Obituary interview with John Tardy

(Originally from 11/28/04)

One of the original bands caught up in the Florida death metal scene of the late 80s and early 90s, Obituary has released some monumental and inspirational albums for their genre over the years. We welcome vocalist John Tardy in this interview as we get a look into the band's upcoming new album and what the future may hold for Obituary...

For those who don't know of Obituary, could you give us some background on how the band started? 

John Tardy: Obituary started when we were still in high school. We would get out of school and jam every day until my parents made us stop. Growing up in the Tampa area we had bands around like Savatage and Nasty Savage. Knowing those guys got us really into music and made us work really hard. We were always happy just jamming and never really planned on doing album number one but it just kind of fell in our lap. 8 albums and 20 years later we can't wait to do number 9!

Obituary has been around for almost a decade and a half, with your last true studio album released in 1997. Now there's news of a new album in the works; what can you tell us about this upcoming CD? 

We are really excited about this new album. We have been having a great time with it and I think it is some of the heaviest stuff we have done.

Do you find it ever gets any harder to write music over this long of a timespan? 

Not really. We have never been a band that says hey we have to put out an album every 12 months...bla bla bla...we do what we want and when we want to do it. It is not good to put pressure in anyway when writing. It should just come naturally.

What does Obituary usually go through when writing a song, with lyrics, music and anything else? 

Starts off having fun. If we feel like writing we do. If we just feel like jamming we do that. If we don't feel like praticing we say fuck it and go out side and shoot some hoops or get on the motorcycles. When we do write it is usually one of the guitarists, either Trevor or Allen and Donald and myself. From there it is easy. We just get into it and what comes out is what it is.

Do you have a favorite Obituary album? Favorite song? 

"Til Death" is one of my favorites because it is probably the first song we ever wrote. I probably listen to the live album more than the others because it has songs off all the records and ITS LIVE!

Who are some of your favorite bands or influences? 

I listen to a lot of stuff in all styles of music. From Blues to Metal to Classic Rock to Country...I just love music!

What is a live Obituary show usually like? Do you think this will change any since several years have passed now? 

I love to play live. Obituary live is the way the music should be heard. We just did 15 shows in Europe last month and it felt like old times.

Aside from the upcoming album, what else do you think we might expect to see in the future for Obituary? (Perhaps a DVD performance?) 

Right now the new album is the focus. We are booking shows for next year and hope to do a couple of DVD's. We have a lot planned but are going to do them one by one.

Is there any interview question you've always wanted to answer, but no one ever asked? 

Question: Would you like that million dollars in cash or check? Answer: Either way! Ha Ha. Thanks for the interview and thanks for the support.

Finally, if you could give some advice to aspiring musicians/bands, what would it be? 

Make sure before you sign anything for anybody that you get advice from a trusted person. Always have a good time with your music!

I would like to thank John Tardy and all the members of Obituary for making this interview possible. Keep your eyes open for the new album, and visit the band's official website at www.obituary.cc.