Watchmaker blew apart the metal universe in 2002 with their critically acclaimed Kill.Crush.Destroy. In 2003, they demolished all preconceived notions of style and genre with the release of Kill.Fucking.Everyone. While many traditionalists will call Watchmakers metal terrorism noise, it is these same traditionalists that should be embracing Watchmaker as their long lost saviour. Watchmaker combines elements of 80s thrash, old-school grind, and raw black metal with a chaotic and noisy song-writing style. This combination is bound to scare 99% of all the so-called metal fans. However, it can be argued that Watchmakers complete disregard for their peers and their total hatred of all things in-the-norm is what makes Watchmaker one of the very few real metal bands on the planet right now. Never mind all the traditional guitar riffs, solos, and wailing singers that so many metal fans deem necessary to make a metal band . . . well, metal. History has shown us that what makes metal metal is the ability of the music to rebel against the rest of the music world as well as society in general. Along with bands such as Black Sabbath, Swans, and Napalm Death, Watchmaker shares the distinction of being a band (at least in the early stages of their careers) that is hated by many, misunderstood by more, and embraced by a chosen few. All these bands were completely over-the-top in their intent, delivery, and attitude toward the music world. All these bands were considered noisy. All these bands were considered to be among the worst to ever grace the planet when they first burst into the world of live and/or recorded music. While I dont mean to stipulate that Watchmaker will take its place among the greatest metal bands ever, I do intend to show that Watchmaker is taking a path that most are scared to follow.
With that in mind I asked Brian Livoti (vocals) to share his thoughts on a thing or two about the new CD, the New England metal scene, and metal in general.
Brian has a way with words. He tells it like he sees it, and doesnt care what you, I, or my grandma thinks. Regarding the intent of Watchmakers music and writing style:
Nothing we do in Watchmaker is ever planned or intentional. Things just seem to happen. We do not have the time or the inclination to sit around and have band meetings about which direction our music should go into, or about what style we should ape now. We play music as an outlet for our rage, so the last thing we think about is what genre our anger fits into, and then neatly package it so that it safely lies within this genre's pre-conceived realms. That shit was the death of grind as I knew it. Now everybody sounds alike, and if you don't sound the same, then you are obviously doing something wrong. Fuck that shit. When we get together it is to kill. So any rules or regulations as to how we are supposed to sound goes right out the fucking window. We just plug in and go wherever our emotions order us to. So the hatred and venom felt on this recording is just a very honest and direct look into the hatred and venom that we are expelling from our systems. If we held discussions about how we should do things, we would cease to exist as Watchmaker, because that has never been the way we operate. So yeah, I guess we are just developing a sound of our own. But so should every other band. If your music is exactly the same as what somebody else has already done then what is the point in even existing? You are in a cover band.
It seems so hard for a band to show a real since of hatred and spontaneity, but Brian tells me the solution.
We very rarely practice, and when we do it is just to lose our minds and thrash. Usually, we spend our practice sessions just playing for the sake of playing - never recording or remembering what we did for the next time. And that is perfectly fine with us, because this spontaneity - this release - is what we are in this for. The same thing goes for our recording process. With the exception of two songs that we played live a few times beforehand, everything else was written entirely on the fly. We showed up, set up, plugged in and went ape shit. Holy shit, the results were a total musical holocaust! After we had about an hour worth of raw material, we then went back to the studio and cut this session into more manageable chunks. Extra guitar tracks were added to make the songs flow better, and to increase the punch, but other than that, everything remains intact from the original masters, including the vocals and drums. I actually like the raw CD just as much as the finished version we released for Willowtip. It is like hearing two separate releases. Who knows? Maybe we'll release this raw session someday, but that is the way we are going to do things from now on. If you just trust yourself and your creativity enough to just let go and let shit take its own course, you'll be amazed at where it will take you. I sure am.
Its been widely publicized that Brian hates the metal scene in New England because of all the politics and trend followers. While this is unfortunately the case in most cities, one would wonder if the metal scene worldwide has anything to do with Watchmakers ability to frighten a dead horse with their display of spite and anger?
