Ganon interview

Ganon hail from the Ann Arbor area of Michigan and play a blend of stoner rock, doom and other heavy styles. I recently interview vocalist/keyboardist Kenny McNabb to learn about this band.

-Hello, please introduce yourselves and tell us some about the history of your band.
Hello mark, thanks for taking the time out to conduct an interview with us. Kenny McNabb, vocalist and keyboardist will be your loyal participant on behalf of Ganon, which is comprised of Clark Eagling on bass (let it be known that there is applause after each introduction) Mr. Greg Heaney on guitar, Mr. Ryan Toohey on guitar, and on drums we have Brian Fredenburg. Ganon started out circa 2002, the actual date was never recorded, but the band has had many births and deaths, so the actual date has been skewed over the years. Ganon first started off 4 friends who got together to start as an Eyehategod and Melvins worshipping band to give the struggling Detroit metal scene a bit of a makeover, and over the years as we all matured and members moved on, we have grown into our own sound that has no longer been directly influenced by the heavy doom community.

-Tell us some about your latest album "As above, so below".
Well, "As above, so below" is the newest album we wrote with newest addition, Ryan Toohey, who really brought a different sense of melody into the band and where we could mark a new beginning for Ganon. The album as a whole has a running lyrical theme of everything on earth affecting that of the celestial bodies and the celestial bodies affecting everything on earth. We went back to the same studio that recorded our first album, so we felt more comfortable in the studio this time around and didn’t feel inferior to our producer since we have established a good relationship with over the years.

-How do you think it differs from "In the dead of sleep"?
Well, as with most bands, this sophomore album, depicts the maturity in songwriting and lyrics. The first album was made over 4 struggling years and we still had the sense to want to pummel the listener. For this album, we intrinsically had the sense to not do that to the scale we did it before, now its just in moderation.

-How did the writing and recording process for the new album go?
With writing, we would hash out a lot of material in the practice space from various members presenting ideas to one another. In the practice space we record demo tapes for reference and expound on those ideas. For lyric and keyboard placement, I would take the tapes home and practice placement on my own terms. From there we recorded demos in Clark’s home studio so we could easily streamline our efforts in the studio as to not waste time and money, we knew exactly what we were doing and how we were to do it. After we recorded at the studio, Clark would mix and master the material and he would present it to us, and we would write down our gripes, he would remaster until we came to an amicable decision that the record was mastered to everyone’s liking.

-What has been the response to your new album so far?
So far the response has been very positive, we have been getting the feedback that we really wanted. everyone has really focused on our songwriting ability, the sense of melody and maturity that makes us standout from the fledgling pack we are running in. albeit, they still reference the traditional heavy hitters, but it gives the reader something tangible to grasp onto, which is definitely a benefit for us.

-Under sounds like on your Myspace page under sounds like it says "a force that bulges with a spacious atmosphere and dust-laden trances of building rhythms and frequencies". Where did that come from and how would you describe your sound?
That was a quote from a Metal Maniacs review when we did a DIY 2 song EP, which featured the song "The calm of unlight" which was ultimately re-recorded, and the song "murder the silhouettes"To describe one's own sound without sounding pompous is difficult, but to give it a shot, it's an organic sound that ebbs and flows to keep the listener attentive.



-How did you come to get signed to acerbic noise development records?
Well, as with a lot of indie labels, we aren’t actually "signed" per-se. It’s more of a gentleman's agreement. After we recorded "In the dead of sleep," I was researching labels to release it, and I came across this young label and in the matter of 2 years since there inception, they became an impressive and respectable force in the indie community. The label owners, Chad and Heather Baker, immediately really impressed us with their instant hospitality. They were very accomidating and accessible before they even agreed to release our album, so we knew instantly that they were a good fit for us.

-So you have some tour dates set up in august, are you psyched up for that? Will there be any more dates coming soon?
We are very excited for this little jaunt, as we should be. we are coming to some areas that we havent been before, and the reaction has already been positive from club owners about booking us, so its been flattering so far. Since the gas prices are high, we are limiting and moderating our time out on the road, we now have a publicist, so we have the ability to make sure the timing is right each time we go out on the road, and just not arbitrarily tour, which could be disasterous.

What are some of the more memorable shows that you have played so far?
Well, as of recent times, we played with coalesce in Detroit. coalesce was very important to me as a young hardcore kid, so it was very special to me share the stage with such a groundbreaking band. we just recently toured with Sourvein and Zoroaster, and each show was memorable in its own sense since it was our first time touring for more than 3 days.

Is there much of a metal scene in the Ann Arbor area?
In the Ann Arbor and Detroit area, its on a smaller scale, its still struggling, we have been doing pretty well recently in the Ann Arbor area, thank to our good friends idol and the whip and a working model, they introduced their fans to Ganon and in the past 2 years, Ann Arbor has been very good to us.

-What are some of your songs about? Where do you get your ideas for your song topics?
All the songs revolve around the same concept of the celestial bodies and how they influence our circadian rhythm and vice versa. The topics basically came from a time where I was working 2 jobs and going to school and sleeping about 2 hours a day. My rhythm was way out sync and saw nature in a different perspective. But, I wrote the lyrics in such a way that was not personal and therefore subjective to the reader. I really object to the use of words like "my," "me," and "I" I don’t want to exclude anyone, so those words are not in my vocabulary when i get influence to write a new song. but every once in a while ill use "us" or "our" to include everyone.



-What do you think are some of the best albums of 2008 so far?
Well so far, the new Nick Cave and the bad seeds and Torche album' are stellar. And of course, all of our label mates albums are something that are interesting that you should check out, El Chupa Cobras, Devil and the sea.

-Under "influences" on your Myspace page it says "alcohol and video games. Does that mean you do those two things at the same time? What are some of your favorite video games?
Well, the name Ganon came from the legend of Zelda, 4 out of 5 members of Ganon are highly into video games, I am not, so I put alcohol in there so I wouldn’t feel excluded. I do occasionally play Dr. Mario with a nice micro brewed India pale ale (ipa) on my 8 bit Nintendo, but that now lasts only a few minutes before it starts malfunctioning, the NES that is.

Is there anything else that you would like to say about your music or band?
With Ganon, you are getting honest music that is not a direct carbon copy. we are just constantly pushing ourselves to make things interesting to us and the listener, to give us and them something memorable, on recorded format as well as our live set. a few listeners have mentioned that they find themselves humming our songs as they are walking down the street, so I think we are accomplishing that feat. Thank you, Mark!

http://www.myspace.com/ganon


***Thanks to Kenny for doing the interview.