Mountain Rock Kings Karma to Burn are Still Addicted to the Riff

Photo courtesy of the artist

Appalachia can be an unforgiving place to come up in this world. Endemic poverty has coupled with a unique cultural and geographical isolation to create a specific identity that permeates every person, place, and creation within and from the area. This essence is perhaps no better captured than in the music of self-anointed czars of mountain metal, Karma to Burn.

Karma to Burn, an instrumental trio based out of Morgantown, West Virginia, has been blazing across the U.S. and European tour trails for more than twenty years and recently released their first official EP, Mountain Czar (out now via Rodeostart/SPV). Though shorter than their previous efforts, they haven’t broken formula when it comes to their trademark numbered song titles with tracks like “62” (check out the music video for that one below).

I talked to the band’s drummer, Evan Devine, last week, while the trio was amidst the chaos of gearing up for a six-week run in Europe (guitarist Will Mecum chimed in, too).

Noisey: So you’re gearing up for the release of your next album (your sixth)—any reason you decided to switch it up and release an EP instead of a full-length this time around?
Evan Devine: Mountain Czar is our seventh album, and our first official EP. It just felt like the right thing to do with the time we had. We were scheduled to write and record while touring Europe, playing shows on the weekends, we had just enough time to pull it off. Recording an EP is a good way to stay busy while you’re busy.

In another first, you have a vocalist on one track, an Italian cover of Tom Petty’s “Runnin’ Down a Dream.” How did the concept for this come about, and how did you find Stefanie Savy to perform for you?
We’ve known Steff for years, we’ve played a lot of shows with her band Noon—they seriously rock. She’s a good friend, and she’s one of the most talented vocalists we’ve met on the road. We’ve always wanted to do a song with her; the idea of covering “Runnin’ Down a Dream” came up, and it just sounded right. We tracked the song, then let her do whatever she wanted with the vocals, and she made it her own and totally killed it. Our friend Manuel from the band Sons of Morpheus played the guitar solo, he’s incredible. Sons of Morpheus are supporting us on this upcoming European tour as well.

You’ve discussed the name of the new EP, Mountain Czar, referring to the style of music you play as “mountain rock” rather than stoner metal or desert rock—I find this very accurate, but my reasoning for feeling so is intangible and based heavily on my firsthand experience being from West Virginia. What do you think is it about the mountains or the culture therein that affects your sound?
West Virginia is its own place, there’s absolutely nowhere else like it. The state plays by its own rules; it’s not north, it’s not south—it’s West Virginia. We’d like to think we do the same thing as a band. People may label us as something, but we’re just Karma to Burn and that’s all we want to be.

Yeah, West Virginia is very much a universe all its own. What about the culture and attitude of the state do you find yourself carrying over into your music and the way you perform?
West Virginians know how to work really hard and not be a dick about it. We hope we carry that same attitude around with us when we tour and play.

Amen to that—if living in New York taught me anything, it’s the power of staying modest when the world tries to convince you to buy into your own bullshit. Have you ever considered moving to a larger city as a means of furthering your music career?
Well said. The band was based out of LA for two years. That’s a place that will teach you not to buy into your own bullshit, and especially not anyone else’s. I’m not sure if moving to a big city is necessary for a band like KTB; we prefer leaving our mark on them, then driving to the next one.

That nomad attitude takes you to Europe quite often. What are the benefits to touring over there versus here in the States?
The scene over there just rules. Everyone treats you really well, its clear that there a lot of people who genuinely give a shit, and they don’t hesitate to show it. That still happens in the States, but not as often as you’d hope.

Have you come up against any stereotype bullshit, i.e. someone expecting certain things from you based on your background?
Not really, though we still have people ask if we’re ever going to get a vocalist, which is a pretty funny question to ask an instrumental band.

You did have a vocalist at one point, correct? Was that a label-mandated inclusion?
Yes, there were vocal tracks on our first official release with Roadrunner Records, but that album was never intended to have vocals on it. The vocals tracks were added after the whole thing was basically finished, only because the label refused to market a record without vocals. They weren’t too happy once we started touring without a vocalist.

Ha! Good on you for sticking to your roots. Speaking of which, is West Virginia still your favorite place to play? Does it always feel very triumphant coming back to play a hometown show after being abroad?
Our favorite place to play is our home venue, 123 Pleasant Street in Morgantown, WV. We’re lucky to have found more than a few places we play that feel like home, but nothing beats 123. Yeah, it’s great to come home and play to a good crowd of friends, tell some stories, and drink dollar beers.

The band, in various incarnations, has been around for 20 years now. From where does this seemingly endless fountain of riffs flow forth?
Will Mecum: “Hi, My name is Will, I’m a rock’n’ roll addict. It’s been ten minutes since my last riff.”

Spoken like a true riff lord. Any specific bands you guys keep in rotation in the van when you’re touring?
All kinds of stuff, we’ve bought a few Ennio Moriccone compilations that made for good driving music…

Good timing considering he just won an Oscar! Obviously awards shows like that one and the Grammys are mainly for more mainstream music, but do you have any goals in mind as far as what you’d like to achieve? Do you have any ultimate dreams of bigger stardom?

That was Morricones’ first Oscar…pretty hard to believe after all the iconic scores he’s composed. Mad Max won a lot of awards, and rightly so, that movie was extremely well done. Those were real working vehicles, real stunts, minimal CGI…real shit, real work…you can feel that. We’re fans of that idea. I think being on the soundtrack of a movie like Mad Max would probably be the one of the highest forms of recognition for us. We did recently give a director permission to use our music on the soundtrack of his first film. I think our song was used during a demolition derby scene. That’s a step in the right direction I guess!

That’s great! Any word on when that will be available to the public?
The film is called Driven to Succeed. The last we heard it was making the rounds on the indie film fest circuit around Baltimore, so it could already be out there somewhere.

I’ll definitely be on the lookout. What’s the immediate future look like?
We’re about to leave for a European headlining tour during March and April, followed directly by a full U.S. tour in May and June, supporting some U.S. legends— we can’t mention them yet, but it’s gonna rule.

Kelsey Zimmerman is getting homesick for WV on Twitter.