Q&A: Daniel Johnson of Let The Guilty Hang
One day I was sitting around minding my P’s and Q’s, and went out to check the mail. In it was something that shook me to my very core. ‘Twas a CD from a local band with a picture of a body wrapped up tightly in a sheet by some river. It featured 11 songs of punishing metal and a seeming admission of murder!?
So I decided to do a little research on the new Let The Guilty Hang CD “The Unspeakable” and caught up with drummer Daniel Johnson. He filled us in on what’s been going on with them, their CD, and the local scene, whatever that is…
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GAZZ: What happened that is so Unspeakable? Did one of you really kill your girlfriend or something?
DJ: I mean, I can tell you, but I’d have to kill you. It’s really a story; the lyrics from two songs (Unspeakable/Moonlight Eulogy) intertwine. It’s basically a wrong place, wrong time scenario; you saw some sh*t that you weren’t supposed to see and now you gotta die muthatrucker!
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GAZZ: How satisfied are you guys with the CD?
DJ: Extremely! I mean I hear about 40 things I would change already, but I doubt that we as a band will ever be fully satisfied. We did amazing for a self-produced, self-financed CD. We took out loans for the majority of the cash (which we still owe) and we paid the rest out of pocket. It was a very costly endeavor, but we are pleased with the results.
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GAZZ: What was it like working @ 101 with Aaron (Fisher) and OJ (of Byzantine)?
DJ: OJ actually was only there in the beginning for the EP, but he really set us up to win. He and I go way back and he provided immense amounts of support and direction. We had a grasp on the studio experience, but he just really set us up for what to expect, and what “not” to do.
As for Aaron, he and I started off a lil rocky. We both are very passionate about our work, but by the end I think we both realized that this was a big project. We were both kind of complaining about not wanting to rush through the project, because we were in the middle of doing a 4-song EP, but we had written like seven songs and he said, “Why are we doing this?” and I am like ‘What the hell are you talking about?’, and he is like “Why don’t we just stop f—ing around and make a record?” So we put the brakes on and went into pre-production mode and started really changing how we thought about what we were doing.
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“Working on the album art was probably the most rewarding experience of the entire project” – Daniel Johnson on the cover art for “The Unspeakable”
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GAZZ: You’ve worked a lot with Donnie Searls and Every Second Pictures, how did you know him and how much does his photography add to the CD and your bands image? The CD looks cinematic…
DJ: I would say aside from the audio element, he took things truly to the next level. We have worked with him before, he did a photo shoot for us and we had seen his work with Byzantine, so we knew that he had a vision. He and I worked pretty close on the album cover and for you to use the term cinematic is a huge compliment to our vision. He and I kinda went back and forth with several layouts, but we ultimately went with our original direction/layout. I think working on the album art was probably the most rewarding experience of the entire project.
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GAZZ: Have you guys shopped the CD or anything, talked about anything like that?
DJ: We are in the process of making an EPK (electronic press kit) to shop to labels. It’s basically the industry standard for shopping bands now, its essentially a 7-8 minute infomercial, selling your band, songs, etc.
We are working on that with our friend Clif in South Carolina & Donnie is going to shoot the “interview” section here in West Virginia. We are also working with our friend Richie from HYAMP, who is lending us some booking help. Which is something we are always looking for, shows.
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GAZZ: Who is Aaron Casey?
DJ: He actually was in the band for a hot minute, our guitar player Joe went to college for like 20 minutes and then came back. In reality he is one of all of our best friends and he helped us write a song that we are all very proud of.
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GAZZ: How do Derek and Adam make the dual vocal thing go? Does each person write their own lyrics or what?
DJ: We focus on music first 99% of the time. We kind of spilt lyric writing duties, I wrote about three tunes, Derek wrote four, and we all sat down and did the rest. As far as the dual vocals go, we just kinda write for the song. We don’t really use a formula; it’s music first, then melody ideas, then lyrics. We have never really had problems with lyrics, there is so much f*cked up sh!t in the world that I don’t think we will ever run dry on inspiration.
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GAZZ: How did you and Beevare know each other?
DJ: I have known Beevare for 13 or 14 years. We were both always in separate bands and we both had a high level of mutual respect for one another. I always enjoyed his bass playing with Lifter and when I got started with the idea of a metal band, I knew he and I shared a lot of common grounds on influences. We have such a good time just playing together; we fumble through the Metallica catalog like champs!
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GAZZ: In a blog back in July you say that you thought the band was slipping out of the scene, as it were. Still feel that way? What was going on then?
DJ: Well, a lot changed when HYAMP went away. We were very dedicated to their cause and had a strong allegiance to them. We really got a taste of what happens when greedy club owners and apathetic people come into the picture. The music scene is really in a bad spot in West Virginia right now. We just wanna play as much as possible and really just hate to have to compromise our integrity for shows. People just don’t wanna come out to shows. I think every single person who enjoys music and the live music environment should go to HYAMP.org and support their cause. This state needed HYAMP. This band needed HYAMP.
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GAZZ: How did X-Fest go?
DJ: Now that it’s over I think I have a clearer vision. The short answer is it was amazing. It was undeniably weird being an aggressive band on such a “radio friendly” line-up, but we owe huge props to the X crew for putting us on the show, we played to a record amount of people and had an amazing time. We would love to be invited back, only this time we wanna step up the show. You have so much potential to pull off rock star sh!t on that show. You can act like Kiss and no one will think it bad of you!
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GAZZ: You’re doing shows at some alternate type venues. Man Jr. High and Nitro Community Center. You recently played Yesterday’s. Who handles booking for you guys and which places have been best/worst?
DJ: I handle most of the “management” type items for the band. We are always looking for shows, anywhere! If your town has a VFW and 25 kids who like heavy music, we are there! Anyone who is interested in booking us feel free to contact us through our website.
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GAZZ: What attraction does the wm3 have for people in metal bands? You mention them on the sleeve…Feel like that could happen to you guys with a CD like this?
DJ: Absolutely! If you are not familiar with The West Memphis Three I highly suggest doing your homework. Go to www.WM3.org. There you can read their story and get info on ways to be active in the fight. This is a case of ignorant small-town cops, corrupt county government and three kids who listened to heavy metal and lived an “alternative” lifestyle that was not deemed appropriate in a small town. In turn, a tragedy occurred that cost six kids their lives. Please do the research and just form an opinion on the subject. It is a modern day witch trial.
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GAZZ: Big shows lined up or anything you guys are looking forward to?
DJ: Well, as shows go, it’s a really slow time for touring and shows in general. So we’re prepared for the winter. We wanna play as many shows as we can squeeze in, so we’re looking. Just not a lot going on right now, feel free to contact us with any info or offers. As for what we are looking forward to, we just wrote the first song for the next record, so that’s a pretty bittersweet feeling. We love writing songs but we hate the labyrinth of recording. It’s so mentally, physically, and financially demanding. We haven’t even recouped from the last effort so, for me to even process the thought, knowing what I personally put myself through, it makes me puke in my mouth a little.
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GAZZ: And just clearing up nobody was really harmed during the making of the CD right?
DJ: See question 1…
