Interview with Carl McCoy, (frontman) singer & creative/driving force behind Fields of the Nephilim

On: Monday, April 24th 2006

By: DJ Kzog of GothRadio.com

Carl called us from England and chatted for about 45 minutes.

Carl McCoy: The original reason the first lineup disbanded was the fact that we'd been working quite a long time together and done a lot of touring. And being a creative person, I have other ideas as well about where the music should be going, and areas to explore that sometimes the format of how we worked didn't permit. So, I did put that to the members at the time and I said that if it's not possible [to explore those ideas within FOTN], I'm going to do it as a side project. They didn't like the idea of that, I don't know why, because I wouldn't have minded if any of them had wanted to do a side project. So, that's what led to the Zoon project.

To me, there was no real reason to finish the band, Fields of the Nephilim, it wasn't what I wanted. It has always been there, I didn't abandon that at all. I just purely wanted to experiment and have another outlet. And, so the only way to achieve that in the end was to actually go off and do that.

GR: The Zoon album has got some really good reviews and comments. Since it was heavier than previous FOTN, is there anything you would have liked the label to have done to maybe have promoted it differently so it would reach the right audience?

Carl McCoy: Yes, there were problems with the album [at the UK label, at first]. The album is very strong and was well received. [But,] It wasn't exactly the kind of material [that the label was] used to dealing with. But, the European label did quite well with it. They promoted it quite well. It broke through certain territories that FOTN albums had not previously done. We sold more records in certain territories than we ever did as FOTN. I was pleased with it.

I think there was a purpose for doing that album. I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now, if I hadn't made the Zoon album.

GR: Do you feel like it was a stepping-stone in a way?

Carl McCoy: Yes, definitely, it was a big achievement, and for me it's a big marker in my career. Obviously I changed the name of the band on it, but in retrospect, I had no need to do that really. Because times change and it fits in perfectly with the whole scheme of things really.

GR: What influenced you to change the sound or progress the sound?

Carl McCoy: It was just dealing with different emotions. Elysium was a bit more of a slow atmospheric album, dealing with [emotions that fit that style], which was fine. But, it didn't really hit any peaks. It all just stayed in that mode. But, to deal with other emotions, I had to take an aggressive approach, and it seemed to fit the way I felt at the time. It works perfectly – you've got Elysium and you've got Zoon, which are quite opposites. Extremes are what I like.

GR: Sometimes, fans get into the style of a band at the time when they are first introduced to that band, and then they expect that same style from that band all the time. Do you run into that?

Carl McCoy: I don't really know. I mean, I firstly, do it for my own achievements, so I have to please myself. And I think it's part of the creative process to explore new territory all the time. I feel that as long as the essence of what I do, and feelings and concepts stay the same I feel like you can try different tools out and experiment and that's all I do. I've recreated the sound a few times and the message is pretty much the same I think, that's the main thing. I think that's pretty apparent in all the music, all of the albums, I've ever made, that whole dimension is still existing - which runs underneath it all.

GR: What's your opinion about the music business today and how it's changed from when you first started out as a musician?

Carl McCoy: Well it changed, obviously to me, because I didn't know anything about it when I got into it. We just got into the music business by getting a record deal and that seemed like the right way of doing things back in them days. And, I've learned now that that probably wasn't such a good idea really. There's different ways of doing things.

I think our reputation came from playing live more than anything. I don't think the record company could've made a band like us. It was our own reputation that got our popularity at the time. It was nothing to do with the record company. Commercial bands seem to rely on record companies & record companies manufacture bands, obviously. But, I'm not a big believer in all that. I kind of do it the old-fashioned way.

GR: What inspires you to write music? You talked about different emotions before.

Carl McCoy: Yes, I got into music in the first place because it was a good outlet for my feelings and ideas. It seemed like a good means of expression at the time. You know, make a noise and make everyone have to listen to you, really [laughs]. Also there was a huge void in the music at the time when we started. So there was a hole to fill. I think that's what I wanted to achieve. I wanted to hear the music we were creating, and this is obviously why we did it - because it wasn't there.

GR: So there was no one doing what you as a listener would want to hear, so you did it yourself.

Carl McCoy: Yeah.

GR: Can you tell us a bit about your song writing process? Do you start with a concept, the lyrics, or the music?

