|
|
Hi guys what’s up with you? Please
introduce yourselves to the readers?
What’s up Patrick, doing great. We are Vic and Tim, hence the label name
(Victim Music) of Mass Murder Frenzy out of Orange County California.
When did you guys first meet? Is Mass
Murder Frenzy the first band you played in together?
Tim: Vic came to be in MMF around 2008. He answered an ad I
had placed for a bass player on craigslist. He came and tried out. He did a
good job so I ended up picking him out of a few other candidates. Yes. MMF
is the first band Vic and I played in together.
When did you start up the band? For the
readers who have never heard the band how would you describe the bands
music?
Tim: I started the whole thing way back, about 95’ish with a
couple buddies of mine. We were called Decubitus at that time. I played bass
and vocals, the other two were guitar players. I played guitar just not for
that project, no one wanted to play bass so I stepped up. We couldn’t find
the right drummer. Death metal drummers in Orange County California at that
time were very rare. Every one of them we tried out couldn’t do double bass
the way we needed them to. That’s when Ii met the “Alesis SR-16” drum
muchine. We recorded a four song demo with the
drum machine and it sounded killer. We set out to do some shows with it but
left it at that, with every band you have musical differences. In 2003 I was
sick and tired of joining bands that just ended up disbanding. So I started
Decubitus back up but the other two weren’t interested. So I changed the
name to MMF and wrote all new material and new members. My intention for the
music was a thrashy death metal sound. Very heavy sound. It has become more
brutal sounding since the beginning I think. I can’t put a label or compare
our sound to others though because I try to write it how MMF should sound.
Slayer sounds like Slayer. Then and now. I wanted that for MMF. I’ve been
told I have a European/Florida death metal sound. Vic brings something a bit
different to the sound, but we just play heavy brutal death metal. Not too
fancy, but not to rip off the listener.
MMF Has had both a full line-up and
currently is just the two of you. Have you guys searched for other members
to join the band or are you happy as a two-piece?
Tim: Vic and I are happy with just the two of us. No hassles.
We’ve searched for drummers in the past and decided with our lives the way
they are, this is how it should be. The last drummer we had was a guy by the
name of Brandon Trahan. He played in my cousin’s band “Mirror of Dead Faces”
and currently plays for “Impending Doom”. He was perfect for MMF and we
tried to get him to record on the album but didn’t work out. Nothing more to
say. I still give him a shout out because he was such a cool guy and
probably the best drummer we’ve jammed with. Just wasn’t in the cards. You
can see him playing with us going over Entombed in Flesh on our myspace
videos = www.myspace.com/officialmassmurderfrenzy
Please tell the readers a little about Mass
Murder Frenzy's past releases. Are these still available? What about any
other merchandise like stickers, shirts etc..
Tim: The first album is called “Below The Surface” the
original line-up recorded in 2006. This album was strictly promotional. You
can still down load the 6 songs “for free!” From our web site
www.massmurderfrenzy.com click on albums. The second release was self titled
and the first time I recorded with a drum program in 2009. This was also the
first attempt for me becoming a one man project. I recorded everything alone
and released it alone. Very few copies were made. This cd had all six songs
from “Below The Surface” I rerecorded with the drum program, with five new
songs. I am in the works of reprinting this cd under my label “Victim Music”
and will be selling them on our web site hopefully soon. MMF has t shirts of
the old logo for sale on our web site. We are in the works on getting
“Unleashed” shirts printed up. Haven’t found a good enough deal yet. We have
stickers and hopefully more merch with the fans support.
The band recently released its third
masterpiece of sickness "Unleashed". How long did it take you guys to write
and record the songs for this release?
Tim: Total? About a year and a half. I started writing before
Vic came back into the picture again. Vic was off doing other projects at
the time. He came to me with some good material and a different attitude
about the music so we started collaborating with all the songs we had
together. Recorded them about the end of 2010 which took about two months
off and on. Mixing and mastering took about 1 month to where we were happy
with it.
Are you both happy with how everything
turned out? How has the response been from the press and fans?
Tim: We are very happy with the way “Unleashed” came out. For
our accomplishment and hard work we put into this release. We set out for a
brutal sounding album and we succeeded very well in our opinions. For a band
that doos not tour, the response from the fans has proven that to us so far.
