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 Vocalist MARTIN KIRBY of Melbourne ball busters CARPATHIAN takes time out to discuss the band’s upcoming album with DAN RIDLEY.
“I read the comments people leave. At the moment it’s a bunch of people complaining about how the songs sound. I try to steer away from the opinionated side of it all. People talking shit. I take it all with a grain of salt.”
At this particular moment in time Carpathian vocalist Martin Kirby is feeling the sharp end of the digital revolution. While Tom’s networking extravaganza on MySpace has provided a wealth of exposure, it also has left the door wide open for the opinionated ranting of disillusioned fans either unable or just unwilling to grapple with their latest offering – the upcoming release Isolation. Set to hit shelves August 2, the band is not shying away from endorsing the album as a progressive step forward into much more disturbing realms.
“It’s been two years since the last album,” he concedes. “We are a totally different band. I suppose it’s the heaviest and darkest thing we have done both lyrically and also when it comes to the feel for the band. I repeated that I always wanted to do something different from what we had been doing.
“There were times were I would sit back and think, ‘if I were a Carpathian fan, would I still want to hear this band playing this same song they were five years ago after all the line-up changes?’ I mean, that always that comes into it. I want to keep things fresh and exciting.”
Keeping things fresh is something the band has become renowned for in more ways than one. Over the course of their five-year career the band has seen no less than five line-up changes. Most notable of these departures was that of Michael Crafter, who after occupying the role of vocalist for seven months abandoned the group on the cusp of their first European tour in 2006. Reflecting on what could be perceived as a constant rotation of faces, Kirby still struggles to find sense in it all. To him life does not get much better than this.
“I mean it’s daunting at times,” he sighs. “It’s not like you get angry, but in the end you just go ‘Fuck. Why couldn’t they want to wait it out?’ I talk to Dave (drummer and only original member) about it. Every now and again people would go ‘I can’t live like this’ or ‘I’ve got to get a real job’ or something like that. To us it’s the best job. That’s what our song Ceremonies is about. It does not get much better than this.”
With the emphasis upon the material sometimes being an overwhelming factor in the departure of some of the band’s members, the question to adopt a more commercially viable sound must arise from time to time. When asked whether the band could adopt such a mentality, Kirby is quick to set in place something of a failsafe for himself.
“I don’t really think of it as an option,” he laughs. “I would like to think our heads are level when it comes to that sort of stuff. I might pre-warn people now though. If we ever get to that stage, beat me up.”
CARPATHIAN play with Break Even and The Broderick at Byron Bay High School (AA, with Crime Scene as local support) on Wednesday Jul 30; then the Princess Theatre (AA, with Suffer Some More) on Thursday Jul 31. ISOLATION will be out Aug 2 through Resist.
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