ROCKET Interviews Jason Todd of SPADES AND BLADES

Southern California metal punks SPADES AND BLADES have stormed onto the heavy music scene with a deafening roar that has now not only begun to catch the attention of the industry around them but has literally shaken the underground game up with their own brand of ass-kicking rock music, something that is perfectly crossed between MOTORHEAD and AVENGED SEVENFOLD. The band released their punishing debut entitled Blood of The Innocent last year and are looking to release a deluxe version in 2011.

The Metal Den’s Randy “Rocket” Cody has conducted an exclusive interview with vocalist Jason Todd of SPADES AND BLADES for his loyal worldwide Den Headz.

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Rocket: Where were you born and raised?

Jason: Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Raised in Yukon Oklahoma, the home of Garth Brooks. Yeah, I like country… shut up.

Rocket: Do you come from a big family?

Jason: I only have one sibling, but the rest of my family is enormous on my dads side. Average on my moms.

Rocket: Do you recall your first rock concert, brother?

Jason: Dallas Texas, Warped Tour 1995? It was the first big tour with national acts I went to. Back then that tour primarily featured punk bands. Rancid was one of my favorites at that time and they played that year. They had an awesome set and I met Lars Frederickson afterward. I had a great time that day.

Rocket: Who are some of your biggest musical influences?

Jason: It’s a really long list, but if it’s heavy or if it rocks, I’m into it. My range of influence goes all the way from Blues and Classic Rock all the way to Heavy or Classic Metal and further into Stoner Rock, Hardcore, Metalcore, Deathcore, etc. The biggest influences are the greats like AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, Pantera, Motorhead, and Black Sabbath. But I take influence from a lot of current or “new” Metal bands like Darkest Hour, Killswitch Engage, Black Label Society, As I Lay Dying, Norma Jean, Oh Sleeper, War of Ages, Haste The Day, Impending Doom, A Plea for Purging, Slipknot, Suicide Silence etc. And that list is really short compared to how much stuff I’m into. I try and keep an open mind when it comes to music and take influence from anything that moves me.

Rocket: When did you first realize you wanted to sing in a band?

Jason: I first realized I wanted to be in a band by the age of 11, but about 6 years ago I decided that I wanted to ONLY sing in a band versus sing AND play. I’ve played guitar and bass in multiple bands while doing vocals, but once we started Spades And Blades I knew I wanted to move to the lead vocals position and focus solely on that.

Rocket: So how did Spades and Blades form exactly?

Jason: The two guitarists (Justin and Josiah) and myself have played together for over 10 years now. We started a hardcore punk band in 2001 called “The Havoc” and had a decent career with that for about 5 years. We put out some records and did a lot of touring, but ultimately we decided that we wanted more out of our career than what the punk scene had to offer. So, we started Spades And Blades in 2006 and have been working hard on getting it off the ground ever since.

Rocket: You guys are getting ready to release the deluxe edition of ‘Blood of The Innocent’ album.
What are the details on that and when is the release date?

Jason: We’re continuing with the theme of sin on the deluxe edition of “Blood…” to round out the albums concept. Initially, we released it with ten songs which we’re based on sins that violate the Ten Commandments. However, the Ten Commandments do not include two of the Seven Deadly Sins, “Wrath” and “Gluttony”. We’re recording two new songs for the deluxe edition with these sins as the subjects. Musically, these songs are heavier than the other material on “Blood…“ and are a glimpse of the direction our sound is heading for the next record. The release date has not been set, but we’re hoping to have it out by October. It will be a digital release. For more info, please follow us on facebook and spadeandblades.com.

Rocket: Very cool! Spades and Blades are working on material for another album down the road, right?

Jason: Yes. We’ve got about seven new song ideas that we’ve been working on and recording demos of. We’re excited about the new material and can’t wait to get it together for the next record. We’re striving for a heavier and more ambient/atmospheric sound for these songs. We’ve tuned lower and put more chug and breakdowns in the new songs, but we’re still putting a strong emphasis on the groove aspect of our sound, as well as our guitar solos, and heavier vocals, but not losing their melodic sensibilities. As I said in my answer to the previous question, the new songs we’re doing for “Blood…Deluxe” are a glimpse of what our fans should expect from us with our new material.

