{"id":9099,"date":"2012-11-22T00:00:34","date_gmt":"2012-11-22T00:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=9099"},"modified":"2012-12-29T21:46:28","modified_gmt":"2012-12-29T21:46:28","slug":"feature-soil-11-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-soil-11-12\/","title":{"rendered":"SOIL &#8211; Redefining The Scars (November 2012) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"title\"><strong>SOIL &#8211; Redefining The Scars<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"smalltitle\">Anthony Morgan<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: arial; font-size: 8pt\">November 2012<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedright\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/soilryanmccombs2012promophoto1.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><strong><em>Ryan McCombs<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"right\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>It was publicly disclosed on July 5th, 2011 that Chicago, Illinois-based heavy rockers SOiL would be rejoined by original lead vocalist and co-founder Ryan McCombs for their October 2011 United Kingdom co-headlining tour with Puddle Of Mudd. A member from 1997 until 2004, Ryan lent vocals to the EPs <em>Soil<\/em> (1997) and <em>El Chupacabra<\/em> (November 1998), and the albums <em>Throttle Junkies<\/em> (May 1999), <em>Scars<\/em> (September 2001), and <em>Redefine<\/em> (March 2004).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOriginally the guys came to me and asked if I was interested in being a part of the tenth anniversary of the release of <em>Scars<\/em>, our first major release back in 2001,\u201d Ryan recounts. \u201cThey came to me sometime in 2011, and asked if I wanted to be a part of that. That was all the plans were. We toured the UK. I had some down-time at the time with Drowning Pool, and it sounded like it would be fun. The Drowning Pool guys understood, and they were supportive of it. It was good timing for me personally.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe did it, and put our past squabbles behind us. We got together, went over, and just had a blast. At the time, I was kind of in that frame of mind. I felt like I needed a change musically. Playing those old songs again, remembering where they came from, feeling a lot of those emotions again within those songs, and having a blast doing those shows in the UK was just enough to breathe life back into me. When I came back home, I was still kind of unsure about what I wanted to do. Adam and Tim and I kept talking, and things just kind of snowballed from there. We had almost too much fun, so it was hard to even think about not doing anything further. Adam and I started writing, and it just felt right. Doing the SOiL thing just kind of came naturally once again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A member from 1997 until 2007, guitarist Shaun Glass wasn\u2019t invited to rejoin the fold. \u201cWhen I left SOiL back in the day, and again with Drowning Pool&#8230; I don\u2019t ever wanna throw stones,\u201d the frontman stresses. \u201cEverybody\u2019s got their reasons for the decisions that they make, and when the three of us decided to do this again we just wanted it to be amongst the three of us. Again, I\u2019m not gonna throw stones about it because everybody\u2019s got their reasons for feeling however they do and within their own mind they\u2019re justified for it. In my mind though, these were the guys that I wanted to do this again with in their minds. In Adam\u2019s and Tim\u2019s minds, this was the package they felt comfortable doing it again with. Just for the sake remaining the good person I hope I always do remain (laughs), I\u2019ll just leave it at that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The decision to make SOiL\u2019s current incarnation a trio was a collective one, as Ryan mentions. \u201cThis was the only way that the three of us felt comfortable in doing it,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n<p>SOiL have elected not to recruit a full-time drummer. \u201cThat was another thing,\u201d the artist begins. \u201cWhen we decided to do this again, we were all really of the mindset that as far as the drummer went we weren\u2019t looking for a full-time replacement. If we find one along the way down the road then great, but it wasn\u2019t a focus in terms of what we wanted from day one when talking about doing another record. We had a great time with Jon (Wysocki) \u2013 the former drummer of Staind \u2013 when he came onboard for the UK tour; he ended up sticking around, and did some shows back here in the States with us. We\u2019ve had a couple of other guys come in and do live runs with us. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have another gentleman with us right now who we\u2019ve done several US runs with and he\u2019s gonna be doing the UK \/ European run with us, a drummer by the name of Mitch Gable. Personality-wise and off the stage as well as on the stage Mitch is just a great fit. We\u2019re having a blast with it, but we\u2019re not in a position to really commit yet though. People might recognise the name Will Hunt, formerly of Evanescence, Black Label Society, and Skrape and I don\u2019t know who all else \u2013 he\u2019s played with a myriad of bands. He\u2019ll be coming in and recording the record with us. With the drummer thing, right now we\u2019re going by what feels good when the time comes that we need a drummer.