Since the release of his book Dark Days: A Memoir and his band Lamb of God’s latest album VII: Sturm und Drang, frontman Randy Blythe has spoken about many subjects pertaining to his life. One area that he has spoken about is his connection to the punk rock world and how the music often helped him through tough time periods throughout his life.Continue reading
Mother Superior
Motor Sister have become the LA rock supergroup who have made waves within the music world. Their debut album Ride (out now via Metal Blade Records) comes from the ashes of another one time band fronted by band singer and guitarist Jim Wilson.
Before Motor Sister came to life, Wilson once fronted a much talked about band called Mother Superior. From 1993 until 2011, the lineup of Wilson, bassist Marcus Blake and drummer Jason Mackenroth (later replaced by Matt Tecu in 2005) was a much talked about yet underappreciated rock outfit who made waves throughout Southern California and beyond.
Motor Sister
Wilson spoke about Mother Superior and about their time together and the history of the band.
“That’s a good question because I always get that mixed up,” he said, clarifying how many official releases Mother Superior had out. “The thing is we released eight different CDs of original material but there was one at the very beginning that I recorded myself on a reel to reel tape recorder that we used as a demo called Right in a Row. It was nine songs that never came out anywhere else. It’s a whole album’s worth of material.”
“That was the album, as a demo, I got to give to Henry Rollins when I worked at Aron’s Records (longtime LA indie record shop). I said check out my band. He listened to it. I called and he said I really like this and let’s stay in touch. That’s an album that gets put on ebay as an album. It actually is a full album but was never properly distributed. That would be nine, and at the very end in 2008, we had a French label come to us and said they wanted to put out a Greatest Hits of Mother Superior and if you had any new tracks we’ll take them. So it had seven old songs, two new songs plus we did a cover of a Beatles song which we did for a Beatles tribute album that never came out. We gave them that song too. So that’s like a tenth album. It’s got new material but there’s eight proper distributed albums. Not to mention we recorded three albums with Henry Rollins and a live album, so we did do a lot of music in the time we were together.”
Some may recall them as the second version of the Rollins Band from 1997 until 2003. They recorded Get Some Go Again (2000) and Nice (2001) during their time together, touring internationally and reaching new audiences.
“I always knew Henry was into the same kind of music I was into like Black Sabbath and he liked Parliament and Funkadelic. He was a real music fan. He liked Miles Davis. When we first met Henry, he was hardcore getting into the Beatles. He would always know about the Beatles. I met Henry and showed him my Beatles bootleg collection. He asked ‘can I borrow these overnight, copy them all and bring them back to you?’ It’s Rollins so of course. He got so into the Beatles and at that point we were sharing music together.”
“It’s like Motor Sister now. We were a band with Rollins because we were friends. We were musical friends. That’s how it feels now. When Mother Superior started, that original trio – we were all working in record stores and growing up together. We were friends and as time moves on, everyone has families, kids and it gets harder to keep the same three guys together. You start to turn into this alcoholic freak show instead of like proper adults. We took that as far as we could before you start looking around in your life for other experiences and other friends.”
Towards the latter half of Mother Superior, Wilson landed a gig playing with famed producer Daniel Lanois’ solo band, which opened his world towards sharing the stage with larger acts.
“I’ve been playing with Daniel Lanois for eleven years now because I’m his friend. I’m the longest running musician in his camp and has been playing with him. It’s fun for me because Daniel is a world class musician and he’s treated with respect everywhere we go, and I get to be in the passenger seat as his bass player and co singer. Because of Daniel, I came back from DC a couple weekends ago and did the Emmylou Harris tribute show with Kris Kristofferson and Chris Hillman from the Byrds, Rodney Crowell, Don Was and The All Star Band. I get to be part of that world too.”
He shared his status with his longtime bassist Blake, with whom co-started Mother Superior with. Aside from Rollins Band, the two also were in Lanois’ band together. Then he explains what happened since then.
“He was first in Rollins Band and he did play with Daniel for a while. Then Daniel had his project called Black Dub and that was a weird point. For his Black Dub project, he only needed a bass player and a singer, and since I’m a singer he asked me if I wanted to play bass and I said yes. I played some bass – not all the time but whenever he needed it. When I joined the Black Dub project, it turned into a world tour and very successful. I think he felt a little bit of ‘wait…why are you playing bass?’ It’s nothing personal. It also brought it into the band. I think after the original Mother Superior drummer Jason Mackenroth and that was the closest we ever were and friends that hung out. Matt Tecu was the second drummer and he was a great drummer. He joined the band as a replacement because we needed a drummer. We didn’t have the comradely the original band had. Due to that, I think me and Marcus grew apart a bit.”
