FIVE BIG MOMENTS

Doomed & Stoned Fest

“Ya live and ya learn.” That was the phrase that I closely followed while planning out and executing the second annual Doomed & Stoned Festival, which took place on October 6th and 7th, 2017, in Indianapolis. Make no mistake, year one was excellent.

As many know, this was the first event I have ever organized. I never intended to take on such a colossal project, but one thing turned into another, as things do, and the next thing you know, here we are. However, if asked, there are certainly things I would have done differently. Specifics are not needed, but many lessons were learned in promotion, money management, and the importance of a strong local community.

I would like to touch on that last one, community. There is no other way to say it: without the help and assistance of the local heavy underground and the online community, Doomed & Stoned Festival would be a huge undertaking resulting only in failure. Without ToneSmith (stage managers Drew Smith and Jordan Smith) providing the backline, without Eleven Productions and sound engineer Victor Jobe providing the entire sound and light equipment, if not for sponsors like Ripple Music and Twin Earth Records, I undoubtedly would have fallen short of the goal.

And, no, I’m not forgetting about our stellar venue, Indiana City Beer, which exceeded all our expectations as a host – what a fantastic home for us! All of these things mentioned really do strengthen the close knit “metal family” aura of Doomed & Stoned Festival, something I think that makes this event stand out among other DIY events and larger festivals.

Planning out Domed & Stoned Festival is basically a whole year of pulling my hair out and stressing over every little detail. It is a lot of work that even sometimes felt like it was taking over my life. Many people don’t realize how small the crew it is – less than five strong-minded individuals work together rather closely, on top of our full-time jobs and family responsibilities.

Somehow, we manage to pull this off. To those who helped to make it happen, thank you! The support was overwhelming. I couldn’t turn a corner without someone asking if I needed help with anything. To the fans, thank you for attending and making this a reality. The atmosphere was friendly and respectful. To the bands, all glory be to you. Each band commanded the stage and audience. Thank you for making this an event worth continuing.

Without further introduction, here are my top five favorite moments from Doomed & Stoned Fest II!

5. Book of Wyrms!

I came across Book of Wyrms right at the beginning of the year when their album ‘Sci-Fi/Fantasy’ (2017 - Twin Earth Records) was released. Instantly, I connected with this album. The combination of the intriguing twin guitars, thumping bass and Sarah’s empyreal voice. Even the sound effects that I once thought were erratic had won me over. Very quickly, I became quite obsessed with the album and invited them out to Indy. The obsession continues, especially after they broke out some new tracks. Here’s their extraordinary cover of “10,000 Years” by High On Fire (which Doomed & Stoned gives the world premiere of below).

DOOMED & STONED DEBUTS

Book of Wyrms – '10,000 Years’ (High on Fire)

4. Wo Fat Headlining Night One.

Wo Fat is a band that I’ve been after to play the festival for almost two years and, gratefully, this year everything worked out wonderfully. Wo Fat is definitely one of the most professional bands I’ve ever worked with in every respect. It’s also no secret that Wo Fat is my favorite stoner metal band from Texas and they impressed everything with their heavy, groovy, psychedlic vibe.

3. Disenchanter Playing “Into Darkness.”

I honestly cannot remember a day I was involved with Doomed & Stoned without the support of Disenchanter. They may have been the first band to ever embrace what we do, they were also the first band book for the 2017 festival. I had my hopes up for them playing “Green Queen” and they didn’t, but I was just as happy hearing them play “Into Darkness,” a slower track that captivates us with just how electrifying Sabine’s voice is. This song was also my introduction to Disenchanter, so it struck me on a personal level, as well.

2. Earthride’s Foot-Stomping Performance.

I originally met Earthride’s Dave Sherman in early 2014 when interviewing Spirit Caravan. In fact, this was my first ever in-person interview and I was quite nervous, but Dave was the kind of person that just makes you feel comfortable. A year or so later, Spirit Caravan returned and he remembered me! We stayed in touch on Facebook and I approached him early in the year about the playing the festival. I had Weed is Weed in mind, but when he said he’d bring Earthride I couldn’t say no.

