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Arts & Music

Gimme Five! Murat Dirlik of Caltrop

photo by markus shaffer

Four years ago, Carrboro’s reigning blues-bent metal titans, Caltrop, released their debut record. This April, they unleash their follow-up, ten million years and eight minutes.

Before they can shock your eardrums with their peculiar and awesome blend of influences, we asked one of their own to face our five question assault.  See the results after the jump.

1. If your band were a weapon, what sort would it be?
I guess if the band was a weapon, i would like it to be the lethal hands of a martial artist. The skill and patience and effort required to convert one’s hands into a destructive force mirrors well the hours of “training” we have spent honing our individual and collective skills into an honorable, respectful but potentially lethal sonic force. There is also a certain innate respect and meditative diligence involved in this power, not to mention an honesty, that simply carrying a gun or dropping a bomb on a village thoroughly lacks… Or maybe we could just be a knife, because that’s a damn useful tool that you can use to make many other weapons, or just slice up some cheese and fruit to eat.

2. What can listeners expect to hear on the new record?
The new record is a further evolution of the music we have been striving to make since our origin. There are heavy moments, contemplative ones, angry ones, somber ones, mellifluous ones, etc. We spent a lot more time in the studio with this record so we were much more able to reflect on what we were working towards musically and adjust things accordingly. Everything feels a little more confident and comfortable to me, and I think we’re all pretty happy with the way it turned out, all told.

3. Describe your typical band practice.
We practice for 3 hours twice a week, generally. We drink beer, talk business, and mostly work on writing music. We are very patient and egalitarian in our approach so we spend a lot of time experimenting with different options and ideas before settling on anything, which can be frustrating at times, but reflects itself well in our music. The addition of a giant dry erase board to our practice space has greatly enhanced our ability to keep track of the many parts we usually have in the mix. Usually we leave practice happy….

photo by Jacob Lunow

4. Who/what might be a few inspirations or influences that would really surprise people?
We all come from very different places in our musical tastes (with plenty of overlap, of course), so I would not presume to answer this question for my hearties. Personally, I am not trying to emulate anyone musically or vocally, but rather trying to express the sensations of the world as they are colored by the filters of my mind and heart (does that sound totally presumptuous?). Imitation is far less interesting to me. This is not to say that influences do not exist, but rather that I prefer them to be subconscious.

5. What did you dream of being when you were a kid? (How ’d that turn out?)
I think I really just dreamed of being a kid forever, mostly. I was into just walking around the woods exploring and building forts and stuff. I was pretty upset when I hit puberty. I guess that has turned out pretty well for me, in spite of that whole puberty thing….I still build forts, but most people call them houses. I still wander the woods plenty. In spite of all the dirt I have been through and the somewhat adult things that I find myself occasionally forced into, I have retained this most important part of myself.

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Storm over to the Cat’s Cradle this Saturday, March 24th to help Caltrop celebrate the release of their new record along with their friend Pipe, Black Skies and Dave Heuman. And, by all means, give Murat a high five when you see him!