You want gloom? You want misery? You want Lazarus Blackstar. Last year, the Gods Of Gloom returned with their mammoth album Funeral Voyeur, so Planet Loud had a chat to Paul from the band about Gerard Way, nearly dying and how the music industry is just full of cunts.

Planet Loud – Hey Paul, thanks for your time, how are things today?
Lazarus Blackstar – OK mate, it’s a typical Monday. Work, get home, make music. Eat, make music, sleep, wake up and repeat the process, that’s about my life off the road. And one I like considerably. Oh and I got diagnosed with arthritis in my wrists today, which isn’t very nice.

Planet Loud – So, what’s going on with Lazarus Blackstar at the moment?
Lazarus Blackstar – We’ve become friends again, which is a frightening thought. Been gigging a bit, and becoming heavier live than ever, it’s a beautiful creature to be around right now. Don’t expect to see us on marathon month long tours mind you, we’re too fucking old for all that caper, we’ll play when required. Those days are LONG gone! We have a bunch more gigs to do and for once I think we’re actually looking forward to it. The new bloke Izac Gloom has brought a new dimension in power and death so its all good, and thankfully the guy he replaced, Rich has got his own band together and we‘re all still friends so that’s good news too. Writing for a couple of DIY EPs/splits…its all good.

Planet Loud – You’ve just put out your new album, Funeral Voyeur, through Undergroove Records, care to plug it a bit?
Lazarus Blackstar – Yes, its 40 minutes of misery, guaranteed to spoil your day. And everyone around you. And guess what? We don’t care either. It seems to be being well received as well, compared to the 50/50 reaction of the first album. It should be as well really, it’s a great record..one we are exceptionally proud of. It’s the perfect alternative to the bullshit metal scene, one we really don’t want a part of. There’s no neatly cut fringes in this band, no tight jeans, zero singing…. just a soundtrack to your own demise. We’re also wise enough to know that good reviews mean shit in this day and age. We don’t look or sound right for any interviews in these mags and that suits us fine. We’d be just as happy getting slagged off, that was our favourite bit of the last album promotion! We were happy with the Undergroove situation with Revelations, so both parties were good to do it all again. I like being on that label. It’s safe and run by people who understand what’s going on. I can’t see us taking instructions of some 25-year-old twat, like some bands have to. I think we’d be slapping someone around if that was the case.

Planet Loud – It’s an absolutely immense piece of work. What did you want to achieve with it?
Lazarus Blackstar – Glad you like it. I think we just wanted to push the limits a bit more. It sounds like a whole band now, rather than a band and a new vocalist. We’ve got to know what we can and can’t do well. If we were thinking about achieving anything, it was probably just to make a better record than Revelations and I think we achieved that. The guys worked like fuck getting the music together and then I had to work like fuck to get the lyrics and stuff together. It’s just a natural progression, who knows what the next record will sound like!

Planet Loud – Your lyrics on this album are even more disturbing than previous albums, what inspired you this time?
Lazarus Blackstar – Just different chapters in life. I don’t find them disturbing at all, just honest. I have a pretty dark sense of humour and that is reflected in them I suppose. Obviously the hospital drama last year brought some lyrical ideas to the table, but the rest of the stuff didn’t need too much thinking about. I am scared of clowns, I have the urge to stalk people (though let it be said I don’t!). I’m Not Paranoid speaks for itself, it was the shit I was reading when the first demos went out on Myspace, bullshit internet forums discussing my vocals. When you see people you know slagging you off its uncomfortable. Fuck ‘em anyhow. Read my CV, then go back to the rehearsal room.

Planet Loud – Does it take a lot out of you mentally and physically writing and singing your lyrics?
Lazarus Blackstar – Yes, but only coos I’m an old cunt these days ha. It really isn’t difficult, I’ve written miserable stuff for years, its second nature these days. The guys give me a CD with the songs on and I write some words. The music alone is a pretty grim affair, there’s nothing vaguely pleasant about it, so it ends up being depressing. I love singing LBS lyrics, let it flow, its cathartic and its great fun. And it’s the heaviest shit I’ve ever been involved in. It’s a privilege to sing with this band, if it was a physical/challenge to do it, then it would still be worth it.

Planet Loud – For those people that read your lyrics, they’d be right in thinking you were a pretty dark person. How would you describe your real personality?
Lazarus Blackstar – The complete opposite! I really have no idea where these words come from. Years ago I WAS an angry young man and that reflected in what I wrote about. Now I m a pretty chilled out middle age man, so I think a lot of my lyrics are a reflection on past episodes. I like the dark side of things anyhow, cults, porn… anything slightly taboo and I like to write about it, maybe putting myself in that particular situation. I think people who meet me are slightly disappointed when they find that I’m just a regular, nice geeky type of guy. I’d rather be known as a nice guy than a fucking rockstar any day.

