An Interview With Mitch Lucker of Suicide Silence [Rest In Peace]

How do you feel your headline tour has done so far?

It’s completely amazing, it’s been better than most of us have expected because we’re able to use this whole like– today the stage is like, this big [small], so we’re not able to use any of the production we bought, but we have a truck with us that’s full of just cabinets– like the back line in production that we put into this tour is the first time we’ve put that amount of money to a live show. And it just feels really fuckin’ badass to be able to give fans something for their ticket price. It’s like, if you’re going to pay that much money to come see us play, then we’re going to give you a badass show. It’s been a really good tour, really successful, really fun, and just awesome. No complaints in our camp, no complaints on anyone’s camp, it’s been really good.

You guys have had a headline tour before and I saw you guys in 2008, and you’ve also been opening acts for some tours, so how does it feel to be a headliner versus an opening act?

Headlining is amazing, it’s amazing because it’s your show, there’s no restrictions. You’re the headlining band, you get to do all the production, the backdrop, the light show, just everything. It makes so much more than an opening band, you can just go up there and play your songs for 20 minutes, and then you’re done. Like, our set tonight is like an hour long; we play an hour long set every night. Being able to play that long, really gives our fans more than going and singing five songs or six songs, they get it going.

See like, twelve songs, it’s like “whoa! I just saw twelve of my favorite band’s songs!” It gives them– my preference, I love headlining. But at the same time, I hate it, because we have to wait. We’re the first ones here, first ones in the venue, and then the last ones in the place. It’s like, you’re done sound checking at one o’clock and we just do this all day. And all day, you wait, and you wait, and you wait, and then it’s show time. It’s just– the waiting part sucks, the waiting part really does suck.

You guys have been on tour pretty much nonstop over the last few years–

Nonstop, like nonstop, literally 200-something, 300 shows a year. It’s seriously just like– every single– I mean, just ’cause we’re not here, doesn’t mean we’re on tour, we seriously, when we’re not in the United States, we’re in Canada; not in Canada, we’re in Europe; not in Europe; we’re in Russia, not in Russia, we’re in the UK; and Australia, not in Australia, in New Zealand. There’s– I mean, if you’re a band and you have your music up on the internet, there’s people that obviously have access to your music all over the world. So, everyone deserves to be able to see their favorite band play, and that’s what we do. I don’t know, we all like it a lot, but it’s hard work.

How is it when you go back home after a long tour?

It’s like day and night. I mean, you go from this lifestyle to 100% completely different life with a 3-year-old daughter. So, I go from doing this full-time to being a full-time daddy when I’m home, and going back to doing this full-time. So it’s like night and day for me. It’s like, you just end up getting used to switching on tour-mode and switching off on home-mode. It’s like this endless cycle; it kind of sucks because your whole life’s on a deadline. It’s like, you get this much time home and you get this much time here; everything’s on a deadline, and that kind of gets overwhelming at times, to where your whole life is someone else’s schedule; that sucks. But, at the same time, it’s like, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

You guys are working on a new album…Could you tell me some details about what’s going on with that?

Yeah. Well, we don’t know who’s going to produce it, but I mean, we don’t even have a name for the title of the album yet. But, we have songs written, it’s going to be another brutal-ass fuckin’ Suicide Silence record. I mean, this one’s going to be definitely the hookiest, catchiest of the three that we’ve done. This one we’re really going to push to a whole new– like, take heavy metal, this form of heavy metal– further than anyone’s ever taken it, just because all everyone’s head’s are at right now, it’s more-so in the writing process, and then having guest vocalists that can actually sing, like in harmonies, just doing all of this crazy stuff. We always do stuff that I know other bands are afraid to do and we’re just going to do a whole bunch of that again on this record and just make it that much more badass than everyone else’s because we’re not afraid to do anything, like making music.

Can you tell me who you have in mind for the guest vocalists?

We have a lot of ideas for guest vocalists. We’ve got our fingers crossed on a lot of really, really big names that we really hope come through. I mean, it’s going to be a surprise. Some of the people we picked, you’re going to be like, “What the fuck?! They’re going to sing on a Suicide Silence song?!” But then, you’ll hear it, and it’ll blow your mind, I’m sure.

