Next month will see Enabler visit the country for a tour alongside Urns. From Byron Bay to Adelaide, the bands will play a couple of weeks of shows that’ll be just $15 on the door. This week in The Hotseat we catch up with Jeff from Enabler. Expand this post to check out his answers as well as all the tour dates and details.
THE BASICS
Name : Jeff Lohrber
Band : Enabler
Job In Band : Vocals, Guitar, Songwriter, and the person that knocks all of the bullshit when shit needs to be done.
Website Address : www.enablerband.com
HOME
Hometown : Dayton, Ohio (surrounding areas), but I’ve lived in Milwaukee, WI for 6 years
Hometown is best known for : Dayton – crack, Milwaukee – cheese and beer, for the record I’ve never done crack and I’m vegan.
Best venue in your hometown : Dayton – Blind Bob’s, Milwaukee – Miramar Theatre is awesome, but it’s almost all garbage that plays there, so we’re stuck playing houses, dive bars, etc.
Favourite show you’ve seen in your hometown : Dayton – Blood Has Been Shed / Twelve Tribes K of C Hall 2002, Milwaukee – Modern Life is War’s farewell tour 2007 at some random place where the floor was about to cave in.
Favourite show you’ve played in your hometown : Dayton – Eric and I’s old band Harlots final show @ Blind Bobs, Milwaukee – Amora Savant’s (a band I drummed for briefly) final show @ Old Orchard Inn
THE BAND
How did the band first come to exist? I was in a band previously called Harlots that I played drums for, Harlots eventually fell apart and it left me taking on hired drummer gigs for several bands. I had been writing music in my free time for personal enjoyment. After being on tour with Trap Them for several months, I decided that it was time for me to finally pursue these songs that I had been working on.
How long has the band been going? The band has been going on full force since December of 2009.
Any particular story behind the name? We had our first show booked within about 3 weeks of the first lineup jamming together, but we didn’t have a name. The original moniker this project had was “Savior for a Fallen Hero”, but we just didn’t really like the name all that much. It seemed more like a song or album title than a band name. Our old bassist suggested the name Enabler, and I liked it because I didn’t feel like it pigeonholed the sound of the band. One fear of being a songwriter is being forced to be stuck in the same songwriting format your entire career.
What’s your most recent release? Tell us a little about it… “Shift of Redemption” is an EP that was released this past April via Think Fast! Records. It was recorded about 2 months after the release of our LP “All Hail the Void” last year. I feel like it kind of sums up a lot of the ideas going into the songwriting on “All Hail the Void”. AHTV for me is a defining record of the band, but it also came out a little too produced for my taste. I’ve always wanted this band to sound like a band, and I’m sorry but if you listen to double bass in real life, it doesn’t sound like what’s on 99% of current metal records. We did about 18 days of tracking for AHTV, and our guitarist at the time and producer Greg Thomas took about 3 months to mix and edit the record. Some of the layering he did I find to be absolutely brilliant, but I just hate the “fixed” kick drum and edited guitar sound that he went for. I would have preferred to have Andy Hurley playing drums live to a click track, because he sounds absolutely amazing in that setting. Greg and Andy also left the band shortly before AHTV was officially released to focus on their full time bands Misery Signals and Fall Out Boy. I was left pretty frustrated and the “Shift” EP is the outcome of that frustration. Most of those songs were written on the spot with the exception of the title track, which was written in the 3 months that Greg took to mix and edit the record.
Got a personal stand out achievement of your band to date? Being able to tour the world and become friends with Rotten Sound, Black Breath, Martyrdod, Burning Love, The Secret, Dead in the Dirt, etc. Playing in San Francisco with fucking Noothgrush! Seeing “All Hail the Void” in Spin’s top 20 of the year right in between Napalm Death and Neurosis. Having people give a shit about the music I write in the first place is an honor!
OFF THE STAGE
What was your first introduction to music that made you think seriously about playing it? My Dad would stay home and iron his laundry while my Mom went to church. I eventually smartened up and stayed home with my Dad, listened to The Beatles records, and ate doughnuts. The Beatles are the first band, or music for that matter, that I ever remember hearing. It’s sacrilege to think the Beatles suck.
