Interview: Sharp Weapons, If You're Ever In KC and Want To Hear Some Good Music....

Sharp Weapons

I couldn't help but make the reference.

Really it has absolutely nothing to do with Kansas City's own, Sharp Weapons, but there are only so many different times you can make a reference to the seminal classic, Spinal Tap.

(Like at a maximum of 47/day.)

But hopefully my readers know this is the part of the article where I'm a bit irreverent and making someone smile...or groan.

But anyway...

Sharp Weapons is in fact, from the Kansas City metro area a short three hundred mile trip west down Interstate 70 from me.

They're also preparing the release of their debut, eponymous, album and I felt like I  needed to get to know a little bit more about them and here's what we learned!

Glacially Musical: After hearing your eponymous album, I've got my own high falootin ideas as to what your'e after, but could you tell me what you're after?

Sharp Weapons: To write heavy riffs and play them loud.

GM: How long did it take you to write the album and how did you write it?

SW: The band was originally formed by Brett and Josh and has been an off and on project for about 5 years. 

In the last year and a half we wrote an album of new and old ideas with Justin and Jimmy and solidified the line up.

GM: What was your recording process on this one?

SW: Well our bassist Justin Mantooth, is a recording engineer and runs Westend Recording here in KC. 

He produced the record. 

The initial recording was tracked to analog tape and the layers were done in Pro Tools. Then mixed by Justin at Westend. www.justinmantooth.com www.westendstudio.com

GM: If I didn't know better, I'd swear early Metallica and Black Flag are Sharp Weapons's two biggest influences. How close am I?

SW: While we respect those bands, our initial influences for this band was something like Refused meets Every Time I Die. 

But it really just comes out how it comes out.

GM: Are we going to be seeing a tour for this record soon?

SW: We will be starting out with some short regional runs and see what the rest of the year holds for us.

GM: Going back to influences for a minute, what would you consider to be the five most important albums of all time?

SW: That's hard to answer but some notable ones would be: 

Refused, Shape of Punk to Come. 

Mastadon, Leviathan. 

Jesus Lizard, Liar. 

Glassjaw, Worship and Tribute. 

Queen, Night at the Opera.

GM: I switched to vinyl earlier this year. How do you prefer to consume music?

SW: Vinyl at home digital download on the go.

GM: Your sound is a bit unusual for mainstream metal and definitely too extreme for terrestrial radio, how do you break into the minds of listeners?

SW: We never really worry about it. We just play weird riffs in front of people. Hopefully they listen.

GM: What kind of gear did you guys use for this record?

SW: Kansas City Drum Co / C&C drums. Gibson / Fender / Marshall / Sovtek / Traynor / Emperor / Ampeg. 

Lots of pedals and Jimmy.