1. Acid Witch Headlining Night Two.

Originally, I wanted Acid Witch to headline the festival last year. They don’t seem to be too big on the social media train and proved to be rather difficult to get in touch with. I finally stumbled across the correct contact this spring and they pretty quickly agreed to headline. No one really knew this, but about two weeks before the festival, Acid Witch’s drummer Charlie Paxton (aka Gnarls Charles, aka “Motor City Chaz”) had a medical emergency and while he will be okay, he was unable to drum for the foreseeable future. There was a very real possibility that Acid Witch would have to back out altogether, which I don’t need to tell you is a nightmare scenario for any festival organizer. Needless to say, it was a very nervous two weeks for me. Fortunately, Acid Witch found a fill in drummer and made it happen (huges thanks to Phil Warren who saved the day)! In fact, they played an incredible fifty minute set, including the brand new track “Mutilation Mansion,” all while throwing candy into the crowd and breaking out Halloween masks and storytelling.

Make plans to join us for the third annual Doomed & Stoned Fest at Indiana City Beer in 2018! Bands will be announced in the New Year at www.DoomedandStonedFestival.com.

Arriving in St. Petersburg felt like going to another planet. First off, the Russian alphabet is absolutely fascinating. It’s a mix of Greek style characters and the regular western alphabet, and seeing it on every building , automobile, and publication definitely made one feel and absorb the culture that much more.

After settling in at the club we had a chance to take a short walk and visit the savior on spilled blood cathedral. The architecture of the building was amazing. The pointed globe like structures with multi color embellishments is unlike any other place of worship we’ve seen on the tour.

Moscow was just as exciting. It was surreal standing in front of St. Basil cathedral as well as the red square. You see it in movies and news all the time but standing right there in the middle of it all was a great feeling.

Both shows were awesome. So many fans had been waiting for years to see the band and getting the chance to interact with them, you could sense their sincere gratitude to be able to finally see the show live.

With all the politics and foreign affairs between the US and Russia right now, the fans at both cities definitely made it a point to us that they didn’t care about the politics and that they wanted to put all that aside and enjoy the music. They were also very concerned as to how we viewed them as people, again because of all the shit flinging on the news. Everyone was super nice and very cool wanting to talk about music and how much the shows meant to them.

Overall, all the people we met were very hospitable and took care of us the best way possible. It was as much an honor as well as our pleasure to have been given the opportunity to play and share our style of music with the people of Russia.

Souvenirs Сувениры

Suporting Act

    ИЛ IL

Follow The Band.

Get Their Music.

Headliner

        ACID KING
  Король кислоты

Follow The Band.

Get Their Music.

English rumblers OHHMS have been making their presence felt across oceans for over three years now, receiving near unilateral praise from critics of heavy underground music and high profile coverage from big dogs like Terrorizer.   Their rep has been solidified by an incredible series of live shows (including a match-up with one this editor’s personal favs, Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard). We figured it was high time for a good chat with OHHMS, so we dispatched our roving Gypsy reporter, Lara Noel, to interview vocalist Paul Waller about the Kent quartet’s most expansive effort yet: ‘The Fool’ (2017 - Holy Roar Records). In addition to this fascinating exchange, Doomed & Stoned is proud to feature some stunning live moments from the recent Holy Roar 420 Fest at Boston Music Room, where OHHMS shared the stage with Bossk, Conjurer, Haast’s Eagled, and Slabdragger.  These shots are captured brilliantly by Angelique Le Marchand, a regular contributor to Echoes And Dust.   It is the London photographer’s first feature set in these pages and we certainly relish the opportunity to see more of her work in the future. (Billy)

Should we
or shouldn’t we?
Let’s do it.

I’ve listened to 'The Fool’ (2017) in constant rotation.   First full-length for OHHMS, right?

