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An Interview with Josh Graham
by Matt Smith
With the release of their second album, Forgive Us Our Trespasses, NYC's A Storm of Light takes the sound they created on their first album, And We Wept the Black Ocean Within, to the next level by creating an atmospheric take on Mother Earth that is both thought provoking and musically cerebrally pleasing. Front man Josh Graham recently took the time to answer some questions about the album and here are the results.
GASP: Hey Josh, how's it going?
Josh: Good how are you doing?
GASP: Good, thanks for doing the interview.
Josh: Thanks for the interest.
GASP: Yeah, I saw you guys open for The Ocean in Boston and also open for Wolves in the Throne Room in Allston and they were both excellent shows.
Josh: Thanks
GASP: I'm a big fan of the first album, And We Wept the Black Ocean Within and upon hearing Forgive Us Our Trespasses I love that as much if not more than Black Ocean. It definitely progresses the sound you have on Black Ocean.
Josh: Awesome
GASP: I love the special guests you have on the album and I especially like the spoken word pieces by Lydia Lunch. How did you end up working with her?
Josh: Actually, I just e-mailed her one day out of the blue and she responded within an hour and said she was definitely interested in doing it. We e-mailed back and forth but I still haven't had a chance to meet her in person, she actually lives in Barcelona so we did everything over the internet.
GASP: Cool, the wonders of technology.
 Josh: Yeah, definitely. (laughs) It was pretty interesting because she had the stuff recorded in a day and then the final thing recorded in about four or five days. It was pretty crazy, very cool for sure.
GASP: Yeah, that is really cool. I've never really followed what she's been working on and when I saw she was on the album I was like, "no shit". So you never met her in person?
Josh: No, I saw her perform in like 1992 and when we decided we wanted to have spoken word on this album and we wanted the person doing the spoken word pieces to sound like a Mother Earth type of voice and she was one of two people who came up. It's pretty cool that it actually worked out.
GASP: Yeah, it is, I think she works perfectly on the album.
Josh: Yeah, definitely.
GASP: Is the basis of the concept of the album based on the book The World Without Us by Alan Weisman? I noted you recommend it as a companion reading for this album.
Josh: It's sort of a reference for the lyrics and what would actually happen if humanity disappeared today and it covers every aspect all over the world. But it's not the basis of the story it is a reference for the actions of how the events unfold through the lyrics and the artwork and everything like that.
GASP: Yeah, I noticed the artwork is very beautiful, and scary, (laughs). Were those images concepts you created?
Josh: I did it all myself, actually, I do all the art for the band myself.
GASP: Cool, that's great! So you use Photoshop?
Josh: Yeah
GASP: Cool! I've always liked the concept of humans becoming extinct, (laughs) what are you views on the eventual outcome for the human race here on Earth?
Josh: I don't know, I think we have to just see what happens. It could be any number of things but most likely the Earth will wane at some point and return to a smaller version of itself. I think eventually some sort of balance will happen with everything and with the way time itself works on the planet, you know like the extinction of the dinosaurs and all that stuff. I don't know for sure, but I'm sure something will strike a balance.
GASP: Right, exactly. Do you feel the human race has an ultimate evolutionary goal on this planet or do you feel like we're just a mutated organism?
Josh: I don't know. I'd be more interested if some of the other organisms developed a consciousness. If they could rationalize and reason I think that's more interesting than humans and if you're wondering if we're just an accident of evolution and everything just happens, I think it's probably just by chance we ended up where we're at.
GASP: Personally I'm an idealist and I'd LIKE to think we as a race have an ultimate goal but I'm also an Existentialist that thinks we may just have mutated beyond our own good and will not see our full potential before we become extinct. And when you involve religion into the conversation you get a whole different perspective that some people may not want to talk about.
Josh: Right, it's definitely a touchy subject.
GASP: Yeah, and you could be labeled a heretic for not thinking we're God's ultimate creation. (laughs)
Josh: (laughs) Yeah, it's pretty interesting and religion is a choice between believing in evolution and not and it's absurd. (laughs)
GASP: I know (laughs) and that's one thing that always made me doubt Christianity and everything I was taught about the Bible. I mean if God created us wouldn't he want us to explore and question what we are experiencing?
Josh: Definitely
GASP: So, basically in your own words what would you say is the concept of the Forgive Us Our Trespasses?
