Mudshow's debut album "Destiny" is a sonic odyssey inspired by wrestling feuds, blending heavy metal with influences from Three 6 Mafia and hardcore wrestling, promising a unique musical experience.
1. Congratulations
on the release of "Destiny"! Can you share the origin of the album's
title and its connection to the themes of anguish, revenge, and catharsis that
you explore throughout the record?
Thank you!
“Destiny” was actually named after a wrestling show, the climax of the
long-term story our album explores. It’s just such a perfect name for the debut
album of a band that came together so seamlessly and progressed so quickly. The
pain of being denied your destiny and the satisfaction of chasing it down both
played equal parts in motivating this album into existence.
2. The
album draws inspiration from the wrestling feuds of Matt Tremont with Atsushi
Onita and Rickey Shane Page. How did these particular feuds influence the sonic
direction and lyrical content of "Destiny"?
Matt
Tremont is - without hyperbole - the greatest American deathmatch wrestler of
all time. Period. And the 5-year story he told with Onita is pure poetry. It
started with a young Tremont calling out a deathmatch god for a whole year,
challenging him to a battle with barbed wire and explosives, and ended with a
retired Tremont being called back to the ring by the same icon he had gotten on
his knees and begged to fight him just 4 years earlier. That’s storytelling at
its finest, and mirrors (on a grander scale) certain aspects of my personal
life from around the same period. Mudshow set out to make this album a
condensed, 35-minute musical recap of that period in Tremont’s career. So that
meant matching a lot of passion, a lot of intensity, and a lot of brutality.
The music needed to slice like barbed wire and burn like fire.
3. "Mudshow"
is a unique and evocative name for a band. What's the story behind the band's
name, and how does it reflect the identity and ethos of Mudshow?
“Outlaw
mudshow bullshit” is a derogatory term for deathmatch wrestling that gets
parroted by wrestling podcaster/historian/former manager Jim Cornette’s
listener base of fucking incels and boomers. So when we started a band that
writes exclusively about deathmatches, the name Mudshow seemed like a perfect
middle finger to the ever-present detractors of this art form that means so
much to us.
4. The
album is described as a sonic odyssey echoing the tormented prose of Arthur
Rimbaud's "A Season In Hell." Can you elaborate on the influence of
Rimbaud's work and how it translates into the musical and lyrical aspects of
"Destiny"?
Rimbaud was
an outlaw, and almost foolishly brave with his words and his willingness to put
himself through the wringer psychologically in order to tell his story with as
much brutal truth as possible. All of that went into “A Season in Hell”, just
like it all went into “Destiny”. Beyond that, every song on the album is
littered with lyrical references to “Season”, and the album even features 9
tracks to represent the 9 parts of Rimbaud’s magnum opus.
5. For
fans of Neurosis, Eyehategod, and Primitive Man, "Destiny" promises
an unyielding onslaught of sonic devastation. How do you balance the heavy,
sludge metal elements with influences from Three 6 Mafia, kaiju films, and
hardcore/deathmatch wrestling?
Deathmatch
is always the biggest influence, so the priority is making sure the music
matches the story being told. When Mudshow first started, there was a whole
other sound in mind. But as the songs started coming together, they got heavier
and heavier so we leaned into that. The subject matter molded the sound in a
big way. But seeing as most other deathmatch-inspired bands play grindcore or
hardcore or death metal, we slowed it way down. We set out to make a bleak,
driving, plodding noise that sounds like a well-paced deathmatch main event or
a stomping kaiju destroying a city and is just effective as what those other,
faster bands are doing.
6. Each
track on "Destiny" seems to tell a different part of the story,
inviting listeners to witness the brutal spectacle of killing idols and
confronting demons. Can you take us through the conceptualization and
storytelling process behind the album?
As I
mentioned earlier, the story is basically following Matt Tremont’s career from
2016 to 2021. Without saying too much, Track 1 is Tremont calling out Onita.
Track 2 is Onita’s response. Track 3 is their first meeting. Track 4 fast
forwards a few years, and serves as a ten-bell salute to “The Deathmatch
Viking” Danny Havoc, Tremont’s best friend who passed away in 2020. Track 5 is
Tremont’s decision to retire and his nemesis Rickey Shane Page answering the
challenge of being Tremont’s final opponent, and features a guest verse from
our friend Johnnie from the band Seeing Hell. Track 6 takes us another year in,
where Tremont is now answering the challenge of the man he had taunted into a
war 4 years earlier, Atsushi Onita. Track 7 is a calm-before-the-storm prelude
to Track 8, the centerpiece of the album, featuring alternative hip-hop artist
Morrison Jones. The huge showdown. Tremont versus Onita, landmine explosion
barbed wire deathmatch. And then Track 9 ends the album with settling
unfinished business with RSP.
7. Your
influences span across various genres, from metal to hip-hop and wrestling. How
do you seamlessly integrate these diverse influences into your music, and what
do you believe each genre brings to the overall Mudshow sound?
We just
want to make a loud, heavy spectacle. We’re influenced by the same Sabbath and
Acid Bath and Eyehategod and Melvins as every other sludge band, post-metal
stuff like Neurosis and ISIS and Chelsea Wolfe and Emma Ruth Rundle, the
hypnotic repetition and honest violence of old 90s Triple Six tapes, the
unfiltered emotion of Converge. Gothic and alternative country like 16
Horsepower and Jason Molina are other big influences on the songwriting that
might be a little unexpected. Basically all the music I spent the pandemic
obsessing over, I brought to the table and my bandmates delivered a perfect
backdrop for the lyrics I had been writing. All the pieces were there and
somehow fit effortlessly.
8. The
album explores themes of martyrdom, exile, and the relentless pursuit of
redemption. How did these themes come to the forefront during the songwriting
and recording process, and what messages or emotions do you hope listeners take
away from "Destiny"?
All three
of us have spent a long time playing music for the love of playing music.
Sacrificed time and energy and money and our social lives, just like any artist
who takes their work seriously. I can only speak for myself, but it does feel
validating or redemptive to get to have this album heard on the level that it
is, through such a badass record label and with so many eyes on what we’re
doing. And I think that was a big motivator as we finished the writing process
and headed into the studio. We felt like we could have run right through a
fucking mountain the weekend we recorded this album, and I think it shows in
the performances we captured. We hope the listener picks up on that energy and
feels like they can do whatever the hell they want in this world. Because they
can.
9. "Destiny"
is described as a journey into the heart of darkness. Can you share any
specific challenges or memorable moments you faced during the creation of the
album, and how did these experiences shape the final product?
I think I’d
rather take the “let them decipher their own meaning” route, and not give away
too much about the personal issues that went into this album. Because doing
that would give attention to people and situations that never deserved it and
certainly don’t at this stage of my life. Just know that a lot of very real,
very serious hurt went into making this album. I, and all of Mudshow, left it
all on this record.
10. As a
debut offering, "Destiny" showcases Mudshow's uncompromising vision.
How do you envision the band's evolution and growth in the future, and what can
fans expect from Mudshow in the coming years?
All I want
to say there is that we already have a predetermined number of how many Mudshow
albums there will be, and we have a basic idea of how we want the sound to
progress from “Destiny” to our final album. The Mudshow of 2024 looks nothing
like the vision we have for what we will eventually become. We just hope
folks enjoy the ride with us.
Mudshow (@mvdshxw) • Photos et vidéos Instagram
Destiny | MUDSHOW | HPGD (bandcamp.com)
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