I remember the very first time I popped in Tourniquet’s debut release, Stop the Bleeding, back in 1990. What a rush; never had I heard a band of such magnitude and such potential as this. Throughout the 90’s, Tourniquet served as a means of escape for those of us who couldn’t stomach the alternative grunge movement that had sent mainstream metal screaming into the underground. Although not as well known to some, we who were aware of them knew exactly what a treasure we had. Perhaps what has always given Tourniquet their edge is their ability to push the limits of not just metal, but music in general, or perhaps it’s because they’re not just exceptionally good musicians but businessmen as well. Maybe it’s due to them putting their faith in something more than the trivial elements of everyday life but, whatever the reason, they have a staying power the likes of which cannot be matched by anyone within their genre. With the release of their seventh full length album, Where Moth and Rust Destroy, they prove once again that Tourniquet is a band who gives their all when it comes to making music. Since I was a punk heavy metal kid I’ve looked forward to the opportunity to speak with founding member Ted Kirkpatrick about everything that is Tourniquet. Since the band does not play live very often, I really had no new photos to accompany this interview except for what is available from the band’s website. So, as a special treat, I’ve included some vintage never-before-seen photos taken back in the day by our current Staff Photographer and Managing Editor. As it turns out, this was a show I attended some years ago. It features some of the former members of the band as well as Luke with hair and Ted looking, well - like Ted I guess. Hope you enjoy.

OT: Every time I hear a Tourniquet album my jaw drops to the floor, I’m so impressed with just the intricacy that’s involved in putting together the albums. It’s like watching a movie or reading a book, you discover something new every time. I really believe Tourniquet’s music definitely gives new meaning to the term neo-classical in metal. There’s a lot that goes into putting together an album. My first question to you is, what are the major differences that separate this CD from all of its predecessors?

Ted: I guess people know right away that it’s Tourniquet, they’ve been telling us that, but what separates it is, well I think for me personally, it has my favorite guitar sound of any of our albums and I think it’s got the biggest drum sound as well, and from what people are saying they think it’s Luke’s best album on vocals. Definitely another thing that separates it is it has, without a doubt, the best guitar solos of any Tourniquet album thanks to Marty Friedman (ex-Megadeth) and Bruce Franklin (Trouble). So these are mostly things that other people have told us, I don’t like to sit here and try to compliment our own band. If people like it they’ll let ‘ya know, fortunately the response to this, so far, has been really terrific.

OT: Yeah I was really surprised to see that Marty and Bruce had played on the album as well, it definitely adds to the attraction of this CD. It usually surprises people to find out that you’re the guy who’s written and played the majority of Tourniquet’s music over the years and you actually have a very different way of writing than most artists who were maybe only influenced by their favorite rock bands growing up. You’re influenced by classical music for one, as well as your understanding of medical terms and uses, and also you’re a butterfly collector. This is generally something that’s not your average run-of-the-mill rock band type of approach to the music. So let’s begin with, how did you bridge the gap between classical music and heavy metal music?

Ted: Yeah, well the term ‘heavy’, I’ve found, is such a relative term. To me some of the heaviest music ever written is in the classical category. You listen to Bach’s organ music from 200 years ago or you listen to some of Beethoven’s symphonies and you just hear things that, to me, sound very heavy. I think sometimes people have a very stereo-typical answer of what they think is heavy. They think because somebody stands there with a distorted guitar and yells into a microphone, that makes it sound heavy. Frankly, I listen to a lot of music that is “heavy” and it doesn’t really sound heavy to me at all. So I guess that for me, “heavy” is a very relative term. I really enjoy trying to incorporate the classical things into the music, and maybe not just the standard, as you said, neo-classical way of doing it. I find that, although I love a lot of the neo-classical things, sometimes a lot of it doesn’t sound very extreme or intense or heavy. So I think I’ve hopefully found a way to have the music sound aggressive while still incorporating classical sounds into it.

OT: Right, right. Now, when incorporating that type of music into the songs, it can be safe to say that when most metal fans hear classical music, it provokes more complaining than anything. Tourniquet however, has, in all reality, found a way to introduce music that most fans may not really appreciate or have an understanding of. Has this been a goal of yours to maybe help people broaden their musical understanding?

Ted: I think it has. Obviously there are things that are more important in life than introducing someone to classical music, but people seem to like this word “extreme” and to me the most extreme music is found in classical music; the most extreme complicated music, the most extreme, weird harmonies, the most extreme, brilliant unbelievable writing. And people ask so many questions about classical that there’s even a section on our website that is called Ted’s Classical Music Recommendations. People say, “I love how you incorporate that into your music, what do you suggest I listen to other than some simple thing I’ve heard in a TV commercial twenty times?” So that’s on our site as well, people can check that out.

