Interview Walls Of Jericho: Candace Kucsulain

Artiest: Walls Of Jericho

Geïnterviewde: Candace Kucsulain

Interview afgenomen op: Groezrock 2016.

Label: Napalm Records

Op de vijfentwingstige editie van het Meerhoutse festival Groezrock kwamen talrijke bands naar de hardcore/metal podia. Op één van die stages stond er één van de meest invloedrijkste female fronted hardcore bands, namelijk Walls Of Jericho. Vooraleer dat zangeres Candace Kucsulain het podium besprong, kon Festivalblog even met haar praten over het verleden, heden en de toekomst.

Hi Candace. Welcome to the interview with Festivalblog.be. How are you today?

Well, I’m freezing. It’s so cold today.

Yeah, the weather is pretty bad.

Yes, it just terrible. (grims) I was like... ‘I brought boots’. (laughs hard)

Well, I hope you have a good day anyway. Maybe this next interview will warm you up. First of all, thank you for having me here. Can you tell the readers who you are?

Hi. I’m Candace and I am the singer of Walls Of Jericho. I’m doing well today, I’m trying to stay warm today. (laughs)

Well, what do you expect from the show today?

Oh my God, well, I usually don’t have expectations for shows. I started thinking that way a long time ago. ‘Cause you never know what’s going to happen. And everything that’s going to happen is good. This is a giant festival and usually there’s great energy. I'm just really excited to play at something like this.

Is there a difference between the European audience or the American style?

It’s still the same thing because there are so many people feeding of each other, in every festival. Is this on Groezrock or on Mayhem or Download festival, everything is great. It’s hard to deny that, because it’s a great and big festival.

How do you feel about local shows?

We love the local shows because there’s no barrier. It’s very intimate that way. It’s how we grew up. We played a show last night and it was my kind of show. It was packed, low stage, no barriers, you could actually stagedive because people are so close together. It creates a different vibe, it’s more underground scene vibe. That’s what we love to do. If we know there’s a show like that, we will know that it will be amazing.

Okay. I like the sound of that! Well, Candace, can you tell me something about the history of Walls Of Jericho?

Well, so all of us were in other bands before. I was in a band called Apathemy, that was a band from Detroit. Dustin (drummer) was in a band called Next To Nothing, that was a band from Ohio. Mike and Aaron (bass and guitar) were in a band called Earthmover, so they came and toured with us back in the day. And Chris (guitar) was in a band called Counterfeit. Chris and I had a split 7 inch together with our other bands. Earthmover broke up and Mike and Aaron wanted to continue another band. They just wanted another view for hardcore. So when I was getting out of Apathemy, Mike and Aaron responded. They all knew me as the little girl that would sing along, because I knew them for like 4-5 years then. So we started in 1998, and we’ve put out a few records and met up with Trustkill in 1999. We were getting strong for about ten years, after that we slowed down because I was pregnant (laughs). And now we are with Napalm Records and we’re looking forward for the next years.

Can you tell me something about the new record ‘No One Can Save You From Yourself’? The new deal from Napalm Records with an amazing ballad on the end of the album?

Oh my God. I grew up singing in a choir. And by my senior year I’ve made it in the top choir. It’s a big deal, because it’s the biggest part, you get to travel and things like that. That was the time that I joined my last band Apathemy. I was trying out for the band and it was just practice. And I tried, sang all the songs, but it was just a few days later that I had choir concert. And I had to practice, but I just couldn’t sing because my screaming affected the singing. So I had to choose. For a long time I didn’t sing much at all but it’s a huge passion. Music is about a connection, so is it now for singing or screaming. I prefer to perform harder music. But I’m thankful that the guys that they’ve gone with. In almost every record there is a mellow song, we kinda keep that theme. We won’t play it live, because we just love and like the high energy, we won’t ever slow our shit down. We like to keep it going. I think that the new record definitely represents that. How we took the time in between each song on the album to cut the silence out.

I just love the last song on the album. It’s a B-side concrete blonde song and I’ve heard it like a couple of years ago. Especially for a female in this scene. When I first started, people hated me and they were talking shit about me. My life was under a microscope. And people wanted to see you fail, it's just really weird, like in our own scene. That was hard for me. So that song talks about the negativity and that you always trust yourself, no matter what happens. So I love this song. The original is very fast, but we slowed it down. The lyrics are more deeper.

