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INDEX
INTERVIEWS
GUESTBOOK
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GRINDING
SINCE THE 90'S
interview interview interview interview interview
The name MULE SKINNER was often quoted alongside Terrorizer, early Napalm death, