Rock Overdose and Zisis Petkanas hve talked with NILE's quitarist Karl Sanders about the band's new album, and many more! Read the chat below!
Rockoverdose.gr: How are you?
Karl Sanders: I'm doing fine my friend, how are you today?
Rockoverdose.gr: A little bit tired. Too much work to do!
Karl: Yes. At least you have a job my friend, that's a great thing in Greece.
We hear from George all the time about the conditions in Athens. Very troublesome.
Rockoverdose.gr: And we don't know where we're going to stop. Let's pray. Karl, it's a great pleasure to have you with us tonight.
Karl: Thank you my friend, it's a pleasure to be here.
Rockoverdose.gr: Tell us about your latest news. How are you these days? How about the band's latest news?
Karl: We're doing good, actually something very interesting. This past week I went to a festival at St. George, here in my hometown. There's a great big Greek Orthodox church that puts on a festival every year. It's great, so we all went down there and we had a great time. Fucking killer!
Rockoverdose.gr: That's great. So let's go to your new album, which is titled At the Gates of Sethu. A few words about the tracks, the production and the recording sessions, if you wish?
Karl: For this record, we used our producer Kernon again. He produced, recorded and mixed the whole thing. We tracked the drums at the Soundlab in Columbia. Bob Moore also helped out with that. Then we recorded, we tracked everything here at my home studio, and then we mixed it in yet another studio.
Rockoverdose.gr: So there was a variety of studios!
Karl: A variety of studios, and some good friends, working colleagues helping to make this record the best it could be.
Rockoverdose.gr: What about the tracks? Song titles, lyrics?
Karl: Well, there are 11 tracks on this record, I think nine proper songs and two short instrumentals. A couple of song titles, Enduring the Eternal Molestation of Flame, track two is The Fiends Who Come to Steal the Magick of the Deceased. That's one of my favorites there. How about the last track, The Chaining of the Iniquitous.
Rockoverdose.gr: So, how happy and satisfied are you with the result?
Karl: Right now, we really love the album, it's brand new, it's fresh, we just finished it, so right now we're very happy with it. It's the cleanest recording we've ever managed to capture, and that's no easy job to record Nile. The speed of George's drumming and all the crazy guitar parts, it's a big challenge to record all that very cleanly.
Rockoverdose.gr: That's great. What about the comparison to the previous albums?
Karl: Like I said, I think it's the cleanest Nile recording we've ever done. But I think it's very different in a lot of ways from the previous Nile records. You can still hear the identity of the band; I mean, it's Nile, it's blast beats, crazy drumming, fast guitar, crazy song structures, but we try to do new things with the band as well, try to expand the sound a little. We've tried new vocal colors. There's lots of standard Nile death growling, but there's also some other things mixed in there too, kind of keep things interesting and mix them up a little bit.
Rockoverdose.gr: So it's going to be the most different Nile album?
Karl: Probably so, yes. But having fit all that, it's still very much a Nile album, from the very first note on the record to the last note, unspeakably Nile.
Rockoverdose.gr: So you have two Greek people involved with Nile, besides George Kollias, we have Seth Siro Anton, who made the new cover of your album. Would you like to tell us about the artwork?
Karl: Yes. As you say, the artwork was done by Seth from Septic Flesh, he expressed an interest in working with us, and I've always been a fan of Septic Flesh, for many, many years; I think they're an incredible band. So, when George told me that Seth wanted to work with us, I said, "fuck yes." And I think Seth did some really incredible stuff; he really managed to make a very unique Nile cover for this record.
Rockoverdose.gr: Nile was on tour with the Black Dahlia Murder, as we know, in the USA. Now for the first time, headlining in Asia?
Karl: Yeah, actually, we toured with the Black Dahlia Murder in America, and we've been to Asian shows as well. We were also going to go to India, but the two Indian shows got cancelled because the Indian Embassy didn't want to let us in the country; it apparently had something to do with the Metallica riot.
Rockoverdose.gr: But you're not losing any time, you're going to tour with Kreator and Morbid Angel.
Karl: Yeah, I think that's going to be good. It's seven weeks all across Europe, November and December, and I think there's two Greek shows on that tour, so that'll be good. Fuck yeah, Kreator, Morbid Angel, Nile, man, holy shit. It's going to be a night of metal.
Rockoverdose.gr: And we're really looking forward to seeing this lineup in our country, in Greece.
Karl: It will be there for sure, my friend. I've already seen the dates for sure. I think there's two Greek shows.
