Interviews

Interview w/ Chairleg

By Stoney ⋅ October 27, 2008 ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

Every year at Halloween the freaks and monsters emerge for a spooky good fright. But seriously, what better way to celebrate a night of ghosts and goblins than with a blood and guts night of metal? Why spend a quiet evening in a “club” listening to jazz and sipping bloody marys when you can get your head bashed in and bleed all in one full swoop? Interested? Well then the guys in Chairleg, singer Larry Sprowls, guitarists Matt Lawhorne and Billy Hickey, bassist Ryan Griffis and drummer Mike Brower, have got the killer night you’re looking for – Nightmare on Ellis Street, October 31st at Sector 7G.

LL – It’s hard to believe it’s been almost 5 months since we last spoke to you guys. What have you been up to since then?

LS- Writing, recording, playing chess… the usual.
RG-Writing a lot of new music and having many cold ones, well…except the straight edger over there, Mike…he’s been finding ways to become at least 51% machine so that he and Larry can begin their real life epic P2P battle of good and evil.
ML- It’s been a long process but we wanted to make our music- harder, heavier, fast, and better. We wanted to do something more for our fans and ourselves.

LL – Now last time we spoke you guys were about to release a DVD on Friday June 13th. How’d that go? Were you guys pleased with how the DVD turned out?

ML- The DVD turned out better than we expected and the “drunken commentary” and “behind the leg” stuff was a great time!
RG-I guess it was good, we sold out. Nick Laws from Sector 7G did a great job on it and we are in the process of adding some extra footage to add to it thanks to our robot.
LS - I was pleased with the show. The DVD turned out better than I expected though I have to admit the special features were better than the show!

LL – In June we also talked about the bands love of horror stuff, especially Matt and his ability to find obscure horror stuff. With Halloween and your CD release coming up, I think it would be the perfect time to ask what Matt’s pick for a new horror flick to watch this Halloween.

LS- Here comes something ridiculous. Please do not say “Teeth”…
RG-Matt likes some sick shit
ML- wow, the pressure. I have to pick a new horror flick to watch…hmmm well the Saw movies are always a fun watch for the gore. “Zombie Strippers” comes on DVD on the 28th or if your lucky enough “My Name is Bruce” (a horror comedy about Bruce Campbell) is limited release on the 26th. That would be the newer stuff I would keep an eye on. But of course I’ll be waiting to see how Friday the 13th and Hellraiser are going to be in Feb of next year!

LL - Fun stuff! So like I said, Halloween is coming up which means the Nightmare on Ellis Street show at Sector 7G. A few years ago, if I’m correct Chairleg was part of the Nightmare on Ellis Street show and compilation CD and last year ripped it up at Bloodfest. You guys just live for this spooky stuff don’t you?

LS- Wouldn’t say “live for”… I’d say “prefer”.
RG– Nightmare on Ellis was the brainchild of Lawhorne and Laws and was Chairleg’s first show. I’d like to see the CD portion return…Matt, get on it slacker.
ML-Yeah, yeah, yeah, Its been gone for a little bit and so we figured what better time to bring it back than for Chairleg’s CD release. We hope to make this an annual event from now on. Hopefully even bring back the Compilation CDs again and start a new tradition in Augusta music.

LL – Now this year’s event will also be a CD release show for your latest CD. I gotta ask this, you announced back in June that you were gonna do this but I found out recently that up until just a few days ago you were still finishing up the tracks. You guys procrastinators or just like last minute challenges?

LS- None of the above. We knew it was going to be rough from the get go. We really took our time making sure we did our best. That and it was the only time the Jam Room was available.
RG – We wanted to produce the best product possible. That included writing a few new songs and putting finishing touches on the ones we had ready for the album.
ML-“The early bird may get the worm, but it’s the second mouse that gets the cheese”. Honest though we just wanted to make it the best record that we could. We wanted the fans to be as excited as we are about this

LL – Are you guys gonna have this thing ready in time? Why didn’t you knock it out a couple months ago?

RG-Lots of work and money, man! You know how it goes, right? Sometimes things just don’t work out the way you want them to and instead of slapping tape on it we decided to rebuild once or twice.

LL – O.K. I’ll stop giving you guys grief over it. What’s up with the new CD? What can fans expect?

