Interview with Alex Wade/guitarist

UN: The band has only been together since February of last year, so saying things have come together quickly for the band is a bit of an understatement. Are you guys surprised at all that a record deal came along this quickly?

Alex: Haha thank you, yeah we were definitely surprised. I never thought the band would get to the point where we are now. Not that we didnt have confidence in the band, because we did, its just none of us have ever been in a band that has made it to this caliber before so it was definitely a pleasant surprise.

UN: Just to satisfy my personal interest, were you guys in any bands prior to putting together Whitechapel? There is a professionalism here that would make it hard to believe that this was the first band most of you guys have been in.

Alex: We had all been in smaller local bands in the past, nothing notable or that anyone would have heard of. Whitechapel is the first time any of us have been in a real band that works as a business rather than a hobby. After the label signing I think we realized we had something special going on here that had a lot of potential, so we all took the plunge and quit our jobs and school and put 100% into the band and started touring full-time. Judging by the amount of success weve had, Id say it was a good decision.

UN: The Somatic Defilement is one of the best debut albums I have heard in a very long time. Are you guys pleased with how the album turned out? Did everything go smoothly in the studio while the band was recording?

Alex: Thank you very much, we are quite pleased with the outcome. Considering the budget we had to work with I think the outcome is as good as it could possibly sound. There were some rough spots here and there while recording, but for the most part everything was smooth sailing.

UN: I was wondering if you could possibly explain the idea behind the album name. Im assuming it goes along with the lyrics from the song of the same name.

Alex: In bigger, more complex words, The Somatic Defilement means anatomical ravaging. That pretty much sums up the whole concept for not only the title track, but the whole cd. Phil is heavily influenced by older death metal bands in his vocals and lyrical writing and I think that shows on this album. Though on the next album he will be maturing his lyrical content a bit, it wont be as vile so to speak, hahaha.

UN: I was curious to ask about the three guitar approach the band has. How did it come to be that the band ended up with three guitar players? It must make the band sound monstrous in a live setting.

Alex: In the beginning I wasnt very keen on having 3 guitars, I thought in our style the more death metal parts would get muddy in the live mix. But its kind of complicated how it came about, basically though there were 3 guitarists interested and we were all friends with each other and with the other guys in the band, so it would have been hard to not involve one of the guitarists. So we said Well lets just give 3 guitars a try and see how it sounds. We tried it and it was rough at first, but eventually we got the hang out it and learned how to use 3 guitars and we love it now. Like you said it gives us a huge three dimensional sound live, and I think that gives us an advantage against all the other bands in our genre, because not only does it make us heavier, but its something thats unique compared to the other bands in our genre.

UN: With three guitar players you must have a lot of riffs and ideas being brought to the table. How long does it take for a song to take shape? Does it take a long time for everyone to agree on what works for a song?

Alex: Thankfully all of the people in the band have the same mindset and vision for the songwriting of the band, so writing songs is not a painful process like it is for some bands. Usually well come together and show everyone the riffs weve written, take the ones we like the best and try to form them into a song with hooks and transitions. Then well demo the song out with programmed drums to see if we like how the song sounds as a whole, and make changes if necessary.

UN: The songwriting in the band really hits on a lot of different styles. Do you think its important to have a varied approach for this style of music? You guys are definitely not what you could consider a typical death metal band.

Alex: Yeah I think its definitely a good thing to include a wide variety of styles, it keeps the music fresh and interesting. A lot of true death metal guys arent into our breakdowns and stuff, but we love them and love incorporating them with death metal, we think it just makes the sound that much heavier, plus that much more enjoyable live for the crowd.

UN: Would you agree that the internet has pretty much changed the way the entire underground is run? Myspace is pretty much a necessary evil these days, and it does a tremendous job of helping bands get their name out there. It isnt only limited to word of mouth and fanzines like it used to be.

Alex: I agree with that 110%, I have no shame in admitting that we wouldnt be anywhere we are today without our Myspace. Its what boosted our popularity and got us exposure and recognition in the beginning, and then once we started touring and the album dropped its like everything exploded. Myspace is such an amazing promotional tool for bands.

UN: Do you find that the metal scene seems a bit overcrowded these days? There are many awesome bands, but it sometimes takes awhile to weed through all of the mediocre bands to get to the cream of the crop.

Alex: Yeah I definitely agree with that. It seems like there are 10 new bands in our genre that pop up every week. Its ok though, because if the band has the right mindset, and has got what it takes to make it to the top, then it doesnt matter if there are 10 bands or 10,000,000 bands, theyll do just fine.

UN: The band already has a few fairly lengthy tours booked for the upcoming months. Do you think that a lot of newer bands have a now or never attitude when it comes to touring? It seems that touring extensively didnt really happen in the past for a lot of extreme metal bands, but it seems to be much more common these days.

Alex: I definitely think that, because thats exactly how it was for us. We were pretty much like Ok, its time to stop messing around, were either going to do this or not, its not worth just playing little shows here and there. And Im so glad weve made that decision, because we all were able to quit the daily grind of work and school and get out on the road and truly experience life and I wouldnt trade it for the world, I love touring and all the new opportunities and experiences it brings.

UN: Right now when a person happens to catch you guys live it may very well be the first time that the person is hearing you guys. Do people warm up to the band fairly quickly? I could definitely see a lot of people looking up at the stage with their jaws hanging open.

Alex: Hahaha yeah it seems that way. Lets put it this way, Ive never heard a bad comment about our live show ever in the entire year and half weve been doing this, so thats got to say something I guess. When we tour, everyday our page is filled with positive comments about the previous nights show.