Exclusive Interview with Unearth’s Buz McGrath
by Michelle Oberg
RUKUS MAGAZINE: You’re new album Darkness in the Light comes out July 5th. How long did it take between song writing and recording to complete?
BUZ MCGRATH: We started writing in November-ish, so about two or three months of just writing. Then writing went right up until we started tracking drums; meanwhile drums are getting recorded and we’re still tweaking guitar parts and vocals were still getting written. So it was steps like that and everything with us is always last-minute panic, freak out, try-to-get-it-done kind of situation.
RM: How did you come up with the album title?
BM: I don’t know; it was just something we were kicking around; just ratting around in Trevor Phipps’s brain, so we kicked around a few versions of it. That one came along and sounded pretty cool.
RM: I love the album cover and I think it pretty much embodies your title with great imagery. How did you come up with the design?
BM: The design was pretty much…someone took a picture of my hand reaching into a cooler of beer for a Miller Lite. And there we go—we wind up with a picture of me sticking my hand into a beer cooler.
RM: No way. I would have never guessed in a million years that that’s what it was.
BM: It’s art. You thought it was this big, deep thing, but it was some crazy-ass picture.
RM: What is your favorite track on the album?
BM: I’m a big fan of “Eyes of Black.” That’s one of my favorites, and then maybe “Disillusion,” the last song on the record.
RM: I really like “Fallen” and “Equinox.”
BM: Yeah, “Equinox” is good; it’s like a nice little palate cleanser. It has the tender, gentle feel to it, kind of right before it explodes. It’s a different approach for us. Our bass player Slo plays piano so every record I say, “Hey, if you got something, write it and send it over to me; I’ll jam some guitar over it and see what happens.” So it’s always kind of cool to hear that.
RM: How do you decide what a track is going to be called?
BM: I don’t know, I definitely think it’s that last minute thing. Trevor just kinda goes through his lyrics and gets a feel for what the song is about. Maybe just take a direct lyric or maybe it will be something a little more ambiguous. He comes up with a few track titles and we all kind of argue about which one we think fits the song better.
RM: Has there been a new dynamic between your music and the relationship of your bandmates since there’s been quite a few changes this year?
BM: Well yeah, we are just kind of working with Ken [Susi] a little more closely on the songs. Since we didn’t have a drummer, I would go over to Ken’s house and throw some riffs at him and he would program the drums and we would make demos that way. He would have his ideas and everything all mapped out on his end. We really got into it, song writing wise, him and I. I think that he and Trevor also did a lot of work together on a lot of vocal ideas because our schedule with Adam [Dutkiewicz] was kind of weird where he had to go on tour with his band Times of Grace for like a month while we were still in the recording process, so him and Trevor recorded a lot of vocals together and that is such a personal process for somebody. With playing guitar, you either sounded good that day or it’s like not really a good day, but you get it done anyway. Where vocals is such a personal experience, you’re pouring your heart and thoughts out. Sometimes it can be rejected so I can imagine that must be hard for a vocalist to go through.
RM: Yeah, for sure! So is Justin [Foley] an official member of the band or is he just touring with Unearth?
BM: No, he’s just touring with us. He did the record and he is going to do the first two dates of the Mayhem Tour and then he is going to do the headliner in New York with us.
RM: Has Justin influenced the new record’s sound or feel he has changed your style at all?
BM: I think that his drum performance on the record is just really intense. Me and Ken were writing a lot of the riffs and Ken would program the drums. Maybe I would give him an idea of how I wanted the drum piece to sound…we gave it to Justin once the demos were all done and when it came time to record we told him “you can feel free to put your stink all over these parts.” He definitely did that and I just think he put the drums on this record to the next level.
RM: How did you link up with Justin and Adam, both of who come from Killswitch?
BM: We’ve done a few records with Adam, so it’s a no-brainer; we just go to him. We’ve only done one record without him; he’s really a big part of the band and the recording process. We’ve played shows with Justin for forever.
