the doctor will operate now: Surgeon (U.S.)

Surgeon (U.S.)

In reference to Surgeon’s album “Chemical Reign,” the previous issue of the zine pointed out, amongst other things:

“Metal brainiacs, geeks and intellectuals that delve into and demand musicality and talent, take this review as your invitation to your new research subject: Surgeon. When put under the microscope, Surgeon reveals a practically impeccable equilibrium between skill, songwriting and memorability.

The songs tend to stay around the 4-5 minute mark, more or less. Singer Sean Bolton, drummer Ruston Grosse and guitarist Lydia Giordano construct these compact songs with somewhat thrash-ish energy, although Surgeon is definitely traditional prog heavy metal band, more than anything else. The songs are memorable overall, but nothing super melodic or pop-ish, because Surgeon doesn't play that game of pandering to the audience that wants ‘easy songs.’ It does take time for the "proggy" to sound "musical," but it is not very difficult to understand for the willing listener.”

Fortunately, here’s an interview with Sean (vocals/bass) and Lydia (guitars) to take us into the laboratory of Surgeon. www.surgeonband.net --

"Chemical Reign" is the type of album that is progressive, but still melodic/memorable for those of us who are not brainiacs and/or musicians. Can you tell us what has been happening with Surgeon?

Sean and Lydia: Thank you glad you like the album! We had two cd release parties one at private venue called Garage Mahal which is a motorcycle/ construction workshop owned by our good friends they built a stage and played an amazing light show during our set. We filmed the whole event you can check it out on YouTube. Our official release party was at Johnny Brenda’s but the day of the show their water main broke so we panicked calling every venue we knew to move the party elsewhere- Kung Fu Necktie ended up coming through and we shared the stage with amazing bands such as Swarm of arrows Ominous Black and Skeleton hands. We have been promoting the album as much as possible ever since, we just put a new t-shirt for sale on our site and we just completed a tour of New England. We had a blast. We met a lot of new fans and amazing bands along the way. Right now we are working on another tour in Nov where we plan to hit the southern states Aside from that we are working on our next album.

How is the city of Philadelphia for a progressive metal?

Sean: Philly is a great town for artists. The rent is cheap and there are a lot of other artists to pal around with. And you're right we are stubborn. But there is nothing that fulfills us the way music does. We've had some great response to the new record so far and we intend on pushing it as far as we can.

Your drummer Ruston Grosse did not play on your debut "Angry Guest," correct? Who is he?

Sean: Ruston was a friend before we ever even played together. We actually live in the same area and share a lot of common friends. Before we played together Ruston would come out to shows all the time. In this way philly really is a great place to be a musician. I can't speak for all of PA because the 2 entities are quite different (phila and the rest of PA) How expensive is it for Surgeon to make an album?

Sean: Well you've got to be smart about how you spend your money really. This business has changed so much since we first started out its mind blowing. Luckily for us there are a lot of people out there who truly understand how tough it can be to make a record and to survive as a band. We are forever indebted to people like this. Without them we couldn't survive. We try to only work with those people really. So far its worked out pretty well.

"The Creeple" begins the album in a mellow, mysterious for about a minute before the music kicks in. What's are the sounds in that first minute? Between "The Creeple" and "Watching You" the albums begins in a strong way. When I listen to "Watching You," I imagine the singer pointing to the audience with his index finger. Does he do this?! Like "watching you, yes, you right there!" So, who exactly is "watching"?

Sean: The sound in the beginning of the album is actually us marching in the studio mixed with a bunch of other sounds like fog horns etc. We thought the feel of the song resembled a war march so we wanted to recreate that in the studio. Some of the intermediate sounds Ill have to chalk up to Kevin’s studio magic because I don't really know what they really are, but I love them. When I play watching you live I do sometimes point at the crowd. I like to give people a show you know. As far as what it’s about it is about surveillance and paranoia and its effect on the people.

Is there an overall concept or theme for the album?

Sean: Some of the themes are similar, they are both about dominating figures. In Chemical Reign’s case the idea of chemicals and how they affect us and our lives subversively is one of the reigning themes. But really my writing takes a lot of twists and turns on both records so its hard to really put them under one umbrella.

Surgeon used to be a hard rock band? What happened to bring out the metal?! Sean: The new album is definitely heavier, and more mature. It’s funny, I talk to my friends that I used to be in bands with when we were younger and, we were in punk and hard rock bands. They are now playing more acoustic and soft rock, while the older I get the more intense and heavy my tastes get. Hard to explain why tastes change in certain ways really.

How long has Lydia been playing guitar? Lydia's soloing stands out for its flowing melodies. I wonder where the inspiration for that type of soloing comes from?

Lydia: I have been playing for about 16 years, however I grew up playing classical violin and cello before I picked up the guitar. My father is a jazz guitarist and I grew up listening to him play. When I started listening to rock and metal (mostly older stuff Sabbath, Maiden and from the 90s Soundgarden and Alice in Chains also), I looked up to many guitarists for different reasons and was inspired by a broad spectrum of music—classic metal, heavy metal, thrash, prog rock, grunge, and some punk.

Have you guys ever heard of the band Twisted into Form and the album "Then Comes Affliction to Awaken the Dreamer"? Do you by any chance notice similarities in the singing of Sean Bolton and that band's singer Leif Knashaug?

Sean: I hadn’t heard of them before but I do like what I hear now. I could see how you could hear that.

In this day and age, with the growling and screaming, how some people even discover that they can sing?

Sean: I’ve actually always been a melodic singer. I really have come to appreciate the low growls and screaming in modern metal though. The combination can be quite nice. Anciients is a band I’ve been listening to recently that I think tastefully combines both.

Are all of you pleased with the drum sound on the album? It's a pretty standard sound on modern metal albums. But for those of us who are old, this current drum sound that many bands use seems very clicky.

Sean: We are all actually pretty happy with the sound of the record. I remember going back and forth about this kind of sound disagreement with a friend of mine who was a drummer at the time. I loved the plastic drum head sound of the uncoated heads and he liked the more coated classic drum head sound that the coated heads bring. It really just boils down to what flavor you like I suppose.

What is your cell phone number so that I can call you at 3 am to get a drum or guitar lesson?!

Sean: You can keep up with us at all of our annoying social media www.facebook.com/Surgeonmusic Instagram @surgeonband and our site www.surgeonband.net has links to everything so if you want to cut out the middle man that’s your best bet. THE END.