Hailing from the Arizona capital The Oxford Coma is a psychedelic rock trio with a reputation for bringing it real heavy, but they will quickly tell you that they’re not metal heavy. After their well-received debut album, the group is back with a new EP ‘Morphine’ which will be followed up with a full length album in December. Tegethoff talked to us about their catchy name and how it was recording the new album live.
Could you describe what The Oxford Coma is all about in a line or two and what you hope anyone listening to you for the first time will come away with?
The Oxford Coma is a shitty pun, or an expression of the idea that the overeducated intellectuals of the world can be just as asleep and ignorant as the throngs purport to be above. I count myself as the prior, so in a way, it’s me calling myself a pretentious asshole…otherwise I want people to go, “wait, WHAT is THIS?” Either because they get it and they’re into it or because they’re totally disgusted. Neutrality is boring.
You released your first album as a group just two years ago. When did you guys meet and when did you form The Oxford Coma?
James came up to me at a show. We were both in other bands, and neither of us were playing that night. My old band had imploded shortly before that due to the singer and me butting heads, and the bassist moving out of state to get off heroin. I guess James had heard that Casey (our original drummer) and I were looking for a bassist. He walked up and said, “I hear you’re looking for a bassist, and I’m good.” Mind you, we’d never met, and he’s an enormously tall white dude who, at the time, had dreads down to his ass. I figured whether he was nuts or not, with that appearance, he believed what he was saying. Turns out he was right. Casey left to pursue electronic and jazz music shortly after the first record came out, and Anthony was friends with my roommate at the time. We got lucky. We didn’t even audition anyone else. Incidentally, we parted ways with Anthony about a month ago and Casey has been back, filling in, until we find someone permanent.
So y’all were involved with other bands as individuals prior to The Oxford Coma?
Yes. I was in a band called Verico with Casey. James was in Hellas Mounds. Anthony was in N17, Projekshun, and Extremes of Violet.
You talked about being inspired by the works of Nirvana and Eyehategod for Morphine. Which other bands have influenced The Oxford Coma’s sound? Which different influences does each of you bring to create your band’s signature borderline-metal sound?
I moved in with a bunch of (I mean this in the most loving way) metal elitist scumbags early this year, and I’m a better musician for it. Metal has an honesty and energy to it that you just don’t see anywhere else. It’s still risky. It’s still dangerous. They turned me onto Neurosis, EHG, Sleep, the Melvins, Clutch, Meshuggah, KEN Mode, Russian Circles, and a bunch of obscure European shit that I never would have given a chance before. Prior to that I had been into the same like, five bands for years and that was it. Tool, Primus, Deftones, APC…Some other stuff too, but those were the big ones. I’ve even started listening to some pop music I never would have even considered thanks to my roommates. I was listening to Lana del Ray, Amy Winehouse, and Adele the whole time we were on tour this summer because I needed a change of pace from heavy music. James likes the most random shit I’ve ever heard. He likes everything I like, plus Zappa, weird jazz, Ministry, and a bunch of stuff I can’t remember and had never heard of before he showed me. Anthony has always been an industrial guy. Skinny Puppy is his favorite band. He’s also into a bunch of newer scene metalcore stuff. It’s part of why we didn’t want to keep playing together. Our tastes were just too different. I should point out that he’s a good dude, a hard worker, and an incredible drummer.
Morphine was recorded live, and yes, the energy and emotion are beautifully intact. But how challenging was that for you to achieve?
Truth be told, it was much easier than multi-tracking. We’re a live band. Multi-tracking is tedious, and you’re a slave to the metronome. Music requires a little push/pull to sound fluid, in my opinion. We actually multi-tracked the whole EP and decided to scrap it because it sounded awful. It was totally sterile and lifeless. With live recording, it’s just like practice. Walk in, set up, play the songs, get out. I don’t think we had to do more than three takes on any song. We’ve been playing these for over a year in our live set.
With your debut Adonis having been described by some as “the strongest debut effort I’ve come across in many years”, didn’t you feel any pressure to stick with the “winning formula” so to speak?
Well, that was one man’s opinion. He was very generous in his appraisal of that album. We didn’t know what the hell we were doing when we made that record. I’m really proud of it since it was the first record I was a part of recording in the 17 years I’ve been playing. It was also the first time I’d ever recorded vocals. In many ways I think Adonis was just us getting our sea legs. It served its purpose, and gave us the experience necessary to progress. I personally have no interest in looking back. I only am interested in what can be done better, and how the music can be more impactful.
Billy Tegethoff (Guitar and vox), James Williams (Bass and Vox), Anthony Chamberlain (Drums)I love what James does to the bass on “Grindstone”. Surely there must be some jazz influence, no?
Well, he plays a Fender Jazz Bass. I’m not sure I see the connection to jazz on that particular song. Jazz bass is always pretty subdued, and James’ playing is way out in front. Maybe if jazz were a lot more aggressive…
Billy has editing credits on the “Seven” video, any other creative stuff you guys are involved in apart from singing/playing?
James makes custom wooden pick guards, stained glass installations, and has some education as a sound engineer for both music and film. He also draws and paints like madman. Anthony is a contractor by trade, so he builds everything you could imagine. He’s also into fashion, albeit a very particular type of fashion centered around industrial music. I think at one point he even had a clothing line. And, like you noticed, I do video editing. I also do web and graphic design, photography, videography, and writing.
The Oxford Coma – Seven
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You plan to release Morphine in December and then probably tour after that. Are you writing any new material in between time or are you focused on sharpening your act for the road?
Writing. We didn’t have time to write anything all of last year. We barely eked out two songs. We wrote the material for this EP a long time ago. We had just been so busy playing, that we had to focus on keeping the set and the performance in shape; not to mention all the promotional effort that goes into putting on a grip of local shows and a tour. It’s been really nice to have time to work on new stuff. It’s been kind of a creative flurry. We’ve written six new songs in the last month. The writing time was a by-product of a decision not to book any shows until our CD release show at the tail end of November. It’s been nice.
If you were to look in a crystal ball, what would you like to see in The Oxford Coma’s near future?
If I got to dictate what that crystal ball would hold, I’d say we need to tour a lot. Ideally we can hook up with some bands that are bigger than we are and use the road to gain some of their fans. I really want to play overseas at some point soon. Mostly, I just want to keep growing a fan base so that we can keep going. It takes so much work, time, and money to play in a band. I just want to be able to do this full time and still be able to eat. I’ll consider us a success when people show up to see us no matter where we go play.
Thanks for taking the time! Good luck.
