INTERVIEW – AXEWOUND BASSIST Joe Copcutt, October 2012

By Shane Pinnegar

Originally published in edited form in Xpress Magazine, January 8, 2013 – HERE

Here is the full transcript of the interview:

When Joe Copcutt parted ways with rising metal band Rise To Remain in January he had no firm plans on what to do next, but as chance would have it, Bullet For My Valentine guitarist Matt Tuck and Cancer Bats vocalist Liam Cormier had a modern metal supergroup brewing, and quickly enlisted their former tour partner for the bassist role.

“Yeah, literally the week after [I left Rise To Remain] I got the call from Matt going, ‘Do you fancy jumping on board? It’s a bit last minute but…’ and I was like, ‘Hell yeah! This sounds great!’ So it all worked out really well!”

Copcutt is calling from his parent’s bungalow in Bath, in the Southwest of England, having just come off a mini tour with AxeWound, as he puts it, “Just chilling out for a few days in the middle of nowhere, really!”

Going straight from the mayhem of a heavy metal tour to quiet rest time with Mum & Dad must be a slight change of pace, perhaps?  “Yeah just a little bit! One extreme to the other”, he laughs.

AxeWound is rounded out by Pitchshifter’s Jason Bowld on drums and guitarist Mike Kingswood from Glamour Of The Kill on second guitar.

“Matt and Jason were writing a lot earlier on, before me and Mike even jumped on board.  I was involved with the studio when Liam came over to do the vocal tracks, I was on board with that and[some other]  stuff. Obviously those dudes are so experienced – they write killer records!  So it’s been a great learning curve for me and Mikey as well. We’re definitely the younger guys in the band, so it’s been a great learning curve as well as a wicked experience as well.”

AxeWound’s album Vultures is a masterpiece of modern metal, combining elements of all the member’s primary bands with strong influences of traditional metal like Slayer, Venom & early Metallica.

“Yeah, for sure. There’s some sections that are just straight up hard core and that, like Hatebreed style and traditional metal elements in there as well. It’s like black metal and like you said, like Slayer sections and stuff like that. It really feels like a mixture of what’s been on the scene for the past 20 years or so. Anything that’s in the rock, metal, hard core, whatever you want to call it – it’s kind of just a massive mixture of all of that just rolled up into one record, which I love. If you like all those things, which I do, I’m a massive hard core fan but I love metal as well. It’s all rolled into one which is awesome.

Axewound – Joe Copcutt far left

“I think with the mixture of the members as well: obviously having Liam on board, that just added a whole new level of a hardcore kind of sound. But Jason, the drummer, he’s like a machine – he grew up with Slayer and playing super fast tempos, fast fills and that kind of stuff. And then obviously Matt with the Bullet For My Valentine side of things, it’s a bit more sort of a classic, straight up approach. It’s got a real good mixture to it.”

So how do a bunch of seemingly diverse guys from different countries who are already in well-known bands, actually get together and form a band yourself – was this a plan hatched on tour or something?

“We’ve all sort of crossed paths touring. I toured with Bullet in Europe and we did the Soundwave tour last year, with Cancer Bats as well. I think they did a few shows with Bullet as well. And we’ve all worked for the same producers on our records, that sort of thing. We’ve kind of all touched pasts before, so obviously that helped. And we all knew Matt – he kind of had an idea of who he wanted, I think, in the band, so that helped. Also the management that Rise, Cancer Bats and Bullet are on, they’re all the same. So in terms of logistics and getting everyone at the same place at the same time, that really helps as well because they’re obviously in close contact with each other and the management, which is great, because it’s a bit of a challenge obviously with Liam over in Canada and Matt in Wales. It can get a bit hectic but luckily it has all worked out. Obviously balancing all the schedules is quite a tricky thing. But that’s what makes it cool, that it’s a side project; it’s not a full blown thing.”

I was thinking that it must be hard to lock in tour dates and recording schedules when you’ve got four or five other bands to consider.

“Yeah, exactly. It was a tricky situation, and that’s why the tour that we just did was only about a month long. Literally Liam left that night to fly back to Canada, and Mikey left super-early the next day to go on tour as well. So it has been hectic for the band, that’s for sure, but it’s all worth it. We all love the project and we love playing with each other and hanging out and touring, so it’s all worth it.”

You’ve been called a “supergroup”. What are your thoughts on that term?

“I think it’s flattering to be honest [laughs]. It’s more just buddies who respect each other and what they do, and obviously they’re in full time bands and stuff, and we just wanted to have a bit of fun and just go for it. With the name it kind of speaks for itself and the music is nothing too serious, it’s just straight up metal. We just love what we do, and we just go out and have a really good time. And I think the kids have seen that reaction, and I think they quite like that as well:  that we’re not taking things too seriously, it’s just a good laugh. If people want to call it a supergroup then that’s cool but personally I just see it as buddies getting together and making a rad collaboration and having a great time, you know?”

So what’s with the name AxeWound – obviously we could look immediately at the smutty slang definition…?