OT: That’s cool. Another thing that I’ve heard is that you tend to go to some very exotic locations on your butterfly expeditions and find inspiration from the many sounds of nature around you and this has influenced the music of Tourniquet as well.

Ted: That’s true, yeah, I’ve been all over the world, all over the Amazon and Ecuador and Papua New Guinea and Malaysia, a lot of countries like that; equatorial countries where it’s extremely hot. I’ve been in villages where they’ve never seen a white person before and I hear a lot of things, not only in nature, but in the villages, you hear them playing these weird instruments and so on, but definitely the repetitive sounds of the jungle, of insects and monkeys and things like that have really... I hear them and somehow it relates to music for me, I’m not quite sure how, but it somehow ends up influencing me, especially for drums because I think a lot of nature has a rhythmic sound to it; the beats going on from insects and birds and mammals and so on. So, yeah, it’s very true.

OT: That’s something else people just wouldn’t expect coming from a metal band. It’s like, “Ok, he collects butterflies and how’s this work to his advantage playing in a metal band?” It’s very cool that you are able to put that into perspective.

Ted: I think people, too, they picture a butterfly collector as some wimpy guy running around in a pith helmet - I think there’s a couple Far Side cartoons that are kinda like that - but it’s goin’ through the mud and wading across stuff and climbing slippery mountainsides and all kinds of stuff, so it’s quite different than what people think.

OT: Right, not my idea of fun but you go right ahead and knock yourself out! I’ve heard it said that one of the things you do with each album is push yourself to try and come up with the most complex rhythms and beats. Do you think you’re ever going to reach your limit at some point where you just can’t go anywhere else?

Ted: No, I really don’t. You can write things that are so complicated that it appeals to 2 percent of the population; I’m really not interested in doing that. There may be a few parts that are like that, but all in all I liken music to walking into an art museum, where you might walk by a painting that’s really complex and it’s got all these colors and everything, but it doesn’t really do anything for you. And you compare that to walking by and seeing some beautiful painting that every time you go to that museum you wanta go back and you wanta see that painting. I think that’s what I try to do in music as well. What makes people really love a band where they want to listen to their music over and over again not just once and say, “Wow that was really amazing, they did twelve measures in ten/six time” or something and then go on to something else, but it really evokes an emotion in them that they want to listen to your music over and over. To answer the question, no I don’t always try to write the most complicated things, I think there are things that I hear in my head that are really out there. There may be parts that will come out in future albums but to write a whole album of extremely complex music… I like people to be able to groove and ya gotta remember a lot of classical music, too, is very simple; very simple melodies that are just done in a great way.

OT: Totally, and I definitely appreciate the groove that’s on this new album. There are some very   heavy elements, some with rather simplistic rhythms, but it’s got that catchy groove and I really dig on that.

Ted: I always liked music growing and if I would hear a part in a song I’d think, “Man, I hope they play that a whole bunch of times ‘cause I really like that part.”

OT: I agree; I’ve felt that way myself. So is there a particular song that you can share with us in how it came about, what influences lead to its creation?

Ted: Let’s see, on this album, well I think the third track is called “Drawn and Quartered” and it’s an 8 or 9 minute kind of epic song about a ruler, Nero, who was torturing Christians and then later in life realized what he had done and how he couldn’t believe that there was a God out there who still cared about him. It has an instrument in it called a dulcimer that’s kind of a Native American mountain instrument and it’s got a really neat sound to it. And that was inspired by this last summer I was up in the mountains of southern West Virginia and northern Georgia looking for this one kind of rare butterfly, it was kind of like dueling banjos, I heard somebody playing that on a porch and I thought it would sound neat on the Tourniquet album.

OT: That’s very cool. Most of Tourniquet’s lyrics are written in an allegorical or symbolic sense. There are those, however, that are very easy to understand, one of the things that you’ve always been vocal about is the abuse of animals and obviously this is something that’s still really strong in your heart. Certain people have argued that as Christians our concerns for the animals should not be outweighed by our concerns with abortion, basically - how can we say ‘save the animals’ and not the babies. Have you run across anyone that has looked down on you for trying to support this cause?

