Interview by Tony Cannella
Entheos is a severely devastating band from the Bay Area and they have just released their debut album, “The Infinite Nothing”. Former members of Animosity and Animals as Leaders founded the band. Entheos has an undeniable chemistry – not to mention, power and energy – on their debut. Entheos is made up of, Chaney Crabb (vocals), Evan Brewer (bass), Navene Koperweis (drums) and Malcolm Pugh (guitars). Recently Chaney was kind enough to talk to Femme Metal and here is what she had to say.
Your debut album, “The Infinite Nothing” is out now via Artery Recordings. What can you tell us about it?
What I can say is that it is a punishing album and I’m really stoked for it. I’m excited, I’m proud of it. I think that we did a really great job writing it, so I’m stoked for people to hear it.
I’ve heard the album and I really like it. Lyrically, the songs seem to have a real social conscience. Can you tell me a little about the lyrical subject matter?
Mostly the lyrics have to do with how I am feeling on a day-to-day basis. It’s kind of like writing poetry and anything like that. I think a lot about philosophy, I think a lot about my own anxiety and stress and that type of thing. That’s what I write about.
The record is titled, “The Infinite Nothing”. What does the title mean to you?
It means everything and nothing at the same time. The infinite nothing is everything and the infinite nothing is nothing. That’s what it means to me. It’s kind of like a take on life. We’re human, we’re living, everything that we do could be forever or it could be for nothing and that’s what the title is about.
Could you talk a little about the writing and recording process for “The Infinite Nothing”?
We start out with a skeletal guitar and drums demo,and then from there, drums are recorded, guitars are recorded, and they add the extra things, the bass is added and then I’ll come in and do my thing. I’ll have some lyrics written ahead of time and then once I have the final versions of the songs, I’ll just go in and do what fits. I’ll start finishing up patterns, adding in new lyrics and moving things around until everything feels right to me. That’s pretty much how we go about it. It’s very much each member left to their own world.
Who produced the record?
Our drummer, Navene Koperweis. He produces all of our stuff.
You are on Artery Recordings. How did you hook up with them?
We were just kind of getting offers from a couple of different record labels, Artery was one of them and that was just the best choice for us at the time. I know a few people at the label were fans of Animosity, which is a band that our drummer and bass player were in, so I think that is how we came to work with them. We didn’t know them before that point.
Could you talk a little about how Entheos first got together?
Our drummer, Naveen was in Europe touring for his solo project, he was doing it by himself and when he got back, I think he was just ready to pursue band life again. He asked Evan, our bass player and me if we would be interested and we were both completely down. Our guitar player Malcolm came about a little further along in the process. It was a pretty natural thing to play together.
Who would you say some of the bands influences are?
We have many diverse influences. In the metal world, we all really love bands like, Candiria and Dying Fetus, that type of stuff. Then we will have random influences, my favorite band in the world is Fleetwood Mac. We draw from everywhere, really.
Do you have any touring plans coming up?
Yeah, we actually left this morning to tour. We’re headed to South by Southwest right now. Next week we hit the road with our friends in The Contortionist and Monument, we’re doing six weeks together and then we’re doing another tour starting in July that hasn’t been announced yet.
What can fans expect when they come see you live?
I think what they can expect is high-energy performances. Everyone in the band has their own solo thing going on, as well. We’re all about energy, we’re all about jumping around on stage and going crazy.
Are there any bands that you would absolutely love to tour with?
I think that Candiria is a band that we would absolutely fucking love tour with. Dying Fetus is another band we would love to play with.
I have one final question Chaney. Thank you so much for doing this. I think everyone should check out “The Infinite Nothing”. Do you have any final words for your fans, to wrap this up?
Check out the record. I hope you guys enjoy it. Thanks, for being a fan, we’ve only been a band for a year and it feels like we’ve gotten all of the support in the world, and it’s just a really great feeling, so really, thank you.