METAL PULP AND PAPER: Hello Brett. So glad to be catching up with you. Thank you for taking the time to speak with us here at Metal Pulp And Paper again. We appreciate it. How are you doing?
BRETT CARRUTHERS: I’m Doing great! Thanks for taking an interest in A Primitive Evolution.
MPAP: Now give us a little run down about A Primitive Evolution and what we need to know, and especially tell us if you have any new music coming out soon.
BRETT: Well we’ve been at it for a while now. Slowly working away on this project for a decade. This album had a lot of starts and stops, ups and downs. We nearly killed each other over it there for a minute, hahahaha. But it really came out perfect. It was worth the blood, sweat and tears. Finally, we got the album ready and signed with Metropolis in 2018. After some hunting, we find ourselves on this tour with PIG coming up in September and October, and can’t wait to get out on the road! We’re still releasing singles from the album as videos so the next one up will be our song "Dead Skies." We hope to have that out around the time we’re on tour and we start shooting videos for "Ghost" and "We Are the Truth" after the tour.
MPAP: We’re going to change up this interview and do something different. I’m going to pull some recent headlines from the Metal Injection website and get your reactions and comments on them. Here we go:
1. Celtic Frost Frontman Wishes Metallica Had Left 'Their Millionaire Fingers' Off His Song
MPAP: So, at a recent Metallica show in Switzerland, Kirk and Rob played one of Celtic Frost’s song "The Usurper" during a break in the show. According to Tom Warrior, vocalist for Celtic Frost, the two of them butchered it. He said, 'Maybe I should go onstage and do a really miserable version of [Metallica’s] "Hit the Lights" with, like, 200 mistakes to set the balance.' What do you think about this? If someone was going to cover one of your songs, do you think it should be done in good taste and without any mistakes, or it’s Metallica, and they can do whatever they want, it's no big deal?
BRETT: Haha, I’ve seen some videos of this cover situation that Kirk and Rob have been doing… and they’re all pretty brutal. I don’t think it’s a big deal at all. I think it’s odd that the two of them do this horrible cover idea, but maybe they’re bored and want to do something silly while on tour? Should they, do it? Why not, they really can do whatever they want. I would be honored if they covered one of my songs, even if it was bad, at least they’re thinking of your music and trying to learn it? I don’t know, haha, the royalties off of a band of that size playing your song at a giant concert would be pretty good as well, so there’s that silver lining if Celtic Frost’s ego was a little damaged afterwards.
2. A Fan Died In The Slipknot Mosh Pit This Weekend
MPAP: Very sad. So, apparently, a 62-year-old Slipknot fan died while in the mosh pit at a Chicago show here in the United States. Corey Taylor had recently stopped a previous show because he saw the mosh pit was getting too violent. Accidents do happen, but do you think mosh pits at metal shows are becoming more dangerous?
BRETT: Most of the mosh pits I’ve ever been in always seem pretty helpful and caring. I could do without this whole windmill punching movement that has been going on the last few years though. Definitely a sign of the times we’re living in when people could be criminally doing things in a mosh pit. If you’re going in there to hurt people, then that’s pretty fucked up and security measures need to be taken. I feel like the metal community is one of the most caring and friendly communities out there so hopefully this is just a one-time thing that was either an accident or a fucked-up person who needs a mental health evaluation.
3. Slayer Pulled As Primary Sponsor Of NASCAR Due To Complaints From Other Sponsors
MPAP: Really? C’mon., it’s just a band name. It’s not like Satan himself will be driving the car, right?
BRETT: Fucking bullshit really. You can promote your shitty product that is probably giving people cancer, but a metal band can’t sponsor a car? Didn’t know that NASCAR was a complete corporate whore… I thought they’d take anyone’s money that was still willing. Hahaha.
4. Maynard Got Death Threats Over How Long The Tool Album Took
MPAP: Talk about some diehard fans. I think that is going a bit too far, even if you’ve been waiting 13 years, right?
