I got a chance to chat with founder and mainman Seth Uldricks, who proved to be more than willing to chat back.
"Well, if done correctly, it’s just plain sexy - if I may be so bold. It makes ya bite your bottom lip and furrow your brow like you just saw a beautiful woman walk by. It’s that soul, that swing, and that grit that makes your body throw a fit and move even when you don’t mean to make it do so. It’s the blues baby. And it’s one of the few sounds that can embody any type or genre of music and be recognized immediately across the world. I’ve seen it light a dull night on fire and cool a burning mad man down all at the same time. It’s deceptively simple yet the feelings it takes and creates to play and hear are resoundingly complex. It’s earthy and organic, it’s thick and rich like milk over a biscuit, it’s hard and resolute like a dead man’s purpose, and it’s cool and charming like a devil man’s sermon. In short - it’s a beautiful thing."
What is the southern lifestyle and philosophy about, to you?
"It all depends on what part of the south you’re from. In North Carolina alone, we have three different regions: mountains, flat lands, and the beach. The thing is that because it took longer for the South to become industrialized, so many places were secluded and isolated for so long that they all developed very distinct and beautiful cultures. Self sufficiency became not only a necessity, but a long lasting reality. Especially in the mountains. That being said, I guess you could say that the over all lifestyle, philosophy, and attitude is live how you want to live and don’t let a damn thing move you on that. Find whatever it is you call family and be fiercely loyal to that. Be proud of what you do because it defines you. Depend on your community but make sure you give in as much as you take. These are all very basic rules for living a good life, but how we do it is exactly how we do it - never because someone else is doing it, even if they’ve already done it... and we do it at our own pace."
Do you feel that people misunderstand the whole southern pride thing? I guess it could be politically sensitive to some.
"I certainly understand why some people dislike the rebel flag that so many display to show their southern pride. Misconceptions of the Civil War and the misuse of it by certain organizations have fueled a negative social stigma. And racism is obviously a horrible thing - but what blows my mind is that a lot of people think that racism is some sort of plague of the south. Something that has to be contained so when they see symbolism of southern heritage they have to piss and stomp all over it so it doesn’t infect the rest of the country. And this is absurd. And to say racism is just confined to white southerners is even more of an unbelievable sentiment. The whole damn world is full of it, along with every other ugly thing imaginable. But what really paints the walls with my brains is when people automatically think that the flag itself is a mark of racism, hate, and ignorance. More often than not the ignorance exists on that side of the argument. I’m not saying that all people who think that are ignorant - I mean, we were all fed the same crap in elementary school. I’m just saying that this ideal that causes someone to absolutely and categorically dismiss you, scold you, and retract their affiliation with you just because you fly The Southern Cross (another name for The Rebel Flag) high and proud is beyond ignorant. It’s arrogant. And some people do it without even knowing why someone displays the flag. And others do it without being educated about the correct history behind it.
Let it be known that The Sign of the Southern Cross is in no way, shape, or form a racist band! Not by a damn site. The fact that we fly The Rebel Flag proudly or adorn our possessions with its mark does not represent any discrimination on our part in any way. As I said, there are those who believe that just because we display the battle flag we harbor hate for people or ideas because they may not match our own. This is most certainly untrue. We have friends of many different creeds, colors, and orientations. We base our opinions of people on their individual behavior and actions.
Furthermore, we are not a separatist band. We do not support treason or a rising up of The Confederate States of America. It must be understood that our song 'The South is Rising' is a firm statement of frustration, chronicling our distaste for many of the southern stereotypes that make reverse discrimination against us prevalent in our society today. When I say 'The South is Rising' I mean that we are rising above the stereotypes and growing as a people while maintaining a beautiful and unique culture.
To us, The Rebel Flag represents heritage not hate. It also represents a rebelling against any outside influence that attempts to fold you into its collective through aggression and violence. It is about individualism and your natural right to be whoever you want to be. I say don’t let our pride scare you - let it enlighten you."
With regards to the above, maybe you could give a few examples of misconceptions or incidents that have come up because of people's ignorance.