How do you feel your next album will compare to your previous few?

It’ll compare structurally-wise, like the songwriting in the last record was really well, there was a lot– instead of just being like blast beat, breakdown, blast beat, breakdown, blast beat, breakdown, it’s like actual song structures there, coherent songwriting is actually there. There’s actually repetition in the songs, there’s just a lot more going on that makes it more of a well-rounded song. I think that’s where The Cleansing lackaced, The Cleansing was like, “GO-STOP…GO-STOP…” So, now this next record, I think we’re all becoming better actual songwriters. The songs will be better songs, not just cool parts here, cool parts there; just, that’s an amazing song, as a whole package.

Are you expecting any challenges on the new album?

Challenges, that’s what music is. I mean, especially when you’re a writer. Any type of writing, it’s like challenging yourself to be better and then challenging yourself to try to be better than everyone else, there’s a lot that goes into your head when you’re writing, so you want challenges. You want challenges because it makes you a better writer in the long run.

You reissued No Time to Bleed earlier this year, how has that been going so far?

It’s cool because it has the DVD’s and stuff, live show stuff, like funny stuff that kind of shows the band’s personality more so than just a record where you can listen to. You kind more of a visual seal, whole package of what’s really going because it has really a lot of cool different DVD footage on it too for fans that might not have ever seen us play live or– I don’t know, it’s the whole package of stuff you don’t normally get when you buy a record. You know, extra media that we had sitting there, so why not just give it to our fans, the people who are real, true fans.

This next question is one that somebody wanted me to ask you guys… Chris wanted to know: In the song …And Then She Bled, why did you guys use the audio from the 911 call from where the lady had her face ripped off by a monkey?

Umm… Just because, the whole record we were trying to make, like a scary theme, kind of like a horror movie, like when you listen to a record and it just kind of goes like ‘this’ and it doesn’t really take you a anywhere; we try to make our record like a movie… Like, “Ohhhh, it’s peaking!” And then, “Ohhhh, ok a low time!” And at that low time, it’s like, you want– if I’m not singing, I want the mood of the song to be terrifying still, not without words. So we’re like what’s something that super terrifying. We actually remade that phone call, we hired people to come in and redo it.

So that’s not actual the original phone call. But, the fear and the terror in that woman’s voice, what she’s saying, that’s real. And having real, raw emotion on any record, makes you get goose bumps; and that’s when you know it’s a good song. Anything that gives you goose bumps is– that’s what your body’s feeling; that’s a real, raw emotion, where you’re like, “Oh, shit!” And that’s what makes music amazing, and being able to create that, incite that in people, is the best feeling in the world.

You guys are getting ready to film your DVD at the California shows coming up–

Yeah, at the California Glass House show in Pamona, and then the show in San Diego at Soma. Both of those shows will be live DVD shoots– not live, but recorded for the DVD.

Why did you pick those two locations?

Well, it’s California, our hometown with our friends, family, and then just have it be as crazy as possible.

When you film the DVD, what is it that you want to translate from the stage to your fans’ TV, when they watch it?

Just the violence that is our live show and on this tour, like I said, tonight we weren’t able to use any of our production because the stage is so small. But at these venues, the stage is massive and we’re going to have (counts) 3, 6, 9… 12 guitar cabs. But, just being able to do the full thing and have it captured on film, it’s just going to be like, “Holy fuck! Look at that!”

I remembered seeing pictures of Pantera’s backline, when you watch the Cowboys From Hell DVDs, and you’re just like, “Oh my God, look at all of those cabs!” And me being that young and seeing that on my TV, where it’s like, “Holy shit! Like, that’s a concert!! There’s like a-hundred speakers behind him!” And then being able to be in those shoes and like give that to someone who was my age and have them be like, “Holy fuck! That’s badass!” And that’s how I felt about Pantera when I was that little. And if kids are that young and are feeling that way about our band now, then that’s amazing. You know, that’s big shoes to fill, big people to follow; we’re just following in their [Pantera’s] footsteps.

I have to ask since you’re talking about Pantera… What’s your favorite Pantera song?