BRETT: Unbelievable to think that people would consider doing this… was it a joke? … or are people really that fucked up out there? Then people wonder why he won’t do meet and greets. To bad Maynard is the target too, because I don’t think it was his fault it took so long.
5. Controversial Video Shows Rob Zombie Grabbing A Female Fan By The Hair After Being Groped
MPAP: His shirt was pulled, but, nevertheless. I guess during a show Rob went out into the crowd, and an enthusastic fan reached out and pulled on his shirt. After this headline was posted, quite a few bands like Shinedown, All That Remains, and Bad Wolves defended Rob’s actions. What are your thoughts, do fans need to keep their hands to themselves?
BRETT: Interesting… seems like a knee jerk reaction for sure. I think when you’re in a crowd of that many people and someone is limiting your movement or gets to close it must be a little frightening. I think fans can present their hands for touching but should grab or pull on the artist. If the artist wishes to engage with your extended hand, they will… don’t force it or you might scare them. I’ve definitely been groped once or twice, but never in an alarming way. I often will jump into the audience and play a guitar solo at our shows, I’ll purposefully jump around a little and mosh a bit down there so people will push me back, grab my ass, a few gentle caresses will sometimes emerge as well haha, but, no harm there for me though. I’m definitely presenting myself for interaction, so I’m expecting to get a little roughed up.
6. Behemoth Frontman Confronted At YMCA For Wearing Darkthrone Shirt & Kicked Out Not Believing In Jesus
MPAP: It was just a shirt, and he was going there to workout. It wasn’t like he was going to sacrifice some virgins and spill blood everywhere. What do you think?
BRETT: I’m surprised this kind of thing still happens, however, this is a Christian organization… so why bother having a membership or going to places that are clearly Christian spaces? It’s in the name, so if you’re entering spaces with clothing that defames their beliefs, you might expect to get faced with animosity. Go to a local gym or an LA fitness or some shit instead ya know?
7. Former Weedeater Drummer Arrested For Allegedly Spiking Wife’s Drink With Meth
MPAP: Umm, this doesn’t look like they have a very good marriage going on for this to have happened. Do you think they need some marriage counseling or what?
BRETT: Haha, what on earth would cause you to spike the drink with Meth? If they’re having problems in their marriage this seems like it would make things worse. Perhaps lorazepam or valium would have been a better choice so they could both be calm and have a very important conversation about why he wants to drug her? Probably have to bring in Dr. Phil for this one.
8. Walmart Shoppers Call The Cops On Metal Band for… Sitting In A Van Parking Lot
MPAP: This happened right after the tragic Dayton, Ohio shooting where ten people were killed, including the shooter, and 27 others were injured. The gunman just happened to be a metalhead because he was wearing a The Acacia Strain hoodie. It’s good that people report things, but this could turn out that every traveling metal band that’s parked in a Walmart parking lot are going to get reported now. What do you think?
BRETT: People are still on edge, I’m sure it will pass. Walmart is the safe haven for bands while on tour, so hopefully this was a one-time thing. We’re going out on tour on the 19th of September, so I’ll report back on how many times we get reported to the police for ya.
9. People Are Going Wild For This Rant Tommy Lee Shared Against Donald Trump
MPAP: The rant/tweet is quite a bit long, so I'm not going to torture you to read it, but I will say this: should musicians talk or write about politics? In a way, it’s like their forcing their beliefs down our throats. What are your thoughts?
BRETT: I think people should talk openly about how they feel. There’s no reason to hide it, everyone has a brain and can interrupt things the way they wish. I do find it invasive if it’s all a band talks about, you can tell when it’s a forced message not just a rant. It’s important to talk about this shit, I think people should be their true selves and not sugar coat things just because they’re famous or an artist.
10. James Hetfield Calls Woman Who Used Metallica’s Music To Fend Off Cougar
MPAP: A young lady, was out walking her dog when off in the distance a cougar began to stalk her. She eventually played a Metallica song on her phone to scare it away, and it worked. She definitely had luck and the power of music on her side, right? What song of yours do you think would scare off a hungry cougar?
