At this year's Sounds Of The Underground stop in North Carolina, Lambgoat's Drew Ailes had an opportunity to speak with Matt Pike and Des Kensel of High On Fire.

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You guys toured with Clutch before didn't you? Are you excited to be back out with them?

Matt Pike: Yeah, they're really cool guys and for some reason the tour we did with them, somehow we went over okay with their crowd. So I was like, "wow, this is apples and oranges," but it's going good. We're the two sore thumbs of this tour, though.

Do you find it's kind of hard to play amongst all these mathy...metal bands?

Des Kensel: I mean, you know, it could be a little discouraging like in the middle of your set you get out there and there's a lot of just stares at you, but it doesn't necessarily mean they're not getting into it. We just figure we'll go out there and play our best and hope for the best.

I know you guys have been busy touring a lot since Blessed Black Wings came out, do you have any tentative plans to record again or anything like that?

Des Kensel: Definitely want to record again, but we need to write before we record.

Matt Pike: Yeah, we need to stop touring so we can write some music before we do that, so. And we've got lot of touring to do on this album, so it's gonna be a little while, you know.

Des Kensel: Hopefully not as long in between records as our previous one.

I wanted to ask you a little bit about your guitar playing. How did you pick up your method of playing?

Matt Pike: I don't know. Learning with a bass player and I play everything backwards and retarded and fucked up. I have total improper style, but it's still style, so it kinda....I don't think anybody can just pick up on it that quick. It's really weird, it's all backwards. I just learned like that and made myself like that. I guess that's just who I am.

So you didn't do any formal schooling or anything?

Matt Pike: Well, I went to school for jazz actually, which even helped fuck me up worse. I just have an awkward style of playing.

How's George Rice, your former bassist, doing these days?

Matt Pike: He's doing good. He lives way far north in California. He's working and kicking it and doing his thing, and it's really nice up there. It's way up by a lake in the mountains.

What part of California?

Matt Pike: Um...well, Clearlake-ish

Des Kensel: It's like three hours north of the bay area.

How much would you say Steve Albini contributed to the new album?

Matt Pike: Well, he was there to kind of root us on and coach us, and capture the sounds is basically his job. I think he captured the sounds really good, and the guy's a master at just cutting tape and stuff like that. So he just did his job real well. And then if certain things were a little weird or something, he'd look up and be like, "are you sure you guys want that?" He'd second guess us just to check us.

Des Kensel: Once in a while he thought we could maybe do a better take, but mostly his input was just...he just did his thing, got his tones. We picked him because we wanted a raw, organic, aggressive sounding record.

So that was a decision on your part and not Relapse's?

Des Kensel: Yeah, we chose to use Albini.

I'm sorry, I don't know this or not, but did Joe Preston contribute to the new album or not?

Matt Pike: He had to come learn all the songs in five days, and then go on tour with us. He wrote his own basslines.

Des Kensel: We had the songs written. We did an eight-track recording and put them on a disc, and actually, we tried to send it out to him in time to listen to it before he came down to Oakland and practiced with us. But it didn't quite work that way, so basically he showed up and he had four or five days to learn it all before he went on tour to go record it. So he learned it two weeks before we went into the studio. Two and a half, three weeks, whatever.

How do you think him being in the band will affect you guys?

Matt Pike: It's a good thing, it definitely changed our style up a little bit, the sound of it. Just his bass playing's so different than George's. It totally changed the sound a little bit. Working with him, he's a pick player, and George is a finger player, which syncs me up with him a little better. It's just kind of strange, because he'll play the same things as me. George would play a little off of me sometimes on purpose, I don't know. It's hard to explain. It's just one of those things.

You guys have such a huge sound, was that the intent from the formation of the band, if you'd always have a real mammoth and driving sound.

Des Kensel: Nah, I mean, we just write the songs and the sound...

Matt Pike: Just happens that way.

Des Kensel: Yeah, just happens that way.

Matt Pike: He's got big drums, I use big amps...it's just...

Des Kensel: Yeah, we're just right there and play no games, you know.

How do you sing the way you do? What kind of warming up is involved, if any, really?

Matt Pike: I just yell a bunch before the set.

Des Kensel: Shot of whiskey.

Matt Pike: Shot of whiskey, lemon honey, I got a stick of my hot toddy program. I smoke a lot. I'm an alcoholic. That's the secret.

So the secret is drink as much as possible?

Matt Pike: [laughs] Yeah.

Alright. How's this tour been for you guys so far?

Des Kensel: Different. You know, it's definitely the biggest crowds we've ever played to. Biggest stage size, and shortest change over time. It's very...kind of stressful and hectic.

You get about fifteen minutes probably?

Des Kensel: You get five minutes in between bands. All the bands get five minutes, I think, except for Lamb of God. But you know, the exposure's great, and playing with other bands we're making friends with, so I think it's good for us and everyone else in the long run.

On a similar note, how did your European and U.K. tours go?

Des Kensel: It went okay, I think we have a little more work to do over there. London show was good, we did good in Sweden...we got asked to go back over there for a couple festivals. We did the Fury Fest in France, that went well. We're going to Norway in August...um...we got asked to do All Tomorrow's Parties in December. But uh, our shows are better in the states, maybe cuz we've toured over here like, ten times more than we have over there. I mean, who knows, you can never really put your finger on it, but it's okay.

