1:how long has nile been together?

CHIEF: WE FORMED IN 1994.

2:what do you have out?

CHIEF: WE RELEASED "FESTIVALS OF ATONEMENT" IN 1995. THIS WAS A SELF- PRODUCED CD, WHICH REALLY DID VERY GOOD IN THE UNDERGROUND. THEN IN 1996 WE SIGNED TO VISCERAL PRODUCTIONS FOR A MINI-DISC DEAL... WE THEN RECORDED RAMSES:"BRINGER OF WAR". THIS WAS A THREE SONG DEMO WHICH INCLUDED "THE HOWLING OF THE JINN", RAMSES:BRINGER OF WAR", AND" DIE RACHE KREIG DER ASSYRICHE".RELAPSE RECORDS HEARD THIS AND APPROACHED US ABOUT DOING A FULL- LENGTH ALBLUM FOR THEM. THIS BRINGS US UP TO DATE WITH THE RELEASE OF "AMONGST THE CATACOMBS OF NEPHREN-KA".

3:how did your death across america tour with the almighty CRYPTOPSY?

CHIEF: IT WENT FUCKIN GREAT! THEY ARE A REALLY GOOD BAND THAT WILL GO A LONG WAY IN THIS BUSINESS. WE ALL GOT ALONG SO GOOD THAT THERE IS TALK ABOUT DOING A NILE/CRYPTOPSY TOUR THIS SPRING.

4:do you have any dates for your next tour?

CHIEF: YES WILL BE TOURING WITH MORBID ANGEL ON THEIR WINTER TOUR '98. WE WILL BE THE MAIN SUPPORTING ACT. THIS TOUR STARTS DEC.3 AND RUNS THRUOGH DEC.22. IT WILL ONLY BE AN EAST COAST/MID-WEST TOUR. AFTER THAT WE PLAN TO TOUR EUROPE FOR ABOUT TWO MONTHS.

5:you're currently writing the follow up to "amongst the catacombs of nephrem~ka" right? how is that comming along?

CHIEF: IT'S GOING GREAT, BUT IT TAKES ALOT OF TIME TO WRITE AN ALBLUM. WITH ALL THE TOURING WE'VE BEEN DOING, THERES NOT BEEN MUCH TIME. WE HAVE ABOUT TWO SONGS READY, BUT LOTS OF GOOD IDEA'S. WE ARE CURRENTLY OFF FOR THREE WEEKS, BEFORE THE MORBID TOUR, SO WE ARE AT WORK WRITING NOW. IN FACT I HAVE REHEARSAL WHEN I'M DONE WITH THIS INTERVIEW. SOME OF THE NEW SONG TITLES ARE "MULTITUDES OF FOES", "DEFILING THE GATES OF IHSTAR",AND"THE BLACK FLAME".

6:do you use drum triggers in the studio/live?

YES PETE USES THEM BOTH LIVE AND IN THE STUDIO. JUST ON THE KICK DRUMS.

7:how long did it take you to record catacombs?

CHIEF: WE WERE IN THE STUDIO FOR SIXTEEN DAYS, ABOUT TEN TO FOURTEEN HOURS A DAY. THIS WAS NOT ENOUGH TIME THOUGH, WE HAD TO LEAVE OUT SOME THINGS, AND THAT FUCKIN SUCKED. NEXT TIME WE WILL BE IN LONGER.

8:the production is sick as fuck, how much did that shit cost?

CHIEF: WE HAD A BUDGET OF ONLY $3000. I'M DEFINATLY PROUD OF THE PRODUCTION, BUT IT JUST SUCKS WHEN YOU HAVE TO LEAVE THINGS OUT.

9:what bands are you guys into?

CHIEF: WE ALL LIKE ALOT OF DIFFERENT SHIT. TO NAME A FEW BANDS WOULD BE SOMETHING LIKE THIS, BLACK SABBATH, MORBID ANGEL, INCANTATION, RUSH, DEAD CAN DANCE, GRAMME REVELL, IMMOLATION, AND CRYPTOPSY.

10:do you see grind/death metal progresing alot lately?

CHIEF: YES, EVERYWHERE WE GO IT SEEMS AS THOUGH THE SCENE IS GETTING BIGGER. IT IS DEFINATLY TIME FOR METAL TO COME BACK. I THINK ALOT OF THANX GOES TO THE PEOPLE IN THE UNDERGROUND KEEPING IT ALIVE. METAL WILL NEVER DIE, IT JUST GOES INTO REHAB FOR AWHILE.

