Featuring Preston Maddox of Bloody Knives
Another year, and another 4/20 holiday has gone fuzzily by…and then an additional several
weeks have gone fuzzily by...and then... (Where am I? What’s going on? It's May 15th??) Exactly.
In keeping
with the spirit of 4/20, this interview is naturally posting late (in stoner
time, it’s only been like, a couple of days or whatever). However, WTSH’s 3rd
Annual 4/20 Interview with Preston Maddox of Bloody Knives is now FINALLY available
for your reading pleasure (and/or dismay).
Here’s a bit of
history for you (that the white man will one day re-write):
Since 2011, to
celebrate 4/20 and our joint (is it worth pointing out that pun?) affection for the spirit of the day, Preston
and I have sat down to do an interview via chat. (You can read 2012’s 4/20 interview
HERE and the 2011 OG 4/20 interview HERE).The only rules for the 4/20 interview
are: 1) one must be super baked and 2) … well, that’s
the only requirement. Oh, and show up to the chat, I guess. Rule 2: One must show up. And because
of our great strength and tenacity in all important things, Preston and I have
successfully continued this respectable tradition for 3 years (and counting).
Expect our usual
4/20 fare – discussions about outer space, death, human-to-feline
transformations, stalwarthiness, drinking on the motherfucking moon,
suffocation, maximum realness and so on. Interspersed between all of that captivating
content you’ll also get up to date on all things Bloody Knives, including
upcoming releases, touring, and their newest band member. You just got hooked up, yo.
WTSH: WORD, DUDE!
Preston: WHAT UP?!
WTSH: I was just reading an article about a surgeon prescribing Brian Eno to his patients. Best article ever.
Preston: Smart surgeon. I’m retarded high.
WTSH: Same here. I have been sitting here staring at my keyboard,
trying very hard to remember how to use it. It finally came to me, obviously.
WTSH: Dude, I can't believe this is our 3rd year doing the 4/20
interview.
Preston: Yeah, totally.
WTSH: I'm impressed by our stalwarthiness in continuing this
tradition. “Stalwarthiness” is definitely a word I just invented.
Preston: “Stalwarthiness” should be in the
dictionary. I knew what it meant.
WTSH: It should be canonized immediately.
Preston: Oxford-worthy. Contact the proper people
and get the process in motion.
WTSH: I'll get that shit notarized. Then it’s for REAL real.
Preston: As real as it will ever be.
WTSH: Good point.
Preston: Max realness.
WTSH: UBER REALNESS.
Preston: THE REALEST SHIT I EVA WROTE.
WTSH: Exactly.
WTSH: I have been dying, no pun intended, to ask you this - so
you've done an album called Blood, you
have a shit ton of songs about murder, strangulation, gore and ghosts, and now
you have this Death EP coming out soon. In
terms of thematic progression, where are you going to go from Death? Where IS there to go after death?
Preston: The EP is meant to be really heavy. I
wanted to mix old garage 4-track techno and industrial metal sounds with what
we do. We could maybe get heavier, but that's not what we are going to do next.
WTSH: So like, post-Death … is the music going to get all after life-y? Err...ghost-esque?
Dreamy?
Preston: Some of the songs are like that, yes. There
is more variation and balance in what we are doing next. That covers the full
spectrum, though. It’s going to be much harsher and noisier, too.
WTSH: Sounds badass. When the hell is it coming out? Not that I am
demanding anything new, since Death
is still brand new…
Preston: It’s going to be a while before we put
it out. We have other releases before that. I'm going to put off our next full length
release for a while. Death is very
old to me. That record has been done for over a year.
WTSH: I especially like the track “Kill You All" - I like to kick off my day listening to it.
Preston: That's a good start to the day.
WTSH: I know.
WTSH: How many releases before the next LP, then? It sounds as if there’s a n endless string of EPs floating out there in the ether, preceding this LP … Hmm. We should get some ether. We would rock that shit.
Preston: I’m down with the ether! Two releases
prior - a split with Screen Vinyl Image and a split with Bug Chaser.
WTSH: NICE, a split with SVI!
Preston: YES. Finally. We’ve been talking about
that shit forever.
WTSH: They are the fucking best.
Preston: Oh yeah, I really like their band.
That's gonna be a cool record.
WTSH: Who's putting it out, or will it be a Bandcamp/self-release
thing?
Preston: I think both of those are going to be
self-released. I know the SVI one is.
WTSH: Excellent. That's truly exciting.
Preston: Yes.
Preston: Yes it is! The dark gods have commanded
us to be there. It will be awesome.
WTSH: Wait until you see how fucking disgusting that place is. You'll
love it. You have to embrace it; it’s part of the Numbers experience. But after
you embrace it, you should go directly home and disinfect yourself.
Preston: That’s my kinda place. I wouldn't feel
comfortable otherwise.
WTSH: Ah, Numbers. I love that venue. And Kim loves it, too. Which
brings up my next topic – Bloody Knives’ newest band member.
Preston: Yes, Kim (Calderon).
WTSH: So how did that happen?
