WTSH Special Edition:The 2nd Annual 4/20 Interview Featuring Preston Maddox
of Bloody Knives
interviewed via live chat by a.crain
Last year's Special Edition 4/20 interview with Preston Maddox of Bloody Knives, done via live chat by yours truly, has somehow become rather infamous over the past year. It's one of most-read posts of the entire blog, in fact. Unbelievable considering Preston Maddox of Bloody Knives and myself discussed a variety of thrilling and important topics such as Billy Corgan's lameness level, Katie Couric, crack cocaine, Stephen Hawking, Darth Vader, and so on. It was clear that we simply HAD to make this an annual event on the blog, because FINALLY, people want to read our idiotic stoner ramblings; it's also a good excuse to indulge in 4/20 holiday festivities while you talk shit to your friend via live chat. I mean, come on.
So welcome to the 2nd Annual Special Edition 4/20 Interview with Preston Maddox. In between the discussions about Carl Sagan, medallions, Rick Ross, ancient aliens and what Preston's deal is with the intense obsession with blood (verdict: he's a sociopath), I actually do ask some serious questions about Bloody Knives recent news, what happened with XD Records, new releases, upcoming live shows, and subjects to that effect; so see - it's legit. Read on to celebrate with us. Happy Awesome Day, everyone.
A: DUDE!P: Yo. It is time.
A: It is. Are you in the proper celebratory state of mind to continue?
P: I need to re-load my bowl and get another beer. Gotta start things out right.
A: This is fact.
*official pause*
A: Returneth. Dude. That was an early stumble. You are in top form! Huzzah!
P: Yes!!
A: I am also in top form, in observance of the holiday.
P: The greatest holiday of the year, celebrating one of my favorite things: the weed.
A: I'm pretty sure weed is a god we are worshiping at this point. Like, for real.
P: I'm cool with that. Weed God makes me feel like everything is alright.
A: Weed God is a fucking bad ass. Love that dude. Anyhow - shall I now ask you questions about things?
P: Yes.
A: I commence. My first question is very important. Do you, as Carl Sagan does, believe that we are, in fact, made of star stuff? And don't fuck around; that's a real question, son.P: Yes, absolutely. He's not the only person who says this, there are plenty of scientists and even studies that back it. The last one I heard of was about how the original source of life on earth could have come from Mars.
A: Rad. That was SO the right answer. As for Mars, well, I'm sure it all has something to do with ancient alien astronauts in the remote past, doing stuff. Or whatever.
P: It's fun to think we are the bastard children of the universe....some bullshit fuck up race that the aliens came down and shot up with a little bit of alien shit and turned us into sorta aliens.
A: I am alien and proud.
P: I want to see Prometheus. That's gonna be awesome. Finally, an alien movie with killing and bad shit.
A: Prometheus is awesome, dude. He giveth fire.
P: I think it's gonna be a classic. Like, Bladerunner classic. I can't imagine how it could disappoint me.
A: Whoa. That's a heavy statement, dude. Which has now been publicly documented.
[Preston disappears for like, EVER...]
P: Sorry, my Internet is being dumb. I'm back...ON THE IPHONE. Like Rick Ross.A: You know, the Internet has a lot of attitude these days. It needs to learn it's place.
P: The Internet is a fucker.
A: So true.
P: Every time I pick up my iPhone I think of the Rick Ross song where he talks about selling drugs off the iPhone.
A: The iPhone was created with drug dealers and their needs in mind, I'm sure.
P: Steve Jobs, drug dealer iPhone dealer pimp.
A: Ok dude, let's get all legit and shit. Ha, rhymes. So let's start with last fall - you guys were on XD Records for awhile, and then whatever happened with that happened - I'm still not clear on exactly why XD folded, actually? - and now you guys are on Saint Marie Records. Can you put the meat on that skeletal question? Could you meat it? Just meat it.P: Yes, I can hahaha. XD was very short lived. Perry (Pelonero) and Dean (Garcia) approached me about it in the summer and we kinda thought about it, then a couple of months later we played in Chicago and the talking got me serious.
A: Wait - are you on your phone still?
P: No, I'm finally back on the computer now. I can type much better here. Sorry about that.
A: You should totally do an auto-tuned slow jam monster ballad cover of a Bloody Knives track.