Yes.   We put out two EPs, but they were pretty long.   Two songs each, both over a half-hour long.   We thought very long and hard about what we wanted to do for our first album proper, and we’re pretty stoked.   It was a long gestation period to put it together.

Listening to this release, I have to say there’s no filler.   It goes in so many different fascinating directions – really heavy in parts, then these more ethereal moments, like the track “The Lovers.”   It’s a wild ride.

That’s just it.   When we started, I said to the guys, “I don’t care what we do, but I want to keep the talent of the first six Sabbath albums.   Do it the way you want to do it, but as long as we don’t step out of that range – keep a running tune with the band so you don’t stray too far, but we can stray as far as we can within that range of instruments.”   But yeah, with a tune like “The Lovers,” should we or shouldn’t we?   I mean Metallica had “Fade To Black.”  Just do it.   Once it was in that in that context, it was like, yeah, okay.

Tell me what fed into this album.   What led up to it?   What bred the lyrics and fully brought it to life?

We had just written the first EP and did a tour seeing if we could get on as mates, because you need to know if you can handle each other in a band.   On this tour, which is the end of 2014, we really did get on like fast, fast friends.   With a band, you might have a few close friends and others you really don’t know, so it was a bit like that.   So right there and then we decided to ride out our first five years and said, “Well, what do you want to do?”   With this album, I was really keen on the idea of tarot cards, with each person who purchases the album getting a past, present, and future reading.   I was really keen on that idea and played around with it in my head for a while.   Every month, we’d get a card from a designer in Italy that I really liked, so we based the whole album around these cards and the journey of the four, the different characters in this tarot pack.   Two years later, we got our final card through.   With that idea, we just ran with it.   Lyrically, it’s been so easy for me, because once I got that idea in my head, one song flowed to the next.   Such fun.   It’s been great.

That’s beautiful.   With the songwriting, is it a joint effort?

It definitely is.   We always have someone come in with a riff, whether it is me, the guitarist, the bassist, or drummer.   We can all play instruments to varying degrees.   I mean, I’m pretty shit (laughs), but the other guys, they’re all tiptop.   When we get that riff idea, we just build and build around it.   We might leave the practice room and go around and around and say, “Ok, it’s one riff” – like a Melvins-type riff – just so we can get the feel of it.   Then next week, we might come back and say, “You know what? That wasn’t good enough.”   Those are the times that can be quite annoying, because you spend hours and hours building up.   It’s tricky in the practice room, but we all come together.   It’s totally natural and to be honest with you, I prefer it in a practice room to being on stage, even prefer it to being in the studio.   I have the best time in the practice room with the guys.   It’s like, you know, when you’re in your room as a teenager and you put that track on that you love and you know no one else is in the house.   You’re slamming your head and dancing like a freak.   That’s what it feels like when I’m in the practice room.   I love what we do with the music and it just fills me with so much passion.   The practice room is the place to be for us.

I can’t leave without buckets of sweat.
It’s the best fun.

When you’re in the practice room, what is that discovery like with the other band members?

It’s not very complex.   We rattle through ideas.   For instance, with this latest record, there’s a song that’s twenty-two minutes long at the end, “The Hierophant.”   I really like listening to Sunn O))), but I really just want something more from it.   I don’t really know what it is.   When I listen to Sunn O))), I come away thinking I want more.   When it’s live, it’s insane, but on a record I just want more.   So what can we do to make a drone appealing and pique interest, more than if I was listening to a Sunn O))) record?   Our guitarist pointed me in the direction of Earth’s album Earth 2, I think it was, and it really helped influence what we could do with a drone, so that’s how that song started.   It began as a twelve minute drone we made interesting, then we cut it in half.   Our guitarist and bassist hammered out this song and before we know it, we’ve got a twenty-two minute epic beast on our hands.   The final eight minutes of that song, in the practice room, like I’ve said, I love it so much.   I can’t leave without buckets of sweat.   It’s the best fun.