Any particular band / album or song that you personally credit as a major influence? Def Leppard “Pyromania”. Like I said before, I stayed home with my Dad and listened to the Beatles, well eventually I discovered Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, and then Def Leppard. My parents took me to see Def Leppard when I was in first grade, and holy shit, it was life changing. I knew from then on that all I wanted to do was play music.
Your first band name, and what style did you play? Well I’ll spare you the really early bullshit (I don’t consider cover bands to be real bands), so the first real band I was in was called Adamah. It was melodic metalcore, similar to Undying or Morning Again. It’s funny because we started that band around 1999, and I think we would’ve fit right in with all of the metalcore garbage that is extremely popular 14 years later. It was actually right up the alley of what bands like Bleeding Through or The Devil Wears Prada are doing now.
Most prized music related item you own? An unopened copy of Dead Kennedys “Frankenchrist” on cassette, I’ll explain. I have a sister that’s about 14 years older than I am, and she liked Ratt, Poison, Motley Crue, etc. when I was a kid. I would also dub every tape she owned, anything that had loud guitars was fine by me. One day I pulled out a copy of “Frankenchrist” and asked her what it was like, she took it out of my hands, then ripped the tape out of the cassette, cut the tape in front of me and then said “You should never listen to this, it’s terrible”, and that was my introduction to punk rock! My girlfriend (and Enabler bassist) Amanda Daniels bought me an unopened copy on ebay for Christmas a few years back, what a champ!
When you’re not doing band related stuff, what are you usually found doing? I am a lover of sci-fi and horror movies and books. I love to indulge in media of all forms, music, movies, books, comics, etc. I also love to track down good vegan friendly food wherever I’m at.
The thing you most look forward to just before a tour is… Getting on the road, sitting in a van for countless hours and sharing the stage with 3 of my best friends every night. There is nothing better.
The thing you least look forward to before a tour is… Never fucking sleeping! It’s so hard to get a good night’s rest on tour. All of the partying and hanging out catches up with you at some point, and the older you get the harder it hits you!
ON THE STAGE
When on offer, what’s your one must have item on the rider? For me, it’s a vegan meal. I can’t tell you how often this gets fucked up, and I can’t figure out why either. It’s a sore subject for me honestly. I can’t tell you how many times they have veggie meat slices and real meat slices back stage, and the meat eaters eat all the veggie slices then tell you it’s not their fault you made the decision not to eat meat, fucking assholes. Also a lot of times the “regular” meal is totally on point, well balanced meal and all, and then the vegans get some peanut butter and jelly and some pita and hummus. I mean, yeah I’ll eat it, but what’s the deal. If you have the choice to eat all of the options, why not indulge in some bad ass vegan or vegetarian food once in a while and know what the fucks up and get some proper vegan food? Ok, rant over now. Haha.
Favourite place you’ve toured… and why? I loved being able to make it to Scandinavia and Ireland on the last European tour. Those are two places that I have good friends at that most European tours don’t hit because of the expensive ferry rides, and the shows were awesome!
Most memorable show you’ve played? and why? That’s such a hard question, there are a lot for sure. I’ll go with a recent experience that just blew my mind at how awesome some of the people we work with are. We played Kansas City with Early Graves last month and were driving the next day to play a show in St. Louis with our friends Everything Went Black. The alternator blew on our van about 2 hours from St. Louis, Brandon from Everything Went Black came and picked us up, we made it just in time to get to the show, and we played on all of their gear. We then drove back from St. Louis to Columbia, MO to get the alternator replaced, hit the road at about 2pm for Columbus, OH. We arrived in Columbus right on time to load our gear on stage and play, the promoter Ray helped us load in, and we played an awesome set to a bunch of crazy kids who wouldn’t stop circle pitting and knew all the words to our songs!
Got a favourite song to play live? It’s a toss-up between “Live Low” and “Sacrifice”
Any embarrassing on stage moments come to mind? Rocking out so hard that I forgot to sing the verse to a song (several times actually), or doing some dumb Mortal Kombat kick across stage and almost breaking my foot, both equally embarrassing.