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedleft\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/soil2012promophoto1.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><b><em>SOiL (l-r): Tim King, Ryan McCombs and Adam Zadel<\/em><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"right\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Issued in September 2001, <em>Scars<\/em> was the outfit\u2019s sophomore full-length and arguably their magnum opus. \u201cIt was that moment,\u201d Ryan reflects. \u201cI think we caught magic with the record. That was a record with so much angst involved in it, and so much passion. I think all of our music always had passion, but I think with that particular album you\u2019re hearing a band that had taken some wrong turns and some wrong advice, and made some wrong decisions on our own. When we finally got the chance to do the album <em>Scars<\/em>, it was really this internal view that this was our last chance. We had been signed to a couple of different independent labels before that and really encountered some really bad luck at the end of the day, to where we really felt like we were kind of damaged goods until we got that shot at doing the album <em>Scars<\/em>. I think it was five guys that just had this fire that this was our last hurrah, that this was really our last chance to put our foot in the door. I think it comes across with a lot of that emotion, and that angst in all of those tracks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>SOiL\u2019s October 2011 UK trek included an appearance at London\u2019s Electric Ballroom on the 14th, a performance later collected on May 2012 DVD <em>Re-LIVE-Ing The Scars<\/em>. \u201cIt was amazing, the whole experience,\u201d the singer enthuses. \u201cThat was the first show of the tour, and we had gotten together with Jon. He came onboard to do that tour with us, and we had gotten together \u2013 the four of us \u2013 for one, maybe two rehearsals before that show. Me, Adam and Tim hadn\u2019t played any of these songs together for seven to eight years, and Jon had never played them with us. We went in to rehearse two days prior to this tour, and that was like a week or two before the tour even started. In seven to eight years we had two days of rehearsals, and another week or two off before the first show in London. We went into that first show just having no idea what to expect. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI remember sitting backstage before we went on just trying to remember the lyrics (laughs), trying to remember the songs first and foremost. I didn\u2019t know what the reception was really gonna be, and then we hit that stage. It was just like the old saying about riding a bike; it just all came back to us, and it just seemed so natural. We had such a blast up there, and the crowd response was phenomenal. It was like the band had never left, and it was just such an amazing experience. I look back, and it was a blessing that it turned out that way because of the fact that we were there recording that particular show. The whole tour ended up being that way; it was night after night of just an extreme feeling of being back where it all began, and that first show in London in particular was definitely a highlight. It was definitely an amazing experience.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ryan\u2019s departure from Dallas, Texas-based metal ensemble Drowning Pool came to light on November 28th, 2011, his departure arriving following a six-year tenure (2005-2011) which spawned two proper outings (August 2007\u2019s <em>Full Circle<\/em> and April 2010\u2019s <em>Drowning Pool<\/em>). Sadly, Ryan grew apart from the band. \u201cIn the beginning of the SOiL days, I was always kind of the fifth wheel,\u201d he notes. \u201cI was the one guy that didn\u2019t really grow up in the music business; I didn\u2019t grow up playing music with the rest of the guys in SOiL, so I was always kind of the fifth wheel with that band. When I joined Drowning Pool after a little time off in between bands, they definitely did their best to make me feel welcome and to make me feel a part of it but there was always that same kind of feeling of being the fourth wheel. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo be fair to those guys, my personal life really took on some big changes. I went through a divorce during my time with Drowning Pool, and dealt with some of the personal demons that can result from those kinds of changes. Those guys really were there for me, and at the same time had to put up with a lot because of what I was going through. It did cause kind of a separation between myself and the other three members. They were really great guys and we had a lot of good times together, but there was definitely a bit of separation there that kept growing in the last few years.<\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedright\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/soil_reliveingthescarslarge.