Marco Minnemann [Interview]

For regular TMMP readers, drum legend Marco Minnemann will need little introduction by now! Creator of EEPS (TMMP’s second-favourite album of 2014) and brand new album Celebration (reviewed on TMMP here); the skin-beater currently backing up Joe Satriani and Steven Wilson; and one third of globally notorious fusion heavyweights the Aristocrats (alongside Guthrie Govan and Bryan Beller), Marco Minnemann is, to say the least, a truly rare talent and artist.

Here, Marco talks about his brand new album, creativity, darkness, and rubber animals. Enjoy!

Your new solo album Celebration is out now, less than a year after your last one, EEPS. How do you manage to maintain such restless creativity?

Well, I’m enjoying the writing and playing music world and ideas sort of sometimes fall from the sky or get triggered by experiences. So inspiration is present if you walk through the world with an open mind and a lot of imagination.

Plus, portable studio equipment makes things really easy on the road. So, there are virtually no Read more…

Posted on 05 June 2015

Pat Mastelotto [Interview]

Pat Mastelotto is a busy guy. His CV is a mile long, including his current position as King Crimson’s drumming lynchpin; one third of acclaimed virtuoso trio Stick Men (alongside Tony Levin and Markus Reuter); and a huge range of additional projects including KoMaRa (whose self-titled album was reviewed on TMMP here), and O.R.k. (whose album Inflamed Rides received the TMMP treatment here). This is an epic-length interview Pat Mastelotto treated with the same generous attitude as anything with which he becomes involved.

Whether you’re a fan of King Crimson, Stick Men, KoMaRa, O.R.k., the man himself, or any of his other innumerable projects, you’ll find a ton of fascinating info here. Read on… Read more…

Posted on 03 June 2015

Delta Sleep [Interview]

If you love math rock, you’ll adore Delta Sleep. Watch out for their new album Twin Galaxies (out June 15 via Big Scary Monsters and reviewed on TMMP here), and in the meantime, read forth and discover more about the new album, Delta Sleep’s creative process, and their drummer’s Haribo addiction…

Your new album Twin Galaxies is coming out soon. What thoughts/feelings are going through your heads right now?

Glen: I can’t wait. These songs feel like they’ve been with us (but not actually physically recorded anywhere) for ages. I think it feels like even longer for Dev and I, as we wrote parts of them with our previous bassist and drummer (Adam and Maria).

Devin: A lot of mixed emotions. I’m mostly excited but sometimes feel Read more…

Posted on 30 May 2015

The Decoy [Interview]

Sometimes a new discovery blows your mind in the best way possible. Welsh prog mentalists the Decoy certainly did that with their new EP Parasites, due out on May 25 via Ghoulish Records and sure to get you wondering what the fuck just happened when it finally beats on your eardrums. For this interview, there was only one way to begin…

Your new EP Parasites is a real mindfuck – so I have to open with a horribly clichéd question: Who are your influences? Where do those ideas come from?!

Joel (Williams, bass/vocals): Difficult question! We all have Read more…

Posted on 22 May 2015

Blood Youth [Interview]

Blood Youth have been through a lot over the last year, from the dissolution of previous project Climates, and the introduction of vocalist Kaya Tarsus, to gutting relationship issues. TMMP got chatting to Kaya and Sam Bowden (guitar) in advance of the June 22 release of brand new EP Inside My Head (reviewed on TMMP here)…

Your new EP, Inside My Head, is set to drop soon. How’re you feeling right now? 

Kaya: We’re all feeling really good right now! Theres a very positive atmosphere in the Blood Youth camp right now. We cant wait for Read more…

Posted on 19 May 2015

Calling Apollo [Interview]

If you’re into bands who make a conscious effort to do something different, Calling Apollo are well worth checking out. Here, vocalist Chris Neale chats about creative development, Calling Apollo’s earliest days, and new EP Hunter/Gatherer…

Your new EP Hunter/Gatherer is a real step up from your last release. What did you do to push yourselves to the next level?

We didn’t Read more…

Posted on 18 May 2015

Employed To Serve [Interview]

Having had my ears blown by Employed To Serve’s debut long-player Greyer Than You Remember and seen the Woking-based post-hardcore upstarts tear through a riotous Palm Reader support slot, I can safely say that if you love hardcore-related shenanigans and haven’t checked these guys out yet, you need to fix that ASAP.

A bleak and brutal whirlwind of off-kilter riffs, hectic drum abuse, and scorching vocals, Greyer Than You Remember represents pure, no-shortcut quality; over the course of every track, Employed To Serve push themselves past their own limits and into the previously unknowable. Here, ETS vocalist Justine Jones chats about her band’s origin story, self-worth, onstage nerves, and some sick future tour plans…

Your album Greyer Than You Remember is dropping on May 25th. How do you feel right now?

Really excited! We’ve had some of these songs written for a year, so we’re really happy to finally be playing them live and for people to be able to listen to them!

How would you describe your creative evolution over the course of your last few releases and the creation of Greyer Than You Remember?

Pretty drastic! I feel like we’ve forced Read more…

Posted on 17 May 2015

The Sun Explodes [Interview]

TMMP caught up with The Sun Explodes a week ahead of the release of new EP The Calm, The Storm (reviewed on TMMP here) to talk origin stories, advice, and the band’s plans for the remainder of 2015… Read more…

Posted on 16 May 2015

Mat Ducasse (Skylab) [Interview]

With legendary electronica collective Skylab re-releasing their classic albums #1 and #2: 1999 (Large As Life And Twice As Natural) on June 9, TMMP caught up with core member Mat Ducasse for an incredibly in-depth interview…

Tummy Touch are re-releasing Skylab’s albums #1 (1994) and #2: 1999 (Large As Life And Twice As Natural) (1999) next month. How do you feel thinking back to the years those albums were released?

Hmm. Well, they were certainly interesting times.

In London in 1994 it was all about the raves, the chillouts and so on – or the tail end of that, of which I’m ambivalent. But it was also a time of open-ended creativity. Which is nice. But for me personally it was a time of great upheaval, even chaos, which began pretty soon after the completion of Read more…

Posted on 08 May 2015

Palm Reader [Interview]

As one of the most hotly-tipped hardcore acts out there at the moment, Palm Reader are a band worth watching. Their new album Beside The Ones We Love (reviewed on TMMP here) consists of ten tracks crammed with sick riffs, annihilative vocals, and cinematic atmospheres – and it is, to say the least, stunning. With this in mind, TMMP caught up with Palm Reader to discuss Beside The Ones We Love, how songs that intense come to be, and the importance of  Read more…

Posted on 02 May 2015