“We wanted to do something a little more interesting, a little bit deeper, just give people a little more to grab on to!”

God Forbid’s lead guitarist Doc Coyle knows how to spew an onslaught of opinionated views and is always good for provocative conversation. Gearing up for the second phase of their record cycle, IV: Constitution of Treason is a well thought out album with seasoned lyrical content. Encouraging knowledge of world issues? What a concept!!! Have we matured to the point of no longer parroting that 80’s sound of power rock but reflecting a sound that inspires us to give horns??? The latest release shows the evolution of God Forbid as a unit as well. God Forbid has been viewed as an underappreciated outfit for most of their careers but now has awed the audiences of Lamb of God to Slipknot and now, Anthrax. Boy, we’ve come a long way haven’t we? We sit down with Doc right before show time to discuss growing pains of sorts. Read on…

Erika: Thanks for doing the interview.

Doc: [Smiles] No problem.

Erika: of course I have to ask pros and cons of being on tour with Anthrax? Is this a life long dream being on tour with Anthrax?

Doc: Pros and cons…I think the pros far outweigh the cons. Every night there’s been a huge crowd. Surprisingly for our style of music [the crowds] have been very, very receptive; I kinda expected a harsher audience. I expected that and it hasn’t been that way; it’s been smiling faces and lots of energy... [Smiles]

Erika: …a great response?

Doc: Yeah. Like very good! [Smiles] I think also Sworn Enemy and Manntis are a little more on the hardcore side so by the time we come out, they are almost a little surprised that we’re bringing some metal to the table. So that’s a pro, I mean shit, it’s with a legendary band and everybody in our band knows them and loves them and they’re actually really cool guys. They are from New York so you know you kind of have that kinship just being from the same area. It’s cool because I think they actually have a lot of respect for us and that’s really all that you can ask for, you know.

We haven’t really done a tour this big as far as attendance in a while in the States so it’s really good exposure. Hopefully doing something like this will maybe lead up to doing more tour with classic metal bands or just more traditional metal bands. Actually, I think that’s where our sound has kinda gone over the past couple of years, I mean it only makes sense.

Erika: Absolutely, that was going to be my next question. Career wise, which band would be the ultimate band to tour with?

Doc: Well I mean any metal band would probably say Metallica would be the ultimate tour because it’s the biggest tour and Metallica is my personal favorite band, you know. [Smiles] But it’s one of those things where it’s soooo huge, it’s almost beyond comprehension, that any band or that we would be able to get a tour like that, you know.

Erika: Right, right…

Karma: Anything is a possibility, Doc!      

Doc: Yeah, but they’d take a band like Shadows Fall or Avenged Sevenfold, bands that have sold hundreds of thousands [of units]…they’re not gonna take us because we’re just…you know, we’re doing well but we’re not as big as those bands. So I kind of look at it that way.

If the original Sepultura lineup ever got back together that would be a tour, I’d that love too. The fact is that we’ve already toured with a lot of our favorite bands. We’ve toured with Slayer, Slipknot, Hatebreed, Killswitch Engage, Judas Priest (at Ozzfest), Machine Head, Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, Opeth, Arch Enemy… I mean we’ve toured with almost all of our favorite bands so we’re just in a blessed position. Meshuggah is another band!

Erika: Congrats on the waves Constitution of Treason has made for you guys.

Doc: Oh thank you very much!

Erika: Could you explain the premise behind the subject matter for IV: Constitution of Treason? At any point, were you guys a little hesitate to tackle such subject matter considering the state the nation right now?

Doc: We just started with the title and we knew what it meant as it’s dealing with apathy in America, the overall vibe of what the American psyche was about. What people were feeling at that time, Dimebag had just passed away and George Bush had just gotten re-elected. Honestly, I just think it was just a dark mood that we were in. We started with that and we just wrote for two months with the album. We only had lyrics for forty percent of the album, so it wasn’t a, ‘alright this is going to be a concept album or a political album’, I mean that not really what it was about.

When we went and recorded the album, we were writing lyrics as we were going and putting it all together, it wasn’t until the album was completely done that we looked back and said, “Wow, all this makes sense” like totally in this unintentional way! I wrote a story that went along to the lyrics. I mean I don’t think it should really be taken literally and I don’t think people should take our band too seriously because of it. We just wanted to do something a little more interesting, a little bit deeper and just give people a little more to grab on to!

Erika: Thinking back to the last interview we had with you guys, you guys stand by your opinions and convictions! So I mean, taking that into account do all the members in the band view politics the same way, are you on the same political playing field so to speak? I mean was it a little touchy when you guys went in with some of the lyrics?

Doc: Well I think we all come from similar backgrounds; no one in the band comes from a rich family. We all come from blue-collar families and I think that background lends itself to… I think if you live in the Northeast most people that are blue-collar are liberal families that aren’t military families, are usually liberal. That’s just kind of how it is in that area. I think most of the band tries to stay as well informed as possible. But it doesn’t necessarily run our full topic of conversation. In a way the album may be misleading as to what kind of band we really are. And I can tell you, next time we will go in a completely different direction.