Yes, I suppose that other areas create their share of characterless, ass-kissing. scenster bands, but unlike other places, the New England metal scene seems to embrace these acts and push them to ever growing popularity. That is the difference. I mean, if Killswitch Engage and Unearth co-existed in any other area on the planet, the universe as we know it would cease to exist. But in New England, they not only exist, but are revered. And they spawn countless, even more terrible imitators, ensuring a horrible place for any metal band with balls to even want to exist in. Who needs it? Name any big "metal" band from New England, and with very few exceptions, you will find the biggest bunch of Hot-Topics geared, Alternative Press fueled, Ian Robinson loved, groove playing, street-wise, emo-damaged, whining group of flat out homos under the sun. But whatever. That is not what fuels our anger. Those bands and their scene are a total non-factor to us, and we are a non-factor to them. We share a mutual degree of disgust towards one another, and inhabit entirely different dimensions of planet New England. And just as I am sure that I have never once written any lyrics or songs inspired by some Trustkill band, I am equally sure that none of them have cared enough to write a song about us. No, I write songs about things that matter.
With that said, is Watchmaker having a positive influence on changing the metal world?
Hopefully yes, but probably no. There are too many rules and regulations imposed on all genres of metal, and what should be a musical act of defiance and rebellion just gets turned into a study in conformity and banality. Love us or hate us, you can never accuse us of bowing down to, or pandering to, what somebody elses idea of metal is. We are simply unafraid to push our music and ourselves into areas that other, more musically proficient bands do not have the balls to go into, out of the fear of losing their cherished Dream Theatre-like musicianship status. You cannot further progress if you are forever mimicking others, being petrified of making a mistake. How are you ever going to stumble upon anything new if you don't fuck up once and a while? I think if more bands followed our example and just stopped giving a fuck, the metal world would once again become the exciting place it was when I first discovered it.
With everything Watchmaker has to offer, unfortunately they havent been able to tour outside of New England. Surely this will change in the future.
Fuck, I hope so. Especially when I cannot stand this place. Terry from Grief was telling us that as soon as you leave New England, the climate changes for bands like ours, and people actually show up and get into what you are doing. But we are all old men now, with wives, babies, mortgages and full time careers, so as much as I would like to see Terry's promised land of metal, I don't think that it is in the cards for us anytime soon. Once we get rolling again, we'll probably do some weekend warrior type stuff, and head over to Ohio or down to New York and Pennsylvania. But other than that, touring seems out of the question. Starving our families and losing our homes so that we can play some dive to no one for $10 doesn't seem worth it, you know?
Like most misunderstood bands, even finding a label can be a near impossibility. Watchmaker finally landed with Willowtip Records.
They were the only label with the balls to just come out and ask us. Honestly man, before Jason from Willowtip emailed me completely out of the blue, I think I exhausted all options. Despite all of the press and praise our first album got, everyone was still skittish about working with us for reasons that no one would divulge to me. I felt like Watchmaker was totally black listed. But whatever the case I am incredibly grateful that Jason contacted me and spoke plainly. No political bullshit. No feeling the waters. He just thought we'd make a great addition to his label and simply told us so. And after checking out his roster of bands I had to agree, and we immediately began working with each other. I mean, I love Ken from Wonderdrug, and appreciate everything that he and his label have done for us, but you do not understand how refreshing it is to be on a label with some like minded musicians, instead of ghetto acts like Superkollider and Colepitz. But regardless, if Jason from Willowtip ever contacts your band and asks to work with you, say "yes" without hesitation. He treats all of his bands very well and always goes to bat for you. I hope he and his label remain successful for a long time.
In a pretty short time-span Willowtip Records has put together a truly amazing roster. Watchmaker does stick out a little, but fortunately Brian has a fondness for some of his label-mates.
Goats. Fucking. Blood. Those guys are sick, and I am so proud to be on the same label as these guys, scaring the shit out of record reviewers. Cephalic Carnage, Kalibas, Commit Suicide, Hara Kiri - all solid bands that one way or another defy whatever the norm is. What little I've heard of Ion Dissonance sounds menacing, too. So yeah, like I said before, it is very cool to be on a label where you actually would have something to talk about with your label mates. A Willowtip festival would be something to pull our asses out of New England for, and I hope that Jason puts something like that together sometime soon.
