A Storm of Light Interview
by Mark Hensch
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Few bands boast a pedigree quite like Brooklyn, New York's A Storm of Light. From day one, the band has featured members of Unsane, Red Sparowes, Tombs and Neurosis as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Releasing the titanic yet lush And We Wept the Black Ocean Within in 2008, the band showed that it could appreciate its impressive heritage while still swimming in new currents. As 2009 unfolds, A Storm of Light continues brewing their expansive sound, the largest thunderheads still on the horizon. I sat down with the visionary Josh Graham and talked about influence, innovation, and integrity.
Mark Hensch of Thrashpit.com: Thanks Josh for speaking with me today. It is an honor given how much of an impact the bands you have played in have had on heavy music.
Josh Graham (guitars, keyboards, and lead vocals): Thanks man. I always appreciate interest in the band and its work.
Thrashpit.com: Let's start with an easy one. Where did you guys come up with the name A Storm of Light and what does it mean to you?
Josh: The name just came together. We had this one jam session where one of us came up with it and the name just stuck. It has several different layers of meaning behind it. It represents the environmental message that lies at the heart of our music, a sort of illumination of how important our world is.
Thrashpit.com: A Storm of Light's roster has contained a lot of diversity from day one. How do people from Neurosis, Tombs and Sinking Ships all know each other? How did you get to the A Storm of Light listeners hear today?
Josh: I moved to New York and once there I ended up living on the same street as our bassist Dominic. He is also a member of Tombs. As we started hanging out and playing music together things just clicked. I like being in a band with people I am friends with. He and I get along really well so that is where the connection with Tombs started.
As for our drummer Andy, he is in Sinking Ships and we just started hanging out through Dominic.
Thrashpit.com: Let's talk about A Storm of Light's first-full length album. And We Wept the Black Ocean Within is a pretty ominous title. Who came up with it and what are you hopefully conveying within the name?
Josh: There are a couple different meanings within the title but I actually found the inspiration for it in an Irish folk song about the bog bodies. The bog bodies are those peopled that drowned in the peat bogs and came out mummified in this black, inky filth. One of the lyrics from the song spoke of "weeping a river from within." The actual victims from the bog were virtually ossified in this sort of natural inky substance. I already had all the lyrics and artwork before finding this so now I can actually fit it all together with the title. The blood of the whales I mention can be related to oil which is black and suffocating like the peat.
Thrashpit.com: Thematically speaking, the album is drenched in imagery which recalls the ocean, water and boundlessness. Why are these topics so important to A Storm of Light?
Josh: Right now the band has three releases planned. This one, the first album of the three, talks about the devastation man has brought against the natural world by way of discussing the polluted oceans. It has this whaling ship which could just be interpreted in the context of an epic whaling voyage but could be observed at a deeper level.
The next album deals with a future ice age, with these glaciers crawling across the Northern Hemisphere before melting and drowning most of the Southern Hemisphere. The song lyrics span a few million years in scope. It is somewhat circular given that nature perpetuates the acts of destruction and out of it comes the possibility of creation once again. It will be out in September or October. We actually are playing a song off it tonight.
The third and final recording is about the Earth waking up out of its slumber and wiping out humanity. It observes the peace that follows before the sun dies (laughs)
Thrashpit.com: It seems that the dichotomy between light and darkness, soft and heavy is very important to And We Wept the Black Ocean Within. Do you feel your band fits more comfortably in any one side? Why or why not?
Josh: It is funny as I do not really know. I do not think A Storm of Light is a metal band. I love metal music but sometimes it gets completely overwhelming. The next record will focus more on vocal harmonies and softer atmospheres I do not associate with metal.
Thrashpit.com: Do you see your band as fitting in any one genre then?
Josh: Not really. It is weird because we play with metal bands but we are not just a metal band. Some have called it post-rock but I am not sure I like that. It seems like it does not give much of a description. Maybe there is not a name for it yet. Either way, some of the bands we play with are not like us at all.
Thrashpit.com: There is an old saying that a musician is his harshest critic. With this in mind, what is your favorite song on And We Wept the Black Ocean Within and why?
Josh: That is a tough question. I guess if I had to pick I would probably say "Iron Heart." It was the first song I sang on while in a band and I did not really know what I could accomplish vocally. That song gave me a benchmark, this place where I knew what my strengths look like.
Thrashpit.com: Following And We Wept the Black Ocean Within, your band did a split with Nadja entitled Primitive North. How well did you think it turned out? Do you guys mesh well with Nadja or are you very different?
Josh: Nadja is awesome and I am very happy with how that split turned out. They are a cool band and we played with them quite a bit over in Europe last year.
Thrashpit.com: You have for a long time been involved with the visual aspect of Neurosis. What comments (if any) can you make about how your time with that band has influenced your art?
Josh: For me the visuals are part of the artwork and the artwork is part of the song. It is all related. I like to balance all the aspects of the art with one another. Everything influences everything else and that is reflected in the final showing.
Thrashpit.com: Besides Neurosis, you founded the band Red Sparowes. What inspired you to leave them behind and do A Storm of Light as your main project instead?
Josh: I was so tired of Red Sparowes. I wanted to play heavier stuff but we just did not do it. My first recordings with A Storm of Light almost felt like exorcising that fact. I enjoyed it but there were so many influences I just could not get out in that band. It made me frustrated some times. My drummer in the new band once joked about why I was even in that band, given that they were not heavy at all (laughs).
Thrashpit.com: Let's talk about tonight's show. How did this tour with Krallice and Wolves in the Throne Room come about? How has it been going so far?
Josh: We all have the same booking agent and this is the first night. It has been really cool and none of us have ever played together before. We actually met Wolves over in Europe but never got the chance to do a gig with them. This will actually be my first time seeing them in concert (laughs). I think all of these bands are a good fit with us.
Thrashpit.com: Last question! What do you think the future holds for A Storm of Light?
Josh: We have already toured Europe twice so we want to do more gigs in America. Besides the aforementioned record coming out this fall, we may have some concert plans with another band but it is a bit early to be speaking about that.
Thrashpit.com: Thank you once again Josh! I hope that you guys have a fantastic gig tonight and I look forward to hearing more from A Storm of Light.
Josh: You are welcome. Thanks for talking and I hope you enjoy the rest of the concert!
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