I love that bands are more open to Reddit AMAs and Mastodon drummer Brann Dailor had a great Reddit AMA recently. Here are some highlights:
I saw you at the Atlanta airport once (right before Blood Mountain was released), I yelled out Mastodon obnoxiously and realized you were on the phone. You still gave me a head nod, thanks for being cool.
<nods head>
Will you guys ever play Cut You Up With a Linoleum Knife live?
Hmmm.. I don't know. It's the kind of song we wrote in a day, then recorded it the next day…. never really thought anyone would care about it. It's a little hard to belt out those King Diamond vocals while drummer. Who knows, maybe we'll give it a go.
How do you feel about listeners who are big fans of Mastodon's earlier work like "Remission" complaining about how "The Hunter", "Once More 'Round the Sun" and even sometimes "Crack the Skye" are too radio friendly and some going as far to say that Mastodon are no longer a metal band?
Personally I love the bands current sound. As much as people complain about the new albums there are for sure some hints of that sound in the earlier stuff.
I understand the stance. I feel that way towards some bands. Especially when an artists career is long. People gravitate to specific albums. But, being in a band you have a different take. You can't be too concerned with the outside world. If we appease the fans of our earlier albums and made a record that sound like them and the fans hated it, we'd be frauds. It wouldn't be rewarding for anyone.
Hardest song to play on Leviathan? Also, any other genre/subgenre you would like to play, both in metal and in general?
Iron Tusk. Some tracks you need a little more practice and focus when you play them, this is one of them. From the new album Asleep In The Deep is definitely the toughest. Singing and drumming.
Truthfully, do you think Brent regrets his face tattoo?
I don't think he regrets it at all. He talked about it years before he got it. I think he wears it well and looks better with it.
I just heard Brent's cover of "Ain't No Sunshine." Any chance Mastodon will ever make a stripped down / acoustic / alt-country / soul / dirty swamp rock kind of record?
I hope to be playing in Mastodon when I'm elderly. I think we'll save it for then. When we're all in the nursing home.
Brann, I have always wanted to get a tattoo inspired by the Leviathan cover art. Is this a good idea, or will I come to regret it later in life?
One of the things we set out to do with the artwork was to make the artwork looks classic, like the dutch masters. I think that artwork is so beautiful that it doesn't matter whether our music is tied to it or not. You can always say it was inspired by the great Moby Dick.
Read the whole thing here.
