A little more than a month ago, on March 24th, the English one man band Foul Body Autopsy released the album ‘This Machine Kills Zombies’ (you can read the review here).  The man behind this project, Tom Reynolds, gave us the opportunity to interview him. We asked some things about the album, future plans and working independently. 

Hi! How have you been?
Not too bad, thanks.

First of all, how did you like creating the album This Machine Kills Zombies all by yourself?
Well, I always created the music myself for the past Foul Body Autopsy albums except for a few releases where I had a drummer co-write with me. When it came to recording This Machine Kills Zombies I did all the engineering and production myself. Doing everything myself was hard work but defiantly worth it!

Your previous released EP’s and singles are under Grindscene Records, right? Why did you make the decision to release this album independently?
I decided to leave Grindscene Records due to the fact that I wasn’t selling enough CDs to warrant being on a label anymore. Also, I wanted to try releasing this new album as digital only and make it pay what you feel just to see what would happen. Luckily it has worked out very well and I have sold more “copies” of this album than I expected to. So, all’s well that ends well! Obviously, I have nothing against Grindscene Records, I had a lovely time working with them and they were nothing but good to me!

Are you satisfied with the complete outcome?
Yes, I am happy with how the album sounds.

Are you planning to do a tour to support the album?
I have done a few shows to support the album but I don’t have any tours booked at this time. In all honesty, in recent years I have been playing live less and less, this is partly down to the fact that I went to university in 2015 and decided not to play live as much so I could concentrate on my studies. But while I was at university most of the promoters that I worked with all decided to stop promoting for good so I lost almost all my contacts. But in all honesty, I don’t have as much of an urge to play live as much as I did when I was 17-19 now at 25 I tend to have more of an urge to write music and make videos for my YouTube channel.

I really like the guitar work on the album! I cannot help but notice your guitars. With this kind of music, I would really expect other guitars than Stratocasters and Telecasters with, what it seems like, single coils? What’s the reason behind the usage of these models?
I find I get the sound that I want out of Stratocasters and Telecasters but mostly I am using Telecasters, they do high gain very well but also cut through a mix. I have tried almost every kind of electric guitar but the ones that I feel most comfortable using are Telecasters this is probably due to the fact that my first electric guitar was a Telecaster. Also, single coil pickups sound way better than humbuckers to me.

What musicians/bands inspire you?
The influences are always changing at the moment I am on a massive Doom/Black Metal kick especially bands like Earth, Bell Witch, Grief, Sunn O))), Xasthur & Wolves In The Throne Room. Also Cardiacs, loads of Cardiacs.

Would you want to work in a band formation again in the future?
I do have a “real” band called Nagasaki Birth Defect.

What do you have in mind for the future?
I am thinking about working on the third album and how I am going to keep myself busy until 2020 when my next album is due.

Is there anything you would like to add or say to the readers?
Buy or Download my music, please!

Thank you for your time!