Planet Loud – How many of the lyrics are written from personal experiences?
Lazarus Blackstar – A few of them, as I said earlier, near death, phobias. Obviously Revelations III and Make Believe Master are not, as I haven’t actually been around at Armageddon nor have I been head of a cult. That’s when I let my imagination run wild lyrically. These are the best lyrics I’ve done since the 2nd Medulla album for sure, dying for a couple of minutes certainly renewed my interest in wordplay. Bizarrely, a few months before we had recorded a track called The Anaesthetic Stopped Me Screaming about dying in surgery..it’s a pretty frightening coincidence.

Planet Loud – Dark, self-destructive lyrics have always been something you’ve written even as far back as your days in Medulla Nocte, what do you get out of writing them?
Lazarus Blackstar – I used to use it to get things off my chest, but now I don’t put to much detail if I can help it. On the sleeve there are only sections of lyrics because some of them are too personal, if you can decipher them, fine. I just didn’t want them there in written form. That’s where the honesty comes in. If the music requires an emotion, in LBS case it’s usually misery, then the words should follow suit. I can’t sing something I don’t feel so that’s when I search the soul a bit. It’s a shame more vocalists don’t take note of that.

Planet Loud – Do people actually write to you and tell you that they can relate to them?
Lazarus Blackstar – Not in Blackstar, back in the Medulla days they did…frightening times my friend. That’s why I stopped writing really personal stuff for such a long time, to avoid lunatics!

Planet Loud – Gerard Way whined about being the saviour of the broken, the beaten and the damned, surely that is a title that should be rightfully yours?
Lazarus Blackstar – Well, I don’t know who Gerard Way is for a start! Is he in Eastenders or something? Maybe I’m the saviour of geeky astronomers who enjoy electronic noise and moustaches.

Planet Loud – I was talking to my girlfriend earlier today about the pressures of growing up in 2007. Do you think with the way people are portrayed in the media, there is an even bigger pressure to conform / fit in / look a certain way?
Lazarus Blackstar – I think in kids there is, the whole teenage dieting thing is ridiculous, but then so are obese 12 year olds. Society is general is a fucking disaster. Parents are useless half the time. Schools have gone to the dogs, no wonder kids follow whatever they see, and these days it’s usually something bad…they have no identity any more. Fit in or get kicked in is the rule these days, heartbreaking really. Where it stops is anybody’s guess, but when you have 10 year old kids with guns…you know you have problems. And what are the role models the media present? Pete Doherty and Amy Winehouse, we have no hope!! The problem is if they died they’d be bigger heroes..like Cobain. Washed up smackheads or saviours of a generation? You decide..I know my answer.

Planet Loud – What was your childhood like?
Lazarus Blackstar – It was long time ago. It was ok, maybe if you has asked me 7 or 8 years ago I would have given you a different answer but it was ok. Normal, stable family…school was a bit rubbish..got in trouble a lot, but nothing bad…just mischief really. From about 12 I wanted to be in a punk band, and I never let that dream go.Sorry it’s not full of tales of woe, it had its moments but certainly nothing unique.

Planet Loud – Okay, moving away from Lazarus Blackstar for a bit. 2007 has been a bit of a strange year for you. Firstly Murder One split up, could you tell us what happened there?
Lazarus Blackstar – It came to an end a long time ago. In my mind we shouldn’t have carried on after we lost Morrow to be honest. We just got carried into it really, just trying to do the right thing by everybody else. The last couple of years were a joke, we’d get a break and then watch it get fucked up. Too many line-up changes, too few new songs. We never bettered Onscreen Rapist and that was written back when it was just me, Jam and Mark so it shows we never really progressed. I wanted out a long time ago, but we’re mates and I didn’t want to fuck things up for them so I stayed. We done some good stuff, but it had become mediocre. We split and then got offered the Gwar tour so we just said ‘fuck it’ and went on one last tour. Played to a bunch of people in some nice venues with a great band..it was good way to end it.

Planet Loud – Following the split of Medulla, how hard was it for you to see another of your bands call it a day?
Lazarus Blackstar – With both of them it was easy to be honest mate. The demise of both bands left me with a huge feeling of relief. Like having a pet put down, it’s sad, but you know it’s the best thing for it. At least in Murder One it was fairly amicable. The Medulla split was downright nasty, but that’s drugs for you. Shit happens, you just get on with it. If you are serious about music you just pick up and start again. I‘ve been around a long time, it’s quite easy to form a band of good musicians, or just join a band of good musicians. You don’t need to tolerate shit. Good riddance to both bands, why live in the past? One thing I will say about Medulla though, is that we were phenomenal live, I haven’t seen any band to this day who would have touched us on our day. I miss that intensity, but the rest of it I m glad to see the back of.

