Unholy interview w/ Jonathan and Billy
by Adam Warner – 2009
Hey guys, so what does the name Unholy mean for you guys?
Jonathan: We came up with the idea of the name Unholy as basically an outlook towards the world we live in. It’s not any kind of sort of slanderous religious reference by any means but it encompasses the destruction of the world we live in; simple as that.
Do you guys consider yourself more hardcore or more thrash or maybe something else?
Jonathan: We have a pretty good blend, we don’t want to really call ourselves anything. There’s a new genre in musicland called metalcore, we have nothing to do with that. We have hardcore influences as well as metal influences, so we definitely don’t want to pigeon-hole into any specific realm.
Billy: We kind of want the listeners to identify whatever they want, if they want to call us something that they are into and they’re cool with, that’s fine. Let them make the decision.
What’s the concept behind the new album?
Jonathan: People are going to have to buy the record to really understand it. I mean we can scratch the surface on it but it’s a story from front to back about a world that completely decayed of the future of humankind; people are cursed by a dying sun of immortality. People are excited, they get to live forever but after X amount of time, they realize that there’s no point in their lives and want to kill themselves; but can’t kill themselves. As time goes by a disease outbreak finally hits and the people are excited because their finally going to die, but they didn’t realize it would be painful and so now they’re trying to run away from it. That’s to scratch the surface of the record. It’s really about the mayhem and flaws of humanity.
With that being said based on your views on humanity, do you ever bring anything political into it or do you keep it philosophical?
Jonathan: More philosophical, politics are very trendy. I don’t want someone to read this down the line and not know what we’re referencing to. Referring to if they don’t understand the politics of the past, politics are trivial. It’s human nature to cause bullshit in politics one way or another. We can’t do anything about the world we live in because of people high above. Therefore there are some political undertones, but at the same time there is a very basic point to the whole story that gets to the root of the problem of all the corruption in the world is simply humanity and the bloodbath we draw.
What are your biggest musical influences?
Jonathan: I’d say 90’s death metal more than anything.
Billy: Pantera!
Jonathan: Yeah, the Nicke Anderson era with Entombed, Testament, Sepultura during Chaos AD, anything Carcass, Slayer, Metallica, COC [Corrosion of Conformity], right down to certain hardcore bands that I won’t mention, ya know. Definitely 90’s metal!
Did you guys catch at all that Carcass reunited for a few European dates?
Jonathan: We caught them actually at a New York show and saw them a few times on the original lineup. In my book Carcass is the ultimate, all time, and most amazing death metal band to come out. They invented death metal in my book, definitely invented the progression of death metal.
What does it mean for you guys to be touring with Earth Crisis and Walls of Jericho?
Jonathan: We have been friends with Earth Crisis for quite some time, growing up in Syracuse together. Past bands of mine have toured with them before back in the day. Most of the people in [Unholy] have been fans of [Earth Crisis] for quite some time and they are friends of ours. So that just makes for awesome times on the road. We’re having a great time, they are some of the best people that we know. It’s awesome, it’s really fun, and being friends already makes being on the road lots of fun.
Since you guys are all friends, does that make for any pranks between bands?
Jonathan: Nah, maybe a little bit.
Billy: It’s still early. It’s been kept to a minimum so far. No major messing around or full blown crazy at this point. As the tour goes on and people start to breakdown, it’ll get interesting.
What kind of influences do you guys have that are non-musical?
Jonathan: Many movies, writers, lots of art, hardly any of Unholy’s influences are based on music. I mean, there’s the music we grew up on but we’re not trying to sound like anything; we just play what comes out naturally. Lyrically there are a lot of influences and none of it has to do with music. A lot of horror, strange fiction, certain movies and certain directors that create amazing imagery, other artists that are amazing visionaries. A lot of post-apocalyptic war kinds of things too. Definitely most of the Unholy influence is drawn from outside of music.