Would a small tour with any other Willowtip bands be in order in the future?
Hmmm....I think a Watchmaker/Goatsblood tour would rule, but due to our situations I don't think a full blown US tour would be a reality. Maybe a small tour of the East Coast would work, or a small Canadian tour. I would really like to see that happen, as we've played a show with them once before and got along great - both personally and musically.
While Brian has made it pretty evident that Watchmaker is not a hot commodity in New England. Many great reviews (as well as bad ones) have been seen floating around from countries around the world.
I've received some great press and fan mail (yes, fan mail) from outside the US, but I have also received our most scalding reviews from other countries as well, so who can say? Like here, people either really love where we are coming from, or loathe us completely, to the point of personal hatred. There is never any middle ground, so I guess that proves we are onto something good. But the UK and Japan seem to be the place that identifies with what we are trying to do the most. This comes as a great compliment to me, because England really had some incredible grind bands in the mid/late 80s, and Japan is - well - just fucking Japan! Abigail, Barbatos, Metalucifer, Sabbat. Fucking Loudness! You don't get any better than that.
So how does Brian feel about metal in the rest of the world?
Beside the mighty island nations of Japan and the UK, Germany seems to totally rock. I just bought every Accept album I could find recently, and have been in full Deutsche fist-banging mode ever since, so I am kind of biased towards this country right now. But besides Accept, the fact that real metal like Kreator, Sodom and Destruction never, ever went away in Germany, just goes to show that they know what is going on. I even buy new Helloween CDs, so Germany is the place for me. However, German record stores were the main reason we were forced to change covers for that abortion of a release on Dream Catcher, so strike that. Japan is the place for me! I wish I knew of some Icelandic metal bands because I've been to that country a few times and would like to see some great metal the next time I am there. So, if you are reading this, and are in an Icelandic metal band, please contact me. I am dying to hear your shit and will be head banging front row at one of your shows soon.
Recently Watchmaker lost one of their original guitarists, Tim. While some bands seem to go through members without any repercussions, Watchmaker is clearly a machine that runs on multiple cylinders.
Yeah, the loss of Tim was really depressing to us. Besides the fact that his guitar playing was an excellent element to our sound, we just really like the guy a lot, so for everything to end badly the way it did was pretty bad. Tim is a perfectionist when it comes to his guitar playing, and although he never came out and told us - which added to the bad split - he was never really into the loose, chaotic way that Watchmaker did things. I mean, he would have to practice a riff for weeks before he would even show it to us - his band mates and friends - so you can imagine how much he hated it when we would improvise stuff live for 45 minutes in front of complete strangers. So, when Tim started to put together his own band, playing the music that he really wanted to play, Watchmaker became less and less of a priority for him. Recording our entire album spontaneously the way we did didn't help much either. In fact, that is what pushed Tim and ourselves over the edge, and forced us to split before the CD was even completed. What he contributed to the new album was great, and we couldnt have done it without him, but I think there are seven tracks Tim didn't even play on. I love "Kill.Fucking.Everyone.", but I cannot help but wonder how much more insane the finished product would have been had Tim been entirely on board with us for the entire ride. I had to ask one of our producers to play some guitar for us because no one was around to lay tracks down. But despite the bullshit filled breakup from both sides, we were able to retain our friendship with him AND complete the CD, so we could at least look for a replacement with a positive attitude. We've recently acquired the skills of Mark York from Kevorkian's Angels as our new second guitarist, so we'll see how things progress. His style is loose and noisy, and he just doesn't give a fuck, so the results should be nuts now that we have five people who want to move in the same direction. Plus, he sings for Kevorkian's, so we have just gained another vocal element as well. The other members of Watchmaker wont go near a microphone, so I'm pretty excited as to where this will go.
Watchmaker is amazingly getting pretty widespread press (mostly good). Magzines and websites outside the underground metal world are even starting to take notice. Did Watchmaker set out to make such big waves so quickly?