"The first thing that comes to mind was an incident that came at the inception of this band. I was just cruising around Myspace, as you do, adding profiles to the band’s page to spread the word and get people to check out our music. We had just played a local show with these other local boys so I was scrolling through their comments and adding those who supported them (especially those who lived in our area) to show that there was a new band in town in attempt to get them to come out to our gigs. The adding was random and indiscriminant. Within a couple of hours I had an email in the inbox from this white woman who was friends with the aforementioned band and she flipped her shit on us. Her rant went something to the effect of 'How dare you add me?! Is this some kind of a joke? I have a half black child and you dare to add me?! As soon as you saw my pictures you should have just turned the other way you ignorant and hateful rednecks.' Needless to say I was at a loss for words because clearly, as I mentioned above, there isn’t a single song we’ve written or intention held that has anything to do with race - nor do we harbor feelings of racial hate or ignorance. Yet her brazen and furious response to our innocent attempt to bolster our musical standing in the community was based purely on the fact that we had a rebel flag in our artwork. In this woman’s mind, somehow, I am accused of going out of my way to find a person with an interracial child, taking the time to confirm that they do by trolling through their pictures, and sending a friend request to her as some sort of digital age, 21st century, burning cross in her front lawn. What the hell? And this woman is from the south! You can imagine the further past the Mason-Dixon line you get, the worse the accusations become. And when this happens, it’s never based on anything that we’ve actually said or done, let alone do they try to engage in a civilized debate of ideas if it were - it’s all just because of the rebel flag. Now tell me, what’s more ignorant - having an opinion based on the actions of the accused or a pure, knee jerk, reactionary assault based on nothing but a stereotype? The answer is - the latter. Moreover, just because someone may not say their hateful and ignorant feelings out-loud when they think about a group of people doesn’t exclude them from the mark of “racist.” Some people love to forget that. We say be who ever the hell you want to be and do whatever the hell you want to do but don’t do that if an aspect of that infringes on someone else. However, there are some who accuse us of contradicting ourselves because they say we’re, 'being ourselves in spite of the way other’s feel about it (in regards to The Rebel Flag).' But what they’re really accusing us of is being ourselves to spite the way other’s feel. And this is most certainly untrue. We have no secret agenda and we sure as hell make our opinions known, so when you break down all the flack that has come our way to the basic argument - their case holds no water."
In the center: Seth Uldricks
"I think it’s a lot like the woman’s perception in my response above. It’s a knee jerk reaction. Fans of those bands are fiercely loyal so for the time being we’re just one of those groups that you either love or hate with not much middle ground to be found. But I think, at least some of the time, those reviewers are told that we’re copycats before they listen to the record and they pretty much have a review written in their head before they even hear a track. If someone told you that you could hear satanic messages when you play B.B. King’s 'The Thrill is Gone' backwards, what are you gonna hear? Satanic messages. However, more often than not, it’s an unfair assessment. I mean, it’s one thing to call a spade a spade, but quite another thing to call a card that just because it’s in the same deck. But to be honest, we have no qualms being compared to Pantera and the other bands you mentioned. If you’re going to be compared to someone, you might as well be compared to the best. However, it must be recognized that they are the contemporary product of roots that we all share. I’m talking about the classic forerunners like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Slayer. Everything from bands like Boston and Kansas to Johnny Cash and the Hank Williams family. Moreover, The Sign of the Southern Cross brings our Carolina swagger to the table. What I’m saying is just like those before us who brought you that Texas swing, and NOLA sludge, our main influences are classic, soulful, and groovy jams combined with our environment - in this case, the sweet Appalachian Mountains of the American South. The power of those influences are an overwhelming combination. I’m well aware of how I sound. It’s not like I’m blind to the whole thing. And I would be full of shit if I said that we were not massively influenced by Pantera (et all), as would any modern metal musician. But I think many people are blinded by the immediate comparisons - especially to Phil Anselmo. I mean hell, I sound like the dude even when I talk. We’re both southern men with deep voices and a taste for heavy ass classic music. If you listen to our song 'Dead Skies' at the beginning where there’s a talking part - that’s pretty much how I sound in everyday conversations. I can’t help how I sound. On top of all that, it seems that the reviewers in question seem to forget what band’s like Pantera started out sounding like and what they eventually became. It won’t take much listening to find that we’ve made this our own. And, as many new musicians find as they emerge on a larger scene, it takes some time to shed those obvious influences. The Sign of the Southern Cross is still growing, and will continue to mature."
