Interview with Steve Tucker (2003)
By Justin Donnelly
from Full Strength
I caught up with the self assured and forthright Tucker at his home in Cincinnati
to voice his views on both his and Rutans departure from the band, numerology,
instrumental tracks and the overall return of the mighty Morbid Angel !
The album has been going really good! To be honest, the only real
complaint that people seem to have is the instrumentals on the record. Nobody
seems to be bitching about any of the other songs. They only seem to be complaining
that there are too many instrumentals. But Im like
whatever! We always
do instrumentals, so they can fuck off!
Its been three years since Gateways To Annihilation, and
as mentioned before, Steve Tucker left the group and returned without missing
the action. While Tucker is hardly about to give specifics, he does shed a little
light as to what happened in that time.
Thats right, I left Morbid Angel there for a while. Man it was
just personal shit. The way I basically describe it to everyone is, life simply
got in the way of the band. I had to take care of my life, as opposed to taking
care of the band. Ive been playing music since I was thirteen years old,
and it was time that I actually took care of my personal shit for just a little
while. It was one of those things where basically what I said was, Listen,
Ive got to go! Things had happened, and things needed to be taken
care of. So in the end, those things got taken care of. I didnt know what
my future was. The way I see it, Morbid Angel existed before me, and I figured
Morbid Angel would exist after me. So when I left, the guys were like, Hey,
good luck! There were no parting shots, nothing like that at all. It was
just one of those things where if they found someone new, it was something they
needed to do. I wasnt about to ask anyone to sit around and wait for me.
Thats just not the way it works in Morbid Angel.
In a sense it worked out that the band had waited long enough for Steve
to work out his issues and join the band prior to hitting the recording studio.
To be honest, I talk to our manager all the time. When youre
in a band, and you do a few albums, youve got business ties. I would talk
to our manager, and he was always asking how things were going, how I actually
was, and all that kind of stuff. It was all those sort of things. He eventually
sussed out the situation, and my phone started ringing. Next thing I know, I
was talking to Pete, and then talking to Trey." 'The way I see it, Morbid
Angel existed before me, and I figured Morbid Angel would exist after me. When
I left, the guys were like, 'Hey, good luck!'
"They were soon asking me to come to Florida. They asked me to have
some talks with them, and to see how things were. It was that sort of situation.
Once we did all that, we managed to get everything back on track. Its
actually better now than it ever was, and thats being honest. My heads
clear, everybody is on the same page and everything is cool man.
Although Tucker left and returned between albums, to call it a fresh start
for Morbid Angel can be seen both ways.
Every album is a fresh start. For me personally, it definitely is.
Its like Im coming into the band and I still hold the same amount
of credibility I ever did. I dont have to go and prove myself to anyone
or anything like that. Im very comfortable, and I think that shows through
on the latest album. I think Heretic is an extremely confident album.
It was cool, and like stepping back in after taking a break. It wasnt
like starting over again at all.
Since the Gateways To Annihilation, guitarist Erik Rutan has
left to devote his time to Hate Eternal. But again, there were no harsh words
or bad blood the two, but a growing of Hate Eternals fan base.
I talk to Erik all the time. Even when I was out of Morbid Angel there
for a while, Erik and myself would always talk. It was usually once a week or
so. Were really good friends, and hes like a brother. I think it
was one of those situations where Hate Eternal had started getting so big that
he really didnt have enough time to do Morbid Angel, Hate Eternal, Alas
and produce albums at the same time. It was time he made a decision do decide
what he wanted to do with his time. Morbid Angel takes a lot to be in. You really
have to be committed wholeheartedly, and I think it was just time. I even recommended
it to him myself. It was time for him to concentrate on Hate Eternal. This was
his baby, and his baby was starting to become something really big. That was
a good thing. Out of one band, you now get two bands. It gives him more time
to tour with Hate Eternal, and he has more time to record his albums. Well
get another guitar player to do the tours with us, so theres really no
loss. Its simply come down to there being two great bands instead of one.
While Morbid Angel could quite easily pass on an opinion of the latest Hate
Eternal album (Last years King Of All Kings), Tucker is again
quite forward in his own judgement.
I cant say what everyone personally thinks of the album because
we all look for different things. Trey listens to Eriks solos or the riffing.
Personally, whenever I listen to a band, I listen to the thing as a whole. As
a whole, I think Hate Eternal is great. I think theyre a brilliant band.
I know Pete admires drummer Derek Roddy quite a bit, and of course Pete and
Erik are really good friends. You know what I mean? What is there not to admire
about the playing on the album? Im sure we all think its great.
Steering the conversation back to Morbid Angel, I follow up the lead set
by Tucker in regards to the criticism people seem to have about the instrumentals,
and whether that particular point was one that was mentioned by most people.
