We Sold Our Soul For Rock N’ Roll - Metal Interview
BIB: What was your first metal record? How old were you?
Brian Morris: Anthrax: State of Euphoria | 13 I think.
Godmachine: My first record of the metal persuasion was Black Flag’s Sick Pack. Then it was Fugazi 13 Songs then Suicidal Tendencies and the rest is history. I was 14/15. I remember putting the record on the wrong speed and trying to convince myself I liked it seeing as I had paid all my pocket money for it.
Dan Mumford: Ahh man, this is a harsh one..hahaha, and also embarrassing. It was when I was in a band with some friends, I was about 14, we just sort of played…hard rock…hahaha, and one of the guys got the first System of A Down record, and it blew all of our minds. I still remember being shocked by it, so it was an awkward start, but needless to say from there I learnt of Sepultura, Slayer. etc. I think our old drummer got obsessed with Venom about a year later. We basically all thought, ‘screw rock, let’s go metal.’ Those were good times, discovering this whole other world. It definitely shaped me a lot.
Pale Horse: Integrity – Systems Overload – 17. I was completely into straight-edge hardcore/punk in high school and Integrity tricked me by putting out that album out on Victory Records. I’ve been on my way downhill ever since.
BIB: What was your first metal show? When and where?
Brain Morris: Bruce Lee’s 4 inches of Destruction, the Itoo Hall in Peoria IL, 1990.
Godmachine: My first metal show was some shitty bands at a local barn. Was weak. I remember some big long haired rocker passing me some poppers - or as you guys call them Amyl Nitrates and taking a sniff. I just remember going blind in one eye and getting a headache. I felt cool that this rocker acknowledged me though. The first real Gig was Faith No More supported by L7 at the Cardiff Ice Rink. It was the Angel Dust tour. Still one of the best shows I have ever seen.
Dan Mumford: Well, that would have been at a small place in Watford (where I lived) called the ‘Blue Rooms’. It was awesome. Every week there was some sort of alternative gig. I could not tell you the line up, all I know is I moshed my little heart out. It was always a really random line-up of bands every month, metal, nu-metal, ska, punk, grind, hardcore…it was pretty crazy, but everyone got along pretty well and the local promoter pulled in some awesome bands like Napalm Death and Earthtone 9. Good times.
Pale Horse: Six Feet Deep at the Refuge in 1995. Yep, they were definitely a Christian metal band that sounded like Pantera. I moshed for Jesus… He wasn’t amused.
BIB: How many metal bands have you been in?
Brian Morris: Counting the G.G. Allin cover band, 3.
Godmachine: One and it was the best band in the world!!! Channel 9!!
Dan Mumford: Oversears, Aline (we wanted to be called Align, but there was already a band under that name, so thus we chose ALINE due to an impending show and need of a name, we never lived that down, I think we wanted to have a name like Unite or Strife) and then there was Incoherence, my longest serving band. That was a good couple of years. I was also in an ‘Emo-rock’ band called Neverthemore. We wanted to be the Get Up Kids. We were made up of three guys from local metal bands and my good friend Mitch…metal heads have sensitive sides too. Basically all the guys in Neverthemore went on to be in awesome bands while I concentrated on drawing away. My bass skills have lapsed in more recent years, but they are still there, just resting till the world needs them again.
Pale Horse: 5, counting the hard-core bands. In order of oldest to newest it was: Fasten, Overthrow, Chalice, Yeti & Cover Your Tracks.
BIB: Describe the last band you were in.
Brian Morris: The band was called “Shemp”, mostly punk and slowed thrash (sounds dumb I know). Don’t think we ever recorded anything. We had a great song about young fucking… “Under the cherry tree is where she showed it to me. It was hairy and black, it had a nice crack, it looked mighty scary to me. I slipped my big banana inside the hairy crack, she let out a scream, I let out out a scream, I pulled my banana back.”
Godmachine: Channel 9 were previously called Laughing Torso (after some witchcraft book I think). We kicked the Goth bassist out and started afresh. We were big into Corrosion of Conformity, Kyuss and early good Helmet; we fused Jazz hardcore with drone stoner and some sweet Mogwai type melodies.
Dan Mumford: That would be Incoherence. It was a technical melodic metal band, very much inspired by Shai Hulud, Early Stretch Armstrong, Faded Grey and a bit of the first Killswitch Engage album…actually a lot of the first album…ha! It was good fun. Basically the two guitarists were insanely good at writing this over the top stuff like Shai Hulud, and then the drummer and I would learn it and maybe add suggestions to the phrasing and arrangements. Will the drummer was and still is absolutely incredible as well, but I pretty much just played bass…more time for rocking out. It was really good fun, and we managed to do a fair bit of UK touring. Not enough, but it was pretty cool.
Pale Horse: Cover Your Tracks, - punk/hardcore band. It was pretty short lived. We put out a 5 song demo that sounded OK. We somehow booked a show with In Flames and Darkest Hour and broke up right before the show. I don’t have any pics of that band, but here’s some pretty sweet ones from Yeti… I may or may not be wearing makeup, spiked gauntlets, metal armor and swinging a battle axe with candles burning behind me… No big deal. Look mom, no tattoos in these pics. She’s so proud.
BIB: Who do you believe invented metal?
Brian Morris: I believe this to be impossible to answer… Possibly, the first person to articulate the idea of “NO”.
Godmachine: Ozzy. But Hendrix drew the outlines.