Rocket: How does the songwriting process work for this band?

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Jason: It’s primarily a group effort. Josiah writes a lot of the skeleton structures for songs on guitar. Justin is a great riff writer and contributes a lot in that way. I write all of the lyrics and vocal melodies. Garrett writes all his bass parts and TJ writes all his drum parts, but we all put forth input to critique and improve each others parts to get the best possible result. I’m also very involved with the process of structuring the songs layouts and transitions.

Rocket: Who are some of the other metal bands out there in the L.A. underground scene
you think are making noise?

Jason: Our good friends in Phinehas just signed to Red Cord records and have been tearing it up for quite a while. Also Kaustik is another great band that just put out a new album. A Piece of the Action, is another band we’ve done several shows with and they are a great band and good dudes too! This band Grim Wolf is radical too and just put out their debut independently. All of those bands are worth checking out for sure.

Rocket: Do you have a typical warm-up you do before a show?

Jason: It varies. I prefer to do at least 15 minutes of vocal warm ups before we play, but that’s not always possible. Most of us do some stretching too before we hit the stage. We’re a very high energy band Live and there’s a lot of jumping, twisting, and head banging going on while we play. So it’s good to get loose before we start the set.

Rocket: What National acts would you like to score an opening slot for on tour in the future?

Jason: Great question. We’ve got friends in some great National bands and tour with them would be a lot of fun. The guys in Norma Jean have been friends for years so they would be our first pick. Other groups I think we would fit in nicely with on a tour would be Impending Doom, Oh Sleeper, War of Ages, Unearth, Darkest Hour, etc. Our sound pulls influence from many different genres in the Metal world, so I think we could be seen with a wide range of different metal bands and be well liked, or at the very least respected by their audiences.

Rocket: There’s been a lot of killer metal albums released in 2011 so far. Do you have any
personal favorites?

Jason: Unfortunately new releases don’t usually cross my path right away. I usually find myself getting into releases after they’re already a few years old, unless I’m following a band relentlessly. Darkest Hours “The Human Romance” was one I was anxiously waiting for. It didn’t disappoint. Other releases from the past couple of years I’ve been stoked on have been Black Label Society’s’ “Order of the Black”. I think that’s one of the best straight forward Metal records to come out in years. I absolutely love it. Norma Jeans “Meridional” is a great record too. I love the dark place they venture to. One brand new band I’ve discovered is A Bullet for Pretty Boy and their debut album “Revision:Revise” is well done. I find some of the younger up and coming bands are really pushing the envelope when it comes to being technically innovative in musicianship and song writing. I think it keeps things interesting and I enjoy that.

Rocket: What about record labels? Do you (S&B) have a preference of who you like
at this point?

Jason: We’d prefer to work with a label that will believe in us as much as we believe in ourselves mainly. There’s some labels out there with great track records that we’d be happy to be a part of, such as Metal Blade, Century Media, Road Runner, and Solid State. However there’s some other labels that are home to some bands we really like such as Ferret Music, Facedown Records, The Artery Foundation/Recordings and Rise Records that we’d be stoked on too. For us we just want to have a label back us and help us take this band as far as it can possibly go. Getting lost in the shuffle amongst other bands is the one thing that we don’t want to happen.

Rocket: Any upcoming shows for Spades and Blades fans need to know about?

Jason: We’re always playing in So-Cal and plan to do some west coast touring early next year. Fans should check out spadesandblades.com for upcoming shows, or of course face book. Which is linked to our website.

Rocket: Where do you see yourself in ten years?

Jason: Still raging on stage. Hopefully they’ll just be much larger and in many different places throughout the world.

Rocket: Thanks for rocking this out with me. Best of luck with your music! Go ahead and give thanks out to your biggest supporters.

Jason: Right on man. Thanks to The Metal Den for giving us the opportunity to expose our band to your loyal readers. Also a big thanks to all our family, friends and fans that have been supporting us over the years and helping us spread the word about our music. Keep an eye out for us online and on the road!