The album is selling very well for us, about ready for a second pressing.
Promotion from press has been very positive. Webzines, online retailers,
local California retailers and online radio play has helped immensely spread
the sickness that is MMF.
Who usually handles the lyrics what are
some topics/subjects you write about?
Tim: I have always handled the lyric writing in the past, but
Vic wrote Black Sun (about the end of everything) on this album and will
have more for the next release. I’ve always been interested in human
behavior of all kinds. Religion, murder and such, more towards religious
beliefs, but psychotic behavior as well. People are fucked up! And there’s a
lot to write about. “Unleashed” is more about the failure and lie of jesus
christ. God unleashes the fury upon man because his so called son failed to
save us from our sins. Not in a Satanistic way though. We are not a Satanic
band, more an agnostic way of thinking. The artwork on the album in my
vision is god releasing his army upon us all. It was done by Brutal Disorder
logos.
What does the term "underground metal" mean
to the both of you?
Underground metal is a society. Human beings that thrive on extreme emotion,
adrenaline and life ending moments. Metal is the catalyst to this society
that brings it all together and bonds it. It is that bond that fans show the
bands they love and support that we all need to survive and thrive in this
society (underground metal). Sometimes it’s all we have.
I know you both have been a
part of the death metal underground for quite a few years. So I was curious
how do you feel it has changed over the years? Also I know over the last few
years I have heard/read some people say the u/g is dead or dying. Would
either of you agree or disagree with that statement?
Tim: We’ve seen the only thing that’s really changed is the
styles of metal. There are so many different types of metal now and there
all at different levels in the industry, but the heart in the music is still
there in each of these bands know matter what style they play. They all want
to record an album and play there music in front of the biggest crowds.
There was a time when death metal was in the mainstream for a short period,
but things change with time and people’s interests move with the fads.
That’s why bands like us depend on the underground. These are devoted human
beings that thrive for this music and to be honest we can’t really say if
the scene is dead or dying. Only because we haven't been out touring in so
long. Seeing the crowds and who’s coming to the shows. We can say here in OC,
LA, SD etc… at some of the shows we've gone to it’s not even close to what
it was, say 10 years ago. Now we see 5/6 bands on one bill to fill a club.
Even with the bigger iconic bands. I don’t think its dead nor do I think its
dying ether. It’s underground that’s what it is.
Tim you handle the vocals for the band. At
what age did you start singing? Who are some of your favorite vocalist? Do
you do anything special to keep your throat/vocals healthy?
Tim: I started about 17 years old. No one could sing the way I
wanted so I just started doing it. (If you cant tell already I’m pretty
picky) I sucked, but kept going and finally got the hang of it. I didn’t
start death vocals though till about 2003 when I started Decubitus. My voice
was more a James Hetfield (old Metallica)/Chuck Billy style so it wasn’t
such a drastic change when I started singing death metal. In fact it was
easier for me. I was really into David Vincent, Glen Benton at first. Then
Hate Eternal came out and Eric Rutan is the shit for me. The anger in his
voice is the ultimate. I love these types of vocals though because they are
so natural and aggressive. I don’t really do anything special for my voice.
When I am recording I tend to drink a lot of Dr Pepper. LOL. It has to be
room temperature though. It makes my voice feel raw. Ha, I don’t know. Weird
I guess.
You also do the drum programming for the
songs. I was curious what programs do you use to get the drums to sound so
real? {trust me if you haven’t heard "Unleashed" the drums do sound pretty
realistic} how long does it usually take you to complete a song?
We used native instruments battery 2 drum program. The drums sounded the
realest to us on it and I wanted a more triggered drum set sound verses a
recorded drum set with added trigger sounds, if that makes sense? Some if
not most indie metal bands with drummers who have trashcan sounding drums or
can’t get the double bass hits on time will use a program to replace the bad
sounding drums or off hits. I didn’t want that. I like (because it's old
school sounding) triggered drums into the mixing board sound. That's how it
used to be in live situations. I just liked that sound. It sometimes comes
pretty fast writing drum patterns. We record everything first with a click
on my recording software “Cubase”. We run battery 2 as a midi vst
instrument. Open the drum editor in Cubase when everything is recorded and
start writing patterns. It’s pretty simple when you get the hang of it.
