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Cradle to Grave
Greg Cavanagh - Vocals

1. Judging by the overall sound of Cradle to Grave, there are a few obvious musical influences, but who are the biggest specific influences for your sound?

Greg: When I was 16 I remember saying (shouting) to everyone who’d bother to listen that someday I’d sound like a cross between James Hetfield and Oderus Urungus. At least that’s what I wanted at the time. What I actually sound like now might not sound like that but hey, f**k off. As far as songwriting or performance goes, I look up to Mike Patton and Eddie Vedder. Not really Metal, and it’s amazing how far removed they are from typical Metal ‘heroes’ but without either of those guys to look up to, I’m not sure if I’d even be singing. I don’t think I would’ve ever tried. As far as the rest of the band goes, I know that Sasquatch is heavily influenced by Ted Nugent and Voivod, Matt has his love for old school Metal like Slayer and Iron Maiden, and Glenn not only loves the old-school Thrash like Anthrax and Testament but also bands like The Deftones and The Beatles. And when it all comes together and we fight and cry and vomit our way through the songwriting process the end result is Cradle To Grave. Something we can all enjoy to do and hopefully never limit ourselves in any way doing it. But we’ve been also been influenced by everything from authors to actors to the personal heroes that we have in our everyday lives. I know that I take a little something I like from anything and almost everything that I come across and try to put it into the man I want to be and hopefully that will spill over into the music I create. I probably sound like some blow-hard douche bag, but I hope that the heroes that we’ve looked up to would be proud to hear their influence somewhere in our music.

2. What attitude/feelings went into writing Texas Medicine? How did this affect the lyrical content?

G: I write about what I know. I’ve never had lunch with Satan, I don’t have humps, I’ve never banged strippers in Hollywood, and I’ve never known how hard it is for a pimp. I just put down what I know is true. If other people are affected by what I say then that’s perfect. There’s nothing better than having your own songs yelled back at you during a live show. I mean, that’s the ultimate goal. To have the music you create actually stick with somebody through all the other bullsh*t they have to deal with. I went through a period in my life awhile ago that changed what I thought was the way I was defined. I had to change perspectives without any warning. That’s what ‘From Nowhere To Nowhere’ is about. You’re something, you’re forced to change, you’re something else. But through it all, you’re still yourself. And then you die. Like I said before, we don’t try to limit ourselves and that’s true for the lyrics. I write about love in ‘Nothing Left To Taste’, death in ‘Light’, rape in ‘F**k It Up’, and the passion it takes to survive in ‘Five Years Of Fire’. Anything’s up for grabs. Maybe even lunch with Satan someday.

3. What made you go the Southern Heavy metal route?

G: Back in the day, Sasquatch used to roam the swamps of Jackonsville, Florida on a constant hunt for mescaline. In between his blackouts, he played in a Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute band. Now, I’ve always been a fan of Skynyrd, way before I met him so that mutual love for the Southern Rock easily rears its ugly head whenever we write together. But he’s also turned me onto other Southern Rock acts like Black Oak Arkansas and Drive By Truckers. The intro to our live show is ‘Cocaine Blues’ by Johnny Cash. Pure Canadian rednecks!!

4. Which market is better for your products? Canada or US?

G: Definitely the US. I love Canada and I love being a Canadian, I believe it’s the best country in the world. But our sound/style has American market all over it. I know that people are generally the same but the last time we went down to California, there was a slightly different vibe from the crowds. They seemed to appreciate it more. So when we come down there in August, you better be ready! We’re gonna f**k you up! And you better f**k us up! But then again when we played Montreal, it was f**king insane! Maybe there’s something in the air here in Vancouver that puts people in a vegetative, zombie-like, peaceful state….

5. Do you prefer touring in either place over the other?

G: Well, from Vancouver to Calgary is a 10-hour drive, and that’s one of the shortest drives you can make before you hit Ontario. And then when you get to Ontario, you’re IN ONTARIO! Brutal. Just kidding all you Ontarioans. Or whatever the kids are calling ya these days. We went across Canada on our last tour and although the shows were great and the people were awesome, it nearly broke us. Physically, mentally, financially. It’s a long haul across those prairies. When we went down the West Coast, the longest drive was 10-hours! There’s just so many more cities and people. And let’s not forget…THE IN-N-OUT BURGER!

6. Being a newer band yourselves, what are your thoughts on the ever-rising international Metal scene?

G: I think it’s great. The more kids that get into Metal, the better. There’s really no downside…the competition will be tougher, the music will be better. Who wants to go see a f**king New Kids on the Block reunion? What are they, 60? Metal has always been a haven for true expression and creativity. It’s rare to see some contrived Metal band posing for the camera all over your television. And when it does happen, you can see right through it. That sh*t is constantly pumped down everyone’s throat for some reason. Who makes these calls? Who out there that you know actually owns a Hinder album? It’s weak music for weak minds. And as kids get older and wiser and they see how sh*tty and phony all these mainstream acts are, they’re gonna come to Metal. It’s happening already. And if the rising Metal scene doesn’t pan out right now, it doesn’t matter…Metal can’t die. It’s too honest. It’s too brutal. It will always be there, right under the surface.

7. With the album being as insane as it is, it’s obvious that everyone did their part working on it. How was your experience working with Devin Townsend?

G: Devin F**king Townsend. Words are hard to describe how grateful we are to have the opportunity to work with him. He took the album to a whole other level all by himself. Any ideas we would bring to him seemed so minuscule to the ideas he’d already had in mind. He captured the energy of the performances and captured the essence of what we were trying to accomplish. And that’s only by mixing and mastering it!!! He’s going to have a bigger hand in the next album, but we’ll talk about that bridge when it’s time to cross it. And I can’t say enough about the owner/engineer of the studio where we laid the tracks down, Clay from Speaker Freaker Studios. He had the patience to stick with us until we were satisfied with our parts. He’d push us for more to try to capture ‘the perfect take’. And he did it on more than one occasion. Everyone in the band stepped up and tried to push whatever personal limits they had just to add to the song. None of us wanted to be ‘that guy’ who, y’know, ruined the song with a sh*tty performance.

8. What are your thoughts on the final product of the album?

G: It turned out better than I could’ve imagined. As a musician you always have the final product in mind when you’re working on a project. It’s sometimes hard to hit the goals you set for yourself. But I think we all accomplished what we set out to accomplish. If you would’ve played this album for me a year ago and said, “this is your next album”, I would’ve told you to f**k off. Never in a millions years would I have thought that we’d be working with Devin and the finished product was damn-near perfect. Not that I’m selling ourselves short, but sometimes it’s just that much easier to prepare for failure. I’ve been preparing my whole life!

9. What does the future hold for Cradle to Grave?

G: I’m hoping for a relatively minor hit soon so I can get on the third season of Celebrity Rehab. Other than that, in the short term we’ll be included in an up-and-coming movie, we’ll have a video out for ‘Broken God’, we’re on a soon-to-be released Nazareth tribute, and we’re gonna destroy the West Coast in August!!!!! And I can tell you one thing, it’s not going to take four years to release our next album, like we did with Texas Medicine. We’ll be back sooner than you think!!! As far as our long term goals go, well, hopefully more of what we’re doing right now. To continue to grow as a band, to continue to push our songwriting and performance limits on the next album and to continue to reach more and more people. We’re going to be around for a long time….we’ll never quit. We’ll never stop. That’s a threat AND a promise. We’ve been doing this for a long time and it’s in our blood. It’s in our tears. It’s in our sh*t!! We’re passionate about the music we create, and we’re passionate about the fans we have. Thanks for all the support and we’ll see all you f**kers soon!!!!

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