BRETT: Yes, this story is fantastic. You’d want something with a quick intro in this situation. "Becoming" would probably be the best song for this situation off the new album!
11. While She Sleeps Release Free T-Shirt Design To Clue Fans Into How Much Streaming Doesn’t Pay
MPAP: This is what the design said: One T-shirt is the equivalent to 5000 streams on Spotify. 76% of all music is streamed and not bought physically or digitally. Band merchandise is the most direct way of supporting a band. Sadly, buying music isn’t the same anymore. Back in the day, it used to be fun to buy an actual album or CD, don’t you think?
BRETT: Yeah, I still buy CD’s of bands I really love. It’s a tough business now for smaller bands and labels. There’s no money left for it. When you see you’ve got all these streams, but it amounts to barely any money it’s really harrowing. Probably why Vinyl has come back though, people do like to collect the things they love, but for the most part streaming is just so convenient, and the industry just let the streaming companies run with this model and it’s fucked. The streaming companies are making all the money, the labels and the artists are starving. Not sure how it went so wrong, but it’s disappointing no major label, or anyone hasn’t stood in to prevent this. They shot themselves in the foot from the get-go and now we’re all screwed.
12. David Hasselhoff Teams Up With Ministry Frontman For "Sweet Caroline" Cover
MPAP: All I can say is, this should be interesting. Hopefully, it’s not a train wreck for the Hoff. It's worth a listen to when it comes out though. What do you think of this collaboration?
BRETT: Sounds interesting for sure. I love Ministry so we’ll see how this goes. Perhaps Al is going back to his new wave roots with this one? Haha, we’ll see for sure.
MPAP: What tv/movie actor would you like to cover a song with someday?
BRETT: Hmmm first people that come to mind are the actor/musicians out there. Would be fun to work with Johnny Depp, Scarlett Johansen or Keanu Reeves.
MPAP: On behalf of Metal Pulp And Paper, I’d like to thank you, Brett, for taking the time to answer these headline questions. We look forward to what A Primitive Evolution does to finish out 2019 and beyond.
MPAP: Any last words for all your fans out there?
BRETT: Hope to see you out on the road! Please join us in fucking shit up proper on the floor!
BRETT CARRUTHERS: I’m Doing great! Thanks for taking an interest in A Primitive Evolution.
MPAP: Now give us a little run down about A Primitive Evolution and what we need to know, and especially tell us if you have any new music coming out soon.
BRETT: Well we’ve been at it for a while now. Slowly working away on this project for a decade. This album had a lot of starts and stops, ups and downs. We nearly killed each other over it there for a minute, hahahaha. But it really came out perfect. It was worth the blood, sweat and tears. Finally, we got the album ready and signed with Metropolis in 2018. After some hunting, we find ourselves on this tour with PIG coming up in September and October, and can’t wait to get out on the road! We’re still releasing singles from the album as videos so the next one up will be our song "Dead Skies." We hope to have that out around the time we’re on tour and we start shooting videos for "Ghost" and "We Are the Truth" after the tour.
MPAP: We’re going to change up this interview and do something different. I’m going to pull some recent headlines from the Metal Injection website and get your reactions and comments on them. Here we go:
1. Celtic Frost Frontman Wishes Metallica Had Left 'Their Millionaire Fingers' Off His Song
MPAP: So, at a recent Metallica show in Switzerland, Kirk and Rob played one of Celtic Frost’s song "The Usurper" during a break in the show. According to Tom Warrior, vocalist for Celtic Frost, the two of them butchered it. He said, 'Maybe I should go onstage and do a really miserable version of [Metallica’s] "Hit the Lights" with, like, 200 mistakes to set the balance.' What do you think about this? If someone was going to cover one of your songs, do you think it should be done in good taste and without any mistakes, or it’s Metallica, and they can do whatever they want, it's no big deal?
