The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster discuss their ever changing line up
Bassist Sym talks about the forthcoming album, new member Tristan McLenahan and what makes the psychobilly band tick
Sym, currently chilling out with friends in preparation for a twelve-night tour of the UK starting next week, “Just catching-up with friends, as we’ve been away recording our new album in France” explains Sym, “we’ve recorded twenty songs, they’re unfinished and we’ll be mixing them in June.”
The band are infamous for their gothic, metal sound that is totally unique and removed from what any other band is doing, “we all share the writing process and heavily influenced by lots of different genres, there is a mixture of slow and heavy songs – the new album is a perfect mix of the first two.”
Last year, Tristan McLenahan joined the Matchbox line-up, replace Rich Fownes, “he was going to join Nine Inch Nails and went to LA, but that didn’t happen. He moved on and we’d moved on, we were just in different places. We’re still friends and talk to each other.”
“We lost two guitarists [Rich replaced Andy Huxley in 2005], dropped from our record label, each dealt with personal issues and the band overcame lots of barriers.” Sym talks of the relationships that formed within the band. They have known each other since they were kids and still spent 95% of the time in the band, Sym talks about how this established the sort of relationship that you can’t find anywhere else, helping each other through issues and getting the best out of each other. This enables the band to have chemistry and a solid bond to keep going through adversity, “a lot of bands would’ve given up” Sym sums up.
In the summer, Sym was temporarily replaced in TEMBD line-up “I was battling my own demons, I needed time away to sort myself out, it was never permanent, I wasn’t going to leave the band. I spent my spare time drinking, but that’s all dealt with and things are much better.”
I asked if touring with TEMBD was wild, as their live shows suggest, “there used to be a self-destructive element and it was fun, but it doesn’t get you anywhere. We just get on with playing gigs, it’s what its about and how we started, we really enjoy playing shows.”
The band got together in 1999, despite releasing material and having a huge fanbase, the band never gained commercial success, Sym responded by talking about the music industry “we’re not an off-the-conveyor-belt kind of band and I think our fans like the fact that we’re real, that we enjoy writing and playing our music, because of this we have really loyal fans…The internet has played a massive part in keeping bands like ours alive.” Scattered throughout our conversation, Sym talks about TEMBD fans and how much they appreciated them, touring and releasing EP In The Garden last year as a thank you and to give something back.
Sym will be having a short break to spend Christmas with his father and sister before getting back on the road to complete the ‘Nightmare before Christmas’ tour, where they’ll be showcasing new material.
I’m a huge fan of The Eighties Matchbox B-Line, owning their back catalogue and partaking in mosh-pit antics more times then I care to remember, getting up-close and personal with Sym made me see the band in a new light, a hard-working, switched-on, humble band with their heads firmly screwed on, with a genuine passion for music and music-making, giving a piece of themselves through their music and all about giving back to the people that put them there. The industry needs bands like TEMBD to challenge them and giving something new and different to music-lovers.
First published 12.12.08
Sym, currently chilling out with friends in preparation for a twelve-night tour of the UK starting next week, “Just catching-up with friends, as we’ve been away recording our new album in France” explains Sym, “we’ve recorded twenty songs, they’re unfinished and we’ll be mixing them in June.”
The band are infamous for their gothic, metal sound that is totally unique and removed from what any other band is doing, “we all share the writing process and heavily influenced by lots of different genres, there is a mixture of slow and heavy songs – the new album is a perfect mix of the first two.”
Last year, Tristan McLenahan joined the Matchbox line-up, replace Rich Fownes, “he was going to join Nine Inch Nails and went to LA, but that didn’t happen. He moved on and we’d moved on, we were just in different places. We’re still friends and talk to each other.”
“We lost two guitarists [Rich replaced Andy Huxley in 2005], dropped from our record label, each dealt with personal issues and the band overcame lots of barriers.” Sym talks of the relationships that formed within the band. They have known each other since they were kids and still spent 95% of the time in the band, Sym talks about how this established the sort of relationship that you can’t find anywhere else, helping each other through issues and getting the best out of each other. This enables the band to have chemistry and a solid bond to keep going through adversity, “a lot of bands would’ve given up” Sym sums up.
In the summer, Sym was temporarily replaced in TEMBD line-up “I was battling my own demons, I needed time away to sort myself out, it was never permanent, I wasn’t going to leave the band. I spent my spare time drinking, but that’s all dealt with and things are much better.”
I asked if touring with TEMBD was wild, as their live shows suggest, “there used to be a self-destructive element and it was fun, but it doesn’t get you anywhere. We just get on with playing gigs, it’s what its about and how we started, we really enjoy playing shows.”
The band got together in 1999, despite releasing material and having a huge fanbase, the band never gained commercial success, Sym responded by talking about the music industry “we’re not an off-the-conveyor-belt kind of band and I think our fans like the fact that we’re real, that we enjoy writing and playing our music, because of this we have really loyal fans…The internet has played a massive part in keeping bands like ours alive.” Scattered throughout our conversation, Sym talks about TEMBD fans and how much they appreciated them, touring and releasing EP In The Garden last year as a thank you and to give something back.
Sym will be having a short break to spend Christmas with his father and sister before getting back on the road to complete the ‘Nightmare before Christmas’ tour, where they’ll be showcasing new material.
I’m a huge fan of The Eighties Matchbox B-Line, owning their back catalogue and partaking in mosh-pit antics more times then I care to remember, getting up-close and personal with Sym made me see the band in a new light, a hard-working, switched-on, humble band with their heads firmly screwed on, with a genuine passion for music and music-making, giving a piece of themselves through their music and all about giving back to the people that put them there. The industry needs bands like TEMBD to challenge them and giving something new and different to music-lovers.
First published 12.12.08
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