Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia; Mastodon is an American Heavy Metal band known for their unique Sludge/Progressive Metal sound. Pitched to perform in the upcoming Fly Music Festival in Delhi and Bangalore, we caught up with guitarist and mastermind behind the project – Bill Kelliher for a small interview:
Eight Octaves: Take us through your formative years and how did you develop the sound Mastodon is known for these days.
Bill: Well I started off playing guitar at the age of 14-15 and was really into ‘classic rock” every one of my friends were listening to Boston, Scorpions, Van Halen, Led Zeppelin, Ozzy, Sabbath….
more mainstream stuff. Right around this time “New Wave” and Punk rock started to catch my attention. I really enjoyed all the previous ‘Classic Rock” bands but, I couldn’t really play like those guys, or as good as Eddie Van Halen and Tony Iommi. So when I heard Punk rock, (Dead Kennedy’s, Ramones) I realized that these guys were just kids like me and were just banging on instruments and having a good time doing it. It was a DIY sorta thing and as I evolved my playing and listening to bands like Bad Brains and Bad Religion and Black Flag, that maybe I could play like them, and write my own stuff. Pretty soon I started my own punk rock band and was playing at my high school talent shows.
Then when bands like Metallica and Slayer came around I really was interested in what they were doing. Again they looked like regular guys with ripped jeans and t-shirts on. I felt like they were the voice of my rebellion and started to learn their songs and to play like them.
Eight Octaves: The release of Remission in 2002 put you on the radar and that was probably the first time listeners got a taste of your passion for intellectual and complex music. What went through your minds back then while writing and composing the album?
Bill: I don’t really know if we had time to think about what was on our minds, back then we were just trying to pay our rent and feed ourselves by playing on the road. We didn’t have much time to write those songs, I think a lot was written in the van. We toured constantly and only when it was time to tour did we take a 3 week break and write and put together that album. it was the first time we really worked together on a record, Lifesblood was more of songs that Me and Brann had written shoved together with some leftover songs that Troy and Brent had written.
We definitely knew we were on to something bigger and better than we had ever hoped for in this little sludgy dirt band from Atlanta.
Eight Octaves: According to fans and critics, your main asset is your drummer Brann; who was nominated in the Best Drummer category for Revolver Magazine’s Golden God Award. How much does his versatility contribute in your songs?
Bill: Very much, I mean Brann has a lot of passion for playing the drums and making that “perfect mixed tape” when writing a song. We work very close together when we write. He is always pushing himself and us to write more evil and play better and try harder to put our best riffs forward.
Eight Octaves: Neurosis has been one of your early influences and Scott Kelly from Neurosis has performed on every album of yours, excluding Remission. How does it feel to have him in studios?
Bill: We love neurosis and Scott. His voice is so brutal. Being heavily influenced by them when we write a part that needs a super heavy emotional scream, his voice is the heaviest it can get in the world of heavy music.
Eight Octaves: Over the years, your sound has changed; which hasn’t gone well with some fans and critics alike. That being said, as a band are you satisfied with the current sound and the constant experimentation process?
Bill: Not at all, I don’t really care what the critics say, never have. I write and play music for myself and the other 3 guys in my band. If we are happy with it and we have a captive audience somewhere then I’m happy. We have to experiment. You grow with age and mature and we are organic beings and so is the music we create.
Eight Octaves: Use of clean vocals is more apparent in your songs in recent times, any specific reason for that? Did the application of freestyle Jazz into Heavy Metal result in such a change?
Bill: I think that some of the music we have been writing lately and the focus on the simpler riff “Groove” has lent itself to the less aggressive vocals.
Eight Octaves: Your songs seem to be pretty popular in video games. They have been featured in Guitar Hero III, Rock Band 2, Need For Speed, Madden, Saints Row, etc. How much has that helped in the promotion of the band?
Bill: Well in this day and age you try and get your music to the kids and lots of kids play videogames. It’s a good way to introduce your band to them. A lot of young kids don’t go to shows or to the records stores to check out records. Everything is kinda faceless itunes singles.
Eight Octaves: Since your formation, you haven’t gone through a single band line-up change; which is pretty remarkable and is not seen very often. What is it that has kept you together as a band for more than a decade?
Bill: Finding the same like-minded people with the same goals is really key. When it clicks and you’ve found what works, you stick with it.
We know how to NOT push each other’s buttons, from years of close quarter living.
Eight Octaves: Your sixth studio album is due and reports said that you have plans to start recording early this year. What can we expect from it?
Bill: Probably some more of the unknown experimental free form jazz…..
Eight Octaves: Now, you are slated to perform in Fly Music Festival in India, on 16th and 17th of February. This gig being the first of its kind in India and is headlined by big names like Limp Bizkit, Anthrax and Manzarek-Kreiger. What are your expectations from the crowd and what can the Indian crowd expect from you?
Bill: We are really looking forward to playing for the fans in India. It will be our first show and we are super excited to meet some fans and eat some great Indian cuisine, they should expect an amazing loud and heavy mastodon concert with a bit of all the records in the show!
