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photo by Liam Decker. @wreckedmail
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When I began to see teasers being shared across Instagram and Facebook that a new PITH album was closing in on a release date, I quickly sent the band a message and asked if they would be down to do an interview for the 'zine. I was beyond stoked when Guitarist Jason Vautour (known and loved by so many across the Halifax music scene as "J. Vo") responded, within minutes, with a great big YES!Please enjoy this interview and get stoked for the release of The Liminal Space Between Life And Death this Friday, May 16th!
NOD_Zine: How was Pith formed? It seems as though Pith began as a Halifax based metal supergroup! Jason and Brett are OG members while drum and bass duties seemed to switch players throughout the years. Give me the Pith origin story.
JASON VAUTOUR (Guitar, aka ‘J.vo’): I started writing stuff around 2008. I was inspired mostly because I was missing those death metal sounds in my life. At the time I was playing in more indie / alternative rock and some folk and country stuff, which I do love, but metal was missing in my life so I fixed that. I then started jamming with drummer Myles Deck who was the original drummer from Hellacaust long ago. Tunes came together and Troy Kirker (Hellacaust, Ritual Warfare) came into the mix. Originally, Myles was going to do vocals and we were going to get a different drummer but that didn’t really happen beyond our debut Halifax gig. Myles got back on the kit and we got Brett (Cottus, River Nihil, North End Metal All-Stars, etc) on vocals. From there, yes - drummers came and went... Myles, Chris Gatza, Graham Ferguson (on the Baptisms... EP) and Nathan Miller (Cottus, Hoarder, Ritual Warfare, etc). Nathan presently plays bass with us.
NOD_Zine: What musical influences have shaped Pith's sound? Are there specific artists or genres that have inspired your style?
JASON: Mostly Death metal but metal in general - the more raw side of things but balanced with some weirdness and catchy / hookiness. Carcass and Napalm Death were good points of reference to start off with. Of course, other things come into play - Industrial and other weird unexpected influences. What can we say? Sounds excite us!
NOD_Zine: Bonus points if each band member would list 5 influences that helped them get to where they are today, either musically or personally and mention how each members musical background helps to shape Piths sound.
JASON: Carcass, Voivod, Napalm Death, King Diamond, Jon Epworth (most of those are Pith-specific). Aside from the metal, I definitely bring the funk. My rhythms tend to be more influenced rock ’n roll and dance music which yields very interesting death metal riffs. I’ve also studied jazz, classical and have played and enjoyed every imaginable style of music, always adding to my own musical stew that you will taste some of with Pith.
BRETT CAMPAIGNE (Vocals): Jeff Walker (Carcass), Nivek Ogre (Skinny Puppy), PJ Harvey, Michael Gira (Swans), Legion(Marduk).
NATHAN MILLER (Bass): 1. My dad for being a record collector and subjecting me to Van Halen and ZZ Top at loud volumes at a young age. That's what ignited my love for loud heavy music. My earliest memory is loud music coming from the family stereo. 2. Exhumed 3. Nasum 4. Deicide 5. Melvins
As far as what I've brought to Pith... I was a big fan before I was a member. If I didn't love the music I wouldn't be in the band. It's Jason's writing style that inspires me and gives me the fuel I need to add what I believe the music needs. Or at least to the best of my ability. I've always been a gap filler with bands. Whether they need a drummer, guitarist, or bass player I just try to bring something to the table that fits the bill for the band I'm working with. Bottom line if I didn't love the music I wouldn't be in the band and I'm guessing if I totally sucked they wouldn't want me anyway haha.
BOBBY WEBB (Drums):
1) Old bluegrass. The older the better. It’s what I grew up on.
2) Motörhead
3) Iron Maiden
4) Slayer
5) Nirvana
I come from a very diverse musical family, which has always been a factor for me when it comes to musical tastes. I’ve had plenty of influences from all ranges of the musical spectrum and J.Vo has been connected to or been apart of a lot of them. Pith’s sound is very diverse, and always evolving and I think that works well for me because of the broad range of musical influence that shows in my playing.
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| photo by Liam Decker. @wreckedmail |
NOD_Zine: How does the band approach songwriting and composition? Is it a collaborative effort, or does someone take the lead?
JASON: I tend to instigate the writing, or at least that’s what it had always been until this line-up. Now, it is much more of a collaborative effort and feeling even more a “band” than it ever was because of it. I’m incredibly happy with this situation. Generally, the music comes, we leave space for vocals and then Brett comes in and lays himself on that. I like to go with the flow as much as possible in the moment - “if it feels good, do it” sort of thing. Not always does this make sense but a lot of times it does and gets an honest genuine sound from us which is what I’m most interested in with these excellent guys.
NOD_Zine: Your track "Impatience" was featured on the Heavy NFLD podcast (episode 036, November 2021) where the host referred to you as a Death Metal band. How would you describe yourselves in this world of labels and monikers, or better yet, how would you describe the band to someone who hasn’t listened to a song/ep/album or been to a gig?
JASON: Heavy metal / Death metal works great! We also like to use the Carcass-coined term “Rot ’n Roll” which I think describes us even better because of the aforementioned rock ’n roll rhythms that influence the writing and playing.
