Exclusive interview with Cradle of Filth guitarist Paul Allender; Getting to know 4 people in 1!

Paul Allender is quite an interesting character. Once you get past his gargoylish, Frankenstein-ian visage, there is so much more to him than meets the eye. Most people are aware that he was a founding member of English extreme metal act Cradle of Filth, being in the band from 1993-1996, leaving and eventually forming The Blood Divine (with other former members of CoF) in 1995, and then rejoining CoF in 2000, having been with the band from Midian to the present. 

What you might not know is that during his time away from Cradle of Filth, he started his own digital art company called Vomitorium with photographer Cindy Frey, he has degrees in several martial arts training styles, and he is a motorcycle enthusiast. Read on and prepare to meet the man behind the scowl!

How did you end up partnering with Cindy Frey anyway? Tell me a little bit about the origins of Vomitorium.

I first met Cindy at the GrasPop festival when she was taking bands shots of us. We just got talking, and then we both realized that we shared the same interests in computer art. So I edited a shot and sent it to her and it pretty much went on from there.

So what is your work aesthetic with her like now?

Basically, Cindy and I set up photoshoots with various models, I then tell her what poses and body shapes I want her to photograph. Once we have enough footage / stills, I will then get to work on them in Photoshop.

Do you have plans to offer up lower-priced prints or posters for any of the Vomitorium art? Granted, they are of exceptional quality, but they are quite pricy.

We have thought about posters etc., but it’s just finding a right outlet for them. Personally I don’t think they are pricy considering how much time goes into a piece.

Anything in the works to release any of those images as t-shirts? Some of them are quite powerful images.

Again, it’s the same as the posters. I’ve been talking to a merch company about releasing Vomitorium shirts, its one of them things that will take time.

Will there be another calendar on the horizon?

There will be eventually, but we’re concentrating on releasing a book. So all our efforts will be focusing on that; plus I’m starting to write another Cradle album, so it will have to be done after that.

What is next for Vomitorium?

Let’s see… Books, Postcards, T-Shirts basically anything that will look cool-as-hell with our images on it.

How long have you been creating digital art, what have you created that has been published, and do you have a mini-resume of artwork credits (be they album art, DVD art & menus, videos, websites, t-shirt designs, etc.)?

I’ve been creating digital art for about 11 years now. I submitted an Image called "Encounter" to a website asking for artists to show their work http://www.ballisticpublishing.com/ and it got accepted to a book called "Expose 5". This is amazing, because it’s a huge deal in the digital world, it has the best of the best of digital art, so you can see I’m "well chuffed"!

I have produced / authored / animated the last two Cradle DVDs, I did the Cradle website, produced a short intro for a company called "Sinwear" for when they headed a category at a Metal Hammer awards. I also do most of the Cradle shirts as well as a full Trivium tour range.

Any DVD projects on your plate?

Well, there will be another Cradle DVD coming out soon, so I will be authoring that.

Although not yet released, did you (and Cindy) contribute any art to the Gospel of Filth?

There are a couple of images in that book, can’t remember which ones now, though!! Hahahaha.

I also heard you are into motorcycles. Tell me a little bit about this side of you.

Well, I have a Yamaha FZ1; it’s completely customized with tons of after market extras. The best thing about it (apart from looking mean as f***) is it goes like s*** off a shovel!

As well, how do you find time to keep up with your martial arts? Do you practice on the road? Are you learning anything new, and are you planning to do any more teaching?

I need to get back into training again, because being so busy with Cradle, training has taken a back seat. I miss it big time but I will start again when the time is right.

What style is your focus, and how long have you been practicing?

I’ve been training in martial arts since I was 6 years old. I started with traditional Wado Ryu karate, then went onto Wado Ryu sport karate. I’ve been doing bits of Wing Chun and Seven Star Praying Mantis. My main style now is Yoseikan Karate Jitsu, which I teach in.

Any particular reason you chose these, or did they "choose you"? Also, what is significant or unique about each?

There was no real reason why i choose these particular styles, basically when I started Wado Ryu, it was because my father took me to the club he was going to. Since then I was hooked. I had done Wado Ryu for about 8 years and then went into Wado Ryu sport Karate.

A few of my school mates were doing this and I thought it would be good to do. To be honest, competition fighting wasn’t really for me, and it was too expensive to keep going away on courses / fights! I also realized that competition fighting wasn’t going to help in a real street situation. Because of this, I wanted to go back to traditional karate -- something that had tons of aggression!!

Looking around, I came across a style called Yoseikan Karate Jitsu. After going for a few months, I was hooked again. This was the one I was looking for. It has it all, kicks, punches, holds, takedowns, throws, chokes, etc. Exploring and wanting to progress in the this style, I decided to go and take a year out to study a couple of Chinese styles (Wing Chun & Seven Star Praying Mantis) and learn how they generate power and to take the best bits from these styles and put them in my own training!

What made you continue to pursue your interest in martial arts after all these years?

Martial arts have helped me to stay focused and have a much disciplined way of looking on life, in and out of work! The adrenaline rush is amazing, especially when I’m fighting. At our club we train mainly for street fighting, and this is what keeps me going.

Is it safe to say that you are the chief songwriter in CoF? It seemed like every time I would come out to a show, you’d be tucked away somewhere with your guitar and computer bashing out riff after riff.

Yes it is. I love writing songs, not just riffs but full songs. It’s amazing and so much fun. I just have this knack of coming up with complete structures.

And if you are indeed the main songwriter, what is it that makes CoF’s sound change/evolve album-to-album?

You need to make sure there enough time between albums so you can get different influences from life. Hence, when I come to writing another album, it will sound different enough from the last.

Is The Blood Divine dead and buried, or do you still occasionally pine to resurrect that sound?

I was actually thinking about that the other day; it was a good time, but to be honest, because I’m always writing Cradle material, there is no way I could even think about doing that again.

Do you do any music outside of CoF? It seems like everyone, except Dani, has other music projects running, or are making appearances on various albums.

No, Cradle is my life (musically speaking) and to divert away from that in a musical sense just wouldn’t happen.