PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Australia has been producing some quality metal and rock acts of late and another, Mammoth Mammoth, recently released their third studio album last month through Napalm Records that was pretty cool to the ears as you can read from our recent review.
We caught up with guitarist Ben Couzens to get a bit more behind this monster from down under.
Hi Cuz, thanks for taking the time to chat to us today. Before anything else, for those readers of the site who maybe haven’t heard of you can you give us a bit of background about yourselves?
CUZ: We are a rock n roll band from Melbourne Australia called MAMMOTH MAMMOTH. We play loud, sweaty, hairy rock n roll. We are the most rock n roll rock n roll band in the history of rock n roll. Been doing it for 5 years. We’ve been described as the result of Motorhead doing mushrooms with the Ramones backstage at a Butthole Surfers gig.
Third album under your belts now, how did it come about? Was the writing and recording process any different from the previous albums?
CUZ: Yeah, third album. We took a bit more time recording this one. A whole 2 days more. We also got in Jason Fuller to produce it. He is the bass player of Australia’s notorious metal band Blood Duster. The result is a bigger fuller sounding album. We’re really happy with it. This album kills unicorns. …and grass.
You’ve been incredibly generous with the bonus tracks on the album. Was that always the plan with the album?
Not really. The bonus tracks are all off our first EP Volume I. It was our record companies idea to include them as bonus tracks on the limited edition release of Volume III. It is cool to have that album on vinyl now. It was originally only released on CD and has sold out long ago.
Can you give us a quick description of what each track is about?
1. Hell’s Likely …fighting
2. GO …wanting to fight
3. Bare Bones …The day after having a fight
4. (Up All Night) Demons to Fight .the reason we end up fighting
5. Sitting Pretty …bragging about winning a fight
6. I Want It Too …A song about vaginas
7. Bury Me …about not caring if you lose a fight
8. Another Drink (bonus track). …The thing that lead to us getting into a fight
9. Let’s Roll (bonus track). …A song about sandwiches
10. Weapons of Mass Self Destruction (bonus track) …See track 4
11. Slacker (bonus track) …being too tired to fight
12. The Bad Oil (bonus track) …about a time our bass player accidently went into a gay massage place in Thailand
It’s safe to say it’s a fairly *ahem* memorable album cover. Who came up with the idea for it and who’s the pretty lady fronting it? ;)
Down here in Australia we like to load up our van and head out into the forest with a bunch of booze and jam. We found that girl living under a log. The only thing she had to keep her warm was her big healthy lookin’ bush. So we grabbed a few photos of her and also filmed a video clip for the second single “Go”. She smashed us in a drinking contest too, they grow ’em wild out in the bush!
Any touring plans for next year?
Yeah, obviously travelling from Australia to Europe is a long way so we are currently looking at a few options and what will work best. We’d like to fit in a couple of big festivals and destroy a few clubs too. You can expect to see us the middle on 2013.
Any plans for Christmas and New Year festivities?
CUZ: We’ve been on the road pretty heavily thru 2012 so we are taking a month off to recharge so we can hit 2013 square in the dick. We will go bush for new years though. That’s something we do every year. Load up our van with our gear and a lot of booze and just get spaced in the forest. Then we start the year with a Stoner/Heavy Rock festival –“Devil’s Kitchen ‘13”.
Any new year resolutions you intend to do and will you stick to them?
CUZ: I really want to start smoking. I’ve started on nicotine patches and am working my way up to smoking cigarettes. Our drummer Bones is also trying to put on a shit load of weight.
If there’s one thing you’d like to achieve in 2013 what would it be?
CUZ: To nail that Europe tour, meet some of the peeps there that have supported us all the way – and and do what we love to do: crank up some good-time-murder-fuzz!
Finally, are there any messages that you would like to pass on to the readers?
CUZ: Just that we are a band that doesn’t do things by halves. We play stompin’ rock n roll that is highly likely to make you and potentially your neighbour shit your pants. Give us a listen and we hope to deafen you in your home town soon.
Mammoth Mammoth’s latest album, Hell’s Likely, is available now
Mammoth Mammoth are:
Ben Couzens – Guitars
Mikey Tucker – Vocals
Frank Trobbiani – Drums
Pete Bell – Bass
LINKS:
www.mammothmammoth.com
www.facebook.com/mammothmammothband