NOD_Zine: Being part of Halifax's vibrant music community, how has the local scene influenced your music and opportunities?
JASON: Halifax has venues that are known for hosting bar and all-ages metal gigs over the years. This is the bread and butter for any scene. You get to hear, meet and commune with fans
and bands. This kind of community is what lead to this band forming. I’m sure any other band anywhere you go would probably say something similar.
NOD_Zine: Have you collaborated with other Halifax-based artists or bands? How do such collaborations impact your musical growth?
JASON: Lately, in preparation for our new album’s release, we’ve been working with photographer Liam Decker on photos and videos. We saw his work locally and were very drawn to it and it has turned out to be a wonderful fit between us. Symbiotic, as he put it. I’d agree. Musically collaborating - as was aforementioned, we’ve had different drummers and bassists. Each brought their personality to the jam-room while respecting the songs in their way. Graham Ferguson (Hellacaust, Versifist, Ritual Warfare, Napalm Raid, etc) drummed on our “Baptisms Along The Acheron” EP/song. This happened in a time when we were between drummers but
wanted to keep momentum going. Graham is a genuine, passionate, talented guy who is very busy because of those traits. We were very grateful to borrow him for a bit. Jon
Epworth is someone who has mixed some recordings and lent his voice to some as well. I used to play with Jon Epworth & The Improvements until about 2006 in Halifax which was just before
Pith. He is ridiculously talented, very generous and hilarious. With collaborating, you get the unexpected! This sometimes goes unused but is always welcome!
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photo by Liam Decker. @wreckedmail
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NOD_Zine: Your Bandcamp page lists your three offerings in digital format; Fore, Baptisms Along the Acheron and Nein. Can you discuss the recording process for these albums/eps and were there any challenges or memorable moments during production?
JASON: For “FORE”, Troy Kirker (bass) and I travelled to Moncton, New Brunswick to record the bed tracks where Myles Deck (drums) was at the time. It was engineered and mixed by Kyle McDonald and John Jerome, who did a fantastic job! The vocals were done in Halifax with our friend Nick Jones. Mixing abroad through emails is NEVER fun but sometimes a necessary thing. The songs weren’t very live-tested.. maybe once? I love how this ep turned out. Great debut representation of us.
“BAPTISMS ALONG THE ACHERON” was at a time after Myles left the band and we were awaiting our new drummer Nathan to be ready for the band. I am pretty sure that’s how it went. We got the talented help from Graham Ferguson to help with drumming and he even did some menacing backup vocals. We spent mornings in the dungeon basement of my old rented house in Halifax working on this 11 minute opus, which pieces of it had been written for a while. We ended up recording it in a rural town hall kind of building in a snowstorm! It was a special experience, a lot of work lugging in recording gear and amps and drums and setting up for one day. We got a fun video out of it too. It was a new experience for me writing something that lengthy and epic. Rob Nickerson and Nick Jones who were both from the almighty Black Moor were engineering that day and mixing later. Great job.
“NEIN” was capitalizing on the momentum we had creatively with the solid lineup of myself, Brett, Troy on bass and Nathan Miller on drums. The writing came quickly and well. The recording did not hahah!!! The drums were done in a day in August 2014 with Diego Medina in The Old Confidence Lodge in Riverport, NS - about an hour or so outside of Halifax. I loved working there and Diego is a genius and a sweetheart. Nate SLAYED that day and sadly left the band amicably right after, causing the band to be on extended hiatus, which happily ended in late 2019. After that, I tediously did guitars and bass at home. Vocals got done a few times, with the end result being done at the Echo Chamber studio with local engineering hunk, Charles Austin. Mixed with Jon Epworth and finally released April 2020 in the pandemic.
NOD_Zine: Do you find Bandcamp to be a valuable resource for sharing your music and do you ever offer physical merch on the page?
JASON: Bandcamp is cool and I’m grateful it is there! We don’t have our physical march on there but maybe this is a sign we should hahah. I can only do so much before it starts taking me
away from the creativity part of being in the band. That’s when I have to maintain a life balance so sometimes business things will wait or be done more simply or maybe not at all.
NOD_Zine: Are there particular studios or producers/engineers in Halifax (or East Coast Canada) you prefer working with? What makes those collaborations effective?
JASON: I do enjoy all the aforementioned engineers and would love to branch out if need be but I also like the company I keep. For the new album, we got Jacob Hiltz to mix and master with us. It came out SO well and we are all so happy with the results - even sitting on it for months it still sounds really good to me. Its not perfect but it is the accurate and honest, genuine snapshot of who we are and what we sounded like then when it was time to record those new songs. Thats all I can ask for. That and for us to bring our full selves to the sessions which I believe we did. We are all very proud of it - Check it out!
NOD_Zine: What has been your most memorable live performance to date, and what made it stand out?
JASON: I can’t pick out one. If I had to, it’d be our second show ever when we opened for Napalm Death. Barney heard our soundcheck, gave a double thumbs up and was so nice. I hung with and chatted the hell out of Mitch Harris, who was cool as hell. Some great memories all around with different members and other bands we shared bills with. It was also the debut of
Brett singing live with us. Meeting and gigging with Napalm Death was, literally, a dream come true for me.