Ted: I think that’s as ridiculous a statement as why would somebody try to cure a disease that only fifty people a year get as opposed to trying to cure cancer, why do you even bother working on that? It’s kind of an ignorant statement in my opinion because there are all kinds of things in the world that are important and there’s obviously huge numbers of people and organizations that are speaking out against abortion which is terrific, I think that’s great; that’s their cause. Animal abuse for me was something that I’d never really heard anyone speak out against in metal music. You have people that are outspoken against things, people like Paul McCartney and people like that, but in the metal world to show people the real shocking stuff, some of the ways that animals are raised for food and for circuses and things like that, and then to have a video of that was something that really affected me. When I saw these videos I was very affected by them on an emotional level, and I think anyone with any sensitivity to animals can hardly watch this without feeling something. So it was not one or the other, it was something that was an important social issue that we wanted to cover.

OT: I realize the intelligence of the band and know that you study everything that you put on your records before voicing your opinion. Nevertheless, from my perspective I find a lot of people in the “church” who are very ignorant about a lot of things, not just the abuse of animals or the abortion issue either. Everybody seems to be real easy to find fault or point a finger or condemn someone for something they don’t understand or have never been informed about. Just being a fan of heavy metal and calling myself a Christian I have been ridiculed for the way I look, the way I dress, the music I listen to, how I wear my hair whether or not I’m wearing black etc.. Recently I was reading an article online about some Moroccan heavy metal fans who have been imprisoned for up to a year because they listen to heavy metal. The Moroccan government feels it’s very anti-Muslim, they say normal people would wear a shirt and tie to a concert but they wear all black and so they threw ‘em in prison, which in my book is just ridiculous. Do you find this ignorance among people in your experience?

Ted: Well yeah, once again in the last 6 or 8 years people have come to see that with Tourniquet we’re really genuine about what we do and a lot of people have met us and they see that we’re just regular people. But on the last album, Microscopic, I actually wrote a song about that, the first track on the album is called “Be Sprinkled In Scarlet Horror” and it’s just talking all about that. Part of the lyrics are how people said to Bach 200 years ago when he was employed by the church and he was writing music and he would write these minor organ fugues that were beautiful, but they were minor. And the church members would come up to him and say, “You can’t do that, you can’t put that chord with that music, it’s not glorifying to God”, and he would throw up his arms and say “I don’t understand what do you mean? Its just notes, its just notes put together in bars.” And to say that any kind of sound or any beat is inherently evil is just ridiculous and I think it’s become kind of an embarrassment for most people to even think in those terms. Because it’s notes, and its music, its 160 beats a minute or 20 beats a minute, it doesn’t really matter. It comes down to what is the lifestyle and what’s the example of the people that are portraying this music - that’s what counts.

OT: I completely agree. Not that Tourniquet’s ever been a real politically oriented band, I know you’ve definitely dealt with certain issues, but what’s your take on the current status of the country and the world with the war that’s going on, and do you think it’s going to affect your travel plans for butterfly collecting or any possible tours?

Ted: Well I think in maybe small and large ways it probably in some way affects everyone. You think about where you can go and that…, I mean, it hasn’t stopped us from traveling or whatever, I think that’s been fine. To answer your question what do I think about the war or politically where do I stand, I just in a simple phrase can say I absolutely 100 percent support our President and support the military and pray for their safety and the safety of those that, unfortunately, may be normal Iraqi citizens that go about their world like the rest of the world; they want to work for a living and feed their families and so on. I just hope that the military can do the job that needs to be done and that’s to get rid of an evil, torturous dictator that needs to be in power no more. So that’s what I would say about that.

OT: In our society we are hearing recurring stories about kids walking out of their high schools in protest of the war and a lot of ‘em may be Tourniquet fans. Is there anything that you could say that would maybe help shed some light and maybe help them understand about what’s going on?

Ted: I’ve been doing a lot of international interviews, probably thirty of ‘em and with all countries, Germany and France and Portugal and Greece, and I say the same thing. I say that the United States has a long history of going to the aid of other countries where there’s oppression and there’s torture and there’s poverty and it’s not to go to take over the world and do some kind of Hitler-esque thing where we are power hungry or anything. It’s to go and to help a people and a country that doesn’t have the ability to do that themselves, either financially or militarily or whatever, and this is no different, this is like cutting your arm with a rusty nail, you can sit there and hope that nothing’s gonna happen but chances are very good that it’s gonna get really nasty and infected. And more and more things are coming out now just of the atrocities that have gone on under this dictatorship.

OT: Anybody that’s followed the band any length of time at all knows that you guys have definitely had your share of member changes and there are definitely those that think of Tourniquet as the Ted Kirkpatrick Project, these days. In your dealings do you feel that fans have had trouble with the many member changes?