The lyrics on the whole album are better, much more in shape en deeper than ever before. I’ve had it hard to get to keep it rolling, because I was away for a few years. I was in a complete mommy-mood. And I just didn’t want to write about the same things that we were writing before. The first song what inspired us was Relentless, I was raising money for an organisation that helps children with cancer. To be a part of that, I wrote a song for that. It was like two years ago, but I wanted to do something for this organisation. So that kinda started it all. As a group, we discussed about the topics. We've never done that, but I really like that and it gave other perspectives. It was totally unique for this record. And so we wrote this album together. It’s not a concept record, but it really adresses everything that no one can save you from yourself. Like when we do this thing to ourselves, it creates a chain of reaction and infects our lifes and future. It’s all about how we adress the violence, the politics and everything that happens in our society. It’s important for us to move forward in our life and in to the world.

Can you tell me about a band or singer that inspire you?

There are so many bands that inspire me in many different ways, but L7 was the most amazing band. Pissed of chicks, I liked this so much in middle school. This inspired me in the way that it’s okay to have a different view and to say it. Also I crossed in middle school I had came across the cassette collection of my dad and in there was a cassette of Metallica with the single ‘One’. That song changed my life, it changed the way I dressed, it changed the way I saw our music, the group of friends that I had completely changed at that time, but I always have been different, but I didn’t know where to focus myself. I just fell I could relate to that song, it’s also so soft. That changed everything and it went to punk rock, into pissed off political punk rock. I just wanted to change the world with my music.

So how do you think about punk rock this day?

Honestly, I love where hardcore is going right now (laughs). It’s very nineties. For christ, Youth Of Today is playing today. That’s awesome (laughs). In the past, in the last couple of years, I wasn’t happy about the scene. There were bands that were a joke to the hardcore scene. I don’t like bands that have no substance. If you want to lay back about things, you don’t have to be disrespectful to bands, women or something like that. I’m not a fan about bands that call women ‘bitches’. If you want to make music about ‘eating doritos’, or something like that (laughs), than go ahead. But don’t be like that with the thing about bitches and women. But I love the way that hardcore is going back to the early days. And it makes me happy (laughs).

If you’re not busy writing, recording and touring with Walls Of Jericho, what do the daily lives of the members of Walls Of Jericho look like?

I’ll start with me. I have a daughter and also I’m a baker decorater (sighs). And I’m also a strength coach. I’m thinking what else... I also do powerlifting (laughs). Aaron owns a tattooshop and is a tattoo artist. Mike owns a recording studio and works for himself. Dustin is a chef and is a touring manager. Chris plays also in the band Stick To Your Guns. We actually have a sixth member now, because we are playing a lot of shows and Chris can not also be there because of the success of Stick To Your Guns. That’s Bobby. He hunts down old motorcycles and rebuilds them.

Great! What was the best and worst show you’ve ever played?

The best show was in Chili. They sold about 700 tickets, but the location just allowed 600 people. There was a freaking riot when we were playing. It was the song A Trigger Full Of Promises, everyone was singing with the chorus. Just everyone! It was a life goal achieved moment. The stage was crazy, everyone was jumping/climbing and stagediving and singing together. That was the most intense show ever.

And the worst show was Mayhem Festival where there was a hurricane. We were playing during that on the water. A few parts on the stage and the venue were under water. No, it was just flooded. I think they shut it after we played. We dressed up like pirates, with eye patches and stuff. It was kind of the best and worst show ever.

Can you describe Walls Of Jericho in 3 words?

Passionate. Dedicated. Hardworking.

 

What are your future plans for Walls Of Jericho?

We will be touring a little bit more with the band. We limited our touring because of our children. I just have a hard time being away from my daughter. Weekends are fine, but we're going to do a couple of two week tours. It’s hard to be away, because it’s easier now because she’s older. She will be 5 in August. I have more peace of mind that she’s fine if she can see on the calendar how long I’m away.

Well, okay, I know what you mean. It will be always very hard! But now a personal question: tell me your favorite tattoo on your body? Is there a special reason for having this tattoo?

It’s funny like I have a funny tattoo planned and that would be my answer to this question. But my favorite right now…

Or tell me your first tattoo?

The first is on my belly button (laughs). It’s very sentimental. It’s a Japanese kanji and it tells ‘love’. I was fifteen and I was actually taking Japanese classes in school at that time. And my younger brother want to get a tattoo, but he chickened out (laughs). I laughed a lot. So I said to my mom and my mom’s boyfriend ‘I wanna get a tattoo’. So my mother was like ‘okay’. I went over the wall and found a Japanese kanji and I got that tattoo. I have a tattoo and it’s my only memorial tattoo on the back on my leg and I love that tattoo. That’s my best tattoo.

Well, thank you Candace for doing this interview with Festivalblog! Good luck with the new album and we will see you!

Thanks to you, too. It was a great interview!

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