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"right\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cI joked around on the anniversary tour that I discovered I may have commitment issues, jumping around from one band to the other (laughs). You get into a situation, and for me the business side of music has always weighed a lot on me as far as just not liking the way a lot of things are done in the business. It seems like after I\u2019ve been involved in a certain situation for awhile, it\u2019s hard for me to deal with a lot of the things that frustrate me about the business. It does weigh a lot on me, and I tend to lose sight of the enjoyment of it. Every once in awhile it just seems like the way my life has gone, I just need a breath of fresh air, and something new to relight my fire and my passion for what I\u2019ve always loved to do. It was just the right thing, the right moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Personal issues arguably facilitated the lyricist\u2019s exit from SOiL back in 2004. \u201cIt was a culmination of things,\u201d he confesses. \u201cThere were definitely some personality issues between myself and some of the other members. My wife and I at the time had had a child, and the stress that I was feeling internally \u2013 wanting to be home, and wanting to be there with my sons and with my wife \u2013 really just compounded and made those internal struggles that I go through every day that much bigger and real to me internally. I had such a desire to be home with my family, and so after the touring cycle for <em>Redefine<\/em> it finally just came to the point where I made the call for me personally and emotionally that I just needed to try to go home, and be the father and husband that I wanted to be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ryan feels that he is in a spiritually good place at the time of writing, and that he has the ability to honour necessary commitments towards SOiL. \u201cWe\u2019ve been having a blast writing, and we\u2019ve been taking a lot of new directions with the business side of things,\u201d he shares. \u201cWe\u2019re attempting right now to do this next record completely on our own. We\u2019re all at a point in our careers where there are so many different instances throughout our career where we can point at different things \u2013 different decisions that were made for us \u2013 that we regret, and at the time we didn\u2019t necessarily agree with. We have a lot of \u2018What if?\u2019s, so at the very beginning of talking about writing again and possibly doing another record, the main focus \u2013 besides the material \u2013 was also that we wanted to do this next album differently. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe wanted to keep all of the decisions within the band, from the material that we wrote and how we recorded it to the marketing, to the production, to the manufacturing, and to the publicity. Everything that has to do with this next release we want to keep in-house, so that we can oversee it all. At the end of the day, if there\u2019s a mistake made I wanna be able to point at myself and go \u2018Darn it, I didn\u2019t see that one\u2019 or \u2018I made the wrong decision there.\u2019 That\u2019s instead of having somebody else I wish I would\u2019ve spoken up to. We\u2019ve just gotten to the point in our careers where it\u2019s important for us to take a stab at it, and try to do things on our own. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith the state of the industry right now, you see the major labels closing their doors every day and you see mergers going on within the industry because it\u2019s such a hard time right now within the industry. There are a lot of bands who are getting lost in the shuffle, and we feel like by possibly taking this unpaved road \u2013 taking this road less traveled, and trying to do it on our own \u2013 if we can do it the right way and find success in doing it this way, that that will maybe open up new avenues. Maybe it\u2019ll open up new roads for future bands to be able to travel down, and find the same success hopefully.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The composition \u2018My Time\u2019 marks the first track which SOiL has written and recorded with original member Ryan since sessions took place for third platter <em>Redefine<\/em>, released in 2004. \u201cWe originally wrote \u2018My Time\u2019 to promote the Kickstarter project that we\u2019re involved in \u2013 it\u2019s a tool for that,\u201d he informs. \u201cIt\u2019s really just about where we are right now in our careers, feeling like it is our time with the new direction that we\u2019re taking \u2013 wanting to do everything on our own, and wanting all the decisions in-house. <\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedleft\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/soilryanmccombs2012livephoto1.jpg\" border=\"0\"><br \/><span class=\"smalltext\"><b><em>Ryan McCombs<\/em><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s about the confidence that you have to have doing this and the confidence that a lot of us are feeling right now. We\u2019re experiencing more work \u2013 more nose to grindstone work business wise \u2013 than any of us ever have before, because there\u2019s so much involved in making sure we have the right people in place, making sure we\u2019re making the right decisions, and that we\u2019re working with people that&#8230; The business side of things is a whole new animal to us, but in order to tackle this&#8230; That song is a good representation of just having to have that fire, that determination, that feeling of this being our time, and this being what we\u2019re supposed to be doing. That\u2019s what really the whole song I think is. The song really comes from that emotion, from that feeling.