Dead Rhetoric: How would you describe the scene in the Cincinnati, Ohio area for metal? Are you able to play out regularly and spread the War Curse sound to surrounding cities and states? What is your live show outlook in terms of stage presence and performance?
Roth: Cincinnati is a very underrated city in terms of music. We are surrounded by talented guys that deserve to be on the national stage, spanning all genres. But shows here are good. You’ve got your usual cast of characters you can count on seeing at every show, and depending on the band or venue, you can play for some pretty rowdy crowds. As far as War Curse goes, we try to stay active while not becoming stagnant. Too many bands fall into that rut of playing the same venues every week, playing the same set over and over, and there’s no reason to want to see them after a while. On any given month you can catch War Curse 2-4 times in the expanded area if you’re willing to drive a little. Dayton Ohio has a killer metal scene, James lives in Dayton, and the Dayton metal fans have been great to us, plus it’s right up the highway, so we’ll play there once a month maybe. Northern Kentucky is right, acres across the bridge (I live there) so we’ll play there maybe once a month. Just spreading it around a little. We’re constantly working to expand our reach. We’ve got stuff coming up in Cleveland, we’re working on Chicago, a return trip to Indianapolis, we are booking NY, DC and other east coast dates for this summer, and really just trying to be smart about it.
As far as our stage show and show philosophy goes, we take an old school approach to things. We are there to entertain the fans who paid to see a show. You won’t catch us standing around staring at our guitars, trying to impress you with fancy guitar tricks we learned on YouTube. We’re going to lug in a bunch of Marshall cabs, turn our amps up to 11 (sound guys love it when you do that) and give it hell every time. If I walk off stage and I’m not ready to collapse, I haven’t done my job.
Dead Rhetoric: What do you consider the five best heavy metal albums of all time? And what would you consider the best concert(s) that you have attended from a fan perspective through the years?
Roth: Oh man, picking 5 is always hard.
Megadeth – Rust in Peace. An absolute thrash metal masterpiece. Nick Menza’s drumming, Marty’s wildest leads, and the best stuff Dave has ever written. I don’t know what else to say other than flawless.
Rainbow – Rising. The combination of Blackmore’s chops and Dio’s pipes was a match made in metal heaven.
Metallica – Ride the Lightning. Most of my favorite Metallica songs are on this album and it’s been a favorite of mine as far back as I can remember.
Iron Maiden – Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. Not most people’s first choice of Maiden albums but it’s my favorite. Moonchild, The Evil That Men Do… so good.
I’m not picking a 5th album. You can pick for me if you want. Anything from Testament, Exodus, Saxon, Raven… I just can’t do it.
Best concert is easy. Anyone who’s ever seen Iron Maiden knows that no one comes close. I’ve seen them twice and both times I was floored.
Dead Rhetoric: What concerns do you have regarding the world that we live in today?
Roth: I could write a very long, extremely cynical novel on this topic. I love talking politics and current events, but perhaps this isn’t the place. I’ll just say that at the very core of every problem is a lack of compassion, understanding, and education. The media breeds hate and fear, but we’re all living on this same chunk of land for a very limited amount of time. It would be so much easier to stop fighting with each other and enjoy that time.
Dead Rhetoric: Has work begun on the next War Curse release – and if so what can the fans expect in terms of output? Will War Curse consistently change things up from release to release?
Roth: One thing I love about being in this band is we never stop working. Final Days wasn’t even recorded yet and we were already discussing plans for the next batch of songs. We’ve been demoing tracks at a local studio and we’ve got some time booked at Threshold in December to start bringing these ideas to life. We’re not going to abandon what we do by any means, but this next batch of songs will definitely show an evolution in our writing and playing abilities. As long as every release is better than the one before it I’ll be happy.
Dead Rhetoric: How do you see the next 6-12 months looking for War Curse in terms of promotional activities? What types of goals do you set for yourselves as musicians and as a band?
Roth: There’s always something happening. There’s a lot of stuff going on right now that I can’t talk about actually. But in the next 6-12 months you’ll see some new material released, some dates outside of the mid-west announced, and Murphy will probably change amps 3-10 more times. As far as goals are concerned, I don’t want to sound cliché, but have fun. War Curse is never going to pay our bills. If we can see the country in a stinky van, meet some interesting people, and enjoy ourselves without going a million dollars in debt, what more could we ask for?