You guys also played the Noise Pop Festival in San Francisco, right? Did you get a change to see...the only bands I recognized that might be kind of akin to your style were bands called Vietnam and Comets On Fire. Are you familiar with them at all?

Matt Pike: I'm familiar with Comets On Fire, I've seen them play at Oakland at the Ivy Room or something. I'm familiar with those guys.

Des Kensel: Yeah, we didnt get to see any of the other bands. That was actually the last show of our tour with Kylesa and Planes Mistaken For Stars, but the show we played there was awesome. We played with The Fucking Champs, and there was over 700 people there.

Matt Pike: Yeah, just a mad-house.

Des Kensel: It was cool. Definitely a lot of fun.

And you guys shot a video with Gary Smithson (Tomahawk, Goatwhore)? How did that go? I haven't had the chance to see it.

Des Kensel: Pretty good...

Matt Pike: It's really weird, it's like. It's good live footage, and then there's this whole Mario Bava kinda horror...secret conspiracy thing going on. Which the song's kind of about, so it kind of matches it, but unless you know what I'm talking about in the song it looks like an old horror movie or something, like really old, early 60's.

The more Italian horror directors?

Des Kensel: Yeah, that's the kind of feel he was going for. That sort of vibe. As far as filming it, there's always a little bit of a cheese factor in videos, and it's a little bit uncomfortable at first. But it's got to be done, I guess. It's another way of expression, I guess, you know. We try to make the best of it. I think we bought a keg of beer and had all our friends come, actually.

Matt Pike: Yeah, yeah, that's what we did. We did a bunch of just...takes in a row of the same song, and then we were like, "dude, we gotta do something," so we put a party together in like, four hours and bought a keg.

Des Kensel: Yeah we played a set and were like, "hey, just keep the camera's rolling and film whatever you want out of it."

So it's just kind of like a montage when it's not actually the...

Des Kensel: Yeah it's a mix of sort of live footage, but not with the crowd, just us playing and mixed in as sort of the story line. He edits that in and stuff too.

What do you do when you're not on the road? Do you guys hold regular jobs like everyone else?

Des Kensel: Recently we've toured too much to even hold a regular job, but before the record we were doing some landscaping...

Matt Pike: Ditch digging.

Des Kensel: ...or construction. We had a shovel in our hand a lot.

Matt Pike: Yeah.

Is it kind of a collective decision to decide what songs you're going to cover, and do you have any surprises in the works? I've heard you guys cover Thin Lizzy, Venom, Celtic Frost...just older bands?

Matt Pike: Yeah, we just do it for the fuck of it because we have extra time, so we're just like, "let's learn that cover, that's fun." It's not like we want to be a cover band or like fucking Krokus or something.

[laughing]

I didn't expect to hear Krokus mentioned in this interview.

[laughing]

Both: Yeah...

Des Kensel: Actually we've done covers more....there's a Judas Priest one, "Rapid Fire", and it's on just the vinyl, but we actually did that one because on the Japanese releases, you need an extra song. So we figured that'd be an easy one...

Matt Pike: Yeah, sometimes instead of wasting some masterpiece you have for the next album, it's easy to just say, "oh, if we need one more song, we'll just do a cover," and you can throw it in there and get away with it. The music's already written for you, all you gotta do is play it your style.

Do you like to add in your own little twists and turns?

Matt Pike: Oh yeah, yeah.

Des Kensel: Yeah, totally.

Matt Pike: We always rewrite the song for us.

Des Kensel: Yeah, we just try to think of a song that would sound good with us doing it. Something that fits his vocal range.

I read an interview with Matt, on Stonerrock.com actually... it was a really good interview. You were talking a little bit about your beliefs as far as spirituality. Would you say that's kind of incorporated into your music?

Matt Pike: Yeah, well. My music's very personal, but at the same time very...yeah, I definitely...it's shit that I go through in my life and beliefs I have, definitely. But I think it's an individual thing, spirituality, it's to each his own. You need to figure out it for yourself and not have someone else tell you...because no one else really fucking knows, do they? Take a hit of acid and figure it out, or do whatever you gotta do that makes you get by.

Lastly, if you weren't in a band right now, what do you think you'd probably be doing?

Des Kensel: Hah. Uh...

Matt Pike: Fuck....I don't know. I would have said, a long time ago, I'd probably be fucking ring fighting and be a stupid ass boxer with his head punched in. But, I don't know.

You wanted to be a boxer at one point?

Matt Pike: A thai boxer. Yeah. I took Muy Thai a long time ago...

Des Kensel: Yeah, that's something we used to do on our off time. Muy Thai. Not anymore. [laughing] I'd probably be deep frying some...clams or something, I don't know. Who knows what the fuck I'd be doing.

Matt Pike: Yeah...that or I'd be a contractor.

That's pretty much it. Is there anything you want to add, lastly?

Des Kensel: Well...just, uh...come and see us live.

Matt Pike: Yeah. Come to the show. Come. Buy the merch. Merch.

Des Kensel: Buy the CD...and uh...

Matt Pike: Merch, merch, merch. [laughing]

Des Kensel: ...play it loud.