(Loudside managed to catch up with Unearth guitarist Buz McGrath during a brief period of downtime, as the band prepares for their upcoming tour as sole support to Slayer. Here's what Buz had to say about the new album, shooting videos, and the upcoming tour)

Loudside.com: What's goin on man?

Buz: Ahh not much, sitting around the house, fartin around doing 'human' things.

Loudside.com: Got a little time off huh?

Buz: Yeah, we had about 6 weeks. But it's never like true time off ya know. It's always like 'oh we gotta go record a track for this', or 'oh we're gonna do two off shows this weekend, and then you're shooting a video'. So there's always something. Not that I'm complaining, but it's like ya know, we do get time off around christmas, but never truly time off.

Loudside.com:  Cool. So you guys had a pretty good second half of '06 with the album doing pretty well, and you guys have also had some pretty good tours that you were a part of. I wanted to backtrack a bit and ask how the experience was for you guys going back as a 2nd stage headliner at last year's Ozzfest?

Buz: It was good man. We did it back in '04 as one of the rotators, and it was fun. But not that much fun when you have to play at 9:30 in the morning, and god bless those kids for coming out and moshing that early. I thought that was great. But having a set time everyday, I think we played around 2-ish or something, which was really cool cause then your routine pretty much stayed the same. You wake up at the same time, get something to eat at the same time. Whereas when you're a rotator, you wanna get to the catering before it closes, and you stuff your face. And then you run and go play and you just feel like hell. So this year was better, and plus it's kind of a prestige thing where people see your name as one of the headliners. So it's kind of a cool thing from that angle as well.

Loudside.com: Right on. So following that, you also had the headlining tour here in the States with Bleeding Through, who also shared a co-headlining slot with you guys at Ozzfest. And the new record had just recently come out as well. How was that?

Buz: That was a great time man. It's always good to get out right when the record comes out. You get to see how the people are reacting to it. So that's kinda how I guage things. You get to figure out which songs do better live, how much people know the songs. So there was a good amount of experimentation with different songs for that tour. And you know, Bleeding Through was great. We also had Terror, Through The Eyes of the Dead, and Animosity who are all great dudes, and we definitely had a good time.

Loudside.com: Now as far as the record goes and working with Terry Date, how was that compared to working with the producers from previous records?

Buz: It was like...Terry Date is somewhat of an icon in the producing and engineering field. His resume is pretty outstanding, so when we heard that we were gonna get to work with him, we were pretty psyched. And we went in, and it wasn't really like....he wasn't this engineering or producing 'god' that sometimes people think. He was just like this old dude, real relaxed. He made sure that we gave our best performances, and he made it sound good. That was pretty much it ya know. As far as producing, we pretty much did that, ya know. We thought  about the arrangements, and what parts were gonna go where and that was pretty much all of our headaches.

Loudside.com: Now as far as working with other producers in the past, I know that alot of them are guitarists, or vocalists or something to that effect. Did he have any involvement in that regard?

Buz: No, he doesn't play any instrument at all. So that's where he's at with that. Whereas working with someone like Adam D. from Killswitch, when we work with him he is a guitar player. So that makes my life a whole lot easier. But ya know, this was a good challenge for us and I think him forcing us to work out problems kinda brought us together a bit closer. It's just another level of this band maturing.

Loudside.com: Now as far as being in the studio, were you all there the majority of the time, or was each instrument recorded separately, with just that person or a few of you there at any given time?

Buz: No we were all there. We did it in Seattle, and we all lived there for about seven weeks, and we all recorded the instruments in the same room. Basically we set up like a band practice and we had everything mic'd up, but we weren't recording the guitars. They were just there for reference, and we recorded the drums that way. So I think it kinda gives it more of a live feel. A more human feel, when everyone's in the room and everyone's kinda feeling it and the drummers kinda feeding off what's going on around him, rather than just setting up a tempo map and, putting some headphones on and letting him do his thing.

Loudside.com: Basically laying down 'dummy' guitar tracks while he laid down his drum tracks.

Buz: Yeah, then we went over and recorded the actual guitars over afterward.

Loudside.com:  Ok, cool. Now you guys just completed the video for the track "Sanctity of Brothers", which was done by a new guy named Soren, with a treatment from Darren Doane. How did that all work out?

