Interviews

Interviews: Sw1tch

Cleveland, Ohio seems to know how to create metal bands. How could one argue that when Cleveland has brought us the killer sounds of the "thrash monsters" Chimaira and now the beautiful destruction known as SW1TCH.

SW1TCH have recently signed with Immortal/Virgin Records, and are working on their debut album. I recently got to sit down and chat with guitarist Bradley 'Chester' Kochmit over AOL Instant Messenger and through e-mail. Below is the interview I conducted, in which we get an insight on how the album is coming along and what the future holds for the band.

SMOTHER: Have you decided on a title for your upcoming Immortal Records release? Around how many songs will be on the album?

BRAD: Not yet. We have a few possibilities but nothing even remotely close to a set title yet. Im also not sure about the number of songs but i'd imagine it being around 12.

SMOTHER: While it has been announced that SW1TCH are re-recording the songs Anymore and Inside for the upcoming release, do you plan on re-recording all your demo songs, like Skins and Reflections for it as well?

BRAD: Yes we will be re-recording everything. All the older demos, Wrong Side, Last Chance, Spread, Inside, Anymore, Reflections, Skins, all will be re-recorded for the album. We also have recorded some new songs, some of those titles are: Religion, Ten Dead Fingers, Exterminate, and Walk Away. We have a few other tracks that are without vocals as well.

SMOTHER: Who have you selected to produce the upcoming album?

BRAD: Jason Bieler who did the Nonpoint Album. He woke Nonpoint up and im hoping he can do the same with us.

SMOTHER: I have heard that you are planning on having a few members of Chimaira to come into the studio and record guest appearances on your upcoming disc. Is there truth to this? If yes, whch members of Chimaira and what songs are they planned to appear on? Do you have any other planned guests?

BRAD: You've been doin your homework havent you? Yes. It is definately confirmed that Mark and Chris from Chimaira will both be featured on a track on the album. We will be writing a completely new song with them, not having them do their things over one of our existing songs. And I'll just have to say wait n see about any other guests. Haha.

SMOTHER: Is there any certain significance for the letter I in SWITCH being changed to the number 1, or was it just for appearance?

BRAD: The 1 in sw1tch means that we dont think of ourselves as 5 guys playing our seperate instraments. We think of ourselves as 1 body ... sorta like an all for 1 and 1 for all thing.

SMOTHER: What are your tour plans as of right now? Are you going to be on any major tours before your album is released?

BRAD: We will be hitting the southwestern part of the u.s. in early January with Downset, Factory 81, and Relative Ash for about a week or so before we enter the studio to begin preproduction. Thats all i know about that right now.

SMOTHER: What are your feelings of the upcoming tour? Are you a fan of all three bands?

BRAD: I've been a Downset fan forever. And i just recently caught RA and Factory 81 the last two times Mudvayne stopped in Cleveland. I was pretty damn impressed.

SMOTHER: When are you hoping for the disc to be released?

BRAD: We're shooting for a Late April/May 2001 release.

SMOTHER: How long have SW1TCH been together? Could you give the readers a little history on the band?

BRAD: This is the longest story in history. As the current lineup sits it has been about 8 months. Ive been jammin with Ben since i was 13 in various bands. Bens has played music with Joe since conception it seems like. Shawn and Chad had bands together for like 6 or 7 years. With me so far? Good. Now Myself, Ben, Joe, A Shall Remain Nameless Singer, and Jim (LaMarca) had a band for 4 years that we changed the band name about every two weeks cause nothing sounded "cool". Our singer sucked ass and we fired him and got Ben (who was playin drums at the time) to sing because we found Chad at a gig in Kent Ohio. We continued with that lineup for another year until Jim left our band to join Chimaira because we were really fuckin lazy at the time. Well Chad called Shawn and he was in the band the next day. We decided to start from scratch and since we switched our old band name so much we just called it sw1tch.

SMOTHER: With your recent signing to Immortal/Virgin and Chimaira on the verge of signing right now, 2001 seems to hold a wide array of possibilities. Do you think there will be a Chimaira/SW1TCH tour in the near future?

BRAD: You never know ... you just NEVER know. haha

SMOTHER: Has SW1TCH released any material previous to inking the deal with Immortal/Virgin, and if so, is it still available anywhere?

BRAD: We released our Fuckin' Demo online ONLY for free in mp3 format. That is all we've done. You cant buy it anywhere. You have to get online and download it at http://mp3.com/sw1tch. And if someone trys to sell you a copy YOU'RE GETTING RIPPED OFF CAUSE ITS FREE!!!!

SMOTHER: How would you describe your music to a newcomer interested in your band?

BRAD: Listen to this if you want a good bowel movement ... no i would say its Heavy Alternative Fucking Metal.

SMOTHER: What is currently in your cd player?

BRAD: Spineshank - The Height Of Callousness

SMOTHER: What are your influences, what made you want to be in a band? Who are some of your favorite groups?

BRAD: Eddie Van Halen made me pick up a guitar. He is the fucking king shit of guitar players. As far as my favorite groups i would say: Any DLR era Van Halen, Slayer, Spineshank, Chimaira, Rush, Alice in Chains, Tool, Radiohead, Nonpoint, Kings X, At the Drive In, i could go on for hours.

SMOTHER: Any final thoughts or comments?

BRAD: BUY THE ALBUM WHEN IT COMES OUT!!! And get to the live shows for antics so insane it should be preceded by a warning from the Surgeon General!!! And thanks to smother.net and Skratch for doin an interview on our crappy little band!!!