If you are like me the aggressive sound of the 90’s resonated with you with bands like Alice In Chains, Soundgarden and of course, Stabbing Westward. For those who crave that sound still fear not because Christopher Hall, the former mouthpiece for Stabbing has a new record dropping under his band The Dreaming. Three records deep and they have hit their stride with a massive dose of angst and balls to spare that is Rise Again. Rise Again picks up where the real Stabbing Westward left off and it will not disappoint.
An interview with Christopher Hall of The Dreaming
By Jeffrey Easton
Metal Exiles: The first two Dreaming albums were great in their own right so what was the goal for Rise Again?
Christopher Hall: The first two records were good and I am proud of them but they were not what I was trying to do. It seems that every we would do a record we would have a determination for how we wanted to sound and be perceived but then some outside or internal force would derail the goal. When you are making the record it becomes this forward momentum, it takes on a life of its own so its hard to have perspective when you are inside it. It is also hard to stop momentum when its going because when you are in the studio everything is expensive, people are pushing you to get things done In a hurry. For our first album we had a manager that thought we would be more marketable if we would sound more rock, not industrial, less Stabbing Westward. That sound was not happening at the time because the sound was all about My Chemical Romance and Avenged Sevenfold. We were not trying to sound like those bands but the guy who was managing us, the guy who was producing us and mixing us was trying to get us to sound like what was on the radio. I do not agree because by the time it gets to radio that sound is done, it’s over and the only way to be a great band is to define yourself in your own sound. The second record was the same scenario where we signed to this small label and the guy was playing the album for all of his radio buddies and that was at the time everyone was sounding like Seether or they had some screamo voice and Buckcherry was having a resurgence. So the label guy was trying to get us to sound like Buckcherry, asking me if I could sing harder and I said no and “Josh cannot sing as high and as pretty as I can either”. We have all have these things that we do, just let me sing and stop trying to turn me into something I am not. I would tell them believe it or not I know what I am doing, I have had a couple of big records. Now we are on Metropolis which is great because they told me they like what I do, they loved Stabbing Westward, go do what you want and we will support you and that was very liberating to us.
Metal Exiles: Getting on Metropolis and getting Walter Flakus back, do you think those were the final pieces needed to realize what you wanted?
Christopher: Yeah, I would say you are right. Walter was a major part of it and inviting Carlton Bost back in the band after he was gone last year was also a big part of it. I think the biggest change on this album was for the last ten years I have been trying to do it myself, I have basically tried to be Trent Reznor and do all of the music myself and just have the guys in my band just play the part and maybe contribute on some level. I would always have some stranglehold on it to prove to myself and the guys that were in Stabbing Westward that I could do it myself. When Walter and I started writing music together again I suddenly realized that I am better with this guy, this guy I have written all of those hits with, I am better with him than without him. So by letting go of my ego and the determination to prove to a world who could care less who writes what because nobody gives a shit besides me. So by letting Carlton and Walter to contribute ideas that I would have never thought of it just made it better.
Metal Exiles: You have been to the top of the heap with Stabbing Westward so why did you think you had to prove anything to anybody?
Christopher: I think it was more about proving to the guys in Stabbing Westward and to the people who were non-believers. When I was in Stabbing a lot of the songs had Walter writing the music and myself writing the words and vocal melodies. There would be a few songs that I would write on my own and I always felt as though they were dismissed by the band, the drummer wouldn’t even play on them; I would use a drum programmer. When Stabbing broke up and I was determined to keep going I had this chip on my shoulder to prove something but I never knew who I had to prove it to. The only thing I ended up showing people was that I was stubborn.
Metal Exiles: Where did you go mentally to come up with some of the more personal lyrics, especially Alone.
Christopher: I wrote Alone right after Stabbing broke up, I ended up writing some things and Alone was one of them. The guys I was with at the time wrote some music for it but it didn’t do anything for me. When we started writing for this album Walter sent me a piece of music which was basically the intro for Alone and the moment I heard that music I started singing Alone which I hadn’t thought of in ten years. I did not even occur to me that it was in the back of my head but I hummed the melody and it was a perfect fit. I did not have to change anything about the music and I did not have to change the vocals, it was perfect. When I was in Stabbing I felt that I was a cross between Dr. Drew and Dr. Phil because of the lyrics I wrote everybody felt I understood who they were and what their problems were, that they wanted to confide in me. The Stabbing song Save Yourself was about that, I can’t help you because I am just as messed up as you are, all I do is write and sing about it but I do not have the answers to anything. I think Alone is the same idea but rather than saying I can’t help you I realized I can help by pointing out that you are not the only one that feels like that, like you are isolated from the world and nobody feels like you.
Metal Exiles: Throw It Away seems extremely personal, where were you writing from with that?
Christopher: Throw It Away is very personal, possibly the deepest thing I have written.
Metal Exiles: How do you feel about baring your soul like that?