No. Not at all. Especially in this current musical climate. I cannot believe that we do things the way that we do and actually get some recognition for it by some pretty mainstream publications. Honestly, we do this entirely for ourselves, so the fact that other people like it astounds us. When we created our first demo, I made the packaging as imaginative and impressive as I could because I thought that that would be it for us, and I wanted something that I could look back upon with pride. The fact that we have never had to pay for any of our releases ourselves, and that whatever we do pays for itself is more than any of us could have ever asked for.
With Watchmakers ability to piss people off, their future is obviously unlimited. Fortunately Brian has the same attitude regarding this that he does about pretty much everything else. Much like Napalm Death and Black Sabbath were, Watchmaker is not looking forward to anything more than a little self-gratification. Regarding all this, Brian tells me exactly where Watchmakers future lies.
We are headed straight for the cut out bin.
www.watchmaker666.com
www.willowtip.com
Interview by Nathan Pearce - January 2004
With that in mind I asked Brian Livoti (vocals) to share his thoughts on a thing or two about the new CD, the New England metal scene, and metal in general.
Brian has a way with words. He tells it like he sees it, and doesnt care what you, I, or my grandma thinks. Regarding the intent of Watchmakers music and writing style:
Nothing we do in Watchmaker is ever planned or intentional. Things just seem to happen. We do not have the time or the inclination to sit around and have band meetings about which direction our music should go into, or about what style we should ape now. We play music as an outlet for our rage, so the last thing we think about is what genre our anger fits into, and then neatly package it so that it safely lies within this genre's pre-conceived realms. That shit was the death of grind as I knew it. Now everybody sounds alike, and if you don't sound the same, then you are obviously doing something wrong. Fuck that shit. When we get together it is to kill. So any rules or regulations as to how we are supposed to sound goes right out the fucking window. We just plug in and go wherever our emotions order us to. So the hatred and venom felt on this recording is just a very honest and direct look into the hatred and venom that we are expelling from our systems. If we held discussions about how we should do things, we would cease to exist as Watchmaker, because that has never been the way we operate. So yeah, I guess we are just developing a sound of our own. But so should every other band. If your music is exactly the same as what somebody else has already done then what is the point in even existing? You are in a cover band.
It seems so hard for a band to show a real since of hatred and spontaneity, but Brian tells me the solution.
We very rarely practice, and when we do it is just to lose our minds and thrash. Usually, we spend our practice sessions just playing for the sake of playing - never recording or remembering what we did for the next time. And that is perfectly fine with us, because this spontaneity - this release - is what we are in this for. The same thing goes for our recording process. With the exception of two songs that we played live a few times beforehand, everything else was written entirely on the fly. We showed up, set up, plugged in and went ape shit. Holy shit, the results were a total musical holocaust! After we had about an hour worth of raw material, we then went back to the studio and cut this session into more manageable chunks. Extra guitar tracks were added to make the songs flow better, and to increase the punch, but other than that, everything remains intact from the original masters, including the vocals and drums. I actually like the raw CD just as much as the finished version we released for Willowtip. It is like hearing two separate releases. Who knows? Maybe we'll release this raw session someday, but that is the way we are going to do things from now on. If you just trust yourself and your creativity enough to just let go and let shit take its own course, you'll be amazed at where it will take you. I sure am.
Its been widely publicized that Brian hates the metal scene in New England because of all the politics and trend followers. While this is unfortunately the case in most cities, one would wonder if the metal scene worldwide has anything to do with Watchmakers ability to frighten a dead horse with their display of spite and anger?
Yes, I suppose that other areas create their share of characterless, ass-kissing. scenster bands, but unlike other places, the New England metal scene seems to embrace these acts and push them to ever growing popularity. That is the difference. I mean, if Killswitch Engage and Unearth co-existed in any other area on the planet, the universe as we know it would cease to exist. But in New England, they not only exist, but are revered. And they spawn countless, even more terrible imitators, ensuring a horrible place for any metal band with balls to even want to exist in. Who needs it? Name any big "metal" band from New England, and with very few exceptions, you will find the biggest bunch of Hot-Topics geared, Alternative Press fueled, Ian Robinson loved, groove playing, street-wise, emo-damaged, whining group of flat out homos under the sun. But whatever. That is not what fuels our anger. Those bands and their scene are a total non-factor to us, and we are a non-factor to them. We share a mutual degree of disgust towards one another, and inhabit entirely different dimensions of planet New England. And just as I am sure that I have never once written any lyrics or songs inspired by some Trustkill band, I am equally sure that none of them have cared enough to write a song about us. No, I write songs about things that matter.
