So Ryan, I gotta say I was mightily impressed with your EP, The Murderous Inception. How’s it going with the release and what are the plans for a full-length album?

Thanks so much for the kind works! The response to the EP so far has been overwhelmingly positive. I’ve been blown away by the support shown from the death metal community, bands and fans alike. Zdenek from Lacerated Enemy Records is doing an amazing job with the release, and I honestly couldn’t be happier. Even down to the quality of the paper the booklets are made out of, as well as the quality of the shirts, he’s covered it. Everything is top notch! I’m planning on writing and releasing a full length later this year – I’ve got a couple of other projects that I’m working on that I’d like to finish first, but as soon as they’re done, I’ll be starting the writing process.

The EP has an obvious strong old school Cannibal Corpse influence that hankers back to the Barnes era, both in vocal style and music wise. Is this your main influence and interested in expanding outside those horizons?

As strange as it may sound, not at all! I’ve heard a lot of comparisons between Gaped and old-school CC as well as Six Feet Under, but I’ve honestly never really listened to them at all. I was never a fan of Barnes’ vocal style, so I couldn’t really get into it haha! Because Gaped is one of several side projects of mine (my main band The Seer is a Symphonic Death Metal band), I don’t feel the need to pour all of my influences into the one project. Having other musical outlets helps me keep each project true to its original concept. I think that introducing too many new elements into Gaped would just end up alienating the fanbase that I’ve only just gained, so I’m going to keep it as close to the EP stylistically as possible.

So you play all the instruments and sing?  Where and how were you taught? Are you some musical genius?

That is correct; I performed all instruments on the EP. My first foray into music was when I was only about 5 years old, when I started learning the piano. I continued with that until I was about 12, and didn’t pick up the guitar until I was 14. I’m 25 now. I was never formally taught guitar other than a handful of lessons back when I started. I was learning more in my own time than my teacher was providing, so I just continued on my own. I’ve never properly learned bass, so I just play it like a guitar haha! The bass isn’t intended to be a prominent instrument in Gaped, I’ve made it thick and distorted – so it can support the guitars rather than stand apart from them. I didn’t start doing vocals until about 2006, when I started The Seer. As it was a solo project, I wanted to learn how to do it so I wouldn’t have to recruit someone else. At first I was only able to do high vocals (my main inspiration was Tomas Lindberg from At The Gates, but eventually learned how to growl by singing along to Deicide’s Scars of the Crucifix. I don’t consider myself to be any sort of musical genius haha! I know what I like, and I have the tools to be able to create it. I will always write the kind of music that I want to hear myself – I’ve never understood why so many people can’t stand to listen to their own music!

If I am wrong, please do not cleave me to death, but I thought the drum sound was programmed, due to its sound and perfection. Did you play the drums on the EP or are they from a drum machine?

You’re absolutely right. The drums are programmed. I tried to get them to sound as natural as possible tonally, but the overall clinical tightness makes it impossible to sound 100% real. I wrote all of the drum parts by hand on the computer, using Toontrack Superior Drummer with the Metal Foundry expansion for the sounds.

How did you get such a thick guitar tone on the EP? It’s killer! What equipment do you use?

The guitars are quad-tracked. There are two separate performances of each riff on either side, so four in total. There is a main guitar tone, which is my signature Ignite Amps preamp plugin (a simulation of the real thing, which is currently being built in Italy) and an ENGL 4×12 cabinet impulse. The secondary tone, which is blended to thicken the tone up, is a real amp/cab – my DV Mark Triple 6 and DV Mark 4×12. The melodies throughout the EP are through the DV Mark, and the solos are through the Ignite plugin. The bass tone was also achieved with an Ignite Amps plugin – the SHB-1. The whole EP was tracked with an Ibanez Premium 7 string guitar, and a Spector Legend 5 bass. Tuning is drop A.

Any other song covers planned?  The Cannibal Corpse “Stripped Raped and Strangled” came out so fantastic!

I’ve actually got a LOT of covers I’d like to work on, but the issue is finding the time to do it. The next cover I plan on doing is a song called “When The Sun Drank The Weight of Water” by Demilich. I’ve previously covered “Rhizome” by Disavowed as Gaped, as well as two songs with The Seer – “By Your Bedside” by Vehemence, and “In The Wordless Chamber” by Emperor.

How did you learn to write such memorable riffs?

I’m not sure how to answer that haha! I guess it’s something that you just get lucky with. I’m a firm believer in not keeping everything that I write. I open up a session and just record riff after riff after riff until I strike gold. Sometimes I might need to put on some music from my favourite bands to get the inspiration that I need. Once I come up with a riff that I’m really happy with, I go from there. Same deal again – riff, riff, riff, until I hit gold.

So where in Australia do you live?  How is the scene where you’re at and do you recommend going backpacking in the Australian Outback, where it’s vast and some undesirable backwoods people have been linked to killing tourists?

I live in a small town called Maitland in New South Wales. The closest recognizable city is Newcastle, and is about 2 and a half to 3 hours from Sydney. The scene is sadly not doing well. More and more venues are closing down, and when there are shows, anything above 30 people attending is unheard of. Sadly, with this the quality of bands is deteriorating as well. Fewer bands feel the need to put the effort in to properly rehearsing and performing, and give people even less incentive to come to shows. It’s really sad. I can honestly say I don’t really have much of an opinion on the merits of backpacking in the Outback haha. I’m an indoor person!

Is Gaped strictly a studio project for now where you have all the creative control or do you think perhaps bringing in some members would be helpful in terms of playing live and more collaboration?

I intend on keeping Gaped as a studio project predominantly, but I do have intentions of playing live – I already played one show with the other members of The Seer as the backing band, and have more planned with that lineup. I find that it’s easier that way, as I’m already used to playing with those guys, and I know that they’ll be able to play anything I throw at them. There’s actually talk of a European tour at some stage, so when the time comes, I’ll assess whether I want to take a band with me, or recruit members in Europe to save money.

Do you go to shows to support the local scene and what other bands have you been linked to?

I try to support the local scene as much as I can. I run a recording studio in Newcastle called Emissary Studios, through which I’ve worked with almost every metal band in the area. I’ve worked on around 25 releases in the last 3 years. Some bands I’ve worked with: Rise of Avernus, Abacination, Balescream, Cerebral Contortion, Chambers of Insanity, Grim Demise, Nekrology, Osmium Grid, The Paradox Unseen and War Faction. All quality bands that are well worth checking out.

Any final thoughts/comments for the readers?

I really appreciate the interest you’ve shown in Gaped! Keep your eyes and ears open for new material later this year! Check out these links:

https://www.facebook.com/Gaped/

https://www.facebook.com/theseermetal

https://www.facebook.com/ChromeBison

https://www.facebook.com/EmissaryStudiosAustralia

https://www.facebook.com/laceratedenemyrecords

http://laceratedenemy.bigcartel.com