Its just one of those things that people never really seem to
understand. Some people get the album and say, What is this? Then
they turn around three years later and say that its great. Its just
one of those things I really ignore. The way I look at, the instrumentals on
the album are musical masturbation. Its people just doing things that
dont fit into the context of Morbid Angel, and thats because you
dont have all three of us playing or writing on that track. A lot of that
stuff is written at home, so it ends up being a personal moment. Trey or Pete
will get stoned or whatever, and theyll write something like that, and
it becomes part of a Morbid Angel album. What it does is give you another insight
into these two. A lot of people dont see it like that. They just want
death metal from the beginning, right through to the end. Morbid Angel is really
more about diversity. There have always been instrumentals as far back as Blessed
Are The Sick. Theres even been re-mixes of songs, you know, like
the Laibach re-mixes (Released in 1994). So Morbid Angel has always been about
doing different things. We like the instrumentals. We think theyre a great.
Like I said, theyre an insight into the people in the band personally.
There they are, and if you dont like them, skip them. If you only like
the blast beats, the fast double bass, brutal vocals, brutal guitars and leads,
then only listen to that. We dont have a problem with that at all.
The instrumentals on Heretic may include Drum Check
(Obviously Petes drum solo) and Born Again (Treys guitar
solo), with the only one missing is a bass solo from Tucker.
To be honest, when we were recording the album, Trey asked me if I
wanted to contribute any sort of instrumental thing. At the time, I just really
didnt want to. I really didnt have anything that I wanted to lay
out for people to listen to. It really allowed Pete and Trey more room to do
something. Man, I wrote endless lyrics for this album, and thats my contribution.
" 'To be honest, if it weren't for Morbid Angel doing albums in alphabetical
order, there would have been an album called 'Heretic' a long time ago.'
"That took about everything out of me. That was enough. That was all
I needed to say, I didnt need to do any instrumentals.
Although the idea has been bandied around and misconstrued as a theme/concept
album based on numerology, there is some connection there.
All Morbid Angel albums are theme based, so thats always been
a part of Morbid Angel. I think the idea of Heretic is something
that ties in closely with Morbid Angel being outcasts from the norm. We love
that, and we love the fact that were different from other people. As far
as the numerology theme goes, some of these instrumentals are based on numerology.
We wanted a certain number of songs to be on the album, and we also wanted the
album to be a certain number of minutes long. All those things lead to power.
There are certain numbers that hold power. Thats what we wanted, and thats
the way its worked out. It has everything to do with the number of tracks
on the record, how many silent tracks are on the record and how long the record
is in total minutes. Thats where the numerology aspect comes into it.
Although Tucker may have contributed the lyrical content to Heretic,
hes not the only one who is the numerology devotee within the band.
Its actually all of us, but in different ways. As you can see
from the explanations on the album cover from Trey, he always goes into things
extremely deep and beyond normal parameters. He goes into numerology in a much
deeper and wider fashion than both Pete and myself do. Basically there are things
that hold true. Numerology works on numbers, and depending on the letters in
your name, and each letter representing a number, they can combine to mean different
things. Basically, if you read these books, you can take your name, and most
of the time the final number will describe you almost perfectly. I believe that,
and I believe in predestined fate. I dont believe everything is planned
out for you, so I use the word fate loosely. If you cross the street at a certain
time and meet a certain person, or you get caught at a red light and then the
guy ahead of you gets smashed by a truck, I do believe that things like that
are fate. Theyre things to do with karma. I do believe that in numerology
you can find out the person that you are. I think Pete is in the same parameters
as myself. He believes in a certain amount of karma and a certain amount of
fate, and things that have a lot to do with numerology.
Heretic, as Tucker explains, does have a loosely based concept
around being a heretic of sorts, and not numerology.
The concept of the album is the definition of heretic. I really think
it sums up Morbid Angel. To be honest, if it werent for Morbid Angel doing
albums in alphabetical order, there would have been an album called Heretic
a long time ago. Its something that has been waiting to happen. Its
a situation where it really describes us because we really are outcasts. We
really revel in the fact that were not like all the other conformists.
We have our own beliefs, whether they are the beliefs that people believe we
should have or not, is very irrelevant. I think that were very powerful
people. To be honest, the idea of a heretic can be changed. You can be called
a heretic today, and the next day be called a leader. It all depends on peoples
definitions, and depending on what people see as law. Laws change, and peoples
wide based view on things could change. Those who were once a heretic could
now almost be considered a priest in a certain sense. Thats the way times
has always been. There was a time around 400 A.D. when Christianity changed
from being a widespread passive type thing to being a Roman Catholic thing,
and they had much more harsh and deadly laws. It was basically an eye for and
eye sort of thing. Then it all changed. The reason it changed was because the
priests and the people that led wanted it to change so that way they could feed
their pockets and feed their long-term goals. But it was those people that actually
changed the rules. They changed the rules, and decided that the other rules
were bullshit, and made sure they were no longer in effect. So therefore the
people that were once considered good Christian people, were now deemed the
heretics. Thats just an example of the way things can always change. Todays
heretic is tomorrows leader as far as Im concerned. I think the
idea of heretic sits in well with us with what we say, what we do and our beliefs.