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photo by Liam Decker. @wreckedmail
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NOD_Zine: How do you prepare for live shows, and how does performing live influence your music? Are you rehearsing weekly on the regular or is there a more laid back approach?
JASON: We try to fit in a jam a week but with different ways of life, hours kept and people living in different areas there’s periods where we don’t jam. If there’s a show coming up, we make more time for it. Of course we jam leading up to gigs. Its like going to the gym for a competition but you’re working out a body made of 4 bodies that all have to align to perform and calibrate as one. Getting to a point where you’re just feeling it and not thinking about where someone else is is exactly where you want to be.
NOD_Zine: What do you aim to convey to your audience during a performance?
JASON: Honestly for me, a good time. Bang your head. Mosh. Stand and drink whatever. Just be ourselves fully and see how that goes. I always feel like people pay attention and take it in. I
guess that is what loud music does by default anyway hahah.
NOD_Zine: You have a new album dropping on May 16th this year! Tell me how the writing and recording process happened for The Liminal Space Between Life and Death and how it may have differed from previous recordings.
JASON: This is the most collaborative effort yet. I mostly wrote all the music before with Brett writing all the lyrics. This time the songs are more collaborative. Nate actually wrote the title song. At one point I felt writers block and felt like I had to switch things up somehow to get out of it. The thing that helped was that I saw that most Pith songs are like 4 minutes long or so. I saw
that and thought how they all went a certain way. I’m proud of them but I wanted to challenge myself inside my own box, so I wrote a few songs that were under one minute and felt like full
songs. This did the trick! I then wrote the song “Undeserving of the End’ which ended up being 7.5 minutes long. I got each member to write whatever they wanted also. Brett had an acoustic instrumental song called “Terrible Light”. Bob wrote a beat-oriented piece with synths that was named “Primal Inscription” and as already mentioned, Nate wrote the bludgeoning title track.
NOD_Zine: You have an album release tour beginning in Moncton on May 14; tell us all that you have planned for the tour.
JASON: The dates are actually: Halifax NS - May 24, Saint John NB - June 13, Moncton NB - June 14. We will play the entire new album plus a few songs from some other releases and maybe a fun cover or 2 if you’re lucky. We are rehearsing now and its sounding great! We will have CD//Tapes of the new album, some of our old releases and some shirts for sale as well as joining bills with other great bands from around the Maritimes like Versifist and Ancient Thrones in Halifax, Rifium and Red Usurper in Saint John, and Blind Witch and Rhabdomyolosis in Moncton.
NOD_Zine: My Apologies! I had the wrong month written in my notes *embarassed*
How do you see Pith's music evolving in the next few years? Are there new directions or experiments you're excited to explore?
JASON: I just want to have fun and let it all out. All the emotions and feelings through my guitar and writing, and have the other guys pour themselves into it and be ourselves together as a
unit. Grow together and also individually. That can happen in so many ways but this is at the root of how I want to be going forward. I also can’t wait til this release cycle has calmed down so I can feel inspired to move forward writing with the guys again.
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photo by Liam Decker. @wreckedmail
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NOD_Zine: From 'Fore' to 'The Liminal Space Between Life and Death', your sound has evolved
significantly. Can you walk me through how your creative process has changed over the years?
JASON: It begins usually with me writing ideas at home or sometimes improvising in the jam room. Sometimes it starts with a drumbeat. Then we flesh it out with the band while Brett is present. He might get inspired while listening to what’s coming from the jams and sometimes chimes in with great suggestions. Used to be that I’d have the whole tune written before coming in to jam and everyone would learn it and Brett would fit into it. It has become more collaborative which I love.
NOD_Zine: Your lyrics often delve into profound themes. What inspires your songwriting, and how do you approach translating complex emotions into your music?
BRETT: Its just the byproduct of being an over-thinker... processing this wonderful world has left me needing to exhaust the most noxious shit. The world is just getting worse and more simulated so i have a lot to write about.
NOD_Zine: The title 'The Liminal Space Between Life and Death' is evocative. What does this concept mean to you personally and as a band?
BRETT: It's that intangible place, that transitory space between the realm we've only known and one that we can never conceive... cause when we pass over we become not. In this way an 'after-life' is merely a continuation, i'm more interested in the threshold towards true oblivion. I also wanted to explore this through metaphors in actual spaces that are transitory and cause the dread of death... also liminal spaces are so hot right now.
NOD_Zine: What can the fans expect/look forward to from the upcoming album?
JASON: A concise snapshot of a band who loves working with one another and is growing together as a unit. We even have a Stan Rogers song on here called Giant which we made our own unique version of. Just under 30 minutes, it is a cool journey full of peaks and valleys and maybe a few oceans and nebulae along the way. Check it out. Thanks for the interview!
Be sure the check out PITH on their upcoming show dates (listed above) and have a listen to The Liminal Space Between Life And Death this Friday, May 16th on their
bandcamp or
spotify
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| photo by Liam Decker. @wreckedmail |
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