Interviews

The Schoenberg Automaton Interview with Shayne Johnson

An Interview with Shayne Johnson of The Schoenberg Automaton

Published

8 years ago

June 27, 2016

George Archibald

Becoming the Swarm

An Interview with Shayne Johnson of The Schoenberg Automaton

By George Archibald.

Australian technical death metal outfit The Schoenberg Automaton have been a riding a wave of success with the release of their new album Apus. The album has been getting wide reviews and catching the ear of many in the industry. You can also read Empire Extreme’s review of the album under the album reviews section. The band’s name is a play on the name of composer Arnold Schoenberg. It is said his approach to music, both in terms of harmony and development, has been one of the most influential of 20th-century musical thought. This was the thought process in which The Schoenberg Automaton took when writing Apus. I got a chance to ask a few questions TSA’s own Shayne Johnson.

The Schoenberg Automaton

GA: What is the origin of the band name? Is this a play-off of the composer of the same name?
SJ: It is, actually! Funnily enough, I had a dream that Arnold Schoenberg had come back as a clockwork robot (many late nights playing Bioshock, no doubt). I loved the sonic possibilities that presented itself as that “concept” and we moved it forward.

GA: How did The Schoenberg Automaton form? *I know a little of the story that the band started with a bunch of riffs and ideas, that were eventually strung together to form the first songs, but where did it all begin?
SJ: Well, it started out as a side project that Nelson and I created. We were both in bands at the time and jammed at the same rehearsal space, so we eventually started talking about making music together. We had an idea for something “super tech” but didn’t really know what we’re dipping our toes into until the first track was done.

GA: What got you into playing technical death metal/ Influences?
SJ: Vehemence! The riffage on God was Created is 10/10

GA: Did you have lessons or learned on your own for your instruments?
SJ: I had a great guitar teacher for a year or two when I first started (’03 I think?), but am primarily self-taught. Most of us are primarily self-taught.

GA: What are your thoughts on the emerging Death Metal wave out of Australia? By this I mean you are among the ranks of Thy Art is Murder, Boris the Blade, Signal the Firing Line, and many others.
SJ: I think it’s absolutely fantastic. There’s a distinct flavor that is produced from Aus Death Metal that the world clearly loves.

GA: What do you think is the reason why Australian Death metal is so aggressive? It has a distinct feel to it, could it be where you guys are from? I know hardcore music from the US is kind of a regional thing. There is a stand out region in the northeast that has harbored many bands. I think this has to do with the weather, the northeast US gets a lot of snow during the winter and it gets very cold, effecting ones’ attitude. Could this be somewhat comparable?
SJ: Haha, shit man. Um… I guess you could say that! Summer is like being constantly in the armpit of sweaty sex offender, so I guess you could say that type of gnarly, wild aggression comes across after being exposed to it for long enough.

GA: Did you bring any new techniques or equipment to the recording process of Apus? In what ways did TSA advance from the Vela album?
SJ: We flew in producer Shane Frisby, who has worked on The Ghost Inside/Bury Your Dead etc., from the USA, set up a crowd funding campaign and went from there. The album was funded; we recorded drums at a lovely studio in Brisbane called The Hunting Grounds, vocals at a studio on the Sunshine Coast and guitars/bass were done by ourselves.

GA: What was your favorite part about recording the new album?
SJ: Hearing your ideas just come together from a skeleton, to a visceral treat it’s not really the parts that are enjoyable, it’s more than the sum of its whole, if that makes sense.

GA: What other types of music do you guys like to listen to other than metal?
SJ: Oh of course metal is great because it has no boundaries in what you can do to it and still call it metal. I’m a prog nerd and huge Allan Holdsworth fan. On the tour bus though… things get a little weird.

GA: What gear do you use during touring? If you have any endorsements, please feel free to tell us about them.

SJ: I’m currently using a Xen/ET Guitars HDC6 for my 6 string and a ’91 MIJ Ibanez 7 string (my workhorse for new material) both guitars have Lace Pickups. Damien is currently playing an Ormsby HypeGTR. Zimi plays a Fender Jazz 5String and Nelson usually plays Pearl Masters.

GA: What is next for TSA? Any touring, if so when and where can we see you?
SJ: We are off to the UK for a tour with The Hirsch Effekt and a performance at UK TechMetal Fest. Canada shall be after that in August and if the support keeps rolling, anywhere is an option!

GA: Anything else you would to add?
SJ: Thanks to everyone to contributed to getting APUS from a dream, to reality.

I want to thank Shayne for taking time out of his busy schedule to conduct this interview with me. I wish you guys good luck on tour and safe journeys. I hope that you all can come to the States because it would be awesome to see you live. You can pick up The Schoenberg Automaton’s album Apus, now in stores.

About Author

George Archibald

See author's posts

Related Topics:Apus featured Shayne Johnson the Schoenberg Automaton

Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Interviews

INTERVIEW WITH MERCURY OF PRIEST

Published

2 days ago

April 23, 2024

Ron

Empire Extreme got to sit down and talk to Mercury of Priest when the band came into PA at LoveDrafts.

The show was amazing all the bands that we seen put on a great show for the fans. Vampires Everywhere killed it once again. Last time we seen Priest we only got to see them open for Powerman5000 and got like 6 songs, this time Priest was headlining and we got to see much more which I was excited to see.