LS- Doesn’t matter what we do to prepare them for it, they’re going to get exactly what they deserve from us. Brutal music played by nerds.
ML-Expect it to be heavier, faster, harder, (funnier), and just a damn good CD. We were told by a close friend that has been there while we were recording that this CD will be putting “Omen, Now” to shame.

LL – So it’s gonna be “bloody” good right?

LS- Nah, I’m giving up all that blood stuff. Well, maybe not completely. Okay yes. Buckets of the shit.
RG - It’ll make you want to punch your mama. Just kidding, but seriously…it will.

LL – Now Brian Allen and I recently discussed the lack of effort of many area bands when it comes to promotion. I was listening to The Radar on 95 Rock recently and I thought I heard Joe Stevenson say that the show was sponsored by Chairleg. Did I hear that right?

LS- You heard correctly. We wanted everyone to know what was happening on Halloween, and we felt 95Rock was a perfect vehicle to get the word out.
RG –We also sponsor the Witching Hour with Troy Bradley on from 12am to 2am every Saturday night.
ML- Yup. Thanks to Brower, we are sponsors of all the Weekend shows on 95 rock Scratch and Sniff, and Hard Drive as well.

LL – What made you decide to sponsor the show and what did it entail?

RG – We feel strongly about promoting all local and metal music, so if the ads help fund Radar and The Witching Hour to carry on, then we are happy to support those programs, and you all should listen to them!
ML-We really want to make this show something special and so we went all out on the promotion. We wanted everyone and their brother to know about this show because we are pulling out all the stops to make this a big event not just a show.

LL – Now last time we talked about horror films and characters. Gonna get a little more Halloween on your asses. What kind of weird things did you guys dress up for on Halloween when you were kids?

RG - I remember when I was in 4th grade I got the liquid latex Freddy Krueger makeup kit and spent 5 hours applying it before school and wore it ALL day and night. Of course there was the time a few years back that I dressed as Michael Myers and walked up and down Broad St scaring the hell out of people all night. I went so far as to make an ID so that when a door person asked for it, I brought that out…that was fun.
LS-The ones that stick out to me are Super Gonzo, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, Freddy, Jason x4, and Sub Zero.
ML-Well I have done a lot of different things, I always try to do something different every year, and no, they haven’t always dealt with Horror gene. Haha. I’ve done everything from witches, pumpkins, mummies, Maurice from “little monsters” to even California Raisins (that was crazy me in a trash bag and tights haha)

LL – And favorite Halloween candy?

LS– Nerds.
ML- hmm I always loved DOTS that was a great change from the chocolate that everyone gave out
RG – Candy Corn-Straight up sugar.

LL - Last time I also asked you to compare some Halloween scary guys…let’s try some weapon-wielding dudes this time. Jason seemed to win out last time so…Jason or Leatherface?

ML- Well I’ll still have to go with Jason on this one. Leatherface just like to run around and scream with his Chainsaw not a whole lot of planning. He was great chasing the girls, but Jason really made more of an art out of all the killing and it was always different.
LS- Jason. Leatherface gets hurt. Jason gets people very dead.
RG – Michael Myers is “pure evil”…Jason and Leatherface are a joke. Hell, Voorhees didn’t even have his “big knife” until the 3rd or 4th installment and Leatherface is a fucking retard. Michael has been killing with a butcher knife since age 7.

LL – Alright, before we go…shoot us a little info on the show coming up on Halloween. What bands are playing, cover, time, etc.

LS- Matt?
ML- The show will start at 6:30 with Blood of an Empire followed by Pursuit of Angels, Shotgun Opera, Quickfuse (in their last show ever) and we will be hitting the stage by 10:30. We will be having Costume contest between each band for funniest, scariest, cutest, and most original. Price is $7 or if you’re in a costume its only $5. Come early and stay late, there will be fun and surprises all night long!!

LL – And how about a weird Halloween message for our readers?

RG – If you don’t buy our CDs and shirts, the boogey man WILL get you! Heh
LS- Do not watch “Teeth”! No matter what Matt says! Remember the Blumpkin!

LL – Well thanks once again for the spook-tacular answers!

RG- Thanks for having us.
LS- It was our pleas-tacular-ure.
ML- Thank you kind sir, see you at the show. If you’re not too scared that is. Haha

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