I’d have to say it’s honestly my favorite track of the album.

It’s a strange one, lyrically.   It’s the only one I’ve written that has to do with personal feelings.   It’s about being dumbed down, being depressed.   You’re alone in the world.   I can’t talk about it eloquently to people, so I don’t.   It’s the first song where I’ve ever written about it.   So I said to myself, “Well, what’s alone in the universe? It’s a satellite.”   That’s how I related to it.   The lyrics just flew out.   I think everyone suffers to a certain degree with depression, at times, some people more than others, of course.   Like when someone says, “Are you alright?” It’s tricky and I can’t really talk about it.   It feels so great to play it.   When those lyrics are over and you got that last eight minutes, I feel like I can save the world.   It sounds weird, but I feel the bummed-outness, the rage – all those emotions that tie you down and stop you from being the best person that you can be.   That was the point of that song.   Like I said, that last eight minutes are the best thing OHHMS has done so far, to me.

As artists, we all have these very expansive minds. It’s often a blessing and a curse.   I think we all fall into these depressions from time to time.   It just comes along with the territory.

Yeah. I have friends that suffer far worse than me.   I see a lot on Facebook, as huge as it is now.   Every day, I see a mega-long status by someone that I know that comes out as being mega-depressive.   Never in a million years would I have guessed this, but now it’s out there and people are talking about it far more than they did when I was growing up.   At the same time, it can be too much and I just don’t want to hear it.   I think if you get bombarded with it day after day, it does get a bit blasé and “Oh here we go again.“   That sort of thing.   So I just thought, "I’m going to put it all into a song.”   So far, it’s really worked for me. I feel stronger because of that song.   I’m not going to say never, but I have no intention of ever writing a personal song like that again.  My songs are always observational.   It just felt right at the time.

I just sit down and look around.
People are strange, very strange.

When you say “observational,” can you expand on that a bit?

Sure. You pick a song and I’ll talk to you about it!   Every song on there is observational, like you mentioned “The Lovers” earlier.   We have a newspaper over here called The Independent and I was reading an article in it a few years ago.   It was a story that stuck with me.   People who have heard “The Lovers” think it’s a love story, like it’s just some romantic song, but it’s not.   It’s about arranged marriages in Africa.   There was a man who was having an arranged marriage with a lady who was a lot younger than him and what happened is that over the course of the first year of marriage, he realized that she was not really into the marriage, spending a lot more time with his brother.   His jealousy caused him to go to the village elders and declare her as a witch.

[Suddenly, Paul’s dog interrupts the conversation barking.   “That’s my dog, Mister Puggles. I love that dog, but he’s so noisy. Hi, Mister Puggles!”   We both laugh, then resume.]

Because he was a man, they listened.   She was stoned to death out of jealousy.   He didn’t know how to relate to her and was jealous of this relationship she formed with his brother and had her killed.   I had no idea that witchcraft existed in that sort of way in people’s beliefs in Africa.   I had no idea.   That story really stuck with me and I read into it more.   I learned that witchcraft is huge everywhere.   I found the whole thing fascinating.   When it came to writing that song, I tried finding someone with a really witchy vocal.   I’m so glad we found Sienna Hollihan, a 19-year old folk artist that we met supporting a band we saw at a pub somewhere.   It was incredible.   I spent weeks and weeks with an email I didn’t send to the lead singer of Blood Ceremony, Alia O'Brien.  It was like, “Would you be able to help us? Here’s a song. I love your voice and I think it would be perfect for this track.”   I just couldn’t send it.   The fear of like, maybe she wouldn’t even reply, I just couldn’t do it.   Anyway, sneakily, we found someone who could do it, which turned out perfect.   Yeah, so there you go.  That’s “The Lovers.”   I tell you, it’s just observational material.   I just sit down and look around.   I carry these little journals with me.   Things like that fascinate me.   People are strange, very strange!

People are indeed strange.   I have to admit that I have a hobby of people watching.

