VOIVOD Frontman: JASON NEWSTED Is 'All About Challenge And Fun'

Patrick Rennick of MetalReview.com recently conducted an interview with Michel "Away" Langevin and Denis "Snake" Belanger of VOIVOD. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

MetalReview.com: What were your initial reactions when you heard the material that [late guitarist] Piggy had recorded for [the new VOIVOD album, "Katorz"]?

Snake: Well, I was amazed that he managed to put everything together before his departure. He did all the solos and even the little sound effects and stuff like that with a good rhythm section all the way through. And the whole thing was well recorded! He'd always been a pro but that was just over the top. I was overwhelmed. We knew from that point that we could do something with the recording. It was exciting at the same time.

Away: Yeah, there were about two or three weeks where we were not too sure if the tracks were properly recorded and it seemed like we shouldn't dare go into a studio to listen to it because it was too close after Denis' departure. Maybe a month after he passed away we went into a studio with Glen Robinson and we listened to the tracks and that's where we realized that it was very well recorded and the delivery was perfect. It was the same with Jason's bass tracks. Jason had warned me that he had done the recording on the porch at his studio with a very small amp directly into Piggy's laptop and he was not too sure if it would give the music credit. But when I heard the tracks it was the same case where what I heard was very well recorded and the performance was perfect. So, that's what you get when you work with pros I guess.

MetalReview.com: I also noticed that the album seemed to have more of a punkier feel to it that kind of calls back to the band's older days. Was this intentional?

Away: I think it comes from the fact that the songs were built around improvs that we did. It's almost automatic that the roots will come back when you are doing improvisation whether it's the old punky beat like DISCHARGE or MOTÖRHEAD. But it will naturally come back. I guess if you sit down and try to write something it might be a little less groovy because when you jam, it is all groove oriented and I think this album has maybe a little more groove than the previous ones.

Snake: The fact is that when you do improvise you let yourself go more than anything else. I think all the basic influences from the root of the band, the MOTÖRHEAD beat, the whole approach is different because you don't really think ahead or anything, you just deliver. I think the basic influence comes out naturally and it gives a good flow in the writing. It gives a good space for the vocals to groove with the music. From the original demo we didn't really change anything. We were getting into really cool parts with cool beats and cool riffs. Then we were getting lost you know (laughter). But then we would get back into something really interesting together and we were just like looking at each other and saying, ok! This might be the verse here. That's just the way we created this.

MetalReview.com: What has it been like to work with [Jason Newsted] for these past few years?

Away: It's a bit of a distant partnership because we live on different coasts. But we've been working very well creating proto CD art and we flew out there a few times and he flew here a few times. So yeah it hasn't been that bad the fact that we live very far apart. We've been able to function professionally and as for Jason he is a very down-to-earth guy who is very fun to work with. He is very energetic and it is contagious. He has quite a drive.

Snake: Yeah, Jason is like I don't know, a piece of rubber that bounces all over the place (laughter). He's like really about challenge and fun. I think that's the main thing about Jason. And I think it was a big challenge jumping into METALLICA back then and also a good challenge to jump into VOIVOD. Now he also has SUPERNOVA so that is another challenge. He's all about challenge and fun.

Read the entire interview at MetalReview.com.