Erika: Oh, have you already started putting stuff together yet?

Doc: It’s so new, I guess now the album was written at this point a little bit less than a year ago and was recorded about six months ago so the material’s really fresh for us. It’s definitely not going to be the same situation between the last two albums where we just kind of got one out right away. We’re gonna take a little more time pursue some side projects. Everybody in the band has some other endeavors that they’d like to tackle. This album for us is really about establishing ourselves. I mean we always have a lot to prove but this time it’s one of those things where there’s a certain will that we had that we refused to be denied upon.

The fact is that a lot of people in this Industry do not want to let us in their circle. It’s like there’s a very tight circle where it’s like these bands are the cool bands, these bands are the bands that get all the tours and the press, you know. You know what, we’re gonna work twice as hard as anybody and we’re gonna get into that circle one way or another. And if we do that, if we put the work in then it will make it easier on us the next time around. We won’t have to kill ourselves. [Laughs] But I think it’s all about earning people’s respect. We’ve been doing this ever since the band got started, we’ve always been the underdog, always been kinda like the ugly stepchild of the heavy metal scene.

Erika: But you have been heard, your voices are loud enough where you have been heard by the Industry…

Doc: ...yeah but we’re reaching a different level. You start to get to that point, I mean we’ve been out for about ten years; friends start coming and going it becomes this battle to maintain your relevance throughout the evolution of music, and it does change. When we came out it was all about nü metal, you know. It was all about Slipknot, Papa Roach, POD, and Korn; I mean that was the biggest shit in the world. Then that kind of faded out and then the style that we’re playing became the hot shit.

The funny thing is that we’re not even one of the most popular bands in the genre, we’re kind of in the middle, or whatever. Now that it became popular, instead of being considered innovators, it’s like, ‘oh you guys are just a part of that trend’! It’s like, ‘no, we were here before it was cool’! Now that it’s cool all of the shitty bands are making it hard for us. And now that people are getting kind of sick of that, and then it’s gonna be something else and that’s gonna be the true test for all of the bands that are making heavy music in this style right now. I cannot attest to say, [voice deepens] ‘Oh, we’re gonna be the one to make it through!’ I mean I don’t know what’s gonna happen in the future, we just have to do what feels right for us, you know! If we’re not moving forward as a band, then we’re only going to do it. We’re only gonna do it if things are artistically moving forward and career wise moving forward.

Erika: Absolutely, very well said! Okay, that was like half of the interview right there with the questions I was going to ask you! You summed it all up in one comment. That’s excellent! [Laughter ensues] What lessons have you learned between Constitution and Gone Forever? Any lessons learned maturity, etc…

Doc: Hmm, for us, Gone Forever for us was really like starting over. We had to go and pretty much re-establish ourselves in the Industry because it had been such a long period from Determination to Gone Forever that a lot of people, I don’t want to say forgot but there was a lot of ground to make up. We got to see the other side; we did Ozzfest, we got to tour with Slipknot; we saw this whole other world and we want to be a part of that world. We want to be a career metal band that goes around the world and actually does it the right way, you know. And that kind of carried us through the touring cycle and the way timing worked out, that’s why we ended up doing the record. We’re like, ‘we have this time off, we kind of feel like writing so let’s just do it!’ and that whole period from then until now has pretty much been a whirlwind. We’re just kinda now starting to get our feet under us and be able to figure exactly what happened and where we’re going.

I think there’s definitely been a big maturation process during that time because when you first start touring you know it’s all about partying, having fun, girls… [laughs] I mean you’re just so happy to be out of the 9-5 grind and living this totally different lifestyle that you get wrapped up in it. The fact is when you start out there’s not a lot of money and lot to do so you just get wrapped up in it. I think we’re at that point now where we’re kinda over that phase of being out here just to be out here because we don’t want to work at fuckin’ Kinney Shoes or something. Now we’ve become a lot more serious about it and organized. But some bands are lucky, well I won’t say lucky, some are organized [snaps finger] right from the get go; it’s not their mind frame anyway. From that respect, I guess we’re late bloomers.

Erika: Or trial and error.

Doc: Yeah, well that too but it’s all our first band and we never got the chance to make mistakes in other bands; we’ve had to make them in this band.

Erika: Going back to the different genres and subgenres, what are you feeling on something let’s say, Celtic Metal?

Doc: Celtic metal? Are you talking about black metal?

Erika: Umm, no…well what do you think is going to be the next wave?

Doc: I think the next wave’s rock n’ roll is coming back in a big way! I mean look at bands like Every Time I Die, Mastodon, Avenged Sevenfold… I think the rock sound is coming back and people are ready for something a little bit looser, a little bit more fun, you know. I think that’s definitely the next thing.

