Interview:
Before the Psychostick gig, the Musipedia were lucky enough to catch a few words with bassist Matty J Moose and guitarist Josh "The J" Key.
Stief: This Is your first headlining tour in the UK, how does that feel, and did you ever expect to get to this point?
Josh: I'd say we hoped for it, but you never really can expect anything that's ultimately out of your control, you can only just do your best and hope that things work out, but things worked out.
Matty: Like, what did you think in 2000 when you were in Tempe, Arizona, trying to put these songs together for the first time, was this even remotely a thought?
Josh: Even, hell just getting a CD out was an achievement, you know? just getting a CD done was like, you know, at that point was like the proudest achievement of my life.
Matty: When you're climbing a ladder, you know, you're not focused on what's 7 rungs up that way, you're focused on getting your hand on this one and pulling yourself up to the next thing, so, I mean last year was a complete mindfuck just coming over here with Dog Fashion Disco.
Josh: Yeah, like 'I can't believe we're actually here, you know? we're doing well enough to actually be here!'
Stief: This Is your first headlining tour in the UK, how does that feel, and did you ever expect to get to this point?
Josh: I'd say we hoped for it, but you never really can expect anything that's ultimately out of your control, you can only just do your best and hope that things work out, but things worked out.
Matty: Like, what did you think in 2000 when you were in Tempe, Arizona, trying to put these songs together for the first time, was this even remotely a thought?
Josh: Even, hell just getting a CD out was an achievement, you know? just getting a CD done was like, you know, at that point was like the proudest achievement of my life.
Matty: When you're climbing a ladder, you know, you're not focused on what's 7 rungs up that way, you're focused on getting your hand on this one and pulling yourself up to the next thing, so, I mean last year was a complete mindfuck just coming over here with Dog Fashion Disco.
Josh: Yeah, like 'I can't believe we're actually here, you know? we're doing well enough to actually be here!'
Matty: And then we get here finally last year and we're absolutely shocked, I speak for everyone when I say how shocked we were that there are so many fans here that rabidly love us and support us like all the time, and that really made it apparent, we're like 'oh man, maybe we should like, come back here all the time. Maybe we can do a headlining tour here' so this is more of an experiment than anything else, trying to get it done and with Green Jello unfortunately dropping off the tour, it's just us. Made it a little bit more difficult, but I'm still flabbergasted it's working.
Josh: Yeah, still having a good time.
Matty: People keep showing up to shows, and promoters keep paying us [laughs]
Josh: Keep drinking lots and lots of beer. Seriously, like, last year when I came here for the first time, I hadn't drank like that since I turned 21, the legal drinking age in the US, and uh, you can say the same about this tour too [laughs] so much beer!
Stief: Is our beer any good?
Matty: Oh yeah! This stuff's awesome!
Josh: I'm trying all this different shit I've never heard of.
Stief: what's your favourite so far?
Matty: It's hard to pick one, I mean, we put Guinness on our rider because we loved it so much last year, and it tastes so much smoother and richer here than it does back in the states.
Josh: Even though everybody says its even better in Ireland.
Josh: Yeah, still having a good time.
Matty: People keep showing up to shows, and promoters keep paying us [laughs]
Josh: Keep drinking lots and lots of beer. Seriously, like, last year when I came here for the first time, I hadn't drank like that since I turned 21, the legal drinking age in the US, and uh, you can say the same about this tour too [laughs] so much beer!
Stief: Is our beer any good?
Matty: Oh yeah! This stuff's awesome!
Josh: I'm trying all this different shit I've never heard of.
Stief: what's your favourite so far?
Matty: It's hard to pick one, I mean, we put Guinness on our rider because we loved it so much last year, and it tastes so much smoother and richer here than it does back in the states.
Josh: Even though everybody says its even better in Ireland.
Stief: Yeah, I've heard that, my friends have said it's awesome in Ireland. (It is - Beer Ed)
Josh: It's already so much better here than it is in America.
Matty: People have been bringing us all kinds of stuff that I can't even begin to list it, I mean, this is our 7th or 8th show and we've probably sampled 20,30 different beers already.
Stief: Awesome, how do you feel the UK audiences differ from the American and Canadian audiences?
Matty: For the most part, they care more. To sum it up kinda broadly, I see kids just go all the way, whereas in America, somebody might hang out back by the bar, watch the show from the bar, enjoy it, they might not come up and say hello afterwards. They might show up, watch the show and leave without ever saying hello or buying any merch.
Josh: Americans are like, I dunno, some people can just be too cool. It's hard to get them to loosen up and just enjoy themselves.
Matty: That's a good way to put it, crowds are a lot more easy going here, they're here to have fun, not to be cool or be seen or anything else, they're here to throw down.
Josh: One thing I see here that I don't see in America is like, for example, if someone is really, really into metal here, like death metal or something like that, they don't automatically just shun all other music and just hate other music that's not metal. It's just like 'I just love the shit outta metal' it's not like 'this defines who I am.' I appreciate that, because I love my metal, but I don't feel like I have to follow a certain set of rules, like 'if you like metal you have to wear these kinds of clothes and you have to be this kind of person and you have to do these kind of things' it's not so much like that here, and it's really nice.
