Job For a Cowboy have quickly found themselves at the top of the death metal food chain, and their newest album Ruination is a good reason why.  I had a chance to sit down with drummer, Jon Rice, and he was extremely candid.

 

Tanner Fisher: I’m here with Jon Rice from Job For a Cowboy.  How the tour been going so far?

 

JR:  It’s been going pretty well.  We’re almost halfway done, and we’ve done shows pretty much throughout the North East region.  We started by doing a couple shows in Montreal.  So yeah, the tour has been going really good so far.

 

TF:  This tour leads right up to the California Metalfest.  Can you explain how this came about? 

 

JR:  Well in the beginning, this tour was supposed to be a 3 ½ week run.  This tour was supposed to bleed right in to that show, but Jonny [Davy, vocalist] mentioned that he needed some time off before the California Metalfest.  Our last stop on this tour is in St. Louis, and then we go home for about ten days, then we start right back up with the California Metalfest.  After that, we’re going to go up through California, and come back down through Texas.

 

TF:  The Bleeding Through and Born of Osiris tour is also leading up to the California Metalfest.  Is that the thing to do now, where you bunch tours and festivals together?

 

JR:  I’m not sure.  Booking agents probably do that because it’s easier for them.  Having everyone on a tour go to the same festival afterwards just makes it easier on them.  I guess it makes more sense that way. 

 

TF:  With the Doom EP, your band helped create the whole bree-core/deathcore craze.  Then, with you last two albums, your band went for a more straightforward death metal sound, and now deathcore bands are dropping their use of breakdowns.  Do you think your band is influencing these other bands? You guys seem to always be a step ahead of the pack.

 

JR:  I don’t really know.  I don’t talk to members of those bands.  We are trying to stay away from that right now.  We’re trying to tour with bands that we want to tour with.  That’s why we’re touring with Whitechapel, Cattle Decapitation, Gaza, and Revocation for the second half.  If we are an influence, then so be it.  I guess that’s a good thing.  It shows that we are doing something right.  Hopefully those other bands are expanding on what they know, and writing music to show that they know more about metal than breakdowns, brees, and 808s. 

 

TF:  Besides the bands that you just mentioned, what bands do you feel are killing it right now?

 

JR:  Well when we’re on tour, it’s hard to get new music, because we are hardly at venues with good internet.  I’m broke, so I don’t buy CDs.  The Devil’s Blood are from Holland.  They’re like a Roky Erickson rock band, with crazy female vocals.  It’s insane.  They’re way into black magic and all that shit.  It’s pretty awesome.  The band Krallice, which includes a member from Behold…The Arctopus is awesome.  Also, I’ve been listening to a lot of Isis.  That’s pretty much all I’ve been listening to. 

 

TF:  What do you say to all of the kids out there who say “Oh, the Doom EP is the only good thing the JFAC has released.”?

 

JR:  Nothing.  [laughs] We kind of look at them dumbfoundedly, and we hope that they are joking. 

 

TF:  The band wrote that while they were in high school, right?

 

JR:  Yeah Jonny and Ravi [Bhadriraju, ex guitarist] wrote that when they were sixteen.  To have kids think that that’s the best we can create is embarrassing.  Today, we have so many more influences, and we have stepped up our songwriting processes, and our playing, especially since then, is much improved.  So to have them think that the Doom EP is the best we can do is kind of a letdown, but if that’s what they like, then so be it.  Hopefully they’re open to new things. 

 

TF:  Jonny is now in a side project called Fleshrot.  Do you know how this came to be? 

 

JR:  Navene [Koperweis] and Jonny have been friends for a very long time.  One of the first bands that JFAC toured with was Animosity, so they’ve known each other forever.  Navene is one of the most prodigious musicians in all of metal.  He can do anything. 

 

TF:  He wrote the music for Fleshrot all by himself, right?

 

JR:  He wrote everything.  He wrote every single piece of music on the Fleshrot record, besides the vocal patterns.  I guess Jonny is one of his favorite vocalists, so he just asked him to do it, and that’s it. 

 

TF:  Is there a release date for that record?

 

JR:  I have no idea.  I don’t even think that they have artwork yet to be honest with you. 

 

TF:  So what’s next after this tour?

 

JR:  We go to Europe for all of the big festivals, then we have some off day shows with As I Lay Dying, and then we go to South America for a headlining tour. 

 

TF: That’s sick.  That’s all I have, so good luck tonight, and keep the tunes coming.