Garoted Interview

1. Can you introduce the band to some of my readers that might of never heard of you before?
1. Garoted is a musical entity that began in late 2008 with the sole agenda of producing our vision of pure Death and Black metal. So far we have two released cds, our first being a promo/demo and the later our first full-length, "Praise Hate, Praise Murder, Praise The Beast". We currently reside in southeast Nebraska, which is a very unlikely place for underground metal to exist.

2. How would you describe the musical style that was presented on the new album?
2. The new album was compiled of all the material that we wrote between 2008 and 2010, so there was quite some time in between for us to progress and polish the music on the album. Many of the songs went through variations and we even originally planned on having a total of 10 tracks for the final album, however we scrapped those that didnt have the same feel as the rest of the tracks. As for musical style, those who listen will be able to tell what we're going for sound wise, but these tracks are just the first chapter in our discography so only the future will tell in how we sound and progress in time.

3. How would you describe the lyrical content and concepts of the songs?
3. The lyrics are just as important as the music we write. There we're no fillers and we made sure we put meaning into each and every lyrical piece. Our lyrics do jump from one concept to another as we feel expressing just one subject can become tiresome and uninteresting blabber. The lyrics range from stories or ideas about specific topics including Misanthropy, War, Creatures/Demons, Darkness, Death in all forms, and the evil in mankind.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the band's name?
4. When we were brainstorming on a name we wanted to think of something that would fit our sound and ideology, sounding disgusting or vile, and of course original. We agreed to use "Garroted" but after drawing out the initial logo it didnt look as good with the use of two r's so we took one out and it worked. For those who don't know the meaning or are too lazy to look it up, to "garrote" someone is to use some sort of wire, rope, etc. to strangle a being, causing them to suffocate and provoke hallucinogenic thoughts before their death.

5. What are some of the best live shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?
5. The best show we have played so far was also our biggest show and that took place at The Riot Room in Kansas City Missouri. We played with many bands that night, far too many i cant remember at the moment but the headliners were Gravehill and Cardiac Arrest. Our stage performance must be as professional as possible, yet in a live setting that isnt going to be the case. We don't do anything crazy or stage props or anything like that, but one would see much hair headbanging and intense loud music in their faces. Most people I've looked at in the crowd are either enjoying the intensity, mesmerized by our performance, or I've even seen occasional fighting.

6. Do you have any touring plans for the future?
6. We don't have any plans yet for touring this year, but i won't say its not out of the question. There are some things in the works but the other members are busy with other projects or daily life so its hard to tell when something will happen. This downtime gives us an opportunity to work on new material and focus on progressing as a whole.

7. What is going on with the side projects these days?
7. Many of us are involved with different musical efforts. Myself and our drummer Nolan Weber are full members of the Black Metal band Typhon from Wichita. D. and I and another good friend of ours are in a noise grind band called Dr. Fvck.

8. Right now you are currently unsigned, are you looking for a label, if so what kind of label do you feel would be the best for your kind of music?
8. Yes and No. We would like to have the opportunity to release our album on tape and vinyl, which are respective formats to listen to metal on. Everything so far has been self-released by ourselves, which is very and i can't express it enough, VERY pricey even with 4 members. If a small underground label is interested in our music to be released we would definitely consider it, the only problem is that we want to be cautious and not be fucked over if we sign a contract. I've heard stories of bands splitting up due to having to pay ridiculous amounts of money to a label if they've signed a contract. I understand as a band grows there will be a business side to it, and being on a label is an excellent way of getting your music heard across the nations. If it happens, it will be a label coming to us wanting us to release it.

9. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your musical style and also what are you listening to nowadays?
9. We're all influenced by many of the same bands and genres but on the same hand each of us listen to something completely different than the other member. For myself i am influenced by what gives me the fuel to create my own music, albeit Death, Black, Thrash, whatever. For my musical style i am influenced by many different musicians and bands, notable and probably obvious mentions: Deicide, Cannibal Corpse, Marduk, Infernal War, Behexen, Deathspell Omega, Napalm Death, and the list goes on...

10. How would you describe the extreme metal scene in your home state of Nebraska?
10. Ah there is not too much of a scene here. Any bands of worth or of interest of us remain in Kansas, Missouri, Illinois. or Colorado. Any bands from the Nebraska area are either core bands that started 4 weeks ago and already think they are top well known musicians playing in front of their friends or stuck up generic metal bands that have been playing in the same bars for years. These bands simply don't interest me nor have the same mind set or goals that Garoted has, hence one of the many reasons we disassociate with that region. Not much else to say about this question, but the bands and places that we play and surround ourselves with are what i guess a midwest scene would be.

11. Outside of music what are some of your interests?
11. Most of my time is taken up by work or classes at the university. However, i do spend leisure time by writing guitar and lyric parts, fixing computers, reading about WW2 and history, i also do a bit of gaming when time permits.

12. Any final words or thoughts before we close this interview?
12. Thank you for the interest in Garoted as well as taking the time to review our latest album. Those who are interested in us can contact us at garoted@live.com, we will be having an official website up in the following months.