You toured extensively in Europe. What was that like for you?
Yeah, we did quite a bit of touring in Europe for this record. A lot of England, a lot of festivals. We did a lot of odd places, like Estonia and Croatia, and places that you normally wouldn’t do. We played a lot of the Baltic countries and a lot of the Eastern Bloc countries, which is great. Romania, Bulgaria, they were very interesting places. Hey, we are big in Estonia! It’s good to be able to go somewhere, right? We were very privileged to be able to go somewhere new. A lot of people were really open, because they don’t have that many shows. Up until 10 or 12 years ago a lot of the countries were still communist countries, and they really didn’t have anyone going there.
You did some shows with Motorhead out there as well.
Yeah, we did some Motorhead shows in Germany. We did eight gigs only, but I wish it would have been more. It was amazing. Obviously I am hugely influenced by Lemmy and Motorhead. It was great! I got to go up onstage and sing a verse of ‘Overkill’ at our last show and it was great. They were very cool, it was really something else.
How long did Dead Planet take to put together?
Actually, it took longer than I wanted to, because I started out in a studio over here by my place near the Valley in L.A., and it was a friend’s place. So we started the record, we did all these basic tracks live and it was great. But it’s obviously a business, and when a bigger band came in, we had to put the brakes on it. We got tired of waiting because it takes a long time for these big bands to do their records, so I kind of just called up a friend and finished it in a smaller studio in Arcadia. It was equally as cool, and it all worked out, and it turned out great. So it actually took a little bit longer than I anticipated. I thought it was just going to take a couple of weeks. Actual recording time took about four weeks.
How about onstage, are you very comfortable being the frontman now?
I haven’t really thought about it. I mean, I am still playing bass. I haven’t really thought about the whole frontman thing, I just wanted to do the singing, you know?
What’s the meaning of Mondo Generator? I know it’s a Kyuss song, but what is the impression that you want it to conjure in people’s minds?
A feeling of energy. Some of my favorite songs…you think that something is going to happen. You don’t know what it is, but that feeling of something could go wrong.
Now you are going out on tour with Turbonegro?
Yeah, it’s going to be great. I am really looking forward to doing that. Those are our good friends. We toured with them with Queens, and we did a lot of dates with them, and it was really cool. I was happy to be able to play with them again and get out on tour.
Do you have anything in the works for after the Turbonegro tour?
Well, we need to do a new record here soon, but I know Hank III is also going out on tour, that could be fun, and I know there has been talk of Australia, so I don’t know as of the moment what is going to happen. If not, a new record and a tour.
Do you have a preference, writing or playing live?
Yeah, the accomplishment of finishing a record is great, but bringing it live is important. You can go into a studio not knowing what you are going to do, or if you can just pop it off on the spot and just do it, then that’s cool too! But to be able to do it live… I probably like live better because I really feel at home when I am moving and traveling. I have to say doing it live is better for me, being able to take what you do in the studio and being able to bring it live is important. People expect you to play that and sing that stuff. I think the live stuff is the most important to me, because I really enjoy traveling and playing live. You don’t get a second chance, it’s like someone who skateboards. You are either going to beef or you are going to make it. Live is kind of like that, you only get one shot at it.
Mondo Generator will be performing at NYC’s Nokia Theatre on Sept. 25. For more info visit mondogenerator.com
Photo Credit: Jonathan Lappin