Rockoverdose.gr: Two Greek shows? That's great news, because it's a very great lineup for people to see.
Karl: I think so too. Not only is it a great lineup, but I think that it's a lineup that a lot of metal fans will enjoy coming and seeing all of their friends. That's what I like about the big shows; I get to see all of my friends. I don't often get to see them every day, but these kind of shows bring everybody together for a night of metal. I think that's a great fucking thing.
Rockoverdose.gr: So the Greek shows are confirmed, or are you still negotiating it?
Karl: Well if they sent me the days, then I'm usually one of the last people to know. I think what's happening though is that Kreator has a lot of festival appearances, and when you sign the contract for those festivals, there's a clause that states you have to wait until after the festival to announce the club shows. So that's probably why some of the dates have not been announced yet for this tour. It's a full seven weeks, every day, all across Europe. Fuck yeah.
Rockoverdose.gr: So, we are looking forward to the announcement. Do you know of any metal bands from Greece, besides Septic Flesh which you previously mentioned?
Karl: Septic Flesh, yeah, wow, what a band. I used to be a Nightfall fan; what a great bunch of guys. George also played in a great band called Sickening Horror, I'm quite fond of. There's also of course Rotting Christ. I mean, come on, fuck yeah.
Rockoverdose.gr: So you are a fan of these bands.
Karl: Oh yeah, how can you not appreciate these bands? These are fucking great metal bands. No one can deny the greatness of these bands.
Rockoverdose.gr: Yes, and we're very proud of these bands here in Greece.
Karl: Fuck yes.
Rockoverdose.gr: Let's go to your cooperation with George Kollias, who was chosen by the band a few years ago. How did that choice come about, and how is it to work with this great drummer?
Karl: Well, we love George. He's like family to us. In fact, we recently found out that George is family, to my wife. My wife's family name is Kollias, and comes from Corinth, which is where George is originally from. So, some of her family did an ancestry search, and found that they are long distant relatives. So, I'm related to George Kollias by marriage, it's crazy.
Rockoverdose.gr: So you are married to a Greek woman?
Karl: Half Greek, half Puerto-Rican.
Rockoverdose.gr: I didn't know that, that's great.
Karl: I didn't find out until very recently. George has been with us now about seven years, almost eight years now. He came recommended to us by Derek Roddy, when he told me about George, I remember George when his band Sickening Horror opened up for Nile years ago at a show in Athens. So we checked George out, and we saw that George was very talented and could certainly play the Nile songs, so we started working together, and we have come to love George. He's a great fucking guy, so talented, such a wonderful human being, and we love George.
Rockoverdose.gr: What is George like as a person?
Karl: He's the fucking nicest guy you could ever hope to meet. Sometimes you meet metal guys, and they're not necessarily nice people. They're very talented, but often artists and musicians are a little bit crazy. George isn't crazy; he's just a sweet, wonderful human being. What a brother. He's a hero to us, we fucking love George.
Rockoverdose.gr: That's great. I think that's the best thing, for the band to be together and have a great relationship between the members. That's #1 in a band.
Karl: I think it's very important. With Nile, until we met George, we had a lot of problems with drummers, and we still have problems with finding a bass player, and keeping a bass player. We thought we had the right person with Chris Lollis, but sadly, Chris did some things and we had to let him go. So we have a new guy playing bass, and his name is Todd Ellis.
Rockoverdose.gr: So, George Kollias and you used to make a lot of clinics around the world.
Karl: Yes, that's true. George has been very busy, I think he's the champion for the cause of extreme metal drumming all over the world. I think it's a great thing. I'm very proud of George.
Rockoverdose.gr: I think you also do the same thing.
Karl: Well, I give guitar lessons on tour, which is a little bit of a different thing. A clinic has many people; when I give lessons, it's only a few people. So it's a little bit different.
Rockoverdose.gr: Is it another way to communicate with the fans, by doing this?
Karl: I think so. It's more focused on the musical aspects, and helping people learn about the instrument. There is so much musicality possible in death metal and extreme metal, that a lot of people don't realize, how challenging it is to play this kind of music and what it takes for the guitar and the drums to really do something interesting. So in that aspect, I think taking this out to the people and the metal fans and meeting the other players and helping the younger players, I think it's a great thing, in a helpful way.
Rockoverdose.gr: It’s a great way for the fans to meet the idols.
Karl: Yeah, sure. I wish we could have had something like this when I was a young player. I would have been very grateful for it.
Rockoverdose.gr: Also, we have YouTube channels where we see a lot of guitarists and other musicians who give lessons to their subscribers.
