What is your full name?
Tommy Concrete
Do you have any aliases?
I used to go under the name Zaceus Zinetti back in the 90s when I made electronic music.
What bands are you actively involved with?
I'm the guitarist vocalist for Edinburgh based progressive blackened sludge band Exdestrier. I'm also a solo artist and have recently started working with Dan from Mastiff on an experimental doom jazz project.
Exdestrier takes 99% of my attention though and is the only project I'm associated with that plays gigs.
What was the first instrument that you played?
My sister had this weird electronic organ which had a mains powered fan that was almost as loud as the notes. I was drawn to this as early as I can remember until I got a guitar when I was ten.
Tell me about one of your first musical memories?
My earliest musical memory was listening to Space Ritual by Hawkwind when I was about five years old and having my imagination blown to pieces. I decided then I was going to be a galactic space wizard, failing that a musician.
What was the name of the first band you were in?
The first band I was in that made it to the stage was Flib Ginis Dead Chimps. We played instrumental and wrong Black Sabbath covers with a Roland 808 drum machine. We did one gig at the lunch hall at school. It was mythical levels of absolutely epic.
Tell me about the genesis of Exdestrier.
Didier moved from Seattle to Edinburgh and was looking to meet folk to jam with. He got passed Chris's number from a mutual friend and proceeded to bug him out of musical retirement. They had a few jams before bugging me to join. At first the vibe was pretty close to Sleep. Chris and me had played before in doom metal band Jackal Headed Guard of the Dead and briefly in the metalpunk band Tommy Concrete and the Werewolves, so it was inevitable that I would join. We just jammed about at first but quite quickly we became a serious band looking to gig and record. The doom metal thing slowly got faster and less simple and we ended up as much Crust era Darkthrone as Sleep. At our recent gigs with Goblinsmoker, someone said we were 'Eyehategod but interesting' which is cool by us.
My main reason to join was just how persistent Didier was. In a world of apathy never turn down enthusiasm.
What inspired the name Exdestrier?
It's a made up word that Chris came up with that makes a weird sort of sense. A destrier is a horse specifically bred for war in the middle ages. As we are all grizzled old war horses of metal it felt appropriate. As there are bands already called Destrier then 'ex' was added to it. Sounds cool, like Exmachina but horses.
How long did it take you to write and record Glorious Barbarism?
We recorded it ourselves as we wrote it over a period of six months. So it's difficult to estimate how many studio days that was. It was reamped, mixed and mastered by Gwen at Slabsound Studios in two weeks.
The process was interesting as we were figuring out who we were as we went along, with no preconceived musical ideas. We tried lots of things that didn't make the cut from funeral doom to speed metal. I'm pretty happy with what we created, it's simultaneously focused and varied.
If you could insert yourself into any one band what band would it be and why?
If Ice Dale ever gets fed up playing guitar for Enslaved then I'd be happy to step in.
Have you ever heard a song and immediately wished you had written it? If so… What was the song and artist?
No. Here's the paradox. If I'd written Still of the Night by Whitesnake nobody would have heard it and the world would be a worse place. More importantly I wouldn't have Still of the Night by Whitesnake.
However i'd love to have come up with 'The Half-Eaten Sausage Would Like To See You In His Office' by The Locust. The greatest song title ever.
Do you have any non-metal musical inspirations?
My inspirations are almost entirely non-metal. For me 'inspired by' and 'sounds like' are best approached as mutually exclusive.
In recent years the music that has really inspired me is jazz fusion such as Al Di Meola, Return to Forever, Coloseum and flamenco deity/anarchist Cameron De La Isla.
What’s a non-metal song that you'd like to do a cover of?
We've talked about doing covers in Exdestrier but so far none suggested have fired us up to actually learn one. We've considered a Killing Joke cover more than once, but could never settle on a song. I'd love to do Asteroid, but the rhythm is deceptively difficult to nail down.
What band have you played with that has really impressed you with their live show?
There's a new young band in Edinburgh called Ophanim. They have a slightly out of control raucous anarchy to their sound and perform with the confidence of a festival headliner. I've seen them blow established bands away with their chaotic confidence. They, alongside Morass of Molasses are playing our Glorious Barbarism EP launch at Bannermans Bar Edinburgh 8th April 2023.
Do you have a favorite venue to play at?
Bannermans Bar in Edinburgh. Absolutely home from home. So many mad memories of gigs going back twenty years. It's the venue I've played at consistently for the longest time that's still standing.
Do you have a pre-show ritual?
Have a piss, tune guitar, have another piss. I might switch it up sometimes by having a shit.
(Interviewer’s note; The thought of taking a shit at a music venue makes my skin crawl. Lol)
What is your favorite thing about touring?
Coming home after it's over.
What is your least favorite thing about touring?
The twenty three hours and fifteen minutes of each day not on stage.
Is there a city that you love to hit while on tour?
Santiago. It keeps popping up as the city all my favorite bands are most popular in on Spotify. Those guys statistically have the closest musical taste to me. Plus, they have a reputation for going mental when they like something.
What’s the weirdest experience you’ve had on the road?
