who are some of your biggest influences… both of all-time and current bands?
For me, for Iron Age, I’d say any typical thrash and crossover band that Iron Age obviously sounds like. Maybe Integrity, Mercyful Fate, Gism, Cream, Sabbath, The Icemen. For Jason, I suppose more science fiction, Lovecraft, black metal, etc…
Death Magnetic vs. the new Slayer record World Painted Blood vs. the new Megadeth record Engame… which one is your favorite?
As a person who’s heard 1/4 of one of those records, I don’t think I’m entitled to a favorite.
Working on any new material yet?
Yeah, we have a new song we’ve been playing and 3 or 4 more that are maybe 40% there.
-VN
[Check out Iron Age on MySpace]
