The sky will darken on August 9th as Rob Zombie, Machine Head, and Mastodon descend onto Columbus. Still spreading the disease on this year’s Mayhem Festival, Mastodon returns to our great city to perform in order to satisfy that craving of darkness. I had the pleasure of speaking with guitarist/vocalist/badass, Bill Kelliher, before their debaucherous performance on the festival’s stop in Massachusetts, about their new album which is slated to drop sometime early next year.
Briana Henry: How will the next album be different than The Hunter?
Bill Kelliher: We have 25-30 songs that we’ll put together. It’s hard to see what it will sound like without the vocals, but I can already tell it’s going in a different direction. There’s a lot of rock and straight forward riffs.
BH: I saw you guys play at Rock on the Range a few years ago and you didn’t play “Colony of Birchmen“. Honestly, that song is how I got into your band in the first place. Should we just expect not to hear it?
BK: Well every night someone different writes the song list. We kind of get a set going and kind of roll with that. I like all our songs, but sometimes people in the band don’t like to play our popular songs.
BH: While on tour, are you only playing songs from The Hunter or are you going to sneak in some new songs?
BK: We don’t really do stuff like that. People record it with their phones and put it on the internet and it kind of backfires.
BH: Also you guys have the coolest merch! Where did the idea come from to make Mastodon bikinis and belt buckles?
BK: We came up with the Mastodon shirts and then we figured we could make a bikini with a Mastodon logo on it. You gotta be creative when you’re trying to sell yourself. We’re kind of silly with it.
BH: So Columbus is one of your last stops, what are your plans after this tour?
BK: We’ll be home the 14th or 15th of August and we should have an album recorded by the end of the year. We’ll do a headlining tour in March or April and pretty much do all the festivals in Europe because that’s where the money is.
Also on the bill are Rob Zombie and Machine Head. Tickets are still available for $39 in advance or $42 day of show. Trust me, either way it’s worth every cent.
Photo by Cindy Fry.
