Poison The Well

After 4 years of anxiously waiting, Poison The Well's latest album, Versions has been released on Ferret Records. Having departed from Atlantic Records, they were allowed the freedom to create a unique sound, while maintaining the energy you're used to hearing from previous work. But unlike many of the hardcore albums you're used to hearing, Ryan Primack (guitar) added some unique instrumentation in the background such as mandolins, slide guitar, horns and banjo. Unexpected as it may be for a hardcore album, the extra instrumentation adds a unique atmosphere and mood to an already dark album. For the recording of Visions, Poison The Well decided to travel back to Umea, Sweden to work with same guys who recorded their previous album A Tear From The Red, Pelle and Eskil.

Having just finished a headlining tour with Heavy Heavy Low Low, and Fear Before the March of Flames, we were able to catch up with Christopher (drums) via email. He tells us about recording in a "Barn" in Sweden and working with producers Pelle and Eskil. A big thank you to Meg Loyal from InMotionPhoto for setting up this interview and letting me photograph with her.

First off, congrats on an amazing new album! How is the tour going so far?
Chris: Cool, thank you. Everything has been going pretty good. We’ve been having a blast with all the bands on the tour and having a great time playing every night. There really isn’t too much to complain about.

Would the musical style of Visions been possible if you were still signed to Atlantic Records?
Probably not, but that’s why we are no longer with them. They didn’t get it and we didn’t want to feel like we had to explain ourselves to them.

You guys went back to Sweden to work with Pelle and Eskil on this new album. How did Pelle and Eskil help shape the songs from their original demos to the final product and what's it like working with them?
Well, they didn’t do a tremendous amount of structure work to what we had; just very minor changes to add some variation to the song dynamics or chord structure wise. Their thing is adding a lot of different sounds and colors to what could be a very plain sonic pallet of music. The way the record sounds has a lot to do with them. We would sit down and talk about what cymbal, snare, amp, or guitar would be good the part or song. To be honest, it’s hard to separate who did what and who’s idea this or that was. Everyone had a large hand in the making the record what it was, including Pelle and Eskil. Working with them is great; we have a great chemistry and a good, solid work relationship. We all have similar taste in music and the same goals in what we wanted out of the songs.

Why did you guys originally choose to work with them?
Because we liked what they did with The Refused and thought maybe they could bring more of that raw energy to what we where doing at the time.

I read somewhere Visions was recorded in an old barn in Sweden? The vision I get of barn animals just standing around trying to eat your gear probably isn't correct. Can you tell me a little bit about that? And also, what was it like living/working in Sweden?
<laughs> It was more of a nickname. It was an old lodge on the outside of town, actually across the road from where Eskil lives. We just recorded there because of the ambient sonics of the pseudo drum room and the ability to separate ourselves when doing the basic tracks. Working and living in Sweden was cool. It ’s cool to build a record from start to end in a different country. The vibe of the town for sure made it’s way into the record, which I’m happy with.

How many songs were written for this album? Are there any plans on releasing any songs that didn't make it on the record?
There were about 20 some odd songs written for the record. As of now, there are no plans to release any of it, but you never know.

You guys recently finished filming a video for Letter Thing. Who directed it?
It was directed by Roboshobo and he did a very awesome job with it. We couldn’t be happier with the final product.

Any bands you looking forward to seeing on Warped Tour this year?
I really don’t know of any bands playing. I’m sure I will check a bunch of them out and become friends. Everyone on the tour is pretty friendly and usually you end up broing down before it’s all over.

Are you guys looking to add any permanent members in the future or just keep this line up for a while?
Not as of this moment. We’re just happy with it being the 3 of us. There is no rush for final constant members.

Thanks for this interview!
Thank you!

----------------------------------------------------

For more info, show updates and music,
check out Poison The Well on Myspace!
www.myspace.com/poisonthewell