EYEHATEGOD Bassist Talks Next Album, Gulf Oil Spill

D.X. Ferris of the St. Louis Riverfront Times recently conducted an interview with EYEHATEGOD bassist Gary Mader. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

St. Louis Riverfront Times: There's a new record in the works, right?

Mader: We've been working on a new record. It seems now we're all in the right head to write a good record. We've got five songs completed and a bunch of riffs floating around that need to be arranged.

St. Louis Riverfront Times: What does the new stuff sound like?

Mader: It sounds like what EYEHATEGOD fans would expect from us — the same downtuned [riffs], feedback, the same approach we've followed. Over the course of time, we've become a better band. It seems like we've gotten to the point where we all jam in the same head. We've definitely progressed a little bit musically. We became better musicians — I use that term loosely.

St. Louis Riverfront Times: You're from New Orleans. What do you have to say about the BP spill?

Mader: Fuck BP. Straight up. The problem with all these big fuckin' companies is that they never forget to squash the little guy. And that's what happening right now. There's all these coastal cities in Louisiana where people have fished for generations upon generations, and that's all that they know. And for somebody's big fuckup like this, and to be so nonchalant and lazy about fixing it, it blows your mind. We thought we'd seen it all with Katrina. But this is a whole 'nother fashion of indifference toward all these people who can't help themselves. It makes you angry. I come from New Orleans, but I come from a family where fishing has always been high on the priority list. Not on an industrial level — but in New Orleans, seafood is something that's very close to our heart. And to see somebody come along and stamp all that out over a mishap is amazing. It makes you wonder why don't we just secede from the United States.

St. Louis Riverfront Times: Is that a common sentiment in the area?

Mader: There's a lot of anger. People that usually don't give a shit about politics are up in arms, because it touches our culture and has a big effect. There's seafood restaurants. And aside from the seafood fishermen that are gonna be affected, it affects tourism and affects the progress of out city. We were doin' good coming back from Katrina. And for this to happen, it's like, what's next? And where's it going to end? The really sad part is that they're recruiting all these fishermen to help for the cleanup. We have a large Vietnamese fishing population in Louisiana. And what they're doing is having these guys that can't read or speak English sign these waivers when they sign up for the cleanup that nullifies any lawsuit towards BP. It's ridiculous. As if these guys don't have enough problems already.

Read the entire interview from St. Louis Riverfront Times.

EYEHATEGOD kicked off its long-anticipated U.S. tour on June 3 at Blackbooth in Orlando, Florida and has since been systematically mauling souls with its traumatic brand of inebriated sludge metal. Vocalist Mike Williams said of the tour thus far, "All the shows have been superb. Good ol' New Awlins debauchery, feedback and drunken blasting riffs. Looking forward to the rest. Fuck that oil spill."

EYEHATEGOD played its coveted first two full-length albums — "In The Name Of Suffering" and "Take As Needed For Pain" — in their entirety on Friday, May 7 at Emo's in Austin, Texas.

Quality fan-filmed video footage of the performance can be viewed below.