An Evening
With
Mentallo
&
The Fixer
Conducted by various people
via IRC channel #liveonline at Undernet
June 30, 1997
Transcript by Kim Alexander
This is the IRC chat with Gary and
Dwayne Dassing of Mentallo and the Fixer on June 30th, 1997 about one week after their
cancellation of the Eastern-Midwest part of their second US tour. <Q> denotes
a question asked by a person who attended the chat. Statements after the Nickname:
<Mentallo>, indicates the Dassings responses. The Dassings had a friend typing for
them.
Special thanks to Lukretya for helping to have this chat.
<Mentallo> ok we're ready
<Q> who are we talking with?
<Mentallo> everyone's here
<Mentallo> so just direct your questions accordingly
<Q> So did you guys see the Metropolis Press Release?
<Mentallo> no we haven't
<Mentallo> we dont get on the internet
<Mentallo> we dont have access
Mentallo changes topic to "CHAT WITH Mentallo & THE FIXER IN PROGRESS"
<Q> So what was that effect you did to the vox on Mother of Harlots after all?
<Mentallo> many.
<Q> you said it was like stereoized or something.
<Q> Well, I have a question so I guess I'll just jump in :) What is the significance of "Grimpen Ward"?
<Mentallo> the significance is:
<Mentallo> it was taken from a book by Terry Brooks...
<Mentallo> the name was town in one of the novels
<Mentallo> the town was filled with thieves and murderers
<Mentallo> we thought it sounded pretty wierd
<Mentallo> so there.
<Q> what does Har-Maggedon mean? (pardon my ignorance, please)
<Mentallo> just what you think
<Mentallo> armegeddon
<Mentallo> its all how you want to interpret it...
<Mentallo> a lot of the lyrics arent there...
<Mentallo> everyone is gonna interpret it how they want...
<Q> Someone was saying the theme for BBR [Burnt Beyond Recognition] was the evolution of man and all that. True or full of it?
[Editor's Note: comments were made by some people joined in the chat about the current tour cancellation, here is what Mentallo had to say about it.]
<Mentallo> we appreciate the support but there
were lot of problems:
<Mentallo> the guys wanna list a few of the probs that were happening:
<Mentallo> sound guy bailed the day before the tour.... <Mentallo> we
didn't have a sound guy /driver.....
<Mentallo> it was left up to 3 guys to take car of everything...
<Mentallo> meaning setup...
<Mentallo> lights...
<Mentallo> soundcheck...
<Mentallo> performance...
<Mentallo> driving...
<Mentallo> merchadise....
<Mentallo> bad sound systems at venues....
<Mentallo> too many opening bands....
<Q> mismatched with opening acts?
<Mentallo> hard to get sound checks down with 3 bands....
<Q> One of the things Metropolis was saying was they got stiffed for the bill for the cancelled tour. What would you reply to that? I've heard that from others too.
<Mentallo> takes a long time to set up shows
with this type of delicate machinery, equipment, and lighting....
<Mentallo> and a general lack of promotion at a lot of venues....
<Mentallo> if the band cant sell merchandise...
<Mentallo> the band cant support itself to the next venue much less get paid
anything.... we were spending a lot out of own pockets on expenses.
<Q> But anyway, do you guys have any comments
on the future of M&TF?
<Mentallo> we'd rather leave ppl wondering
<Mentallo> there were a lot of sound systems that
weren't up to par...we had some great soundmen...some that didn't know how to mix an
electronic show...one soundman can mess up a whole show...out of the shows we had...
<Mentallo> we only had 3 bad shows...richmond, philly, floral park NY
<Mentallo> those were 3 shows that sucked. The sound was really bad
<Mentallo> re: NYC.....
<Q> you don't count Fort Worth as a bad sounding show?!?
<Mentallo> fort worth might have been bad..wasnt as bad as some
<Mentallo> we wanted to give that local band some exposure...altho we were top
billing at that show...and the time was better for us to go on when we did rather than
later
<Mentallo> the tour was financed by us....
<Mentallo> anything that was paid for came out of our pockets....
<Mentallo> as far as tour support Metropolis handles our merchandise
<Q> when are you going to tour australia????
:)
<Mentallo> Elend, not that we know of...you got plane tix?
<Mentallo> comments on the future of
<Mentallo> more music...
<Mentallo> since we've had a 3 year break ppl think we've been working on
mentallo...
<Mentallo> actually weve been saving for equipment... dabbling in our
personal lives...
<Mentallo> expect a second single in august...
<Mentallo> and more shows...
<Mentallo> its going to be booked by us...
<Mentallo> anyone in the Cali area wanna book us.... <Mentallo> we'd
appreciate it
<Q> how has being "rock stars" (just being silly) changed your lives? do you have day jobs?
<Mentallo> re: rock stars....
<Mentallo> we arent rock stars....
<Mentallo> we dont have day jobs...
<Mentallo> which is one reason we couldnt continue the tour..it wasnt
supporting us
<Mentallo> re: the press release....
<Q> will you play in my livingroom?
<Mentallo> make an offer :)
<Q> Oh yeah, not to overload you or anything, but can we expect an alternate mix
of Stellar Cascade? (great song, btw!)
<Mentallo> re: stellar cascade...as of yet not sure...we have some available
we may/not put out
<Q> anymore coming out of the sounds of Benestrophe? or is benestrophe history?
<Q> are there any bands that you detest for trying to copy your sound?
<Q> what supports you? Where do your records sell best?
<Mentallo> simply: if its not promoted
correctly and mechandise isnt sold at shows we dont make money to finiosh the tour...and
that is the number one reason without a doubt we couldnt finish the show...its like a
domino effect....
<Mentallo> if ppl dont come because there is no promotion there is no
merchandise sold and we cant finance the rest of the tour...