RM: The Mayhem Festival is starting up next month. What are your expectations?
BM: Honestly, it’s going to be a good time. I think there will be a lot of beer bongs being had, a lot of parking lot loitering, backed up with games of skill. The shows themselves are going to be great; we love playing those festival-type shows just because of the people that come out to them; they are so excited to be there.
RM: How do you feel about headlining the Jagermeister stage?
BM: It should be cool. The side stages are great, that’s where people get the most rowdy. There are no seats there so people just go bananas. That’s where a lot of the action happens. It’s not a big rock show, it’s a huge party where people go ape shit all day.
RM: What was the last full album you listened to?
BM: The new Times of Grace record. It was on a long drive home from the studio and Adam gave me a copy and I was like, wow this a good record. I even listened to the bonus tracks.
RM: What was your most embarrassing stage moment?
BM: There was a time where our old drummer stayed up all night doing god knows what and then stayed up all day doing god knows what and then when it came down to playing he was a zombie. We train wrecked in front of about 3,000 people. We barely got through about 3 songs and had to walk off stage. That was the most horrifying moment of my life.
RM: Have you ever stolen anything?
BM: Yeah, when I was a kid in middle school I used to steal stuff out of convenience stores. I found that all that stuff comes back around to get ya. Once I got into high school I stopped doing that because the more bad things I did the more bad things I noticed starting happening to me. It’s karma, and that idea starting making a little bit more sense to me.
RM: If you could be anyone or anywhere in the world right now, who or where would it be?
BM: I’d be me at home hanging out with my daughter.
RM: What are three things that most people don’t know about you?
BM: I love cats, I hate mowing the lawn, and I go to bed at about 10pm every night…when I am home.
RM: What do you think is one thing people appreciate most about the band, either artistically or personally?
BM: From an artist’s perspective I think people appreciate that we always have a good time. You can count on that when you come to an Unearth show that we’re going to convey that good-time energy to the crowd; we’re here to party and have fun. Personally, I like to think that people like that we are always accessible and especially if you want to talk music or playing. We are always down to hang out. We’re never hiding backstage or anything like that.
RM: What was the first record you ever bought with your own money?
BM: I don’t remember but my brother used to work at a Strawberry’s record store and he used to give me CD’s that would “fall off trucks.” He would bring home a bunch and the ones he didn’t want he would give to me.
RM: Do you have any advice for new bands that are trying to catch their big break?
BM: If you want it done right, you have to do it yourself. Don’t count on anybody to get it done for you.
RM: What was the best advice you ever received?
BM: Be careful how you treat people on the way up because you’re going to see those people again on the way down.
RM: What was your craziest tour or fan experience?
BM: My craziest fan experience was when someone had me sign his herniated testicle. That was pretty odd. It was just a giant, what looked like a football but it was just this huge nut. So I was like “Yeah, sure, I’ll sign it.” One tour story that pops into my head was when we were in Europe and our bass player Slo had a female suitor riding on the bus with him. He was up front smoking a cigarette while everyone was kind of getting ready to go to sleep. I was in my bunk and she was in his bunk. I said, “Hey, why don’t you switch bunks with me so when Slo comes back he’s going to get in and I’ll be the one in there.” So she didn’t mind and I climbed in and got really close to the wall. So he jumps into the bunk with what he assumes is his female friend. The next thing you know, he’s got that spooning, hand-on-the-thigh-move, where [he’s] working [his] way up to the point where he was almost in my genital region and I just started bursting out laughing. He was like, “What the fuck!!” It probably scared the shit out of him pretty good and everyone who was in on it hiding in their bunks just erupted.
RM: Is there anything on behalf of the band you would like to share before we go?
BM: For the fans that have supported us for as long as we’ve been around, thank you! Keep supporting by coming out to shows and go grab our new album Darkness in the Light that comes out July 5th.