With that said, is Watchmaker having a positive influence on changing the metal world?
Hopefully yes, but probably no. There are too many rules and regulations imposed on all genres of metal, and what should be a musical act of defiance and rebellion just gets turned into a study in conformity and banality. Love us or hate us, you can never accuse us of bowing down to, or pandering to, what somebody elses idea of metal is. We are simply unafraid to push our music and ourselves into areas that other, more musically proficient bands do not have the balls to go into, out of the fear of losing their cherished Dream Theatre-like musicianship status. You cannot further progress if you are forever mimicking others, being petrified of making a mistake. How are you ever going to stumble upon anything new if you don't fuck up once and a while? I think if more bands followed our example and just stopped giving a fuck, the metal world would once again become the exciting place it was when I first discovered it.
With everything Watchmaker has to offer, unfortunately they havent been able to tour outside of New England. Surely this will change in the future.
Fuck, I hope so. Especially when I cannot stand this place. Terry from Grief was telling us that as soon as you leave New England, the climate changes for bands like ours, and people actually show up and get into what you are doing. But we are all old men now, with wives, babies, mortgages and full time careers, so as much as I would like to see Terry's promised land of metal, I don't think that it is in the cards for us anytime soon. Once we get rolling again, we'll probably do some weekend warrior type stuff, and head over to Ohio or down to New York and Pennsylvania. But other than that, touring seems out of the question. Starving our families and losing our homes so that we can play some dive to no one for $10 doesn't seem worth it, you know?
Like most misunderstood bands, even finding a label can be a near impossibility. Watchmaker finally landed with Willowtip Records.
They were the only label with the balls to just come out and ask us. Honestly man, before Jason from Willowtip emailed me completely out of the blue, I think I exhausted all options. Despite all of the press and praise our first album got, everyone was still skittish about working with us for reasons that no one would divulge to me. I felt like Watchmaker was totally black listed. But whatever the case I am incredibly grateful that Jason contacted me and spoke plainly. No political bullshit. No feeling the waters. He just thought we'd make a great addition to his label and simply told us so. And after checking out his roster of bands I had to agree, and we immediately began working with each other. I mean, I love Ken from Wonderdrug, and appreciate everything that he and his label have done for us, but you do not understand how refreshing it is to be on a label with some like minded musicians, instead of ghetto acts like Superkollider and Colepitz. But regardless, if Jason from Willowtip ever contacts your band and asks to work with you, say "yes" without hesitation. He treats all of his bands very well and always goes to bat for you. I hope he and his label remain successful for a long time.
In a pretty short time-span Willowtip Records has put together a truly amazing roster. Watchmaker does stick out a little, but fortunately Brian has a fondness for some of his label-mates.
Goats. Fucking. Blood. Those guys are sick, and I am so proud to be on the same label as these guys, scaring the shit out of record reviewers. Cephalic Carnage, Kalibas, Commit Suicide, Hara Kiri - all solid bands that one way or another defy whatever the norm is. What little I've heard of Ion Dissonance sounds menacing, too. So yeah, like I said before, it is very cool to be on a label where you actually would have something to talk about with your label mates. A Willowtip festival would be something to pull our asses out of New England for, and I hope that Jason puts something like that together sometime soon.
Would a small tour with any other Willowtip bands be in order in the future?
Hmmm....I think a Watchmaker/Goatsblood tour would rule, but due to our situations I don't think a full blown US tour would be a reality. Maybe a small tour of the East Coast would work, or a small Canadian tour. I would really like to see that happen, as we've played a show with them once before and got along great - both personally and musically.
While Brian has made it pretty evident that Watchmaker is not a hot commodity in New England. Many great reviews (as well as bad ones) have been seen floating around from countries around the world.
