Page 44 - the NOISE June 2014

WHITECHAPEL RETURNS FOR HOMETOWN SHOW
Ben Harclerode is that kid into music from Flagstaff that totally made it. Years spent pound- ing away in the underground paid off when he joined iconic deathcore band Whitechapel in 2011 and now he’s back to melt faces at the Orpheum on June 25. We caught up with him be- tween tours to chat about the hometown return show, the band, serial killers, and motorcycles. The show will be a must see for any fans of extreme music.
The name was inspired by the Whitechapel district where Jack The Ripper infamously committed his murders. Is there any consensus on his identity within the band?
You know, I don’t think anyone in the band is super into that stuff. You listen to the first record, yeah, it’s all about hacking people up. Obviously, Phil Bozeman, when he was writing those lyrics wasn’t getting off to the stuff, but was more like, we can just name the band after where he committed his crimes and make the first record about it. I don’t think they were thinking big picture, like every record about a different serial killer or whatever, it was just a concept. It doesn’t mean anyone in the band is super into following serial killers or anything, there wasn’t one ounce of research into Jack The Ripper after the first album was done. It’s just a strong name for a band. I hate to bash, but it’s like every band that comes out now has some sort of verbing the noun band name or like a three and four word name. It’s just too common these days. Whitechapel is just one of those names, obviously not as cool as, say, Metallica, but it’s just one of those one word power names. I feel like it just rolls off the tongue and hits you square in the d*ck.
So it’s not an endorsement of serial killing, just good subject matter, right?
Yeah, for sure. I’d like to clear this up ... We’re not into hacking and raping. Just for the record, ha!
A bold stance! Over the years, you’ve had a chance to perform with some huge groups like Slayer and King Diamond. How do you cope?
The biggest thing, when you’re touring and being around bands like that, is that we’re all just people. When I first started touring, it was surreal to be surrounded by these guys on the other side of the CD I’ve been listening to. At the end of the day, it almost takes some of the magic away. In the same sense, it’s cool because you’re on the same level as these other people that you’ve held onto for so long.
For instance, when I first started playing metal, Dirk Verbeuren from Soilwork really sparked my interest. I thought metal drumming was just a load of sh*t for the longest time and then I heard him. It was so tasteful and musical, I was just like, ‘Wow!’ Then getting into death metal, I really got into Shannon from Black Dahlia Murder, who is now one of my good friends. It’s crazy. The cool part about it is getting on that level with people who have been influences to me. Like, Shannon lives a couple hours away from me in Virginia and maybe a month or so before I left, he hit me up on a whim like, “Hey, what are you doing? Let’s drive out to the beach and hang out!”
So I came out and hung out for the day, but it was like, This is a guy I idolized for years and now we’re friends. Same thing with Dirk from Soilwork. Anytime I see that guy, he knows who I am and he’s friendly. It’s cool! I’m also filling in for All That Remains on tour with In Flames, which was another one of those bands that got me looking at metal as more than just blast- beats. It’s just really surreal. Now, if I start drinking, I’ll totally start punishing them by going total fanboy, ha, ha! The first Mayhem I did in 2012, I remember just getting hammered and going to Dave Lombardo when he was still in Slayer just all, “DUDE, SLAAAAYYYYEEERRR!!!!” He was just like, “Oh okay, cool, you’re in Whitechapel, let’s not talk about how cool I am because, believe me, I hear that sh*t all the time.” I was just like, “No, dude! Slayer rules!” Ha, ha!
You started playing drums at 15, but had to take a break because you were sent to boarding school. What’d you do?
Well ... I was a sh*tty teenager, ha! I tried to do a lot of drugs and got in a lot of trouble. I was on probation, got caught doing a lot of drugs, and got my ass shipped away. Basically, I partied
4240 • JUNE 2015 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us
INTERvIEW BY MIKE WILLIAMS
real hard when I was kid, got it all out of the way early, and now I’m able to be a responsible and fairly efficiently working adult.
My whole thing with drums started when I was fifteen, but very briefly. It was just me and a couple of my friends trying to start a punk rock band and every drummer we would try out couldn’t hold a basic beat. I think I was given a musical advantage by my mother, she’s been playing piano since she was seven years old, she teaches at NAU and is just an all-around ba- dass. My dad plays music, too, and I’ve just always been able to hear a beat, pitch, and melody. Some people just don’t have that natural inclination toward rhythm and I could always hear where the drummer we were trying out was sh*tting the bed.
After trying out all these drummers, it was just like, “You know what, let me see those sticks real quick.” Of course I sat down and it wasn’t perfect, but I could follow along and it sounded like it was supposed to sound. That’s how I discovered I liked playing drums a lot more than I liked playing guitar, but then I got shipped off to boarding school about three months later for two years. I came back when I was 17, saved up enough money to buy my first drum set right around the time I turned 18, and just started ripping ‘em.
Tool was one of your inspirations for drumming, have you had a chance to check out his wine shop in Jerome?
Yeah, actually me and my fiancé just went down there and checked it out. It was pretty cool!
The PR from Metal Blade mentioned playing the Orpheum has been a goal for a while now, is there any apprehension now that you’re almost here?
It’s not so much the Orpheum. It’s more that growing up there, all my friends wanted to do music, and there’s not a lot of people actually from Flagstaff that come back having achieved success in the music industry as a professional. Just coming back with my own band and play- ing the really good club venue in town feels like coming full circle.
Are you still riding motorcycles, what are you riding at the moment, and do you have a dream bike?
I currently have a ‘07 Harley Davidson 1200 Sportster. I love that thing, man. It’s great. I do kind of wish I would’ve gotten something with the 103 or 106 in it ... I like to go really fast. I have been looking at a lot of Victories. Everything comes bigger, I believe a 106 cubic inch engine standard. But those things are like ten grand for a ton of bike and I don’t have all the money in the world. No dream bike at the moment, there’s about five or ten that I’d go crazy to own, but not one I’ve picked out yet.
The newest album, Our Endless War most notably brought elements of both thrash and prog metal to the fold, what bands influenced the addition of that sound?
At this point, it’s all over the place. We don’t really care about what specific genre people are calling it. I’m done trying to be a deathcore band and everybody in the band is done labeling ourselves like we’re trying to fit some sort of mold. The last three or four records — none of those sound the same. We’re always doing something different, but still trying to maintain some sort of heavy edge that’ll be recognizable as Whitechapel. It’s about constant progres- sion with us. Not one Whitechapel record sounds the same, from the first record to the fifth record we just did. Honestly, for me personally, the longer I play the death metal stuff, the less I give a sh*t about listening to it, ha! There’s like three to five metal bands that I still listen to that get me excited and they’re not death metal. You know, most of those aren’t good bands either...
Thanks, Ben, welcome back!
| Mike Williams can not comment on def metal at this time. mike@thenoise.us
INTERVIEW