It's
my pleasure to be interviewing Lisa Mungo and Brian McClelland from Seattle's very own
Doomgaze/Post-Hardcore/Post-Metal riffsters – He Whose Ox is Gored,
who have been making a name for themselves over the last few years
with their critically acclaimed EP's.
Their
latest release – Nightshade – is starting to win them a lot of
praise within the underground metal community. Their style of Sludge,
Doom, Post-Hardcore, Post-Metal and Post-Rock will easily put you in
a hypnotic trance.
The
band are currently recording their début full length record to be
released later this year. Before that I have been given the chance to
catch up with this hugely talented genre-defying band and get the low
down on their music and forthcoming début album.
So
lets see what they have to say to us...
Q1
– Hi there. Thanks for doing this. How are things with you today.
LM.
Great! Thanks for having us. We're just catching up on some last
minute things before hitting the road for tour.
BM.
Awesome. Catching up on some Game of Thrones and talking shit on
Twitter, haha.
Q2
– Can you give a brief history of how the band came about and where
it is today.
BM.
Yeah, it's been kind of a journey. Lisa and I met in 2008 after we
both moved to here for music. We started the band around 2009 after I
had been working on demos for a while, playing some of Seattle's
killer dives (Funhouse, Comet Tavern RIP). By 2010, we put out a
couple smaller releases independently and started finding some
textures we wanted to work with.
LM.
We hit the road as much as we could, with a few lineup changes along
the way. John O'Connell (drums) played with us on our OP AMPS II EP
before joining Brothers of the Sonic Cloth with Tad Doyle for a
while. Mike Sparks (bass) joined up about two years ago, but has been
playing together with John in their band By Sunlight for years. When
we decided to start working on our full-length, we called John up,
and he jumped in full time to round out the current lineup.
Q3
– Lets talk about your fantastic band name. He Whose Ox is Gored.
Where did that name came from. Any particular meaning to it.
BM.
The name was given to us by the Wolfduggler. In another place and
time. He came to show us the way.
LM.
It's biblical, baby.
Q4
– Your sound is very hard to describe. A brutal blend of Sludge,
Doom, Post-Metal and Post-Hardcore. Though your own description of
Doomgaze only gives a slight glimpse of your music. How would you
best describe your music.
BM.
I'd say that's pretty good. We've always loved doomgaze because
people understand there's some texture to it. A lot of the time,
someone that hears the name without seeing us will assume it's metal,
but will usually have some awesome descriptor that we could never
come up with after catching us live. More often than not we just tell
people it's heavy.
Q5
– Which bands and artists influenced you as musicians. Any
particular bands or albums stand out.
LM.
King Crimson - In the Wake of Poseidon and ELO - El Dorado. Isis,
John Carpenter. You know, jammers.
BM.
Yeah, definitely John Carpenter. Lisa got me into the soundtrack
stuff way more. Plus, there are a ton of Seattle bands that we've
been listening to for years that really shaped what we do. Botch,
These Arms are Snakes, Heiress.
Q6
– Your 2011 EP – Nightshade – is a brilliant EP. Loved it. I
loved the different styles of music combine to take you on a weird
and heavy psychedelic journey. Was that an easy EP to write and
record for at the time.
LM.
I love this EP for selfish reasons. Up until this point, Brian had a
catalog of songs that were already written, but this was the first
time we really got to reach out and explore a bit more as a team. We
took a few risks with the atmospherics and manipulated vocals. It was
subtle, but it definitely got the ball rolling towards where we
wanted to go. That, and recording with Chris Common at Red Room, who
has made some of our favorite records.
BM.
That record was great. At the time, we had Travis Brenden (bass) and
Patrick Huerta (drums) in the lineup, and those dudes are both
awesome players as well. We definitely had a good vibes as we were
writing the songs. We were all kind of living on shoestrings as a
band, but that's one of those things that really pushes you as an
artist to try new stuff and really go for it. And yeah, Chris Common
is an encyclopedia of studio knowledge as well, so he helped us
finally get some of the tone we were looking for.
Q7
– It's being released on Vinyl through Caffe Vita Records. How did
that come about. Are you Vinyl fans yourselves.
LM.
Mike from Caffe Vita has been helping out Seattle bands for years to
get their records out, and I was working for him for a while. He'd
been putting out bands like The Head & The Heart, Iska Dhaaf, and
Tilson XOXO, and when he reached out to us, we were thrilled. Up
until then, Nightshade was only available as a digital download.
BM.
Yeah, he's been super cool. We got into vinyl and record collecting a
while back, and it's been totally fun to go through and design the
release and get it in your hands, you know. When we showed Mike what
we had in mind, he was totally supportive. I love the whole limited
edition collector's vibe of colored vinyl, and he was into the
splatter designs and artwork we came up with so it worked out really
well.
Q8
– You're currently recording your début full length record. Can
you give us more information about the album. When will it be
released and what people can expect from it.
BM.
Yeah, it's taken a while for us to get the material where we wanted
it, but we're super excited with the final product. Some tracks we've
had for a long time, and some we wrote as we were in the studio, so
there's good deal of variation between songs. There's more depth and
texture since we've had some time to look at the structures and pick
them through. We try to focus on pushing forward in the right ways
instead of banging songs out, which can be frustrating sometimes, but
sometimes you go back and think, I can't believe we made this thing,
you know? It's great.
LM.
Totally. One of the biggest factors has been Mike and John
abstracting the rhythm section and really adding new elements to the
sound. They're both phenomenal musicians and they have this chemistry
from playing together for years that's so much fun to work with.