Carl McCoy: Well, I don't have a format in the way I structure the songs. It's always different. I often have a concept and a vision for what I want to achieve, and how I expect it to feel. It normally goes on the feeling, really. It always changes, but I don't sit down and write lyrics and then add the music to that or vice versa. It works all ways. Sometimes I have a melody either on an instrument or with my voice. Well, I'm always writing words - I've got books of words and scribblings, so I've always got thoughts. Often it's just a picture in my mind. Then I have to craft it until it starts showing some sort of form. It's kind of chaotic, really.

GR: Your voice has a very distinctive, powerful presence in all of your songs, and I think that's what people gravitate to most. Do you have any special routine or warm-up or anything like that?

Carl McCoy: No, not at all, no. I think if I had trained, I would probably sound quite different. I just do what comes naturally. [laughs] I've got no choice, that's all I can do.

GR: For the new album [“Mourning Sun”], did you use analog or digital recording technology?

Carl McCoy: We've always used a bit of both. Way back when we did Elysium, we were one of the first ones in the country to record digitally, back in 1991. But that was a digital tape at the time, on Sony machines. We did some compiling back then using early ProTools. On the Zoon album, I started using a bit more technology, but we still used both formats, analog and digital for certain reasons. Mourning Sun is a bit of a mixture of both again, really. I can't do it all just digitally. I use quite a lot of outboard equipment as well. So, sometimes I use tape - I spin things to tape and back in. I like to keep my hands in the past as well because I think there's something quite true about and it's a different kind of sound quality. You get a real natural grain. Some people just like perfect clear production, but I'm afraid I don't, I like a bit of mush in there still.

A lot of people spend a lot of time in the studio just watching the timeline in ProTools. I still try to use my ears.

GR: Can you tell us a bit about what's in the Ice Cage?

Carl McCoy: Well, the Ice Cage is just a bunch of equipment we use and it's basically a load of huge racks with a load of equipment and technology. We're able to take it with us anywhere we want to go. We did a small version of that when we did the Zoon album. We were using Residential Studios, but I was still taking my own equipment and setting it up inside the studio. So, it was a bit of a daft kind of way of doing it really. So this time [for recording “Mourning Sun”] we'd find interesting environments and then we were able to go back and forth to the production studio with the recordings we'd done elsewhere. It's kind of a mobile system; it's not like a mobile studio. I think some people think it's a big Winnebago with all this equipment – but it's not.

GR: How did you feel about the debate over Napster and music file sharing when it first hit the headlines, and has your opinion changed over the years since then?

Carl McCoy: I don't really know a lot about it. I really don't know how it's affected me or not. Before our album came out, apparently everyone had heard it 3 months before it was released. It obviously got leaked out. We did actual make promos of the whole album, which were given away (a few thousand copies of them). Obviously, it only takes one person to rip that and it ends up on the Internet.

It's disappointing because it takes away the surprise. I found that a bit sad; that everyone had already heard it, because I think it's nice to build these things up. Give people a preview to the actual release, which is the old-fashioned way of doing it, but I think that's the only thing about the Internet - it kind of takes that away, there's no surprise anymore. People are just too impatient to wait.

But, as far as sales, I don't know how that's effected me at all.

GR: How do you feel about the MySpace phenomenon?

Carl McCoy: I really can't comment on this, because we are a bit slow when it comes to the Internet, it's not our priority, but it should be more of a priority. It's something we're revamping at the moment. I'd like to think that not everyone has access to the Internet - maybe that there are still people who like to get their information in other ways. This is something we are revamping at the moment. There's a lot of things that we need to pick up with and that will be part of it, the whole Internet side of it. It's not going to go away, so you've gotta be aware of it [as an artist].

GR: Do you get more satisfaction from recording or performing live?

Carl McCoy: The creative process I quite enjoy. The recording process is a bit tedious. I find it always has been. Live, I've always enjoyed, but it obviously has to be a fine balance there. You need a good balance. We've always had it wrong. We've always either been in the studio too long or we've been touring too long. I've never got it down to a fine art yet. But we are gonna be picking up & doing some gigs at the end of the year. So, hopefully I can try to organize myself a bit more this time, and see if we can balance out the schedule.

GR: Is it going to be a full-fledged tour or just a couple gigs here and there?

Carl McCoy: Well, hopefully, it'll be more than a couple of gigs here and there. We get a lot of offers for gigs, festivals and all sorts. We always did and we always do, but I'd like to go to some new places to play for a start. It would be nice to spread it out, so we can deal with more countries this time instead of just going around Europe, England, and a quick flight to America. The whole scene has changed, since we were full-time touring before. There's a lot of people that haven't seen us & experienced Nephilim. And, we should keep it interesting for ourselves, as well.