“When I came back after Black Dub and into the situation of Mother Superior – oh are we going to make another album? No offense to Marcus but he brought in frustrations while I was away on tour and he had a bunch of songs he had written that he wanted to sing and said ‘on the next album I want to sing at least three songs.’ “
“There I was listening to him. He asked if he could use my guitar when we got together. He said he’s got a Foo Fighters kind of thing. I was like ‘listen…this has all changed. It’s not the same band it used to be. That’s when I decided to make a solo record. That pissed him off so I got a nasty email. ‘Don’t use any of our connections if you’re going to do a solo album…you keep it separate.’ It was that time where if I tried to do anything different it made the guys in the band angry. It wasn’t like I could go back into the Mother Superior situation and pretend like it wasn’t existing any more.”
“There’s a saying that sometimes alcoholics use…I love alcohol but I’m not an alcoholic, but I love the saying that trying to do something different the same way every time is the definition of insanity. That’s what it felt like at the end of Mother Superior. We had a sound and we couldn’t do anything different or it would make the old band mad. We had talked about trying to change and it meant something different to each of the guys. We would never see eye to eye. I know other bands in other situations where they say ‘oh we don’t get along but we still play together.’ That’s because those kind of bands…say like Metallica or something, they’re getting paid millions of dollars not to like each other. Of course they’re going to go to Portugal and get paid a million dollars if someone’s going to pay them. I don’t know if that’s good or bad. Mother Superior has never had that situation where someone said ‘hey I’m going to pay you a lot of money to be friends.’ So we haven’t done anything together.”
Wilson admits he did reach out to Blake about his involvement in Motor Sister, which some fans may have noticed his absence from the project.
“To be honest, I tried to get in touch with Marcus when this project came about and got a negative response. So I tried to explain that the only thing that could happen is anyone who is interested will go back and check out the old stuff. Maybe it was too soon. Out of respect to the band, we changed the name. We threw the name around and there’s a song “Little Motor Sister” and Pearl [Aday, vocals] said “what about ‘Little Motor Sister”? And I said what about Motor Sister? Then it’s still MS. Now that we did that – I’m so glad that we did because it’s given it its own identity. It’s still related in a way where if anybody wants to know. I have nothing but respect for the original music. There are my guitar riffs and my melodies and all of my lyrics. As a singer I said I have to write all of the words that come out of my mouth. I’m glad people can still listen to the tunes and it’s going well. I wish all of the guys the best. Sometimes it takes time.”
Even after Mother Superior’s untimely ending, Wilson has kept active within music. He found a cult fan base for his music that became more apparent as time went on.
“I’ve been working on music since the Rollins thing. I’ve been super blessed that I get to do this. Somehow I survive. Because of that things change, and because of Daniel putting me in his touring band so much, it took me away from Mother Superior a little bit. It let me see it from a different place. While you’re in it every day…I can’t tell you how many times out of frustration, either the drummer or the bass player would say ‘we should have a meeting…’ and we would have a ‘meeting’ just for a chance so we can bitch each other about how we can’t pay our rent.“
“We really were a punk rock band that no major label would touch. We had fans that wanted us to keep making music. People were telling us ‘I love you guys! Don’t ever give this up. You really have something special. And you’re trying to keep this going but there’s no dash from the gas tank. Then you start looking for other ways to make this happen. At first we got lucky with Henry because I got to take the whole band on the adventure without changing anything. Henry took the whole band so nobody got left behind. But as time went by it wasn’t always possible. I had the opportunity to work with Daniel and it was something I needed to do. As it took me away from Mother Superior, maybe it made me go I don’t have to do that forever.”
“You know that Canadian band Anvil? I love them. I actually saw them open for Aerosmith in the 80s. I thought they were great. I saw that movie and thought about me and the other guys. I don’t want to end up in a dead end scene. I wanted to break away. I also think about Miles Davis and John Coltrane, and how John Coltrane was in Miles Davis’ band. He wasn’t afraid to take a chance to step outside that and that inspired me to do something on my own. It’s the history of music that not only makes me keep creating but not be afraid to try something different and doesn’t make sense at the time.”
A wail of feedback, a sludgy, laconic riff, a jarring bass line and Success (Season of Mist) shudders into being in the style of that too-cool-to-give-a-fuck band that ambles on stage and begins the song with each member starting at their own pace and point of choice. KEN Mode, kings of the post-surf/noise rock power-trio kingdom stroll acerbically into their sixth album.
