Scorpion Child are preparing their luggage for a mind-blowing concert at Piraeus Academy on October the 6th. This will be the first time that the American heavy rock band will play in Greece and judging by the enthusiastic words of singer Aryn Jonathan Black, we should be prepared for a magical night…
Interview: Yiannis Dolas
Rockpages.gr: How is the scene of heavy rock in Austin, Texas and the USA in general?
Aryn Jonathan Black: I should start by saying that the music scene in Austin is deeply saturated. Arguably one of the most dense scenes in the US. Country,Rock,Blues,Metal,Indie rock bands are in abundance. As far as heavy rock is concerned, there are a handful that I would constitute as such. I don’t know of any other bands locally that possess the dark-esoteric rock or almost post-punk sound that we create. Variety in a music scene is what excites me the most! The USA as a whole is a mixed bag and wildy depends on what area of the country you are in. Some cities set the artistic trends and other cities and smaller towns are decades behind the times. The internet I would imagine has been the great equalizer.
Rockpages.gr: Would you think that the European audience suits better to Scorpion Child than the US?
Aryn Jonathan Black: That is very hard to say as we haven’t been to Europe in a few years. Perhaps it’s changed. When Asa Savage and myself formed this band 18 years ago we had a vision to form a rock band that had these dreamy psychedelic almost 80’s dark-wave elements elements mixed with the heavy riffs of the 70’s and on the prior two records we leaned more towards that 70’s sound which incorporated more blues elements. Now we have come full circle back into that early vision which I feel really represents us. I am excited to see what parts of the world, if any, can really latch on to what we are doing. I have heard people describe what we create now as some sort of “heavy metal desert goth” or one I really took to was “Dark wave of Texas Heavy Metal”. This world is a mixing bowl of so many genres now it is hard to keep up. It comes down to the weird music we make when we all jam together.
Rockpages.gr: You’ve been writing your third album and then you went through a hiatus. Do you have plans to release it?
Aryn Jonathan Black: We have experienced a few breaks in the band. Mostly from members either starting families or going on to join other touring acts. From the second record, Jon joined “Uncle Acid and The Deadbeats”,and Alec and AJ joined our Austin buddies “And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead”. A year hiatus after their departures, we reformed as a hybrid of myself,Chris and Shawn from records 1 and 2 and co-founding member Asa Savage. Believe it or not,it didn’t gel right. Another hiatus was Covid where we started a Noisecore band just prior to lockdown called “Acid Roulette” (ironically named after the 2nd Scorpion Child record). That band was to both rebel against what we had been writing for the last 10 years and sort of reposition ourselves. There are so many different musical interests that we love dearly, we just decided to honor our love for bands like Butthole Surfers,Scratch Acid,Melvins,early Coalesce,Today Is The Day,The Jesus Lizard, & Swans. That band was short lived but we released a great 4 song record limited vinyl release on the British label “Dirty Filthy Records”. Acid Roulette then became a woodshed for what became the now Scorpion Child band.
As far as the new record, we will be announcing it with a press release in a few days! We are very excited to put it out there. It is quite a bit more moody and intense than prior albums. We are well into writing Album 4 now as well. It will be available for preorder on our bandcamp page https://scorpionchild.bandcamp.com/
Rockpages.gr: Was it complete? Did you scrap everything and started from scratch?
Aryn Jonathan Black: We actually recorded an album 3 after that initial year hiatus in 2018 that just didn’t vibe right with us so we scrapped it. When we reformed as Scorpion Child in 2021, we wrote all new material directed towards how we were feeling at the time.
Rockpages.gr: The band had several lineup changes, how did this affect its career so far and what makes you go on and keep re-forming?
Aryn Jonathan Black: I try not to worry about how lineup changes affect our musical careers. They happen for so many different reasons. A band is a very personal exchange of ideas and I have learned that these feelings and emotions change as do any relationships we cultivate in our lives. It’s not personal, but we all want to use this small amount of time we have to explore as much as possible. Nothing lasts forever. Life comes in waves with crests and troughs. We must have the utmost respect for those circumstances.
Rockpages.gr: What are the albums that you like listening to on the road when you are travelling from one show to another?
Aryn Jonathan Black: Great question! for me, anything Demis Roussos/Aphrodite’s Child;-) !! On the shortlist for us nerds would be: (Judas Priest,The Cult,Fields Of The Nephilim,W.A.S.P.,Ratt,Eno,Cocteau Twins,Nick Cave,Wire,Church of Misery,old Motley Crue,The Chameleons,Barry White,Skinny Puppy,The Sisters Of Mercy,Scorpions,Saxon,Watain,Slowdive,Craft,Killing Joke,old Jane’s Addiction,Oasis,Catherine Wheel,Jesus Lizard,Can,Karp,Melvins,HOF,Deftones,Rush,Zepplin,Ministry,Trower,GODFLESH,Siouxsie and The Banshees,Commodores,Kinks,Small Faces,Neu,Wu Tang Clan,Buffalo,Motorhead,Sir Lord Baltimore,Codeine,Low,Fugazi,Celtic Frost,UFO,Gorgoroth…the list is endless)
Rockpages.gr: This is your first time ever to play in Greece, what are your expectations?
Aryn Jonathan Black: The band is ecstatic to be invited there. We have friends there we hope to connect with, and if we are lucky new fans and friends will develop!
Rockpages.gr: Have you been here before as tourists, or is it your first time in general?
Aryn Jonathan Black: Some of the guys have not been to Greece and hope to see the Acropolis,Temple Of Poseidon and many of the ruins of ancient times. To be able to lift a piece of Greek soil and sift it between our fingers would be such an honor. We don’t have anything that old in the US. It is truly fascinating and very special to have this opportunity! We collectively thank y’all in advance for inviting us over.
Rockpages.gr: What should the Greek fans expect from this first show?
Aryn Jonathan Black: A hard mix of new and old material, and 5 totally solid dudes!
