Interview with Chris Barnes of Six Feet Under
January 21. 2010
by Brandon Rabideau

Rabideau - Okay, so the band has just released Graveyard Classics 3, and the Graveyard Classics album are cover albums. What inspired you to start doing these cover albums?

Barnes - We just thought it would be cool. We did it as bonus tracks on some of our albums and it just kind of took off from there.

Rabideau - One and Three are kind of grab bags with stuff ranging from Black Sabbath to the Monkees. But the second Graveyard Classics album was just AC/DC's Back in Black album. Why did you choose that album to pay homage to?

Barnes - Just seemed like the right album to do.

Rabideau - Yeah... Okay, what about it drew you to it?

Barnes - I don't know... Every song on there just kind of fit our vibe, you know?

Rabideau - Are you a big AC/DC fan?

Barnes - Yeah, I like 'em.

Rabideau - ...Yeah?

Barnes - Yeah, like I don't listen to them all the time or anything.

Rabideau - And this most recent one kind of focuses on the 80's and it's got some obvious choices like Slayer and Metallica but it's also got the Ramones and BTO. What process goes into choosing the songs you're going to cover?

Barnes - I guess they just have to kind of fit our style. They have to fit within our bass heavy sound and structure. But most importantly they're songs we like ourselves.

Rabideau - Was there maybe a show or an album that you heard when you were younger that made you decide you wanted to make music?

Barnes - No, it wasn't really one defining moment like that for me, no.

Rabideau - Well, then what types of things did you listen to when you were younger?

Barnes - I listened to all kinds of metal, like real heavy stuff. I liked all kinds of different music though; I was kind of diverse with my taste. I listened to blues music and hard rock, reggae and stuff like that, rap as well.

Rabideau - That's interesting. What reggae acts do you like?

Barnes - Peter Tosh was mainly my thing.

Rabideau - That's awesome, do you like Bob Marley then?

Barnes - Meh, a little bit, not much. Some of his earlier stuff.

Rabideau - I think it would be cool to hear a Six Feet Under rap cover. Would you ever cover a rap song?

Barnes - Ehh, I don't know, we like to cover different stuff, but it just really has to feel right.

Rabideau - Fair enough. Is there going to be another Graveyard Classics or is there only going to be the three?

Barnes - I don't know; we'll have to see how it goes. We didn't think there was going to be another one after two so we'll see. We don't really plan that much in advance; we just kind of take it one step at a time.

Rabideau - Which cover do you feel translated the best into a Six Feet Under song in your opinion?

Barnes - Oh, I don't know, they're all pretty cool in their own way... Yeah, I don't really critique my own stuff on that level.

Rabideau - What are you listening to now, what kind of phase are you in musically right now?

Barnes - I'm listening to a lot of 80's new wave, like Depeche Mode and the Cure.

Rabideau - Cool. What's on the horizon for the band? What's coming up in the near future?

Barnes - We're going to be touring Europe in the springtime and hopefully getting into the rehearsal space and writing some new material.

Rabideau - When you bring out a cover album like this, do you focus on playing a lot of it live?

Barnes - We usually just stick to our own stuff, but we'll throw one or two covers in depending.

Rabideau - Okay, but you prefer to stick to your own stuff. What song do you really like playing every night? Which one is the most fun to play?

Barnes - We really like a lot of our songs, so I don't really have a favourite. I guess which ever one the fans are latching on to that particular night is cool. It's always fun to see people being really appreciative of your music. It's always good though to go out and do a show, you know?

Rabideau - Where in Europe are you headed?

Barnes - Oh, pretty much everywhere. We're going to be doing a bunch of different legs. We're doing some festivals this summer. And we're doing some headlining gigs in different sections of Europe, go out maybe do two weeks at a time. We'll be doing some Scandinavian dates, some eastern European dates and some central. Maybe later on we'll hit France and Spain and Portugal.

Rabideau - Are you looking forward to it? Because I actually read somewhere that you don't really like to travel.

Barnes - Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. I love to go to Europe and I love to be out on the tour bus, we have a really good time.

Rabideau - Where in Europe do you like playing best? Is there anywhere where you're particularly well received?

Barnes - We really enjoy touring Germany. It's like our home base over there. We always have a great time when we do dates in Germany.

Rabideau - What is it about Germany?

Barnes - We just have great shows there. They're really great shows, we have a great turnout there, a loyal following, and they're always great shows.