Torche are a tough band to pin down. The quartet could easily be categorized under rock, metal, pop, and anything in between. Personally, I’m just going with “awesome,” and a steadily growing fan base both in the underground and mainstream rock scenes seems to agree. The band’s growing popularity and workhorse-like touring regimen has lead to their first headlining tour, which stopped off on November 1st at the Satyricon in Portland. I sat down with guitarist Juan Montoya before the show on a seemingly dry evening to talk labels, costumes and being under the influence (in both uses of the phrase).

The rest of Torche is:
Steve Brooks: Guitars/vocals
Jon Nunez: Bass
Rick Smith: Drums

Crave: First off, congratulations on Meanderthal. It’s been getting a ton of press and personally, it’s my favorite album of the year by far.

Juan: Thanks man. Yeah, we just went in there to do it and got it done. We were a little worried because we came in with seven songs and we came out with 13. And Kurt Ballou [guitarist for Converge and owner of Godcity Studios in Salem, Mass.] produced and helped us out a little bit on the parts that we were a little rough on and it flowed. I guess it was from doing all the traveling that we’ve been doing and we tightened up as a group. We got sick of each other in the van, but it’s a gift to be able to work with people at that level.

C: Yeah. And speaking of press, you’ve obviously been compared to lots of heavy acts, but I’ve also read comparisons to everything from Pearl Jam to Foo Fighters to U2. It’s been a pretty broad range of comparisons as Meanderthal has been getting out there more. Do you feel like those wider influences are applicable to your style?

J: Yeah, I mean, we’re a fan of all types of music. It’s definitely heavy music, so people tend to put in the heavy metal group, but I think it has elements of all of our influences, but it’s spread out very subtly. We make sure that the songs are important and don’t have too much doodling around. We make sure it hits you like a punch and that’s why we write a lot of two minute songs and that’s kind of that Ramones, Guided by Voices influence. But then we also have a lot of psychedelic songs that are a little bit longer, so that’s the Pink Floyd and the Sabbath influence. And there are a lot of the British groups that we loved growing up like My Bloody Valentine and there’s a strong Sonic Youth influence so there’s a couple songs that sound like them and people totally get it, but we still have our own style. Steve’s voice is a little bit unique compared to a lot of the screaming that people use in music, so I think he’s doing well. He’s a little more confident with his singing so the songs actually cut a little nicer. And the album came out in April and we’ve been non-stop on the touring so it’s paying off. We’re all pretty proud of it.

C: Well it’s definitely something to be proud of. Now, this is your first big headlining tour. How has it been different from previous tours in terms of set length or in the feel of the overall tour?

J: We definitely get to do a lot more songs, which is cool. We can do a lot of songs that people have been asking for, which is great, too. The only is that we gotta leave the club last! (Laughs) When we just want to get to a party or something, we have like a good hour of loading up and that’s like the primetime of the party. So you sacrifice a little bit but you have a great show and then you have to get to work right afterward.

C: On that note, are there any crazy tour stories yet, or are you guys pretty low key?

J: Oh, well last night, Halloween, was pretty funny. We went to a costume shop during the day and we found this really funny blonde wig. It was a “valley girl” wig, and Steve put it on and as soon as he put it on, I was like, “Damn, dude, that’s it, you got the costume for tonight. You’re Dog the Bounty Hunter!”

C: He had the mullet going on and everything?

J: Yeah, it was awesome. He had the jersey girl pompadour with the dried out blonde hair and he put braids on it and of course we gave him really bad tattoos and he bought these really cheesy Oakley shades and he wore a sleeveless shirt and I did a dreamcatcher tattoo on him. We tried to research what tattoos Dog has, but in all the pictures you can tell he has these old, worn out, run-down tattoos, so I drew a wolf and a deamcatcher and it came out cool. He came out on stage and everything.

C: He played like that?

J: Yeah, man! And our drummer shaved his head and he did a weird fu Manchu goatee and then I walked upstairs and I saw him with sunglasses on and he had all the G.G. Allen tattoos on and underwear and he was G.G. Allen for Halloween. It was perfect man, it was so cool.

C: You guys go all out! Did you do anything?

