Talked with Azkeel Cornvinus from Jigsaw Massacre...
Red Light Grind:
Hello Azkeel how's everything going for you and Jigsaw Massacre at the moment? Jigsaw Massacre is pretty young how'd you get your start with Jigsaw?
Azkeel Cornvinus:
Hello Nate, yes I've been well and Jigsaw Massacre's been doing great lately. Jigsaw Massacre started out with four young pals experimenting with Brutal Death metal but never went far with it. Soon after, Datul and me recorded a couple of grindcore tracks under Jigsaw Massacre's name. That was how it got revived all over again.
Red Light Grind:
So what is the current line up in Jigsaw Massacre as of now? Is it just the two of you?
Azkeel:
Oh nope, as of this moment we have five on the team. 'Foul' Phil on Main Gutturals, Gabriel Virulo on Backing Gutturals. Frank Calwell on rythmic and Justin Knipper on lead guitars. Datul's been backed up with a tight schedule lately, so he'd be away for now.
Red Light Grind:
How'd you get the name Jigsaw Massacre?
Azkeel:
Honestly speaking, I was not one of the founding members of the band, It was Datul and Fathil, his schoolmate, that had this crazy idea of starting out a Brutal Death metal band. But there were busy schedules and a couple of events that caused us to put the project into a short hiatus. Right after the formation, I got the idea from the movie 'SAW'. It was originally 'Jigsaw's Massacre' but then after the hiatus, Datul and me went on with the name 'Jigsaw Massacre'.
Red Light Grind:
Now I admit i couldn't find it when i was doing my research, you guys have not usual English names. Are you guys not from the USA?
Azkeel:
No, not all of us actually. Justin and Phil are from the US, Virulo's from Argentina, Frank's from the UK while Datul and me we're from Singapore. So, we're international that way, haha.
Red Light Grind:
You have a 4 track demo out that is actually really good and of decent quality. Where did you guys record the demo? And how has the response from the public been on it?
Azkeel:
The demo was actually self-recorded, self-mixed and self-mastered. We decided to go on with a DIY concept you see? We had to do some homework in understanding how music production works in order to help us come out with a decent demo. I was actually quite surprised with the outcome. The demo was not yet the full concept of what we had in mind, with the 'Grindcore Revisited II' EP, the 'Grindcore Revisited' series is complete and shows out to the masses how grindcore should've been. In our view, grind music should not be restricted to all noise or all br00tal metal stuff. It should be anything under the sun mashed up with a couple of blast beats, squeals, growls, screaming pure filth, hatred & nasty stuff. In other words, anything can be part of grind.
Red Light Grind:
And as i just found out you have released a new ep "Grindcore Revisited II". How was the writing for this compared to past eps and demos? Did you capture the sound you were looking for?
Azkeel:
With the 'Grindcore Revisited II' EP, JxMx has turned into a more international project as it was just Datul and me back then. The recording process were pretty much the same, Datul was on guitars, after instruments get recorded, I'd send the tracks to Virulo and Phil for some vocals over them. Overall, I'm pretty much satisfied with the outcome of the EP. It was pretty much the kind of EP that I had in mind.
Red Light Grind:
The artwork was done by your ex bassist, how'd you guys manage to talk him into that?
Azkeel:
Haha, actually our ex-Bassist Hafiz, yeah he's pretty good with his art skills, one day nearing the end of the EP production, he asked me of a favour to help him scan his artworks. I looked through his artworks and 'poof!' there's this one piece that I thought would suit as the cover of our EP. At first he didn't agree to it as he already had a plan for that piece, in the end, he gave in and agreed to it.
Red Light Grind:
Could you talk about the story behind Half an Hour of a Homeless's Day ep? What caused you to want to do that?
Azkeel:
Some of my biggest influences are AnB, Pig Destroyer, AxCx. Then I found out about JAPANESE TORTURE COMEDY HOUR, a project by J Randall of AnB and GRINDCORE KARAOKE. Their releases had a pretty unique concept, just a couple of amps and feedbacks recorded over a long period of time. I was sitting at the food court waiting for time to fly by when I suddenly had this idea of doing a similar thing.
Red Light Grind:
Do you guys ever play live?
