One of the proposals of Heavy metal that will fill with power the Candelabrum Festival this year is Night demon. That is why we decided to talk to their vocalist and bassist. Jarvis Leatherby about this visit, and some other topics.
They recently released the lyric video for their latest single “Kill The Pain” Can you talk to us more about this song?
It is a heavy and powerful song that we decided to actually record in the times of Halloween being in Europe. We recorded it in Denmark in the studios “Sweet Silence” with Flemming Rasmussen who has worked on large projects such as emblematic records “Master of Puppets” and “And Justice For All” of Metallica. The topic in question talks about the subject of suicide and the feelings that can push you to carry it out. It is a serious and very personal theme that has crossed my mind and it is in this song that I speak about it openly for the first time. For those who like to know more about it, along with the lyric video we released a video on youtube of almost 10 minutes with everything that was behind the making of this song.
Many of his songs speak of the dead, zombies and apocalyptic places, but now we are living a real terrifying experience with the coronavirus. Did you imagine that something like this will happen?
No, of course not. I am 39 years old and you imagine that this type of thing is going to happen but you cannot imagine you are going to have to experience it. It's really amazing, it reminds me of when Donald trump he won the presidency: something like this is to make a metal song with an imaginary story; not something that we had to live. If four years ago someone told me that we would go through all this I would not believe it, it is true that you do not believe this whole thing and the terrible manipulation of the information that is taking place around it.
Speaking of this about the health emergency, did it have an impact on the band's plans?
Fortunately all the study material had already been completed and released. Sure, there are always pending and things to record and come up with but we did not have any pressure on deadlines right now. So we have used the running of the bulls to keep everyone exploring new sounds and practicing. Obviously in the matter of canceled dates if he has hit us but then who has not? The important thing is to re-schedule and save as many as possible and keep giving the commitments there is no other.
Five years ago you were here in Mexico on an extensive tour. How was that tour and what do you remember from these times?
Hemos ido ya en otras ocasiones pero esa fue la primera vez que hicimos un tour tan extenso por México. Fueron como diez fechas en la capital, Querétaro, Guadalajara, León y muchas más. Fue algo increíble. Lo que más recuerdo es que nos invitaron a conocer ese gran tianguis metalero de “El Chopo” que tienen allá. La gente nos veía y nos reconocía y nos pedían fotos y así ¡Eso era increíble! Osea íbamos caminando como si nada y nos decían ¿ustedes son los de Night demon? But the most surprising thing was to stand at the stalls and see that there were t-shirts of our band, patches of our band. In Mexico we saw stalls with merchandise from our band everywhere. Nowhere else have we experienced something this amazing!
Y ese día en “El Chopo” ¿Probaron las aguas “mágicas” que ofrecen a la entrada?
-Laughter- Not at all. Despite being something very curious, one has to be careful with that, due to the disease issue. I don't drink any water that I see is being served from an already opened container because you never have any idea what kind of bacteria or things could be there that could make you sick on the road.
Now they have the Candelabrum festival ahead. What do they have planned for that date?
Voy a cantar “La Bamba” -risas- Tenemos previsto tocar las cosas más recientes que hemos hecho y claro las viejas canciones que los fans siempre piden en otras visitas. Me va a dar mucho gusto ver de nuevo a todo el público mexicano. “Para bailar la bamba, se necesita una poca de gracia; pa´ti pa´mi, y arriba y arriba” -laughs- I'm going to sing them that day. It's a promise!
You describe yourselves as a band heavily influenced by the new wave of heavy metal British What is for you the greatest exponent in the history of this genre?
Well, I'm going to expand on this question a bit because I find it very interesting. First of all it would put Iron maiden. From there I could mention you to great bands like Satan, Diamond Head and Jaguar. Deep purple and Def Leppard no doubt too. Venom It would be another, that although their fans do not like to remember that they are a band of Heavy metalthey play heavy metal -laughs-. And to finish the list I would put Judas Priest already MotörheadAs for the latter, although for many it is a band of rock Me alone if I consider it absolutely Heavy metal. I think that the great exponents of this wave can be divided into those who have transcended for decades throughout history, but also those who had a short active life in the eighties but who were a great influence for many bands.
