{"id":9170,"date":"2012-03-21T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-03-21T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southeastofheaven.com\/?p=9170"},"modified":"2012-03-21T11:15:29","modified_gmt":"2012-03-21T15:15:29","slug":"blowin-wind-w-corrosion-of-conformitys-mike-dean-were-going-to-do-something-thats-basically-the-defining-work-for-us-or-were-not-even-going-to-p","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/?p=9170","title":{"rendered":"Blowin\u2019 Wind w\/ Corrosion of Conformity\u2019s Mike Dean: \u201cWe\u2019re going to do something that\u2019s basically the defining work for us or we\u2019re not even going to put it out. \u201c"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Since 1984, North Carolinas Corrosion of Conformity has been a relentless and powerful staple of the East Coast punk\/metal scene. \u00a0From their early classic punk \u00a0release Animosity to the southern tinged doom\/stoner metal Pepper Keenan fronted era, COC has made a huge imprint on the face of heavy metal music. \u00a0I recently had the chance to connect with bassist\/founder Mike Dean from his home in North Carolina. \u00a0Mike and I talked about the stellar new self titled Corrosion of Conformity album, his beginnings as a young musician in North Carolina and how it is to be a band with out their guitarist\/singer of 16 years Pepper Keenan. \u00a0Hope y\u2019all enjoy this one as much as I did.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Mike thanks so much for taking the time to talk to me today.<\/strong><\/p>\n

No worries man. \u00a0Thank you.<\/p>\n

======================================<\/p>\n

Congratulations on making an amazing album. \u00a0I\u2019ve really been digging the hell out of it. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I appreciate that man. \u00a0I think it turned out pretty well [laughs].<\/p>\n

======================================<\/p>\n

Is there some significance to having this album be \u201cself titled\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s kind of a combination of circumstances that just felt right. \u00a0It\u2019s not like any type of dis to Pepper (Keenan; guitarist\/singer) but when you have someone who is your main focus, vocalist and guitar player\/songwriter for 15 years or so and then you suddenly make a record without that person you\u2019re going to run into some critique. \u00a0Without anyone even hearing it you\u2019re going get some resistance. \u00a0These are the three original people here and we are not going to make an inferior record. \u00a0We\u2019re going to do something that\u2019s basically the defining work for us or we\u2019re not even going to put it out. \u00a0In a fun way it\u2019s kind of like two middle fingers blazing and it\u2019s also just a slightly provocative thing to do 30 years into your career. \u00a0It also puts emphasis on the band name and is just kind of a conversation starter.<\/p>\n


\n======================================<\/p>\n

That\u2019s really interesting. \u00a0If I was Pepper I think I\u2019d be a little bit nervous after hearing how good this album is.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh Pepper was into it man. \u00a0We were waiting on him to do some Down (Pepper\u2019s other band from New Orleans) stuff and then by the time we got our shit together to record he saw a little bit of daylight in his schedule and he wanted to make a record with us. \u00a0At this point we had already stated our intention to do it as a trio. \u00a0He was a little put off by that and I think he was concerned that we might be dragging the brand down or that we might do some type of inferior product. \u00a0We played a couple of shows with Down and he heard the new material and he was like, \u201cMan, if that\u2019s the stuff you\u2019re doing I\u2019m very cool with that.\u201d \u00a0From that point on he was very gracious about it and he even came out and played some tunes with us at Hellfest in France. \u00a0It\u2019s been a good vibe with him.<\/p>\n

======================================<\/p>\n

That\u2019s cool that you guys are able to maintain a positive relationship with Pepper but at the same time be like, \u201cHey dude, we\u2019re cool but we\u2019re not going to sit around twiddling our thumbs waiting for you to have free time.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, I mean we had to do something but at the same time you can\u2019t blame him. \u00a0He\u2019s got a great opportunity to be creative and make a good living with Down. \u00a0They\u2019re really in demand and they are bunch of really down to earth and creative people. \u00a0I don\u2019t blame him one bit. \u00a0He\u2019s living back down in New Orleans where he\u2019s from and that\u2019s where Down is based out of. \u00a0I think at some point we probably will do something with Pepper again and it will be a good story when it happens. \u00a0If doing in the Arms of God (the last record they made with Pepper) is any indication of where we left off it\u2019ll be a good time and a great experience.<\/p>\n

