Continuing our series from the Second Annual Southwest Terror Fest- “The Year Of The Snake”, Ryan Clark caught up with Ryan Butler of Landmine Marathon in an exclusive interview for Ghost Cult . Ryan and his band have been through a lot of changes,notably the addition of new front woman Krysta Martinez, but are coming back stronger than ever. They talked about the scene, the value of being a great band live, and what is on the horizon for his band.
What are your thoughts on the heavy music scene in Arizona? If you could change one thing about it for the better, what would that be?
Good question. I’m a big proponent of Arizona and always have been. I love our state and our scene, and I think a lot of people take it for granted. I hear people complain about Phoenix/Arizona that are from here non stop, and they whine about the scene all while doing nothing about it. Phoenix literally gets just about every tour coming through with us being such a big city and being a passage from the east to California. I recently took a band from Vegas that was recording with me to see Rotten Sound. It was a Thursday night, and there was probably 100 kids there. So, not a huge show by any means. After the show, I asked them what they thought of the bands. They loved the bands and were blown away by how many people were there, especially on a Thursday night. They said they’re lucky to get 20 people at a grind show on a weekend night. If anything, we have too many shows here and it splits the draw. When I was first going to shows in the early 90’s it was an event, because you only got a few punk/hardcore/metal shows in a month and everyone went! There was rarely a poorly attended show. That’s probably what I’d change. Make people appreciate what they have, and maybe cut down on the huge overflow of shows that Phoenix gets. As Ian Mackeye would say, “I can’t keep up.”
As a band who does a significant amount of touring and has been involved in the up and down toils of the music business, what do you define as success in this day and age of extreme music?
For us, if we can do awesome tours, play with rad bands and break even, that is success. I obviously didn’t get involved in heavy music for fame and fortune, so that is success to me. If a band can come home from a tour with money in their pocket playing doom/hardcore/grind/death, that’s amazing, but rarely the goal.
Do you think events like Southwest Terror Fest are great opportunities to expose new people to the underground scene?
Absolutely. How often does Tucson get a fest with a lineup like this year’s had, or even a single show with that rad of a lineup? Pretty rare. I’m in deep into this culture and I still heard a ton of bands I’d never been exposed to at the fest. Tucson is kind of sequestered away from the flow of shows, and it’s a B market. Don’t take a fest like that for granted, and get some new fresh faces in there, Tucson! Bring a friend. It’s a fabulous way to make new fans for these bands.
How important do you view live performance to be in relation to your art? Do you think it outweighs a recording or falls somewhere in the middle?
I think it’s huge, but not always necessary. A recording is like a painting and you can often really get your point across. Many things can distract and detract from
a live performance, and sometimes even tarnish how some people may view an artist. This is not always the case, but problems with a venue, gear, promoter or a bad day for a musician in a band can really screw things up. Some bands just sell what they do live, though, and it’s an amazing experience. Neurosis live compared to a record is a million times more powerful, but I saw them on Ozzfest during the day to 20,000 people, and it just wasn’t the same. We really enjoy the live experience and enjoy traveling. Many people tell us that our performances mean a lot to them as well, so it keeps us doing what we do.
What are your plans for Landmine Marathon in the upcoming year?
First and foremost, we really need to get a new record out. We’re writing and well over halfway done, but we all live in different states now, so we’re all figuring that out. That’s a priority. We’re touring Mexico, and will hopefully have more tours than we did last year.
Live Photo Courtesy of No Ceiling Photography
Ryan Clark