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A multi-tasking death metal warrior, Jason Suecof is probably best known for his recording work with the likes of Trivium and God Forbid, but the Florida-based knob-twiddler is also an accomplished musician, with two Earache releases under his belt; the mighty tech-death explosion that is Capharnaum’s ‘Fractured’ album (which also features Trivium’s Matt Heafy on vocals) and the enormously puerile and chaotic ‘Big Fat Box Of Shit’ by Crotchduster. We spoke to the man himself about his day job, his bands, his vacuum cleaner and Richard Christy’s penis… |
How did Capharnaum come into existence in the first place?
JS: “Well, me and my brother, we jammed as kids growing up and in like ’93 we got this singer named Frank and some guitarists and we both tried to get a band together. It sort of worked but we only ever did one show. Then we had Tony Espinoza, our old singer, who’s with Catalyst now, but down here in Florida it’s really just me and my brother. There’s Alex Viera, too. If we play live shows he’ll do it. I’d love to have Daniel (Mongrain, guitarist on ‘Fractured’) in the band too, but he’s in Canada. We’re far enough away that he can’t just hop on down here. But I never really paid attention to this band. It just kind of happened. I’m not very good at concentrating on life!”
What were your original intentions for Capharnaum? It’s a very distinctive style you’re playing…
JS “I was a big Cynic fan and I loved Atheist and Death. When I got into death metal it was probably ’92 or ’93. I always loved Megadeth’s ‘Rust In Peace’, that was a big album for me, such a great album. I was obsessed with Megadeth for a while and then I heard Cannibal Corpse and Deicide and stuff like that, and then when I heard Cynic I thought ‘This is what I want to do’. I wanted to do something honestly original, but that’s really hard because you’ve got to get influences from somewhere. I just try and keep it as far away from anyone else as possible. People say ‘Ooh, that sounds like a Pentagram schematic from 1983’ and I don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about.”
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How long have you been playing guitar to be able to master such technical stuff?
JS: “I’ve been playing since ’88. I started with stuff like Poison and Winger. I fucking love Winger, dude! I don’t care what anybody says. If you try and fuck with Reb Beach, that fucker will hurt you. Maybe not physically…maybe he will. Maybe he’s a bad motherfucker, but he’s a cool guitar player, man. Then I got into Guns N’ Roses, and I think everyone was into them at one time. Then I took guitar lessons for six years and then I stopped and thought ‘Now what?’ Now I don’t even practise. I try to but I get really annoyed and I stop. Daniel’s been playing for less time than I have, but he practised more! That guy, he’s such a fucking great guitarist. Me, him and my brother jammed. It was just awesome because he’s one of those musicians who can just play anything.”
You’re based in Florida…
JS: “Yeah, I’m in the Orlando area.”
So was the Florida death metal scene a big influence on you?
JS: “I’m from Connecticut and I’ve only been here since ’98, but I guess the Florida death metal scene was a big thing for me. At some point, like back in ’94 or ’95, I was beginning to get frustrated with death metal because it started to all sound the same to me, so I got into some of the European stuff. I liked the first couple of In Flames albums and ‘The Gallery’ by Dark Tranquillity. It seems like a lot of stuff today is just copying that and I heard that back in ’95.”
 Trivium |
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How did you get involved with Trivium?
JS: “I met them in a gay bar. Matt said ‘Dude, you’re hot and crippled and sexy…fuckin’ touch it!” No, there was this guy named Richie who referred me to Trivium. By then I’d done a couple of things. I knew the metal sound and they’d been to a couple of studios and they hadn’t got the sound they wanted. So we did a demo and it worked out good. I really liked Matt’s voice. It reminded me of a more intelligible Cryptopsy, ‘Whisper Supremacy’ thing, but a little bit higher. I thought that was cool because I really didn’t want any growled vocals. I’m kinda burnt on the whole cookie monster deal. Everything has its place, but I’m kind of burnt on death metal period. |
I don’t listen to it much anymore. I still listen to the old stuff I used to listen to, and if I hear anything that blows my mind I’ll listen to it, but it sucks because I guess, recording all day and writing music, by the time you’re done it’s like ‘No more music!’ I just want to sit around, go on the internet and jack it! (laughs) In Capharnaum you’ve got to jack it!”