J: Yeah, I wore my lucha libre mask. I have a friend in Los Angeles and he always collects these masks and he ends up giving me a couple for gifts every time I see him, so I wore this really cool one and some weird leopard pants I found at a thrift store, all tight and stuff. So I looked like a clown. I never play with my shirt off ‘cause I have a beer gut and stuff, so I played with a shirt off because I was this fat wrestler. I haven’t played with my shirt off since I was in junior high. That’s too Chili Peppers for me, man!

C: Yeah, a little bit too alt rock. So in this tour have you seen any change in crowds? Because you guys started out as Floor and then you went into Torche, and it seems like you guys have been getting some more attention and kind of getting bigger.

J: Yeah, the crowds are a little more spread out. There are definitely a lot more girls going to show, which is cool. They always bring the party! Lots of different ethnicities, too, which is super cool by me. I want to meet as many people as I can from all over the world, and for people to gather is a great thing. It’s pretty harmonious. People get along pretty well. We don’t really see any fights at our shows. It’s a good time and people are just getting along. It’s just the whole building shaking, and it’s kind of chaotic, but people are having fun. It just has this weird dynamic to it.

C: You guys definitely seem a lot more positive and upbeat than a lot of the other heavy bands you’ve been put in with. Is there anything that influences that?

J: Well Steve used to write a lot of angry songs growing up. Like a normal teenager, he had issues with his personality and he just thought, “I don’t want to write any more depressing songs anymore. I want to write something a little more uplifting.” And of course, if you go to a show, you want to rage. And it’s cool to get into really mellow stuff, and everything like that, but some of that stuff sounds better in a different atmosphere than at a club. Maybe at home, if you’re having a backyard party and everyone’s playing bongos or something. (Laughs) Maybe for that, but for a show like this, there’s just so much shit going in the world that you need to break away and find something a little more uplifting, something more…I don’t want to say spiritual, but something that makes you feel real good, like a good escape for a little while. And that’s what we’re trying to do with the music: make it interesting, make sure it cuts through and just make sure that everyone leaves feeling better.

C: Yeah, sort of feeling energized. Now you guys have toured with some of the most respected names in heavy music. There was Boris on your last tour and Isis and Jesu in the past.

J: We’ve been very lucky. A lot of these bands ask us and most of the music industry is like, “So and so from a label wants you to tour with this band because they have a new record coming out on, you know, Disney Records or whatever.” It’s totally different in our scene. These are bands who are into each other, and we’ve been lucky with some of the bigger bands that we admire. Some of our heroes are asking us to travel. Like with Justin Broadrick [legendary frontman of Jesu, previously of Napalm Death and Godflesh, among others]. That was just a gift. I’ve been into his music since I was like 18 years old and now I finally get to meet him and he’s super cool. And he’s not like a prick or anything. He’s just a really cool, humble dude and he’s a genius. And Boris turned out to be a great bunch. They’re a really cool, solid family and they’re just the most intense live band. And the Mogwai guys. We toured with them, and they’re just the kings of what they do because they’ve been around for awhile. It’s a pretty strange lifestyle. You’re living out of your suitcase and your body is getting used to being in a different temperature from the day before and one day it’s freezing and the next it’s hot. And it’s all for the sake of playing for a good hour and having that good moment. But these bands have been doing it for so long and they give us good advice and that’s why we’ve been able to do so well on these tours. The important thing is just getting along with each other and respecting each other’s space even though everyone farts in the van and stuff. (Laughs) But it’s a cool thing and you just have to get along. And there are so many bands out there right now, but it’s a challenge to get along with everyone. It’s a weird relationship, almost like a marriage. You’re spending more time with these people than you are with your family or your wife or your significant other and it’s pretty intense. You have to be around people all the time and there are moments where you just want to be on your own. But on our level, we’re still traveling in a small van and still staying with friends and it’s a whole different thing. Talking to these other bands is an inspiration because they help us out and we watch them do this incredible thing live and it’s really cool.

C: For a hard touring band like you guys, what’s your dream tour with any of the bands you haven’t toured with yet?

