interview
Words By: Les Porter - lesporter@live.ca
this month in
music history
l January 1
•1958: David Wayne of Metal Church •1975: Robert Westerholt of Within Temptation
l January 3
•1946: John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin •1980: Rob Arnold of Chimaira Born in Ruin is a relatively new band in Prince George. Formed in 2008 by a few friends that wanted to escape the mediocrity of daily life in a northern town; Born In Ruin has quickly grown into a complete and intense band. The line up consists of: Vocalist Nathan Michaud who attends the history program at UNBC, Guitar player Duncan Bachand who attends Power Engineering at CNC, Guitar player Samuel Wright “School?... More like lets rip some guitar with my amp on 11”, on Bass is Fraser Blues who builds cabinets for a living, and slaving away behind the Drums is Aaron Hornak (when he is not “slaving for CN Rail”). The following is an interview with the band done via E-mail just before Christmas. 1. What’s the origin of that name? Have you changed the band’s name before?
The name Born In Ruin reflects the different environments that we, as a band have grown up with over the years. We have seen and experienced many different hardships and negativity over the years and make it our mission to be able to overcome and persevere through the obstacles that life has let us endure. Although we are ‘In Ruin’ being Born is still a blessing and it’s that positive mind set that we strive to portray. There will always be negativity and problems in the world, but that doesn’t mean you should let it get you down.
“The bands inspiration stemmed primarily from intense boredom living in the mountain town of Prince George.” 2. What genre of music do you consider your work to be? Who are your major influences?
We consider ourselves as a hardcore oriented metal band but we do delve into other sub-genres of metal and other music as well. Our influences range from classic bands such as Black Sabbath, Motley Crue and Metallica; to more hardcore/metalcore acts like Parkway Drive, As I Lay Dying, and Lamb of God; Death metal and Folk Metal bands like Celtic Frost, Amon Amarth, Immortal, and Deicide; to even bands such as Primus, Clutch, Mastodon, and even Bob Marley, we appreciate the chill stuff too. 3. How long have you all known each other? How did you meet?
Sam and Nate have been friends since before the dawn of language as their dads were old drinkin’ buddies. Sam and Nate both were in the same grade as Duncan during high school years and have been acquainted since age 13. In grade 9, Sam, Fraser, and Aaron started jamming music together and the ball hasn’t stopped rolling since. page 3 THE INFORMER JANUARY 2010
4. When did you form your band? What inspired you to make music together?
Born In Ruin was forged in the late Summer of 2008. The bands inspiration stemmed primarily from intense boredom living in the mountain town of Prince George. We had the musical equipment and the mind set and found it within ourselves to create what has become Born In Ruin. 5. Are you a member of any music organizations?
We are a member of the Prince George Metal Scene - If we can consider that an organization. 6. What can you tell us about the heavy music scene in P.G.? If you could change anything about P.G.s’ music scene what would that be?
The reason we started Born In Ruin was because of the INTENSE and devout metal scene that we already had. The metal scene has only continued to grow and become even better than it ever was. We have seen many great local talents immerge from here such as Vexen, Adamant, Hellsmen, Axis Disrupt, and Over The Coals just to name a few of the incredible bands this town has produced. The only thing we would like to see happen to the scene is that it continues to grow and be a staple for the awesome metal fans that reside in Prince George. 7. Where have you performed? What are your favorite and least favorite venues?
We have performed at the infamous Generator as well as the neighboring party hut called Pizzarico’s. We also played the Summit Lake Mudfest in August of ‘09. As for our favorite and least favorite, Mudfest was by far the most fun we’ve had as a band. There will never be a least favorite venue to play as we wholeheartedly love every show we have been a part of.
l January 5
•1969: Marilyn Manson/Brian Warner •1951: Peter ‘Biff ’ Byford of Saxon
l January 6
•1946: Roger “Syd” Barrett of Pink Floyd •1953: Malcolm Young of AC/DC
l January 8
•1935: Elvis Presley •1946: Robby Krieger of The Doors •1947: David Bowie/David Jones/Ziggy Stardust
l January 9
•1944: Jimmy Page of Yardbirds/Led Zeppelin
l January 10
•1955: Michael Schenker of Scorpions/UFO
l January 12
•1965: Rob Zombie/Robert Bartleh Cummings •1970: Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine
l January 13
•1981: Jason James of Bullet for My Valentine
l January 14
•1959: Geoff Tate of Queensryche •1967: Zakk Wylde of Black Label Society/Ozzy •1969: Dave Grohl of Q.O.T.S.A/Foo Fighters/Nirvana
l January 15
•1963: Cronos/Conrad Thomas Lant of Venom •1965: Adam Jones of Tool/The Melvins
l January 17
•1948: Mick Taylor of Rolling Stones •1963: Kai Hansen of Gamma Ray/Iron Savior •1971: Jon Wysocki of Staind
birthdays •1982: Alex Varkatzas of Atreyu •1985: Simone Simons of Epica
l January 18
•1971: Jonathan Davis of KoRn/Sexart •1982: Quinn Allman of The Used
l January 19
•1945: Rod Evans of Deep Purple
l January 20
•1951: Ian Hill of Judas Priest •1952: Paul Stanley of Kiss •1971: Derrick Green of Sepultura •1979: Robert Gregory Bourdon of Linkin Park
l January 21
•1954: Nigel Glockler of Saxon
l January 22
•1965: Steve Adler of Guns N’ Roses/Adler’s Appitite
l January 24
•1984: Witold “Vitek” Kieltyka of Decapitated/Dies Irae/ Panzer X
l January 26
•1955: Eddie Van Halen •1975: Willie Adler of Lamb of God •1986: Matt Heafy of Trivium/Capharnaum
l January 27
•1756: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart •1944: Nick Mason of Pink Floyd •1951: Brian Downey of Thin Lizzy •1968: Mike Patton of Faith No More
l January 28
•1963: Dan Spitz of Anthrax
l January 29
•1952: Tommy Ramone/Thomas Erdelyi of The Ramones •1961: Eddie Jackson of Queensrÿche
l January 31
•1956: Johnny Rotten/John Lydon of Sex Pistols •1964: Jeff Hanneman of Slayer
8. Which songs do you perform most frequently? Do you ever play any covers? Do you have a set play list?
We have two staple songs, the faster and more brutal song “The Hanging” and the slightly down-tempo, melodic and epic sounding “Of War and Warriors”. We have never played covers to this point as we have been trying to make a name for our own music but this doesn’t mean we are opposed to covers, they just need to be very well chosen. Our set list typically changes every show, but we do have some songs that must be played back to back as they flow well together and set the mood of our show. 9. Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs? Do you think these topics will change over time?
JANUARY 2010 THE INFORMER page 12