When Mastodon released the "Show Yourself" single from its Emperor Of Sand album, people lost their minds a little bit. Fans cried that the band was "selling out" and that it wasn't "metal," just like they've done basically every time Mastodon puts out a song that isn't uber-heavy. Y'know, like it's been basically since Crack The Skye.
So what does the band think about the Internet getting mad over some new songs? In an interview with Noisey, guitarist Bill Kelliher explicitly states that neither he nor the rest of the band gives a shit what you think.
"…The cool thing about our band, is that we’ve always been able to play what we want to play. We never signed a contract that said we were going to be a heavy metal band, or a death metal band, or a crust punk band, for the rest of our lives. Our fucking fans are nuts. They pick apart every fucking note, every fucking word, who’s singing what, why this song doesn’t sound like the last song, why this song sucks because it’s different.
I‘m always trying to come up with riffs and ideas and songs to impress Troy, Brent, or Brann. I’m not trying to do to it to impress Joe Blow on Facebook. I don’t give a shit. That’s what keeps us going. It’s funny when I read these comments on the internet of people saying we sold out by playing songs like “Show Yourself.” Who the fuck are you? What do you mean we sold out? I’ll play whatever music I want to play! I’ll put out a goddamn pop record if I want to. I don’t have to answer to anybody but my bandmates… and my wife."
He also adds this gem later on.
"There’s people that follow the Mastodon Facebook page and then they talk shit. Are you just trying to be cool? I think of a pimply faced 14-year-old in his underpants sitting on his computer. Where’s your band that you’ve had for 17 years? Where are your three-time Grammy loser certificates?"
Realistically, he's right on the money – who cares. A band is just a bunch of artists who got together to make music they want to hear, and if it's pop that time around, or metal, or rock, or experimental jazz, then that's what they're gonna do!
If you don't like it, don't listen to it or buy it. It's pretty simple.
