Rockezine.com interview with Chimaira on May 30, 2003

with Mark Hunter on May 30, 2003

Chimaira just released their second cd `The Impossibility Of Reason`. On a sunny thursday in Tilburg I talk with Vocalist Mark Hunter about Metal, The New Album and Trivial Things.
		First question, how do you pronounce Chimaira. Can you spell it phonetically, so everyone will know how to pronounce the band name? Chimaira (kim-ear-a)
		Well, your last album is released in 2001, this one in 2003. What happened in those two years? You guys sound a lot more metal. What are your major influences while making this album? Well, after our first album we really started developing. We are influenced by the bands we toured with and due to the trails and tribulations we encountered we became more focused. With the new album we give the listener a feeling like they can’t breathe, the songs pound you continuous. The breakdowns in the songs don’t go all soft, but stay on the heavy level.
		You guys toured with some metal bands, are they a part of your influences? Yeah of course. You always take some things of the bands you tour with.
		The last album Pass Out Of Existence was full of samples, your new album hardly has any samples, not as obvious as on Pass Out... Is this done on purpose? For Pass Out Of Existence the samples were ear-candy, during the new album, Impossibility Of Reason we tried to use the samples to add more to the song, enhancing the music.
		Did the all band members help on the album? Everybody contributed, it was more like a spontaneous thing, we just saw what happened.
		Chimaira is sometimes labelled as a nu-metal band. What do you think of the label/genre nu- metal I don’t think Chimaira can be compared to nu-metal. Nu-metal is the music that seems heavy to the public, we make metal beyond that concept. Is it because we used 7 string guitars on our last album or because we use electronics? I don’t know. When I think of nu-metal I think of Staind or Cold or something like that.
		In the lyrics there is a lot of hate, a lot of anger. Are you really that angry at the world and everyone, like in “Hatred”, you say ‘I hate everyone’. Is it that bad? The lyrics might seem negative at first listen, but it was my intention to push listeners to doing something about the bad things happening in life, not feeling down because of it and come to a stand still but look ahead. Reflecting it on us, it’s like, on tour Chimaira is encountering trouble after trouble but always trying to overcome it.
		About the tour bus, you guys are touring a lot. What kind of entertainment do you guys have in the tour bus? Watching movies. I’m a movie fan, I’m collecting DVDs.
		What’s your favorite movie? Scarface.
		About the tour. Are you enjoying Holland? Holland is awesome, it has good food, we were told and lots of pretty girls
		How is living in a tour bus? It’s a strain for a band. Jim is the one that gets on everyone’s nerves, but in a brotherly way. We are all friends, otherwise you wouldn’t go on tour with each other for months.
		A question about popularity and status in the U.S. How is your status? Well, we sold 44.000 copies of Pass Out Of Existence. Reasonable.
		Playing in Chimaira is a fulltime job? Yeah, and that’s wonderful. Just doing the things we always wanted to do. If you told me I would sit here in Holland talking to you 5 years ago I would tell you, you were crazy. But it’s unbelievable, just going to different countries, meeting other cultures, just wonderful, man. Best job you can get.
		A question about message boards. Do you know the PRP-community? Well, there was a lot to do about Chimaira. Some people said you were sell-outs, others are praising you, what is your vision on these message boards? Message boards are awesome, a great way to express yourself and for the band to feedback on the fans. We don’t take the negative comments too serious, often laugh about them. We just like to make the music we like best and people will always have different opinions about everything.
		Can I do a trivial checklist? Blue or white socks? White socks. Charles Bronson or Weird Al Yankovic? Weird Al Yankovic. Chips or Fish? Chips. Beer or morning urine? Beer. Do you have an addiction? DVD’s Windows or doors? Windows. Pulp Fiction or From Dusk Till Dawn? Pulp Fiction. Robert DeNiro or Matt Damon? Robert DeNiro. Fishbowl or Rabbit? Fishbowl. Favourite cartoon? Old He-man.
(Friso Veltkamp)