Josh: Simply put, supposing the Earth has a consciousness and wakes up after a short period of time and in that span of time humanity has evolved and become what it is today and the Earth realizes it and makes a decision to destroy humanity so that the rest of existence can just live out their time in peace.
GASP: Yeah, that reminds me of a George Carlin bit where he talks about how the Earth doesn't need to be saved, that we'll just become recycled by it some day. (laughs)
Josh: (laughs) Right
GASP: It makes a lot of sense because when the Earth is ready to get rid of us it will and it also reminds me of what Bill Hicks said about the human race, that "we're just a virus with shoes". (laughs)
Josh: (laughs) Right
 GASP: Some day the virus will be conquered. Anyway, getting off the topic of the Earth killing humanity. (laughs) I saw you open for The Ocean and then for Wolves in the Throne Room and I spoke with you and Nerissa after the Wolves show and I mentioned how much I liked it when Nerissa joined you for the performance. I know there are the core members of the band but how often do you have guest appearances in your live shows?
Josh: Pretty often, with the tour we're about to do, Nerissa can't do it so we're going to take out one of the guitar players, Will, from Wolves in the Throne Room to Europe with us on second guitar because I like having guests. We're trying to fill the permanent vocalist position which is actually a pretty hard thing to find.
GASP: Yeah, I really loved it when she joined you that night.
Josh: Yeah, we loved having her that night and we have the vocals from the record on the laptop if we need them but it's awesome to have it live.
GASP: Yeah, it adds a whole other element to it.
Josh: Yeah, so we're in an active search for that so we'll see what happens.
GASP: Cool. I love the visuals you have projected behind you live, do you create all of those?
Josh: Thanks, yeah, it's re-appropriated by me but it's all source material, its all found footage and edited down.
GASP: Yeah, like stock footage.
Josh: Yeah, everything, stock footage, vintage footage, all kind of stuff, documentaries.
GASP: I love it, I think it fits really well with the music.
Josh: Cool, thanks
GASP: I know you worked with Neurosis,  did you play with them or just work with them onthe visual backdrops in their live sets?
Josh: I did projections and artwork for them.
GASP: Okay, cool
Josh: And I still do it for them.
GASP: You never played in the band at all?
Josh: No, I played in Tribes of Neurot.
GASP: I love them, I have the first album.
Josh: They're always changing their sound, it's like the subconscious of Neurosis.
GAP: Yeah, it's really cool stuff. I read in the press release you're doing a European Tour with Minsk? When does that start.
Josh: Yeah, it starts on the 24th of October.
GASP: How many European tours have you done so far?
Josh: This will be our third, then we'll be doing more dates after that, over here it takes a lot longer to set up tours.
GASP: You probably make a lot more headway over there.
 Josh: It's pretty crazy how different touring is over there. It's much easier to get guarantees and actually do it as a young band. In the US you have to be very careful about the tour that you're on and make sure you can actually afford it. Break even or make money and every band regardless you have to pay your dues and work to get to a good point. The band is technically only like a year and a half old and we're feeling pretty good. We just gotta keep going and get out to the West Coast.
GASP: Great, are there any US tour plans after you get back from Europe?
Josh: There's some possibilities for early next year. We're gonna try and do some dates on the East Coast in December and hopefully the whole US at some point next year, we'll know more soon.
GASP: Great, I look forward to seeing you guys again.
Josh: Cool
GASP: I feel like you guys really push the boundaries of what Metal can be and I always look for that in a band. Like SUNN, who I just saw for the first time, what an amazing show!
Josh: Cool, yeah, I just saw them here in NYC and it was pretty awesome.
GASP: Sonically they're pretty incredible live and I would put you guys in that same category as a band that is pushing the boundaries.
Josh: Awesome, thanks. We don't actually listen to that much Metal these days with the exception of SUNN and Meshuggah and it's opening up places to draw influences from to try and take it to another level and keep it heavy.
GASP: Yeah, I love it when bands push the boundaries. Well, thanks for taking the time out to answer these questions and I look forward to seeing you guys when you come back around Boston.
Josh: Definitely say "Hi" so I can put a face to your voice.
GASP: I will. Thanks again and it was cool chatting with you. Take care and have a safe European Tour.
Josh: Cool, thanks a lot. Bye.
GASP: Bye
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