Azkeel:
At the moment, nope. We don't play live yet. But I already have plans to bring this band to play live one day when our schedules ease up little, let's see how that goes :)
Red Light Grind:
Some of the other members are in other bands, do the other bands get in the way of JM?
Azkeel
Nope. Actually, the other members made sure that their bands don't get in the way with the other bands they're in. I'm honoured to have such disciplined members on the team.
Red Light Grind:
Does working internationally complicate the writing process?
Azkeel
I don't think that working internationally complicates the writing process actually. Normally I 'sketch' out the skeleton of the tracks, get Datul to do some guitar riffs and chuggings to match closely to what I had in mind before getting them to put in vocals. Normally, I'd leave it to the rest on how they would like their part to sound like.
Red Light Grind:
It appears you do the majority of producing. Does anyone help with the mixing/mastering process?
Azkeel:
Yes, indeed I do most of the producing part. I do the mixing and mastering part all by myself, usually it takes a couple of tries before finally getting the desired end result. Getting opinions from more experienced musicians helps in the process, of course.
Red Light Grind:
What do you like to do when you're not busy grinding away with Jigsaw?
Azkeel:
I tend to listen to some old school or traditional music and when bored, the heavier ones for inspirations. It's amazing how brilliant these guys do their music, getting the feel of how they do it and I'd try to apply to Jigsaw. Otherwise, I'd be experimenting with the guitars, going to gigs moshing to some sick bands till I bleed. Hahaha.
Red Light Grind:
How's the Singapore grind scene? Any interesting or big bands there that you're into?
Azkeel:
Singapore's grind scene is can I say 'blooming'? Haha. WORMROT is one distinct band that have emerged into the bigger scene. We have a number of brilliant grind bands here, just that they're lesser known to the worldwide scene. Currently, one particular band that I'm digging would be CARDIAC NECROPSY. They play Porno/Goregrind style, they have a couple of brilliant tracks the kind of style that I don't see much in most bands within this region.
Red Light Grind:
Are you guys working on a full length? Or any future material you'd like to share about?
Azkeel:
It was supposed to be sort of a secret, haha, but yes, we'll be doing a full-length effort in the coming year as well as a series of EPs I suppose. The 'Medusa Resurrected' EP marks the end of us doing tributes to other bands and we will be focusing more into original tracks this coming year onwards. The full length will be a mixture of Eastern and Western influences with the current lineup while the EPs will be a series of raw, no effects, no lyrics, hyped-up tracks with me on Squeals and Guitars and Datul on guitars for a few tracks.
Red Light Grind:
What are your goals and dreams with Jigsaw?
Azkeel:
In the beginning, during the original four member team, the band was intended as sort of a hobby-ish thing, then during the rebirth, I thought, we better start this slow. Get the priorities straightened up, doing things one after another. I don't need Jigsaw to go too far like signing to Earache or major tours and such, my goal is just to be able to reach out our music to the global underground scene. I mean, not to look down on pioneering bands but, there are a couple of bands out there that got signed to big names but ended up, with plain boring music. I wish to see Jigsaw go in a totally different direction in terms of music.
Red Light Grind:
Have you stirred up any label interest with your demos? Or will you guys stay self-releasing material?
Azkeel:
Haha, as many other bands would have pointed this out, it has been tiring trying to get us signed with our demo and EPs, nonetheless, it would be one less burden if we got signed to a label. Nonetheless, going solo on this has made us quite independent of others and we'll continue self-releasing our stuff in the meantime.
Red Light Grind:
Well without massacring you with questions I'd like to wrap it up. The last spot is all yours Azkeel, say whatever you'd like!
Azkeel:
Okay, for this last spot, on behalf of JIGSAW MASSACRE, I would like to thank Nate for giving us this opportunity to be heard on RED LIGHT GRIND ZINE. We would like to wish RED LIGHT ZINE great success in the coming years to come! Also thanks to all friends that have given their support up till now, we greatly value that and it gives us the strength to continue striving for the best. For those who haven't, go check out our 'Medusa Resurrected; Grindcore Revisited Part II' EP available for free via our Bandcamp! To all others, grind till you fucking drop!
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Interview has not been changed except for a few grammatical corrections.
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