When I was growing up, there was this song by Suzanne Vega where she’s sitting at a restaurant just observing people outside the window, and I feel like that’s me. (laughs)   I’m just looking at people, writing things down in my journal.   I’m such a weirdo stalker. (laughs)

He was shaking when he went into his reading.

How does this work with the rest of the band?   You’re speaking about writing in your journal and documenting your observations.   How do they take and relate to all that?

They are really cool with it.   With the first EP, there was a lot about animal rights and animal welfare on there.   I had just gotten Mister Puggles and I just couldn’t eat meat anymore.   I was a meat eater up until the day I got him.   He’s become like my best friend.   It’s bizarre.   I just didn’t eat meat anymore.   There was no rhyme or reason to it.   I write a daily note about it.   I write poetry about it.   I write in my journal about it.   In the band, we’ve got a couple of meat eaters, and I just thought they’re not going to be cool with that, but they really were.   They respected that this was my opinion.   They give me complete artistic freedom and I do with them, but sometimes they will change things up.   Say, if I’m singing a certain melody and I’m ripping off Paul Stanley, or I’m ripping off Ozzy or Bruce Dickinson, I just don’t know why I do it.   I hate it, but they always pick it up.   They always say, well, I can redo this, and I’m glad for it, or else – oh my God – what would that record sound like?   They’ve never said anything negative to me about the lyrics.   This album artwork that we spent such a long time on, that was tied in with the tarot, I just thought it was really key that the lyrics were actually printed this time.   This way, you can read along as the song is going, because it’s clean vocals.   I find that you can follow along even without them printed, but sometimes things get lost in translation.

I think even without the lyrics printed, the album speaks for itself.   It’s a beautifully crafted record that goes through all these transitions and it actually feels like a tarot reading.

That’s the whole fantastic thing about this process.   A print magazine from the UK wanted us to go for a tarot reading.   Then another one, I think CVLT Nation, wanted us to film a tarot reading, as well.   I’d never had it done before.   The thing I love about the tarot more than anything is the artwork.   It just stirs so much emotion in me.   It’s such a wonderful thing to look at.   Writing this record and learning about the tarot, the artists reading the cards – I was fascinated by it.   I’m quite the skeptic, as is the bass player, and he was shaking when he went into his reading.   I don’t know what he’s done in his past, but he was terrified.   He had a little flask of whiskey with him, as well, and before he went into his reading he had taken a few swigs, just to calm himself.   The strangest thing happened.   We both went in for separate readings in October and November, and we both pulled out exactly the same cards.   It was spot on the same.   It spelt disaster – something awful is going to happen unless we manage things carefully.   So we both left the tarot reader going, “Nooooo!” (laughs)

There’s just something.
It’s like a magnet.
It draws me to it.

Do you have a favorite tarot deck?

I really do.   It’s one that I’ve bought in the last year.   I think in the mid '90s, a lot of tarot decks came out and they were pretty air brushy, wishy washy with the artwork.   I didn’t like it.   I came across one late last year.   It was the artist Klimt, with his artwork interpreted into the tarot.   It blows me away.   You will not believe how well it works.   That’s my favorite.   I’ve got several now and they’re very expensive, so I’m going to stop buying them (laughs).   Yeah, I can’t even afford to buy records anymore, let alone have a collection of tarot decks.   It’s awful. (laughs)   I just really love the artwork and that’s what pulled me in.   I’m just so proud of the artwork, let alone the music, but the artwork.   Just as a whole.

The artwork with tarot is interesting, because it feeds off you going into that other realm.   I think the artwork is important, contributing to the act itself.   When an artist is really able to pull off the meaning of the cards, it’s so different.