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So how did Matt Heafy end up singing on ‘Fractured’?
JS: “I just asked him. I said ‘It’ll be fun, dude!’ and he was like ‘Alright!’ It’s funny because the reviews are good but a lot of people aren’t feeling his vocals. I guess it’s a ‘love it or hate it’ thing. That’s fine. I don’t care if people like the vocals or not. It’s just a fucking death metal album. It’s not like it’s going to take over the world and cause some great controversy. But then it’s not like Capharnaum is a side-project. It’s my main band. Recording is my main thing. They’re both the same amount of enjoyment for me, depending on what I’m recording.”
Is it satisfying to see how well Trivium are doing, especially in the UK?
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JS: “Oh man, I saw pictures of that show at Donington. Holy shit. I heard that people were singing the choruses and shit. It’s awesome, man. I don’t care what I record, whether it’s pop rock or metal or whatever, it’s just when you write something or record something and you see people that you don’t know really getting into it, it’s awesome. That’s the big pay-off. It’s even more important than the money! I ain’t doing shit for free, but it’s great to see people enjoying your work.”
Did you expect big things to happen for them?
JS: “There’s a lot of bands around here that I’ve recorded and they suffer from what I call ‘local band syndrome’. It’s like they play a riff and they play it for too long because they think it’s so cool. But Trivium, it’s like I heard the little demos and thought it seemed interesting but I couldn’t really tell because it was recorded so bad. I had a feeling that something would happen because at that time they were way better than the other bands that I’d recorded.”
Do you think you might sell a few more Capharnaum albums now that Matt Heafy is turning into a metal pin-up?
JS: “I hope so! I would never use somebody, you know? I didn’t ask him to sing on the album so I’d sell more. I just feel like I helped them out so they help me out. We’re a team. We sit around and talk shit and that’s the way it’s going to stay. I hope they take over the world, man. Trivium’s always going to be bigger than Capharnaum. I don’t expect Capharnaum to ever sell that many albums. I’d have to change my shit and get some clean vocals on it and rock out, but I don’t hear clean vocals on my stuff, even like Watchtower-style shit. I love Watchtower, but I can’t imagine those kind of vocals on my stuff.”
Do you have plans for a new Capharnaum album?
JS: “Yeah, I want to do another one. I have some songs in the works but it’s so hard to find time to sit down and write at the moment. I’m so busy recording other bands. Ever since the Trivium album came out I’ve been pretty much booked. I’m trying to write music, I’m trying to do all this stuff at once and at the same time people are like ‘What about Crotchduster, dude?’”
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So, what about Crotchduster, dude?
JS: “I don’t think people are even into Crotchduster. It’s just American humour. I don’t even know if people get it. There’s jokes that people over in Europe won’t understand because they pertain to things that only matter over here. It only happened because I was bored. I had too much free time on my hands. It was just me, my brother and my friend Eric. It was just a little grind thing. We wanted to record a song called ‘Fightbox’. Then we thought we’d make it more Tenacious D-like. The first song on the album was going to be called ‘Push Ups for Steve’, but it was stupid. Actually, all the songs are fucking stupid. My favourite reviews of Crotchduster are the bad ones. They’re fucking awesome! |
That’s like the least of my effort put into music. It was just me having a good time. It wasn’t meant to dominate the industry. It was just a good time for me. Now I don’t have any time and I have to do the Capharnaum thing and the Crotchduster thing and record and look after my dog and touch holes and eat food and shit!”
You’re a busy man!