Stief: Following on from the first question, this is your first time playing Wales. How's Wales treating you?
Josh: It's already so much better here than it is in America.
Matty: People have been bringing us all kinds of stuff that I can't even begin to list it, I mean, this is our 7th or 8th show and we've probably sampled 20,30 different beers already.
Stief: Awesome, how do you feel the UK audiences differ from the American and Canadian audiences?
Matty: For the most part, they care more. To sum it up kinda broadly, I see kids just go all the way, whereas in America, somebody might hang out back by the bar, watch the show from the bar, enjoy it, they might not come up and say hello afterwards. They might show up, watch the show and leave without ever saying hello or buying any merch.
Josh: Americans are like, I dunno, some people can just be too cool. It's hard to get them to loosen up and just enjoy themselves.
Matty: That's a good way to put it, crowds are a lot more easy going here, they're here to have fun, not to be cool or be seen or anything else, they're here to throw down.
Josh: One thing I see here that I don't see in America is like, for example, if someone is really, really into metal here, like death metal or something like that, they don't automatically just shun all other music and just hate other music that's not metal. It's just like 'I just love the shit outta metal' it's not like 'this defines who I am.' I appreciate that, because I love my metal, but I don't feel like I have to follow a certain set of rules, like 'if you like metal you have to wear these kinds of clothes and you have to be this kind of person and you have to do these kind of things' it's not so much like that here, and it's really nice.
Stief: Following on from the first question, this is your first time playing Wales. How's Wales treating you?
Josh: Great!
Matty: I can't understand a thing, it's amazing.
Stief: Do you want to learn some welsh? I've got some written down that might be helpful. 'Oes Tafarn Yn agos i fan hyn?' which means 'is there a pub nearby?'
Stief: Do you want to learn some welsh? I've got some written down that might be helpful. 'Oes Tafarn Yn agos i fan hyn?' which means 'is there a pub nearby?'
[Both laugh]
Matty: You don't even have to ask that question, the answer's always yes.
Matty: You don't even have to ask that question, the answer's always yes.
Stief: Any news on a new album or any new songs?
Josh: Mhmm, we actually just finished recording a song right before we came over here, and when we go back we're gonna record some more. We have a lot of music we wanna just get out.
Matty: I feel like we've been mining songs for a while, so we have a lot of song ore, and now it's ready to be smelted down and stamped into actual songs, so we have, too many ideas, too many.
Josh: We have like seven or eight that are close to done, we just agree on the final order, just learned the new song and recorded it.
Matty: We're playing one tonight, we're playing a new one on this tour so...
Josh: We got a little behind because we had to move our recording studio and we lost some time having to do that, but we're back on track and we actually just recorded our first thing in our new studio, sounds great. He was making sound panels like, literally two weeks before the tour [laughs]
Matty: We kinda shot ourselves in the foot a little bit. Preparing for this tour's, I'm gonna say a lot of work, preparing for any tour is a lot of work, but especially an international tour, especially a -headlining- international tour with buses and money, I mean I'm dealing with dollars, pounds and euros on this tour, so I've never had to do that before and that's got my head spinning. At the same time we're recording songs, at the same time we're building a studio, at the same time.
Josh: We're shooting music videos.
Matty: Shooting music videos, like all that happened in the last two weeks, so let's not do that again [laughs] let's take our time next time.
Josh: sounds good to me.
Matty: But It's fun, we've got a lot of fun stuff coming in, I'm excited, I wish I could tell you more.
Stief: Don't worry, I won't pry anymore. Finally, what's your favourite sheep?
Matty: [looks at the selection of sheep.] Ooh, pretty girls. [laughs] Just looking at them, immediately, I'm gonna have to go with the Suffolk because that's the county I grew up in, and it looks smaller, and more manageable. I dunno how much you can just grab onto a blackface or a dalesbred? I dunno.
Josh: Mhmm, we actually just finished recording a song right before we came over here, and when we go back we're gonna record some more. We have a lot of music we wanna just get out.
Matty: I feel like we've been mining songs for a while, so we have a lot of song ore, and now it's ready to be smelted down and stamped into actual songs, so we have, too many ideas, too many.
Josh: We have like seven or eight that are close to done, we just agree on the final order, just learned the new song and recorded it.
Matty: We're playing one tonight, we're playing a new one on this tour so...
Josh: We got a little behind because we had to move our recording studio and we lost some time having to do that, but we're back on track and we actually just recorded our first thing in our new studio, sounds great. He was making sound panels like, literally two weeks before the tour [laughs]
Matty: We kinda shot ourselves in the foot a little bit. Preparing for this tour's, I'm gonna say a lot of work, preparing for any tour is a lot of work, but especially an international tour, especially a -headlining- international tour with buses and money, I mean I'm dealing with dollars, pounds and euros on this tour, so I've never had to do that before and that's got my head spinning. At the same time we're recording songs, at the same time we're building a studio, at the same time.
Josh: We're shooting music videos.