BRETT: Haha, I’ve seen some videos of this cover situation that Kirk and Rob have been doing… and they’re all pretty brutal. I don’t think it’s a big deal at all. I think it’s odd that the two of them do this horrible cover idea, but maybe they’re bored and want to do something silly while on tour? Should they, do it? Why not, they really can do whatever they want. I would be honored if they covered one of my songs, even if it was bad, at least they’re thinking of your music and trying to learn it? I don’t know, haha, the royalties off of a band of that size playing your song at a giant concert would be pretty good as well, so there’s that silver lining if Celtic Frost’s ego was a little damaged afterwards.
2. A Fan Died In The Slipknot Mosh Pit This Weekend
MPAP: Very sad. So, apparently, a 62-year-old Slipknot fan died while in the mosh pit at a Chicago show here in the United States. Corey Taylor had recently stopped a previous show because he saw the mosh pit was getting too violent. Accidents do happen, but do you think mosh pits at metal shows are becoming more dangerous?
BRETT: Most of the mosh pits I’ve ever been in always seem pretty helpful and caring. I could do without this whole windmill punching movement that has been going on the last few years though. Definitely a sign of the times we’re living in when people could be criminally doing things in a mosh pit. If you’re going in there to hurt people, then that’s pretty fucked up and security measures need to be taken. I feel like the metal community is one of the most caring and friendly communities out there so hopefully this is just a one-time thing that was either an accident or a fucked-up person who needs a mental health evaluation.
3. Slayer Pulled As Primary Sponsor Of NASCAR Due To Complaints From Other Sponsors
MPAP: Really? C’mon., it’s just a band name. It’s not like Satan himself will be driving the car, right?
BRETT: Fucking bullshit really. You can promote your shitty product that is probably giving people cancer, but a metal band can’t sponsor a car? Didn’t know that NASCAR was a complete corporate whore… I thought they’d take anyone’s money that was still willing. Hahaha.
4. Maynard Got Death Threats Over How Long The Tool Album Took
MPAP: Talk about some diehard fans. I think that is going a bit too far, even if you’ve been waiting 13 years, right?
BRETT: Unbelievable to think that people would consider doing this… was it a joke? … or are people really that fucked up out there? Then people wonder why he won’t do meet and greets. To bad Maynard is the target too, because I don’t think it was his fault it took so long.
5. Controversial Video Shows Rob Zombie Grabbing A Female Fan By The Hair After Being Groped
MPAP: His shirt was pulled, but, nevertheless. I guess during a show Rob went out into the crowd, and an enthusastic fan reached out and pulled on his shirt. After this headline was posted, quite a few bands like Shinedown, All That Remains, and Bad Wolves defended Rob’s actions. What are your thoughts, do fans need to keep their hands to themselves?
BRETT: Interesting… seems like a knee jerk reaction for sure. I think when you’re in a crowd of that many people and someone is limiting your movement or gets to close it must be a little frightening. I think fans can present their hands for touching but should grab or pull on the artist. If the artist wishes to engage with your extended hand, they will… don’t force it or you might scare them. I’ve definitely been groped once or twice, but never in an alarming way. I often will jump into the audience and play a guitar solo at our shows, I’ll purposefully jump around a little and mosh a bit down there so people will push me back, grab my ass, a few gentle caresses will sometimes emerge as well haha, but, no harm there for me though. I’m definitely presenting myself for interaction, so I’m expecting to get a little roughed up.
6. Behemoth Frontman Confronted At YMCA For Wearing Darkthrone Shirt & Kicked Out Not Believing In Jesus
MPAP: It was just a shirt, and he was going there to workout. It wasn’t like he was going to sacrifice some virgins and spill blood everywhere. What do you think?
BRETT: I’m surprised this kind of thing still happens, however, this is a Christian organization… so why bother having a membership or going to places that are clearly Christian spaces? It’s in the name, so if you’re entering spaces with clothing that defames their beliefs, you might expect to get faced with animosity. Go to a local gym or an LA fitness or some shit instead ya know?
7. Former Weedeater Drummer Arrested For Allegedly Spiking Wife’s Drink With Meth
MPAP: Umm, this doesn’t look like they have a very good marriage going on for this to have happened. Do you think they need some marriage counseling or what?
