Interview: Cough Exhales Insights On Lovecraft, Tour Life and Big Amps

Richmond sludge/doom quartet Cough have a long standing reputation of being one of the most crushing crews in the slow riff circles. From their 2008 debut Sigillum Luciferi to their widely lauded follow-up Ritual Abuse, the band has been chiseling a special place in the black hearts, and lungs, of fans of bottom end fuzz and disproportionately-sized speaker stacks.

Having worked with one of biggest names of the stoner game Jus Oborn (of Electric Wizard notoriety) on last year's Still They Prey, Cough are accompanying their good pals Windhand to our proximity in a few weeks. In eager anticipation of this, our resident enthusiast of snail pace songs, Fluffy chatted to guitarist Brandon Marcey about old school sci-fi horror literature, pulling musical double shifts and the all coveted Sunn amplifiers...

So, what flavour of Cough do you have? Is it whooping, chronic, infectious or caused by the black, sticky lung?

It’s funny you ask.... we’re all fucked! I have the croop, Parker’s been whooping for years, Joey is unfortunately severely chronic and infectious (so bad he’s been quarantined!) and David is totally black and sticky.

What first drew you to heavy, slow music?

Queen and magic, mother fucker.

You guys have some buzzy, almost soundscape effects going on at times. Are these created with synthesizers or are you cats more the pedal madness types?

The arsenal has grown for all of us over the years. We like to blow out the mix when we record, its a bit of everything really. Advice: if you have an idea, try it.

This tour must be quite demanding for Parker Chandler, your bassist/vocalist, whom I understand also plays in Windhand. A double shift every night sounds daunting!

Dude we all pitched in and got him this bionic hand from the Cronenberg Center for Human Genome Enhancements. He should be fucking killing it.

That sense of being so heavily interlinked must make for great bonding between band members?

Ahh yes so many fond memories. Visits with the wise wizard of Gilpin court, gallivanting through the gardens of Yorn, magical times indeed.

Have you guys trekked to the Southern Hemisphere in the past? What are some of the dates on the tour that you’re most excited for?

Australia in 2011 mate, and it was a proper time. We’ve never been to New Zealand, fuckin stoked. Hopefully we can get amongst it and check some places out.

I recently scored myself of Sunn T50C and it is crushing. What amps do you guys use to create your signature feedback heavy tones?

I run a Sunn Model T and a Univox. Parker a Sunn 300T with about 6 drones, David has a vintage Matamp GT120, and JK has a mix of vintage analog and digital synths (hammond included), that guy is a sound wizard.

I understand that you latest album, Still They Prey, has excerpts of Lovecraft texts. What’s your favourite other-worldly story by the problematic mind bender?

'The Colour Out Of Space' for sure.... it's unique in it's horror, believable in its context, and is essentially the foundation for any horror based on an indescribable substance. Think about when Prometheus came out years back and people we’re all up at arms about the “black goo”, its fiction, its horror, something indescribable like mankind has never seen can come and fuck you up. What is there to get? And Ridley Scott had that on a planet in space... Lovecraft made you believe it was at your back door here on earth. As for other Lovecraft stories 'At the Mountains of Madness', the 'Rats in the Walls', oh and check out Clark Ashton Smith, Lovecraft’s penpal. He was an amazing horror/sci fi writer and Lovecraft’s best friend.

It must have been a trip to work with Jus Oborn of Electric Wizard for production of Still They Prey?

Jus is a great guy and very talented artist. We dropped out for two weeks together with Garret/Windhand and cranked that album out. Great times, alot of dru-- err happiness to go around.

Still They Prey features some acoustic guitar and generally feels like a thoroughly mature opus. Was there a purposeful effort for this to be the case or was the progression natural?

It’s an emotional roller coaster through some heavy times. A lot of shit can happen in five years. The band agrees that we did everything we wanted to do on that thing and are glad people have been digging it. First time we charted the billboard over here.

Tell us a little about your split with The Wounded Kings, ‘An Introduction To The Black Arts’. How did that come about?

Ha, well shit dude I wasn’t in the band then. Joined right after that song was recorded, have to ask one of the guys when we’re over there I reckon.

There’s a Wellington band called Ritual Abuse that are named after your 2010 album. It must feel pretty rad to have your influence extend to the opposing hemisphere after being a band for ten years.

That is some wild shit for sure, I’ll be sure to have a beer with that crew. It’s a test of time and patience but we all love creating music and to see it extend that far is an honor, thank you all.

Any hot tips on sweet new bands pushing musical boundaries?

Prisoner from Richmond, VA just dropped their new album, check it out. 

To harden your ear drums and willpower before seeing it in the flesh, acquaint yourself with Cough's latest opus Still They Prey below and score tickets HERE...

Windhand & Cough

Friday 31st March, San Fran, Wellington
Saturday 1st April, Kings Arms Tavern, Auckland

Tickets available HERE at UTR and instore at RPM/Slowboat (Wellington) and Flying Out (Auckland)