Chad Bowar: Since your last album, you have a new bass player. How did Ivy Vujic come to join the band?
Mercedes Lander: We were going to try Ivy out a few years ago, but she lives in Toronto and ended up not having a car. She has this problem where every car she has she totals! She gets into a lot of car accidents, and they are never her fault. She wouldn’t have been able to make it back and forth to practice since she lives two hours away.
Then two years later she had a new car that she hasn’t totaled yet, and she’s able to come to practice. We tried her out, and she’s really meshed with us. She has the same kind of personality that Morgan and Tara and I all have. It’s a good match on a personal level, and she’s an amazing player. She’s been playing for a long time and is very melodic in her bass playing.
Was there more collaboration on the songwriting for this CD?
Yes. The last album that we did Morgan and I wrote everything before everybody else was in the band. It was just Morgan and I. This time around it was nice to have Tara there for the writing process. She’s an amazing guitar player. She added so many nice things to the songs.
Did you record the album before or after you signed a deal with E1 Records?
We recorded the album right when we got home from Europe in November, 2008. We hadn’t signed a deal yet. We hadn’t even talked to anybody. We went and hid out in the southern Ontario wilderness. We actually recorded on a farm, and it was November/December when we recorded. It took us about three weeks to do it. We had so much fun. We lived in a trailer and it was really cold out. The town had like two bars, but I didn’t go to any of them. We didn’t really have anything else to do except record and watch movies.
Who produced the album?
Back in 2001 when we recorded our second album Oracle, the third in line engineer was Siegfried Meier. He was new at the studio we were recording at, and he was doing basically bitch work. Fast forward to 2008, and he has his own studio. He had just built it on this farm. It’s brand new and amazing. We decided to do the album with him. We’ve known him for so long. Before he moved back to Gotteridge, he lived in London (Ontario) for a long time and we would see each other a lot. He’s a really awesome dude and really meshes well with us. He made the album sound so amazing.
It’s my favorite record because sonically it is superior. We’ve never really had a good production on an album since Oracle. I am enjoying the fact that you can hear everything. It’s clear and in your face and huge. This album is more like our live show than anything else we’ve ever recorded.
In The Black seems a little more aggressive than your last CD, but still has plenty of melody.
Funeral For Yesterday was a really heavy album, but it wasn’t recorded that way. The production sucks on that album. I don’t like the way it sounds at all. My favorite part about that album is the kick drum. The guitars are really weak, and that’s not our fault, we didn’t produce the album. The songs were there on that album, but the production wasn’t.
Tell me about the “Sorrow I Know” video shoot.
The people that were going to do the video were talking about hiring a bunch of extras. Because we have such a crazy, rabid fan base I thought it would be cool if we asked people if they wanted to come and be in the video. It’s great for the fans who appreciate this band so much and are nice enough to take the time to be in the video. I don’t know of any other band that does that, except for live videos. Why not give back a little something? It was shot in New York. It was a lot of fun. We had people fly in from everywhere, from Florida, the West Coast. It took on a life of its own. It’s going to be very controversial, I think.
Do you have plans for more videos from In The Black?
We shot a video for “Cut Throat” the day before we shot “Sorrow I Know.” We shot two videos in two days, which was a little tiring, but a lot of fun. “Cut Throat” is the heavier single, and that video should be premiering on Headbangers Ball shortly. It’s more of a performance video.
How people see videos these days has changed. Instead of watching them on TV, it’s mostly watching them on YouTube or another internet site.
The internet is all powerful now. That’s where everybody gets their information, which is fine by me. We’ve always been an internet savvy band, and have always used that tool.
What are your expectations for In The Black?
I always have high expectations, but the only thing I want to do is tour and have a good time and play my music to people that enjoy it. I think that’s all you can really ask for, and maybe pay some bills in the process. But who knows if that will happen?