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of people said back in the day that perhaps we were a little bit before our time, so we\u2019ve just got a huge fire burning in our gut right now. I think the song is a good representation of it, and it recently got picked up by several radio stations. It got leaked on radio here in the States, and it\u2019s been catching on like wildfire. Right now the only place the song is available is through the Kickstarter project, but we will be previewing that live for the first time on this run. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve let a few of my fans from back&#8230; Not fans, but friends from back in the day because I consider them one and the same. I\u2019ve let some of the people that have been familiar with our material from way back when \u2013 through my entire career, through Drowning Pool \u2013 take a sneak peak listen. Those friends and the people that are involved in these radio stations that have been picking it up all seem to be saying the same thing, that everybody is back where they belong. That when you listen to the song the feeling is that old fire is back, that feeling that SOiL gave them back in the early 2000s. They get that same gut feeling, that same fire when they hear the new track. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI let my ex-wife listen to it. She was one of the first people I let listen to it, because she has known my material from day one. She right away compared it to <em>Scars<\/em>-era SOiL, and that was the first thing she said. I think with the album, you\u2019re going to have a vast array of emotions on that album given everything that we\u2019ve been through in the last couple of years, and just life in general. I think there\u2019s going to be a definite feeling of that old school SOiL within the record.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The musician feels SOiL\u2019s aforementioned sixth studio full-length \u2018will pick up where <em>Redefine<\/em> left off.\u2019 \u201cThis is the first time Adam, Tim and I have been writing together since <em>Redefine<\/em>, so you have the key component of what made those records,\u201d he critiques. \u201cI was always the lyric writer of those albums, and if I stumbled somewhere Adam was always there to give me a little boost, and give me a little direction here and there. You\u2019ve got us back together as far as the lyrics that I write go. You\u2019ve got Adam too; he was 98.9% of the music on those records, and if he ever had any struggle with whatever \u2013 if he ever had any questions \u2013 I was always there to help with the arrangement of the songs. We really got the key components of those albums back together again, and I feel like the material that we\u2019re coming up with is that perfect anchor to where you had <em>Scars<\/em> and <em>Redefine<\/em>. I think this album is the next stage, the next album in line for SOiL.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To date, roughly 15 tunes have been penned. \u201cWe have more than will go on the record right now,\u201d Ryan imparts. \u201cI\u2019m excited to get it all out. I think we\u2019ve written some of the best material we ever have done, and that I\u2019ve ever been a part of. At this point in time the album is written and we\u2019ve already started some of the pre-production stages of it, making the songs tighter and tearing the songs apart. We\u2019re making sure that they are what we want them to be, and that they are saying what we want them to say and how we want them to say it. <\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedright\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/soil_redefinelarge.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"right\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cWe definitely haven\u2019t closed the door on writing new material. Adam may come up with a riff tomorrow \u2013 he may have something he wants me to listen to. The writing process never stops until the album is done, and I learnt that with the first album I did with Drowning Pool \u2013 the album <em>Full Circle<\/em>. That album was done, and then all of the sudden at the 11th hour CJ came up with the music for \u201837 Stitches\u2019. I put lyrics to it, and it was the most successful song on that album, so you never close the door on the writing process. Right now though, we have a bunch of material that I\u2019m so excited to actually get into the studio, record, and get out there. I can\u2019t wait to get to that next stage of actually getting into the studio, and getting it recorded.