Interview: The Rabid Whole- The Razamataz of Rock and Roll

Coming up to the millennium most of the world was upset with Canada for giving us Celine Dion and Brian Adams. But now, now Canada has a few things to be proud of and one of them is the amazing band The Rabid Whole. The Rabid Whole bring razamataz back to rock and roll. Grave Concerns Ezine got chance to catch up with The Rabid Whole and here is how it went.

Phill – Thank you for giving Grave Concerns Ezine this interview, can you tell our readers a little bit about yourselves?

The Rabid Whole – The Rabid Whole – We're a 21^st century, high-energy, alt-rock band from Toronto, Canada. We released our second album 'Refuge' in 2012 and have been touring North America since.

Phill – So what is the inspiration behind your name?

The Rabid Whole – I'd be lying if I told you I've never answered this question before. :) Bands like Skinny Puppy have a lot of cool, double meaning song titles, word play. I wanted people to see that there is more to us than meets the eye. I never felt we'd be a typical rock band… I want people to feel they can escape, that they're entering another world, going down 'the rabbit hole' with our music. At the same time, I feel The Rabid Whole; 'the fanatical entirety'…reflects the passion we put into all that we do.

Phill – Your last album Refuge was written mostly over 2 months in which you locked yourself away from the world in your studio, what element do you feel the isolation brought to Refuge?

The Rabid Whole – I believe that isolation was necessary for Refuge to come out the way it did. The element of isolation brought focus. I get distracted easily. I needed concentration on the feelings that pertained to the album and I had to sort of 'Freeze time' for myself to stay on track. Locking out the outside world is the best thing I can do when I write. :)

Phill – What has been the most memorable show on your tour with Dope Stars Inc so far?

The Rabid Whole – Tough question but there's 3 that stand out...NY, LA and Toronto...totally packed crowds going nuts with a few celebrity appearances in the audience. ;)

Check out and listen to- Stargazer

Phill – You have had a few bands remix your songs, what feeling do you get when someone wants to remix your music and what remix has caught your ear so far?

The Rabid Whole – I think it's an unbelievable feeling. It really refreshens the song for me and helps me hear/enjoy it from an outsider's point of view. I love to hear the bands I admire/ove putting their take, talent and personality in our music.

Assemblage 23's remix of our track 'Harder to be True' was really cool, same with

16Volt's remix of 'Selfish Nature', lots of other great ones too! Check 'em all out on 'Autraumaton Remixed' (2011).

Phill – What do you feel are the benefits for you as musicians to stay on an independent label rather than going for one of the major labels?

The Rabid Whole – At this point we virtually have complete control of anything we want to do in every aspect of the band. If we decide tomorrow to be a space-pirate themed country band, we can do it. Will we though....?

It's definitely more work though and we have to form/fund our personnel teams and expenses on our own. We've really had to earn our reputation/position.

Phill – You have just recently released the video to Future, what was the whole experience of filming it like and apart from of course being the subject of the video what input into the direction of the video did you have?

The Rabid Whole – It was a lot of fun but extremely exhausting. The shoot was supposed to be around 12 hours but ended up lasting about 22 non-stop. Props to the crew for pushing it above and beyond. We filmed a lot of content so we'd have a lot to choose from. As for input, we left a lot in the director's hands. We threw in our ideas here and there, but the main ideas like the side-scrolling action and random stuff in rooms was the director's idea. Be sure to check out our vid for 'Stargazer' coming out this fall!

Phill – Some of you decided to give up your careers to follow your music, what was the decision behind you doing this and what effects has this had one your lives?

The Rabid Whole – Right, well in 2010 I was still working in an office as an engineering consultant for the oil & gas industry in a small city called Regina. I had a secure, well-paying career. At the same time, this was exactly what was holding back our band. I was half-assing everything and succeeding at nothing. This was a do or die move. Either settle in the job and let the band go nowhere or push the band as far as we can while we're still young. So I sold my house, quit my job and moved our band across the country to Toronto and had to find 3/5 new band mates. George and Chalsey also dropped everything and moved out here for the band. Best decision we've ever made, no regrets.

Phill – I have seen some glowing reviews of Refuge to say the least, what are your feelings when you get a bad review though?

The Rabid Whole – We've been pretty fortunate that they've almost all been good, though there are a few that aren't...and I really don't care. We've gotten past that stage ages ago. It's just another opinion and it would be totally absurd to expect that EVERYBODY would like our music.

Phill – What is the most embarrassing track on your MP3 player?

The Rabid Whole – Haha...oh man, I dunno... I've got a lot of random stuff with a lot of range... including Sarah McLachlan.

Phill – There are some true amazing bands coming from Canada at the moment, who are your favourite Canadian bands at the moment?

The Rabid Whole – Hmm... I like 'Schoolcraft' (Cradle of Filth's keyboardist Lindsay's solo project), 'Go for the Eyes' from Calgary is pretty cool... there's definitely a bunch though...you caught me off guard...

Phill – During the life of The Rabid Whole you relocated to Toronto, what impact did this on your music but also personally?

The Rabid Whole – Relocating really toughened us up. Toronto is a tough city to break. Very similar to LA, NY. These cities get/see everything all the time so why should they care about you? We had to step things up big time if we wanted anyone to give a fuck and this is the best place we could get 'trained'.

Phill – Thank you so much for giving Grave Concerns this interview, is there anything you would like to add?

The Rabid Whole – No problem, anytime! Thanks for having us. To all the fans, we would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts and it's because of you that we keep this all going. See you in the fall touring the US/CAN with BILE, blowing the roofs off of venues at a city near you! XD

Check out the band on the web: https://www.therabidwhole.com/