Buz: It was good. I haven't seen it yet. I saw the little trailer that they put up, but I haven't seen the first edit yet, so I'm hoping to get that any day now so I can see the full thing. But it was pretty easy. We just went into like a green screen room, and they filmed us from a few different angles, doing this or that and it was all pretty simple as far as shooting videos goes. The rest is going to be a bunch of special effects thrown in afterward, but it was pretty easy to do.
I mean the first video for this record, "Giles", was strictly all performance. We had to go nuts every single time, for every take, so that wore us out. I do like that one though. But it's so hard not to make a gay video. Cause the concept for a video for heavy metal itself just seems like, nobody likes to do it, you're there faking your music, and it just seems really awkward. So getting it as least gay as possible is our mission.(laughing)

Loudside.com: (laughing) You can't entirely fake the drums though.

Buz: No, it's actually...what's cool is like, the cymbal company that our drummer goes through....they use all of these defective cymbals, and they glue two cymbals together. And they rent those out to bands for video shoots cause they don't make any noise. And the toms and the snare drum all have pads or whatever on them. But he is playing, pretty much.

Loudside.com: Now I just recently seen the trailer for the video as well. What's the deal with all the birds?

Buz: I don't know. honestly. I can't wait to see it though! There's gonna be a conclusion to it that's available online. Like after the video airs. I don't know, it's this whole ordeal. We'll see what happens. I'm not even sure what it's gonna be.

Loudside.com: Ok, but there is a concept obviously.

Buz: Yeah, well we got a treatment for it a while ago, and we're like 'Oh this sounds cool.' And then you kinda just forget about what it was about. You just remember that it didn't suck, and so you're like alright let's go with that. But anything Darren Doane has his hands in is gonna be awesome anyway, so we trust him.

Loudside.com: Now how exactly did you guys find Soren, and what led you guys to choosing him over anybody else that might have been considered?

Buz: He was Darren's boy. I guess he's this clandestine dude somewhere in Poland or wherever the hell he's from. He sits in a room all day and eats lasagna and thinks up crazy ideas. Ya know, just ridiculous enough to work. I mean, every video....it's kinda hard to make something that really stands out ya know. We could try to make a funny video, but the only people who laugh at our jokes are us, so we would think it's funny but everyone else would be like this is the stupidest video ever. I mean we're not as clever as say Mastodon, where they have like some pretty hairy, clever thought out videos. And we're not as cool as Every Time I Die, where they can be funny and do their thing and people kinda get it ya know. We're somewhere in the middle there, we really don't know what to do.

Loudside.com: Ok, so this is actually the first video where you guys are going to have special effects and digital animation, right?

Buz: Yeah, again I haven't seen the whole thing so there's not a whole lot I can tell you about it. I was hoping to get something by the end of the week, but it doesn't look like I'm getting any cuts of it just yet.

Loudside.com: So you guys get a few rough cuts and kinda get to decide what you like versus what you don't?

Buz: Yeah, we tweak 'em about two or three times before they release the final product. The teaser is just to give everyone an idea. I mean, there may be portions that will look like that, but nothing definite.

Loudside.com: Ok, so in direct relation to videos, when can we expect to see an official DVD release from Unearth?

Buz: Oh I don't know. Hopefully someday. I mean it's like, we actually bought a camera two years ago to film some of the crazy shit that goes on. But it's like, somebody will be drinking a beer out of somebody's ass or something totally stupid, and then someone's like 'Where's the Camera?" 'Uh, I don't know'. Ya know, when you're up late partying, nobody wants to be the camera dude. So I think it may get to the point where we may need to hire somebody, to be at the ready, full time to film the stuff that goes on. Cause other than that, it's just gonna be like a live performance and maybe some scattered hijinx. But we wanna do it up good. Like the Killswitch video is definitely where the bar is at I think for music, or rather for heavy metal DVD's. And we'd like to make something that would come close to that, so it's gonna take probably a little while. All I can say is eventually. I have no actual time frame to give you for that. (laughing) We're thinking about it, that's the best I can tell ya.

Loudside.com: That's cool. Now I wanted to ask about this upcoming tour with Slayer. Do you know if the tour was put together at some corporate level, or were you hand picked by Slayer themselves?