Favorite Pantera song… What’s the one where he’s like, “I fucked your girlfriend last night…”

Good Friends and a Bottle of Pills.

You know what, I don’t know why that’s my favorite song, because he’s just– almost like my favorite Suicide Silence song is …And Then She Bled because I’m not singing in it, and it’s almost like having Phil Anselmo just sit there and talk pissed, weird shit the whole time, it’s just like– OHHH, I LOVE IT!!!! And even the stuff the guitar’s doing, it’s just like, [mimics guitar sound] “rrrrr…rrrrr…..rrrrr….”

What kind of significance or impact do you believe Suicide Silence has left on your fans?

Umm… I hope it’s a positive one, I mean, most of my songwriting’s about saying things for how it is, thinking about stuff that people don’t think about, it’s like I’m putting thoughts into people’s heads that just go over the general population. And I think by doing that, can make people better people, just by thinking and knowing that the world doesn’t revolve necessarily around you and just a bunch of people. It’s like, there’s a lot of like, messages in all of the songs that– I hope people are kind of taking away positive things, but I think when you see our live show, and you feel the emotion that we’re really giving out to them, they leave like, “Wow! He really means that shit.”

There’s a lot of performers, a lot of frontmen that don’t give that energy to the crowd, and that’s when you don’t feel like you’re a part of it. When I’m on stage, that’s when I feel more comfortable than anything, and I give my whole self to the crowd, it’s like I get so drained after playing for an hour because it’s not just my body’s becoming strained, it’s what I’m saying. The reason I wrote these things was because they mean stuff to me, and it’s like having the feeling and giving the feeling to people, and seeing people take it in, it’s like the biggest feeling in the world.

Do you think that is what makes Suicide Silence’s fans so passionate, or why do you think that is?

I think– I honestly don’t know. We have amazing fans, bottom line. The fact that they are this passionate really is what has made us keep doing this. Without the fans as passionate and as gung-ho as they are about our band and stuff, I don’t think we’d be doing this. The fans keep us going.

How do you want Suicide Silence to be remembered decades from now?

I just want to be known as a badass heavy metal band that put on a badass live show. Like, that’s it. Think about anytime people have seen Slipknot or like, Pantera, or even like Korn, it’s like, “Oh, that band was badass! And that show was badass!” It’s not just like, “Oh, they sound good on CD, but their shows kind of suck.” Or “The show’s good, but they suck on CD. I want the whole package, badass metal band, badass live show, badass CD’s.” I just want to be a badass metal band! (laughs)

You guys were named the Breakthrough Artist by the L.A. Times last year [2009], how do you feel that Suicide Silence, as a band, has followed up since being classified as that?

Ummm… By the time that came out, it was like, printed in press, and then I think we were on Warped Tour and people had the opportunity everywhere to see if we lived up to the reputation, and every day on Warped Tour, we killed it. So, we followed up our reputation pretty well and now it’s time to really show off what we can do with our third record. I think that will be the thing that people– it’ll turn people’s heads ’cause we’re really going to work hard on it and make it just amazing.

Do you have an idea for when you want to release the third album?

June-ish. Not too long, but still a good chunk of time.

You have a side project, Commissioner…

Yes.

How would you explain or describe your sound in Commissioner compared to Suicide Silence for people who have never heard it before.

Well, it’s like the same– kind of the same vocal style, but I’m basically rapping, but the way I sing, over music that’s never been created before. It’s like one-time, first-time music that’s never ever, ever, ever been created. But, it’s like being able to do what I do and am good at and kind of bring it over into another genre that’s just like, dancey and steppy. It’s just like– I think it’s fuckin’ cool; we’re actually going to have the EP out this December. It’ll be in Hot Topic and online, on our online store, and on the iTunes store around December. It’s like six songs total.

Would you ever want to go on tour with Commissioner?

Well… I do not really want to tour on it, but I want to be able to play shows everywhere still. Like, do like, “Oh I’m home, I can set up like five shows, one in Texas, one in Florida, one in this place, one in that place, this place, that place…” And kind of do that and hype them up to where it’s like we’re really big and good, fun “dancey” shows, I guess. It’s the complete opposite of what I want these live shows to be, just like the complete opposite feel, but still fun.