Although there never seems to be a shortage of bands both Canadian and otherwise that tend to bypass Atlantic Canada in their touring plans, British Columbian heavy-metal band 3 Inches of Blood is not one of them. The group, touring in support of last year’s record Long Live Heavy Metal, returns to Metro again Friday night, performing at The OC in Downtown Moncton. This will mark the group’s first show in Moncton since last July.
Asked what keeps them coming back, 3 Inches of Blood vocalist Cam Pipes says that the reason is a simple one.
“Audiences in Moncton have always been very good to us,” he says. “It seems as though a lot of bands don’t make the effort to get to the Maritimes but we’ve always made a point to get back there as much as possible. We are one of those bands with the mindset that we’ll play anywhere that will have us. We wouldn’t keep coming back if we didn’t have good shows so it’s really a no-brainer for us to be coming back to the Maritimes.”
While the group continues to promote their latest record, Pipes shares that they have a couple of other irons in the fire that they are rather excited about.
The first is a documentary film shot by their friend Tom Macleod with whom the group made a pair of music videos in the past. Macleod joined 3 Inches of Blood, the Cancer Bats and other bands on a 2011 tour they undertook in effort to capture the highs and lows of being a touring band in Canada.
“Tom basically documents that little tour, capturing us at that point in time. His intent was to give some insight into what we do as well as our impressions, feelings and attitudes towards touring and life on the road. He really wanted to capture us in those raw moments. We were sometimes aware that he was there but not all of the time. There were times that Tom was filming that you wouldn’t notice him until you saw him in your peripheral vision,” Pipes says.
Pipes says that a firm release date as to when fans will be able to see the documentary for themselves is somewhat up in the air at the moment. He assures fans that the film will be available on DVD as well as via online outlets when the film is ready for release.
“Tom is submitting the film to different festivals including South By Southwest for potential screenings. The actual date that the film will be released is up in the air at the moment, as we want to be sure that the film receives a proper release. We don’t want to rush it to market.”
The other project that Pipes and his 3 Inches of Blood band mates are looking forward to is the release of a series of 7-inch vinyl singles. The series will commemorate recording sessions that the group did this past January at the legendary (but now closed) Mushroom Studios in Vancouver.
Pipes says that the whole idea behind the trio of 7-inch singles was to capture the band live off the floor, something that not all groups can successfully do once the little red recording light is turned on.
“We did the session live off the floor as we wanted to get in there and really catch the band as we sound live. We are planning on compiling the songs onto a series of 7-inch singles that will be called Live At Mushroom. The first volume will actually be out fairly soon although each of the releases will be somewhat limited to 500 copies. While we will probably compile the songs into a collection for release later on, these 7-inch singles will serve as a rarity of sorts, something for the collectors to get really excited about.”
Article published in the April 26, 2013 edition of the Times & Transcript