BACK IN AMERICA
A
s highly-esteemed ambassadors of the stoner rock genre, Monster Magnet have successfully carved out a tasty little niche in the music world. They may not be everyone’ s trip, but the Jersey boys have been consistently plying their tried-and-true,’ 60s-inspired psychedelic burn-out rock for almost three decades. However, the band hasn’ t toured much in the U. S. for most of its career, and that’ s why it’ s understandable that Monster Magnet mastermind / vocalist Dave Wyndorf is absolutely giddy about the band’ s upcoming North American tour, which makes a stop at the Bottom Lounge on Oct. 2.
On their 10th album, Mindfucker, the band – including guitarists Phil Caivano and Garrett Sweeny, drummer Bob Pantella, and bassist Chris Kosnik – sound
By Kelley Simms
Monster Magnet
as tight as ever. Wyndorf recently discussed the latest album, the upcoming tour, and why the band is more successful in Europe.
Mosh: Why do you think Monster Magnet is more popular in Europe than America? Dave Wyndorf: I don’ t know, I wish I knew. I got a couple of guesses. One thing, the kind of music I do, which is full ahead rock, it’ s not modern metal, and it’ s definitely not pop, it’ s full-ahead rock with psychedelic tinges. That stuff is not exactly the " next big thing " in the United States. But in Europe, their minds are open to a lot of different stuff, and it’ s a bigger live [ music ] culture in general than in the States. They just go out more, and they dig it more. I got a relationship with them that goes back to the first days of Monster Magnet. My first tour was in Europe, so maybe they remember us that way? We do the States- the States are cool, here and there- but it’ s a different United States now than it was 15-20 years ago live [ music ]-wise that I can see.
Mosh: How do you put a new tour together? DW: The usual way to do it is you get a booking agent, and the booking agent goes to all the local promoters and [ says ],‘ I got some Monster Magnet for you, you want it?’ And it’ s either yes or no, and if they want it,‘ OK how much you want to pay?’ And that’ s where it gets bad. That’ s why I keep going back to Europe because I can afford to play Europe. The States is hard. It’ s hard to make money here unless you’ re, like, a pop star or some dedicated metal band. It’ s hard to find a niche- ask any band. But [ the promoters ] came back with something that was OK. I think the less we play here, the more the demand will be. In the old days when you got paid for your music, you could off-set [ the cost of ] tours that didn’ t pay that much because you would sell more music from touring. But that’ s not the case now. Music is, basically, really really cheap now. It’ s cheap to buy, so the artist doesn’ t really make that much money off the music. I go to places where people are interested in music and the legacy of the band.
Mosh: Are you excited about another tour? How do you and the band usually prepare? DW: I’ m totally psyched. I’ d rather be on tour than not be on tour. Basically, I just can’ t wait. Then the ignition starts, and you work up the band. We’ re on tour quite often, but we had the summer off. In June, we played Europe, so we had the rest of the time off, and I was just counting the days. I
worked on some new material by myself, and then the guys and I got together last week and rehearsed. That’ s how you prepare. You just get psyched up, make sure everybody’ s tight. Make sure everybody’ s on their game. So, let the show begin.
Mosh: What’ s the band ' s chemistry like these days? DW: Really good. Everybody knows each other’ s strengths; everybody plays off of each other’ s strengths. It’ s a real band, which is what I really like. It’ s a unit in that respect if I should want to explain this. But there probably are people who don’ t understand how bands work anymore. There’ s a certain energy that you get when it’ s organically created. There’ s this tension that happens when all the people get together and are playing to each other. That doesn’ t happen when you play backing tapes like a lot of bands will do now. It’ s old school; it’ s organic. My guys do it better than almost anybody I’ ve ever seen. It just propels itself. It’ s pretty magical. I love to watch it happen. Everyone’ s pretty much on the same page as far as the music goes, and we all have the same sense of humor and the same urge to make things as dynamic as possible. So they’ ve got it down. There’ s a trick to doing it right. Know when to lay off and know when to go full-bore.
Mosh: How many new songs from the new album will make the current setlist and how do those songs resonate with audiences in Europe? DW: We do probably four songs off the record, which is a lot for a new record to do on tour. They went over totally great in Europe. We didn’ t miss a beat. I pushed
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