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The SOiL composer wasn\u2019t initially receptive towards Kickstarter. \u201cAt first when I heard about the whole Kickstarter thing, I wasn\u2019t sure how I felt about it,\u201d he admits. \u201cI\u2019ve always had such an appreciation for our fanbase, and the people that allow us to do what we do. When I first heard about it, I kind of felt like I was standing there with my hand out wanting something. As I then looked into it though, and I read more about it, and people started&#8230; And bands even came up to me that had heard about that, and suggested that that was the direction we should go in. They really explained to me how even they themselves looked at. They said \u2018You\u2019re not asking for a hand-out. You\u2019re asking for the fans to basically just purchase the record before it\u2019s out.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn doing so that allows us to take that money, and actually put it towards the production of the record. That allows us put it towards every aspect of making and releasing a record, to put every cent of that into that process. That also allows us to make sure it\u2019s the truest form of SOiL that we produce. At the same time though, if you look at the Kickstarter campaign, you\u2019ll see that there are numerous different opportunities that we\u2019ve offered out there to the fans. Those opportunities are from coming and spending time with us in Chicago to going into the studio and actually sitting in on a day of recording, everything that a lot of people don\u2019t ever get to experience but being a big music fan you wish you had. We\u2019re offering a lot of unique opportunities for the people to come in and be a part of this from step one, which people typically don\u2019t get a chance to do. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat aspect of it, especially when bands came up to me and started explaining to me that this was maybe a direction we should look into, I started feeling more and more comfortable about. The response has been great; we\u2019re already two-thirds towards our goal with halfway to go, and the response has been wonderful. Hopefully it\u2019ll come through for us, and we\u2019ll be able to get that backing we need to go into the studio when we get back from the UK and Europe. Hopefully we\u2019ll be able to record the record, and everything will stay on track time-wise and stay smooth. The neat thing about Kickstarter too is if it raises more money than what the set goal is, that money is used as well. We\u2019ve already got it all set up to where we can use that money to better the chance that we will be able to tour anywhere and everywhere. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll just sink that money into the touring aspect of it, since that\u2019s one consequence of going on your own. When you\u2019re with a label, a lot of times the label will help finance your touring. Being on our own, we don\u2019t have that opportunity. We don\u2019t have that door open to us, so Kickstarter will also allow us to be able to tour as extensively as we desire to. The Kickstarter thing is just a way for us to be able to do what we desire to do though, and what a lot of fans are hoping to see from us. That\u2019s taking everything in-house, and producing the truest SOiL album we could possibly produce.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedleft\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/soil2011promophoto1.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><b><em>SOiL 2011 (l-r): Ryan McCombs, Adam Zadel, Jon Wysocki and Tim King<\/em><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"right\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Ryan hopes that Kickstarter is an avenue that will be greater explored by music groups in future. \u201cI hope it proves to be an alternative door for bands who are struggling because of the climate of the industry,\u201d he observes. \u201cI hope it proves to be an alternative door for bands to travel through in order to be able to maintain and to be able to survive within the industry given the way it is right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>All Kickstarter packages are charged inclusive of postage. \u201cWhat you pledge is all that comes from your individual account,\u201d the songwriter clarifies. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter where you are in the world; your pledge is your pledge. It\u2019s our responsibility to get whatever it is you have coming to you to you. The only thing on there that we really had to leave open for our own protection was&#8230; There were certain packages in there&#8230; For instance, there\u2019s a package in there where we will come to do a show for X amount of money. We then had to do a different one for anyone outside of the United States that includes the same thing. As we witnessed when we were going through everything in order to get ready for our first show of this run \u2013 it\u2019s in Russia (Plan B Club in Moscow on November 25th) \u2013 it\u2019s such extensive travelling that if somebody in Russia for instance bought that package, we would basically just about break even on that package because of how expensive it is to travel there. We had to make certain changes to certain packages to take account of the fact that it would cost a lot more for us to do the same thing