Death metal band Ingested opened for Lorna Shore at The Academy in Dublin on the 14.06.2023 and before the show Abigael Paquet got to sit down and have a chat with lead singer Jason Evans.
Words and photos Abigael Paquet:
Abby: Would you be able to give us a quick introduction for those who don’t know you and/or your band ?
Jason: Yeah sure, so, my name is Jason aka The Slam King and I am the vocalist for the death metal band Ingested. We’re from Manchester, and we play some of the heaviest music that has ever come out of the UK [laughs]
Abby: So I’ve heard [laughs] And how would you actually convince someone to listen to your music?
Jason: I’d tell them to come and see us at a show. Because if us playing live doesn’t convince you how sick we are at playing death metal, then nothing will.
Abby: And what can they actually expect from your shows then ?
Jason: Just out and out brutality. Like, the heaviest and fastest death metal. It’s murder music. That’s what it is, basically. That’s why it’s called death metal, it’s music to accompany the end of the world. That’s what I would say.
Abby: Okay, so if you want to die …
Jason: Yeah, if you want to die, come to our shows. Simple.
[laughs]
Abby: Fair enough ! And what song do you actually like to play live the most and why ?
Jason: I like playing The List, which is the song that we’re opening with. Okay. Just because it’s bouncy, it’s got groove to it. As well as being super brutal and super heavy. I also like playing Impending Dominance for the same reason. The Death Mile, that’s got a bit of swag to it. I like playing those songs. I don’t know, there’s just a bit of attitude to it, you know what I mean ?
Abby: Very good. Do you have one that you don’t really like playing, actually ?
Jason: Yeah, there’s loads of them that I don’t like now
[laughs]
Jason: No, I’m joking. There’s a couple that are physically demanding to play, like for me anyway, as a vocalist. I mean, we’ve been a band now for 17 years or so, so it’s some of the songs that we wrote when we were a lot younger. When you’re like 18, 19, 20, it’s like you’re invincible, aren’t you ? Like, nothing phases you, you can just go blast through all these songs. Some of them are crazy because I’m 36 now and I can still do it, but it’s not like I’m made out of steel like I used to be. Some of the older stuff can be a bit physically demanding. But for me, as long as the crowd’s going mental, I’m going to have a good time. Regardless of how difficult the song is … it doesn’t matter to me. As long as the crowd’s going nuts and I can see them all having a good time, then I feed off that and I’m going to have a good time.
Abby: Does your throat get really sore ?
Jason: It does now, you can hear it in my voice, it’s a little bit fatigued. But we’ve been on tour for 13 weeks straight now, so … I can do, like, seven weeks and be fine, but … I’ve basically done a seven week European and UK tour that went straight into a five week US tour. And then we came back and did Download Festival, and now we’ve got these three shows with Lorna Shore, so it’s just starting to catch up with me a little bit.
Abby: So what do you usually do to take care of it, just rest it and don’t talk ?
Jason: Yeah, just rest it. Drink. I have the throat coat of herbal tea, which is pretty good. I’ve got a vocal mist and a nebulizer as well. I have a lot of honey in there [his tea] obviously. Stay hydrated. I mean, other than that, I do warm up exercises before we go on stage but, yeah … it’s just like wear and tear from this super long tour.
Abby: Yeah, that’s what I was going to say, you’re nearly done with the tour though, aren’t you ?
Jason: I’ve got today’s show and we’ve got a show tomorrow in Southampton. And then that’s it for six weeks, finally ! I can go home for a bit. I’m just excited to get home. I love being on tour, this is my job, this is my career, and it’s like everything I’ve worked on most of my life to achieve. But, yeah, when you’re away from home for three months straight, it’s like: “I want to go home for a bit.”
Abby: That makes sense … You finally get to sleep in your own bed ! Now, what would your favorite song from the latest album be ?
Jason: Actually, Echoes of Hate is definitely up there. Just because the breakdown at the end of that is insane. It’s just ridiculous. You keep thinking that it’s over and then it’s not over and it just gets more and more brutal until the end of the song. So, I love that. I like the title track: Ashes Lies Still just because it was a bit more different from anything that we’ve ever done before because we had Julia singing on it. So that was cool. From Hollow Words is cool because we got Sven on it. And again, it’s fast, it’s heavy, it’s brutal, but it’s at a different pace than what we would usually do, so I find that interesting as well, just because it’s a little bit different. I like all the songs !
Abby: Of course you do …
[laughs]
Abby: Well, actually, what would your least favourite song be ?
Jason: It’s a good question. It’s a really good question … My least favourite song is probably Invidious, out of our more popular songs. I think it’s just because we’ve been playing it live for so long that I’m insanely bored of it. But it’s great that people like it. I love that people like it. But for me, personally, I’m really bored of playing that song. And it came out in 2018, so we’ve been playing it live since then.
Abby: What’s been the craziest show so far ?