Which of the southern metalbands has meant the most to you, and why?
"Wow, that’s tough. For me that’s like asking what part of your home’s foundation means the most to you. Really, the entire NOLA scene means the most to me; not only because of the amazing music that comes out of there but they are what inspired me to really embrace the idea of meshing your music with your environment. Each band is so uniquely of New Orleans that it made me want to do the same for Appalachia."
Also, I heard rumours going around that you were using a drum machine on your album. Can you please confirm to everyone out there that this isn't the case?
"It’s definitely not true. Mr. Brett Wilson, at the young age of 18, recorded every lick of what you hear. However, we’re not rich by any means. None of us are living high on the hog, so unless you’re someone like Metallica with tons of money to throw around, you use what’s called sound replacement on your drum recordings so you can actually hear what’s going on. Sound replacement software finds the individual hits of every piece of your drum kit and replaces it with a prerecorded sound of your choosing. Working with EQ’s is a very complicated science, especially in metal, because you’re constantly battling the high frequencies of the symbols and guitar with the low frequencies of the drums and bass. We recorded the drums and mixed the tracks in a back woods shack that was converted into a make-shift studio. We still wanted a natural and raw sound, so we mixed half of the original drum tracks with half digital sound replacement so it could cut through the thick guitars and vocals. Pick up just about any modern metal album and they do the exact same thing. That’s why you hear stuff on albums these days where every snare hit in a blast beat or drum roll sounds exactly the same every time. The drums sound phenomenal but that just doesn’t happen in real life. Not even the gods of drumming could pull that off naturally. I understand the argument some purists have against digital anything in music recording - but if you have the money to get that long and expensive process of natural drum recording going for us, give it to me and I’ll oblige. Now, it is true that I recorded the drums on our second demo (“Written in Stone”) back in 2007 with an electric kit and keyboard. I write about 95% of our material so in the studio I record the guitars as well, but when it came time to put out another demo all of our members were scattered across two states, so I took it upon myself to get it done. And I don’t own the equipment to pull that off with real drums. So to reiterate, the drums on '…of Mountains and Moonshine' are all Mr. Brett Wilson with some help from digital sound replacement. It’s not a new concept, and it’s certainly not enough to warrant rumors of drum machine use."
I guess the bandname is taken from the Sabbath song?
"In part. That is a small, albeit obvious, aspect of our name. However, the emphasis is on the 'Southern Cross' part. This is another name for The Rebel Flag. The Sabbath part of it is just our way of paying homage to the mighty Black Sabbath. But the true meaning of our name represents our firm statement that wherever you see us, you’ll find our southern pride.
What made you come with the album title "...of Mountains and Moonshine"?
"Because we are of mountains and moonshine. Just like our name bares the truth of our resolve, so does our album name, and so do my lyrics. Everyday I wake up and get to see the majesty and epic qualities of the Great Smokey Mountains. We were born of it. It’s in our blood. It has a very existential effect on not only our music but our attitudes. It is awe inspiring. And moonshine is another name for homemade liquor. Saying that word not only congers up images of the outlaw days of moonshine runners, but it’s a reminder that down here we have our own way of doing things - our own way of life. Now, we’re not the first or only people who can lay claim to mountains and moonshine, but these here are our mountains and the white lightening we drink comes from our land (land rejuvenated by the ashes of our forefathers and their forefathers). It’s almost like a sacrament. Both elements are undeniably a part of who we are. A while back, someone called our music folk metal. I’m not entirely sure if that’s accurate, but I like the way that sounds."
When will you guys get your asses over to Europe and tour?
"As soon as possible my friend. The second we get an opportunity we’re gonna take it. It would be a real honor to get that chance. And, because metal is so much bigger in Europe and there aren’t as many hang ups about The Rebel Flag, it would be an amazing breath of fresh air. I love Europe. I got to study abroad there back in college. It would be great to get to return there with my music."
Anything else you'd like to add?
"I whole heartedly appreciate the opportunity to chat with you and I thank you for helping us spread the word about our music. It’s a real honor and rarity to get to do exactly what your passion is for a living, and no words could express how grateful I am for this chance. This band is my life, and though our journey may ebb and flow, when I die at least I’ll be able to say I tried and left something behind. Thanks again."
