EMQ’s with GRAVEHUFFER

EMQ’s with GRAVEHUFFER

Hi everyone! Welcome to our new EMQ’s interview with Joplin, Missouri, US based Metal/Crust band, Gravehuffer. Huge thanks to guitarist Ritchie Randall for taking part!

What is your name, what do you play, and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?

My name is Ritchie Randall and I play guitar and yell in the background for Gravehuffer. We’ve been doing this band since 2008, under the name KROM. We changed it to Gravehuffer in 2012, due to getting confused with other KROM’s out there. We have two full-length albums (“Blasphemusic”, & “Your Fault”) a vinyl EP (“Demon Face/Stalingrad’s Cross”) and are getting ready to release our third full length “NecroEclosion” on January 15th, 2021.

How did you come up with your band name?

Our friend Dozer came up with it for a band he was going to start but it never got off the ground. We always thought it sounded cool so we asked him if we could use it haha! He said we could on one condition: to give him free Gravehuffer merch occasionally.

What Country/Region are you from and what is the Metal/Rock scene like there?

We’re from the United States, in the city of Joplin, state of Missouri. It’s in the middle of the country, often what is considered the Ozarks. The scene here is pretty cool, especially since we’re not too far from even bigger scenes such as Oklahoma City/Tulsa Oklahoma, Northwest Arkansas, Little Rock, Kansas City, Lawrence/Topeka, Springfield, and Saint Louis. Lots of bands hit these cities up when they tour. There are lots of bands in all of these areas and the scenes are all pretty solid and work well together.

What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)

It is a vinyl EP via NoSlip Records called “Demon Face/Stalingrad’s Cross”. It was released September of 2019 on four different vinyl colours (white, smoky marbling, white w/ black splatter, and black w/ white splatter).

‘Demon Face’

Who have been your greatest influences?

Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Ramones, Venom, Suicidal Tendencies, Iron Maiden, Nausea, Napalm Death, Brutal Truth, Motörhead, Morbid Angel, Metallica, Darkthrone, Voivod, the list goes on…

What first got you into music?

Definitely Deep Purple and Judas Priest. My parents were really into them and even named me after Ritchie Blackmore. I saw the cover of “Unleashed In The East” and that’s when I knew I wanted to play music.

If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?

Probably Trey Azagthoth from Morbid Angel.

If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?

Wacken. It just seems to resonate the most with our style of music, and we all want to go to Germany!

What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?

We got paid in marijuana instead of money for playing a show once hahaha.

If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?

Thanks for supporting us all these years and have patience, the live gigs will be back before you know it.

If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?

That’s a tough one. Probably Randy Rhoads.

What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?

Playing shows is my favourite part of it for sure. Traveling can get tedious so that’s probably my least enjoyable aspect of it. Even still, the travel can be cool depending on where you’re going.

If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?

The way ticket sales are handled is not the best. Scalpers are still running the enjoyment too. Streaming sites should pay the artists a lot better. It really seems like greed and profit get in the way, but what else is new, right?! Hahaha!

Name one of your all-time favourite albums?

Judas Priest – “Sad Wings Of Destiny”. It’s pretty much where ‘heavy metal’ as we know it was born.

What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?

Vinyl. It has that physical aspect you don’t get anywhere else. There’s the artwork that you can get lost in, the vinyl itself can also be a piece of art, and it’s all about the ‘experience’ of the music that is represented the way the artist intended it to be.

What’s the best gig that you have played to date?

Either the time we opened for D.R.I. or the time when there was sword fighting instead of moshing in the pit while we were playing. That was insane! People brought foam clubs, swords, shields, and other ‘weapons’ and just went at it medieval style the whole show! The D.R.I. show was just a blast and quite the large and fun crowd so we were just on stage inspired by all of that the whole time.

If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?

I’ve always loved being in nature so probably something to do with conservation. The planet gives so much and we really need to treat it better than we do now.

Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?

Rob Halford, Lemmy, Tony Iommi, Devin Townsend, and YOU.

What’s next for the band?

We’re ramping up promotion for the “NecroEclosion” album so that’s taking up all of our time for the next few months. We have three videos in the works, a live stream event, some live play throughs of the new singles, interviews, and booking shows for next year. We have a handful booked already, with one even taking us out of the country.

What Social Media/Website links do you use to get your music out to people?

www.facebook.com/gravehuffer
www.gravehuffer.bandcamp.com
www.reverbnation.com/gravehuffer
www.soundcloud.com/gravehuffer
www.youtube.com/krommetal
www.twitter.com/gravehuffer
www.instagram.com/gravehuffer

Jaffa Cakes? Are they a cake or a biscuit?

A biscuit, and they are delicious!

Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?

Thanks again for having me and look forward to hearing what you think of “NecroEclosion”!

Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this interview, unless you have the strict permission of said party. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.

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