An Unedited Moment With UK’s MORTISHEAD

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D-Rock: So, how are you guys? Thanks for your time. It’s nice to meet you fellows. I really enjoy your music! Can you tell me who all I am speaking with and give a brief statement on what you bring to the massiveness that is MORTISHEAD?

Nick “Slippers” Luxa- Richards: – effects/keys/samples – I am the band.

Jono Hoskins:- guitars – I do everything.

Luke “the Bastard”:- Vocals, I am the antagonistic front.

ThrAsh Doulton: – Chief mortis-shredder Guitars.

Dan Shaw Odell:- bass – Predominant headbanger.

Richard “Twitch” Nasmyth: – drums. I’ll make your mother thrash around like a shark in a puddle . Desperate for life.

D-Rock: Ha ha ha! Cool! So how long have you guys been at it and is the current lineup the way that it has always been or were there ever changes or additions?

Richard: The band was spawned around 2012/13 with Ash (thrAsh) and Slippers. They put an ad out on Youtube looking for experienced metal musicians to start a band.. They found Jono first and then an Irish guy called Jamie Mills on bass. We have free access to a studio as Slippers is a producer. They spent probably a year coming up with material and it was all mostly Thrash and melodic death vibe. Still no vocals or drummer at this point. They went through a few interesting auditions for vocalists and Drummers but ultimately they weren’t very fruitful. This is where our weird ass Octave C tuning comes in! One night after a few beers and a couple joints they started messing around with one of the recordings, it was a very thrashy track but they slowed it down like a hundred times and what was drop C came out as octave C. It sounded f**king savage. So the initial elements were born and baritone guitars were bought! Jamie had to move back to Ireland as he had family commitments so the band was essentially 2 guitars and keys/effects. At this point Rich (me, drums) had put an ad in a listing online looking for a band to join. Ash called me in for an audition and the rest was history from that point of view… When I heard what they were doing I was like, “What the f**k is this nonsense?”, but I couldn’t actually help but like it. So shortly after that we sourced Luke ” the bastard”. Luke is like a really old school black metal guy so really low guttural vibe. He came down to the studio for an audition and there’s this like 6ft 2 giant with long blonde hair. And a massive beard. We were like “perfect” but then he did these vocals and we were like…… s**t….. he looks perfect…. but that vocal style just aint right…. i had my head in my hands…. i was like… “how are we gonna handle this?”. They say honesty is the best policy and on this occasion it absolutely was. He took the criticism on the chin and said “Cool, can have another crack at it then guys?”… Then suddenly we are grinning from ear to ear. This f**king brutal mid to high range savagery spilled out of this guys face into the mic like satan had just s**t in your ear. And then we were pretty much gig ready. By this point its summer 2014. We still ideally need a bassist but by this point Jono is like, “Screw it, I’ll play bass til we find one”. We played some great shows with the likes of RSJ and AMPUTATED before we eventually found Dan on bass, he just lived like 3 doors down from me as well so it was perfect! By this point its January this year and we got him in time for the Metal 2 the masses campaign.mortishead 3

D-Rock: So tell me about shows coming soon that you are excited about. Will you guys be coming to the USA anytime soon?

Richard: Well we are currently competing in a competition called metal 2 the masses. We’re through to the Semi finals at the Exchange in Bristol on the 25th of May. If we win that, we go through to the final, if we win that, we get a spot on the new blood stage at Bloodstock. Which will be a huge opportunity and a dream come true for us. We’d love to come to the states, if  it’ll have us. I guess the aim for us is to get a support slot with an established US band. But I think we’ve got a little way to go before those types of opportunities arise.mortishead 2

D-Rock:  So do you guys have to have jobs? if so, what do you do?

Richard: Yeah, we all work full-time pretty much. I work as an account manager for a life insurance provider.

ThrAsh: I am a music teacher.

Slippers: I am a recording engineer and works as a mall cop.

Luke: I am a head Chef.

Jono: I just finished University studying media and am now working as a guitar specialist at a gear store.

Dan:I am studying music at college and I work part-time in a café.mortishead 5

D-RockAny of you guys have any weird hobbies? I was in a band with a guy once who had to have dirt from every town we played in unless he already had some from there. Ha ha!

Nick: Other than meeting up with 5 hairy men and getting racy and sweaty together? You probably aren’t weird enough D-Rock…

D-Rock: Dude, you have no f**king idea…

Luke: I sniff glue and masturbate furiously over pictures of David Attenborough in the 50’s. No one has time for hobbies. We have a band, families, and work. I guess my hobby is sobbing in a corner when it all get’s too much.

Richard: I scour restaurants in Bristol looking for the best Roast Dinner… Genuinely, so far its Luke‘s (he’s a head chef). I’m not just saying that because he’s my friend. In fact I hate giving him complements. It makes me cringe…

Jono: I like gore laden video games, but who doesn’t? I also like hamsters.

D-Rock: It has been an absolute pleasure chatting with you fellows and I know you are very busy. Thank you so much for your time!

This is the first song I ever heard from this outstanding sextet that some random person shared with me (yes, I listen to everything that my friends turn me on to.)

https://youtu.be/F8g5eNtORz0

Then they kicked me in the teeth with this jewel…