Author: Sandi Sadar Šoba
Interview date: 15.06.2007
After a full day of Nickelsdorf sun beating down on us, it was time for the first interview. In the white press tent we were sorted into groups, and one of the sheets showed that we’d landed the interview with Mastodon. Mastodon are metal avant-gardists, and their music is conceptual storytelling. Their latest record, Blood Mountain, is a storytelling feat in its own right. We sat down with Mastodon frontman Troy Sanders in the backstage shade of the Blue Stage, after their intense set at half past three in the afternoon, to talk about the idea behind the record, the conceptualization of the music and plenty more. Troy gave off a relaxed, good-humored vibe at first glance. Visibly at ease now that the main chore of the day was behind him, he sat down …
RockLine: What can I say? It’s a great pleasure and an honor to have you here at the festival, where we got to see a spectacular show in front of a huge crowd. What are your first impressions after the set, and what do you think of the crowds you got to feel down in front of the stage?
Troy: My first impression is that I honestly can’t believe that many people actually showed up. Incredible. In Europe you can actually pull off organizing festivals like this that are really well attended. Truly fascinating! That’s something we’d have a hard time expecting across the pond, in America. All these festivals of yours are an unbelievable experience for me.
RockLine: You’ve actually been touring for quite a while now, promoting your latest album Blood Mountain. Let’s stay with the crowds for a moment: if you compare fans in the US and in Europe, what would be the key difference between the two that you could point out?
Troy: There are really a lot of similarities. People are pretty similar. The difference, like I hinted at, is the festivals. Only you guys here in Europe can pull those off. We wouldn’t manage anything like that. When we talk about club shows, though, I have to say the crowds are pretty similar, which is great, because our fans in the US are incredible, and the fans over here are just as awesome. There are so many similarities that I can’t single out some key element that separates one side from the other.
RockLine: You also did a pretty grueling tour with Tool. I managed to catch you in Italy, in Jesolo. What was it like warming up crowds for alternative giants like that, who sound quite different from you?
Troy: We’ve been on tour for 12 months straight now. Maybe a little more. By now we’ve switched our minds into tour gear. We live and breathe touring. The Tool tour was incredible and truly one of a kind. We’re really good friends with those guys, so we had a seriously great time every night. Most of the audience didn’t know who we were at first. The Tool tour was completely sold out before we were even added to the lineup. Still, we got a good response after every show, and I’d bet our fan numbers went up. But it’s true that we’ve been on the road non-stop since last June, so the echo in our heads is just: “tour, tour, tour, tour, tour, tour!”
RockLine: Twelve months on the same bus, the same plane, with the same people. All the time. What’s the mood in the band? Has there been any fighting between you?
Troy: Nah… We’ve been together for seven whole years and we’ve become really great friends, so enjoying each other’s company isn’t a problem. We know each other well enough that everyone knows when to leave somebody alone if that’s what they need. But you have to understand that we’ve played over 1,000 shows together and we’ve been touring for more than seven years. We get everything that kind of lifestyle demands of a person and how you have to respect each other on these tours, since we’re together in vans, buses, the same rooms and so on – we’ve learned to show everyone the respect they deserve.
RockLine: What about progression within the band? How have your creative currents actually grown from day one, and what has the real path of evolution been (both mental and in what you offer your fans)? Which direction is your development heading in?
Troy: Musically, we’ve progressed by pushing ourselves to write better and better songs and compose ever more complex music, and by looking for sounds in musical territories that lie beyond where we were before. That’s the creativity side of things, and the level of songwriting we’ve been reaching for. We always want to write a better record, better songs… so the songs are more interesting, and we’re living creatures who let ourselves widen our musical horizons without limits. Personally, we’ve come to realize that this band can take us around the world. And with Mastodon, it has. We’ve been given the chance to see and do some of the most unbelievable and craziest things just because this is our band. And we’ve realized that our music has incredible power and that there are quite a few devoted fans who truly love our band, and that we’ve moved them. It was like when I was listening to my own favorite bands, like Neurosis, or bands that moved me and had an incredible influence on me.
RockLine: Among others, Isis are playing here, for instance …
Troy: Isis are one of those bands, that’s right! We try to pass on to new crowds, to new people, something similar to what we ourselves felt as an offering from the bands we love. We make music and create new worlds, and during our travels around the globe it’s clear to all four of us that we’re doing what we do well. And we hope we can keep going undisturbed, because it’s been truly exceptional.
RockLine: Let’s take a closer look at Mastodon’s musical legacy itself. If I compare Blood Mountain with Leviathan: the conceptual approach is undeniably what they share. Leviathan was inspired by Melville’s Moby Dick, and Blood Mountain went a step further than that.
Troy: Yeah.
RockLine: Could you please present the message of the latest record to our readers?
Troy: It’s a consistent symbolism of our band’s career. We channeled those stories and wove them into an allegory of the journey and the hardships of fighting your way up to the top of Blood Mountain. That’s really what ties us to it as a band. Through the journeys, through realizing where we are now and longing for where we’d like to be. We want to keep on succeeding, keep climbing the mountain, rising toward bigger and better things, which is something we always want to do. What we want to achieve. Being creative and productive. Leviathan was based more on comparing ourselves to a story that already existed. This record is paralleling our stories with our own woven story. It’s really a parallel between our band and a story we spun ourselves. As far as the stories go, the two records are pretty similar and reflect what we Mastodon actually do.
RockLine: I enjoyed browsing your official site, where the band intro wraps up with you reaching the summit and new, higher mountains growing on the horizon, ones you want to reach and conquer … What’s the next logical step, the direction Mastodon can go in after Blood Mountain?
Troy: Most people expect us to tackle air next, something to do with the openness of the sky, but that’s too predictable. So we’ll brainstorm something super crazy.
RockLine: How will you go about it in the short term and in the long term? What are Mastodon’s goals?
Troy: When we get home from this European festival run, we’ll take a couple of months to rest. Just to enjoy the much-longed-for warmth of home, collect our defragmented thoughts and soak up some fresh energy. Then we’ll start working on new material, at least I hope so. That’s what I’d call the short-term goal for the next three or four months. The long-term goal is to keep making interesting music that we think is interesting, and to keep putting out unique records that, I hope, people will like.
RockLine: And a message for our readers?
Troy: What I feel is that it’s amazing to be invited back – again and again. That feels great. And it’s all thanks to the people who support experiencing music live. They go to the shows, and because of them bands come back around to tour cycles. It’s incredible and I’m really glad to have this honor.
RockLine: It was truly great to meet you in person. Thanks for the chat.
Troy: Thank you …
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