JS: “Yeah. It’s fucking ridiculous, dude. Where’s it all gonna stop?”
So are you responsible for the lyrics on the Crotchduster album?
JS: “No, Eric wrote most of them.”
He’s obviously not a well man…
JS: “He’s a funny guy! I made up ‘Mammal Sauce’ and he just took the rest. I did all the music and he did some screaming on it. My dog played the drums. He’s right on with the click, dude. The future of drummers is with the rottweiler. They don’t talk back, but he’s still a fucking jerk. My brother’s an asshole, too. Not really, but he used to throw drum sticks at me. He actually threw a cymbal at my arm once and I had to go to hospital. It wasn’t for a reason. He just threw it at me. I guess it’s a brother thing. It fucking hurt. It wasn’t part of the fucking plan, getting hit with a cymbal. He’s an incredible drummer, though. He never practises. He plays the drums once a month. He comes in, amazes me and just leaves.”
How did James Murphy end up on the Crotchduster album?
JS: “That’s just an edited phone call between my brother, James Murphy, my old singer Tony and I think that’s it. My brother’s the one saying ‘Why don’t you star 69?’ and James is saying ‘Get all the popcorn out of my teeth, man, I fuckin’ hate popcorn’. And Tony’s saying ‘Be truthful with me, yo!’ and all that shit. The strange thing is they were all talking to me and I just went in and spliced it all together, so it doesn’t make any sense but that’s kinda the point.”
And Richard Christy’s on there as well…
JS: “I actually just hung out with him last weekend. He was down here with the Howard Stern crew. He used to live with me. Those were interesting times. That motherfucker used to show me his dick. That dude is all about whipping it out. He’s a fucking cock-shower. I don’t appreciate it. I’m not a homophobe or anything, it’s just you see a man’s dick once and that’s enough. Richard’s a great drummer too, man. The Burning Inside album was the first one I did here. I did it for free. I didn’t get a copy for fucking ages. Some of the guys from that band are in Black Witchery now, and they’re fucking wonderful.”
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You don’t sound convinced…
JS: “Oh yeah, they’re my favourite black metal band! I did one of their albums too. It was one of my least favourite times ever. I actually broke down in the studio crying once. I was going through a fight with my girlfriend and going through that and Black Witchery and their stupid fucking pentagram…they actually brought an altar to the studio. It was funny! It’s like me taking a vacuum cleaner with me everywhere. ‘If you fuck with the vacuum cleaner you’re fucked!’ Pentagram equals vacuum cleaner, dude.”
What else have you got coming up?
JS: “I’m working with a band called Sanctity and hopefully they’ll be getting signed soon, and I have a band called Failsafe coming in soon. |
I just mixed a Trivium song for a video game, so that should be interesting. I’m doing the Seamless record. That’s coming out at the end of the year. I’m doing this band called If Hope Dies, which is on the guy from Unearth’s label. A few other things here and there, trying to get as many breaks as I can. I’m trying to keep it real! Fuck that fake shit!”
Finally, why should people buy the Capharnaum album instead of the other several thousand death metal albums that came out this year already?
JS: “Because Erik Rutan tried to make out with me! No, he’s my buddy. People should buy Capharnaum because if you’re going to buy a fuckin’ death metal album you might as well buy a good one that’s been made by men! Nah, you don’t have to buy it. If you want to try something new, with influences that will make you a fuckin’ man, then buy it! I like to think it’s technical but it’s not technical for the sake of it. And we’ve all got hot tits. And everyone in the band has a huge dick.”
Any plans for live shows?
JS: “We were going to do a live show but I was recording the God Forbid album. I’d love to play live shows but it’s another thing to add to the list. I’d love to play in Europe, man. That shit would be fun. Maybe we should play a show in Jamaica. No, I’d love to come and play London. I’m sure there’ll be a time in my life when I have some spare time. And then I’ll go on vacation.”
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added: 21/04/05
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