in a different country. As far as purchasing the album though, shipping costs will be met by us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To obtain a physical copy of SOiL\u2019s sixth studio record, fans must pledge $30. $30 is arguably an expensive amount for a compact disc. \u201cI can understand that, absolutely,\u201d Ryan concedes. \u201cWe really based a lot of our packages off of what we were seeing on Kickstarter already; we used a lot of the different Kickstarter campaigns to have a blueprint for our own, having never been a part of this before. I\u2019d have to have the ability to pull that one up, and read exactly what that one is. I\u2019m not exactly familiar word for word with every package. I don\u2019t have a great answer for that, other than the fact that we haven\u2019t really been a part of something like this before. We based a lot of our pricing off of what we saw on Kickstarter. I do apologise.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>SOiL\u2019s Kickstarter campaign has been the subject of criticism from some fans of the band. \u201cWe have been open to criticism of course,\u201d the vocalist acknowledges. \u201cIt seems to be&#8230; And I love the ones that actually&#8230; I\u2019ve had several of them where we\u2019ve been criticised for doing this, and I\u2019ve stepped in. By reading their criticism I understand that they don\u2019t really get the climate of the industry, and that they really don\u2019t get the reasoning for doing what we\u2019re doing, or why we have to do what we\u2019re doing. We\u2019re doing what we love to do, and when those people allow me to explain to them, they then really read what I am saying and open up their minds to start understanding. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of people\u2019s perspectives of the music industry is that if your CD is on the same shelf as Metallica\u2019s \u2013 like ours is in store \u2013 then you\u2019re all making Metallica money, and that\u2019s so not true in this industry. For every band that you have like Metallica that\u2019s making Metallica money, you have 100s of bands that are just scraping to get by. Because of the deals that I\u2019ve been involved with and the situation of the industry as I\u2019ve been growing up in it, I\u2019ve never once made a dollar on any of my records \u2013 from <em>Scars<\/em>, from <em>Redefine<\/em>, from any of my Drowning Pool stuff. The way deals are written nowadays, and the way the internet and everything has evolved and come to be the thorns in the industry\u2019s side, the money isn\u2019t there that people think is there. You see it everyday, and I don\u2019t think people realise. <\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedright\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/soil_scarslarge.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"right\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cWhen so and so from this band splits and goes home though, it\u2019s usually not because they want to. A lot of times it\u2019s because they have no choice; they have responsibilities at home, and the money is just not there to continue on. They have to make a choice between their obligations at home, and what they love to do. There\u2019s a big misconception of what kind of money is being made. I would love to be in a position in my life \u2013 and believe me, my kids would love me to be in a position in my life \u2013 where I could cover all of the finances of the next SOiL album, but none of the three of us are. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve all struggled to stay around through the years, and luckily we all have by the grace of our fans giving us the time of day. Really though, Kickstarter is allowing us to hopefully plot out a path so that other bands could follow suit and can do the same thing. So and so\u2019s favourite band that was here today and gone tomorrow maybe down the road won\u2019t be here today and gone tomorrow. Maybe they\u2019ll have a chance to have a better career, and continue doing what they love to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Should SOiL\u2019s Kickstarter campaign be a successful one, album pre-production will begin in January 2013. \u201cThe schedule right now has us \u2013 again, as long as everything works out (laughs) \u2013 going into the studio with Ulrich Wild in February to start the recording process,\u201d Ryan divulges. \u201cThe other two guys \u2013 Adam and Tim \u2013 recorded <em>True Self<\/em> with him, the first album that SOiL did after I left. They go on about him. They loved working with him and talk about how easy going he was in the studio, so I\u2019m really looking forward to getting in there with him. They say he\u2019s full of great ideas and just a great guy to work with, so I\u2019m definitely looking forward to that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A minimum of 11 tracks will appear. \u201cI don\u2019t like to do any less than 11 songs on a record,\u201d the frontman states. \u201cI wanna make sure that there\u2019s a good, full album out there that people have available to them, so I would say a minimum of 11 songs. I can\u2019t picture any less than that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Additional