Any pre-show rituals? Well, I wouldn’t call it a ritual, but for some reason I usually have to take a huge shit right when it’s time to hit the stage. No farting aloud!
What do you find is the hardest aspect of touring in a band today? If you’re not making a living touring, then definitely managing home life (holding a job, taking care of pets, etc.) while trying to be on the road half the year.
RIGHT NOW
Last song you listened to? “The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here” by Alice in Chains
Last album you acquired? I got all of these on the same day, so I guess they all count. Fucked Up “Hidden World”, Heartless “A Certain Death, High On Fire “Art of Self-Defense”, High On Fire “De Vermis Mysteriis”, Much Worse “Macrocosm is a Wash”, Multiple Truths “No One Wins”, Protestant “Reclamation”, Turmoil “The Process of”
Which band or album is currently on high rotation? I’ve been on a Type O Negative kick lately, but I did just stream the new Intregrity record “Suicide Black Snake” and I loved it.
Tell us an up and coming band or artist you think we should go and listen to right now? Dead In The Dirt
What’s on the cards for the next few months for the band? Australian tour with Urns in July, touring around This is Hardcore Fest in August, our drummer Chris is getting married in the fall, and then we are recording a new full length in November!
IF ONLY…
You can pick any one album for your band to cover in full, what would it be and why? Integrity “Humanity is the Devil”, first off that shit is easy to learn, and second it’s one of the heaviest and toughest hardcore records of all time. That record is my workout anthem!
You can pick any one band / artist to cover one of your albums in full, what would it be, and why? Neurosis, if you know who Neurosis is, then you know why. If you don’t know who Neurosis is, what is wrong with you?!?!?
One band you wish you were able to see live but never had the chance? I’ve never seen Metallica, and they were one of the most important bands to me as a kid. I’m not sure I’d want to see them now. I tried to go a few years back and the tickets were just so fucking expensive. It’s amazing to me what some people spend on concerts. $70 tickets (for the shitty seats) + ticket fees, $40 concert shirts (and of course you have to get one), $25 parking, $8 beers, etc. At the end of the day, they are just some guys that play guitars and drums and wrote some cool songs, and why are these people treated like gods?
One venue you have yet to play that you would love to? The Triple Rock in Minneapolis, which we are playing next month! It’s a bar, restaurant (has killer vegan grub in addition to the meaty dishes, so everyone is happy), awesome venue, the guy who was front of house for Baroness usually does sound there so it’s always good, etc. and it’s owned and operated by the guys who play in the band Dillinger Four, so you know the treatment is spot on. It’s a dream of Amanda and mine to own a place like this when we feel like we’re too old to tour!
The chance comes up to fill in for a member of a band for one tour, which band would it be, and why? Well, I already played drums for Today is the Day, twice actually, and the drumming on their records “In The Eyes of God”, “Temple of the Morning Star”, and “Willpower” is some of my favorite drumming captured on any metal record of all time, next to Slayer of course. I love playing in Enabler and don’t really want to be anywhere else.
A headline tour overseas comes up, tell us two bands you’d take along to support your band. How about this, we tell everyone that was in Sepultura to get their heads out of their asses and do a 20th anniversary world tour for “Chaos A.D.” with the Cavalera’s back and Andreas Kisser shredding it playing the album front to back, and we’ll open up for that. 2013 is almost halfway over, better happen fucking soon!
PLUG TIME
Got any final words? Australia, July, Enabler, Urns, the man and the legend Lochlan Watt, lets fucking do this shit!
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ENABLER
With Guests URNS
JULY
3rd – Venue TBA, Byron Bay [AA]
4th – Crowbar, Brisbane [18+]
5th – Hermann’s Bar, Sydney [18+]
6th – Black Wire Records, Annandale [AA]
7th – Yours And Owls, Wollongong [AA]
9th – Croation Wickham Bowls Club, Newcastle [18+]
10th – Pot Belly Bar, Canberra [18+]
11th – Bendigo Hotel, Collingwood [18+]
12th – Black Goat Warehouse, Melbourne [AA]
13th – Enigma Bar, Adelaide [18+]
—> Tickets available on the door.
—> For more information, visit [Here].
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