Interviews

 

ISIS

 

Words: Rod Yates

 

In much the same way that you can choose your friends but not your family, so bands can pick their members but not their fans. Not that Isis have a problem with anyone who loves their music – indeed while founding vocalist/guitarist Aaron Turner admits interaction can sometimes be awkward, he’s nevertheless quick to point out that the band “appreciate and cherish” their fans. He’s just at a bit of a loss as to why a significant number of them used to be junkies.

 

“On more than a couple of occasions we’ve gotten letters or e-mails from people who have talked about their struggle, specifically there seems to be a contingent of our fans who seem to be recovering hardcore junkies, people who have had these insane battles with heroin,” he starts. “And I don’t know what that says about us, but there have been a few people who have said they were near the brink of collapse or near the brink of death in the grips of some really tumultuous struggles with heroin, and somehow our music helped as some sort of therapeutic device in their life. To me,” he concludes, “that’s way more important than hearing, ‘Oh, you guys are good, we’re going to cover your song’ or whatever.”

 

Admitting that Isis have always wanted to be a band that attracted obsessive fans as opposed to casual listeners, it’s perhaps not surprising that their sombre, doomy, soundscape-focused brand of ethereal noise appeals to those fighting dark personal battles. But while Turner concedes that may be so, he nevertheless remains puzzled by just how successful his band has become. Indeed when they poured out of California almost 10 years ago in a nightmarish, metal-tinged progressive howl, the idea that a decade on they’d be touring America’s arenas in support of a band like Tool would have seemed far fetched at best. But having recently done just that, you have to wonder whether it opened Turner’s eyes to the possibility of Isis following in Tool’s footsteps and crossing over to a wider mainstream audience.

 

“I’d say more than anything it opened my eyes to the impossibility,” he chuckles from his Los Angeles home. “As grateful as I am for that kind of opportunity, and as surprised as I am about the ever increasing popularity of our band, it was just crazy for me to witness a band operating on that scale. Night after night they would fill these massive places with people going absolutely apeshit, and to watch these huge armies of people set up and tear down everything at the beginning and end of the night… We think we’re living a luxurious lifestyle when we take three other people out on the road with us who aren’t actually on stage with us. Even though we got a pretty warm reaction from the audience, I still don’t think we’ll ever attain that level, nor do we strive to. But at the same time we’re not shying away from opportunities. If something comes up that is appealing to us we’re gonna take it.”

 

As your profile has increased over the past few years, has it changed what being a member of Isis means?

 

“Not really. We’re still the same people that we were when the band started almost 10 years ago as far as I’m concerned. Isis as an organism functions better these days just because we’ve had so much more experience in the studio and on the road and in rehearsal and so forth. It’s not like we don’t put effort into it, but it’s more comfortable than it used to be. The writing process can still be kind of arduous just because we’re so hard on ourselves, but touring is second nature at this point and I feel like we’re a lot more comfortable as a live band.”

 

Australian fans will get to judge for themselves over the next few weeks when Isis embark on their second tour of the country, this time on the back of their recently released fourth full-length, In The Absence Of Truth. An Isis album in every sense of the word – engaging, dense, inspiring, soothing – Turner admits it’s as much a consolidation of the band’s sound as it is a reinvention.

 

“It’s a consolidation of what we’ve done as well as an expansion upon it, and I think that’s the only way we can really operate,” he muses. “We can’t reinvent the wheel every time we make a record, we like to use what we’ve done in the past as a sort of springboard towards other paths or channels, and I think that’s the way it will always be. There’s some fluctuation from album to album, but we can’t stay in the one place and we can’t pull a 180 and do something completely different.”

 

Does that feel constricting?

 

“I don’t even think it’s a conscious thing. We are who we are, our musical personalities and interests are a part of who we are and we can’t change that. I feel like we actually progress more from album to album than 80 or 90 per cent of the bands out there, especially bands who seem to achieve some sort of success or recognition from their sound and have a tendency to repeat it.”

 

As with past albums, In The Absence Of Truth maintains the band’s penchant for involved lyrical concepts. However, given that Turner spent interview after interview following the release of 2004’s Panopticon explaining the meaning behind its songs, only to have his words constantly misinterpreted, this time he’s keeping his cards close to his chest.

 

“This is extremely vague, but I’ll say that in a very loose way it’s about the nature and power of perception,” he comments of the new album. “And that’s about as far as I’m willing to go with that. And to me, that’s a foundation for a greater longevity in interest in the subject for me, because it doesn’t become routine through repeated explanations.”

 

There is, however, one routine Turner hopes to follow upon touching down in Australia: some time in the northern NSW town of Byron Bay.

 

“[On the last tour] we spent two days hanging out in Byron Bay before the shows started, and that was a fantastic introduction to Australia,” he smiles. “We just got to hang out on the beaches and check out a bit of the town and go swimming and relax and so forth. I can’t imagine starting a tour in a better way.”

 

 

[BACK TO INTERVIEWS]