Tooth: Angry in love

Tooth plays heavy metal. No bones about that.

But what does the Durham band - the combined efforts of J-Me Guptill (vocals), Rich James (guitar), Ben Wilson (guitar), Ryland Fishel (bass) and Noah Kessler (drums) - love?

Diversions Editor Bryan Reed caught up with the band, and the answer, apparently, is metal.

Dive: Metal being a niche genre, maybe it's a little ironic - maybe fitting - that you're playing the day after Valentine's Day.

Ben Wilson: It never even occurred to me. Metal has absolutely nothing to do with Valentine's Day.

Dive: Has there ever been a good metal love song?

Ben: Yeah. Didn't Winger have some shit? (laughs)

Ryland Fishel: Didn't Firehouse have that song that was like, (sings) "I finally found the love of a lifetime"?

Ben: "This Love," by Pantera.

J-Me Guptill: There you go. That is a legitimate answer. "This Love" by Pantera is a good metal song.

Ben: Shit makes me angry.

Ryland: And in love! Angry in love.

Ben: Love usually results in anger.

Dive: Well, if metal has nothing to do with Valentine's Day, what does it have something to do with?

Ryland: I think it's simply about rocking.

Dive: Is there a certain joy that comes with being told to turn it down?

Ben: Yeah, man. I had a problem in one of my last bands, I was always being told to turn down - and I enjoyed that shit.

Rich James: It's kinda hard to reconcile good sound with power. We want to be really, really loud, but it's hard when you're so loud you can't hear the drums.

It's all about, "Exactly how loud can we tweak it before nobody can hear the snare drum?"

J-Me: It helps to have really tall amps, too.

Ryland: Even if you're not the loudest band … they still get the impression that you're louder because they see those huge speakers all around.

It smells like cookies, man.

Dive: It does …

Ryland: Oh, I want some cookies.

Noah: And people say we're stoner-metal.

Ben: I don't think so.

Dive: Well that's like, with all the subgenres, what does it even mean, you know?

Noah: Slow and heavy.

Ben: But Skeletonwitch said, "We're mid-paced" (laughs).

Rich: We've been called spastic because our songs kind of skip around a lot.

Ben: It's just one of many influences. Metal has all kinds of subgenres, and we pull from it all.

Rich: It's a hodge-podge, but it's a lot more fun to play that way.

Ryland: There's stoner-rock riffage, just getting a good, heavy riff and just going with it.

I hate bands that have that one awesome part, and it's just gone. It's like, "Man, I wish that part would come back."

Rich: A lot of stoner-metal, on the other hand, overdoes that.

It's just kind of a drone after a while, and I mean, I love it. I love it when I'm driving or just, like, laying around staring at the ceiling.

Dive: I guess that explains it right there.


The Daily Tar Heel, Diversions section 2/14/08