Barcelona, Here We Come!

Playing in a band is pretty damned cool sometimes.  I'd be lying if said that I didn't enjoy having lots of people explain that they have never seen another band quite like us, or that our music inspired them to see how far they could push themselves artistically.  Their enthusiasm can be intoxicating.  It's even cooler when you've traveled to some new place and hundreds of people have gathered to cheer you on as you play songs they've known forwards and backwards for years.  I have never once been told at work to hop on a plane and travel to some far corner of the world so that throngs of adoring fans could pump their fists in the air while I perform amazing feats of manual labor.  Once I was asked to autograph something while I was coming down off of a roof at work, but that was because a Confessor fan recognized me from the parking lot, not because I had just blown someone's mind by cleaning off the roof of their apartment in a way that made them think about ladders and blowers in ways they had never contemplated before.  Music makes people love something, and love you for opening them to new experiences.  Work does not.  

Confessor and Loincloth are both eager to have a chance to see parts of the world we would never get to see otherwise, and we long to bring our music to people who really would not be able to see anything remotely close to what we do.  There are no other bands who approach music the same way we do, or who focus on the kinds of rhythmic flips we love to explore. Personally, I have thought that to be able to bring both bands to the same stage would be an unbelievable experience for me, for us, and for the people for whom our music touches in ways no other bands can.  That is why I am incredibly proud and excited to have the chance to do just that in one of my favorite cities on earth.  The stars have aligned perfectly, and in October of this year Confessor and Loincloth will both be part of the "Day of Doom" festival in Barcelona, Spain!  

When Confessor were touring Europe we had two shows in Spain that I was really excited about but were cancelled.  One in Madrid and one in Barcelona.  I was particularly thrilled about going to Barcelona because I had recently been turned onto a Spanish architect named Antoni Gaudi whose work was scattered all throughout the city.  A few years later I made a trip to Europe to visit my favorite city from our tours, and to finally get to see Barcelona and all that it had to offer.  Edinburgh, Scotland provided the strangest experience for me while we were on tour; a sort of glimpse into my past that created the oddest sense of being "home" that I had never felt anywhere else.  It's a beautiful city, and it feels like you have stepped back in time everywhere you go.  Barcelona was equally unique and has it's own ancient history, but the Gaudi buildings and the childlike wonderment they stir up are a thing that has to be experienced first hand.  The fact that twenty years later both bands, this special gathering of life long friendships ( including Monica! ) will be experiencing all of its offerings together is an opportunity that we'll all cherish for the rest of our lives.  On top of all that, we get to rock Barcelona's metal legions while fists and devil horns cheer us on!  This will be an experience like none other!

Neither Confessor nor Loincloth are technically "doom", but neither band are really "technically" anything that a label correctly identifies.  We all love the heaviness that a select few bands with Doom in their blood have been able to create over the years, but our love of rhythmic contortions has always made it difficult to describe our music in a clear, succinct way.  I remember emailing back and forth with the people at Divebomb Records when they were trying to come up with bands to mention on the ever-so important sticker to compare us to.  We determined that there really weren't any, so they went with "... for fans of Confessor, Loincloth and Trouble".  Trouble were the common thread that all members of both bands loved, but in my mind they were never a true 'doom metal' band.  They were more like a classic rock band that accidently wrote unbelievably heavy music and occasionally had metal moments. The label could have said "... for fans of pot and heavy music" and it would have been just as appropriate.  In fact, it probably would have paid off too, as my understanding is that the marijuana weed is quite popular.  The organizer of the Day of Doom Festival is all about bringing in bands that show how far the doom influence can go in outward directions, so in that regard we are perfectly cast as examples of heavy metal alchemists inspired by early doom.  

We are all looking forward to showing the audience at the Day of Doom Festival precisely what we are about and what our similar backgrounds in early underground metal have led us to create over the years.  Not everyone will walk away from this year's festival claiming that Confessor and Loincloth are their new favorite bands, but there will be an awful lot of people who will be blown away by what our dedication has produced.  We leave a few people shell shocked everywhere we play.  We can all be proud of what underground metal's loyal legions have created both as fans of the genre and as people who have devoted a lifetime of creative energy to exploring the outer reaches of heaviness.  We are honored to have been invited to participate in this year's celebration of Doom, and we can't wait to make this year's festival, along with St. Vitus, The Skull, Orange Goblin and Evilhorse one that will keep everyone's jaw dropped for years to come!  Watch out Barcelona, we plan to bring it to you this October, full force!