For Richmond’s loyal metal and underground punk legion, Inter Arma has been a force of harsh and mesmerizing sonic exploration, steadily evolving for damn-near two decades.
Maybe not a household name, the band has nonetheless grown its audience around the globe with every new release since 2006, while its aural palette has expanded over the course of an adventurous discography, yet to rehash itself. Encompassing a wide breadth of subgenres, the group has tackled almost all the metals: death, sludge, black and doom, along with a hearty dose of Southern, psych and post-rock. It’s a mighty musical cocktail that skirts easy categorization and is best suited for open-minded, intrepid listeners.
T.J. Childers is the band’s primary songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, when his hands aren’t full being the band’s only drummer. Commenting on their 2020 cover album, “Garbers Days Revisited” (a nod to their former Shockoe Bottom practice space, pre-condoization), Childers highlights how Hunter Thompson used to punch out pages of Ernest Hemingway on his typewriter “just to get the feeling of what it was like to write that way.”
Whether cover albums are increasingly rare nowadays because they get a bad rap, or they get a bad rap because they’re increasingly rare, Inter Arma’s choice to make one brought purpose rarely matched to the old material. “The same can be said for anyone learning a great cover song: There’s a lot to be deduced from the information there,” Childers adds. “Actually learning the songs can lead to inspirational, new musical ideas.” That Inter Arma’s selections covered as much range in style and background as they did (from Nine Inch Nails to Prince, and Cro-Mags to Neil Young) typifies the boundlessness of the group’s original material.
In the event that you’ve never heard Inter Arma and happen to appreciate guitar-based music of the deeply heavy variety, consider yourself in an enviable position: primed to discover this new-to-you band with a hefty catalog, fit for a feast. You’re also just in time for the band’s record release show celebrating its fifth full-length album, “New Heaven,” this Friday at Richmond Music Hall. For the occasion, Childers was kind enough to answer some questions about the new album and the band’s history, and only cuss once.
Style Weekly: What’s Inter Arma’s relationship to Richmond like? How has it developed since 2006?
T.J. Childers: Our Richmond love affair has been hot and cold throughout the years. We played here a lot early on and then tapered off as we started to tour more throughout the years. We try not to play too much these days, but probably still average about once a year. Richmond shows are always fun because it’s kind of like a family reunion, including the drunk uncle who pisses everyone off.
How would you describe Inter Arma’s music to somebody at the grocery store (assuming it came up naturally in conversation; not assuming you go around punishing strangers about your band at the grocery store)?
TC: I guess it depends on which aisle we were in. If we’re in the toilet paper aisle, I’d say we’re like the Kroger brand ultra: tough, yet soft and a great bargain. If we’re in the canned food section, I’d say we’re like the mixed vegetables: you’re gonna get a little bit of everything and we go great with just about any other food. If we’re right at the front door, I’d give my stock answer: dirty, mystical, hillbilly metal.
Given the time since “Sulphur English” came out in 2019, would you consider “New Heaven” to be your pandemic record, or more comfortably, post-pandemic record? Was the writing process informed or impacted by that whole fiasco?
TC: It’s kinda both. Some of the songs/riffs were first written during COVID and others later on. I’m one of those dirty hippies who believes that all of your life experiences influence your art, so certainly I’d say that the pandemic had at least some impact even if it wasn’t direct. Shit, how could it not?
How would you describe “New Heaven” to somebody already well versed in the rest of Inter Arma’s catalog (you could be at the grocery or not, doesn’t matter)?
TC: It’s a bit of a reader’s digest version of an Inter Arma record. It’s everything we’ve ever done musically put into a single LP (which was no easy task) with a few new surprises thrown in there. You’d probably find it in the condensed milk aisle.
“If we’re in the toilet paper aisle I’d say we’re like the Kroger brand ultra: tough, yet soft and a great bargain. If we’re in the canned food section, I’d say we’re like the mixed vegetables: you’re gonna get a little bit of everything and we go great with just about any other food. If we’re right at the front door, I’d give my stock answer: dirty, mystical, hillbilly metal.”
In the era of instant gratification with streaming, how have you found the listener’s initial/instant reaction to the album?
TC: Ahhhh, streaming, the great double-edged sword! It’s been great so far, really positive and glowing. Only one guy with a blog that no one’s ever heard of trashed it so I’d say that’s a win!
You’re touring all over this summer. Is it difficult to write a set list after amassing so much material? Any hints at what all to expect from your current set?
TC: We generally went Grateful Dead-style in the past with no set list, but on this run (and for this show) we’ll be playing “New Heaven” in its entirety. When we’re doing a support slot, we generally do a greatest hits set which we pull a few from about a dozen-song list. We’re planning on throwing in a couple golden oldies for all the octogenarians out there.
Would you share a little bit with readers about Sonja and Triac, the bands tapped to open up your record release show? [*Full disclosure: I play in a different band with the drummer of Triac—a VERY different band].
TC: Sonja are compiled of old friends from various bands in the Philadelphia area. They’re doing a dark/goth ’80s hair/glam rock thing with a bit of blasphemy thrown in there for good measure. Triac are also old buds from the DC-Baltimore area. Some say they’re the undisputed kings of East Coast grind and I really can’t argue. Very excited to get all these phreaqz in the same room together and see what happens!
The first time I saw Inter Arma was by happy coincidence, working your record release show for Paradise Gallows in 2016 at Hardywood, which I remember sounding somehow both pummeling and contained, yet still so loud the crowd had to point at which beer they wanted. And then, most recently at Cobra Cabana, which by comparison had the energy of a house show, albeit one housed underneath a circus tent. What have been some of your favorite places to play around town, and how does the space shape the experience?
TC: I know by this point we’ve played Richmond over 100 times so it’s hard to say. Playing with Annihilation Time at Bagel Czar (Strange Matter) was an early big one. Lots of memorable Bone Zone shows (that I can barely remember). Playing with Municipal Waste at Wonderland was nuts. A cover set at Love Jail with 150 kids in a basement was bonkers. Obviously, playing in a smaller space makes it more intimate and always fun, but playing some place larger, like that Hardywood show, is always cool because it’s always exciting to play in front of a larger audience which I KNOW will be the case Friday night (wink wink). Stoked!!!
Inter Arma performs with Sonja and Triac on Friday, June 7 at Richmond Music Hall. Tickets are $20 and to learn more, go here. 8 p.m.