Interview with Jim Roe, Incantation

- Hello, Jim! Let's get back to the very beginning. How old were you when you got your first drum-kit? What actually motivated you to start playing drums?
- Wow, I've got my first drum set I was really young. I first started banging on pots and pans when I was 6. After that a couple of toy drum sets. My first real kit was a 3 piece: 1 tom, 1 snare and a bass drum and it had a crash/ride and a high hat, was about 8 or 9 at the time. I don't know what made me play drums I just liked beating on things when I was a kid

- How did you learn all the techniques? Did you have anyone next to you to show you or explain the double-bass or blast beats? Which bands' play-style did you try to follow?
- I never really did, I listened to records and tried to do what drummers were doing. At 13 or 14 a new kid moved to town, Lawrence, he and I became friends and at the time he was a much better drummer than me. I learned some stuff from Lawrence but at the time we were not doing blast beats, didn't really hear blast beats back then. I remember hearing the end of the Black Sabbath song “Black Sabbath” and thought, Wow he's riding on the snare and the ride cymbal. I thought that was really cool and looking back its kind of blast like. Back then we were trying to play Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath songs. Then later we started hearing Metallica, Slayer, Celtic Frost so there were some double bass, but blast beats came a little later.

- What do you remember about the early days of your local underground scene? Did you have any place where you always could find some metal records? How often did you go to see any concerts? Could you remember any cool one? 
- I saw lots of great concerts at Madison Square Garden, bigger bands: AC/DC, Rush, Scorpions, Iron Maiden. I would go see lots of shows coming through back then it was cheap, about 15 bucks, that was when I was younger probably 13 to 16 or so. Later, smaller clubs started having more underground shows, more local bands or smaller touring bands. L'Amour in Brooklyn always had good shows coming thru. I remember seeing a DBC show at L'Amour in the late 80s. And Ripping Corpse was always a great local live band. There were a lot of record stores around back then that had metal and up and coming metal. All of them are pretty much gone now except for Vintage Vinyl in Edison, NJ. It was an exciting time back then and lots of great metal was still to come

- When did you first hear of Incantation and how did you join them? Did you have any audition or at least any one on one with John? What were your first rehearsals like?
- I answered an AD in the paper, it read a brutal death metal band looking for double bass drummer and listed some influences, Celtic Frost and Possessed being a couple of them. As far as meeting with John we talked on the phone and were supposed to meet at a local music store but John never showed up, at least that's what I thought. Then he called the next day and said he was there but was an hour late. He seemed bothered that I didn't wait around. Then the next day I was leaving, me and two friends were going on a trip driving cross country to California. I was going to be gone for at least a whole month so if figured I would not get the chance to meet John and his band and they would find another drummer. But when I returned home I had a couple messages from John, I called him up and they still needed a drummer. So we set up some rehearsals. I would say all the rehearsals went well, we started playing shows and it was cool. The first Incantation show that I played was in Rhode Island at the Church House Inn, Vital Remains headlined the show.

- The first record you released together was "Deliverance of Horrific Prophecies" EP. It was only 2 tracks, but how did the recordings go? Was it your first time experience working at the studio?
- I would say the recording went great and it was our first time in that studio, Trax East.

- That also was your first release with Relapse Records. Even though you were one of the first bands they signed, but what did it mean to you? Was it a good deal for you or have you been still seeking another deal?
- I don't really remember the details on business from that time but I think that was the deal and probably the only deal we were going to get at least at that time. I thought it was great that our stuff was getting out and being heard.

- In 1992 you released the debut full-length. Before entering the studio, for how long have you been working on the material? How often did you practice? What did you remember the best out of that time?
- We jammed a lot back then, usually three times a week. We had been doing local shows, small tours and creating new songs. It must have been a year and a half since I joined the band till we recorded Onward. I remember rehearsing a lot right before going to the studio and I remember Craig, Ronny and myself going on a tubing trip down the Delaware River right before entering the studio. They were great days.

- For the recordings you came back to the Trax East Studios. So, how did it go? How long did it take you record everything? And how long did it take you lay down the drums?
- The drums went down pretty quick I think mostly the first day. I think we got drums and scratch tracks the first day and came back the next day and listened and maybe did a take or two, I can't remember it was a long time ago. I remember feeling good about the way I was playing in the studio, it seemed to flow very good and seemed easy and fun. It was kind of a party when I was recording drums, John had invited some guys from Goreaphobia and Immolation and I think some other friends. I think they wanted to check out the studio also. It was a good time, we were all young friends back then and we played lots of shows together. I think we got the drums, rhythm guitars and bass done. Then there was a break in the recording, I can't remember if it was two weeks or two months. But then we came back to finish up and mix. I thought it all went pretty smooth.