Ted: Um, I think years ago we kind of heard that quite a bit, but you gotta remember Aaron who recently departed the band was in the band for 8 years and Luke’s been in the band almost 10 years and it’s just like a job. You have all different things that happen, sometimes there might be a jealousy, or somebody doesn’t like heavy music anymore or there’s just anything that you could picture in a small company, that you might work for over the course of thirteen years, of why there’s so many employee changes and y’know, it’s no different with a band. Of course we’ve always taken the higher ground and have chosen never to come out and insult, for whatever reason, former band members and that’s just the way that we’ve done it. I just think sometimes things just don’t work out for a number of reasons. So without being critical or without saying something that’s an inside band thing, we just haven’t gotten into that at all.

OT: I know, for the most part, with all of Tourniquet‘s albums everybody would agree that they have maintained the Tourniquet sound. So I think, at least in my experience, a lot of people haven’t even noticed member changes but those that do follow the band a little closer have. I have run into a few people that have had their little problems with it, but most of them usually get over it pretty easily. With the exception of Stop the Bleeding all of Tourniquet’s albums have definitely followed a similar vocal approach because obviously, like you said, Luke’s been with the band 10 years. In the early days, and I’ve always wanted to ask this question: your original vocalist, Guy Ritter, was known for his high falsetto vocals, similar to what we hear in the vein of King Diamond/Merciful Fate. What was the reasoning for departing from that high vocal sound?

Ted: Yeah I think it was very simple, I think that there was about five percent of the fans that were extremely excited about it and very vocal about how great it was then there was a percent who were either lukewarm or said, “Well, once in awhile is fine.”, and then another big percent of people just said, “Gosh the music is great, but not real crazy about the high falsetto vocals.” That’s what it came down to. And I think in certain aspects it didn’t fit the music and there were five of us that sat down and said, “I think we want the music to sound a different way and we’ve heard loud and clear from the public.” As I said there were some people that were very vocal and said, “Oh this is great,” but there was this huge majority that said let’s not have so much of that, or none of it.

OT: One thing that fans would like is to see you in a live setting, do you expect to play out more with this album?

Ted: We would like to, yeah. Y’know, we’ve never been a band that’s toured… never. Well, I take it back, once we did maybe a five week or four week tour where we had a lot of empty weeknights and played on the weekends. Y’know it’s just that Tourniquet’s always been a band that mostly does fly-out shows or just shows here and there. I think that’s one reason we still enjoy it so much and why we’re still here. There’s a number of bands that fall by the wayside because they try to tour - and not to say this is a bad idea but it’s just a reality - they come back greatly in debt, not only from the tour but they find out none of their bills are paid at home and so on; and one album later they’re done. The fans always ask, “How come ‘so and so’ only has one or two albums out and then they’re done?” So there’s a business side to it as well, taking care of things that need to be taken care of. So we, to be honest, only do shows when it’s the right situation and there have been a lot of right situations, we’ve been to Europe probably five or six times already and we did do shows after Microscopic, actually we did quite a few shows. Right now, definitely, we would be booking some shows, but to book shows without the guitar player and then to have to cancel ‘em is much worse than not booking ‘em until you’re ready, in my opinion.

OT: Right, right. Yeah it’s interesting because a lot of bands I’ve talked to will tell you that touring is the only way they can stay in existence because the record company wants to sell albums.

Ted: Yeah, and it’d be great to do more shows, but Tourniquet is where we’re at because of the music and I think that’s as simple as I can put it. We have people tell us they’ve found something very different when they discovered Tourniquet and we’ve been so fortunate and so blessed that we do have such a following because of the music. It’s never been that we’ve played a hundred shows a year or even fifty shows a year; once again, not to say there’s anything wrong with that because playing live is terrific and we love to play live as well.

OT: Very cool. Well hopefully I’ll get a chance to see you when you guys do play. You mentioned looking for a new guitarist, how is that coming?

Ted: Well we haven’t found the right person yet, it’s very difficult to find someone that not only can play the lead parts but some of the rhythm parts are very difficult and there’s a lot of guitar players out there that are good at one or the other, but you really have to be good at both. And to add to that the fact that the guitar player did a lot of the yelling parts as well so, of course, we need someone that has similar convictions; we do things in certain ways, so it’s gotta be the right person. We’ve certainly had plenty of emails from people saying like, “Y’know, my brother knows every note of your songs and he can play perfect, he’d be perfect.” All we do is say to have him send in a video only to find out the technique is so far off and the playing is so sloppy, sometimes it’s like watching American Idol. Do you honestly hear yourself singing in pitch? Apparently they do, but as they say words don’t mean anything. Not to say there aren’t some great guitar players out there, there really are but it has to be the right person.

OT: Thank you so much Ted, it’s been a pleasure.

Ted: Terrific David, good talkin’ to ya.