Tim you handle the guitars for the band.
When did you start playing the guitars? Who are some of your
influences/favorite guitarist? Do you play any other instruments besides the
guitars?
Tim: Vic also is on guitar and writes riffs. I’ll usually
arrange them more for him.
I started really playing when I was 16. My first guitar I got when I was 14
but frustration of not being able to play it took care of that. I found
someone to give me lessons so I gave it a try again and kept with it. My
biggest influence was my guitar teacher Rick Scott Crocco of the 80’s metal
band Eden. That guy was so good and so cool to me when I was a kid. He was a
git graduate along side of Paul Gilbert. He passed away in 2006, rip Rick.
Favorite players were Randy Rhoads, Jack E Lee and Vivian Campbell hands
down. No one could touch them. For me now though, I like anyone who plays
guitar for them selves. It’s the attitude and passion one puts into it, not
the person. I do play bass and keys a bit.
Vic: Well I started playing guitar at thirteen, my dad bought
me my first guitar in TJ Mexico a cheap nylon acoustic but I can say thanks
to my dad is the reason I got started playing the guitar rip Julian Silva.
My influences include Richie Blackmore, Adrian Smith , Stevie Ray Vaughn,
Tony Ioming, Chuck Schulinder , Patty Obrien, Terrance Hobbs and Trey from
Morbid Angel.
Do either of you play in any other
side-bands our projects besides Mass Murder Frenzy?
Tim: Vic and I were doing a side project called Terracide a
couple years back. Vic recorded and played live with them before I stepped
in as second guitar for live stuff, never got to that point though for me. I
have a solo project that’s been in the works for what seems forever called
Severe Carnage. Vic just finished with a band called Unsanctified. He
recorded guitars for there new album. (not yet released) he also played some
shows with the band.
When you guys are not working on music or
band business what do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
Vic: Dirt bike riding, sex, sports events, family, writing
fans on line, checking out new bands writing new riffs for MMF music
drinking and playing basketball softball and hitting the gym.
Tim: I spend time with my family. They support my music and keep me going
with it. I love working around the house. There's always something to fix.
It’s what I do! Listen to music, ps3 and try to find new stuff.
You guys live in the great state of
California so I was curious what is your opinion of the scene in California?
Who are some of your all-time favorite Californian bands? Are their any new
bands you feel the readers should watch out for?
Vic: Man that's tuff, um... Infamy, Sadistic Intent, Rise,
Pathology, Severed Savior, Decrepit Birth, off the tops of our heads, there
are so many from Cal. They are all really good. What’s even cooler is we
have seen most of these bands when they were just starting out. As far as
new bands we haven’t seen or heard anything new here to watch out for. We
look, but there are just so many good bands here. That’s why we can’t say
the underground is dead.
What about the overall U.S death metal
scene? Who are some of your all-time favorite
bands? Any new ones the readers should check out?
Tim: Cannibal, Deicide, (old Deicide) bring back the Hoffman
bros. The leads in the new shit are to fancy for Deicide. Morbid of course,
Disincarnate (James Murphy kicks ass), Pestilence, man there’s so many all
time, but very all time favorite for me is Hate Eternal. Every thing that is
death metal to me is Hate Eternal. My opinion! From Morbid to Hate Eternal
Eric Rutan is the shit.
Vic: I really dig the
Florida death metal bands
Monstrosity, Cannibal Corpse, Malevolent Creation, Morbid Angel and I can’t
forget Suffocation great band from the Bronx, Nile from North Carolina.
Inconclusion would like to take the time to give props for a band that is
not a US band but from Greece Mass Infection great underground brutal death
metal Patrick check these guys out you and the readers will not be
disappointed.
Well guys thanks a million for taking the
time to fill out this interview. All the final words are yours!
Pat, you kick ass. Thanks so much for this interview. We want to thank you
and the fans of Mass Murder Frenzy for all the support you’ve shown us.
You’ve helped us reveal our life’s passion through are music.
Anyone new to MMF
please check us out at:
www.massmurderfrenzy.com
www.myspace.com/officialmassmurderfrenzy
|
