|
 With their fourth album 'Summon in Thunder' available now, Seattle metallers Himsa are riding the crest of a wave, as their European tour revs up to full power, and about ready to hit the UK in March.
With videos involving tennis and Sasquatches, and a reputation for having a great time on stage, it's easy to see why the five piece are having so much success right now.
Komodo Rock's Mike Elliott caught up with guitarist Kirby Johnson to
find out more about tennis, sasquatches, and Himsa on the road.
Mike Elliott: You guys are reving up for a European Tour at the end of
February, and hitting UK in March. Are you looking forward to it?
Kirby Johnson: Yes, it should be a good time.
ME: What can the UK fans expect from you on these dates?
KJ: The UK fans should expect to have whiplash, significant hearing loss and to have us in their faces!
ME: You recently completed a US tour with Amon Amarth and Sonic Syndicate. How was it?
KJ: The shows were great. We played to a lot of new faces and the crowd
reactions were very positive. The crowds were definitely there to see
Amon Amarth. People were excited as it was their first headlining tour
in the US. But we feel like we left their fans with a good impression.
ME: All of the touring has been in support of your 4th album, the first
since signing with Century Media, Summon In Thunder. How has the record
been received?
KJ: The reaction to Summon in Thunder has been very positive. On more
than one occasion we've been told that it is the new favorite out of
our other releases.
ME: Can you tell us some more about the album, and some of the tracks on it?
KJ: We recorded Summon in Thunder with Steve Carter and Devin Townsend.
It was mixed by Tue Madsen, who also did our last CD 'Hail Horror'. We
wrote the music in a very short period of time and went into recording
immediately.
Some of the tracks we play live pretty regularly are Big Timber,
Haunter, Summon In Thunder, and Unleash Carnage. We'll be adding at
least a couple more this upcoming tour.
ME: The CD launch for the record involved tennis gear, inspired by your
video for Unleash Carnage. Can you tell us more about that?
KJ: We made a tennis themed video for Unleash Carnage and we had all
the leftover gear from the shoot, so we just thought we'd put it to
good use one last time. When we play a show at home, we like to make it
fun. It was kind of a last minute thing, but it seemed fitting. For the
Hail Horror record release we wore knight outfits and had stage guards
with swords. Another time on Christmas we played a show dressed up as
elves and threw garbage out into the crowd and made a big mess. A
friend of ours dressed up as a drunken homeless street Santa, and you
could sit on his lap and get your picture taken while he touched you
inappropriately.
ME: Whose idea was the video?
KJ: I'm not sure. We always have a lot of ideas for stupid videos. It
was really something we kind of did for our own entertainment. We
thought it wouldn't really even be seen by many people, maybe just as a
bonus on the CD. But it has had a good reaction, I guess people like to
watch us makes fools of ourselves!
ME: The next question of course has to be, are you guys big tennis fans?
KJ: I am. When it isnt raining I like to get at least a couple games in
each week. Now that the weather here is shitty, I've been playing
racquetball quite a bit. I'm a fan of all things racket.
ME: You've also recorded a video to the song Big Timber. Can you tell us some more about the headbanging Sasquatches?
KJ: You wouldnt believe how long we had to hunt the forests to capture
those guys. Man they were grumpy when we caught them. But once they
realized that we were in Himsa, they were all stoked. It was pretty
easy to talk them into doing the video at that point. Now those guys
are totally famous get more squatch booty than you can shake a stick at!
 ME: Being that you've done tennis and Sasquatches, what's next on the video front for you guys?
KJ: 70's Action Porn!
ME: So what's next for HIMSA after the European Tour ends?
KJ: We've got a Western Canada tour with our good friends in 3 Inches
of Blood. Then we are in the process of putting together our own US
headlining tour.
ME: As with almost every band these days, you have a profile on
myspace. Do you find the site is actually useful to you as a band?
KJ: It is somewhat useful to us, but we dont really take full advantage
of it. There are bands that really take advantage of myspace. They are
constantly working to gather names and have a zillion friends and send
out constant updates. As for ourselves, we haven't really put in the
time to reach out to people on myspace.
ME: The internet, myspace included, has changed the music industry
undeniably over the last few years. Is it something you feel has really
effected you that much?
KJ: The crazy thing about myspace is that bands don't really even
release demo's anymore. They can just put up there music and reach out
to way more people than if they handed out a CD. I remember hearing
that if a band sold a thousand of the CD demo it was a crazy amount.
Now with myspace, an unsigned band can have that many people listen to
their music in a single day.
ME: As a musician, who has influenced you the most?
KJ: I would say that would have to be the people that I've played in
other bands with over the years. I've played in a lot of bands and have
been fortunate enough to have played with some amazing players.
ME: And influenced the band as a whole?
KJ: Thats hard to pick just one.
ME: Is there any up and coming band that you've been listening to a lot lately?
KJ: There is a band here in Seattle called Lesbian that is pretty awesome.
ME: Can you give our readers any important HIMSA related weblinks?
www.himsa.org
www.myspace.com/himsa
A big thank you to Kirby for taking the time to talk with us.
Himsa's latest album Summon In Thunder is out now via Century Media Records
Himsa will kick off their European Tour in Saarbrucken on February 29th, a tour which wraps up on March 25th in Moscow.
The bands full schedule shapes up as follows.
February
29th Roxy, Saarbrucken
March
1st Matrix, Bochum
2nd Markthalle MarX, Hamburg
3rd Garage, Oslo
4th Klubben, Stockholm
5th Musikens Hus, Gothenburg
6th Magnet, Berlin
7th Juha, Rosswein
8th Arena, Wein
9th Zoe Club, Milan
10th Feierwek, Munich
11th Kiff, Aarau
12th 0.13, Tiburg
13th The Orange Box, Yeovil
14th Barfly, Birmingham
15th Rios, Leeds
16th Corporation, Sheffield
17th Barfly, Glasgow
18th Barfly, Cardiff
19th Underworld, London
20th Locomotive, Paris
21st Muziek-o-droom, Hasselt
22nd Schlachthof, Wiesbaden
24th Orlandina, St Petersburg
25th Tabula Rasa, Moscow
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