Karl: Yeah, absolutely. Actually, there's a guy named Theodore Ziras that is the fucking most incredible guitar player. I watch his YouTube channel all the time, and I'm always learning amazing things. Fuck yeah.
Rockoverdose.gr: You are learning things from Theodore?
Karl: Yeah, I'm a student of the guitar, I've given my life to metal and music, and I believe there's so many wonderful guitar players across the world that it's not possible to ever be the best. There's always something new to learn, there's always a new challenge to conquer. Fuck yeah.
Rockoverdose.gr: We have to be very thankful sometimes for the Internet, since it gives us the opportunity to meet a lot of bands and musicians. On the other hand, maybe the Internet does bad things to bands, as far as selling their albums is concerned.
Karl: Well there's good and bad in everything. There are good things about the Internet, and there are some bad things about the Internet. I think this is like life; there's good things and bad things in life. That's the way it is.
Rockoverdose.gr: I think that good things become even better with the Internet.
Karl: I'm glad we have the Internet. I'm talking to you right now on the Internet, on Skype. So, there you go. We couldn't be talking right now, so we should be grateful.
Rockoverdose.gr: OF course. What are the next plans for Nile in the near future?
Karl: Well, we're going to tour our asses off for the next two years. That's quite a plan right there. The next two years of my life are tour, tour, tour, tour, and then some more touring.
Rockoverdose.gr: And after that, the next album, I suppose?
Karl: I suppose too, but right now, we've got plenty to worry about. The day will come, unless the world blows up and Iran causes World War III, with nuclear weapons, and blows us all to smithereens. So unless that happens, there will be another Nile album.
Rockoverdose.gr: Are you planning to record something from this tour, maybe an album or DVD?
Karl: A lot of people have been asking me about that, and I really think it's time; I would love to do a live DVD, although somebody has to help us convince Nuclear Blast that this is a good idea. Maybe we should make a riot, and people will understand.
Rockoverdose.gr: I will tell them to! What about presenting a whole album live, which a lot of bands do nowadays?
Karl: You know, that sounds like a fun idea. I would love to do something like that.
Rockoverdose.gr: Do you think it will be interesting and good for the fans?
Karl: I think fans would like it. Of course there are some fans that would complain, but you can't make everybody happy; it's not possible.
Rockoverdose.gr: And which album would you choose to play live?
Karl: Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka!
Rockoverdose.gr: What's your message to all your fans here in Greece, and the readers of RockOverdose.gr?
Karl: We are coming back to Greece, motherfuckers, and we're going to make some metal! Fuck yes.
Rockoverdose.gr: We love metal music, we live for metal, and we love Nile! This is my message. I think that metal music really is a way of life.
Karl: It is, yes, it is the metal way of life.
Rockoverdose.gr: In my opinion, of course, we have to listen to other kinds of music in order to say that metal is the best music!
Karl: Metal is my life, fuck yeah.
Rockoverdose.gr: Do you listen to any other kinds of music?
Karl: I do, I'm a big fan of Earth, Wind & Fire, James Brown, Snooky Robinson, Marvin Gaye, classic Motown, music that was made before we had computers. Back in the old days, we had to record things old-fashioned, you really had to do it right! You didn't have computers to fix everything. That's the kind of music that I find myself enjoying these days. Stuff where you can really hear the talents of the player.
Rockoverdose.gr: What do you do in your free time, besides music?
Karl: Doing interviews!
Rockoverdose.gr: Music and interviews! Any free time for you?
Karl: No free time for me; it's all work. Work, work, work, and then more work.
Rockoverdose.gr: This is how the big bands become big, by working!
Karl: You gotta do it; there's no rest for the wicked, and no rest for anyone who's struggling to make a living playing metal music.
Rockoverdose.gr: Thank you very much for this conversation. It was a great interview! We learned a lot of things from you. I'm really looking forward to seeing you in Greece, despite the fact that we are in a different economic situation. At least we have metal music to give us courage.
Karl Sanders: Fuck yes! We'll actually be in Greece in August; we're going to be shooting a music video in Meteora, Greece.
Rockoverdose.gr: You're going to shoot a music video in Meteora?
Karl: Yeah! That's where we'll be, making a music video.
Rockoverdose.gr: When will that be?
Karl: It will be in August.
Rockoverdose.gr: In about three months! Which song will you do?
Karl: Enduring the Eternal Molestation of Flame.
Rockoverdose.gr: Great news! Thank you very much.
Karl: Have a great day.
For RockOverdose.gr: Vicky Denaxa
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