Christopher: That’s weird because I am married with a kid so life is good but it’s not always that good. It’s weird to write about our personal life on that level but it is an apology song but it is scary when I look at my wife when this song comes on.
Metal Exiles: You do want the fans to make songs about themselves so they can see it from their point of view
Christopher: That one is a little tricky to make about yourself but a lot of people have been down that road where they had secrets they hid from their partner thinking it was ok to do that. But with so many secrets you are slowly destroying something in your life.
Metal Exiles: I more relate to Blink Of An Eye.
Christopher: That is me being a crotchety old man. I cannot stand someone sitting there staring at their fucking phones. You are putting on a concert and out of the 500 there 480 of them are staring at their phones facebooking or texting or videotaping you while you are literally sweating on them. All I can think of is what is wrong with this generation? The mentality is if you don’t take a picture of it or video tape it it did not happen.
Metal Exiles: Is the title track your new mantra?
Christopher: That was the mantra for this album. We had a lot of problems in the past so you can take away everything from the band and we will simply start over and do a new album because you can’t stop us because we have the drive and the will.
Metal Exiles: It is a powerful release and you have a strong will to create. What is the motivating factor to keep creating music after so long?
Christopher: I just love doing it, I love creating music. It keeps me going, it keeps me alive. It certainly isn’t for the money because as most people can attest there isn’t any money in the music industry any more.
Metal Exiles: What led to the deal with Metropolis and what are your thoughts about Rise Again dropping on vinyl?
Christopher: I love the fact that we are coming out on Metropolis; it has been our goal since day one to get signed to Metropolis. When Walter and I started Stabbing our goal was to get on Wax Trax, which was the coolest label at the time. We ended up on Sony which was a lot bigger but not as cool. To me Metropolis is the modern day Wax Trax, they have the greatest bands of our genre, period. I could never seem to get on the label on my own and managers did not want us to sign to Metropolis because they had greed in their eyes and kept telling us we are going to get you a major deal. We finally got a new manager after everything fell apart and he is the one who got us in with Metropolis and we owe him everything for that. Metropolis has allowed us to do whatever we wanted to do and it has been amazing.
Metal Exiles: I know metropolis likes to have their bands on the road so what are your plans to support Rise Again?
Christopher: We have tour dates for the West Coast lined up for March. What we are doing right now is instead of doing a straight eight or ten week tour we are trying to break up onto three parts, West Coast, Midwest and the East. This is selfishly for me because I have a kid at home. We would like to hook up with a major tour, maybe a support slot but for now that is our plan
Metal Exiles: Last words for the fans?
Christopher: Thanks for hanging in there and supporting what we do.
Official The Dreaming Site
BUY Rise Again
An interview with Christopher Hall of The Dreaming
By Jeffrey Easton
Metal Exiles: The first two Dreaming albums were great in their own right so what was the goal for Rise Again?
Christopher Hall: The first two records were good and I am proud of them but they were not what I was trying to do. It seems that every we would do a record we would have a determination for how we wanted to sound and be perceived but then some outside or internal force would derail the goal. When you are making the record it becomes this forward momentum, it takes on a life of its own so its hard to have perspective when you are inside it. It is also hard to stop momentum when its going because when you are in the studio everything is expensive, people are pushing you to get things done In a hurry. For our first album we had a manager that thought we would be more marketable if we would sound more rock, not industrial, less Stabbing Westward. That sound was not happening at the time because the sound was all about My Chemical Romance and Avenged Sevenfold. We were not trying to sound like those bands but the guy who was managing us, the guy who was producing us and mixing us was trying to get us to sound like what was on the radio. I do not agree because by the time it gets to radio that sound is done, it’s over and the only way to be a great band is to define yourself in your own sound. The second record was the same scenario where we signed to this small label and the guy was playing the album for all of his radio buddies and that was at the time everyone was sounding like Seether or they had some screamo voice and Buckcherry was having a resurgence. So the label guy was trying to get us to sound like Buckcherry, asking me if I could sing harder and I said no and “Josh cannot sing as high and as pretty as I can either”. We have all have these things that we do, just let me sing and stop trying to turn me into something I am not. I would tell them believe it or not I know what I am doing, I have had a couple of big records. Now we are on Metropolis which is great because they told me they like what I do, they loved Stabbing Westward, go do what you want and we will support you and that was very liberating to us.
Metal Exiles: Getting on Metropolis and getting Walter Flakus back, do you think those were the final pieces needed to realize what you wanted?
Christopher: Yeah, I would say you are right. Walter was a major part of it and inviting Carlton Bost back in the band after he was gone last year was also a big part of it. I think the biggest change on this album was for the last ten years I have been trying to do it myself, I have basically tried to be Trent Reznor and do all of the music myself and just have the guys in my band just play the part and maybe contribute on some level. I would always have some stranglehold on it to prove to myself and the guys that were in Stabbing Westward that I could do it myself. When Walter and I started writing music together again I suddenly realized that I am better with this guy, this guy I have written all of those hits with, I am better with him than without him. So by letting go of my ego and the determination to prove to a world who could care less who writes what because nobody gives a shit besides me. So by letting Carlton and Walter to contribute ideas that I would have never thought of it just made it better.