P: That would be funny. I actually did use it on "My Blood is in Your Veins". I did it to piss Perry off. I want the vocoder bad.
A: I, too, have the vocoder sickness.
P: Anyway, I should probably talk more about XD...hahaha...
A: Oops, tangent. Yes XD - go on. What the fuck happened with all of that?P: I never got the story, really. So they wanted to do a remix EP and release our record Blood. The remix EP came through and it was really cool. There was a lot of quality people on that record. Then the SPC ECO record came out. The Crying Vessel record came out. Then...................nothing.
A: Yes, I remember! It seemed like the label was doing really stellar and was very solid at that time.
P: They put that impression on. Here's the deal.
A: Real talk.
P: They thought they would make more money than they did and they didn't. The bill of trying to put out all of those bands was too expensive. There had to be serious money to make that work and there just wasn't any real money behind it. So it folded when initial sales were not high. It's just the way it is now. Many popular musicians have funding (mainly from their parents). People like to talk about how awesome the new music biz is, but there is one thing that used to exist that doesnt really exist now. Development funding. No label is gonna drop money on a band that can't make money because it's a bad investment. They only want safe investments.
A: These are strange times, man.
P: Poor drugged out people who make rad music always lose because there is no money to pay people to take care of their shit for them anymore. On a large scale, at least.
A: So that's that with XD, then. Ugh, it was just damn sad and unexpected.P: It didn't bother me. I met cool people. New people found out about us. It was a good experience for us I think.
A: So then how did Saint Marie happen? Wyatt is a rad dude. I was glad to hear about that.
P: Wyatt is cool. Anyway, so Wyatt was pretty persistent about us releasing through them. I was hesitant for various reasons. Eventually it became a good idea to work with them on it. So far things have gone well. It was cool of them to pick up the record and PR campaign where it had left off. They are business people, which I like.
A: Yes, professional - but not in a lame way.
P: Yes, agreed.
A: Saint Marie Records has a bad ass roster right now.
P: Yes, there are good bands on that label. We are the heaviest BY FAR.
A: I thought you guys might be too heavy for that label, actually, for that exact reason.
P: It's weird, the crowds that we fit in. It makes sense in some ways, and they other times I'm just confused.
A: But it makes a certain kind of sense, being on that label.
P: We really don't make much sense with anyone.
A: So what's up with killredrocket? [Preston's own record label]P: Hiatus, basically. Too much work with the band. We played 120 shows last year.
A: Holy fuck.
P: Yeah.
A: Do you miss it? It must be weird being ON a label after running one for awhile.
P: Yes, there are parts I do miss. I miss finding new bands. But so many bands are just shitty people and that ruins their band for me.
A: Yeah, and that quality is not limited to bands - wall to wall shitty people. Planet Earth.
P: Yeah, that's true...
P: Yes, a lot of people in bands really think they are fucking special mother fuckers. A percentage...hmmmm. Overall, or the ones I have to interact with??
A: Both? I want both stats.
P: And does this include people I like but are just pathetic??
A: Yes.
P: That makes it much higher.
A: Naturally.
P: I would say at least 30% are entirely shitty, another 30% are 50% shitty, and another 30% are about 25% shitty. Then there are the golden 10% that just fuckin rule. They are totally worth wading through all the bullshit people.
A: You just summed up a lot of shit right there very well. Well played and eloquently stated. But yeah, that's the truest thing I've heard all day. However, yesterday I heard something even more true.P: ????????????????
A: People do stupid shit ALL the time. I heard someone say that yesterday and it's fucking true.
P: Oh yeah. All people do stupid shit, all the time.
A: I know. It's crazy. It's totally normal to be bat shit crazy. Fresh, ripe bat shit. Straight from the cave.
P: Yeah.
A: Yeah.
P: Yeah.
A: Yeah....so anyway, you guys have kind of blown up this year, don't you think? I mean, seriously. Since 2012 started it seems like you guys keep winning shit and doing cool shit and being in cool shit and all that shit. And don't be modest.P: We are a lot farther along than I realize.
A: I said don't be modest, motherfucker!
P: Hahaha it's true though! I'm not trying to be modest. It's really awesome meeting people who are in bands I really like. Playing cool places. But seriously, it's not something I think about. I'm always thinking about what the next thing we are trying to do is. I don't self-congratulate.