======================================<\/p>\n

When you guys decided to move forward without Pepper, was it a pretty easy decision to just have it be the three original members or had you thought about bringing in someone to step in for Pepper?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nah, we didn\u2019t really think about bringing anybody else in. \u00a0We just kind of acted on the natural impulse that felt right and that was to just bring back the trio. \u00a0The suggestion actually started out as a joke because Pepper had the idea that we should get back together to play some festivals in 2010. \u00a0That ended up not working out because Down had to do shows and promoters didn\u2019t want to do COC and Down together so we were a little disappointed at first. \u00a0It would\u2019ve been the first with we had Reed (Mullins; drummer) back in the band after a really long absence. When that didn\u2019t happen, I just said, \u201cMan, we should just go play as a three piece\u201d expecting everybody to laugh and nobody laughed [laughs]. \u00a0We started dusting off all of our Animosity material which we found had held up pretty well for being so ancient. \u00a0Our starting point was to just write some songs that we felt would go well in the set list with the Animosity material that would demonstrate that we weren\u2019t just trying to exploit the nostalgia. \u00a0Once you write four songs off the cuff you might as well just keep on going and write an album. \u00a0That\u2019s how it all came together.<\/p>\n

======================================<\/p>\n

This new album really seems to have meshed that kind of punk Animosity era stuff with the kind of stoner metal Pepper Keenan era stuff. \u00a0Was that a natural thing for you guys or did you find yourselves having to work at it a bit?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We were thinking that we were going to stick to a more slightly updated Animosity sound. \u00a0We wanted to really work the kind of hard core metal kind of combination and then take that to a place that felt current and that reflected who we were. \u00a0I think the sound managed to stay pretty cohesive but none of it was really calculated. \u00a0I think if we had tired to do more calculating we probably would\u2019ve just fallen on our faces. \u00a0I\u2019m really happy with how it all turned out.<\/p>\n

======================================<\/p>\n

I think it sounded so natural and I love the end result.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Man, some people just don\u2019t get it. \u00a0I heard people saying stuff like, \u201cYou guys rushed this out\u201d. \u00a0Well, we didn\u2019t rush it out. \u00a0It\u2019s been 2, 555 days since our last release but you know [laughs]. \u00a0I think we were well rehearsed and prepared but we made it a point to not over polish or whittle it down with excess production making it perfect and lifeless.<\/p>\n

======================================<\/p>\n

Speaking of making the album, you guys went out to California to make this record. \u00a0How did you guys end up recording at Dave Grohl\u2019s studio?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We had an opportunity to record in a really nice studio for a kind of a family rate by virtue of a favor that Reed did for Dave Grohl when he was in a band in suburban DC called Dain Bramage. \u00a0Before Dave Grohl was in Scream or Nirvana he was in a band called Dain Bramage. \u00a0COC had played a show up there and he came up to Reed and asked if he knew anyone he could talk to about putting a record out. \u00a0Reed told him about a guy he knew who ran a label in Pamona, CA called Toxic Shock and told him that he\u2019d put his stuff out. \u00a0That ended up working out and while it wasn\u2019t a huge money deal it was your boys first record that he ever put out. \u00a0All these years later Reed runs into Dave at a Them Crooked Vultures show and Dave invited us to come out and record at his studio. \u00a0All we had to do was pay the engineer and the studio was on the house.<\/p>\n

======================================<\/p>\n

You guys recently toured with an awesome band from LA called Kyng who definitely boasts a lot of COC influence. \u00a0Do you hear a lot of you influence in some bands and if so how does it feel?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah. \u00a0With Kyng, I hear a little bit of \u201cBlind\u201d era COC. \u00a0That band is terrifyingly good man. \u00a0They\u2019re very melodic and it\u2019s like I told them, \u201cThere’s a lot music in that there music\u201d [laughs]. \u00a0It\u2019s hard to say though. \u00a0If you listen ot COC you\u2019re going to hear a lot of Black Sabbath and Bad Brains or whatever else. \u00a0It\u2019s all just a language of music and it\u2019s just hard to start entirely from scratch and have something that people are going to enjoy. \u00a0I hear it here and there and sometimes you hear it in the context of a band that\u2019s not fully baked [laughs]. \u00a0I definitely do hear a lot of early COC references in some of the new metalcore bands also.<\/p>\n

======================================<\/p>\n

It really is hard to do something that is 100% original and especially for up and coming bands it takes some time to hone your sound.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah. \u00a0It\u2019s always going to involve some of the other devices that somebody used before. \u00a0You just have to learn to use them a different way.<\/p>\n