How did Lock Up form?

Basically, I've been friends with Napalm Death for a number years now and the last two Cradle albums that I played on we recorded in Birmingham which is their hometown so that entailed a lot of hanging out together and drinking. Friends and musicians who play in different bands you all get together sometime drunk and say "Hey, let's form a band" and it just happened like that. A drinking party and listening to the old school and "Hey's, let's start band" so we started writing songs and Jesse had some Terrorizer material leftover so we just did it. Four days recorded, mixed and mastered.

So the idea of the band was to play the late 80s death metal style?

Like style grind-death metal.

How serious is Lock Up? Is this the only record or will we hear more from you guys in the future?

Oh no, we are working on new stuff right. I'm juggling things right now between going to Norway and working with Dimmu then coming here and working with Lock Up and having a personal life. We are going to do some shows. We are going to hopefully record the next album soemtime towards the end of this year and hopefully just try to get on as many festivals as possible this Summer. That includes the States as well I guess.

Excellent. I was just about to ask you about that.

Yea, we were supposed to do a five day East Coast tour with Satyricon but some problems happened. Pete was really busy in the studio so he couldn't leave Abyss because he still had a band in there so we had to call back and say we couldn't do it.

Yea, I heard Satyricon was coming over.

It was scheduled with Lock Up for sometime in March.

I think now Immortal is on the bill which should be excellent, but I'd also kill to see Lock Up.

We are probably going to come over soemtime this year. Hopefully even maybe do the Metalfest in July or the San Antonio one.

You've been over in the States already with Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir and Borknagar. How do you like Americans' reactions to metal gigs and what are some differences you've noticed in touring the States and touring in Europe?

The difference in the States is all 21+ bullshit and getting your IDs checked even if your like 40 years old and bullshit security at shows in the States. In England and Europe you can just burn a joint and nobody gives a fuck but in the States everyone is so fucking anal. The security people even come backstage into my dressing room. I'm like "Hey, this is my personal room for tonight. You're not welcome unless you're asked" and they're like "We own the club blah blah blah" and I'm like "I don't care. Whatever." In Europe it's a lot more relaxed. There is no big deal about the drinking age. Just a different vibe.

How about as far as crowd reaction?

Europe is kind of spoiled because they get all the black metal bands so they want to impressed by a little bit where as the States are more hungry for it since not many black metal bands have toured over there.

I know what that's like. Whenever I hear about a black metal show I lose my mind.

I'm pretty gutted at the moment because Diabolic and Hate Eternal are playing with Cannibal Corpse over there.

Actually, that tour passed through Philadelphia, where I live, just last night. I didn't make it, but I heard it was excellent.

That's killer. I'm a really big fan of Diabolic and Hate Eternal. But that's the main difference is general attitude and club owners. In the States, it is very much in a police state.

That actually bothers me and I'm sure it bothers other fans as well because, like you said, the States rarely has overseas metal acts and when the bands come over and have a negative experience it makes it less likely that more bands will come over.

For example, Dimmu Borgir, we couldn't play in Salt Lake City because Mustis, the keyboard player, is not 21 yet.

So they wouldn't let him in even though he was in the band?

No, we couldn't even play. His bag was still in the dressing room and they wouldn't let him get his bag. They wouldn't let him in the building to take a shit. They were like "You can't come in, you are under 21, you are a minor, you could get us closed down." It's like "He needs to use the bathroom." I guess he should go and shit in the trashcan around back. That kind of attitude you don't see in Europe.

This is the first project for you, at least from what the public has heard, that is in the death metal vein. Anything you did differently to prepare playing this type of music?

Not really. I just grew up listening to death metal. Mid-80s, late 80s to early 90s. Thrash and death metal was the music that was happening when I first started to learn to play so it just felt natural to me.

When I got the Lock Up bio sheet, it explained what the term Lock Up means...

It actualyl came from, Napalm Death was in South America and Brazil on their tour and the Krisiun guys played with them. Just watching the drummer and watching his arms lock up is where it came from. It's a term used for blasting, the hyper blast shit. The arms go like a blur *makes drum roll noise with mouth*. Locking up, dude.

I've seen you play with Cradle of Filth, Borknagar and Dimmu Borgir twice and you always seem to go through the set pretty effortless. Don't you think the name Lock Up is innacurate?

Oh, I break a sweat. You don't see me back in the dressing room. It depends. Some nights it's easy, some nights it's a little bit harder depending on how much weed I smoked before.

How do you feel about the term "supergroup" since Lock Up is getting thrown into this category?

That's what the media says. I guess it's just because the four of us come from an established band or we're just established as individuals. The media comes up with that term because we all do things besides Lock Up.

I don't like to use that term often because, as I see it, you guys were just a bunch of friends who happened to get together and make some music. It's not like you had the idea to put together this group of "super" musicians.

Basically. It's like, there are better drummers than me so if they were going to form a supergroup then they would get a better drummer.

Me and some friends saw you play with Dimmu Borgir last year and we noticed that you had a upside down cross shaved into your chest hair. Any wild story to go along with that?

That's just backstage humor to try to lighten up the atmosphere before we go on. When you are on a five week tour there is the same thing everyday. Different club, same shitty dressing room, same shitty shower where 100 bands before have been in there and done god knows what. It kinda takes away the spontaneity of day in day out show. It got a few laughs from the crew and the rest of the band.

It got a lot of laughs from me and my friends as well.

You gotta think, it's the end of the day. Everybody has to have a sense of humor because we are all human beings.

I agree. It soemtimes seems that metal bands take life too seriously and never smile so it was good to see something like that done just for laughs.

Yea, yea. I like to have a joke now and again.

Do you have any news for Dimmu Borgir fans?

Yea, we are currently rehearsing new material for the new album which is going to be recorded on the 1st of April in Abyss Studios with Pete and it's going to be out in August or September. We are going come back to the States before we do Europe so I think we'll be doing a full US tour around about September/October and then Europe around Christmas. The new Dimmu Borgir album sounds killer. I don't think anyone will be disappointed.

Does it sound any different than the older stuff?

It's like "Spiritual Black Dimensions" but just better with a few new bits added in. All the classic elements of the last two albums will be there as well as something new.

Have you adopted a black metal pseudo-name for Dimmu Borgir since they all use monikers?

No. They all just call me Barker. All my friends just call me by my surname. The new album will just have Nicholas like in Cradle of Filth.

How come you left Cradle of Filth?

Because I felt I could no longer work with Dani. He is very hard to deal with, especialyl the fame and stardom thing. I think he lost sight of what everything was about. That's his problem. I jsut left the band because I didn't enjoy playing in the band anymore because I wasn't prepared to do this one man show thing and just sit in the back seat. I put six years of my life into that band and I just felt it was time to move on because I no longer agreed with the decisions that were being made financially, business and otherwise and I no longer had a say in what was going on so it was time to find something new.

While you were in Cradle of Filth I know you got arrested a few times for wearing the infamous "Jesus is a Cunt" shirt. That shocked me because I thought the US was more strict about censorship and all that than Europe.

That happened in England, dude, on the way to Dynamo.

I wore that shirt in public once and some huge Italian Christian basically attacked me. When the cops came, they charged him with assault and I was let go which was almost backwards of what happened to you and what I thought was going to happen to me.

That's how it should be. And if he's a Christian, what happened to all that shit about love thy neighbors. Do unto others and shit like that. It's all fucked up, man.

What are your Top 5 All-Time Albums?

1. Iron Maiden - Powerslave

2. Morbid Angel - Domination

3. Slayer - Reigning Blood

4. Rush - Moving Pictures

5. toss up between Judas Priest and Black Sabbath Vol. 4