<Mentallo> suprisingly opening bands were better promoted with us having
little or no promotion AT ALL...hell some of the opening bands were even louder than we
were when we took the stage...basically we were just clawing our way thru all the shit
scrathing our way up a wall (dwayne's eloquence)
<Mentallo> thats hard for us to say...we dont know what our sales reports are
right now...
<Mentallo> we are prolly a lil bigger here now then in europe due to the tour
<Mentallo> we ready for anything else
<Q> ON Angels cd, Decomposed (trampled) sounds
quite a bit like Benestrophe. Are there any plans for music from Benestrophe?
<Mentallo> we just came out with auric rectal fires on rasdva
<Q> May I ask what synths you used in the song Stellar Cascade? There are some
amazing sounds in that song.
<Mentallo> prophet VS 2 EMAX 2s kwai K1 K5
Roland SH101 Fischer Price 2303 K3 CAsio CZ101 and rare toys-r-us xylophone and lots more
too many to name really we are up to 30 keyboards not even possible to have them all
hooked up for one song
<Mentallo> re: synths: weve been collecting for 15 years
<Q> that is a full length benestrophe cd? auric fires?
<Mentallo> yea
<Q> A friend wanted me to ask: what's the
design on the inside (and on the CD itself) of Auric Fires?
<Mentallo> an atom smashed or spilt or some shit like that
<Q> Oh, isn't that the front cover?
<Q> On the upcoming domestic reissue of M&TF meets Mainesthai, what added trax will there be, and when can we expect it?
<Mentallo> remix to sacrilage and decomposed
why and a cpl other trax... out approx. December
<Mentallo> out to lunch should be domestic about september
<Mentallo> all will have new artwork
<Mentallo> no rest for the wicked ..early 1998 with new trax
<Mentallo> that will be the remix on Mentallo meets man..
<Q> Why was the original release of
Revelations23 missing the remix of Decomposed?
<Mentallo> had a lot to do with the cd manufacturing plant screwing up the
first pressing and its available now domestic
<Q> what other bands are you guys into these
days?
<Mentallo> refer to the last interview we did online
<Q> is it true that Gary is embarking on some
sort of side-project?
<Mentallo> not other then benestrophe
<Q> Oh yes! What is your opinion of the film
the Seventh Sign? You sampled it brilliantly, but what do you think of the movie?
<Mentallo> we like it
<Q> Where did you guys find the artwork for
"Burnt Beyond Recognition"? Or did you make it?
<Mentallo> a friend of ours Travis Baumann in hollywood did it
<Q> any worries that "industrial"
will fall victim to the same major label feeding frenzy that "techno" has?
<Mentallo> no i dont think so...at least not at the moment...seems like the
scene is dying actually
<Q> What is that big tree on your shirts
supposed to symbolize?
<Mentallo> i guess you cant read it as 1) a tree in texas..a reminder to us..
2) or a the tree of life
<Q> Some 'industrial' bands seem to be moving
towards more of a techno sound (take Haujobb, for example). What do you guys think of
that?
<Mentallo> from gary: i can say dwayne and i dont listen to much industrial its
hard for us to say...but industrial has sort of cornered itself into one type of genre
<Q> So any dates for California yet?
<Mentallo> no dates but it will be rescheduled by us...if anyone has any help
email lukretya (at) matrix.eden.com
<Q> I notice a lot of your music carries a
certain "religious" theme. Personally, what is your connection with religion,
etc? (stupid question?)
<Mentallo> re religion: gary says: i tend to keep that to myself...dwayne has
one belif i have another...you get wat you want out of it
<Q> what about Chicago? Any way you could play
an early show at the Metro? I'd kill for that and the Metro has great sound!
<Mentallo> we have a booking agency for europe but we'd like contacts there as
far as booking for west coast yes put us in touch
<Q> in case it got lost before, I'll ask
again: What is that sample from Sacrilege? Sounds like "at peace for generations to
come". Is that at all correct, and what is it from?
<Mentallo> not just peace in our time but peace for generations to come..off of
a documentary or sumpin
<Q> Is there a chance you'll be coming down to Melbourne Florida again :)
<Q> I notice you guys have opted for a less
lyrical song approach this time around. Was this a conscious decision, or did it kind of
just happen that way?
<Mentallo> just happened that way...we thought it was more lyrical LOL
<Q> This could be incorrect, but it seems Gary (or was it Dwayne?) has a very good memory. My friend said you recognized him from meeting him on your first tour outside the Batcave
<Mentallo> mind was gary
<Q> so have you guys thought about doing anything different in your stage performance.
<Mentallo> a toiletshow
<Mentallo> lol
<Mentallo> dwayne on guitar...gary on sound effects and grunting and rick
laciak on vocals we are singing about the Koresh/Davidian compound we just came from there
<Q> still no change on the situation with WELT?
<Mentallo> not that we know havent heard from ogre
<Q> ever thought of doing a cdrom?
<Q> Mentallo came from the Koresh compound? Eh? :)
<Q> ooooh! Battered States of Euphoria (just came on). You guys should do an electronic version of this complemented by full orchestra. Whaddya think?
<Q> you guys didn't even HAVE a cdrom last time I was there. What am I talking about? And I had a great game and all, too....
<Mentallo> re: cdrom: yea
<Q> Have you ever thought of doing a film soundtrack?
<Mentallo> someone sent us sumpin today for a film...we'd love to
sin-tek: Before Mentallo and The Fixer leave, I would like to thank them for coming on live chat with us. special thanks to Luk for helping out
<Mentallo> ok.....
<Mentallo> guys wanna say....
<Mentallo> look for an offical posting in the upcoming weeks regarding
situation and apology to fans
<Mentallo> ok thats it
<Mentallo> thanx guys