Jesse Matthewson, known for intelligent, confrontation and biting observations, has chosen to measure his delivery this time, and most of his outpourings are part-spoken and spat, rather than roared or thrown from his maw, seemingly intent on imparting off-centre soundbites. “I would like to kill the nicest man in the world” he states at the outset of ‘These Tight Jeans’, where he trades off lines with Jill Clapham in both a catchy and knowingly cool fashion, channelling his inner Jesus Lizard.
The hand of Steve Albini is present all through, as the In Utero (Geffen) producer skuzzes up ‘The Owl’, an astringent swagger with stoner undertones, before a bass crunk and cello mid-section pull the song into a discordant yowl over clashing chords, as KEN Mode play with the notion of traditional song-structure effectively. Sonic Youth would be proud.
Yet all is not rosy in KEN and Barbie’s world. There is a nagging feeling that while Clutch (for whom KEN Mode certainly owe a something to) are naturally and instinctively quirky, for the first time KM things feel a bit forced, as if stating “Handfuls of proverbial shit tossed over and over against that same proverbial wall” (‘Blessed’) is a little close to the mark, and that moving to a more caustic pop sound may be contrived, such as on the overly self-aware and smug ‘A Passive Disaster’. The cap might not fit at the moment, but all it would take is adjusting the clasp at the back. At times, this new KEN Mode just sits a little uncomfortably. But then such doubts are stomped to dust by the rising dynamic of ‘Management Control’ which builds to feedback end, or the exemplary dark, brooding, sprawling ‘Dead Actors’, that recalls The Doors clashing with a more progressive Nirvana.
Mixing a Clutch of stoner, a Tad of grunge and pinch of Mudhoney slovenliness in their Helmet of groove, KEN Mode can consider their transition a Success. Just.
7.0/10
STEVE TOVEY
Henry Rollins and Heidi May of The Henry & Heidi Podcast talk about the making of the West Memphis 3 album (aka WM3) and the behind the scenes story behind it all. Stream it here.
Henry Rollins discusses on his February 26, 2015 episode of his podcast Heidi & Henry Podcast about the history of the Rollins Band and how the band came together. He also goes into depth about how the classic lineup fell apart and clarifies all talks about a reunion.
Henry Rollins recently did an extensive interview with Dan Solomon of FastCompany about his acting role in the indie comedic horror film He Never Died, which was directed by Jason Krawczyk, and screened at South By Southwest. Rollins plays the character Jack, which is his first lead role in a movie.
Some of the highlights from the interview include:
On acting in his first lead role in a movie:
“I felt no pressure—I just couldn’t wait to get in there every day and do it.”
“If I’m prepared, if I’ve really put the time in, I can’t wait to show you the work I’ve done. I don’t like being nervous about stuff—life’s too short—so I just burn hours and hours of time in preparation. I saw this script at the end of 2012, and we started shooting at the end of 2013, so I had a year to prepare. By the time we hit it, I was just telling the director, Jason, how I think my guy should be. ‘Man, you’ve done your work—go. Don’t ask me, just hit it.’ I had really worked my ass off to prepare, so I’m not dragging the team. It was a joy.”
He added:
“I memorize the whole page, so I just act in the totality of that moment. I want to be aware of everything that’s going to happen—how I’m sitting, where my shoulders are going to go. If you watch a film, you can tell if the actors aren’t familiar with these lines because they’re telegraphing. ‘You’re not at ease with your character! You just did that with your head, you don’t know what you’re doing!’ I don’t want to be that guy, so I go in trying to know every tree in the forest.”
On his future beyond acting:
“I’m 54, and I’ve been winging it for dinner since I was 20.”
“It’s all until the deal is up—I’ve never had a sure thing except my audience, and they can leave at any time. If they see something brighter, shinier, younger, they can be like, ‘Hey man, love ya!’ And I hear you—thanks for everything. My life is a big maybe, and you have to be looking up for the next vine to grab and swing from.”