11:do you see the resurgence of death metal getting trendy at all like black metal? do you see that as a bad thing?

CHIEF: I DON'T PERSONALLY SEE DEATH METAL GETTING AS TRENDY AS THE BLACK METAL STUFF. AND YES I THINK IT WOULD BE A TERRIBLE THING.

12:i've heard many bad storys about your label/know some people getting ripped off by them, did you guys get dicked over by relapse or are they being fair and paying you?

CHIEF: WE HAVE YET TO BE DICKED OVER BY RELAPSE, BUT WE DID'NT SIGN THE FIRST CONTRACT THEY SENT US EITHER. WE HIRED A GOOD ATTORNEY, AND LET HIM HANDLE IT. WE PLAN ON BEING AROUND IN THIS BUSINESS FOR A WHILE SO WE HAVE TO COVER OUR ASSES. WE ALSO BELIEVE IN OUR CREATIVE ABILITES, AND WE WANT TO HELP BRING METAL BACK TO LIFE. IF WE GOT FUCKED OVER THE FIRST TIME THEN IT WOULD BE OVER FOR US, SO WE TRIED TO MAKE SURE THIS DID'NT HAPPEN. TO BE QUITE HONEST, I DON'T REMEMBER EVER HEARING OF ANY LABEL WHO HAS'NT PISSED SOMEONE OFF.

13:what do you think about bands like korn and limp biscuit claiming to be metal bands?

CHIEF: WHO????

14:are you guys still a 3 piece like it says you are on catacombs?

CHIEF: NO WE HAVE ADDED A FOUTH MEMBER, HIS NAME IS DALLAS TOLER-WADE. I HAVE TO SAY THAT I DID'NT THINK WE WOULD EVER FIND ANYONE TO JOIN US, BUT DALLAS IS THE FUCKIN MAN. HE IS QUITE AN AMAZING GUITARIST, VOCALIST, AND HE HELPS WITH THE WRITING PROCESS. WE COULD'NT ASK FOR MORE.

15:are you into grindcore?

CHIEF: I DON'T GET MUCH TIME TO LISTEN TO MUCH GRINDCORE, BUT YES I DO LIKE THE BANDS I'VE HEARD.

16:if you got offered a good major label deal and could do the whole mtv video deal would you?

CHIEF: FIRST OF ALL, I HATE MTV AND I DON'T THINK THEY WOULDEVER HAVE THE BALLZ TO PLAY A NILE VIDEO. AND AS FOR AS A "GOOD MAJOR LABEL DEAL" I DON'T THINK THERE IS SUCH A THING.

17:how long on average does it take you to write a song?

CHIEF: WE HAVE SPENT 2 MONTHS WRITING ONE SING BEFORE. SOMETIMES THINGS COME TOGETHER FASTER THAN OTHER TIMES. WE JUST WORK ON THE SONGS UNTIL WE ARE HAPPY WITH THEM. IN THIS BAND THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS JUST THROWING A SONG TOGETHER.

18:what bands that are out right now do you think deserve more attention than they're getting?

CHIEF: MAN THERES SO MANY BANDS THAT DESERVE MORE THAN THEIR GETTING, I'M NOT SURE HOW TO LIST THEM ALL. THERE'S A FUCKIN GREAT BAND FROM NORTH CAROLINA CALLED DARK MOON THAT NEEDS A RECORD DEAL NOW. SO IF ANYONE READING THIS WANTS TO HELP THEM, GET IN TOUCH WITH US.

19:what do you guys have planned for the upcomming year?

CHIEF; TOURING, WRITNG THE NEXT RECORD, THEN TOUR, TOUR, TOUR. WE WANT TO TAKE OUR MUSIC TO THE PEOPLE.

20:where does the middle eastern musical influence come from (and i don't mean "the middle east")?

CHIEF: HAHA!! THATS PRETTY FUNNY MAN! EVERYONE IN THE BAND HAS ALWAYS BEEN INTERESTED IN DIFFERENT CULTURES. I PERSONALLY HAVE BEEN FASCINATED WITH THE GREEK, EGYPTIAN, SUMERIAN, AND ROMAN CULTURES FOR QUITE SOMETIME. PETE IS OF LEBANESE DECENT, AND KARL SPENDS MANY HOURS IN THE LIBRARY STUDYING AND RESEARCHING MATERIAL FOR NILE SONGS. SO I GUESS WE'RE JUST LUCKY TO HAVE MET EACH OTHER.

thank you chief from nile.