Chimaira vocalist Mark Hunter is the featured guest on the latest episode of the ‘Garza Podcast‘, which is hosted by Suicide Silence guitarist Chris Garza. That wide-ranging discussion saw Hunter address his past battle with thyroid cancer, the band’s early days, their initial dissolution, their potential future touring plans and the prospects of new music, among various other topics.
One throwback featured in the discussion was look back at the band’s early 2000s performance on the live music competition show, Farmclub.com. That show paired live performances from established bands with a fan-voted competition that allowed artists the chance to get international exposure and a potential recording contract after uploading their music to the site.
Artists who got enough votes would get flown out to the studio, tape interview segments and get to perform live on the studio stage alongside other big groups at the time, with that footage later being broadcast internationally.
Hunter reflected on that time period, which came about as the band were waiting for a record label to come together with Roadrunner Records. Hunter also graciously noted the part that yours truly (wookubus) had in helping Chimaira land a spot on that TV show. I actually wrote a bit about my own experiences helping artists get on that show earlier this summer, via this theprp.com Instagram post, in case you wanted to know more about that
As for Hunter‘s thoughts on the matter, he told Garza [transcribed by theprp.com]:
“…We were waiting forever for a contract, so I remember feeling a little bit defeated, like, ‘Is this ever going to happen? Are we ever going to get signed?’ So, I felt like that took almost a year, but it probably didn’t. It just felt like it. And we played on Farmclub and that was like a a big catalyst for us. And we had already been looked at by Roadrunner, and they were interested in us. But that was like one of those, ‘Okay, we’re really going to sign them now.'”
When Garza remarked that he didn’t realize the Farmclub performance was captured prior to the band signing a record deal, Hunter offered:
“So that was the whole thing about Farmclub… we were an unsigned band. So that like helped us seal the deal, if you will, with Roadrunner.”
When Garza asked how Chimaira got on the show, Hunter replied:
“How did you guys get on Farmclub then? So, that was a bit of luck. Um, again, Chris [Spicuzza, Chimaira electronics/vocalist] being an internet guy, he was friendly with The PRP, which is a — I’m sure most of your viewers know that website — the legendary Pimp Rock Palace at the time, probably. And I think that [wook] had introduced Chris to um Marcie Jacobson, and she worked at Immortal and Farmclub, and [he] kind of told her about our band.
And it was something where like fans voted on it, they did like a pre-week and like, ‘hey it could be this band or this band’ and then some sort of voting if I recall correctly. I’m probably messing that up. But we got voted on at the end of the day, but it was through mutual connections and thankfully through like wookubus and Marcie, those two were kind of angels on our shoulder at that moment to get us there… Sometimes you know the right people.”
Speaking of the performance itself, Hunter added that the staged filming environment with “stripper girls” in the audience for the taping was an odd experience. He went on to say the following while watching a playback of the clip:
“Yeah. I mean, when we were up there and you could… As soon as the song starts — first off, this is this is our fifth, or sixth take also — So I’m so out of gas at the end. So what you don’t see is it’s like our fifth or sixth take and we played ‘Severed‘ as well. And they didn’t show that part. But so when I’m like, ‘Hey we’re ‘Chimaira‘, see right there I’m like giggling. It’s because the girls are all like ‘oooo’ and I’m like this doesn’t make any sense. This makes no sense.
Like, I’m used to playing hardcore shows at Peabody’s, where your ankles are covered in piss, and now there’s strippers singing for us. It’s ridiculous. We did actually have some some fans in the background. That was the coolest experience, dude. I’m telling you… It was our first, I think it was one of the first times we ever had catering in our dressing room. You were like, ‘Whoa, the M&M’s. There they are.'”
When asked if he ever got the footage for “Severed“, he responded that he believes bassist Jim LaMarca may have the raw footage of it that didn’t make the broadcast, and that he hoped one day to release it. Later in the chat, Hunter spoke about his own apprehension of touring with the band in recent years. He explained that he was serving as a caretaker for his ailing mother, who was battling illness before passing away in August.
Asked if he feels now is the time to hit the road for a lengthier run, Hunter replied:
“I think it’s time. We’ve obviously had opportunities come across our table and we’re considering things now, which is a big step. So, I can’t say that we will tour, but we’d like to. Uh, eight weeks, that sounds a bit scary. You know, three, four, five. Okay, maybe.”
Hunter went on to describe himself as “domesticated” now, and noted the various concerns of his own home life and the parental responsibilities of his bandmates and such in also influencing tour decisions.
When asked later about the prospect of new music, Hunter replied that “we’re not there spiritually”, though he didn’t rule out the chance that he and his bandmates may one day reunite in the studio, should the stars align that way. You can watch the whole chat below, along with the aforementioned Farmclub.com segment.
