· Hi! Give a brief history of Black Pyramid, music style, and the members.
Andy: Hello, a pleasure to make your acquaintance! Black Pyramid was founded in 2007 by myself and Clay Neely, born out of our mutual desire to form a power trio combining heavy underground music and psychedelic rock. My other band was dissolving, and I was writing some songs in a heavier, more straight-forward model. I really wanted to find some interesting people to play with with similar ambitions. It turned out that Clay was looking for something similar and we were actually living in the same area, so we met at a well known local bar, Packards, to discuss what this new project might look like. I remember that he drank screwdrivers and I drank Guinness, and we got on well rather well, discussing music from the past, present, and hopefully our future. I also remember asking him what his favorite modern heavy band was, and without a hesitation he said, “High On Fire.” Right then I knew that this was going to click.
We first practiced in my garage as a two piece hashing out arrangements for the tracks that would eventually end up on our first 7” and album. We auditioned some bassists, Eric Beaudry joined initially, and three of us came up with the band’s name. We recorded our first 7”, which was cool. We soon after moved our base of operations to Clay’s studio, started gigging, and continued writing for the first album.
Over the years, Black Pyramid has had
several different lineups. Gein was
brought in on bass shortly before the recording of the first album, and I left
shortly after the recording of the second album, replaced by Darryl
Shepard. There were other drummers
filling in, which eventually led to gigging lineups that didn’t feature any
original members of the band, which really was really was the impetus to
reunite the original lineup in 2016. We
did a run of shows and some one-off festivals, which were a lot of fun and
really cathartic. Clay was living in
Georgia while Eric and I were in Massachusetts.
Clay initially proposed getting a fill in drummer for one-off area gigs,
though quickly realized that there were a lot of opportunities a permanent
replacement would open up for the band.
Eric and I had already talked about getting Andy Kivela to fill in on
drums, and that quickly turned into a permanent replacement. We’ve had a really great run since, and are
looking towards the future of the band.
· Give in more detail, some information about "Black Pyramid" re-issue?
Andy: Yeah, no problem! The first Black Pyramid album is considered really special and meaningful by a lot of folks, ourselves included. It was really a culmination of the fruits of our labors from the first couple years as a band, a real statement of intent. A lot of people write to me to talk about how much of an impact hearing that album has had on their own musical development, and as an artist, there’s nothing more humbling and validating than reading and hearing those words.
I think that it’s really big that this reissue is happening, the album has been out of print for a long time and there are lots of people who still want to get their hands on it. And it’s going to be worth their wait, a single LP edition utilizing special equipment and techniques to really preserve and enhance sound quality. There are two editions, both on colored vinyl. There’s going to be 100 neon orange copies, a special edition available through the band and label, and then 200 copies pressed on brown wax. The original LP only instrumental bonus track, “Macedonia” will also be on this version. The artwork is original, though the font and layout have been slightly tweaked for this reissue.
We’re extremely honored and excited that this reissue is happening, as I’m sure collectors and fans are as well!
· Black Pyramid has signed with Labyrinth of Thoughts records, tell more about that?
Andy: Yeah, I mean, we’ve tried to work out a deal for a reissue a number of times, and it’s just not happened, due to timing, circumstances, other factors. Plus, I’m a royal pain in the ass to work with. So when Nikos from Labyrinth of Thoughts reached out, I think it just clicked because we had a common missions, the idea and deal behind the reissue was really straightforward, and he’s just patient enough to deal with my shenanigans. I think ultimately what made this work is his obvious passion for the music and for bringing this project to fruition.
·
What
is the difference between your latest and the very first records?
Andy: The latest thing that we’ve put out is a split 12” with Enhailer, we contributed a single 15 minute track, “The Quantum Phoenix.” Honestly, it’s got some overlap with the first record, a return to the more blown out sound whereas the last couple records were cleaner affairs. It is more like the sound of that first 7”, fuzzy, dirty, trippy.
It’s not too different in style than something like “Wintermute” from the first album, though it’s more developed, it shows more depth in the arrangement, it takes a few more chances, we’re just more comfortable expressing our ideas.
·
What
inspires Black Pyramid music and lyric writing? What does Black Pyramid lyrics
talk about?
Andy: Well, I see our music as a portal into a mysterious fantasy world, and each song as an opportunity to tell a story about that world with words and music. I think that the trick to humanizing fantasy is the authenticity of the emotion behind it, so the music is inspired both by the things within us and around us that inspire such emotion.
The lyrics are about different things that
grasp me at the time I write them, whether it’s a book or comic I read, a movie
I watched, or just the wandering of my mid through the netherworlds of my
subconscious. It’s a jungle in there. I
try to really stimulate the imagination with aspects which appeal to the
collective unconscious: the occult, religious themes, and underground pop
culture. I like the lyrics to have an
outsider vibe, a real horror show, the war and turmoil of the soul.
·
Do
you play live often? Do you like abroad gigs?
Andy: Yeah, we do during non-COVID times. We keep pretty busy for guys with full time jobs, schools, families and such. We haven’t gigged now in about a year, and yeah, we’re all missing it. That’s one of the reasons that it’s great having this reissue come out - at least the band is doing something right now. We love playing these early songs lives, and we’ll continue to mix that material with the tunes we’ve written for the next album.
Yeah, we love playing Europe, it’s great over there. The gigs and festivals are amazing, we’ve had such unbelievable times. The people are the best, their passion for the music, the vibes they cultivate at the venues, the hospitality. It’s hard on me, the travel, though also invigorating and life-affirming. Eric and Andy both had a blast when we were over there in 2019 playing the first album.
·
How
often do the band practice and work on new material?
Andy: Not often enough right
now. During non-COVID times, we play
once a week, whether that’s preparing for a gig or writing new material. We’d reached a real comfortable balance of
the two at rehearsals right before the pandemic went down.
· How did the band come up with the name Black Pyramid and tell what does it mean for you?
Andy: I’d wanted it to be straight up called Wintermute at first, though the name was taken by a modern band. Clay liked Burning North, a reference to his love of nature and Jack London, though also something that was a bit ambiguous. We both wanted a name that wouldn’t pigeonhole or typecast us. I thought it was a bit too ambiguous and wanted The Eye Of The Pyramid to reflect some of the occult themes and my love of The 13th Floor Elevators. Clay proposed Pyramid, which was of course taken. It was Eric who said “What about Black Pyramid?” Instantly that clicked with all three of us, it just strikes a chord, man.
I think it means exactly what we talked
about earlier, a doorway into our own private kingdom, where the unlimited
potential of the narrative is king.
·
What
does the band plan on doing in the near time?
Andy: Right now we’re just regrouping,
practicing on our own, I’m doing a lot of writing and listening to old 60’s and
70’s records for inspiration. We really
want the next album to be another bold statement of intent, to have its own
sonic signature distinct from anything that we’ve done in the past, while of
course still sounding like Black Pyramid!
I’m thinking that we’re going to make some courageous production choices
and do a bit of experimenting in the studio. I’m stoked.
·
Any
message for Iron Backstage readers?
Andy: Yeah, just keep on keepin’ on,
rolling with the freedom on your purple tricycle with pink streamers.
https://labyrinthofthoughts.gr/mailorder/