I think someday people are going to look back and read Morbid Angels lyrics
and see them as guidelines as opposed to just words that simply deny other words.
Obviously everybody knows that were not Christians. We definitely preach
to a certain extent that you should be beyond preaching, above that and you
shouldnt recognise it because people say you should recognise it. I think
that in the future, the words that we preach will be looked upon in a much grander
fashion. That was a really long-winded answer wasnt it! (Laughs)
I assured Tucker that the answer might have been a little long, but clear
on a number of Morbid Angels personal belief. Again, getting back to Heretic,
one has to wonder just what the recording process was like this time.
It was one of those things where I unfortunately came in late. Trey
and Pete had most of the songs written. As soon as I got one song done, I had
another song to write lyrics for. We had a deadline to work to so we could get
the album out at a certain time. There was actually a lot of pressure to get
all of that done, but it wasnt pressure that I didnt love. It was
fucking brilliant and grand, and I loved every second of it. It was one of those
things where youre in the moment and youre writing. Youre
just letting things come out of you, and when you wake up the next day and you
read what you wrote, youre like, Wow man! Where did that come from?
Thats great. Sometimes a little bit of pressure on you can cause things
to come from deep inside of you. Things that if you didnt have the pressure
on you, might not even jump out. So it was good, but at the same time, it still
allowed us enough time to be creative. It wasnt so much pressure that
things had to be rushed in any way. There was a deadline, but we met that deadline
easily. As far as the actual recording of the record, it was brilliant. We recorded
with Juan Punchy Gonzalez at Diet Of Worms Recording Studio, rather
than Morrisound Recording Studio. It was much more relaxed, and it was a different
setting. Weve worked with Punchy for over ten years now, and
he was our front of house sound guy for Morbid Angel for many years, and he
know us all really. He knows us better than the people at Morrisound, if you
know what I mean. He wanted it to sound really live, and very natural. I think
on Gateways To Annihilation we had such a huge production. It was
so huge and massive that it was almost of another world. Yet on this one, we
really brought it back to earth, and its really raw and very much what
Morbid Angel would sound like if you walked into our rehearsal room and heard
us getting ready to do a show. If you went to one of our shows, this is exactly
what Morbid Angel would sound like. It came out really good. I think the return
of the Morbid Angel sound of old had to do with the techniques that we used.
Gateways To Annihilation had a really big production. The guitars
just sounded monstrous, and there was a lot of air on there. On Heretic,
if we had used that same production, it wouldnt have worked. This record
is very fast, and it wouldnt have worked for that, or been the same. I
think Trey and Pete in particular really wanted a very raw, not to say old school,
but a sound the same way the original Morbid Angel records were. With those,
it was walk in and play just like we would do at practice. Thats kind
of what we went for on this record. We wanted that raw, natural sounding type
of deal, and I think that was something that we achieved.
Earache Records obviously anticipate big things from the return of old Morbid
Angel, and have released some five different versions of Heretic.
Thats right. I dont really know much about that. Those
are things that Earache Records has done. I honestly dont know too much
about them, so to talk about it would really be just what I think as opposed
to what I actually know.
Tucker is also a little less forthcoming about the promotional video clip
they filmed for Enshrined By Grace (Although its for exactly
the same reasons).
That was brilliant. Today I just got a load of pictures from it, and
I mean they look fucking incredible. Tomorrow Im actually supposed to
see the video itself. Its supposed to be edited by then, so I really cant
comment. I dont know what it looks like. What I can tell you is that when
we were shooting the video, it was great. We did some really cool fucking things.
We used a lot of fire in it, and we did some really neat things man.
What Tucker can reveal is Morbid Angels tour plans in the immediate
future, and the prospect of playing Australia sometime in the future.
Were going out and doing a tour with Danzig, Superjoint Ritual
and a couple of other bands. Its sort of a festival package called The
Blackest Of The Black. Its a lot of different bands. Im looking
forward to it man. Of course we know Phil (Anselmo of Superjoint Ritual and
Pantera). Let me tell you, that guy is into underground metal as anyone can
possibly be. Hes constantly bringing bands to me that Ive never
even heard of! So I look forward to seeing him, as its been a couple of
years since weve seen each other. Itll be cool. As for coming down
to Australia, I hope so man. We havent been down to Australia since Ive
joined, and Ive been in the band since 1996. Thats a good long time.
(As he takes the time to figure out how long) Thats almost seven years!
I would really like to go to Australia. Ive never played to an Australian
crowd. Ive met people at festivals who were from Australia, but we actually
need to get there to play. I think the best way to see Morbid Angel, or the
best way to hear Morbid Angel is to actually see them live. I think once people
see that, people will be blown away.
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I would like to personally thank Steve Tucker for his generous time. I would
also like to thank Jo Girardin at Earache Records for making the interview possible