Buz: I think that Slayer....ya know, they've been hearing our name for a while, and we got to know Kerry King a little bit, we've seen him at a few shows. And I'm sure that once their tour came up, our name got kicked around, and ya know it's like when bands go on tour...it's not like they say 'I like this band, let's take them'. Alot of times it doesn't happen like that. Most times it's like, well this band just put out a record and it's hot right now. And you know, they can add to the draw. And obviously Slayer doesn't need that because they're gonna draw anyway. So I guess maybe there was some kind of selection involved with that. But I don't know man, I'm just happy to be on a tour with them. I think it's great. It's a honor. Those guys have been around for 25 years, and they're still relevant and still putting out heavy music. And one can only hope to aspire to that level.

Loudside.com: Now how big of a tour is this for you guys, being that you've done Ozzfest twice now, including the second time around as a second stage headliner, and you've done Sounds of the Underground. You've basically done some pretty large scale tours. But in terms of influence, how much does it mean to the band to be a part of this tour?

Buz: It definitely means alot, and it's definitely something that you can cross off the list of things that you wanted to do. Not to mention the amount of crazy Slayer fans that out there, that pretty much only go to Slayer shows, and are just Slayer maniacs. So the challenge of trying to win them over, and maybe gain a few new fans is intriguing. Plus I think we play better when it's kinda like, we have something to prove, ya know. Cause you know, there's only two bands which is us and Slayer for most of the shows. And we're gonna be the first guys out there, and there's gonna be some people hating. But hopefully we can get in their face and you know, turn 'em around.

Loudside.com: So how many dates exacty have an extra opening band?

Buz: I think only a small handful, maybe five or six. Thine Eyes Bleed is on a couple of them, and Demiricous is on one.

Loudside.com: Now are you guys at all worried about their rabid fanbase and the potential for being what they call "Slayered"?

Buz: I mean, it's bound to happen, but I don't think it's gonna happen to the point where we get booed off the stage or anything like that. The past couple of Slayer shows I've seen, their fans, or those 'agitators' I guess you can call them, seem to have died down a little bit. And not that Slayer's fan base has died down in any respect, but I think that some of their fans nowadays seem to be more open to opening acts and what not. And I think that since there's only one band before them, they may not be angry enough at that point ya know. So we're just gonna keep playing and not leave any open space of quiet ya know, for somebody to say something stupid. But ya know, it will be fun.

Loudside.com: And how much stage time do you have exactly?

Buz: I think we get like forty five minutes. We still haven't gotten any confirmation on that yet, because haven't hired a stage manager yet. So we're still kind of in the dark about our stage time. But hopefully forty five to an hour. An hour set would be great! I don't see it being any less then forty five minutes though. I'd be surprised if it was.

Loudside.com: Now you guys have incorporated alot of thrash into your sound, and there are some Maiden influences in there. But as far as personal influences go, is there anyone in the band in particular that's heavily influenced by Slayer?

Buz: I would say myself. I'm probably more into Slayer than anyone else in the band is. But when I listen to that music, I don't feel myself getting influenced by it. I mean i enjoy it, but I don't really see that coming out in the music that I create. I mean maybe it does and I don't even know it. But I don't look to them like, say for instance like an In Flames, where it's like Wow, that riff, ya know, I'd like to do something like that, ya know. But yeah, especially this latest record definitely has a real thrash vibe to it. Probably cause it's just so friggin fast ya know. But that's what we wanted to do ya know. Just make something that's really heavy, fast, and aggressive.

Loudside.com: Looking to the future, what else can we look forward to from Unearth after this tour, and for the rest of the year?

Buz: We're gonna do a little secondary market headlining run, and I believe it's looking right now to be us and The Black Dahlia Murder. And that's gonna be in May. Then we're gonna do some overseas stuff. I guess we're lined up for a few of those European festivals this year. We're doing a headlining run in April over there, and I think they're lining up some festival dates right now. As far as like a summer festival goes, that's still up in the air at this point. We may do Japan and Australia, as opposed to doing like Sounds of the Underground or Ozzfest because we've done those for the past three years, and it just seems like it's expected. So we kinda wanna give that a break for a year, and then maybe come back in 2008 and do something. And we'll probably finish the year out with a fall headlining run, and then go back and write another record, and go out and do it all over again........