Sonic_Titan: For Al - what have you been doing for the past seven years, and why did you feel it was good now to get back to playing music?
Al: I’ve been going to school and working - mostly spent the interim getting my head together after what happened. The music ideas – riffs, lyrics, themes - I was coming up with during this downtime, became more and more frequent, and the problem of carrying these song ideas inside without catharsis became untenable. I had to return to doing this.
Sonic_Titan: You guys have only played live a few times. Is it hard to book gigs for you guys?
Al: We play live as often as our lives permit. Over future albums, in addition to supporting Variations, we will be playing live whenever it is possible for us.
Sonic_Titan: I hear a lot of religious tones in the lyrics. Are any of the tracks based on religious writings (Muhammad`s teachings, Koran, etc.)?
Al: The verses are not themselves intentionally based upon any particular book, or ideology, or belief system. The lyrical themes are personal concepts – personal convictions transcribed into verse over riff and rhythm. Comparative religions, philosophical mysticism, metaphysics, mythology, and history have been and continue to be very sustaining subjects for me, but what finds itself in our songs is resultant from innumerable sourcepoints – integrated and sieved through the way the external and internal worlds appear to me.
Sonic_Titan: How do you guys feel about Matt Pike`s band, High On Fire? Are you still on good terms with him?
Al: We’re both happy to see their evolution as a band, and Matt’s as a guitarist. Definitely check out their new one if you haven’t already. Chris and I have always been on good terms with Matt and talk to him frequently. We are like brothers from an old family. We can laugh and cry together about a lot of things. Highest respect.
Sonic_Titan: How did some of the gigs turn out? (Bottom Of The Hill, Independent)
Al: Very well. Reception has been great.
Sonic_Titan: How did you get a deal with Holy Mountain Records?
Al: My girlfriend Tina introduced me to John Whitston. He heard our practice tape and wanted to get us into the studio. We’re really happy with this label, what a weird new experience... being happy with your label. Holy Mountain has a roster we’re down with – Steve Lobdell, Six Organs of Admittance...
Sonic_Titan: Can we expect more of Om, or is this a one/off project?
Al: We are already writing our second album. There will be many more Om albums as time goes on. Om is a band, not a project. This is what we’re doing nowadays.
Sonic_Titan: Are there any other amps/gear that you use besides the Green and Jericho amps?
Al: Sometimes I’ll split my signal to get crossover frequencies going. I only like to use tube amps. I do wish those cabs from England had some handles and wheels.
Sonic_Titan: Are the songs written down at home or is it basically improvised in the studio?
Al: They are written in our heads and we use the instruments to transcribe the sounds out into the external world. Even in Sleep, I’d hear a part then start laughing and say “Matt, Chris, oh fuck...” and run over and pick up an acoustic or whatever was in the room and capture it.
Sonic_Titan: Can we expect a tour soon?
Al: See question two. We’re playing this Saturday (3/19) at The Knitting Factory in NY with The Hidden Hand, and Unearthly Trance. Something in May here in SF with Six Organs of Admittance.
Sonic_Titan: Are there any songs that Al has written over seven years that will be on other Om albums?
Al: Many riffs, vocal lines, and lyrical themes – album concepts. Chris has many drum lines as well. Every practice there are new angles, breakthroughs. We play stuff at practice and we’ll just guide the parts - their structures, textures, colors, and movements literally shape themselves into arranged formations. There’s a ton of stuff that has been incubating, and fresh stuff as well. Lots of momentum in the workshop right now.
Sonic_Titan: What bands have you guys been listening to lately?
Al: Chris has been into a Coltrane – Elvin Jones phase lately, and Zappa too. I’ve been listening to a lot of very different stuff – but with a common core feel-thread through whatever genre it may be grouped in. I try to find music like that, music that achieves that for me. There is so much in everyday stuff, sounds, a scene, a person doing something, things all around that hit me like riffs. I seek emotional food, sometimes its through music on the stereo, a book, you know...
Sonic_Titan: Can you confirm that there will not be a Sleep reunion?
Al: We can neither confirm nor deny rumors that a Sleep reunion may or may not ever occur. Chris and I are really happy and focused with what we’re doing now.
