In From This Flesh’s raw, unfiltered, unvarnished documentary, Cattle Decapitation exposes their creative struggles—from hearing loss to personal loss—delivering brutal honesty, humor, intense reflection, and vulnerability in the Terrasite-making process.
1. Congratulations
on the release of From This Flesh! What motivated the band to
greenlight such an in-depth, introspective documentary about Terrasite and
your overall creative process?
*Laughs out
loud* Honestly, I've been asking myself this for weeks. I guess since honesty
is long-gone from the forward-facing part of entertainment and everyone is just
putting on this happy-go-lucky faux positivity routine all the time on their
socials posturing themselves perfectly, its cool to have something so
unflinchingly real be out there even if it makes us look ridiculous. I think I
counted 3 farts that I did on screen in that thing. After wondering if that was
smart to do or not, I just came to the conclusion of "who gives a
shit." Its not our fault everyone's so full of shit.
2. Travis
mentioned the film is “insightful, intense, funny, sad, and unfiltered.” Was
there any footage or moment during filming that made you pause and reflect
differently on your journey as a band?
I do that
almost every day of my life and have so for many years. So, no, not
necessarily.
3. Terrasite has
been called one of your most emotionally dynamic and conceptually bold records.
How did the documentary capture the emotional and psychological weight behind
making this album?
You can see
the emotional fragility in my face during most of the doc. I had lost a
significant amount of hearing in my left ear a few weeks before we left to
record and I got diagnosed with tinnitus after we got to denver. So for the
first half I'm pretty despondent looking because I was terrified for weeks of
if I was going to even be able to record my parts like usual or not. During the
drum recording I'm actually wearing noise-cancelling range headgear that helped
me control the level going to my ears. The day we were set to start driving to
Denver, I got the call that our good friend and founding member of Cattle
Decapitation - the guy that asked me to join the band - had taken his own life.
This compounded with the stress from the hearing loss sent me spiraling
mentally. Then a couple weeks into the recording the world found out that
Trevor from Black Dahlia had done the same. It was a very dark period and I was
stuck there having to write a record and not able to process my friends' death
correctly. All of that is written all over my face during some scenes. It was
hell being there for 2.5 months with everything that was going on.
4. Working
with Nicholas VanVidler again after the “Finish Them” video—what made him the
ideal person to tell this story?
He really,
really wanted to do it and I knew he had the abilities from the b-roll footage
in the Finish Them video. I just wanted it to have the realness not usually
shown in things like this and for it to be total fly-on-the-wall cinema verite
style and he was on the same page. He's an awesome dude with a great eye and he
knocked it out of the park.
5. After
ten full-length albums, what keeps the creative fire burning for Cattle
Decapitation? Has your songwriting process evolved noticeably over the years?
I've always
said that humanity just keeps on giving me ideas. But that's just lyrically.
Musically, we hit our stride years ago and have found a formula that remains
open for newer ideas. I feel its very noticeable and Death Atlas was a definite
turning point in that.
6. Terrasite dives
deep into themes of humanity’s self-destruction and ecological collapse. How do
you balance personal emotion and global commentary in your lyrics?
I
intertwine them completely. Its all told through a rather bleak, nihilistic
viewpoint that I haven't been able to shake. And looking around at the world
today, I don't see it drying up any time soon. I think it all comes from
depression that manifests as rage. I'm a much more calm person when on the road
because of the affects of the physical exertion that happens. At home, I'm more
in my thoughts, especially when writing lyrics.
7. The
production on Terrasite is immense. What was it like working
with Dave Otero again, and how did he shape the sonic vision of the album?
I love
tracking with Otero. We seem to become linked telepathically and its awesome.
Or maybe its the goodle doc we operate off of lol. Its always great going to
him as we now know more of what to expect both from tracking as well as the
outcome of the record.
8. The
documentary shows the inner workings of your recording process. Was it
challenging to have the camera rolling through vulnerable or frustrating
moments in the studio?
I can't
speak for the others but personally I can tune it out. It probably kept us in
check to be honest, but it wasn't that big of a deal. What was shocking was
that Nick was there filming us for the whole 2.5 month recording session!
That's a lot for someone to just stop their life and do for someone else. I
will always appreciate that he did that.
9. You’ve
described the documentary as something true fans “gotta see.” What do you hope
fans walk away with after watching From This Flesh?
I hope that
they see the humanity on display. The honesty and integrity that's happening
before your eyes. I think 70% of this most bands would cut out as they would
want to be portrayed a certain way. I was like, fuck it, just release it, farts
and all. And there's a ton of farts.
10. You’re
about to embark on an extensive European tour including stops at Hellfest,
Graspop, and Download. What are you most looking forward to about this summer
run?
Hellfest is
cool. I'm not much of a fest guy. Tbh, I personally just want to write. I want
to get back into the creative mode. Again, more honesty that I should probably
keep to myself but it is what it is. I just want to make more music. Like...
NOW.
11. You've
shared the stage with some incredible bands like Skeletal Remains, Incantation,
and Fit For An Autopsy. How does the camaraderie and collective energy of these
lineups impact your live performances?
well... we
haven't done the tour yet haha. I know we've done shows with Incantation and
FFAA, but I don't recall ever doing shows with Skeletal Remains. Maybe a fest
somewhere. Anyways, i try not to worry about what the other bands are doing. I
rarely ever even catch one song from them because I'm either out doing
something or somewhere anxious and pacing.
12. Looking
ahead—does the release of this documentary mark the closing of the Terrasite chapter,
or is there still more to come from this era of Cattle Decapitation?
We have one
more tour about to be announced that's later in the year after this EU tour but
its looking like 2025 will be the closing of the Terrasite cycle. Album cycles
are cut in half now, its a bummer. There's so much going on, so much has
exploded and there's less stuff to do out there now it seems. Or maybe its just
us, whatever. I don't know. I just wanna make new music. We start that
soon!
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