High On Fire: Louder than Fiction by Michael Caldwell Without volume, there would be no such thing as rock ‘n’ roll. It was volume that prompted one folkie to call an electrified Bob Dylan “Judas”. It was volume that ruined Pete Townsend’s hearing. It is volume that incites “old” people of every generation to yell, “Turn it down!” And it is volume that enables listeners to literally feel the music. Prior to volume, music could be felt emotionally, understood intellectually, and comprehended spiritually, but it could not, until the knob was turned to 11, physically jar an individual’s bones or loosen their fillings. Oakland based thunder trio High on Fire know the significance and power of volume – utilizing it like a fourth, unofficial member. They also know that volume devoid of substance is just noise. Sounding like an ancient tribal drum circle stampeded by a herd of angry elephants while Lemmy Kilmister narrates via a wall of Marshall stacks, High on Fire’s music is a primal scream, an assault with soul. On their third full-length album Blessed Black Wings the band continues it’s exercise in listener pummeling and punishment, an experience not unlike getting kicked in the gut after your third helping of Thanksgiving dinner. It hurts, yet makes you feel better at the same time. When author Douglas Adams wrote about a fictional band that was so loud they played their instruments via remote control while orbiting the planet from within a heavily insulated space ship, could he have been predicting the future? When such technology becomes available, beware of High on Fire’s transmission. The entire universe is composed of vibrating matter. High on Fire just wants to turn that vibration up, proving in the process that truth is more damaging to eardrums than fiction. The band’s vocalist/guitarist Matt Pike (formerly of stoner/sludge heroes Sleep) discusses head butts with Wesley Willis, trance inducing live performances, going for the top spot in the Guinness Book of World Records and his favorite fungus.

SM: These days it’s good to be a metal fan again. Blessed Black Wings delivers the same sort of raw energy Metallica provided on Kill ‘em All. The production of the new album has definitely improved. Steve Albini had a lot to do with that?

MP: Oh yeah, completely. That guy is mastery. He’s mastery of fuckin’ recording and he’s mastery of fart jokes. He’s awesome. I really would work with him again in a heartbeat. He’s something else.

SM: So, he’s as cool as he is good?

MP: Yeah.

SM: That’s always nice to hear.

MP: Yeah, he’s one of a kind, man.

SM: Did you ever hear that song by Wesley Willis called, “Steve Albini”?

MP: Um… yes, actually. Actually, when I met Wesley Willis for the first time, he wrote a song about us too. It took him about twenty minutes and he played it that night. I was all stoked, like…dude… Wesley! And he banged my head against his head, like at least ten times… before someone pulled him off me. That’s a big guy.

SM: I was reading that when you play on stage sometimes you go into a trance.

MP: Yeah, it can be like that more often than not. [After a show] I don’t remember doing the whole thing. All I know is… I woke up… I’m all sweaty, and I can’t breathe.

SM: Wow!

MP: So yeah, that happens a lot. Not every time. A lot of the time, I have my head about me. But yeah, a lot of the time it is like that.

SM: Do you find that if you go into that sort of trance, it’s a better performance, or it doesn’t matter?

MP: To me it doesn’t’ matter, but usually [when I go into a trance] it is a really good performance. Especially, when…there are a lot of people in the room and I absorb a lot of energy. I don’t know, I’m one of those people who can …I feel a lot. It’s a strange thing. It’s a weird thing.

SM: What about the volume? It’s insane. Sometimes listening to High on Fire I resist, like I’m being attacked. Where did this whole massive volume come from…I mean rock ‘n roll is loud, but you guys are taking it to the extreme?

MP: I don’t know. I just love it. [With sheer feeling] I’m addicted to it. [Laughs]. It’s like being hooked up to a fuckin’ quarter mile dragster or something, and being able to use all the power out of it. It’s like some sort of weird drug, but it’s sound. I don’t know, there’s just something when you hear a guitar that loud, and you’re playing it…it’s fucking cool.

SM: Do you guys rehearse in a nuclear bunker underground so you don’t disturb the neighbors?

MP: Oh no. When we rehearse, we keep it loud, but we don’t practice at a level like we would on stage.

SM: What about Blue Cher, MC5, Motorhead, The Who, Ted Nugent… who do you think…?

MP: Oh, I love ‘em all.

SM: I’m talking volume.

MP: Ted Nugent is a little right wing for me, but I still love the dude’s guitar playing.

SM: …‘cause they’re all classically loud bands.

MP: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I still love the dudes guitar playing. All those bands, I like a lot. What about Manowar, dude? Talking about a loud band…

SM: My bad.

MP: That’s the fuckin’ LOUDEST! And I was supposed to see the loudest Iron Maiden show ever in Denver, when I was growing up there, and it still wasn’t as loud as fuckin’ …dude…one Motorhead, and then I saw a Melvins show – and actually Joe Preston [who now plays bass in High on Fire, as well as drummer Des Kensel] was playing at it – and that had been the loudest goddamn thing I’d ever heard in my life. I lost like so much hearing in one show. My ears didn’t stop ringing for a week. It was so good.

SM: You guys ever think about soliciting the Guinness Book of World Records to try and topple…I think The Who might have it right now?

MP: Oh geez…well… see, The Who had it, but I think that’s what Iron Maiden was trying to beat. And I think Manowar beat it. I think Manowar still has the record. I would have to buy a lot more equipment. I’d have to have them document it, and have them really go through the equipment and set it up right. Have the right PA system and everything – to really beat that record. I’d love to try to do it though. And I would try. That’s a fuckin’ feat though. You gotta have a lot of money to do that shit.

SM: Is there anything you want people to know… you like the yellow M&Ms or something? If you could get a message out to the masses, what would it be?

MP: Dude, olives and mushrooms suck. [Laughs]

SM: Magic mushrooms?

MP: No, no. Those are the only ones I eat.