Planet Loud – Was there any point when you felt like giving up music for good?
Lazarus Blackstar – I‘ve been trying to retire for years!! But I’m stuck with it like a curse! I’d never give up music for good, no matter what happened. I stopped giving a fuck about the music business a few years ago and I’ve never been happier. I would NEVER do it for a job because the whole business is full of cunts half my age. The only time I thought “is it really worth all this?” was when Johnny died, but I’d have come back to it for sure. I love my music life, I have way too much to do but I do what I like, when I like. Too many bands wait for people to lay them a fucking Golden Egg and then get demoralised when it doesn’t happen so they just give up. Do it for the right reasons for fucks sake!! Work hard, then you get your rewards! I did and I achieved all I’d set out to do and it was great. It only went wrong when the bands I was in left it to others to take care of, and then it got spoiled. I haven’t earned a penny in this game, but I’ve earned respect and that’s 10 times more important and pleasing. Touring for weeks on end can fuck itself these days though, I have no desire to do it like I used to and I have no desire to be working towards rockstar-dom. I’ll still be here in years to come when these lame fucking metal bands have gone away, on the strength of my musical output, not because of my haircut or tattoos.

Planet Loud – How hard is it being in a British band these days?
Lazarus Blackstar – Nothing in comparison to how it was a few years ago, when rock music wasn’t fashionable. Then you had to work, tour hard and do the job properly. Now kids have the joys of Myspace and such to get their music out, but that’s evolution for you I guess. I think if you want to succeed here its hard, because the whole metal scene is clogged up with shit, and the decent creative, extreme bands don’t get a look in. That’s when they try and look like scene kids, so people take notice. You suck, but you look nice so here’s a gig..it’s ridiculous. And sums up my dislike for this whole metal scene. Scene kids need a fucking good slapping if you ask me, what the fuck is a ‘scene’ kid anyway? And why are they always skinny twats with dodgy barnets and tight trousers?It’s hard being in a band in this age because you have to watch your back, people sniping in their internet forums. People you play gigs with, stabbing friends in the back. Artists should respect other artists work, you don’t have to like it, but respect it. I hope it gets too hard for bands and a whole bunch split up, or die, I don’t really care which. I guess it’s a struggle because the media pay more attention to the Americans, than their own country’s musicians, but in today’s environment it’s no wonder because they’re usually better!! You could probably fit all the decent UK bands onto 3 or 4 pages, they have to fill the rest of the space somehow!

Planet Loud – You were obviously in Murder One with Jammer who has been a long time friend of yours. Are you still in contact with him?
Lazarus Blackstar – Yes, he’s one of my best friends despite our fall outs over the years. He’s got a new click together, Anger Management with one of the Four Way Kill guys and some others, so he’ll be out and about. We speak every few days or so, we’ll work together again for sure.

Planet Loud – Okay, moving on from Murder One, it was reported in the press earlier in the year that you nearly died. What was the story there?
Lazarus Blackstar – This time last year (Dec 06) I had appendicitis so got taken into hospital to have it removed. It wasn’t an emergency but it was uncomfortable. I went down for an operation on the Sunday morning, had the anaesthetic and woke up again…2 days later on a life support machine. Grim as fuck. Had a huge allergic reaction to the anaesthetic, and my body went into anaphylactic shock…ending with a cardiac arrest. After getting my heart going again they dropped me into a drug coma while they flushed the stuff out of the system, and tried another type of drug so as they could still remove the offending organ. I wasn’t awake obviously but my parents told me my body was twice the size, it wasn’t nice. It took days of morphine hallucinations and then sleeping tablets to get me back on track, it was a bad, bad time. But it could’ve been worse eh?

Planet Loud – How much does an experience like that change your life?
Lazarus Blackstar – A lot! I don’t worry about stuff or stress out about anything any more, it really isn’t worth it. Aside from that , I have to carry a card, wear a MedicAlert thing at all times to ensure if I’m found unconscious I don’t get administered with that particular type of drug, which incidentally is the most popular used one, so I’m always at risk. It brought me and my family a lot closer together, which was the main positive out of this. And I got some great lyrics out of the experience too!

Planet Loud – With all that has gone on in 2007, will you be glad to see the back of the 2007?
Lazarus Blackstar – Not at all, and musically its been a great year also, Blackstar are doing good, Barrabus played some great shows with Sikth, got the Stuntcock one man show out and about, got The Sontaran Experiment out….its been a good year really. I passed my OU course in music theory and Classical music study which was great. I saw some magical things in my telescope this year, more so than any previous year, which I may never see again in my lifetime, that’s what keeps me alive spiritually, knowledge and learning. The skies have been fascinating in 2007, who knows what wonders they hold for us next year. You see, things like the near death thing make you appreciate your time more so I have enjoyed every second of this year really, even the odd bad time because at the end of the day I could be dead, having a bad day is a far better option.

Planet Loud – What are your plans for 2008?
Lazarus Blackstar – Not dying in surgery for a start. More gigs no doubt, with more bands. Record another Blackstar album and a couple of EPs. Get my other bands moving, record some Barrabus, some more Sontaran Experiment, play more Stuntcock noise shows. I’m acting in a film, so that should be exciting. Its going to be a busy year, throw in my day job and another Open University course and that’s a year in my life. I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Planet Loud – Okay Paul, cheers for your time, is there anything else you want to say?
Lazarus Blackstar – Thanks for the time, buy the Blackstar album, it will make Xmas even more depressing than it feels already!

Interview by Graham Finney