Rob Arnold of Chimaira

Rob Arnold sounds relieved. Tired, but relieved. When we last dropped in on Chimaira’s soft-spoken guitarist – one of the three times he made himself available to Cool Cleveland – he had been sequestered within the walls of Strongsville’s Spider Studios recording the follow-up to the band’s breakout, The Impossibility Of Reason. But the hard work really paid off.

“The new release is now 98% completed,” offers the down-to-earth and affable Arnold. “We’re just putting the finishing touches on and then we’re gonna get down to mixing. It’s just a relief to get everything down and ready to mix.”

Not as big a relief as knowing the new disc is right around the corner.

Formed in 1998, the lineup of the Cleveland-based hardcore rock act has been tearing up the hardcore instruction manual ever since. Chimaira (pronounced kim-ear-uh) consists of guitarists Arnold and Matt DeVries, singer Mark Hunter, bassist Jim LaMarca, electronic specialist Chris Spicuzza and new drummer Kevin Talley. The band's blend of hardcore and metal (with some select electronic edges) was a huge hit in Cleveland. They sold 10,000 copies of the independently issued debut, The Present Darkness. This lead to an appearance on the now-defunct USA Network TV show “Farmclub” – the first in a slew of media appearances – and opening slots on tour with Soulfly, Spineshank and Hatebreed.

Rumblings from music industry insiders were felt almost immediately and the band signed to Roadrunner Records – issuing their 14-track major label debut full-length, Pass Out of Existence, in August of 2001. The Impossibility of Reason followed on Roadrunner two summers ago; the band supported the effort with non-stop touring, including dates with In Flames, Slayer and appearances at Ozzy Osbourne’s “Ozzfest 2003.” The band stands poised to join elite company with this new, as-yet-untitled release and will likely dominate charts and venues in the process. This command will include a tour stop at the Scene Pavilion for “Sounds of the Underground 2005” and include fellow metallic giants Lamb of God, Clutch, GWAR, Opeth and From Autumn to Ashes on Tue 7/5. Ticket info here.

Cool Cleveland: Thanks for making the time. OK, forget all of the great shows and excellent lineups you’ve played with… Ozzfest, Slipknot, Slayer… you know you’ve made it when a fake-car-accident-death story starts circulating about you on the Internet. How surreal was that?
Rob Arnold: It was crazy, you know? It’s like, “Am I really dead?” (laughs) I had heard a bunch of rumors about it and then went to check it out for myself online. Maybe it was some other Rob Arnold that died? Whatever. It was funny. At least we know were getting bigger. I can say I am glad to be alive and breathing.

I loved the ‘official statement’ from the band: “In more startling news, guitarist Rob Arnold has returned from the dead. Donations for his family are still being accepted."
I wanted to make light of it somehow and not be some square [that] gets all freaked out and uptight about it. I mean, let’s face it: that shit’s gonna happen. My parents didn’t hear about it, thankfully… my mom would have went crazy!! (laughs) This interview [will be] the first she’s heard of it. I love my mother and didn’t want to worry her.

When did you know that rock was what you wanted to do?
When I was about 8 years old, there was this kid in my class who had really long hair. I was really intrigued by this guy, ‘cause he was definitely not the normal 8 year old kid. We went to his place and the place was rocking – the music was cranked up and the whole house was filled with Def Leppard, [Motley] Crue and Skid Row stuff… [Iron] Maiden and Van Halen posters were just all over the house. At that point, I knew I wanted to start jamming.

I remember I went home that night, and said “Mom, I need to get a guitar.” She got me an acoustic, which wasn’t really what I wanted but, ya know, I progressed. I started learning Megadeth riffs and when I made the move to an electric guitar, I started making demos and shirts… Before I knew it, I was in a band and we were working really, really hard. We were young and had other jobs to support ourselves and we tried to juggle both. It sort of just happened for us when we dropped everything else and focused solely on the music.

You’ve mentioned Pantera among your biggest influences. Where were you when you heard about Dimebag [Darrell Abbott]?
You know, it was crazy. (long pause) I manage a band out of Buffalo. I was talking to TJ from the band that night – they had just played with Damageplan the night before and were totally pumped. That Friday was the Columbus show… literally 15 minutes after he told me about the show, I got the call that Darrell had been killed. In Ohio, no less.

I’m getting goose bumps now just talking about it. Calls started pouring in as the story unfolded. It was completely untimely and...man, I really just don’t know what else to say. Everything’s been said about that already. It’s a tragedy.

Nearly every interview I read with you and the band, you all really make a point to take your hats off to Cleveland and are genuinely touched by the outpouring of support from here. How much of your success do you directly attribute to the city and to living here?
Cleveland’s a great town, you know? All the kids come out and always support the shows and everything and we’re happy to be from here. You’ve gotta have a good, solid foundation at the end of the day. If we didn’t have a good hometown crowd, our walls wouldn’t be as sturdy as they are.

