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James Murphy, once the guitarist of Death, Obituary,
Testament, Disincarnate, etc., playing Chuck Schuldiner’s
music surrounded by very special guests: that, in
short, is the ‘Within The Mind’ project,
coming out next months. It’s expected to be
a worthy tribute to a milestone of the scene, by somebody
who knew him well. Schuldiner’s
family is probably right: there’s no one better
than James Murphy to take care of a tribute to Chuck
and Death’s music. An outstanding persona of
American death metal, not only did he share the stage
with Chuck while in his band, but he had to face a
serious health issue just when Chuck was fighting
with cancer, eventually losing his battle. Two men
on kind of parallel roads, leading them to play together
in the same band (on the ‘Spiritual Healing’
album: a title that sounds a bit weird), but then
they parted ways (not so amicably, it seems), until
they got closer again in the hardest moments, as James
tells us. So it’s no surprise he’ll work
on ‘Within The Mind’, the official tribute
to Death. Our interview starts from this to reach
wider subjects: Chuck’s memory, James’s
illness (a brain tumor which seems under control now),
and future plans… but let him speak now.
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“(James
Murphy) Actually the idea wasn’t mine,
it came from Darren Miller of CKY. In the beginning
I wasn’t so much into it, it didn’t seem
to be a good idea to me; I feared Chuck’s family
wouldn’t have approve, so I was a bit hesitant.
But Darren pressed so much with this project so I
decided to call Chuck’s family to know what
they thought about it. They liked the idea and gave
me the ok, telling me they preferred me doing it over
anyone else. At that point I started to contact musicians
that may have interested in it, and I got a positive
feedback… Soon it was no longer me calling people,
but them contacting me to know how to be part of this
thing. So the number of people participating began
to grow, and the track list evolved. The idea was
to have as many people as possible, not only those
who played with him, but also those who love his music
and were influenced by it.” |
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How did you choose the songs to put into the record?
With such a discography, it wasn’t easy.
“The only thing that mattered is to have songs
from every album of the band. We have already chosen
the songs, but I don’t want to tell, because
there would be complaints and that’s not what
I want to hear now. By the way we’ll put 13
or 16 songs on the record. I let everybody choose
his favorite, with his feelings, without setting
rules.”
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Did you try to stick to the original ones or will
there be changes in the arrangements or structures
of the tunes?
“It won’t be just copies of songs everybody
knows, they will be brand new versions. I didn’t
mean to blueprint what Chuck already did, it’d
be meaningless: it was a tribute to his music, I
let everyone do their best their way. Richard Christy,
for example, played with him, but he recorded on
four songs prior to ‘The Sound Of Perseverance’,
to get his personal performance.”
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It could stupefy someone to have guys from bands
like Slipknot and Mudvayne, they don’t seem
to be influenced by Chuck’s music that much…
“Actually Mudvayne are not confirmed at 100%
yet, so I can’t assure you they’ll be
on the tribute. About Slipknot, yes, they’re
confirmed. I see it can be strange, their involvement,
but if you think about it, they’re very heavy.
Mike and Paul have been influenced very much by
metal in general, and they’re big fans of
Chuck and his music. Nevertheless, they’re
very good players. I can assure you their background
is very metal (not only death, of course), and all
of them have been influenced by Chuck.”
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| Isn’t
it hard to keep all these musicians together
in a single project?
“Well, it wasn’t so hard, really.
This kind of thing is a very tough work, and
that’s been a problem, ‘cause
physically I’m not at 100% yet. Musically,
it was very easy, I just had to say who has
to play what, for the rest, they’re
great players, easy to get along with. Obviously
you have to keep all the working schedules
together to get the record done, and this
is what takes longer!” |
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You said you’re not at 100% yet, how
is your health now? How’s the rehab
going on after the delicate surgical strike?
“I’m improving, though I still
have to undergo therapy and get back to the
hospital once in while, and it’s not
a pleasure, sure enough. Beyond I have to
take some medicines with very strong side
effects I must deal with… that’s
not easy either. I have to get the resistance
back and I have problems with some glands
I have to keep under control, but it’s
all side effects I said before. It takes time…
and a lot of patience, unfortunately…”
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Notwithstanding this, it seems you’re
keeping yourself busy again, aren’t
you? I read you got many projects on your
hands now…
“Yeah, beyond Chuck’s tribute
I’m working on production of other artists.
In a few I’m going to be in New York
to record some parts of the tribute with the
boys from Shadows Fall, then I’ll have
a couple of CDs to produce or mix. I’m
also working on new Disincarnate album but
I should write more and at this moment I don’t
have the time needed to do it, and I don’t
know when I’ll get all these things
done.”
About
the tribute to Schuldiner, when do you think
it will be ready?
“For now it’s hard to be exact.
Everyone has his schedule, and some of them
are important too, so it will take time before
it’s all finished. At the moment I have
five drum tracks, two vocal tracks and one
of bass done, so there’s still work
to do, you know.”
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James, you played with Chuck for some time.
What’s your memory of Schuldiner as
a man and musician?
“Well, it was long ago, ‘cause
I worked with him in early ‘90s. In
the last times before he died we kept in
touch again: he changed, he was a very different
person, I felt him closer to me than ever,
more than when we used to play together.
We were on kind of parallel roads, I don’t
mean just the health problems: I remember
him as a dedicated guy who believed in his
music and was coherent with himself. He
never accepted any compromise and so was
he until the end and his family is keeping
alive his attitude and will.”
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Just about this, how’s it been with
the Schuldiners? You know, lately there’s
a whole buzz, especially on the release of
the second Control Denied album…
“As far as it concerns me, I have only
good things to say about the Schuldiner family,
they don’t deserve any of the bad things
that were thrown on them. Chuck’s mom
and sister know better than anyone else what
his last desires and wills were. The same
about the Control Denied album Chuck was working
on: the other bandmates don’t know either
what he had in mind. I can’t tell you
how it’s going to end with Control Denied,
but I like what his family is doing. We have
a good relationship.”
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Did they give you any
suggestion or advise on how to go on with
the project?
“No,
never. They told me they trusted me and I
could do as I liked. At this time I’m
getting many offers from people wishing to
be on the record, but I won’t tell their
names ‘cause I don’t want to create
alternatives that maybe won’t come true.
All I can say is we have a full song and it’s
fantastic! This can’t make me anything
but optimistic about the following work…”
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