I’m just so proud of the artwork for this album, let alone the music, but the artwork, just as a whole.   It was a series of very long-winded calls.   We had conference calls going on between the band members and our artist.   It was quite hard to get the point across we wanted.   It took a few attempts before we got on the right track, but yeah, you’re so right; it’s ever so important to make sense of things.   Even if you have a tarot reader who has years of experience, an order of cards could come up that completely throws them.   I could see this with our tarot reader when we had our readings done, that she was taking inspiration from the card itself, from the artwork and the position of the characters in the card.   Again, that’s something I didn’t know about before it happened.   It’s a completely fascinating thing.   I love horror.   I love supernatural things.   I love all that, but I’m so skeptical.   And yet, I reckon even if I saw something that wouldn’t make anyone else believe or what’s going on scientifically to prove that wrong, I don’t know. I don’t know.   There’s just something.   It’s like a magnet, it draws me to it.   My whole life has been like that.   Even as a kid, when I first started getting into music, horror and gore, then later on, spiritual biographies and things like that.   It’s something that means a lot to me.   I’m not sure I could tell you why.   It’s just always been there, since I could remember.   Like how do you feel?   Are you a skeptic with tarot cards yourself?

No.   In fact, I actually read tarot cards.   Readings for myself, too.

No way!   That’s amazing.   So did anything I said make sense to you, like how you can pull information just from the position of a character?   I just find it fascinating

If I bought this record
and put it on my turntable,
I’d say, “What the hell was that?”

It is.   I’ve done readings where people didn’t always want to hear what was coming from the cards.   In a way, I equate tarot to music.  There are a lot of albums that are like tarot readings.   It may sound silly, but even if you go to a live Grateful Dead show, it’s exactly like a tarot reading: the songs they play, the state of mind that you’re in, the way it all flows.

I totally agree.   Putting together The Fool, it was a long, hard process, because not only did you want to get a nice flow of the songs, but it was being related to the tarot.   You can’t just throw that shit together.   It has to feel right and it has to appear right.   There are hidden messages and hidden symbols all over the artwork.   If people want to explore that, they can.   If you’re not into tarot and even not into the artwork, then just play it and bang your head, but for those who want to gain something from it, there’s a lot on there.   I put a lot of thought into it, a lot of meticulous hours with my guy in Italy.   I can’t wait for people to hear it and start messaging me and saying, “Is this because of this?”

Some people will actually get it in the sense that you actually meant, but other people will take away something else, and that in itself is almost like a tarot reading.

I can’t believe you’re a tarot reader.   That’s great.   That’s made my day.   Just to know that you’ve listened to this from that sort of angle is perfect, and the fact that you’re psychic, as well. (laughs)   It’s strange, as far as what’s been released before.   It’s far doomier and stoner rock based.   The Black Sabbath element, the guys really brought it out.   We got played on a national radio station with the song, “The World.”   To be played on the radio was mad.   Some of the comments were like, “Don’t know about this…”   Then a week later, getting comments from the same people saying, “Getting it. Loved it.”   At first, I was worried people would be like, “That’s not the band I fell in love with.”   It’s all still there.   Maybe “mature” might be the wrong word, but it feels a little more mature.   I feel like if I was a fan of OHHMS, and I am a fan of OHHMS – when I’m in that rehearsal room, I’m a fan – if I bought this record, brought it home, and put it on my turntable, I’d say, “What the hell was that?”   Straight again, that’s the reason I put some of those pop like hooks in there.   We don’t get enough of those earwormy melodies you might have gotten in an '80s pop song.   I’m not afraid of that.   [Paul sings a tune]   That little nursery rhyme-type rhythm that sticks in your head, that’s what I really want.   I want people to remember it and dig deeper, 'cause there’s a lot of subtleties on there.   I want people to get it.

Again, some people are going to get that and others aren’t.

That’s one thing I’m also a little bit cautious about.   I mean a lot of these songs are observational, like the song, “The Lovers.”   If someone hears that, they’re going to think it’s a love song and it might ruin their interest or view of the song, what it’s really about – pulling them away from the true topic of that song.   I don’t know how to handle that.   Do you admit what it’s really about or do you keep it a secret?   Like you said, if you read that as a tarot reading, how that was sort of meant to be digested, then like you said, you’re going to take away something that’s really personal to yourself, and I don’t want to put a fork in that road for people or have them step over rocks to get to the original point where they understand themselves.