We love our crowd, man. [Our] last Christmas show was jam-packed. We took a huge risk moving it to the Agora from the Odeon – basically we’re doubling the size of the venue – but there were a lot of new faces. It’s great to call Cleveland our home. We have a strong fan base here and owe everything to them.

Cleveland’s music scene was pretty strong in the mid to late '90s and it appears to be picking up again over the last few years. Both Chimaira and Mushroomhead have stepped into the national arena. Who do you see locally as a potential heavyweight these days?
Strictly around Cleveland? There are quite a few bands… though I definitely see Shenoah going on to do big things. [Former Chimaira co-founder Jason] Hager and those guys, man...they’re doing well and they’ve got a hell of a lot of heart. They’re usually down in the practice space that we share, doing their thing every night. I really think they are going to push forward.

How do you think the scene compares now? What advice would you offer to bands in Cleveland trying to “build their union,” to coin your phrase?
It’s hard to say. I look at things now with a completely different perspective. When I was younger, I looked at shows so much differently. With bands like Integrity and One Life Crew, I just went to see them and to rock out. I was never really thinking of their gear and crew and that technical side of things. I just loved the shows and was really just there for the music. As for your other question, it really comes down to bare bones hard work. And that’s it.

You’ve said that Chimaira is a supergroup of local heroes. How does it feel to be the local boys making good on a national stage?
We’re grateful, for sure. There’s only a couple other heavy bands out of Cleveland who have had a shot to make a name for themselves nationally. And we did it on our own, without having to compromise ourselves or our integrity. We pride ourselves in knowing we’ve made it through hard work, determination and making the right career moves at the right time. It’s a dream come true, man. To actually be given an opportunity to play and to do it around the world is huge. There are no words to describe that feeling though, other than we feel lucky in having the right combination of guys who wanted to make music their lives.

I know Ben Schigel from Spider Studios and of Switched fame produced the last album. He’s heavily involved in this project, from what I gather...
Yeah, definitely...

Does recording your material at Spider Studios keep you grounded and “keeping it real,” so to speak? How did that relationship come about?
Absolutely. We loved his ad: “Let your ears decide.” When we started out, we were looking for a studio and rang him up. He said “Come on down and we’ll make you sound REAL good!!” We were his first major label band and it was great that we had a place to go to make awesome demos at the beginning. That’s a big part of what helps out the Cleveland scene so much, too. Ben and his brothers have been pumping out great recordings of local bands.

We’re really comfortable with Ben. We did our first record with a big producer Mudrock, who’s done Godsmack, after we’d gotten a big record deal with Roadrunner. At the end, we weren’t really happy with the way Pass Out of Existence turned out. So we were like, let’s do it our own way this time—

That Do-It-Yourself approach...
Yeah. We had all our friends do everything, from artwork to photos to the recording – everything totally homegrown. And The Impossibility of Reason came out great, so we’re real stoked on that formula. Doing it again the same way.

What was the process like this time? Are you pleased with results to date?
Definitely. When we started writing this record, [everyone] brought a different mindset in just trying something different. We’re really just trying to make our songs and sound more appealing in every way. More exciting. Raw.

Can’t wait to hear it. I’ve also heard the word “epic.”
Some might say that! It’s a “conscious progression,” really. Check with me in six months and we’ll see if you agree. (laughs) We just stepped up the musicianship tenfold for the new record and made a more conscious process out of it. Everything came seamlessly. We’re excited for the release.

It’ll chart pretty high, I bet. Your base will probably buy it on Day One.
First weeks of release are tough with downloading and all. We do want to get up there. We truly appreciate fans that go out on Day One of release.

Any glitches in the recording process?
We actually recently had a computer problem lost a bunch of files. We’ve had to redo some stuff, but nothing critical and it won’t delay the release. We have luck like that. Thank god we didn’t lose any of the solos!! (laughs)

Mind if we come by and check out progress on the mixing?
Well, we’ve changed plans some. After we finish up the last dates on our current tour, we’re actually going to mix a lot of the record in England instead of Strongsville. Can you get there to come and hear it? (laughs)

It’s a short flight, so leave the invitation open! Thanks again for the time. Any last words for upstart bands and musicians before we go?
Here’s what a lot of young bands do: they think “We’ve got a group of guys together, let’s make t-shirts and stickers and stuff!” When they do the shows, they really think they’re doing it the right way. Think about it – you’re having a good time and getting the kids out and all that stuff.

But the way to “make it happen” is your music. Practice your balls off before you do ANYTHING else, because that is what represents what you guys are about. If that falls flat, it kills the other things. Just be absolutely clear with what you’re trying to do. Become a great band first. Think about your composition and song structure. The rest of the stuff will come. Concentrate on that. Music first.

Interview by Cool Cleveland contributor Peter Chakerian

Photo by Jason L. Nelson (:divend:)