JED SIMON On TENET's 'Very Straight-Up, Right-In-Your-Face Style Of Metal'

Metal-Experience.com recently conducted an interview with Jed Simon (STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, ZIMMER'S HOLE) about his TENET project, which also features Steve "Zetro" Souza (EXODUS) on vocals, Glen Alvelais (FORBIDDEN, TESTAMENT) on lead guitar, Byron Stroud (STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, FEAR FACTORY) on bass and Gene Hoglan (DEATH, DARK ANGEL, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD) on drums. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Metal-Experience.com: How and when did you launch into writing material for [TENET's debut album] "Sovereign" and how much time did you spend on the songs?

Jed: I've been writing these songs for a few years now. After I signed with Century [Media] back in 2004, that is when I really started to work hard on getting them together. There was so much material written over the course of years, but in the end, these nine songs are the ones that tell the story of this album. There are lots of other tunes I wrote that could have gone on to the album, but these nine were the ones that belonged together to me. I am constantly writing, it never stops, and the stuff I write is random... whatever comes naturally is how I work. So some stuff gets put into the "thrash" pile and other stuff goes into the "death metal" pile, and some stuff goes into the "rock" pile...you know? Eventually, the songs find a home somewhere, and that is how I have always written.

Metal-Experience.com: What approach did you take to make this album, did you go for a more raw exposition.. or something more reminiscent of your previous other works, or something all together different?

Jed: This is my roots, pure and simple. I wanted to start a band that was like the bands I was in back in the '80s... very straight-up, right-in-your-face style of metal. That is really the kind of music I love most — pure aggression, with feeling. This is honest metal, and as much as I have loved playing (and still play) in other bands, this is what really gets my blood roaring.

Metal-Experience.com: What were the goals you had in mind when you started to record "Sovereign"? Any elements you definitely wanted to have on the album?

Jed: As I mentioned above, simplicity above all. The songs are heavy enough without the need for multi-layering, or keyboards, or over-production. Guitar, bass, drums and vocals. Pure metal. I admit we spent a good deal of time in production, but that is only because I wanted it to sound good, and I wanted it to be organic... none of the pasting and editing craziness that you see so often now. For example, Gene's drums are pure acoustic drums, no triggers, no fakery... but it takes time to mix that kind of thing. Same with guitars and bass... it's very stripped down, but it doesn't make it any easier when it comes to mixing.

Metal-Experience.com: In your opinion, how was your experience with your previous band [STRAPPING YOUNG LAD] helpful in your compositional skills and how does that affect the way you write now ?

Jed: I can't even begin to describe how much I have learned over the years with STRAPPING YOUNG LAD and watching Devin [Townsend] especially. It has been a monumental help to me, but I still have a very different vision of how I want things to sound. The biggest help I think from working with STRAPPING YOUNG LAD for that long has been in the writing department... particularly in arranging songs, where Devin is just brilliant at. He knows how to put a song together and get all the parts of the song to make sense. So he has been very helpful in that aspect, for sure. I would throw a riff at him, and in a very short time he could turn it into the skeleton of a killer song. We worked very well together in that way, and I learned much. I learned much from all those guys, and I hope they learned some things from me too. They are forever my brothers.

Metal-Experience.com: Could you please describe the implications of the title "Sovereign"? What does it stand for and is there a special meaning behind it?

Jed: "Sovereign" is a reference to the long inner battle I've had over the years. The anger and resentment has been all-consuming, and that anger is what fueled this album. So "Sovereign", the title song, the artwork are closure to that anger. I had to overcome all that hate, I had to do it by myself, I had to stand tall as one... sovereign. I'm quoting some of the lyrics from the title song there, [since] helps me to explain it a bit better. It's a very powerful song for me; it represents the end of a period.

Metal-Experience.com: What inspired your lyrics and can you tell me a little more about them?

Jed: Anger has driven just about everything I've ever done, apart from ZIMMER'S HOLE, and it is the prime motivator behind TENET. There was a bad period of time when I was a young child — divorce, court battles, not knowing who really cared, or what was really happening. It was really traumatic, and add to that a step-parent who got in between everything, and it was just terrible. I didn't even know a lot of the things that went on until my father started telling me what had happened back then. I was kept from seeing my dad, who is my hero, for over nine years... Anyway...it's a long story, but TENET just felt like the right outlet for all the pent-up anger and frustration I had been feeling for so many years. TENET is my therapy. TENET is my release.

Metal-Experience.com: How did the recording process proceed? Did you work differently this time than you did with your previous works?

Jed: It was different, for sure. I mean, this was my first production gig where I had the final say in everything, so I was very determined to make it sound the way it sounded in my head... and that took some work. I appreciate all the guys that were helping me, because I wouldn't have been able to do it without them. Especially Vincent Wojno; he was amazing to work with and I can't wait to work with him again. We spent a lot of time mixing this. Recording was fairly straightforward, but in mix we really worked hard on it. I wanted everything to be very organic... Gene's drums are completely acoustic, no triggers, the guitars and vocals were done with as few punch-ins as possible... so unlike many bands today that cut and paste an album together, we didn't want to do that. This is us as we really are...no over-editing, or sampling, or multi-layering... just straight-up, stripped down, no-holds-barred metal. And it took some hard work to make it all come together. I wanted it to be organic, yet modern-sounding...so we had our difficulties for sure. But I'm really fuckin' happy with the result, and all the work seems worth it now man. Fuck yeah.

Read the entire interview from Metal-Experience.com.