BRETT: Haha, what on earth would cause you to spike the drink with Meth? If they’re having problems in their marriage this seems like it would make things worse. Perhaps lorazepam or valium would have been a better choice so they could both be calm and have a very important conversation about why he wants to drug her? Probably have to bring in Dr. Phil for this one.
8. Walmart Shoppers Call The Cops On Metal Band for… Sitting In A Van Parking Lot
MPAP: This happened right after the tragic Dayton, Ohio shooting where ten people were killed, including the shooter, and 27 others were injured. The gunman just happened to be a metalhead because he was wearing a The Acacia Strain hoodie. It’s good that people report things, but this could turn out that every traveling metal band that’s parked in a Walmart parking lot are going to get reported now. What do you think?
BRETT: People are still on edge, I’m sure it will pass. Walmart is the safe haven for bands while on tour, so hopefully this was a one-time thing. We’re going out on tour on the 19th of September, so I’ll report back on how many times we get reported to the police for ya.
9. People Are Going Wild For This Rant Tommy Lee Shared Against Donald Trump
MPAP: The rant/tweet is quite a bit long, so I'm not going to torture you to read it, but I will say this: should musicians talk or write about politics? In a way, it’s like their forcing their beliefs down our throats. What are your thoughts?
BRETT: I think people should talk openly about how they feel. There’s no reason to hide it, everyone has a brain and can interrupt things the way they wish. I do find it invasive if it’s all a band talks about, you can tell when it’s a forced message not just a rant. It’s important to talk about this shit, I think people should be their true selves and not sugar coat things just because they’re famous or an artist.
10. James Hetfield Calls Woman Who Used Metallica’s Music To Fend Off Cougar
MPAP: A young lady, was out walking her dog when off in the distance a cougar began to stalk her. She eventually played a Metallica song on her phone to scare it away, and it worked. She definitely had luck and the power of music on her side, right? What song of yours do you think would scare off a hungry cougar?
BRETT: Yes, this story is fantastic. You’d want something with a quick intro in this situation. "Becoming" would probably be the best song for this situation off the new album!
11. While She Sleeps Release Free T-Shirt Design To Clue Fans Into How Much Streaming Doesn’t Pay
MPAP: This is what the design said: One T-shirt is the equivalent to 5000 streams on Spotify. 76% of all music is streamed and not bought physically or digitally. Band merchandise is the most direct way of supporting a band. Sadly, buying music isn’t the same anymore. Back in the day, it used to be fun to buy an actual album or CD, don’t you think?
BRETT: Yeah, I still buy CD’s of bands I really love. It’s a tough business now for smaller bands and labels. There’s no money left for it. When you see you’ve got all these streams, but it amounts to barely any money it’s really harrowing. Probably why Vinyl has come back though, people do like to collect the things they love, but for the most part streaming is just so convenient, and the industry just let the streaming companies run with this model and it’s fucked. The streaming companies are making all the money, the labels and the artists are starving. Not sure how it went so wrong, but it’s disappointing no major label, or anyone hasn’t stood in to prevent this. They shot themselves in the foot from the get-go and now we’re all screwed.
12. David Hasselhoff Teams Up With Ministry Frontman For "Sweet Caroline" Cover
MPAP: All I can say is, this should be interesting. Hopefully, it’s not a train wreck for the Hoff. It's worth a listen to when it comes out though. What do you think of this collaboration?
BRETT: Sounds interesting for sure. I love Ministry so we’ll see how this goes. Perhaps Al is going back to his new wave roots with this one? Haha, we’ll see for sure.
MPAP: What tv/movie actor would you like to cover a song with someday?
BRETT: Hmmm first people that come to mind are the actor/musicians out there. Would be fun to work with Johnny Depp, Scarlett Johansen or Keanu Reeves.
MPAP: On behalf of Metal Pulp And Paper, I’d like to thank you, Brett, for taking the time to answer these headline questions. We look forward to what A Primitive Evolution does to finish out 2019 and beyond.
MPAP: Any last words for all your fans out there?
BRETT: Hope to see you out on the road! Please join us in fucking shit up proper on the floor!