Khemmis
TM - Hi, this is Amelia and Elizabeth from Twinmusix, and we are here with Ben from Khemmis. Thank you for having this interview with us today. We appreciate it.
BN - Thank you.
TM - How have fans responded to your new album "Khemmis"?
BN - The response has been really good. I try to stay off the internet when we release an album because you can see a thousand nice comments and one critical comment, and you get hung up on the critical Comment. The comments get filtered for you from our record label, and our manager, and he is loving all the comments, so we are loving all of them.
TM - What is your favourite song off the Album "Khemmis"?
BN - My favourite song changes day by day. I am partial to "Carrion King" because it has surprised people who have listened to it, and I think it is the heaviest song that we have ever done. There is something special about all our songs, but there is something for me about being able to reflect on this album in its entirety and love it as an album.
TM - What was your writing and recording process for "Khemmis"?
BN - We had previously written our last album at home because of COVID, even though we were all living in Colorado, we had to adapt to the new technology. I learnt how to use Guitar Pro, and we shared demo ideas through Google Drive.
This album already had the infrastructure in place, without having to fly everyone in every few weeks. It was surprisingly easy considering we are all spread out around the country. We have always been pretty good with our pre-production process. We record the album ourselves before we go in to record the album. We had all our tempos figured out and all the solos almost figured out, but you have to leave some room to improvise.
It is the first time that David Small has joined us in the studio on Bass Guitar. I have had the privilege to work with David because we used to be in a death metal band called "Glacial Tomb". I have got two bare witness to his wizardry for many years, and it has been a delight to watch him in the studio with the guidance of our producer, "Dave Otero", who is such a crucial element in everything we do.
TM - How did you come up with your Album cover for "Khemmis"
BN - It was a collaborative effort with an artist called Christopher Lwe. We were going to change everything for this album because everything is different from all our previous releases. If we had the same type of album cover as last time, everyone would be like oh its another "Khemmis" album. This time we are making a statement as a band, and people realise it.
Phil was walking down the street, and he saw something on this side of the street, and he thought, I am going to go into this building. He stumbled across this small art studio. When he walked in, he stumbled across a realistic bunch of paintings. Then he introduced himself and took some pictures, and the next time we all met, he said I think I found the artist. He showed us the pictures, and we said that is amazing. He had never done a rock band before. We thought we had to hire this guy, and he was immediately on board and excited about the opportunity. We decided to collaborate on the art, not just have him paint. We told him what we wanted, and the final art piece was truly staggering. It encapsulates the Vibe of the album and reflects the lyrical themes, and it connects to our previous records. I encourage our fans to dig into the details of our album cover, and when you look at it, you will realise that there are references to different albums in the cover. I think he knocked it out of the Park.
TM - If you could have any band play one of your songs, what band would you choose, what song would you choose, and would it be in your style or their style?
BN - I think anyone who covers one of our songs shouldn't sound like us. The artist should have respect for the original and shouldn't try to copy what has been done, because then it's just like karaoke. I would choose someone like Billy Strings to cover one of our songs. Here is one to throw people off. I would love to hear Lizzo cover a "Khemmis" song. I love a surprise; that is one of the greatest joys of discovering new music.
TM - Is there anything else you want to say to your fans?
BN - We hope we can get to Australia at some point. To anyone who has listened to a "Khemmis" song, thank you, and to anyone who ordered an album from us, I personally packed about 90% of them, and Dave Small helped me with the remaining 10%. It was a very powerful and emotional experience as I was packing up the records and CD's. It was great, and I sent a lot of packages to Australia, Iceland, the UK, the USA and Canada. To be reminded of the joy that people feel from our art and heavy metal in general, and in a world where we get to wear denim and don't have to have sleeves on our shirts and play pointy guitars and feel something that gives us hope. We are specs of dust floating in the cosmic sea, and we are lucky to be here at the same time, and I have a lot of gratitude for all of that.
TM - Thank you for having this interview with us today. We appreciate it.
BN - Thank you so much.