Metal Exiles: You have been to the top of the heap with Stabbing Westward so why did you think you had to prove anything to anybody?
Christopher: I think it was more about proving to the guys in Stabbing Westward and to the people who were non-believers. When I was in Stabbing a lot of the songs had Walter writing the music and myself writing the words and vocal melodies. There would be a few songs that I would write on my own and I always felt as though they were dismissed by the band, the drummer wouldn’t even play on them; I would use a drum programmer. When Stabbing broke up and I was determined to keep going I had this chip on my shoulder to prove something but I never knew who I had to prove it to. The only thing I ended up showing people was that I was stubborn.
Metal Exiles: Where did you go mentally to come up with some of the more personal lyrics, especially Alone.
Christopher: I wrote Alone right after Stabbing broke up, I ended up writing some things and Alone was one of them. The guys I was with at the time wrote some music for it but it didn’t do anything for me. When we started writing for this album Walter sent me a piece of music which was basically the intro for Alone and the moment I heard that music I started singing Alone which I hadn’t thought of in ten years. I did not even occur to me that it was in the back of my head but I hummed the melody and it was a perfect fit. I did not have to change anything about the music and I did not have to change the vocals, it was perfect. When I was in Stabbing I felt that I was a cross between Dr. Drew and Dr. Phil because of the lyrics I wrote everybody felt I understood who they were and what their problems were, that they wanted to confide in me. The Stabbing song Save Yourself was about that, I can’t help you because I am just as messed up as you are, all I do is write and sing about it but I do not have the answers to anything. I think Alone is the same idea but rather than saying I can’t help you I realized I can help by pointing out that you are not the only one that feels like that, like you are isolated from the world and nobody feels like you.
Metal Exiles: Throw It Away seems extremely personal, where were you writing from with that?
Christopher: Throw It Away is very personal, possibly the deepest thing I have written.
Metal Exiles: How do you feel about baring your soul like that?
Christopher: That’s weird because I am married with a kid so life is good but it’s not always that good. It’s weird to write about our personal life on that level but it is an apology song but it is scary when I look at my wife when this song comes on.
Metal Exiles: You do want the fans to make songs about themselves so they can see it from their point of view
Christopher: That one is a little tricky to make about yourself but a lot of people have been down that road where they had secrets they hid from their partner thinking it was ok to do that. But with so many secrets you are slowly destroying something in your life.
Metal Exiles: I more relate to Blink Of An Eye.
Christopher: That is me being a crotchety old man. I cannot stand someone sitting there staring at their fucking phones. You are putting on a concert and out of the 500 there 480 of them are staring at their phones facebooking or texting or videotaping you while you are literally sweating on them. All I can think of is what is wrong with this generation? The mentality is if you don’t take a picture of it or video tape it it did not happen.
Metal Exiles: Is the title track your new mantra?
Christopher: That was the mantra for this album. We had a lot of problems in the past so you can take away everything from the band and we will simply start over and do a new album because you can’t stop us because we have the drive and the will.
Metal Exiles: It is a powerful release and you have a strong will to create. What is the motivating factor to keep creating music after so long?
Christopher: I just love doing it, I love creating music. It keeps me going, it keeps me alive. It certainly isn’t for the money because as most people can attest there isn’t any money in the music industry any more.
Metal Exiles: What led to the deal with Metropolis and what are your thoughts about Rise Again dropping on vinyl?
Christopher: I love the fact that we are coming out on Metropolis; it has been our goal since day one to get signed to Metropolis. When Walter and I started Stabbing our goal was to get on Wax Trax, which was the coolest label at the time. We ended up on Sony which was a lot bigger but not as cool. To me Metropolis is the modern day Wax Trax, they have the greatest bands of our genre, period. I could never seem to get on the label on my own and managers did not want us to sign to Metropolis because they had greed in their eyes and kept telling us we are going to get you a major deal. We finally got a new manager after everything fell apart and he is the one who got us in with Metropolis and we owe him everything for that. Metropolis has allowed us to do whatever we wanted to do and it has been amazing.
Metal Exiles: I know metropolis likes to have their bands on the road so what are your plans to support Rise Again?
Christopher: We have tour dates for the West Coast lined up for March. What we are doing right now is instead of doing a straight eight or ten week tour we are trying to break up onto three parts, West Coast, Midwest and the East. This is selfishly for me because I have a kid at home. We would like to hook up with a major tour, maybe a support slot but for now that is our plan
Metal Exiles: Last words for the fans?
Christopher: Thanks for hanging in there and supporting what we do.
Official The Dreaming Site
BUY Rise Again
