INTERVIEW: Woody Weatherman – Corrosion of Conformity

With a career fast-approaching a staggering four decades, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY are a juggernaut in heavy metal. Their blues-tinged riffing has struck a chord with headbangers across the spectrum of metal and they are still hitting as hard in 2018 as they did in their breakout in the 1990s. January saw the release of No Cross, No Crown, the first record to feature Pepper Keenan since his return to the band, June saw the band grace the mighty stage at Download Festival, and now, UK fans are in for a treat as the band kick off their co-headlining run with homegrown heroes ORANGE GOBLIN this week. We caught up with guitarist Woody Weatherman to get the lowdown on what we can expect from the tour as well as discussing the band’s relationship with our tiny island. 

Hi Woody, thank you for taking the time to talk to Distorted Sound. CORROSION OF CONFORMITY’s UK tour is just around the corner, what can fans expect from the upcoming shows?

Woody: Thanks for taking the time to reach out, much appreciated. I will say that we are very stoked to be headed back over to the UK and we’ve been working on some different tunes both old and a couple off of the new album for the live set. Sometimes it’s tough to whittle the set down to fit in the time frame, since there is so much material to choose from. It’s always a good time for us over there! Hopefully we’ll make a few new friends, and see a bunch of old ones as well.

This tour will be a co-headlining run with ORANGE GOBLIN with support coming from BLACK MOTH and FIREBALL MINISTRY. What do you feel is the biggest strength of this tour package?

Woody: I would have to say the diversity of music, even though all the bands fit into a similar genre it’s definitely not gonna be the same sounding tunes over and over. It makes for a more interesting evening for sure.

This run of UK shows follows on from your appearances at summer festivals across Europe, including Download Festival here in the UK. How was your experience of performing at Download?

Woody: The festivals are cool events and I reckon Download is one of the best, so we made the most of it and had a blast. I remember way back, the first time we played Donington – it was a one day event back then, but having several days of bands is better for the fans. It’s always nice to see friends in other bands etc. as well.

You’re hitting some pretty big venues on this tour including The Forum in London and The Ritz in Manchester. How do you feel about performing in larger venues and what are the advantages they bring over club tours?

Woody: I prefer clubs and some of the larger venues when you put ‘em up against the big outdoor stuff, just simply because of the energy and the tightness and quality of the sound in those venues. Small clubs, large clubs and theatres all work well for us as a band. It seems to be the best fit for what we do, I guess.

The tour comes in support of your latest release, No Cross, No Crown, which was released back in January. Now that record has been out for around nine months, how have you found the reception for it?

Woody: We put a lot of work into making albums and don’t get around to it as often as we should, but we feel pretty strong about this one, and luckily the reactions have been spot on. People know what to expect from a CORROSION OF CONFORMITY record, and that is expect it to be something different than before. We definitely approached the making of this one in a new way, but it seems to fit in well with much of the older albums. Hopefully it is a good jump off point for the next one whenever we start thinking about that. Got a bit more touring to go on this though.

Your latest album is the first release since Pepper Keenan rejoined CORROSION OF CONFORMITY back in 2014. How does it feel having him back in the fold, writing music and sharing the stage together?

Woody: We had been speaking about playing shows and getting back to work for a while, and just seeing where it went and if it felt good, and if everyone enjoyed it like before. It turns out that we were digging it and once Nuclear Blast stepped into the picture we knew it was time to make this album. If it’s a fun time and the fans keep supporting us, we show up.

So, with this tour coming in direct support of No Cross, No Crown can we expect a lot of new material making the cut into the set?

Woody: Yeah like I mentioned it’s tough to make a decision when there are so many tunes we all wanna play live from so many different records, but we are absolutely squeezing in more than a couple off the new one.

With a back catalogue as strong as yours, how difficult is it to draw up setlists for tours? Do you want to focus entirely on newer material or do you feel having a balanced mix is the right approach?

Woody: You do have to keep a balance because there are always fans that have the songs they want to hear from older albums, you don’t wanna make that mistake of putting in too much new material that folks may not be all that familiar with, and piss people off. [laughs]

CORROSION OF CONFORMITY have quite the relationship with the UK. What are some of your favourite memories about performing here?

Woody: Man we have had the pleasure of playing the UK so many times throughout the years, early on with bands like SOUNDGARDEN and later on with MEGADETH, and then METALLICA, and of course there was our own headline stuff in there many times as well. It’s impossible to name an absolute favourite, but we have many great memories. I suppose that’s why we always return!

To round up, do you have anything to say to the readers of Distorted Sound?

Woody: As always, much thanks to the hardcore fans that have been around supporting us for years and the new ones that are just discovering the band. It keeps us interested and able to make new music. See ya there!

Thanks for taking the time to talk to us Woody. We’re looking forward to the tour!

No Cross, No Crown is out now via Nuclear Blast Records.

Like CORROSION OF CONFORMITY on Facebook.