Cauldron is a Canadian trio that was formed from the ashes of Goat Horn that play traditional heavy metal.  Their philosophy is fairly simple: beer and metal.  They consider themselves “Poverty Metal,” and that’s most evident in the fact that they tour North America the old fashioned way: the van.  Having established themselves as the support act for Sweden’s Enforcer in 2009, they recently embarked on a tour with another up and coming band in Holy Grail.  On the Kansas City stop of the tour, founding members Jason Decay and Ian Chains took some time to talk about the band, the tour, and their foray into cooking.

Peter: Would you guys mind giving an update on the tour so far?

Jason Decay: Well, we’re about four weeks in, with a week to go.  I think we have two or three more shows with Holy Grail, and then we part ways and play a few more shows on the way back home to Toronto.

It’s been a good tour so far, except for when we broke down in Oakland on a Sunday and had to miss the Portland and Seattle shows, which would have been good shows, but other than that, it’s been a good tour so far.

Peter: For those who don’t know who you are, would you mind saying a few things about yourselves?

Ian Chains: Well, you don’t need to be living under a rock to not have heard of us, we’re just CAULDRON, but…what was the question?

Jason Decay: Who are we?

Ian Chains: Oh, we are Canada’s premier Poverty Metal act.

Jason Decay: We are CAULDRON and we play what I guess you would call these days “Classic heavy metal,” or old metal…

Ian Chains: …Or if we have to, NWOTM, but to people like us, it’s just “heavy metal,” so if you like any of that stuff, you should check us out.

Peter: Currently, CAULDRON is touring in support of the new album Burning Fortune.  First, would you mind explaining the album cover?

Ian Chains: For the album cover, there were people who thought we went hip hop…no, what we were really trying to portray was the lifestyle that we could never afford.

Jason Decay: Basically, it’s a young ‘banger’s wet dream, and it’s sort of ironic for us because there’s no way a band like CAULDRON could afford to live like that, with fast cars, women, limousines, and things like that. [sighs] Hence, the album title Burning Fortune.

[Interview is interrupted to move for a van coming out of an alley]

Ian Chains: [to the van driver] Sorry, I thought you guys were going the other way.

Peter: How would you say that Burning Fortune is an improvement from the debut album Chained to the Nite?

Jason Decay: I think it better captures what the band sounds like live.  We spent a lot more time rehearsing and recording it, and we spent less time mixing it, which I think doesn’t suck the life out of it; it sounds more like a band in the room playing…

Ian Chains: It’s really bearable with us playing the songs live off the floor, and the solos and vocals came in later.

Jason Decay: And we had a lot more time to write and rehearse on Burning Fortune, and we had a solid drummer in the lineup for this record.  All those sort of things helped.

Peter: CAULDRON also has a recipe in the “Heavy Metal Cookbook…”

Jason Decay: Both heavy metal cookbooks.  Which one have you seen?

Peter: The one with the Welfare Nachos.

Jason Decay: Ah, yes, the Welfare Nachos.  That’s the Canadian cookbook (“Hell-bent for Cooking: the Heavy Metal Cookbook” by Annick Giroux).  There’s another one from New York called Mosh Potatoes, which has a recipe from us.

Peter: And is there anything else that you would like to say about the Mosh Potatoes cookbook?

Jason Decay: About the book, it was written by a friend of ours Steve (Seabury), who used to manage our old band Goat Horn.  He’s been working on this book for years, compiling recipes from bands he knows, and I submitted a recipe for the book.  It was Welfare Wedges, which is basically survival food: how to eat cheap and moderately healthy.

Peter: Moving away from the subject of food, the last time CAULDRON came through Kansas City, it was part of a tour with the Swedish metal band ENFORCER.  What memories do you have of Kansas City, MO and Manhattan, KS for that matter?

Jason Decay: I had forgotten that we’d actually played here. (Laughs) Not really, but it’s one venue that we’ll remember for a long time.  Now that I remember, it was a decent show, as it got us some exposure, so I think tonight will be a better show.

Ian Chains: Prior to the tour, not a lot of people had heard of either CAULDRON or ENFORCER, so there were people that thought it was early for us to be doing a tour on our own instead of in support of a bigger band…

Jason Decay: But still, I remember it being a decent show, so I expect tonight to be better.

Peter: Earlier, you mentioned that you were going to play a few shows on the way back to Toronto.  Could you elaborate on that?

Jason Decay: Okay, we part ways with Holy Grail after the show in Mesa, AZ.  They have at least one more show on the West Coast, San Diego,  I believe, and we have shows in Albuquerque, Wichita, and Manhattan, KS and then home.  We should be home on the 17^th…

Ian Chains: And then time for work.

Jason Decay: We also have four or five shows with VULTURE starting at the end of June.

Peter: Any possible plans for music festivals this summer?

Jason Decay: It doesn’t look like it will happen this summer.  I don’t know why that is, but we’re working on getting shows in Europe for November, and maybe some festivals for next Spring.

Peter: Is there anything else that you would like to add?

Ian Chains: Hamburger meat. [Both laugh]

Cauldron

Interviewer: Peter

May 25, 2011

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TO THE TOP

(Click on Photo to Enlarge)

Formed: 2006
    Toronto, Ontario  CANADA
Label: Earache Records
Genre: Trad. Heavy Metal

CURRENT LINE-UP:

Jason Decay:  Vocals & Bass
Ian Chains:  Guitars
Chris Steve:  Drums

DISCOGRAPHY:

Into the Cauldron EP (2007)
Chained to the Nite (2009)
Burning Fortune (2011)

PHOTOS BY PETER SANTELLAN

(Click on Photos to Enlarge)

Check out Rottenbucher's review of Burning Fortune here