Interview TOMB RIPPER

Interview with TOMB RIPPER Violent Grinding Death Metal Band from Washington US

1. Can you tell us about your childhood ? Do you remember when you first came into contact with loud music and what were your first concerts ?

We all have different backgrounds, being from Detroit / Toronto / Spokane, but a similar story. Older kids paving the way for us young bucks back in the day type shit. Had a guitar teacher give me Deloused in the Creamatorium by the Mars Volta & shortly after saw my first live concert, which was fucking RUSH. I also remember this kid Chris gave me a Dillinger Escape Plan sampler my freshman year of highschool and it completely blew my mind. Never had a chance to not be into loud music.

2. Can you describe the local scene where you grew up, what bands and venues were important to you and can you share some of your greatest memories about these bands/places ?

Camo shorts, pumas, basement shows, and fuckin Fat Tuesdays man. The Empyrean, The Boulevard (Seaside), Slaughterhouse… ha. Then there were the v-neck crabcore days that we all try to forget. But the scence in Spokane is tight as fuck. Shout out Ryan Levey, Monumental Booking, and the Big Dipper! Spokane kids show up, mosh their faces off, buy hella shit, and it rules. There was a dope punk venue called The Cretin Hop, that evolved into The Hop, then relocated to where an older venue called the A Club was at and was called The PIN. Those places all kicked so much ass and every show was always a party.

3. Did anyone play in any bands before Tomb Ripper ? If so, can you tell us something about them? Were there any releases? Can you share some good memories about those bands ?

Yeah we actually all played in a bunch of bands, a few of them together. The two things that brought us together were a project called Raisedbywolves – Tyler, Ken, and Rob all smashed some nasty southern rock / hardcore and did a pretty cool video for this song called “Great White”

Then Tyler, Jordan, and Rob were all in a band called HEXXUS – just some Acacia Strain style beatdown riffage shit. Was hella fun too.

Other notable ones was Jordan was in an OG Death Metal band called Skies Burn Black, Tyler linked up with some dudes in California in a nasty project called Puncture, and Rob had a Deathcore band in Portland called Paragon that was pretty brutal. They just dropped a new track this year actually.

Tombripper is exactly what we all want to and have wanted to be doing, so we’re thankful to have had all that other shit as stepping stones to bring us to this point. Having two vocalists in the band is awesome and we think will set us apart with what we are able to do with that.

To clarify the lineup is:

Tyler: Guitar/Vocals

Ken: Guitar/Vocals

Jordan: Drums

Rob: Bass

4. How did you come up with the band name Tomb Ripper , do you describe your musical style ? And can you tell us briefly the history of your band’s creation ?

Basically we just spitballed shit in the group chat and argued at practice until we all agreed on something. Still not sure if Jordan likes it honestly. We almost called the band “Breathing Smoke” But yeah, we just want to carry that HM2 chainsaw torch and blast beat the fuck out of everything. Powerviolence/death metal/hardcore punk/grind – NAILS is our collective favorite band for sure, and the history of us is pretty much all those other bands in the last question paved the way for us to get really pissed – Tyler finally just wrote a song and staffed the rest of the band once we squashed some beef. Now we get hammered and barbecue at every practice.

5. Why did you want to play this genre ? Who or what inspires you to write songs. What bands have inspired you the most ?

Motorhead. Disfear. The Unseen. Trap Them. Slayer. BLACK BREATH. Converge. Harms Way. The Acacia Strain. Magrudergrind. Nails. Gatecreeper. WVRM. Rob never shuts the fuck up about Yautja so them too. Honestly some of the most inspiring shit is coming right out of the PNW at this moment. Boltcutter, Misery Whip, Bonemass, Torn Open, too many to list – pretty much anything heavy just motivates us to try and get heavier.

6.Can you tell me something about your last Singels “Collective Throat” 2023 and your new Singel “Covetous” 2024 recorded at Kaotic Studio ? Can we expect more new music?

So Phil Bruni at Kaotic studios is a beast, he tracked all our drums and then let us do the rest on our own. We are trying to crank out a song every 2-3 months, we are finishing one right now that is possibly our heaviest song. We track where we practice, in Kens basement, and we have 5 more songs we sre gonna try to get out before the end of the year so get ready for more.

7. Which places to play were important to you and why ?

Warbox was our first show so that will be special to us forever, sick DIY backyard venue in Spokane. The Big Dipper obviously after re-opening and continuing to be a beacon in the hardcore scene here. Then Rays Golden Lion in Richland, we all used to play there back in the day before it closed & now the homie Bobby reopening it and is crushing. They had a sold out show last night!

8. What was your Weirdest show you’ve ever played and why ? feel free to mention more than one, and don’t hold back on the details ?

Honestly we haven’t played a weird one yet… but Rob broke his ankle right before out first show and was on crutches, that was silly as hell and no one knows why he didn’t just play sitting down. Dude was moshing too on crutches. Psycho.

9. What is l Tomb Ripper – Show like? What can somebody expect when they go to one of your concerts ?

We have played 5 shows and there were broken bones at 3 of them. Expect everyone from young bucks to old heads, all mosh styles, and just a massive wall of hate coming at your face. Feedback. Probably lots of spilled beer.

10. Are there other types of music you would like to play with a band ?

Tyler, Ken, and Rob are actually working on a Deftones style side project so… yeah, that.

11. Which Festivals would you still like to play ,and Which festivals do you have the best memories. I think the best stage for grindcore bands “Obscene Extreme Festival” in the Czech Republic will be on your bucket list ?

We just booked EdgeFest 2024 in Yakima for October, that will probably be our buggest show. Anything beyond that, bring it on. Bangin’ in the Rock would be cool, FEST, Maryland Deathfest, there are so many smaller festivals coming out post-pandemic & honestly we’re down for whatever. Playing Obscene Extreme would be fucking insane.

12. How can fans and future fans locate, ,listen to and buy your music & merchandise . Is there anything else you would like your fans to know ?

Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, Youtube. We got hella merch that we make ourselves & more tunes coming soon. Everything is in our Linktree.

13. What were your best moments in 2023 as a band ? And are your plans for the future ?

Starting the band, first show, first release, the Covetous video by our homie Logan of Apex View media came out fucking sick. We are gonna drop a few more singles. Then have a full length featuring the singles remastered with a few new songs. After that, more. Not sure exactly what but more. A lot more. Heavier too.

14. These were the questions, thank you for taking part in this interview and all the best to you and your band! Something to add yourself ?

We just wanna say hell yeah, and thank you to everyone who has followed us, bought merch, bumped a track, came out to a show, got drunk, got hurt, had fun, told their friends. We have been shown so much love and support in the year we have been a band and are thankful for every ounce of it. That being said, we fucking hate everyone and everything – so get ready for even more pissed off music from us in the very near future.

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