I've received some great press and fan mail (yes, fan mail) from outside the US, but I have also received our most scalding reviews from other countries as well, so who can say? Like here, people either really love where we are coming from, or loathe us completely, to the point of personal hatred. There is never any middle ground, so I guess that proves we are onto something good. But the UK and Japan seem to be the place that identifies with what we are trying to do the most. This comes as a great compliment to me, because England really had some incredible grind bands in the mid/late 80s, and Japan is - well - just fucking Japan! Abigail, Barbatos, Metalucifer, Sabbat. Fucking Loudness! You don't get any better than that.
So how does Brian feel about metal in the rest of the world?
Beside the mighty island nations of Japan and the UK, Germany seems to totally rock. I just bought every Accept album I could find recently, and have been in full Deutsche fist-banging mode ever since, so I am kind of biased towards this country right now. But besides Accept, the fact that real metal like Kreator, Sodom and Destruction never, ever went away in Germany, just goes to show that they know what is going on. I even buy new Helloween CDs, so Germany is the place for me. However, German record stores were the main reason we were forced to change covers for that abortion of a release on Dream Catcher, so strike that. Japan is the place for me! I wish I knew of some Icelandic metal bands because I've been to that country a few times and would like to see some great metal the next time I am there. So, if you are reading this, and are in an Icelandic metal band, please contact me. I am dying to hear your shit and will be head banging front row at one of your shows soon.
Recently Watchmaker lost one of their original guitarists, Tim. While some bands seem to go through members without any repercussions, Watchmaker is clearly a machine that runs on multiple cylinders.
Yeah, the loss of Tim was really depressing to us. Besides the fact that his guitar playing was an excellent element to our sound, we just really like the guy a lot, so for everything to end badly the way it did was pretty bad. Tim is a perfectionist when it comes to his guitar playing, and although he never came out and told us - which added to the bad split - he was never really into the loose, chaotic way that Watchmaker did things. I mean, he would have to practice a riff for weeks before he would even show it to us - his band mates and friends - so you can imagine how much he hated it when we would improvise stuff live for 45 minutes in front of complete strangers. So, when Tim started to put together his own band, playing the music that he really wanted to play, Watchmaker became less and less of a priority for him. Recording our entire album spontaneously the way we did didn't help much either. In fact, that is what pushed Tim and ourselves over the edge, and forced us to split before the CD was even completed. What he contributed to the new album was great, and we couldnt have done it without him, but I think there are seven tracks Tim didn't even play on. I love "Kill.Fucking.Everyone.", but I cannot help but wonder how much more insane the finished product would have been had Tim been entirely on board with us for the entire ride. I had to ask one of our producers to play some guitar for us because no one was around to lay tracks down. But despite the bullshit filled breakup from both sides, we were able to retain our friendship with him AND complete the CD, so we could at least look for a replacement with a positive attitude. We've recently acquired the skills of Mark York from Kevorkian's Angels as our new second guitarist, so we'll see how things progress. His style is loose and noisy, and he just doesn't give a fuck, so the results should be nuts now that we have five people who want to move in the same direction. Plus, he sings for Kevorkian's, so we have just gained another vocal element as well. The other members of Watchmaker wont go near a microphone, so I'm pretty excited as to where this will go.
Watchmaker is amazingly getting pretty widespread press (mostly good). Magzines and websites outside the underground metal world are even starting to take notice. Did Watchmaker set out to make such big waves so quickly?
No. Not at all. Especially in this current musical climate. I cannot believe that we do things the way that we do and actually get some recognition for it by some pretty mainstream publications. Honestly, we do this entirely for ourselves, so the fact that other people like it astounds us. When we created our first demo, I made the packaging as imaginative and impressive as I could because I thought that that would be it for us, and I wanted something that I could look back upon with pride. The fact that we have never had to pay for any of our releases ourselves, and that whatever we do pays for itself is more than any of us could have ever asked for.
With Watchmakers ability to piss people off, their future is obviously unlimited. Fortunately Brian has the same attitude regarding this that he does about pretty much everything else. Much like Napalm Death and Black Sabbath were, Watchmaker is not looking forward to anything more than a little self-gratification. Regarding all this, Brian tells me exactly where Watchmakers future lies.
We are headed straight for the cut out bin.
www.watchmaker666.com
www.willowtip.com
Interview by Nathan Pearce - January 2004
