Mastodon has always pushed the limits of heavy music. Bringing a progressive edge to an extreme all while singing about some of the most complex metaphors anyone has ever dreamt up. Troy Sanders, bassist and vocalist, is an incredibly interesting man. From his many side project bands like Killer Be Killed and Gone Is Gone, to his work with Two Minutes to Midnight a YouTube variety show that is all about metal.
For the last few albums Mastodon has given us an inside look at the making of them and that continues with Hushed and Grim. Before checking that out check out my interview with Troy Sanders who told me the bass solo in ‘Teardrinker’ was originally a joke he played on his band mates.
“There were two musical bridges that we were going to have a guitar solo over and they were like well maybe Brent can play a solo over this part and Bill can play on this one…see which one sounds better….and I jokingly said “I’ll just play a bass solo over the first part.”…and it was just dismissed as a joke…so this is at the end of the day…I stayed late and asked our engineer “let me just put an idea down for a bass solo as a joke for these guys so when I told them I was going to put a bass solo down I was actually gonna have one.”…(the next day) we played it for them and it gave them a giggle…’
We also chatted about beer and what his favorite style is, which is a low ABV hazy style, and how much he loves Liene’s Summer Shandy. Fascinating dude, fascinating band. Check out our chat and how the rest of the band put together Hushed and Grim.
