That was my next question. Are you fans of the Nightmare on Elm Street and all the Halloween movies? Skinny- As the movies came out I became less and less of a fan. I guess I got a little older and the movies got a little cheesier, but I’m still a big horror buff. I definitely grew up watching that stuff. It’s an honor to be on it. Plus a lot of other cool bands are on it with a bunch of new music, so it’s really setting the tone for the heavy metal state as it is right now. It was really cool to be on it. So is “Sun Doesn‘t Rise” also a song on your new album? Skinny - Yeah, that’s actually track 2. We ended up using that as our first single. We did two songs on this album with a producer by the name of

Gart King. He’s mostly known for the Disturbed stuff. The rest of it was produced by myself and the band. We thought that one was really strong. It was actually the second song we worked on with him. The initial song we went there with was “No Where to Go”, which is track 4 on the new album. We did that one and “Sun Doesn’t Rise” with Gary King. We initially thought the other one was going to be more of our single but then once we got with him, we just had a good vibe so we made most of that while we were with him.

Typically, how does your writing process work with Mushroomhead?
Skinny - On this album it was really funny because we came off the road in November and we started writing December 1. By 6 weeks in we were with Johnny Kay recording. We only spent 10 days with him and we did 2 songs. The majority was written and recorded in 90 days. We just sat down and just rocked. We’ve been together almost 10 years now and we really kind of know where it’s at and if it didn’t rock, like in a traditional jam and we didn’t feel it, we didn’t spend any time with it. So the writing process this time was really, really fast. Amazingly fast for us.

That’s amazing that you can write a whole album start to finish in 90 days.
Skinny - The majority of it was finished by the middle of March. We were done recording and then we mixed. Matt Wallace who’s from Faith No More and he has done a bunch of other stuff. He did an amazing job. The brutal, heavy stuff just slams and then there’s the more melodic stuff which is open and I think he did an amazing job. It came out really well. It’s all brand new stuff. We haven’t done a new album, so-to-speak since 1999. The first album, XX, was basically a remix of our demos. So we haven’t had a chance to write and just show the world where our collective head is as a creative team. We’ve been out there, last year we did 180 gigs. We paid attention. We watched a lot of the bigger festivals, saw what the crowds were reacting to. Generally, we looked at the songs as, we’re gonna have to go write a new record and play out for the next year. These songs better just rock if I’m gonna play them 180 times next year. So that’s kind of the attitude we took and it just all went together really smooth.

I saw you guys a few weeks ago at Vexfest. What did you think of it, being a free show and all those local bands?
Skinny - We had a blast. The band loved it. Anytime we get a chance to go up there and do our thing and it goes really smooth. It wasn’t a huge stage, it wasn’t a huge PA system, it wasn’t a huge monitor system, all the typical playing problems aside, we were really surprised by the reaction. We thought Youngstown had a really killer scene. All the fans were very appreciative of the music and the tunes, so we were happy with it.

They just closed down streets and put up a stage, basically. Skinny - It’s kinda crazy. It’s very fortunate. I don’t know many cities that do that stuff, especially with us. We appreciate that kind of stuff. Those are the ones that kids go back and talk about and say, “Hey I saw those guys at a free show in this little town.” It creates a buzz, plus, it’s fun. Speaking of buzz, I have a Hatrix tape from way back in 1993 in my hand. It was one of those tapes that never left my headphones in college. I even saw you play as Hatrix with Environmental Hazard.

Skinny - Oh Yea! We used to play with those guys all the time. It’s funny because Gravy, Buzz, Jeffrey Dunfee and myself were all in Hatrix. That is a self-produced demo you have there.

Are these available anywhere?
Skinny - No, we were actually talking about putting them out on CD with all the demos. That’s cool that you got that. That’s hard to find.

I saw that you got some items put in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame up in Cleveland. Skinny - Yeah, there was just a small piece where they showcased the bands from around the Ohio area. They took one of our masks and placed them in there for an Ohio band showcase. That was quite an honor. I’m, not sure who the other Ohio acts were because I didn’t see it yet myself. How does it make you feel with fans coming to the shows with your masks or face paint?

Skinny - Oh, It’s great. That’s what it’s all about. Entertainment and putting on a show. It just means the kids get it and they’re going there to do something that they don’t normally do. We’re not just your average heavy metal show, it’s not just a concert. We’re very much an event based entertainment. That’s how we look at it. Each night is Halloween to us. It’s an event. It really gets us excited. I love watching the kids in the crowd and stage diving, especially with masks and stuff. You see some kids with a big pumpkin on his head or a guy with a devil masks floating around. That’s how the band can relate and identify.

The crowd is probably more entertainment for you.
Skinny - Absolutely. It’s a show to us. We just go up there and do our thing.

How does it make you feel when people compare you to other bands, like Slipknot, who in my opinion don’t really sound all that similar to you? Skinny - Those guys in general are a total different deal. They may have a lot of guys in the band and wear jumpsuits and masks, but what they do musically and what they do as

entertainment are such different things. Same with us. Especially with this new album, I think the fans will have a problem comparing it because it is incomparable. The music speaks for itself and we kinda went our own with it as far as the new album doesn’t feature us on the cover. The new video doesn’t even have us in it or any clips of us jamming with instruments. The whole album is set up for the music to speak for itself. As far as the other guys go, we’re always going to be compared to somebody. When we started it was Bungle and Gwar, then Manson, then Slipknot and Genitorturers, all the bands with something visual going on, we get compared to. Slipknot is more death metal as opposed to what we do. They’re more abrasive and we’re not that abrasive all the time. I think the new album will really get rid of that a whole lot. This is the album to let the music speak for itself. We’ve been around a lot longer than them and we probably will be.

Well to wrap it all up, the new album is coming out October 14th.
Skinny – Yea, everyone should definitely check it out. I just want to add that on “The Dream is Over” we have guest vocalist and good friends of ours Jens Kidman of Meshuggah. Plus, we’re doing a couple dates with them in Europe in November.

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