To hear you speak about the background of the song, I personally want to go back and listen to it again and relive the whole experience.

When I was doing this with Sienna and I go back hearing how she hit those notes, it breaks my heart every time.   I went to the lyrics and I said, “You can change whatever you like,” because it was this 19-year old girl who’s never appeared on an album before, never been in a recording studio, either.   My concerns I expressed was for her to do what she likes and feel comfortable, but she said, “No, I love what you’ve written. Let’s do it.”   When we were listening to her singing that, we were all looking at each other, like when you get those prickles and your hair stands up – one of those moments.   She totally nailed it.   In the future, I think it’s going to be difficult now, because it brings back my initial reaction to that story.   It’s a good story.   It’s mad, mad.   It was one of those things where when she wasn’t even singing words and just [Paul hums a melody], it was like, “Oh my word. My breath is taken away.”   I have listened to some of her recordings, but nothing prepares you for her standing there singing in front of you.  It’s weird.   It’s witchy.  It feels earthy.   I wish I had the vocabulary to explain how I felt.

It’s a very unexpected track, yet it works and is right where it needs to be.   The song audibly is beautiful, but you can feel that there is heartache involved.

Yes, and I reckon I owe a lot of that to her.   It was sort of weird for me to sing in that kind of low, groovy-type register, but yeah, she just nailed it.   Thank God we found her, 'cause if not, I’d be sitting here still waiting to hit that send button for Alia O, Brien! (laughs)

So we’re going to give a shout out Sienna!   Paul, thank you so much for talking with Doomed and Stoned.   It’s been an amazing conversation and so wonderful hearing more about what went into this album.

Follow The Band.

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~Interview & Film by Melissa Marie~

Photographs by Alex Watt

I understand this is the first show of the second leg of this tour to promote your new record High Strangeness.   So how have you all been?

Kelley: It’s been crazy. We’re busy, but the shows have been great.   It was a nice little recharge to be able to go home for a bit, but now we’re doing a couple weeks out East.

Judge: We’re excited to be on the second leg of the tour and to be hitting these US dates.

Kelley: Everyone’s been stoked!   People are buying the record!   We’ve been seeing all the cosmic vinyl pictures that are being posted all over Facebook.

Judge: The fan shots are always cool.

I want to congratulate you guys on a stellar third full-length on Ripple.  Everything from the album cover to each individual track is just incredible.   Are you happy with the fan response, as well as the overall end product?

Judge: Oh, hell yeah.   We took care of it in between tours.   It all about took us to the end of our ropes.

Kelley: Oh yeah.   It took us about twenty days – written and recorded.

Wow, that’s impressive!

Kelley: Only two days in the studio. Ryan [Lee, producer and mixer] killed it!   He plays in Crypt Trip and is a young, easy cat.   The kid’s always been great and we were after something fresh, something new.   New batch of songs, new vibe and he captured it! Everyone’s been stoked – all the reviews have been rolling in and saying it’s our best sounding record so that’s awesome.   Adam Burke did the cover.   We love that sci-fi fantasy shit.   I think that goes well with our lyrics and general songwriting, too.

There’s a lot of influences to be found in your music.   I find a lot of high energy rock ‘n’ roll – like “Speed Dealer” – southern blues stuff, and sometimes more of a melodic Graveyard-oriented sound.   What particular musicians had the biggest impact on you, personally?

Kelley: I guess we’re a bit all over the place with influences.   Angus Young is a big one, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaugh, Johnny Winter.   The list really does go on and I think it shows in our tunes.   Each one could be a different vibe, just whatever we’re feeling that day, riffing when we get in on a jam.   One day it could be real chill or it could be heavy. That’s Mothership.   It’s really cool when different people hear different influences in the same song.   We’ve heard it all – Deep Purple, Molly Hatchet – from different people, from the very same track.   I think that’s a good thing.   If people think you sound exactly like one band, there’s no originality in that.

