Enabler

"The world is fucked and this is the soundtrack to it's demise", claim chaotic Milwaukee riff purveyors Enabler. Having just released latest EP 'Shift of Redemption', the follow-up to acclaimed 2012 album 'All Hail the Void', we sit down with Enabler frontman Jeffrey Lohrber ahead of the band's maiden Australian tour.

So, to begin with, tell us a bit about yourself?

I'm Jeff Lohrber, I play guitar and sing for Enabler in addition to being the main songwriter. I also work at a record store and play drums from time to time.

And, for those who haven't heard Enabler, how would you characterise your sound?

This is always such a hard question, but I'll relate it to brand new song I wrote. I recently posted on my personal Facebook page that I wrote this new song that sounds like Exodus meets Shai Hulud covering Judas Priest's "Painkiller" in Neurosis tuning, and the general idea of this is what the band is. Being original this day in age is kind of an impossible thing to do, so all there is left is to make your best interpretation of all the shit you love, whether it's old Sepultura, From Ashes Rise, Def Leppard, Jane's Addiction, Foo Fighters, Kiss, Neurosis, it really doesn't matter. This band is loud, fast, heavy, aggressive, but it also has a heart and the anger and desperation displayed in the lyrics are there for a reason. We are music lovers of all genres playing the music that we are best at.

You've just put out your most recent EP, 'Shift of Redemption' very caustic and aggressive as always, what's the response been like?

It has been great! The only negative thing that I've seen anyone say about the EP is that it's too short. I suppose that's a good thing, leaving people wanting more. I've been really happy with the work that Think Fast Records and Earsplit PR have put into this as well. It's just been good vibes all around.

Good to hear. One of the things I found most interesting about the EP was the last track Fall Selflessly, which had elements of kind of sludge, post-metal kind of vibes going on, was that a deliberate sort of thing or did it just come through organically in the writing process?

Nothing that I've ever written has been deliberate. I've written songs that totally suck, and my solution is to not release them, but when I was writing those songs, it's not like I was trying to write a shitty song. The songs I write are just what comes out of me, and I do my best to pick the absolute best songs for our releases. Maybe one day there will be a record of all of the rejected songs! [laughs]

In February and March Enabler were in Europe for the first time, what was that tour like and what sort of response did you guys get from European crowds?

The tour was great. When we got asked to tour with Rotten Sound in Europe, we immediately said yes, and then we found out that our former tour mates and some of our best friends Martyrdod were direct support, and we were so insanely happy. We knew that this tour was going to be awesome going into it, and I'll say this, I've had the opportunity to tour with Rotten Sound and Napalm Death (while I was drumming in Trap Them) and both bands are so good that it's completely ruined all other grind for me. As far as our reaction, I was definitely surprised. There were people at every show who knew every word to every song we played, which is something that doesn't happen for us in the States very often, although I have been noticing it more and more as time goes on. We sold about twice as much merch as we thought we would, we had a great time, we made great friends, what more can you ask for?

That's great. Since coming back you guys have been pretty busy recently too, you guys have been obviously touring very hard and recording some stuff as well I think?

We've done some regional shows in the states supporting Rotten Sound (again!), Weekend Nachos, and Early Graves in addition to some headlining shows with Dead in the Dirt and others. It's been super fun. We also just demoed out some material for our next full length record which will probably come out next year sometime. I'm excited about some of these new songs that we have on the burner cooking right now, they're gonna blow people's minds.

You're about to head down in a bit over a month, it's your first time down here as a band, what are you most stoked about?

I just feel very fortunate to be able to travel the world doing something that I love more than anything else, and really the only thing I've ever been good at! Music is my lifeforce and this is just a great opportunity. There is nothing that I'm most stoked about because I'm just stoked for all of it! I'm stoked to fly for a day to Melbourne and drive for 17 hours to Byron Bay for the first show and just see the country, I'm stoked to make loud noises with my best friends. It's going to be a great time.

Have you checked out any of the bands you guys are playing with? Any Australian bands you really enjoy?

I haven't actually had time to check out anyone besides the band we're touring with, Urns. We hung out with the guys in Thy Art is Murder in Frankfurt , Germany a few months back, they were all really cool. I love the band Anchors, and of course, one of the reasons I started playing guitar in the first place, AC fucking DC!

Enabler's latest EP 'Shift of Redemption' is available now through Think Fast! Records. The band are embarking on their debut Australian tour this July, all tour details are available here.