The Lodge @ Confessor Interview

Confessor
an interview with Scott Jeffreys

To begin with a classic question, could you give me an elucidation on Confessor's origins - not only in a biographical sense, but also regarding your musical and lyrical driving forces? And also, give me an explanation about why the name Confessor did eventually prevail (as I believe you had Confession as an option as well).
Well, Graham Frye (on guitar) and I were in a high school band called No Comment and then he started jamming with Cary Rowells (on bass guitar), Brian Shoaf (on guitar) and his brother Jim Shoaf (on drums, who went on to do lights or drum works for various bands, such as Corrosion of Conformity, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam), doing some originals that were very "Trouble-ish". Graham asked me to come over and check it out and then I basically joined the band. Half a year to one year later we decided to make a drummer change and that's when Steve Shelton joined Confessor."

Confessor's usually perceived as a Doom Metal ensemble: how do you feel about being categorised as such and, in your own view, how would you portray this tag? In accordance with the issue in question, do you think that a band as My Dying Bride could be related to yours, in a same hypothetical manner as Candlemass may be just as well? Essentially, what makes this label diverge from others in the whole Metal field?
I can see how we are grouped into the whole "Doom Metal" category. It doesn't bother me at all, as long as someone is listening to it and enjoys it; call it whatever you like. Call it Southern Boy Hick Metal for all I care. Call us what you will, just don't call us late for supper.

Following the release of your third and last demo (Collapse), you inked a deal with the renowned Earache; what do you reminisce from those days and what did you think of being alongside such household names as At the Gates, Bolt Thrower, Carcass and Nocturnus? Tell me your best and worst recollections from the legendary Gods of Grind tour you did with Carcass, Cathedral and Entombed and the other one with Nocturnus.
I'm not sure what households you are referring to, but my best memories are from that first Gods of Grind tour. Everyone got along very well and the Nocturnus guys where great also. That tour was quite not as well funded. There where a few good shows on that also, though just spread out a bit more.

Unlike the common Earache artist, you only released a full-length album proceeded by an homonymous mini, containing both new and old material; what was the plan behind this last one and, since you were on the rise at the time, what prevented you to write a second long-player (might it be that the catalyser was based on personal or musical disparities between members)? These days, how do you look back at both Condemned and Confessor?
Actually, the EP was recorded shortly after Condemned was finished; just a few months, if I remember correctly.
Earache wanted some more tunes for an EP to release, so it was its plan.

Pain may exist as an unclothed truth, though it enters our private world clad in interpretation and meaning. In turn, that meaning might determine our feeling about the pain itself; have you ever felt the anguish of some unknown ailment, sensing that anguish faded, once a reason was founded? And talking about pain, the slogan featured on the album sleeve mentions that "without any hope, there is no need for pain": should this saying be perceived as an ironic slant of some sort (perhaps underlining the fact that the only reason of pain's subsistence is Life itself - being harder to imagine it otherwise)?
I feel that the pain one suffers is the lifeblood of their soul. Sorrow lives deep inside every cell of the human race. It is really what make us strive to rise up and bring out the best in us. Best songs are written in pain. Athletes loose a game or race and are heartbroken to come back and overcome the defeat the next time, because of the pain of the last loss. Only when you are able to endure absolutely no more pain, because all you face is a never ending onslaught of pain, sorrow and despair and there is absolutely nothing to hope for, is when "there is no need for pain" (as there is nothing left).

In common knowledge, suicide is a subversive act, or the assertion of individual will against public authority. Lieberman once questioned this statement, by asking "How would it be, then, that the act of suicide (one with defiant political implications), has come to be viewed as the last refuge of the self-destructive victim?" Do you agree with today's therapeutic strategies that approach suicide as a form of illness, by effectively diminishing the decision of individual responsibility to die? Would you have a similar opinion if I told you that self-denial (in whatever form) would be the general basis to perform suicide?
Well, I think anyone seriously considering suicide should seek professional help. There is really nothing so wrong with the world that you should want to leave it by your own choice, unless of an illness that has you bedridden. What is dismal today can always turn around to be hopeful tomorrow: "All things shall pass" (Robert Braxton Jr.).

Regardless of what some unaware folk might say, Music has the power to make the listener react in the most diversed forms; in fact, you have plenty of prejudiced conservators (especially a number of authority icons) blaming Rock and Metal for countless cases of youth rebellion, murder and suicide (not to mention the surplus crap they hide under the carpet, based on their retrograde dogmas veiled by said excuses). What's your viewpoint on the fact that the media and society's most powerful characters, are in fact the real accountable ones on numerous cases of excessively harsh behaviour and not Music by itself? Speaking of which, have you ever seen Moore's Bowling for Columbine? If so, what's your outlook concerning that high school massacre and Marilyn Manson's declaration when faced with his questions?
I think people need to take accountability for their own actions and stop blaming music, drugs, etc. If you screw up, it is your own dam fault. I do think that parenting skills have declined over the years, by creating some very dangerous kids now.
I do not watch any of Michael Moore's shit!

In the song Defining Happiness, the final verses say "the pain of rejection dwells in the present, never to forget yesterday (always wonder about tomorrow); what's the deciding factor, what determines happiness?" Could you elaborate further about these pivotal points (rejection and happiness) and what was on your mind at the time of writing down these lines?
What determines happiness is up to the person listening; we just write songs that people can relate to. Just because a song has certain lyrics does not always mean that person writing it is actually feeling every word. Not to say I wasn't "feeling it" at the time, but you can't just assume that the lyrics are always about the person writing them. Just like when you read a book, the writer hasn't experienced everything he or she is writing about.

Ivan Colon (your former guitar player) died 3 years ago; on what circumstances did he pass away and how did it affect you personally? Was he, perchance, responsible for Confessor's reunion a couple of years ago?
Ivan more or less had a sinus infection that worsened, despite taking antibiotics for it. Eventually, the infection got into the blood stream and infected a heart valve. Doctors did not know what was going on until he had a heart attack and by then it was too late; he passed away a few days later.
Confessor got back together to do a benefit for his wife (he had just gotten married six months earlier). The reunion show went very well and we just decided to reform and write some new material. Everything from here on out is done in his memory.

Last Judgement is not only a good song-title, but moreover an appropriate approach for the closure of this interview; hence, let me know about Confessor's short-term endeavours and finish this questionnaire as you find fit.
Well, we just started shopping the demo to labels, so hopefully we can get started on a new full length album before too long. That is our main priority and goal right now: just getting another album out; I would be happy with that alone. I guess from all of the Confessor members, we would like to ask that you help us spread the word that we are back together and turn some people on to us that might not have known who we were back in the day.
Check out our website and listen to the new material: thanks!

www.confessorband.com

© 2004 The Lodge

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