“I think Matt’s fiancé actually came up with the name, funnily enough, which is cool. It kind of goes with what we’re saying about the whole sound of the record and the fact that it is a collaboration and we’re having fun with it. It kind of goes with that whole thing and it sounds metal but it’s not that serious if you know what I mean. It totally suits the band, I think.”

Have you had any retailers refuse to stock the album because of the name?

“[laughs] I haven’t heard that, no. It would be quite funny if they did, but no it hasn’t. [laughs]  I’ll keep my ear out; I’ll let you know if anything does. No, fingers crossed it hasn’t happened [laughs]. “

It does seem like Matt is the driving influence behind forming the band. Did he have a high concept for how he wanted it to sound musically, or did the sound kind of come together when everyone was sitting in a room, jamming away?

“Yeah, I think it just came off the bat you know? I actually think that they wrote the majority of it in about a week. It just happened and he’d worked Jason before on a leg of the Bullet tour, and I think they just got jamming from there basically, and it just worked real well. I mean Jason is an absolute machine of a drummer so things just seemed to rattle off the bat real well.”

So, going back to Rise to Remain, you and Pat both left the band in January, and they had to cancel a tour through America with Machine Head – so I assume that wasn’t a pleasant split there?

“[laughs] Well it was a bit of a shock, I guess, to everyone. Yeah it wasn’t the smoothest. The timing of everything wasn’t the best. Obviously that tour would’ve been great for the band and obviously to tour with a band like Machine Head would’ve been amazing and a dream come true for everyone. Yeah, it wasn’t the best… but you know what, everybody has landed on their feet so well, and I think everybody is in a better place than they were before. Me and Pat are very different to the rest of the guys, and wanted different things out of the band I guess. We’re sort of straight up dudes and just want to tour and have a laugh. You know, it’s not about all the bullshit, basically. So you know, everyone is in a better place now, and I think that’s the most important thing. We’re always happy for everyone and it’s great. And they’ve got great replacements. I mean I knew the bass player who’s with them now and he’s a great player as well. So we’ve all landed on our feet, safe and sound and that’s the most important thing.”

Well that’s the main thing, and as long no-one’s carrying any hard feelings then that’s all you can really ask for.

“Yeah, everything’s cool. It’s all good.”

Just one more question about Rise to Remain: is there any link at all between their album being called City of Vultures and this album being called Vultures, or is that just complete coincidence?

“[laughs] It’s just coincidence, I know. I didn’t name the album either, and then obviously when the titles were floating about I was like, “Oh God!” [laughs] But no, it’s just a coincidence. But it’s quite funny. Both my releases have both been vultures, so it’s quite funny.”

Maybe you can come out with a vulture-related solo album or something next, there you go.

“Yeah, yeah. I should do that for my next band, my new project at the moment. It should be called Vultures or something [laughs].”

Well that’s a nice segue into my next question. Obviously with AxeWound being a side band, what are you going to be doing full time, next?

“Well I’m staying here at my folks in Bath, and we’re just about to record a debut between now and the next AxeWound dates, so we’re going into the studio right now. I can’t wait to lay these tracks down; I’ve been sitting on them for a while so it’s going to be wicked to finally get them out there. Hopefully if all goes well… it should be out the beginning of next year hopefully, or some point next year. So yeah, I’m just super stoked. I’m working with my best buddies and the music has just come off like AxeWound did, it just came off the bat so quickly. We gelled together and I’ve known these dudes for years, they’re like my best buddies so the vibe is just perfect, the songs are great. I just can’t wait to get in there and let people hear it. If people want to hear it, it’s going to come hopefully soon [laughs].”

Fantastic, and does this project have a name yet?

“Well that’s the thing: it has not been released, we don’t have anything up and running yet. I’m kind of waiting until everything is in the right place then we can go “smash”, there it is. So we’ve got names… I’m like 99.9% sure on the name, but I’m going to wait until everything is totally out there and then people can check it out and you know.”

Awesome. So just very quickly, if you could go back in time and magically be a part of the recording of one album, what would it be?

“[laughs] Any album? Blimey. Oh man, that’s the hardest question. The pressure is on; the heat is on.  One that just sprung to mind real quick was probably Nirvana – Nevermind, just because it’s such a classic anthem of a record. Just being involved in that probably would’ve been good fun I reckon. They would’ve had a good time in the studio [laughs].”

Cool, I like that. Okay mate, finally, what for you is the meaning of life? Another easy one for you.

“The meaning of life? Happiness, love and peace and radness. I don’t know [laughs].”

That’s nicely tying in the tour finishing yesterday and you’re hanging out at your folks’ today, that’s cool.

“Yeah mate, I’m in a good place right now, you know?”

Awesome. Look, it’s been fantastic talking to you. Thanks so much for your time. Good luck with AxeWound and the new project. With a bit of luck, we’ll be talking to you early next year. Cheers.

“Likewise mate, thank you very much.”

Category: Interviews