Dan Mumford: Satan, no question.
Pale Horse: Gotta be Black Sabbath. Goddamn, they were ahead of their time.
BIB: If you could put together your dream show, who would play? (Limit to 4 bands)
Brian Morris: In order of appearance: Blood Ceremony, Motorhead, Death Breath, Electric Wizard.
Godmachine: Thread (local bad RIP), Tool, Kyuss, Goblin Cock
Dan Mumford: Deftones, Buried Inside, Shai Hulud, Cynic…wow, great line up. I’m sure I haven’t utilized this question to its full potential, but right now I would like to see all those bands.
Pale Horse: Carcass, Neurosis, Deadguy, Integrity
BIB: Are you more excited about the Brutal Truth, Carcass or Judas Priest reunion?
Brian Morris: Out of those 3, I’d have to say Carcass. Brutal Truth sure, but not honest enough. The recent Priest rock opera makes me want to stab my ears and shit man, they are always “reuniting”.
Godmachine: None of the above.
Dan Mumford: Carcass, no doubt about it, amazing band.
Pale Horse: Oh shit. I saw Carcass on the reunion tour recently. Best band of all time…still!
BIB: If they made a movie about your life, what song would you want them to play during your death scene?
Brian Morris: You mean while I was killing someone right?
Godmachine: ‘I Did It My Way’ by Frank or Bug House by GVSB or Jungle Blues by CW STONEKING.
Dan Mumford: ‘Dried Up Goliathan’ off ‘Betrayer’ by Harlots, seriously an amazing song. The rest of the album is good too, but that song is SO EPIC. And it’s 8 minutes long, so it would be a super epic death…lots of slow motion. I think about these things often…
Pale Horse: Neurosis – Aeon
BIB: What record can’t you live without?
Brian Morris: Sleep: Jerusalem I can’t imagine going a week without listening to it from start to finish in a single sitting. It is capable of taking you to places otherwise not seen. Sounds dumb, but it’s true.
Godmachine: Goblin Cock. But it changes…
Dan Mumford: There’s too many to answer that question. I can’t do the question justice..,haha. I think one of my most listened to albums is probably Adamantium’s ‘From the Depths of Depression.’ I only had one tape in my car, and that was it. I’ve probably worn that album out now, but that always brings back good memories. But if I take it out of the metal realm, it would be something like the Cinematic Orchestra ‘Every Day’ or DJ Shadow ‘Endtroducing’.
Pale Horse: Right now it’s Big Business – Here Come The Waterworks. I need that album, once a week at least.
BIB: What are you listening to right now?
Brian Morris: Black Sabbath: Shock Wave from Never Say Die (1978)
Godmachine: Big Business - thanks to Pale Horse for getting me into them. I am stoked on the record ‘Here Comes The Water Works.’ Godmachine recommended!! Thank you guys.
Dan Mumford: Necrophagist! And a bunch of creative screenwriting podcasts.
Pale Horse: New Big Business album -”Mind the Drift”, Tweak Bird and Early Man
BIB: How many skulls do you have tattooed on your body?
Brian Morris: Oddly, only 3.
Godmachine: I don’t have any tattoos or piercings. I had my nipples pierced as a bet as I was always making fun of my mates - they are all tattooists and piercers, well some of them. So they dared me to see what all the fuss was about. It hurt. I am a big girl’s blouse. I think I drank about 2 pints in 20 mins through the shock.
Dan Mumford: NONE! I have no tattoos sadly, one day maybe…I just can’t decide.
Pale Horse: Got 4 on my leg sleeve.
BIB: Do you have a beard right now?
Brian Morris: Yep.
Godmachine: Yep.
Dan Mumford: I had a good four inch beauty the other day (out of context that sounds well dodgy) but I shaved…I am regretting it now, I don’t even know the guy in the mirror anymore. I have a bright ginger beard for some reason when I grow it. I have dark brown hair, so it’s quite odd to say the least.
Pale Horse: Constant beard since 2002.
BIB: Have you ever dated a girl that thought she could cast spells?
Brian Morris: Nope, but dated a few that actually could.
Godmachine: Nope - but she was a fucking witch.
Dan Mumford: I wish.
Pale Horse: Kinda strange how both Death Metal and Goth originated in Tampa, FL.”The Sunshine State” of all places. Even stranger that I’ve yet to make out with any hot spell casters. Damn…
BIB: Have you ever worn corpse paint?
Brian Morris: No, rather be the killer than the killed.
Godmachine: What the hell is ‘corpse paint’?
Dan Mumford: Yes, at least three times, and only once in an ironic way.
Pale Horse: Not full on corpse paint, but definitely blacked-out eyes on a regular basis in the early 2000’s.
BIB: Have you ever headbanged so hard your neck hurt the next day?
Brian Morris: Had neck pains for several days after Ozzfest 2005 (Mastodon, Rob Zombie, Black Label Society, Iron Maiden, Sabbath).
Godmachine: I never head banged before. My greasy metal headed Beavis and Butthead style mates used to do it in their bedrooms listening to Exploited or Megadeth, etc. and I would just watch. They claimed the faster and harder you did it the more high they got. Thank fuck for the following years where we all discovered weed.
Dan Mumford: Oh yeah, I’ve headbanged so hard my whole body hurt the next day. I have a terrible back from a youth spent headbanging and carrying bass cabinets…and also terrible hearing!
Pale Horse: My neck hurts right now from head banging.