You don't often see much you know, but yeah, the idea of actually being able to go to different places is quite exciting in itself. It kind of feels like you've never done it, you'd kinda be wide eyed. It's kind of like when you first start touring when you're young and you've never been anywhere, it's great.

GR: Will you be making an appearance in the States?

Carl McCoy : Well, I hope so yeah. We haven't played over there for years so I'd like to think that we will make an appearance at some point. I can't specify when because the schedule is still being put together at the moment.

It won't be until the fall or something that we start. We'll have a lot more information and let people know as dates start coming to light. Hopefully, we'll get over there [to the US].

GR: What sort of things do you do when you're not working on music? For example, your Sheer Faith project/company.

Carl McCoy : It's all part and parcel of what I do. Everything I do is kind of my lifestyle anyway, music and anything creative. As far as the graphics parts and music, they're all sort of part of the same thing really. It consumes a lot of my time, so I don't really get time away from it. I don't see it as a career where you go to work then you do something else [for the rest of your time]. I'm kind of the same all the time really, there's always something I'm doing, even if it's not for the public. It's just what I do really.

GR: Do you have specific things that you do to relax or is that relaxing enough?

Carl McCoy : I never relax. I'm not a relaxing person. I'm always twitching around on my feet.

GR: What's your favorite food?

Carl McCoy : I just eat really spicy food. That's all I eat. Anything with raw chilies in it (and raw chilies). That's all I like. The spicier the better.

GR: You had mentioned touring before, what would the line-up be for the live gigs?

Carl McCoy : I've pretty much got that in mind with who's gonna be coming out with us. I don't want to mention any names at the moment in case schedules change or timings and someone cant' do it. It'll obviously be like-minded people this time.

I feel that it'll be the strongest line-up that I've ever taken out. It'll represent the Nephilim as it should be, especially now. So I feel pretty positive about that. Because I don't work generally with a set line-up at the moment I think the touring is important. That'll all get announced when we're ready to announce it.

GR: Can we look forward to another release after Mourning Sun?

Carl McCoy: Oh yeah. There is other material in the pipeline at the moment, which I've been working on as well. That's why we put the touring back as well. It's another reason, because there's some other material that I'm finishing off. I'm not sure what format it's going to be yet or when it's likely to be released. But, hopefully sometime later in the year. Might even tie it in with the tours.

So, there will be more material. I'm not intending to just disappear for loads of years again. That was just unfortunate. It wasn't just all my fault.

GR: Do you have any advice that you would give to unsigned artists getting started today?

Carl McCoy: Yeah, get out of the music business, don't bother. [laughs] Just, believe in what you're doing and try and do it off your own backs. Do good gigs, build a good following - that says it all.

GR: You have been involved in movies in the past. You acted in Hardware. And, you've done soundtracks for other things, such as Razorblade Smile and some music in Miami Vice. Do you see any more of that in the future?

Carl McCoy: Yeah, I have been asked many times. Especially, in the last couple of years about being involved in some music production for films and games, and I've kind of turned away form that a little bit really, because Fields of the Nephilim is most important to me, firstly, and I needed to achieve a positive record. You know, make that stance really.

I set out on a mission with the Fields of the Nephilim in the early 80's and I kind of got tripped up on the way. And I feel that I've found my feet again, and I'm there. So, I don't want to turn my back on it at the moment. But, I feel that in the future there's definitely gonna be some things like that I will do. Because it's obviously a different process altogether, and I quite enjoy that. But, obviously, if it's the right projects.

GR: With some of the older material, I guess that would be a way to add to the bank account, if people want to use some previous material from Nephilim in video games and things like that?

Carl McCoy: Well, with older material, it doesn't add to my bank account. It just makes the record companies fatter. We don't see much money out of that.

GR: You made an on-screen appearance in the movie Hardware. Anymore of that?

Carl McCoy: Same thing, I've been asked to do those for a few films I was put up for, by the agency in the states. They'd approached me a few times - there've been quite a few known films that've come out that I've actually been cast for, but I didn't follow it up. It's something for the future.

If I get my music happening again and get Nephilim back out there, I think I'll be happy with that. And then I think I can start doing these side projects. But obviously, if I do them then it stops the Nephilim work (and that's most important).