UN: Can you go through a brief history of Gross Misconduct? Were any of you guys in bands together previous to Gross Misconduct?

John/drums: All of us are from the Nanaimo area, which is on Vancouver Island. David London and I were introduced through a mutual friend in the mid 1990s and we started off jamming together at my parents house. We just did covers for fun at that time, early Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Sepultura.

During this time, Dave was also playing in a punk band with Jesse Brint called Spent Load. In 1998, I joined Daves other band, F.R.O (Fuck Right Off), which included Jesse Brooks. F.R.O. lasted about six months before Dave, Jesse Brooks and I decided to start another band.

We went through two guitar players before deciding on Jesse from Spent Load. The first incarnation of the band was in tact towards the latter half of 1999. We played a bunch of shows around Vancouver Island from 1999-2003, and in 2003, we moved to Vancouver and started playing shows.

In 2004, Jesse Brooks left the band (amicably) and Ryan Shepard, a guy we knew from back in Nanaimo, joined the band. More shows from 2005-2007, and then in May 2007, we released our first album, The Process of Indoctrination.

Since the album came out, weve toured with/played with Martyr, Neuraxis, Fuck the Facts, Amon Amarth, played the Vancouver date of the Warped Tour in 2007 and got distribution for the album in the U.S. (The End Records) and Canada (PHD Distribution).

Reviews for the first album have been totally rad, and now we're writing a follow up that will blow our debut out of the water.

UN: Is there much of a scene for metal in Vancouver? Ive been into underground metal for quite sometime and there doesnt seem to be many bands from the area that come to mind.

John: There's the Devin Townsend/Gene Hoglan family of bands: Strapping Young Lad, Zimmer's Hole, etc. And then theres 3 Inches of Blood and Bison B.C. Awesome Vancouver metal bands that everyone should check out include: Sinned (Davids other band), First Reign, Muspellheim, Devived, Soulscar, Tyrants Blood, Abuse, Crackwhore, Abriosis, Tendonitis, Infernal Majesty

UN: How long did the writing process for The Process of Indoctrination take? Does it take a long time to put together a Gross Misconduct song? Are you guys anal about every note down to the last detail?

John: Because TPOI was our first album, it was a collection of songs we had written since the bands inception. Not every song we had written made it on the album, we tossed at least 5-7 songs into the land of the forgotten. However, nothing on that album was written after early 2005. Driven Fanatic, the last song written for the album, was written in late 04/early 05, but the rest of the tunes are from between 2000-2004.

As far as the time it takes to write a song, we definitely take our time putting a tune together, a lot more so than we used to. It's hard not to be anal about your tunes, after all, the end goal is to put them out there for world-wide consumption and you want to put your best foot forward. We all have input on songs, and of course, there are disagreements from time to time. We've all got the same collective vision for a how a song should turn out, it's just that sometimes you want to take a different path towards getting there.

UN: The album has been receiving great reviews across the board. Is the band pleased with how the media has received the album? More importantly, how have the fans received the album?

John: I'm blown away by how well the album has been received. Thats not to say that I wasnt confident in the material, but prior to May 2007, wed never recorded, tourednothing. So, to have your starting point be so well received is surprising and totally flattering. Im thankful people like it, because like any other band trying to make a go of it, we put a lot of time, money, work and personal sacrifice into what we do.

UN: When can we expect the follow up album to be recorded? Is anything planned producer wise yet? Will you be recording in the same studio as you recorded the debut in?

John: We hope to have the second album done by the spring of 2009. We have six songs done (minus lyrics) and parts of the remaining three or four kicking around. They just need to be arranged. We're going to take the latter part of 2008 off of playing shows for the most part to focus on finishing the album.

We can't wait to release our next disc. There are healthy doses of death, thrash, epic dual harmonies, lots of progressive parts and weird time changes, and parts that just rock the fuck out.

We will co-produce the second album alongside Adam McGhie, the same guy who engineered/co-produced the first album. Hes a rad dude and essentially the fifth member of the band.

And yes, we will record at the same studios again here in Vancouver: Mushroom and Hipposonic Studios.

UN: While the band is definitely thrash based, you certainly aren't typical of the genre. Is it important to be more than just another thrash band and put in those outside influences?

John: One thing that's been constantly hammered home since the release of our debut is that no matter what you label yourself, someones going to hear something different, or say you fit into another category.

I would say we are a culmination of everything that gets us stoked to play music. We grew up on thrash, and our first album was written during our formative period, when thrash was still our predominant reference point.

That said, we've grown a lot as musicians since we wrote the songs for our debut. Our next album is going to be all over the map. I'm not sure how it will or should be classified, because there's lots of different directions going on.

UN: One reoccurring influence I usually see mentioned in reviews is Death. Would you say that Death is a big influence on the band? Would you agree that the band certainly doesnt receive as much praise as they deserve?

John: Death was, and is, a huge influence on the band, particularly Chucks work from Human to The Sound of Perseverance. He had it all down: the chops, the combination of brutality and melody, and insightful lyrics.

As a drummer, Death has been a massive influence on me. Sean Reinert is quite possibly my favourite drummer ever, and of course, I worship the ground Gene Hoglan and Richard Christy walk on.

Given the fact that metal is sort of cool again in the mainstreams eyes, people are giving Chuck his due. I think hes been given the respect he deserves for the most part, but only recently has his legacy been properly acknowledged on a broad scale.

UN: Would you say that Canada has a strong metal scene right now? Were there any cities that you played that you were surprised by the reactions or the turnout itself?

John: It really depends on what you're into. I tend to focus mostly on death, thrash and grind, so in that sense I think the scene is really strong. There are rad bands in virtually every province in those genres.

In terms of tour surprises, Prince George was awesome. There was a few hundred people at the show, which was rad considering we had three hours of sleep the night before, and I drove about 12+ hours to get there.

UN: What are your thoughts on the current thrash revival that is going on right now? I think there are a lot of good bands although a lot of the newer bands pay too much attention to looking the part of a thrash band.

John: The looking the part debate has gone on for years and years, regardless of what kind of music you're talking about. I'm of the thinking that good music should always win out in the end.

I'm all for any sort of metal-related revival. I think an increase in the amount of people paying attention to metal is positive for the genre as a whole. Some purists may disagree, but I'd sure as hell like to make a living playing metal for a few years.

UN: The debut album was self-released. Will you be going the same route with the next album or have you guys signed with a label yet

John: We would love to have label support for our next album. If it happens great, if not, we will release it ourselves.

UN: This one is just for fun. Who would you say is the greatest Canadian metal band of all time? And on the opposite side of the spectrum, who would you say is the worst?

John: Best and worst are pretty subjective and arbitrary terms. If you're honest, have conviction and make music for the right reasons, all the power to you.

That being said, my favourite Canadian metal bands include: Martyr, Neuraxis, Fuck the Facts, Augury, Cryptopsy, Gorguts, Quo Vadis. Non-metal favorites would be the Dayglo Abortions and the smalls.

http://www.myspace.com/grossmisconductmetal