Bryan Richie of The Sword
Aftershock 2015
“Mist & Shadow” off The Sword’s recent release High Country has a line that I believe perfectly articulates the stoner metal, hippie aspect of the band:
Nothing to do but commune with the trees
I spoke with bassist Bryan Richie at Aftershock this year (so many months ago) after his performance, which he described to me in complex terms: “Let me break it down for you. It was awesome.”
The first thing Richie said to me as he seated himself in a hard plastic chair across from me was, “Do you feel inundated with dust?” Of course, the question “Shouldn’t I be interviewing you?” ran through my head before anything else.
Instead, I told Richie “yes—my lungs are thickly coated with dirt—but there are worse things to deal with.”
He said that although his air pipes so far had been safe from the air, “I’m just seeing [the dust] speckle in the light and thinking of just breathing it in.”
Indeed, from every crack in the canvas above our heads poured down shafts of sunlight filled with mini-tornados of the kicked-up dirt from the ground. The powdery air around us swirled and danced as it quickly dried out our insides.
As I mentioned earlier, The Sword came out with their latest album High Country in August of this year. This release had a dual effect on the stoner metal world (a small one, but a world nonetheless): (1) it angered prior fans of The Sword because it deviated from their standard sound in the last few albums, and (2) it excited old fans and brought in new ones with its originality and changing mood throughout. To read a full album review of High Country, click here.
Richie said about the new styles in the album that while they were writing it, “We were very much aware that what we were doing was different from what we had done in the past, but…to say that we set out to do something that would be perceived as a gigantic change in direction, I don’t know. We just set out to write songs, and this is what happened. It was very organic in that sense.”
After asking Richie about the album, I mentioned to him that his band had been described in an article as “The Nolan Ryan of Stoner Metal,” to which he launched into a long discussion about sports.
Personally, he explained, he doesn’t like watching baseball, and other sports are equally pointless to him. “I long to be that bored,” said Richie, “that I would watch golf.”
Other sports have a weirdness factor, he told me, which makes them more entertaining to watch, like synchronized swimming. “You can kind of smoke a bowl and just be like, ‘Wow this is really weird,’ and really hone in on how bizarre it actually is.”
Instead, I told Richie “yes—my lungs are thickly coated with dirt—but there are worse things to deal with.”
He said that although his air pipes so far had been safe from the air, “I’m just seeing [the dust] speckle in the light and thinking of just breathing it in.”
Indeed, from every crack in the canvas above our heads poured down shafts of sunlight filled with mini-tornados of the kicked-up dirt from the ground. The powdery air around us swirled and danced as it quickly dried out our insides.
As I mentioned earlier, The Sword came out with their latest album High Country in August of this year. This release had a dual effect on the stoner metal world (a small one, but a world nonetheless): (1) it angered prior fans of The Sword because it deviated from their standard sound in the last few albums, and (2) it excited old fans and brought in new ones with its originality and changing mood throughout. To read a full album review of High Country, click here.
Richie said about the new styles in the album that while they were writing it, “We were very much aware that what we were doing was different from what we had done in the past, but…to say that we set out to do something that would be perceived as a gigantic change in direction, I don’t know. We just set out to write songs, and this is what happened. It was very organic in that sense.”
After asking Richie about the album, I mentioned to him that his band had been described in an article as “The Nolan Ryan of Stoner Metal,” to which he launched into a long discussion about sports.
Personally, he explained, he doesn’t like watching baseball, and other sports are equally pointless to him. “I long to be that bored,” said Richie, “that I would watch golf.”
Other sports have a weirdness factor, he told me, which makes them more entertaining to watch, like synchronized swimming. “You can kind of smoke a bowl and just be like, ‘Wow this is really weird,’ and really hone in on how bizarre it actually is.”
Lucky for Richie, Aftershock provided him and his band mates with catering, something he deeply appreciated. The meal, which he ranked “a solid 7.7 out of ten,” had kickass lasagna, but some downfalls, like the couscous. “It was a little off the mark,” he explained. “It’s weird. I was expecting it to be a little firmer. It was a little mushy for my taste, but I’m very picky.”
Despite his pickiness, the band Red Fang—buddies of The Sword—plays music that he can approve of. “The videos are funny, the guys are cool, their music’s rad. They’re like the total package,” said Richie. And in fact there will be an interview with Red Fang coming up next on TeenView Music.
The Sword is currently in the midst of “The High Country Tour,” and if they’re coming out to any place near you, go seem them. Their live shows are worth losing those five hours of sleep.
Despite his pickiness, the band Red Fang—buddies of The Sword—plays music that he can approve of. “The videos are funny, the guys are cool, their music’s rad. They’re like the total package,” said Richie. And in fact there will be an interview with Red Fang coming up next on TeenView Music.
The Sword is currently in the midst of “The High Country Tour,” and if they’re coming out to any place near you, go seem them. Their live shows are worth losing those five hours of sleep.
 | Zoe Adler is a music journalist from Long Beach, California. Besides her website, which is her pride and joy, she works with the GRAMMY Foundation and the Long Beach Independent. Additionally, Ms. Adler is a musician, spending half of her time playing the flute, piccolo, trombone, and marching baritone. She has been with TeenView Music since the very start and hopes to make something of it in the future. |
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