There are about a hundred different things to admire about Mothership, but I’m truly amazed at the family bond you guys have.   You and your brother, and I recently discovered that your father was originally in the band as a drummer.   How did that come together and do you guys still jam with your dad?

Kelley: We like to, but we’ve been so busy, you know, with everything we’re doing.   It started when I and my brother came from a touring band.   We were just writing a bunch of music just hanging out around the house.   It was great, but he knew it wasn’t going to last.   It was to get it the music flowing.   Now we’ve got Judge behind the kit.

Judge: He’s the one who picked me out.

Kelley: Yeah! He’s always loved him and still fucks with him to this day, which is awesome.   He treats him like a son.  Judge would always come out when we were jamming with dad and he wanted in.   “Hey man, lemme jam!”   It was cool.   It was very organic, how it all came to be.   He’s family, too.   It’s awesome to travel with people you love.   We’re brothers.   It makes it fun!

I recently saw online that you will be playing a one-off show with Blue Oyster Cult this summer.   So that along with the prospect of possibly going on tour with fucking Metallica, are you ever overwhelmed with the success that you’ve experienced?

Judge: I still feel like we’re just three regular dudes.   It’s super cool what our hard work is doing.   I think everyone else sees that, too.

Kelley: Ride the sun, man.   We’re riding the wave. Hard work pays off.   People think there’s a fast track.   Holy shit.   It’s really like for six years: get in the van, tour your ass off, be broke as fuck, quit your job and then maybe in six years shit may pan out.   But probably not. (laughs)

Judge: It could all end tomorrow!

Kelley: But back to the Metallica thing, we just gotta not over think it.   Not freak out about it.

Judge: We just gotta enjoy it, just being in the contest.

Kelley: People always ask if we get nervous and the answer is usually “not really.”   My dudes are cool, we’re all cool.   We’re just jamming.

In addition to being confirmed for Doomed & Stoned Festival this fall, I see you’ll be at Psycho Las Vegas, as well. Certainly no strangers to festivals, as your recording at Live Over Freak Valley would indicate.   What advantages do you find that festivals serve that typical gigs don’t?

Kelley: Exposure is the main thing.

Judge: A lot of people that have never heard of you are there.   It’s a big opportunity to make new fans.   We make a lot of fans that way.

Kelley: So, definitely the exposure.  Also just the comradery of hanging with other bands.   Sometimes at these bigger festivals like Psycho there will be just twenty bands of dudes chilling. That’s so much fun for us.   It’s good to see some of our legends play. This year’s Psycho, they’ve got King Diamond!   So getting to play and see those people is just crazy fun.

I know you’re a heavy metal and rock music collector.   What have you been listening to lately?

Kelley: Recently a lot of Atomic Rooster, Blue Oyster Cult, Hendrix shit.   I’ve got a bunch of his bootlegs.   I love how raw that stuff is.   I have a bunch of those European bootlegs, they’re really cool.   I listen to a lot of blues and try to get back to the roots.

Judge: You know we’ve been playing a lot of Metallica in the van.

Kelley: Always Sabbath, some Deep Purple.   Modern bands like Uncle Acid.   Horisont, we’ll be playing with them coming up.

Their new album is so good.

Kelley: Oh what’s that band?   Khemmis, right?   I recently heard of their name, guess they’ve been around a while.

They’ve been getting pretty popular.   They’re from Denver.

Kelley: Yeah, I just came across that album Hunted.   I saw the artwork first in a record shop and I knew they were a newer band.   We’ve been jamming it awhile.   I like heavy and melodic.   We’re a bit all over the place.   Good is good shit, whether it’s blues, jazz, rock 'n’ roll, or heavy metal.

Alright man, any last words for your fans?

Kelley: Thumbs up for rock 'n’ roll.   Trip on the 'ship!

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