Jason: The most shocking place I’ve played that was really good – which I thought was going to be shit – was Boise, Idaho, on this last tour, just because I’ve heard horror stories about other bands that have played that venue. And then it was fucking pretty much sold out. It might have been sold out, I can’t remember … But it was rammed and the crowd was mental. And it ended up being one of the best shows on the tour.
Abby: Adding to that, what was the best moment on tour, either in Europe or the US ?
Jason: Well, the best show for me of the Lorna Shore tour in America was a sold out Worcester Palladium, which is like, I don’t know, about two and a half thousand people ? It was mad because that’s the venue that Killswitch Engage recorded their live DVD years and years ago. And I used to watch that DVD all the time. And then we got to play there and it was sold out, it was insane. Yeah, it was Bucket List, but my favorite show of all time that we’ve ever played was the Manchester show on the Cannibal Corpse tour that we just did. That was mental because that was sold out. And that was like 2600 people in our hometown and everyone was like chanting and shit. And the crowd was just went mental, I was tearing up because I was just like: “fuck, this is our hometown and everybody turned up and went mental for us !” That was a really good feeling.
Abby: Well, tonight’s going to be your new favorite show !
[laughs]
Jason: Yeah.
Abby: What were you looking forward to the most, actually, about playing here – if anything at all ?
Jason: Just the crowd. Because we’ve played Dublin a couple of times before. I think we’ve played like three or four times. Not in this venue though, we used to play … Is it the Voodoo ?Anyway, the crowds are always wild. They always just go mad. So for me, coming back to Dublin and then playing a sold out show in The Academy, I’m just excited to see the crowd’s reaction because as a performer that’s like what I feed off. So, if you have a dead crowd … I mean, I’m there and I’m performing, but inside there’s just nothing going on. But when it’s a good crowd and I can feel their energy; and there’s crowd surfing and fucking mosh pits, and everyone’s going nuts, that’s the shit that I need.
Abby: Yeah, that makes sense ! So, what was your worst moment on stage ?
Jason: So … [laughs] On the Cannibal Corpse tour – when we were in Gothenburg – we were playing a song called No Half Measures. And I was like: “I’m gonna do this fucking growl, like real low.” And I, like, squatted down, went [screaming] and then I shat myself and went: “Oh, no !”
Abby: Oh, my god ! [laughs] Did you keep going ?!
[laughs]
Jason: Yeah, this is the worst bit: it was like right at the beginning of the second song in our set. And I was just like: “okay, so I can’t check to see how bad it is. Because if I check, then people will know that I’ve shit myself. But I also can’t turn around. I can’t turn my back in case it’s bad.” So, I basically did the whole show, went: “Thank you, Gothenburg !” And then I’m reaching around for my drink, not turning around. Nobody knew, though. And that kind of gave me a secret feeling of super power. I was just like: “I shit myself in front of 500 people and none of you even know ! Haha !” So, we finished the set and I ran offstage and into the back room because luckily there was laundry backstage. And I’m, like running into the fucking bathroom and the fucking Arrowmen from Dark Funerals is there in all his gear, like all his spikes and leather and armor and garlic’s face paint on. And I’m like: “get out the way. ! Get out of the way !” as I’m running to the bathroom. And he’s like : “Just let us use the bathroom before we go on stage.” But then I said: “I just shit myself. Can I just check my pants ? I don’t want to stand here in shit while you’re fixing your fucking makeup, man. Like, help me out.” And he was like: “oh, shit. Sorry for that, go !” But luckily it was only a little bit shit. But still it happened.
Abby: That would be a shitty moment.
Jason: It was a very shitty moment.
Abby: I think I would cry if it happened to me. That’s a really good one. Well, it mustn’t have been funny when it happened.
Jason: I was laughing quite a lot, to be fair. Because I was just like: “this is ridiculous ! This is fucking stupid !” And then I was like: “Do I tell Sean and Lyn ?” And I thought: “no, I’m not telling them, man. Because if you do, they’ll start laughing and I’ll crack up.”
Abby: So, now you’re telling everyone ?
[laughs]
Jason: Yeah. Well, it was like months ago or something, it’s old news.
Abby: Fair enough ! And are there questions actually you wish journalists would ask you, but never do ?
Jason: Not really. The only thing for me is that the industry and the media need to get behind homegrown bands a lot more. Because apart from like two or three, they don’t give a shit. They don’t push any of our own. And there’s so much talent, so many bands … Get behind your own and let’s try to support the scene. But that’s the only thing. It just pisses me off a little bit because it’s like yeah, it’s bullshit, if I’m being honest.
Abby: Agreed ! Now, what’s the most useless talent you have ?
Jason: I can do a wave with my tongue !
Abby: And what’s your favorite insult ever ?
Jason: British insults are another level of insults. Wazzock is a good one. I like wazzock a lot. I like pillocks as well. Twat. Twat is excellent. Yeah, I do like “you twatting wazzock” can put them together, can’t you ? Twatting wazzock, that’s my choice.
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