-  The "Onward to Golgotha" cover is now pretty iconic one. But what did you see what you just saw it? With your words, what do you see on it?
- That is hard for me to answer as I saw some of the rough sketches as it was coming together and I didn't know what to think. In the end I like it, I think the cover is sick.

- After the release, you went to the USA tour. How did it go? Who did you play with? Do you remember any specific places from that one?
- Yea, that was the first real busy tour we did playing every night. It was 16 shows, Entombed headlined the tour, and Deadhorse and Incan opened. It was a great time but one thing that sucked was our bass player Ronny Deo couldn't do the tour. He was still in high school and couldn't miss the school days, so we had to get a fill in bass player. I remember playing in Montreal and during our set the power went out. At first I thought it was the clubs power but it was the whole city. I couldn't believe the whole city lost power, we must have been to heavy and evil for their power grid (laughs). People were yelling, drum solo drum solo. Some guy came up to me and said , “here I bought you a beer, can you do a drum solo?” So I gave it my best shot but I'm sure it was a horrible drum solo. (laughs) Good times.

- In 1994 you released the second full-length, "Mortal Throne of Nazarene". How were the preparations to this album? Did you feel any pressure or even the shadow of "Golgotha"? What were the main goals to be achieved?
- At the time I wasn't in the band I don't remember much preparation for that. I had worked on the songs with the band about 6 months earlier so I kinda knew the songs. I really just went in and recorded the drums, I took three days off from my job and that was it. I didn't have any input on finishing it and I wasn't around for mixing.

- Did you challenge yourself anyhow? How is it in general to come up every time with interesting and non trivia drum parts?
- Yea, I would always come up with drum parts that I couldn't play and then I would work on them and jam with the band until it became easier.

- And then there was another version of this albun, "Upon the Throne of Apocalypse". What do you think about it? And which version do you actually prefer?
- I like the second record, for me the Upon the Throne version is better, I think it's a heavier mix.

- Few years later there was another project, Disciples of Mockery. Tell us about this band, what were the origins of it?
- Ronny left Incantation first, then I left a few months later, then Craig left a few months after me. The three of us became Disciples of Mockery. In '94 right after Craig left Incan, Disciples of Mockery got on a festival show that Incan was playing and we played a full set of Incan songs about and hour before Incan went on. And when Incan went on people where like, What's going on? I thought Incan already played?!?

- In 1999 you released the only album, "Prelude to Apocalypse". The album was released independently, why couldn't you find any label's support? And how was it to work with that cool line-up that you had on that album?
- Yea, that was a great time. Relapse Records was interested, but after the whole Incan fiasco we didn't really trust Relapse. It probably would have been a good idea to work with Relapse, they did get Disciples on a cool show in NJ.

- After several other bands, you finally decided to have your own one, The Primitive. How did you come up with the idea of creating a one-man band?
- I just really love to make music. It always feels right to me if I am working on something with music. All the bands just seem to come and go. Around 2013 I started playing guitar. I thought it would be cool to learn more about music and try to work out some of the rhythmic ideas in my head. At first I thought I would get someone to sing and help put together some concept ideas, but the more I worked at playing guitar and writing lyrics the more I liked doing it.

- Tell us about the "Founded in Hell" EP. Is it an independent release? Where did you record it? Is it difficult to be in charge of everything? Or is it ever better for you?
- It is what it is its better in some ways and harder in others. I would like to play this stuff live, it will be challenging to play and do vocals at the same time. I recorded and mixed it in my home studio. I kinda just recorded it and pressed up some CDs. Also have it up for digital download on band camp.

- What are your plans for now so far? You are still involved with Mausoleum and recently with Terror. How do you manage your time? Will there be anything new from The Primitive too?
- Yes I think from here on out I will always create music. I already have a few new songs on YouTube for “The Primitive”. I am looking forward to playing Hells Headbash 3 with Terror in Cleveland. As for the Mausoleum camp I don't know whats going on, we did record a new CD's worth of songs but everyone is involved with other bands so it is not finished. Time will tell.

- Thank you for this interview, Jim. Would you like to add anything in the end? 
- Thank you Tough Riffs for the interview. Cheers, brother