They've really changed the sound in a very exciting way. Once we got
the bulk of the ideas down, we started tracking with Robert Cheek
(Tera Melos, Chelsea Wolfe) between Red Room and ExEx Audio, his
studio. I tracked for a couple days with Randall Dunn (Sunn O)),
Earth, Wolves in the Throne Room) over at Avast to get my hands on
his collection of killer vintage synths, and then we headed back to
Red Room to mix with Matt Bayles. It's been and incredible process.
As of now, we're still working on a release date, but we'll have some
news coming soon.
Q9
– What is the song-writing process in the band. Is it a group
collective or is it down to one individual.
BM.
The Wolfduggler writes all of our songs. He came to show us the way.
LM.
To show us the way.
Q10
– You're from Seattle which is primarily known for the legendary
Grunge Scene. Is it hard for a band like yourselves to perform
regular gigs in Seattle or is their a wider rock/metal scene within
Seattle for you to perform regular gigs.
BM.
Not really. The grunge thing was huge in the mainstream, but people
here have continued to make awesome music for years. Luckily, there's
no shortage of rad and diverse bands.
LM.
Totally. We're very fortunate to be in a scene that promotes
experimentation, especially as a heavy band. There are a ton of
people that work hard every day to help get the word out. From zines
like Seattle/Portland Passive Aggressive, to blogs like Seattle Rock
Guy, The Stranger's Lineout, to DIY venues, people are always finding
new bands and throwing awesome shows.
Q11
– Though Seattle seems to have a wealth of outstanding
Sludge/Doom/Stoner Metal bands to check out such as Lesbian, Ancient
Warlocks, yourselves, Helms Alee, Princess, Serial Hawk and GIZA to
name but a few. Have you toured with any of those bands. Can you
recommend any more bands for our readers to check out.
BM.
Definitely. Sandrider is a favorite around here, as well as Brothers
of the Sonic Cloth, Occult SS, Wounded Giant, Breag Naofa, Grenades,
Don Peyote, and Mercy Ties. Constant Lovers just put out a killer
record called Experience Feelings on Good to Die, that's getting a
lot of spins around here. Serial Hawk is like our brother band, too.
Those guys do work, son. Keep an eye on them for sure.
Q12
– Do you perform gigs on a regular basis in your home town or do
you have to travel further afield to perform regularly.
LM.
We play when the moon is full and the shred wolves howl.
Q13
– What are you thoughts on the crowd-funding scene where bands and
artists ask fans to help fund their latest album, tour or release.
Are you fans of this medium. Would yourselves ever go down this
route.
BM.
If it works for the band, I'm for it. Here's the thing, big labels
are dead, small labels are sometimes barely operating, and cloud
services are screwing bands after years of free downloads. You know,
just today, I did a calculation on Wolfbrigade's Comalive record.
They had about a hundred thousand plays on Spotify, and according to
the formula that Spotify publishes, those dudes made $630. What is
that shit? I'd much rather give my money directly to a band that has
a plan. That's the best feeling in the world! I'm not talking about
some Amanda Palmer shit, where you make a million fucking dollars on
Kickstarter and try to pay your cellist in drink tickets, fuck her
for that, but if a band has a dedicated fanbase that wants to help an
artist achieve a goal, then fucking right on, man. It didn't work for
us when we tried to pay for this record, but hey, you win some you
lose some, haha.
Q14
– What is your live set-up when performing on stage. Any advanced
rigs or do you have a more straight forward set-up.
BM.
Mike and John's rigs are pretty straight. Mike's rocking a V4 that
Ben Verellen has brought back from the dead so many times, it could
earn him the title of Amp Jesus. John's still working out his rototom
setup, but we insisted he keep it after seeing his Rush cover band
last weekend. My pedalboard has been lovingly nicknamed the Squirrel
Cage from the array of wires extruding and an agitated and seemingly
sentient presence in the band. Half of the time, I can't tell if Lisa
is plugging in MIDI cables or moonlighting as a police dispatcher,
but somehow it all works out.
LM.
Yeah, haha. I'm auditioning for Daft Punk next week. Gotta work on my
synth pyramid.
BM.
Yeah you are.
Q15
– In 5 words or less, what is the live HE WHOSE OX IS GORED
experience like.
LM.
Our soundtrack to your armageddon.
BM.
I was going to say, Terminator 2: Live in Person. That works, right?
LM.
That works too, duder.
Q16
- If you could give any advice to people wanting to start a band
what would it be.
LM.
God luck and good speed.
BM.
Have fucking fun, and don't look down. You told me that, girl.
LM.
Yeah I did. It seems to work. Sort of, haha.
Q17
- Apart from the new album what else do you have in store over the
next 12 months or so.
BM.
We're finishing up a 7" called Rumours that'll be out on
Bleeding Light Records in the fall. That one's going to be stuff we
wrote after the record that's completely separate. We're also
releasing a tape comp of our OP AMPS II/Nightshade EPs on Breathe
Plastic Records in Europe in the next month or two. Preorders for
that are up here.
Other
than that, making pizza, getting more bro tatz, and booking more
tours. Oh, and writing the next record.
Q18
– And finally, do you have anything to say to your fans.
LM.
Yeah. We lost a friend and long-time fan recently. Our buddy Daniel
Adam Driskill passed recently after a battle with cancer. He showed
us how to live life and have fun in the face of death. He came out to
so many shows around Seattle, he loved the scene. We appreciated all
of his support over the years, and we wanted to share the joy and
excitement for art that he shared with us. Thanks, Dan. You are one
of one.
Thanks
for doing this. Can't wait to hear your debut album when it's finally
unleashed upon to the world.
Once
again, thanks to Cat Jones at Southern Cross PR for arranging this
interview.
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