When the Judas Priest-worshiping Early Man emerged in 2004, combining New Wave of British Heavy Metal swagger with punk speed, no one could have guessed they'd be instrumental in bringing about a new retro-inspired direction in heavy music. But with the underground success of their 2005 debut album, Closing In, that's exactly what happened.
It hasn't been all smooth sailing since their debut, though. While vocalist/guitarist/bassist Mike Conte and drummer Adam Bennati have been constants (even performing as a duo for a time), it seems that the band's many lineup changes stifled their identity, while an indie label specializing in all things not-heavy may have stunted their potential.
Now, after recently relocating to Los Angeles from New York City and signing with The End Records, Early Man resurface refreshed, embarking on a national tour and awaiting the release of their new EP. Here, Conte, aka “Early Mike,” takes us through what the last couple years have been like for these purveyors of vintage metal, and what’s on the horizon.
[Click the "Continue Reading..." link to listen to a playlist featuring the music discussed in this post.]
On what Early Man has been up to since 2005’s Closing In
We’ve actually been writing a lot, but I got evicted from my apartment in Brooklyn this past winter. Some sort of insanity in January where basically the fire department showed up at my building and threw everybody – which was 220 people – out in one night. I [became] homeless in the span of about six hours, and so [did] everybody else that lived in this converted loft building. That put a little bit of a damper on the progress of [the band] for a few months, but prior to that, we were writing. We were to the point where we were pretty much ready to record another record, and then we switched labels. It might have looked like nothing was going on but there was a lot cooking; it just took a while to line everything up how we wanted it.
On leaving Matador and signing with The End Records
I don’t have nothing but good things to say about Matador as a label; it was just like trying to fit a square peg through a round hole. I think they thought they could do something with us that they realized they couldn’t do because they’re not in touch with heavier music. It was like, wait a minute, how are we gonna play with Megadeth like we should be if we’re opening for J Mascis? And if you carry that out for 18 months, it made us a little crazy. But nothing bad to say about them, they’re a great label, it just didn’t fit with us. I mean, you wouldn’t try to sell oranges at a f*ck*ng tire shop, it doesn’t make any f*ck*ng sense.
We knew that we absolutely had to have a metal label for our band, but I didn’t want to get lost in the mix of a roster of 100 different metal bands that are all sort of the generic version of the genre they’re playing. And I immediately thought [The End’s] take on things and their approach to the way they do things is kinda unique. The way they have that Omega Mail-Order thing going and it’s tied into the label, and at the same time, they’re able to get your music out to anywhere just like any [major label] could. They just have a very awesome approach and they keep things small enough that if you sign with them, you’re not gonna get overlooked because some sh*t dinosaur metal band is releasing a record – they don’t operate like that.
On moving to L.A. to write the new EP
Adam – the drummer – and I had already discussed maybe switching things up a little bit, and [we] took off and went to L.A. It was like, "Okay, we have a fresh take on things on various different fronts." Let’s start fresh out there and finish up writing for the next record – that was kind of the plan. We took what was probably a full record that was ready to be done, and we made it four better songs and turned that into an EP. We scrapped a few songs to take parts of them to write other songs, and then in that in-between time, I’ve written more songs. So, it's kind of like you’ve got a little glimpse, half-record EP thing, and then after that, it will be some of the remnants of the other jams and all new stuff.
On the ever-changing lineup
We became a duo [at one point] because we couldn’t find a bass player. The intention was never to be a duo; it's just really difficult to find people who are technically advanced enough to play the stuff and that we don’t want to kill when we hang out with them for 20 minutes. We added Pete, our guitar player, three years ago to be almost exact, and now we have another old friend Tim playing bass for us, so we’re back to firing on all systems right now as a four-piece.
On sonic goals
Heavy … metal? I think the beautiful thing about it is it's unique enough that I can’t describe it with a word or two. It’s somewhere between classic Judas Priest vibes and early-era Metallica vibes and it's kind of all over the place and has its own thing going. It’s a little bit faster and heavier, that’s a pretty standard answer, but that’s where it’s going.
On the thrash resurgence
I think its good, because I'm liking a lot of the newer bands, but it's stupid to dress up like it's 1982, and I also think it would be really stupid to not listen to the actual bands that existed in those days and then jump into some sort of revival thingy. But I do think some of those bands are like [speaks in a broadcaster voice], "Thrash 101!" We just signed to f*ck*ng Metal Kids Records! Here we are! And you can tell it’s a little f*ck*d up, but I think even those bands are a lot better than f*ck*ng Limp Bizkit. So, if that’s where it’s going, then that’s great!
On Early Man’s part in the thrash revival
Some serious heavyweights that have started that scene are Early Man fans. They’ve said to my face, “Your band is amazing, we love your band,” and whatever. But sometimes it turns into a giant ball of sh*t [chuckles] with all of that; you never know where people are coming from. I think anybody that actually knows what they’re talking about will very easily be able to differentiate between [us and those "Thrash 101" bands]. I think people understand that we’re serious about what we’re doing at this point. And they can look at my bank statement if they doubt me at all; it’s been in the red since ’98 I think. Not that you have to be flat broke to be sincere about what you’re doing, but I think obviously we aren’t in it for the fame and money. [Laughs.]
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