On his current life:
“I like moving around, what I don’t like is another day at the office. Another day of ‘I’m going to the grocery store again, Starbucks every Friday night to write something for LA Weekly.’ It’s a rut. I might as well work at Staples. I’m not putting that down, but also—just get a cubicle, start breeding, get all normal? I don’t wanna. If I can’t do anything else, I get my passport and I leave. I travel. I’ve been to 86 countries. Last year, Thanksgiving, the whole entertainment industry is all going to a sunny beach, so I can get up and go, no one wants me for anything. I write for LA Weekly, I can dial that in from anywhere. The radio shows are done in advance. I went to Central Asia and kicked it in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan for a month and a half, saw a million mosques, and froze my ass off. But I’m on the move and I’m taking photos, I’m talking to people, I’m interviewing people about arranged marriages and Stalin and Islam and how all that comes together, and it was fascinating, amazing. It’s not sitting at home. ‘One more episode of Scandal!’ That, to me, is like—” Rollins simulates a barf sound.
On what motivates him:
“Showing up on a set at some obscene hour of the morning and getting your ass kicked by Ron Perlman, like having to really burn lean tissue? That’s as good as being on tour or traveling, because you’re engaged every day in burning lean mineral tissue making something, and that’s what I truly crave.”
“I love those moments. If I had a Sons of Anarchy-like TV thing, I’d take it. Maybe 20 years ago, I would have said, ‘I’m rock and roll, man, fuck you.’ But I did rock and roll. I murdered it. I can’t do it anymore. I did as much as I could with it, and now I want to do some other things. I like something where I can keep coming back to build something—it would be great to have done parts two and three of a film, or three seasons of a TV show, where you’re like, ‘I did that, man.’ It took three years to realize that.”
Henry Rollins on Facebook
Henry Rollins on Twitter
He Never Died Movie on Twitter
Watch the movie trailer below.
What started as a one-time jam for Scott Ian’s 50th birthday party, Motor Sister is a semi-super-group minus all the hype. Scott wanted a cover band to play his party, and for him to play in; one to play the jams of his favorite LA rock band: Mother Superior. While not a household name, Mother Superior was a good rock band with some kickass songs for the better part of 20 years, and included a stint as Henry Rollins’ backing band. The party came and went, but the experience sat in Ian’s mind and he felt that if they could capture the spontaneity of how the jam came together on a record, it might be something special. Metal Blade agreed, the band recorded with Anthrax house producer Jay Ruston and Motor Sister and Ride were born.
Motor Sister suffers from none of trappings of a lame vanity project, mostly due to Jim Wilson. Jim is not just a songcraft master and strong riffer, he has a voice of gold. He has power and soul, and never over reaches for notes. His voice is also happily absent of the hideous fake growly blues quality so many try out and fail. In addition to Jim chipping in his own harmonies, Scott’s wife Pearl sings back-up on many tracks, adding in her sassy, powerhouse delivery. Their voices work off each other to great effect. The lead track ‘A-Hole’ is feisty like a lost AC/DC or Thin Lizzy song. ‘This Song Reminds Me of You’ starts out with slinky riff and then drops into an old-school vamp. ‘Beg Borrow Steal’, and ‘Fork In the Road’ are pretty badass concoctions too. The terrain stays adventurous too with the epic closer ‘Devil Wind’.
In addition to Ian and Wilson on guitar, the real treat of the album comes from the rhythm section of Joey Vera (Armored Saint, Anthrax) on bass and John Tempesta (Testament, Exodus, White Zombie, The Cult) They are locked in tight every measure. If you love simple, well-written rock music with some occasional heaviness, Motor Sister is right up your dirty back alley.
8.0/10
KEITH CHACHKES
Motor Sister is streaming their full album Ride, out March 10, 2015 via Metal Blade Records, here.
“Motor Sister is a group of musicians whose collective musical pedigrees speak for themselves.” Mother Superior founder, guitarist, and vocalist Jim Wilson fronts the band, with Anthrax‘s Scott Ian on guitar, Pearl Aday on backing vocals, Pearl Aday on bass, and John Tempesta on drums.
Singer Jim Wilson on the album:
“Get ready for Motor Sister! Finally some music you can turn up LOUD and feel it!
The video for “Fork in the Road” which provides a rare glimpse into the recording of this Mother Superior favorite by Motor Sister can be viewed here.
Watch the video for “This Song Reminds Me Of You” here.
The group was originally assembled to jam for Scott Ian’s fiftieth birthday party. Thanks to Scott’s wife Pearl Aday, who has been working on her solo career with Mother Superior front man Jim Wilson for years, all it took was a quick phone call and the stage was literally set for Scott’s dream gig. “I wanted to cherry-pick a set list of my favorite Mother Superior songs and get these guys together and have the concert at my house,” Ian says of the event that eventually led to an album.
