In my first opportunity to work with Bearded Gentlemen, I was granted the task of interviewing Brian McClelland of Seattle’s He Whose Ox Is Gored along with fellow B.G.M. writer, Jon Robertson. He Whose Ox Is Gored expertly blends a number of different genres such as doom, shoegaze, and post rock into their special brand of heavy metal. The resultant product includes their brilliant new album, The Camel, The Lion, The Child, which was released on October 9th. Make sure to get out and see He Whose Ox Is Gored on tour if they are coming to your area!
Hello! My name is Cody Davis, I’m a recent member to Bearded Gentlemen and I also run The Amalgam. Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions today. I’m sure you’re all busy travelling and touring at the moment so I truly appreciate this opportunity. I’m a huge fan of your work.
I could be wrong, but “He Whose Ox Is Gored” or at least the concept of oxen getting gored is a reference to the Book of Exodus. Are their religious or spiritual roots in any of the members that make their way into the music or am I reading too much into it?
Yeah man, definitely. The name is old testament on purpose, but our philosophy is a little different. None of us are really ‘religious’ per se, but everyone definitely has their own ideas about spirituality. It seems silly in a modern age to believe in the lore side of religion, fairytales and all. Just be a good dude, you know?
CD: From what I have read, The Camel, The Lion, The Child had been in the works for quite a while. In a prior interview you did with Jon here at Bearded Gentlemen back in 2014, you mentioned the album was complete but you were hung up in finding a label for it. How did you all ultimately over a year later come to release the album through Bleeding Light?
Paul reached out to us over Twitter after the Season 5 finale of Breaking Bad. We spent a bunch of time talking shit in the middle of the night from across the country, and he eventually shot us an email and offered to put some stuff out. We actually did the Rumors 7” with him first, and it was such a fun experience, we knew we had to do the full-length with him.
JR: Did the album go through any additional edits or changes in the years since its been done?
I’ve lost count of how many times we mixed and mastered it now. I just cleaned up my computer the other day and found seven different mixes or so and three or four masters. Plus there are demos and instrumentals, and multiples of some of those even. We really threw the shit at the wall, man.
CD: How did you all come to work with Matt Bayles on the new album? I can certainly recognize his presence on the album.
Ah, yeah. I love Matt. We met him a few years ago with some friends after we had already done some tracking at his studio, Red Room. He was really down to earth and we knew we wanted to work with him immediately. Not to mention that he’s made some of my all-time favorite fucking albums. It was a real honor that he took us on.
CD: Do all of you have a part in writing lyrics or is there one individual who is responsible for that?
Lisa and I have written all of the lyrics so far, but there are new songs that we’re working on now, that have more input from everyone else, too. Most of the time, we all kind of focus on our instrumental parts, listen to each other to make sure they fit, and cross check after tracking. It’s like a game of Jenga. Occasionally, we’ll help each other with a little editing or rearranging, but mostly, the parts we perform were written by each of us.
CD: What secret ingredient did you put in The Camel, The Lion, The Child that makes it so tasty and addictive?
Personal anguish.
JR: Any meaning behind the album title?
Yeah. The Camel, The Lion, The Child is a reference to Thus Spake Zarathustra by Nietzsche. We’ve all talked quite a bit about the different concepts lyrically and musically with each other, and everyone has their own sort of take on it, but it’s a record about self-actualization & nihilism in the modern world.
JR: It must be nice to have a bunch of new music come out within the past year with the Rumors EP and now the full length. What was the wait like between releases and is there any new material in the works?
We’ve been keeping busy enough between releases. We tour as much as possible while still being mostly independent, but we always want to do more. Earlier this year we recorded a couple new tracks for Fainting Room Collective’s Triple Six 7” Series in Seattle. Those will be coming out next year. And we may or may not be testing those songs live. Maybe.
CD: Do each of you have a favorite song or a song that you connect with more on the new album? If so, why?
Man, that’s tough. They kind of all go through different phases. I’m really proud of this record in that it’s still fun for us to listen to even after the amount of time and intensive work we gone through with it. I think my personal favorite is Crusade. I love the YOB-meets-Smashing Pumpkins vibe in the first half and the Radiohead ‘Knives Out’ vibe toward the end. It’ll probably be something else next week.
JR: Do you prefer going on a solo tour where you kind of count on the venue to book the other acts for the night or a set tour with a few bands? I’ve heard that sharing the bill with local bands can be a complete nightmare sometimes.
Well, that depends on the locals, haha. We’ve mostly toured independently as of now, but we’re looking seriously at more package tours for next year, as well as some possible European booking. The thing that’s cool is that after the amount of time we’ve spent on the road, we’ve come to know a ton of really cool bands from all over the place, and it’s awesome to see them grow and change in their own journey with music. Working with those bands and friends is really in a lot of ways what’s put us where we’re at now.
CD: What kind of preparation goes into getting ready for a tour like the one you’re on now and what are some of your essentials that you take for life during a tour?
Screenprinting merch, inventory, van maintenance, scheduling, practice, press, booking, etc, etc, etc. There’s always stuff that you don’t get to when preparing, so at a certain point, you just have to let go. It’s like, buzzer goes off and it’s hands up. I also don’t even really pack until they start the van, haha. After a while too, it’s like, the more you take with you, the more of a bummer it is to keep hauling shit around or loading and unloading all of this extra junk. Everyone has their own thing, though. I bring all of the phone chargers. I’ll straight steal all the chargers in my house, I don’t care at all. There’s so much going on on tour, I can have my phone dead for one second without missing some shit.
CD: This is a favorite question of mine to ask because it kind of gives some insight into personal influences and inspirations for your music. If you could assemble a dream tour for HWOIG, whom would you put on that tour? It can be any current or former band.
That’s a great question. Right now, I’d probably say Sannhet, Balance & Composure, and OX. And Soundgarden. And the Beatles. That’ll sell some tickets, right?
CD: What are some of your favorite things to do outside of HWOIG? Do you have any hobbies or other side projects to keep yourselves occupied?
I play drums in a band called The Great Goddamn that’s pretty sweat, no big deal. Lisa recently worked on a record from Pegadeath that features members of Brothers of the Sonic Cloth and Helms Alee. She also fills in with Mike’s drone-feels project, Noon Moon. John plays drums for a band called Oranges from the President as well. Everyone takes on studio work or temporary projects from time to time, too. I’d say I have a hobby outside of music, but I can’t remember what the hell it is.
JR: Lastly, if you were to get a tattoo of a piece of pizza on your body? Where would you put it and what toppings would be on it?
Like this?
Thank you again for your time and making fantastic music. It’s really exciting being able to pick your brains a little bit and get some insight into you all. I’m hoping you all can find your way out to North Carolina eventually. You all are a perfect band for the Hopscotch Music Festival that is hosted in Raleigh each year. You should definitely look into that! Best of luck with the rest of your tour!
Thanks for talking with us, man. We’ll have to come out and hang with you soon.