J: Well, something that’s coming up is a big dream for me is All Tomorrow’s Parties and Nightmare Before Christmas on December 5-7. The Melvins and Mike Patton are curating it. And the Melvins asked Isis, Mastodon, Monotonix, the Damned, the Butthole Surfers, Os Mutantes, the Brazilian psychedelic group from the 60s, Squarepusher and all these amazing bands. Fantômas is doing The Director’s Cut. And that’s a pretty big deal. I grew up listening to Melvins and I saw them during the Bullhead tour in Miami Beach and there were only like 10 or 20 people there and Steve, he was one of the people who was at that show, so we met early on and we’ve been friends since like ’91, ’92 and I’ve been a good friend of his but I’m also a big fan of all the music he does. And years down the line we’re playing together and we’re getting to see a good portion of the world. And because of that friendship, now we’re playing with the Melvins in the UK, on the other side of the world. So that’s a dream show, but I’d also love to collaborate with Aphex Twin. Richard D. James is just amazing and he’s one of the heavy hitters out there and he just makes beautiful music. And he does stuff besides electronica that’s a little stranger. Like with the Drukqs album he recorded the inside of a piano and tweaked it out. And he’s done his dance music, but he’s also done incredible, harmonic, great melodies. Just beautiful, amazing compositions. He’s a beast when it comes to that. I hear stuff that…there’s just something going on his head.

C: He is a pretty prolific guy, and you guys are, as well. You’ve been around since 2005 and you’ve done two full lengths and an EP already and that’s pretty impressive in three years.

J: Well the music is…I don’t really want to say it’s simple, but it’s very standard rock and roll if you strip it down. A couple riffs, a good melody on top and a solo here and there. But we try to be a little more creative with it. But once we start writing a song, we pretty much know within the first 10 seconds if it’s going to be a good song or not. So we try not to throw these unimportant parts into songs and we just want to make sure the songs are where they’re supposed to be. So one day we’ll dish out like four or five songs. I guess that’s the advantage to all this traveling.

C: On that note, this may be a bit early to ask, but do you guys have any new material in the works?

J: Yeah, we actually recorded two new songs before we left on the Pelican tour for Europe, so it’s going to be a 12” with “Healer” and “Across the Shields” and I think it might come with a DVD. I’m not sure on that yet, but it gonna have two new songs and they sound pretty cool.

C: Are they more along the line of the Meanderthal stuff?

J: Actually one of them reminds me of the older Flaming Lips songs. There’s this cool, weird effect that I use. It’s this phaser on high speed and I’m doing this run that sounds almost like Japanese music and it’s pretty uplifting. I’m digging it so far.

C: Is that kind of the direction you guys are headed?

J: We’ll try anything as long as it keeps our interest and as long as it’s a good challenge. So I can’t tell where the music is going but I just want to make sure that it’s good.

C: Well ever since the release of Meanderthal, there’s been some buzz among the music media and some rumors about you guys maybe getting some major label attention. Are you at liberty to talk about that?

J: Yeah, well…oh, shit, it’s starting to rain!

(At this point, the suspiciously clear sky went from bone dry to a downpour of biblical proportions. Juan and I, along with a hapless group walking across the street to the Satyricon, begin to run under what appears to an awning jutting from the building neighboring the venue. Unfortunately, the awning turns to simply be a few beams with no real material in between them, so we are drenched by the time we make a beeline for the doorway of the bar section of the Satyricon. We continue our interview there.)

C: That’s Oregon for you!

J: (Laughs) Yeah, people have been coming to knock, sort of cruising around the neighborhood, but we’re happy with where we are. We want to make sure it’s just steps. We’ve had friends who have had tragedies when it comes to major labels, and now it’s just a whole different world. You’re pretty much just forced to be a live band.

C: Hydra Head is a great label. How did the deal with them come about?

J: Actually, Andy Low from Robotic Empire [Torche’s label before they signed to Hydra Head] is good friends with Mark Thompson and Aaron Turner who run Hydra Head. He actually based Robotic Empire after Hydra Head and it was a big inspiration for him. They talked and he felt that the whole thing was going in a whole new direction and he felt that Hydra Head was going to be a strong label for us and it has been so far so good. Some major labels will sign like 10 bands and pay attention to one. From Mariah Carey or Amy Whinehouse or something like that and they leave other people unattended, so that kinda sucks.

C: I’ve heard really good things about Hydra Head, like with Xasthur. I’ve read interviews with him and he said that it’s a label who actually respects its artists. But Meanderthal is a little different from the usual stuff that comes out on it.

J: Yeah, they’re taking a risk signing a band like us because they’re known for the more experimental acts and the heavier music, and we have elements of that, but we’re also a simple rock band. It’s been a cool ride so far.

C: Well, I think that’s it. Thanks for your time and have a good show.

J: Thanks man!