“[Mother Superior] frontman Jim [Wilson] was totally into the idea. Pearl was a huge Mother Superior fan from way back and was in. I asked my good friends Joey Vera (Fates Warning/Armored Saint) and John Tempesta to be a part of it because I knew they were both big fans as well and with no hesitation they said, ‘We’re in.'”
Wilson, too, was stoked by the opportunity to dust off some songs he hadn’t played since his LA rock trio broke up in the early 2000’s after releasing eight albums and playing as Henry Rollins‘ backing band. “I definitely didn’t need any arm-twisting,” he says. “I was totally flattered and thought it was a great idea. I figured it would be fun and it was a great opportunity for a new chapter to be established in order to move forward.”
In support of the project Motor Sister played a show a in Brooklyn, NY earlier this month and have scheduled two special shows:
Mar 11: The Whisky – Los Angeles, CA
Mar 12: DNA Lounge – San Francisco, CA.
Motor Sister on Twitter
Scott Ian on Twitter
Pearl Aday on Twitter
Jim Wilson on Twitter
Joey Vera on Twitter
Johnny Tempesta on Facebook
“Am I a Henry or a Glenn?” This is the question that popped into my head as I dug into Tom Neely and Igloo Tornado’s Henry & Glenn Forever & Ever; a collection of comics that explore the fictional relationship between Henry Rollins and Glenn Danzig. The first quarter or so of the book contains Neely’s work and was the part that I enjoyed the most. The plot is entertaining and I love how Herny and Glenn are drawn like old cartoon characters. Neely’s section is full with cameo’s of some very recognizable metal musicians and plenty of not-even-thinly-veiled pop culture references that should amuse your inner nerd.
After Neely’s section, I began to lose interest. Most of the other contributions to the collection were short one-off’s that were just the same gay joke being told over and over again with a different person illustrating it. The artwork varies wildly from excellent to something you would expect to see drawn on a bathroom wall. When it comes to a concept like this, you have to find a way to stand out and either tell a story or simply be funnier than everyone else who is going after the same bit and the rest of this book was pretty bland. At some points, the art looks like it was drawn by a middle school kid in study hall and the content amounts to little more than; “They’re gay, isn’t that hilarious?” You have so much material between the two of them, Black Flag, and the Misfits that the fact that so many of the authors just go after the easiest gay joke is disappointing.
Some artists did try and were able to successfully keep my attention such as Mark Rudolph’s How the Chores Thrill. In this short comic, Glenn, much like Hercules (of Greek legend, not Kevin Sorbo), is sent on an epic quest and must complete three labors of varying difficulty. There are a few references to earlier portions of the book as well. It’s adorable and I loved it.
Overall, the collection is a decent read even with its flaws. I enjoyed finding musicians hidden in different scenes and how ridiculous some of the scenarios were. It’s also impossible to go wrong with Daryl Hall and John Oates as next door neighbors who also happen to be Satanists. Maybe that’s why I love them so much. Hardcore fans who can’t take a joke may want to avoid the read, though. That said, I’m definitely a Henry and I would buy the hell out of some Henry & Glenn themed tarot cards.
7.0/10
Henry & Glenn Forever on Facebook
ALEIDA LA LLAVE
Emerging like a bile fuelled viper, Poison Everything (Southern Lord) is the third release from Californian based hardcore four piece Obliterations is a frenetic, dirty and all round in-your-face release that doesn’t let go from the second it sinks its teeth into you.
Taking influence from across the hardcore genre, from the organised precise chaos of Converge to the back to basics approach of classic Henry Rollins fronted Black Flag. To even some hooks and groovy riffs that is reminiscent of the first two The Bronx albums.
The record flies by with its run time of just over half an hour with its old school Black Flag influence running through the albums run time from its first second to its last. The Hardcore fury is nicely countered with a large slice of doomy Black Sabbath riffage in the albums more groove orientated moments, as well as its rumbling bass sound which chugs its way through the album making the record sound like a hardcore punk Motorhead.
The vocals are where the album steps into its stride, switching between Henry Rollins snarls and barks to Jacob Bannon shrieks and screams almost instantaneously. Front man Sam James Velde pulls off these vocals seamlessly, sounding as if for his album preparation he gargled glass for a decade beforehand in order to transfer as much savagery into his delivery as possible.
Overall, Poison Everything is a great hardcore release from the band and is easily their best record to date. With all the snarl and aggression that you would want from bands such as Converge or Black Flag, Poison Everything does exactly what the band set out to do. The Sabbath riffs and Motorhead rumble and pace add all new depth to the release and lift it amongst most hardcore releases.
7.0/10
DAN O’BRIEN