AD: So how are you doing?

ER: Good man. It’s a hectic day with it being the last day of the tour for us. We’re trying to get everything together ready to go home, so it’s kinda crazy, but all good!

AD: So how are you feeling now? I know that you had this kidney problem recently?

ER: Yeah. I’m doing okay; new and improved actually! I stopped drinking too much coffee and red bull, and stopped working too much! I exchanged all that for drinking some water and riding a bike five miles a day.

AD: Kidney Stones?

ER: Yeah. I did have kidney stones as well and that was not too much fun! But I feel much better now. In fact, I feel better now than...I can’t even remember actually; really good!!

AD: I take it that you’re going back to the States to record the new Goatwhore album?

ER: Yeah. That’s why we’re leaving next week. And then I think I might be working with Aeon.

AD: How do you find all the time to do all the gigs, touring and production work?

ER: It’s very hard, because I do a lot of studio work and a lot of touring. In fact, I think that’s why it all caught up to me and I had a problem in the first place, cause I was working like a maniac, so now I just slow it down a little bit.

AD: So you like keeping busy then?!

ER: Yeah. I like keeping busy! But I realised that I now need more in-between time, you know, time for relaxing. I’ve just been working and working and working!! Alex from Cannibal said ‘Dude, if you cut your workload down by half, you’ll still be working harder than anyone I know’!!

AD: I’ve seen clips from the recording of the Cannibal album, from the studio, and it’s obvious from watching that you are such a passionate guy and musician…

ER: I think that everything I do, whether it be engineering or producing; it’s the producing aspects where I really capitalise. You know, I’ve been playing this music for twenty years, so anything to do with metal or hardcore...I listen to everything, so I’m able to get in there and get the best out of everybody. Like, with Cannibal Corpse, they have my trust. And that’s the most important thing. When the band trusts you, you can really work with them in a great capacity and it’s always easier when it’s the second record with the band. For example, it’s the second album I’m doing with Goatwhore. I’ve just done the second Soilent Green and second Cannibal. A lot of the bands that I’ve done, I’m doing their next ones. So, you know each other, you know how it works in the studio.

AD: Having you on board must be liking having a sixth member if the band?

ER: Well me and Alex were roommates and have been friends for years, but you have to establish a different kind of relationship for the studio. It’s different from touring, cos they’re trusting in me to make their record.

AD: So, you have to keep a bit of a distance then I take it?

ER: There really isn’t actually. But I do make sure at the end of the day, that they know my priority is that the record sounds great, so they don’t ever hesitate to tell me anything, you know. We lay everything on the table. When you work with a band like Cannibal, they wanna make the best music they can, and they entrust me to accomplish that, so....

AD: Erm...Erik. I spied a James T. Kirk pencil holder in the studio....is that yours?

ER: Yeah! That’s mine! Kirk...ha ha ha! Actually, I think some people may have thought that it was a bong or something, but it is a pencil holder!! There’s NO smoking in the studio when you’re recording the record you know!!!

AD: What’s it like having Shaune in the band? It certainly makes a difference live, but what about recording wise?

ER: Well, live, we’ve never had another guitarist (Doug Cerrito never played with the band live), so Shaune’s the first. Yeah, it’s awesome. Shaune and me have been friends for 25 years. He’s an amazing guitar player and I always knew that he would be the guy if I was to ever get somebody. He just wasn’t sure if he wanted to tour or not and recently he said ‘Dude. I’m ready’. I wasn’t even looking for another guitar player cos I knew he was the only guy who could do it properly and he certainly has. For “Fury and Flames”, he wrote a song and co-wrote another song, but on the next record, I hope that he’ll write more. But he had to catch up, because I already had six or seven songs written when he got into the band. Hopefully next record we’ll hear more from him.

AD: Fury and Flames is such a brutal, intense and passionate album. Did it help having friends like Alex and Shaune on there to help get that across?

ER: Yeah. I kinda felt like that after Jared had passed away, and was just me as Derek (Roddy) had quit. It was just me and Metal Blade Records. So, I was just writing songs and figuring out what the hell am I gonna do? I just wanted to surround myself with guys that I trusted, not only on a musical level, but on a personal level. You know, Jade…me and him hit off on a personal level right off the bat, and I just wanted to surround myself with the best, which I did. I can’t think of any better to be quite honest.

AD: Did you have an idea of what sound you wanted before you entered the studio, because some of the sound is just so warped and twisted?!!

ER: I wanted Fury and Flames to be like a kind of ‘Ride the Lightning’ kind of production. You know, kinda raw and cold. Icy, almost a little bit more modern than our previous records but still raw at the same time I guess. I wanted to go for something different as I always try to go for something a little different rather than the standard “everything perfect” type production. I don’t like that myself, so I did try to go for something a little different each time.

AD: Does it really help having Shaune in the live environment as well?

ER: Oh yeah! It’s like going from Stereo to Surround Sound!!! Or like from Mono to Stereo. It’s fucking incredible. I mean, some people will say that it’s cool to have the rhythm underneath the solo, but that never bothered me cos I grew up with Van Halen!! You know, Dimebag, Randy Rhoads...they never needed any. It’s not that, but I write so much counterpoint and harmony for the rhythm. That’s what was always missing, so to get that live is the best you know. Having Shaune out here, a guy that I’ve been friends with forever, getting a taste of what it’s like touring...it’s been very rewarding being able to take my friend out.

AD: So what the plan between now and the festivals in Europe in the Summer?

ER: I’m recording Goatwhore, Aeon and then a band called Through The Eyes of The Dead. Then I’m coming over for the festivals and then I’m gonna do another record in November.

AD: How did you get into the whole recording gig?

ER: I went to school for a year. When I was still in Ripping Corpse, I worked with a couple of engineers who really didn’t understand heavy music and I wanted to become a producer that understood heavy music; somebody that guys could work with and say ‘Hey! He knows what the fucks going on!!’ And that’s what I’m doing now! When you think about it, it’s like “Wow!” It’s crazy!

AD: Is it a challenge for you?

ER: Man! It’s always a challenge! It’s fun. It’s hard work. It’s troubling at times!! It can be tedious, but you know, it’s always so rewarding. I looked at the Cannibal CD the other day, and I looked at the back it says “Produced by Erik Rutan” and I’m saying “fuck man.....”. It’s just so rewarding, there’s nothing like that. A lot of energy goes into it, a lot of work, but at the end of the day, it’s all worth it!!

AD: What direction can you see the next Hate Eternal album taking?

ER: I’ve already started writing some stuff, but we’ll see. The last record, I had so much pressure on myself because of everything that happened, so I look forward to having another record of NOT having that kinda pressure.

AD: And the bass position?

ER: Yeah. JJ Hrubovcak (touring bassist) is gonna be in the band permanently. He’ll definitely end up playing on it. And it’s nice to have a solid line-up!!

AD: Cheers man!!

ER: Cheers!

Hate Eternal’s recent release Fury and Flames is of the better extreme releases of last year and would be well worth checking out if you haven’t already unearthed this brutal gem of a cd. And you can also hear some of Erik Rutan’s excellent work as a producer on the recently released “Evisceration Plague” cd.

Hate Eternal can be found at:

For more on the band check out www.myspace.com/haeteternal

Interviewed by Andy Duke

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