The 'why the fuck am I STILL doing this?' moment which happens every gig.
The year is 1997. Where are you at and what are you listening to?
Still in my shithole hometown getting ready to leave whilst being indescribably angry to Atari Teenage Riot - The Future Of War
What advice would you give young musicians that are just starting out in the music business?
Learn to drive. Switch to playing drums. Drummers who can drive have their choice of bands.
What is an absolute band killer?
Smoking amphetamines usually does the trick.
Have you ever recorded a song that you really didn’t like, but somebody else in the band really did?
We've only recorded one EP with Exdestrier and so far we are all on the same page. I don't see us putting out music that we don't all like. That's just not our vibe.
If you were to start your own music festival what would be the name of that festival and who would be the three headlining bands?
Back From The Dead Fest featuring…
Motorhead (Lemmy, Philthy, Eddie and Larry for the encore)
Motorhead (Lemmy, Wurzel, Phil, Mikkey Dee)
Cliff Burton vs Jaco Pastorious 3 hour bass duel
What’s the longest time you’ve gone without bathing?
Probably about a week while on tour.
What’s one thing that most people don’t know about you?
I have a cuddly toy triceratops named after Floor from Nightwish.
Is the Fistful of DOOM show in the top 10 of your favorite music podcasts?
It's number one. Fistful of DOOM has consistently supported all the bands and solo music I've made for years. No podcast is cooler.
Do unicorns sleep standing up?
The unicorn is a mythical creature most likely based upon a narwhal. Narwhals sleep as they swim, so the answer here is no.
Give me three albums that I should listen to immediately, if not sooner.
Cathedral - Supernatural Birth Machine
GBH - City Baby Attacked by Rats
Trelldom - Til Minne…
You’re driving cross-country and you can only listen to one album the whole time. What album will it be?
Qaalm - Resilience and Despair
Absolutely magnificent sludge doom metal, the time will melt away.
You are writing a book about your life thus far. What is the title of that book?
I wrote a book based on my life thus far…
The Wages of Metal
https://tommyconcrete.bandcamp.com/merch/the-wages-of-metal-book
What is your favorite song by Taylor Swift?
To be honest I couldn't name one. I've noticed for some reason she's become very popular with heavy bands recently, not sure why. Maybe the toxic masculinity of the 90s is finally fading and heavy dudes can admit they like pop without fear.
Personally I'm not into that stuff at all. Not adverse to non-heavy music though, I just prefer stuff like Anneke Van Giersbergen to the billion dollar corporate pop scene.
I'm also not really a fan of the 'listening to pop is more underground than listening to underground music' take. It's not. Less is less. More is more.
Rammstein or Slipknot (if you had to choose)?
Whichever one had the coolest support band, or whoever plays the shortest set.
Doobies or Boobies (if you had to pick one)?
Boobies.
Waffles or Pancakes (if you had to pick one)?
I'm gluten intolerant so both of those make me shit a brown laser.
Star Wars or Star Trek (if you had to choose)?
Difficult, but I tackle this great question the same as I do Iron Maiden vs Judas Priest. Not who's best, but whose least worst. Iron Maiden are 1% better than Judas Priest at best… BUT Maiden at their worst are waaaaay worse than Judas Priest at their worst.
Classic Trek is easy as good as Empire Strikes Back… but I'd take Phantom Menace over some dumb holodeck episode wherein Data whimsically ponders the idiosyncrasies of Sherlock Holmes in prohibition America or some shit.
Star Wars all the way.
Favorite band t-shirt you own?
My Septicflesh one. Got it when me and my wife saw them in Nijmegen a few years back. Awesome show and memories, I've lost so much weight it doesn't fit anymore so I'm thinking of framing it.
Favorite meal?
Tandoori Pizza
Favorite book?
George Orwell - 1984 (I first read it in 1984. In an unrelated synchronicity fact I saw In Bruges whilst in Bruges)
Favorite movie?
Bladerunner. Original cut with voice over.
Favorite album?
The God Machine - Scenes From The Second Storey
Favorite video game?
Quake III Arena. If this was the only game, I would be permanently satisfied. Few games are as metal as this!
Favorite Professional Wrestler?
Yukio Tani 'Pocket Hercules'
Yukio was one of the first Japanese Jujitsu fighters to compete outside of Japan. He came to the UK at the turn of the 20th century and made his name touring music halls and fairgrounds offering to fight all comers. Contenders were paid £1 for every minute they lasted. At his peak he was fighting and beating up to 30 guys per week. All burly broken nosed tough guys looking for a scrap. He lost only once and had reportedly 500 bouts under his belt.
This is easily one of my favorite interviews. Massive thanks to the incomparable Tommy Concrete for sharing honest and entertaining answers to my queries. I appreciate you immensely. Glorious Barbarism is Exdestrier’s debut release and is available for pre-order at the link so generously provided below. You can also listen to the track To Glorious Oblivion. You know that I have excellent taste in music, so click on over and give it a go!
~El Pedo Caliente (aka Uncle Jameson host of the Fistful of DOOM show)
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