material might perhaps be recorded. \u201cWe always record more songs than we\u2019re going to put on an album, just so we have some little extras that we can put out there for B-sides, singles, and so on,\u201d  Ryan muses. \u201cThere\u2019s already been talk of maybe putting together a vinyl 45\u201d of \u2018My Time\u2019, and throwing another track on the back side of that. We like to have at least a few songs recorded that we can have for little special offers, and little things that we can put out there for the fans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A July 2013 issue is being targeted. \u201cHopefully we\u2019ll get the album out in time to take advantage of some of the summer tours and festivals, and be able to play the new material along with some of the old material,\u201d the singer contemplates. \u201cHopefully we can get the new material out there, and get people accustomed to them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>An album title is yet to be selected. \u201cI don\u2019t like to decide on a title this early on,\u201d Ryan comments. \u201cI like to enter the studio and see how the songs come to life, and see the directions they all kind of form in as you\u2019re putting them down for recording, and as you\u2019re trying to get a feel for how the album\u2019s gonna lay out. I like to then go from there on what you title the body of work.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedleft\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/soil2001promophoto1.jpg\" border=\"0\"><br \/><span class=\"smalltext\"><b><em>SOiL 2001 (l-r): Shaun Glass, Tim King, Ryan McCombs, Adam Zadel and Tom <br \/>Schofield<\/em><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>From November 27th until December 6th, SOiL will tour the United Kingdom alongside Fozzy. \u201cWe\u2019ve been looking forward to this run for awhile now,\u201d the wordsmith tells. \u201cIt comes at a time where we\u2019ve been really concentrating on the new music and getting the new record written, but at the same time we\u2019ve been so ready to get back over. The UK embraced us from day one, and there\u2019s such a close relationship between ourselves and the bands there. Back in the day when I was in SOiL and being back again today, any chance that we\u2019ve gotten to go over there has been the highlight in our year, the highlight on the schedule. It\u2019s something we really look forward to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>AJ Cavalier handled vocals for SOiL from 2004 until 2010, a period which spawned studio outings four (March 2006\u2019s <em>True Self<\/em>) and five (October 2009\u2019s <em>Picture Perfect<\/em>). SOiL are yet to rehearse AJ Cavalier-era tracks for Ryan to supply vocals to in a live setting. \u201cIt hasn\u2019t really even been discussed much,\u201d he confirms. \u201cI\u2019ve brought it out onto the table that if there is a song or two the guys wanna work on from the time that I left the band, I would be more than willing to try my hand at it. We\u2019ve just been having so much fun though, and been getting such a good response from bringing those <em>Scars<\/em> and <em>Redefine<\/em>-era songs, bringing them back out the way they were originally written and with the original voice back on them. We\u2019ve been sticking with that. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe do have a couple of treats that I don\u2019t wanna let out of the bag yet, but we do have a couple of treats as far as the setlist goes on this next run. We\u2019ll be bringing some songs back that I don\u2019t think people are gonna expect to hear. That should make for a pretty enjoyable evening for everybody that comes out and shares their time with us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The SOiL musician appreciates <em>True Self<\/em> and <em>Picture Perfect<\/em>. \u201cI think that there\u2019s some good material there,\u201d he reckons. \u201cI\u2019ve always respected Adam\u2019s writing abilities; I missed writing with him when I wasn\u2019t anymore, and so I\u2019ve got a big respect for his songwriting abilities. From the time that I\u2019ve spent around him AJ is a super-nice guy, and he\u2019s got a good instrument with his voice. I think they put out a couple of decent albums there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>SOiL launched a Kickstarter campaign on November 6th, 2012 to fund the completion of a sixth studio full-length.<\/p>\n<p><em>Interview published in November 2012<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SOIL &#8211; Redefining The Scars Anthony Morgan November 2012 Ryan McCombs It was publicly disclosed on July 5th, 2011 that Chicago, Illinois-based heavy rockers SOiL would be rejoined by original lead vocalist and co-founder Ryan McCombs for their October 2011 United Kingdom co-headlining tour with Puddle Of Mudd. A member from 1997 until 2004, Ryan [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,471],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-soil"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9099"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9282,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9099\/revisions\/9282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}