Project Description

Interview with

WOODY WEATHERMAN

from

CORROSION OF CONFORMITY

Interviewer – Connor Gutteridge

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What is it about coming to Australia that excites you?
Everything man. I’ve actually only ever had the pleasure of being there twice, we have been a band for like eight hundred years but only been to Australia twice. I am just so very excited, there is just so much about it. Anybody who gets to travel will say that it all just kind of builds up like seeing all the different stuff, seeing the fans, new scenery and great people, I just love it man. Of Course, Australia is a special place, its so different but yet we can relate to people, we share the same language which helps a lot. Its going to be great man, looking forward to it. It reminds me a lot of the people we have down where we live, the people are laid back and very friendly. So we fit in good cause we try to be friendly to.

How did you get your start in music? And how did that lead to Corrosion of Conformity?
Good Question. All of us kind of came from somewhat of musical families, Pepper and myself for sure. My dad is a musician, so I always grew up with instruments in the house when I was a kid. I got my first guitar at a reasonably early age, roughly around fourteen years of age, from there it just kind of took off. My first guitar was an acoustic which lasted about a week, I was like ‘Man this thing doesn’t make enough noise, I need some noise going on man, I need something I can plug into the wall’. I from there upgraded to the Gibson SG and then everything after that is kind of history. COC started not long after that, we just found the right guys, and all went to high school together. Next thing you know we were just kids in a band making music, writing records and having fun. Before long we were travelling fully, and you name it man.

What was your ‘We have made it’ moment for COC?
It very hard to say. I’d say after we had been around for around a decade or so and we just said, ‘Well I guess we are doing this’. It was never really a planned-out thing where we had it all planned out and knew what was going on. I would say by the time that we made ‘The Blind’ album, we had been around for around nine years or so. I guess that was the point that we figured out we are doing this, and we are in for the long haul, we are going to be here for a while. I mean if it didn’t feel good then we would quit, I guess.

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Corrosion of Conformity // Photo – Matt Young

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What are some of the influences behind the music and behind your song writing?
To be honest man we have kind of stuck by our guns on a lot of stuff. All the guys in the band have slightly different influences, but the band was really built around Sabbath. Back in the day we were big Thin Lizzy fans, Judas Priest, giant Purple fans. We always had a nod towards the hardcore stuff because that was sort of the theme that we popped out of in the early days. Everybody always says things like Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendricks but it’s true, that’s what we grew up listening to and still influence us today.

When you look at the future of Metal/rock music, what do you see?
When you get out and travel as much as we do, its obvious to see that it’s big and its vibrant. I’m mean some of the biggest bands in the world are metal bands. Just take a look at the festivals and the variety of hard heavy rock music, there is a lot out there for the fan base. I think its bigger than its ever been in my opinion.

So, it’s been two years since the last release, any plans for new music soon?
It’s funny you mention that because I saw on the internet the other day that it had been two years since the release and it really does not feel like that long. We have been out on the road so much playing shows, it really doesn’t feel like that long. We have a couple littler trips like we are coming down to see you guys which we are very excited about, there is a little trip through Europe in the spring time in April/May. Followed by a couple of other little shows here and there, but we are starting to at least think that it might be time to do another one. We are sitting on it, were thinking about it.

Having been a band for a long time and toured all around the world, has there been any stand out places that you have gone to play shows?
Without trying to pander to it but we have been trying to get back to Australia for a long time, so you guys will probably land back in the top of our list. I got to tell ya man we always have a great time every time we go to the southern parts of Europe like Spain and Italy, the fans are so crazy! Everybody is going wild, the food is great, the weather is great, everybody is friendly much like coming Down Under. So those places are always a thrill for us to travel to, and so many other places though, there are a couple of stand outs.

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Corrosion of Conformity // Photo – Matt Young

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If you could tour with any artist/band dead or alive, who would it be?
We have done one show with this particular band. I would love to travel with the classic ‘who do we think we are’ version of Deep Purple, that would be a dream of mine for sure. We did do a show way back in the early nineties, we did a one-off show in a festival sort of thing. I would love to travel back and be witness to the majesty of that.

If you could say anything to a person who is looking to take the leap of faith and start a band?
I mean, everyone is in a band these days and its great. I would say go for it, it’s a form of expression, it’s a way to get your thoughts onto paper. If you are serious about it, and I say this all the time, you’ve got to be original. You’ve got to have your own thing, don’t follow the trend because whatever is popular, because whatever is popular today will only be popular for fifteen minutes. The trends are going to change as the days go by, so you’ve just got to stay true to it. Whatever influences you just remember to stay true to it.

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