A: Aw, I remember when I first reviewed the debut LP like 8 lightyears ago. Summmer of 2010 yo.
P: That was only like 2 years dude. Damn.
A: 2 years is a long time!
P: Yes it is. We have done a lot in 2 years. I just want to keep touring as much as we can.
A: Have you started writing the next masterpiece yet? Also, side note: what's your deal with blood? You love that shit. Discuss.
P: The next masterpiece is a 7" ep, and I think its the best thing we have ever done. We have been playing the songs live and getting a great response. It's really heavy but still atmospheric. My deal with blood...hahaha...I do have a thing with blood.
A: Also, is it creepy if I'm listening to "Bleed Out" right now? It's all uber prestonofied up in here.
P: No, that's only kinda creepy.
A: Isn't it?! I'm so fucking creepy dude.
P: I have a thing with blood and ghosts. But especially blood.A: I love all the ghost songs the bestest. I like your ghost songs dude. But surely there is an explanation for these sick obsessions? You freak.
P: I'm always getting cut up. That may be part of it. Fighting as a kid. And horror movies. Killing.
A: All that murderin' going down.
P: Blood=life. No blood=dead. I don't know what my deal with blood is, but I do like talking about it.
A: Does this menstrual blood included? Valid question.
P: Of course. The dirty brown menstrual blood, too.
A: And the CLOTS. Clots is such a nasty word. Ok gross.
P: Yes, the clumpy shit. That's right, I know about that!!!
A: Damn straight you do. You have a PhD in vagina. You know all about it! That'd be kinda cool if you could really get a PhD in vagina. That would be curious.
P: Gyno. The gyno doc!
A: Ob/Gyn, dude. Is there anything you want to discuss about the band? Upcoming stuff, news, who's getting on your nerves the most currently...that kinda stuff?
P: We all hate each other. You know that.
A: I do know that. It's a beautiful thing.
P: I'm not even being sarcastic. It's funny, people think we are about to have some serious fight, then we are outside smoking weed after the show and they get confused. And especially when we go off on each other on stage. That's the really special shit.
A: It really is. You guys' live show is such a blast.
P: Playing all those shows last year really helped us out. We never practice, only to learn new songs. We just play shows. It's the only way to get better playing live.
A: Really? Damn, that's impressive. That really is true though.
P: Well, it's not that hard to play the songs!! Our songs are easy.
A: They really are, the sluts.
P: All of our songs are sluts.
A: Guttersnipes.
P: I like playing simple songs. People seem to like that from us more, too.A: Simple done right is always good.
P: Re-loading. And yes it is.
A: So any news? Random shit you wanna share?
P: Yeah - we play Norman Music Fest next week. Blood finally comes out on May 15th. We're touring the midwest May 3rd-6th and then finishing the new 7" which is coming out at an undetermined time. Probably going back to Columbus, Ohio again in July, too. If there was a theme (and there always kinda is, in an unintentional way), then the last record was about suicide mainly. The new 7" is about murder. Not many ghosts on Blood. Actually I don't remember if there are ghosts on Blood.
A: So what changed? Now you're homicidal. What's the deal?
P: Blood was homicidal as well, but it was connected to asking someone to kill themselves. It's good to change themes. I'll get back to ghosts again, too.
A: So your themes are kill yourself, kill others, be killed, and the resulting ghosts from all of that killing. I mean, if I was trying to sum up your vibe.
P: Yeah, pretty much.
A: That's bad ass.
P: Hahaha it is! Basically anything dealing with murder, blood, ghosts, aliens...A: The songs of a certain theme always sound like the rest of its clan. You've got little broods. Aw yeah...see how that worked on two levels? WORD PLAY MOTHERFUCKA.
P: DAMN!!!!!
A: That's chat bling right there.
P: Hold your chain up!
A: Oh I am.
P: WTSH should have a chain. That would be awesome.
A: Damn right. With a medallion on it. Something all crazy ornate.
P: Well, yeah, of course. And spinning!
A: Everything is better when it's spinning.
P: WTSH ... in a SUN ... SPINNING.
A: *MIND BLOWN*
P: Hell yeah. Now you want one. You could get one in H-Town too, no problem. Cuztom made.
A: No doubt.
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