Erika: Well you guys have kind of played around with it too considering the guitar licks you guys have and you look back on it and I know it’s clichéd to say but you are influenced by a lot of the 80’s bands…

Doc: Yeah, I think we kinda grew up listening to some stuff but as we got older me and my brother [Dallas] really started getting into stuff like the Beatles, Zeppelin, Thin Lizzy and just all of this brilliant music that’s just amazing. Because it’s the kind of foundation I didn’t grow up with so I had to kind of go back and soak it up. And that’s another thing too, I feel like we’re kind of like at a disadvantage because there are kids that grew up with their dad and mom playing the Stones and shit we kind of heard it but my father was much more eclectic. It was like jazz, classical, and rock n’ roll with a little Creedence Clearwater in there too and the Stones but he used to always mix it up so it was very diverse. But it wasn't like my parents were playing [eyes widen, intonation begins to pick up] AC/DC everyday so it’s ingrained in your mentality.

Erika: Can you elaborate a little more on your touring plans? I know you said you were busy.

Doc: Yeah, we’re going to the UK with Trivium for a week which is a huge tour. Every show is sold out, it’s massive!

Karma: So you’re opening for Trivium?

Doc: Yeah, they’re huge in UK. I mean they’re doing great here but they’re on their way to a Gold record in the UK I think.

Erika & Karma: Really! Wow!!

Doc: So we come back here with Children of Bodom for about another three weeks and that ends in LA and right now we’re putting together another package. We’re not sure if we’re headlining or joining up with some other bigger band, we’re not sure yet. Probably more than likely we’ll be headlining so that’s that and then we’re going try to do Europe, Japan… We’re trying to hopefully land one of the summer tours like Sounds of the Underground or something like that…

Erika: …I hope so!

Doc: That’s a goal! We were number one for votes from the fans on their website.

Erika & Karma: Congrats!

Doc: Oh well I hope that it lends something…but it doesn’t mean much until we land the tour. [Laughs] But hopefully we’ll get that because that would be a lot of fun. Ultimately we’re just gonna try keep going and hopefully tour more than we did off the last album. Like we really didn’t tour that much in the States for Gone Forever. We only did about two or three tours and this day in age, that’s not what you need. There are so many bands, people are so fickle you’ve gotta [snaps fingers] stay in people’s wave of perception. If not, they’re gonna move on and buy somebody else’s record or go to someone else’s show. I think it’s the perfect time for us actually to get the most exposure because we have released what I think is our best album, we do have a catalogue where there is more stuff to build upon.

Erika: Since you brought up Trivium, do you feel there’s any danger in picking a producer such as Jason Suecof in fear of sounding like some of your peers in your genre?

Doc: Well we knew Jason before he worked with Trivium. We were actually going to use him for Gone Forever but the budget just didn’t end up working out. He did a great job with that but I don’t think production wise there’s anything new going on. [Chuckles] You could go to Andy Sneap, Colin Richardson, or Adam D. or any of these good metal producers and I think Jason is a talented guy and I just don’t think that many people have worked with him yet. Now he’s really starting to catch on. But he only co-produced the album. We actually did all of the drums, bass, and mix out in Jersey with Eric Rachel. With Trivium [Jason] was a lot more hands on; they were still a young band so he had a lot more creative input with them. Whereas with us, it’s was mostly getting performance. He definitely added a lot of stuff; he did a great job with Byron!

Erika: Coaching him along?

Doc: That, coming up with melodies & harmonies, and different things like that.

Karma: Going back to the album/Trivium right quick, how did you get involved with Declassified on Music Choice? It was a pretty awesome show.

Doc: Oh, that was all through Century Media. I think Shadows Fall first did it.

Karma: Yes, they did.

Doc: I think only a couple of bands did it.

Karma & Doc: Trivium and Every Time I Die.

Doc: The one we did was actually the last one; that was actually cool. We got a lot of feedback from that actually. I think it’s like a DVD with the commentary at the end of the movie. It was cool and especially since, it so fresh after the album was released so we really remembered a lot of stories. We did that show like two months after the record was recorded. So it was a lot of work to make it the way we wanted it to be, you know.

Erika: Okay, second to last, if you could commission a band to do a God Forbid song, who would do it and which song would they cover?

Doc: Hmm, that’s interesting! [Pauses] If I could get somebody like… I think the ultimate compliment would be to have Johnny Cash do one of our songs. Especially after he did all of those covers…

Erika: [Smiles] Right, right…

Doc: …and that was really cool! Maybe if he could do what he did with Nine Inch Nails like maybe do a super smoothed out version of let’s say “Washed Out World” or something like that.

Erika & Karma: Now that would be cool!

Erika: Any special message for your fans and admirers?

Doc:  We would just like to thank everyone who supports the band. It’s been a long ride so anyone whose kind of been there from the beginning it’s pretty amazing. We definitely appreciate it because nothing’s ever been handed to us.

Erika: Excellent! Thank you very much!!

Doc: [Smiles] No problem, thank you guys.

We'd like to Doc for doing the interview, the band's tour manager and to Century Media for setting it up.

Related Links

• Click here for photos from tonight's show

• Here for previous interview with Doc

• Here for photos of the band on the Children of Bodom Tour

• Here for photos of the band during the Jager 2006 Tour

• Here for photos of the band on their 2005 headlining tour