Preston: Kim moved to Austin and then she started
to come to all of our shows. Then Jim (Moon) had to leave the band. We tried a couple
of other people, but it didn’t work out one way or another. Eventually Kim
became more and more cat-like, eventually getting more and more hello Kitty
shit, until finally she got the Hello Kitty glasses. Then she started wearing
cat ears - at that point, I knew we needed a cat in the band.
WTSH: Naturally. I approve of this choice.Preston: I agree.
WTSH: One of the Bloody Knives needed to be the menstrual blood
covered dagger, and so now you have a female member. The blood circle is
complete. Plus, any good black magic spell needs to have that particular
ingredient in it. Eye of newt also seems to be a biggie.
Preston: Kim is very goth. Pastel goth. So she
probably has that shit at her house already.
WTSH: Did you know recreational space travel is on the cusp of
being easily affordable and readily available?
WTSH: Did you know recreational space travel is on the cusp of
being easily affordable and readily available?
Preston: No way, how much? I don't believe it.
WTSH: Just that little trip that rich people are already doing for
like a million dollars; you can’t go to Pluto or anything. Yet, that is. I don’t
know the price, but I was reading this article (I seem to say that a lot) about
the topic, and it was saying that in the near future it would be akin to
booking a cruise or something. Like that usual and ordinary.
Preston: Hmmm. That would be horrible for NASA. It
would be cool for people though.
WTSH: I’m torn, because I definitely like NASA better than people,
but I am also so very selfish, in that I want it anyway. I WANT THE SPACE CRUISE.
I want to be able to go to work, nonchalantly ask for a request-time-off slip,
and write on it: "Going to the motherfucking Moon. June 10th-June
21st. Word."
Preston: Good point. I WANT THE SPACE CRUISE. I
don't want to burn up like the Challenger though…
Preston: That would be a cool way to die.
WTSH: It will be like...the Titanic of outer space. One day
someone will make a shitty movie about it.
Preston: Rich people floating out into space, slowly
suffocating.
WTSH: I love when rich people suffocate slowly.
Preston: That would actually be an awesome movie. But if it really happened and they tried to make a movie about it, it would suck.
WTSH: Truest shit you ever said…
Preston: GIVE ME THE SPACE CRUISE. I’M DRINKING ON
THE MOON MOTHERFUCKER.
WTSH: "My uncle went to the moon and all he got me was this
fuckin' t-shirt."
Preston: "My Dad is a dick. He won't let me
go on the field trip to the moon."
WTSH: “If everyone was jumping off the moon and slowly suffocating,
would YOU do it, too?” Pretty sure we are writing futuristic cliches right now.
Preston: Poetic.
WTSH: We are SO ahead of our time.
WTSH: So is the band touring a ton, like last year? I don’t think I've asked you that yet this year. The touring was an insane amount last year.
Preston: It was a lot. We are playing a lot this
year, too; a bunch out of town, but it’s mostly in state. And that's good
because my van is older and I need a new van. We are playing Houston, Laredo,
San Antonio, Dallas twice, a few really cool festivals. We are really busy. We
have places that have asked us to play, but it’s going to be a while before we
get out there.
WTSH: Bloody Knives are in demand across the nation.
Preston: Haha, I guess. When cool people from out
of town ask us to play, that rules. Touring is my favorite thing to do. I get
to meet the good musicians of that area, play with the good bands … I like
knowing what everybody else is doing, how things are. Music is still regional,
even with the internet.
WTSH: What’s it like to be in a band and experience becoming more
and more known, get more and more recognition?
Preston: I can't even tell unless I think about
what I was doing a year or two ago.
WTSH: Well, think about what you were doing a year or two ago, and
then report back to me with details.
Preston: It’s just the perspective, really. The
stress of doing things is high. So sometimes things that should be cool really
are not a lot of fun. But then you think: "Damn, I just did _____"
and compare it to what we were doing a couple of years ago, or some of the really crazy shit we did 10 years ago,
and it’s easy to appreciate. Most of my effort is spent trying to do better
than I did before, and the better we do, the more it takes to satisfy me. So it’s
really kind of ruthless…but mostly it’s fun as hell. Partying with random
people and seeing weird shit is my favorite thing to do. And playing music lets
me do more of that. The better we do, the more of that I get to do. That's
awesome.
WTSH: So, are you proud of me? I just asked REAL interview questions and
everything. THIS INTERVIEW IS 4 REAL.
Preston: Yes, YOU DID IT!!! ALL BY YOURSELF. YOU DON’T
NEED A HELPER!
WTSH: Will you print this interview out and put it on your fridge?
That’s how I know that you're really proud of me and not just full of horse shit.
Preston: Sure. Because I’m da proudest.
WTSH: You know, like when you're a kid and your mom takes a magnet
and puts a math test you aced up on the refrigerator door…wait; I was always
the one to hang my good test scores up on the fridge, actually - not my mom. That
says a lot about me as a human being, I think.
Preston: Yes. Yes it does.
Preston: Hmmm…
[two minutes of silence]
Preston: Fuck.
Preston: I’M TRYING.
WTSH: TRY HARDER.
[more silence]
Preston: WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME.
WTSH: I know, I'm the worst ever.
[silence….]
Preston: This is what music means to me:
