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Features - Interview
 Zozobra An interview with Caleb Scofield Interview by Sean B | February 16th, 2007
You may know him as the bassist of Boston’s rock outfit Cave-In, the or even as a contributor to the epic “art-metal” project Old Man Gloom. But Caleb Scofield is back, and he’s stepping into the spotlight for the first time, taking the helm and commanding his own new project, Zozobra.
Zozobra was first conceived by Scofield over the course of 2006, during which he wrote and recorded all of the material mostly on his own. The songs were passed on to Santos Montano, a fellow Old Man Gloom member, who joined Zozobra as drummer. The result was the creation of Harmonic Tremors, the band’s first album, released on Hydra Head Records just last month. A massive and powerful collection of tracks, Harmonic Tremors brought a unique fusion of OMG’s sludge-metal and Cave-In’s rock n’ roll catchiness, offering a new sound that adhered to both of Scofield’s previous projects while creating a mood all its own.
With a successful first album well secured, Zozobra is preparing to embark on their first tour this spring, in support of ISIS and Jesu across the US. Fellow Cave-In member Adam McGrath and Clouds guitarist Jim Carroll will be joining Zozobra on this tour, temporarily completing Zozobra’s line-up for live performance. Amidst all of the action and excitement going on around his new band, Caleb Scofield takes some time to talk with us about the creation of Zozobra and his prospects for the future.
SF: What were your main motivations / inspirations behind the creation of Zozobra?
Caleb: I've had the idea of trying to do a record of my own songs for some time now, but it was hard to really dedicate time to it with Cave-In being so busy. It wasn't until after we finished touring on Perfect Pitch Black that I just kind of made myself set aside some studio time and really sit down and concentrate on making the idea become a reality.
SF: For the most part, Zozobra has been all your own doing. Given your past in group and collaborative projects, how did it feel to do an album on your own? What were the drawbacks and advantages of it?
Caleb: It felt pretty gratifying, not that it was done all on my own. I know that without the help from Santos and of course Andrew Schnieder it wouldn't have happened. Writing songs on my own can be very challenging, I don't consider my self to be very proficient at guitar or writting vocal melodies and lyrics so it can be scary not having other people there to help act as a filter or to share ideas with. But it is nice to hold an end result in your hands and feel that sense of accomplishment.
SF: It’s hard not to notice influence from your earlier projects, namely Cave In and Old Man Gloom, in Harmonic Tremors. In your mind, is Zozobra supposed to be a progression of either project or are you aiming to take this somewhere completely different?
Caleb: I agree, the influences from my other musical endeavors are pretty obvious on this record. I hope as Zozobra progresses it will become more of it's own entity and less reliant on old formulas. It's still a new band though, there's still plenty of time to evolve.
SF: As some may know, both Zozobra and OMG take their names from the giant effigy burned every year during the Fiestas de Santa Fe. Is there any special significance behind the use of this icon in your music? Does it have any influence on the music itself?
Caleb: I think it's just more about the demanding imagery. I hope that it's a complement to the music itself but I can't say that it actually has influence on the songs. Santos and Aaron (O.M.G) are from Santa Fe so there's always been these recurring themes that are born from and particular to that area.
SF: Soon you’ll be heading out on your first tour with Zozobra, supporting ISIS and Jesu. Do you have any concerns about performing the material live for the first time? Has your need for fill-in members complicated your preparations?
Caleb: Concerns? Yeah, I have concerns. I have fucking nightmares about it on a regular basis. I'm about to open for two of my favorite bands with Zozobra and we don't even really exist, at this point it's still a recording project. Adam and Jim from Clouds have agreed to help out though, and they're great. I know that they will be able settle some of my fears and bring an energy to the songs that doesn't exist on the record.
SF: What do you see in the future for Zozobra? Is this just a one-time deal or can we expect to see more?
Caleb: I definitely plan on continuing this. I would like to do some more minimal touring for this record and then try and record again as soon as possible. Also the idea of finding some other members that could be full time is something that is exciting to Santos and I. We'll see...
More info on Zozobra:
Zozobra MySpace Page
SF's Review of Harmonic Tremors
Buy Harmonic Tremors from Hydra Head Records
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