Priest played a good mix of old and new and even a few songs off the album “Dark Pulse” which is out in May. We got to see 13 songs played and even Mercury come out into the crowd a few times and when they played “Obey” even blessed some of the crowd. It was great hearing songs like “BlackListed”, “Signal in the Noise”, “History in Black” and “Vaudeville”. It was such a great night of music and a great conversation with Mercury. If you get a chance to see this band play in ur town, it’s a must

About Author

Ron

Ron has keen eye for new talent, a love for the underground, and a tremendous passion for music of any genera. You’ll probably bump into him at a horror convention or some seedy club checking out the next need-to-know band.

See author's posts

Interviews

INTERVIEW WITH OF VIRTUE

Published

2 months ago

March 4, 2024

Ron

Where does the band name come from? Wanting to be the best version of yourself at all times. The name is a reminder to hold ourselves accountable.

How is the music scene in Michigan? The Michigan music scene has always been vibrant and in my opinion, important. Do we get the credit we deserve? Absolutely not. But for the state that brought you Motown, Eminem, Lizzo, The White Stripes, I Prevail and so many other incredible artists – it’s kind of hard to believe that Michigan remains a hidden gem.

How’s the reception from the fans of the latest album “Omen”? It’s been incredible. From seeing people singing along at shows to us seeing new supporters of all different ages, colors, and creeds joining the journey. Omen has been a pivotal album in our career and we’re proud of it!

If you could tour with 2 bands, which bands would you want to tour with? Spiritbox and Bad Omens. They’re both making waves, changing who the metal audience is, and surely they’d be fun to hang around with.

Where do you draw inspiration for the lyrics? Honestly, the lyrics are our stories. The stories of our struggles, our trials and our tribulations.

What’s been your favorite tour or show? We just got off of a tour with our labelmates, Any Given Day. They treated us to a handful of sold out shows over in Europe, which at this point we call our second home. Those were great shows, but any show we’ve done in Europe is typically one for the books!

If you could bring back a dead musician, who would it be? Prince for sure. An incredible musician I would love an opportunity to chat or make music with!

About Author

Ron

See author's posts

Interviews

INTERVIEW WITH TWIN TEMPLE

Published

2 months ago

February 16, 2024

Ron

Being Married and being in a band together. Do you feel that makes it easier or harder?

We love to do the Devil’s work together so for us its a match made in hell.

What’s your favorite horror movie?

That’s hard to narrow down but the first few that come to mind are Rosemary’s Baby, The Devil Rides Out, Wickerman, The Devils Reign featuring Anton Lavey, Mario Bava’s Black Sunday, anything starring Vincent Price. We also got to see an advance screen of “Late Night with the Devil” featuring a very evil performance from our friend Dave Dastmalchian. We’re also looking forward to Bryan Fuller’s “Dust Bunny” and are positive it will be a new favorite. The list goes on…..we are huge horror fans.

Favorite Non Horror Movie?

Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca (which is horror/noir adjacent) and The Burbs (also horror adjacent…haha.)

All of Quentin Tarantino’s films- our latest favorite is Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, because 1960’s LA…

What misconception of Satanists would you like to educate people on?

We’re not here to proselytize, force our beliefs on people, or educate people on them Selves, Satanism or anything else. If people are interested in exploring Satanism, we encourage them to do their research and question everything.

If you could bring back any dead musician, who would you pick and why?

We would have loved to do a song with Ronnie Spector who recently passed. Also would have been amazing to collaborate with Jack Nitzsche who arranged so many amazing songs.

If you could tour with any 2 bands, who would you want to tour with?

The Ronnettes & The Shangri-Las.

What has been your Favorite Tour so far?

The God is Dead Tour that we’re currently on is definitely the most evil and blasphemous tour yet. We find it very pleasurable to be able to continue expanding the rituals and seeing our nightmares come true on stage.

You were on “Dragula” with the Boulet Brothers, how was that experience?

It was a fiendish delight to collaborate with some of our fav monsters.

What was it like Touring with Danzig?

Another nightmare come true! We’ve both been fans for a long time and we’re obviously inspired by the wicked world Glenn has conjured. So to get to spend time with him and watch him live every night and to now call him a friend is completely surreal. He’s a legend— but was also one of the coolest, kindest, most unholy people we’ve had the carnal pleasure of touring with.

How’s the reception of the last album “God is Dead”?

Personally, we love the record and are very proud of what we’ve accomplished. As far as other peoples’ reactions…. we don’t know and don’t care! We pleasured ourselves and that’s what matters most.

What got you interested in the style of music you play? And how would describe your music?

We’ve always loved classic American music from jazz to blues to country to rock and roll and so on. We also love the pageantry of heavy metal and theatre. So for us it was a very organic culmination of our obsessions. Rock and roll has always been the devils music.

Have you visited the Satanic Temple in Massachusetts?

No we have not but Lucien did attend one of our rituals so we had a chance to share where we get our babies blood and all things Satan.

Have you had any bad encounters at shows because of the misconception of satanism?

No! We purposefully foster a live show environment where all are welcome, all should come being the most important person in the world which is themselves, whatever that may be. Even Christians! We believe music is meant to bring joy, transcendence… We just want to share the things we love; pink, rhinestones, big hair, great rock ’n’ roll, Satanic ritual, you know… but we have had churches assemble outside our shows, screaming through distorted PA speakers that God is not dead & wishing us all a “terrible time”. Why would their God not want us to have fun? This kind of behavior is only makes us more proud to be who we are and do what we love.