Matty: Shooting music videos, like all that happened in the last two weeks, so let's not do that again [laughs] let's take our time next time.
Josh: sounds good to me.
Matty: But It's fun, we've got a lot of fun stuff coming in, I'm excited, I wish I could tell you more.
Stief: Don't worry, I won't pry anymore. Finally, what's your favourite sheep?
Matty: [looks at the selection of sheep.] Ooh, pretty girls. [laughs] Just looking at them, immediately, I'm gonna have to go with the Suffolk because that's the county I grew up in, and it looks smaller, and more manageable. I dunno how much you can just grab onto a blackface or a dalesbred? I dunno.
Josh: Gimme that, I wanna see. [Takes the
Matty: But Jacob looks like the guy I'd hang out and have a beer with him. [laughs]
Josh: Let's see here, I dunno, I'm just drawn to Portland.
Matty: Portland yeah? that's my second choice.
Josh: [Laughs]
Matty: We were just talking about this yesterday, about how lamb is much less prevalent in the United States. There doesn't seem to be shepherds and that sort of thing over there, where it's really more beef based, a lot more cow, so it's nice to come over here and have so much lamb just everywhere, have that option.
Stief: Lamb and mint?
Matty: I love it...I love eating it, I don't wanna go too crazy with the love, y'know. [Laughs]
Josh: [Laughs]
Stief: [laughs] Anyway, thank you guys
Matty: But Jacob looks like the guy I'd hang out and have a beer with him. [laughs]
Josh: Let's see here, I dunno, I'm just drawn to Portland.
Matty: Portland yeah? that's my second choice.
Josh: [Laughs]
Matty: We were just talking about this yesterday, about how lamb is much less prevalent in the United States. There doesn't seem to be shepherds and that sort of thing over there, where it's really more beef based, a lot more cow, so it's nice to come over here and have so much lamb just everywhere, have that option.
Stief: Lamb and mint?
Matty: I love it...I love eating it, I don't wanna go too crazy with the love, y'know. [Laughs]
Josh: [Laughs]
Stief: [laughs] Anyway, thank you guys
Review:
The crowd is sparse at the globe tonight, but that doesn't stop self-confessed 'sexually confident' local boys Among The Dead (8) blowing the roof off the place. The band are energetic, and show that a band can be both brutal and hilarious. Lead singer Gavin Robinson's banter with the crowd puts a smile on my face, both during songs and in between. The band don't take themselves seriously, but they take their music seriously, with heavy bass and drums from Jamie Morgon and Shaun Hodson, backed up by excellent riffage from Scott 'Dotty' Morgan.
Overall, this is a band I'm going to keep my eye on, and from the looks of the crowd, they've gained a lot of fans tonight.
The same cannot be said however, for Incursion (3). They have their fans, with a few members of the crowd wearing their merch, however, I think the fans end there. It's hard to tell if the band are actually playing the instruments, and the fact their drummer is in fact a Pop Vinyl figurine of Ant Man doesn't help much and two songs in, I decide to get some air.
The crowd is sparse at the globe tonight, but that doesn't stop self-confessed 'sexually confident' local boys Among The Dead (8) blowing the roof off the place. The band are energetic, and show that a band can be both brutal and hilarious. Lead singer Gavin Robinson's banter with the crowd puts a smile on my face, both during songs and in between. The band don't take themselves seriously, but they take their music seriously, with heavy bass and drums from Jamie Morgon and Shaun Hodson, backed up by excellent riffage from Scott 'Dotty' Morgan.
Overall, this is a band I'm going to keep my eye on, and from the looks of the crowd, they've gained a lot of fans tonight.
The same cannot be said however, for Incursion (3). They have their fans, with a few members of the crowd wearing their merch, however, I think the fans end there. It's hard to tell if the band are actually playing the instruments, and the fact their drummer is in fact a Pop Vinyl figurine of Ant Man doesn't help much and two songs in, I decide to get some air.
I return half an hour later, and the room is a lot more crowded, ready for the hilarity of Psychostick (9) With the 'Jelly' aspect of the tour, Green Jelly, having had to pull out for personal reasons, it's up to the american foursome to take over the stage. Opening, naturally, with Welcome To The Show, the band work through their classics. With most songs such as Obey The Beard and Girl Directions, the crowd are singing along, with an impromptu kazoo orchestra during Bruce Campbell surprising even the band themselves. There's a cover of a song from a cartoon (The Doom Song from Invader Zim) and We're even treated to a new song, Adulting, which gives a good idea of what to expect soon from the quartet. Frontman 'Rawrb' Kersey leads the band through every song with aplomb, and although his voice isn't the greatest, he can growl and scream with the best of them. Josh Key is great on guitars, and Matty J Moose's slap bass skills are something to see, with Alex Dontre providing the percussion. The band are just as heavy live as on album and as I walk out to the wonderful We Ran Out Of CD Space, I can't help having a huge smile on my face. At the end of the day this band is stupid, but that's why everyone here loves them.
I also enjoyed the Southampton gig, 1st time seeing them live and they were as tight as they are on album. Quite upset that Green Jelly were too ill to play.
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