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By Márllon Matos and Carol Mariana

Jason Campbell, frontman of the Death Metal / Hardcore band Erase (based in Vancouver, BC, Canada) tell us a bit about his experience with Mortification, the direction of his musical career and current projects.

First of all, thank you for accepting the invite to interview you.

Thank you for the interview!

How was the recording process of Primitive Rhythm Machine? It seems it was made in a hurry, wasn’t it?

The recording was spilt between recording drums, and then going on tour for about a month, and then coming back to LA to track bass, guitars and vocals. In today's standards it might seem rushed and or strange to, but it worked for what we did. I would have loved a little more time here and there, but I've always been good with making adjustments on the fly, as we change a few parts in rehearsal and during the tracking of the drums. The album was tracked and mixed at the record label's own studio called the Mixing Lab.

How did Steve meet you and Bill Rice?

I was in a band called Nobody at the time, promoting local shows for my band, local bands and out of town bands. I don't remember how the contact was first made, but Mortification was setting up a North American tour for their Blood World album, one thing leads to another and I had Mortification fly in right before they headed back to Australia at the end of the tour. Bill is a friend of mine who played in a local Vancouver band called Kerygma who were one of the opening acts on the Mortification show. Bill also helped with the promoting of the Mortification and other shows with me during that time period, Bill had gone on to play with some other bands and then became one leaders of Youth For Christ.

Tell us about the invite to record and tour with Mortification. How did it happen?

After the concert I kept in contact with Steve, and he had made mention that Michael might be leaving Mortification, I said I'd be up to the challenge if Michael decides to leave, Steve sent me some demo tapes of the songs he had written to learn the material for the album.

A week or two after that, Steve called me and said everything might be on hold and Mortification might be finished, as Phil Gibson (Mortification's drummer at the time) had also expressed his desire to leave Mortification. I asked his if he remembered the local band that opened up and told him that the drummer is available, that drummer was Bill Rice. Steve jumped at the chance to have Bill play with Mortification and the rest is history!

What did you do before recording with Mortification?

I've been in several bands, promoting shows small and large in the Vancouver BC Canada area, recording/producing/engineering projects/albums for bands.

What’s your opinion about your participation in the album Primitive Rhythm Machine?

It was a great experience! I come across studio or tour pictures and remember back to that time, it was a good time meeting a lot of great people! There were a lot of great shows on that tour, all of the shows stand out for their own reasons, I can't say there was a bad show, but each had their own vibe and energy!

What do you think about the other releases of Mortification, post-P.R.M.?

Steve sent me EnVision EvAngelene, I think it was closer to what Steve's real vision for Mortification should have been. I've only heard a limited amount of songs from the material after PRM & EnVision EvAngelene, so I can't really say much with regards to any of the newer Mortification albums and songs, but Steve keeps moving forward despite the medical things that have happened over the last fifteen years, he is a true pioneer of extreme Christian music scene!

After recording with Mortification, what direction your musical career has taken? In what bands did you play, which styles did you explore?

My musical background has always been heavier music, be that hard rock or extreme metal. After Mortification, I started a band called Erase with some friends, brothers Chris and Brian Moon. We wrote a bunch of songs and tried out a number of drummers, then I called up my old drummer from my band before Mortification called Nobody, Wylie Millar, who recorded our first album Mental Overload. After Mental Overload I went through a number of line-up changes with Erase, we recorded a second album called Soulscape. After Soulscape, the guys I was playing with want to change styles, so we changed the name and style and I put Erase on hold for awhile. With that came a short lived band called Semuta.

After Semuta I took some time away from music, during my time off of music I was a passenger in a car accident that took a friends life and I receive some serious injuries to my back and shoulder. Which caused me to re-evaluate my walk with the Lord.

During my time of healing from my injuries, I got plugged into a good Bible teaching church, taught some Bible studies, did sound for my church. After a few years there Brian Moon, the old Erase bass player who was a pastor in a town about an 8 hour drive away, called me and said he was coming back this way and was going to start a church plant right downtown Vancouver. I asked him, if he wants me involved, he said yes, I said, I'm there. Now for the for about three years I have been involved in a downtown Vancouver church plant.

About the same time I began writing music again. I was writing several different types of extreme music, I created a band called Undercurrents with a drummer friend of mine Sean Lang, we were able to record the drums at a top end studio in Vancouver called The Armory, bands like Van Halen, Aerosmith, Fear Factory who have recorded there in the past. And the rest of the album has been tracked at my studio.

From there I began looking at labels to release this new project and the first two Erase albums. But after I began talking with a number of labels I found that I'd be better off releasing everything on my own. So I started HammerDown Records, it was mainly started to release my own music but has grown to include a number of other bands. One of those being First Reign, a progressive, technical death metal band.

What’s your general opinion about the underground scene today?

I'm not sure, the Canadian scene seems to grow and shrink so quickly it's hard to say what will happen next, but there seems to be a number of really great bands that are popping up, one of them of course is First Reign!

And what about the same scene in Brazil, have you followed it? If so, what do you think of it?

There are some really good bands coming out of Brazil! I have been speaking with Krig, Prayer and Awake to release their new releases and possibly re-releasing some their earlier albums.

I remember I saw a quote from you that says “Grace changes everything”. Tell us a bit about how this statement is reflected in your everyday and how the grace of God has changed your life.

The quote is from the Chuck Smith book "Why Grace Changes Everything" when it all comes down to it, everything is about God's Grace, as Paul starts all of his epistles to his readers "Grace and Peace". Everyone is looking for peace in this life, but you truly will not experience the peace of God until you have experienced the Grace of God and that Grace is provided to us through the finished work of His Son on the Cross of Calvary

What are your current musical projects? Is there any of them that already has an album released?

I'm currently recording First Reign's new album in my studio, which will be released on HammerDown Records, I'm also finishing up some bonus tracks for the first & second Erase albums, Mental Overload & Soulscape respectively. Other albums that are coming up are Undercurrents is coming out with their debut album, Motorcyclesidecar will have an EP this Spring early summer and then in March/April time I'll begin tracking the new Erase, Undercurrents and Motorcyclesidecar albums, with a later 2012 or early 2013 release. I might be mixing a few other albums that will make their way onto HammerDown Records as well!

Once again, thank you so much for giving the opportunity to interview you! Feel free to make some final remarks.

Thanks you very much for this interview! I'm hoping this year will be a very busy one for me and HammerDown Records. Any new bands seeking out a label to help the get their music to the people feel free to contact me.

Jason Campbell

HammerDown Records

http://www.hammerdownrecords.com

hammerdownrecords@shaw.ca

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