Wellington metal band Razorwyre will release their debut full length album, Another Dimension, this Friday. UTR caught up with member Chris Calavrias to discuss writing and recording the album, the music scene down in Wellington and being inspired by war, horror and partying.
Hey Chris, tell us about recording the album: where and when did you do it, who with?
We recorded the album in June last year. So it has been recorded for a while now. We did the drums at Tim’s (Shann) not-so-secret studio in Wellington. We called this place ‘Hot Cock Studios’. Why you may ask? If you ever record there you’ll know what I mean.
Then it was off to Castle Point for a week to do the rest of the recording: we hired a house to get away and Tim brought his gear out – it was pretty sweet.
We finished off some of the stuff we didn't get done over a long time in Wellington.
Tim single-handedly recorded it and mixed it and totally made it sound bad-ass – it seriously couldn't have been done with out him. I love everything about that man and what he can do: I am so proud of him – ha, I sound like a teacher giving a student praise. Although he learned nothing from me.
Was there a particular sound you were trying to explore?
No, there was not particular sound I/we were exploring, we just wanted to carry on writing Heavy Metal in the style we love.
Were there any particular themes or reference points you were drawing on?
Same stuff as usual really: war, horror and partying.
Why did you call it Another Dimension?
Another Dimension is after the song on the album 'Another Dimension of Hell'. The cover is also a representation of the song. The song is about a dream / nightmare Z Chylde keeps having.
Was there anything you were trying to do differently to earlier Razorwyre work? How do you think it is different from your earlier releases?
Not trying to do anything different really, we just carried on writing more tracks after the EP. The tracks are a lot more mature I guess – and not in the bad way that mature normally means (you know shit). There is a lot more going on in these tracks. This time I worked more closely with Z once I had the main parts of the songs written. We did most of the writing together.
You guys have been around for a while now: more generally, how do you think you've changed as a band and musicians?
Haven't changed at all (I hope).
What are your future plans after you release the album?
We have been quiet on playing shows for some time as we’ve been waiting for the new album so we can give the people something new. Now that it is out, we are booking release shows. Can't wait to get back to some of the places we haven't been in a while (or ever).
Of course another release but won't be saying anything about that until its done haha.
And then next year off to Europe to play the prestigious underground Heavy Metal festival ‘Keep it Ture’ in Germany.
You guys are Wellington-based: what do you think of the state of the music scene in Wellington?
Currently not that much that excites me (but then again I don’t like many different styles). Wellington over the years has had some GREAT bands that I have loved from pop-punk bands like Brubeck back in the day, to hardcore bands like Damaged, to modern metal bands like Rad-X and now stoner rock giants Beastwars.
More generally what do you think of the state of the music scene in New Zealand? Are there any artists you feel a particular kinship with?
We are friends with lots of bands. Most notably Numbskull, as Nick our drummer is also their drummer. Also from both living and practicing with some of them. And then there are Beastwars who we made good friends with from when we nurtured them into what they are today (haha Nato!!).
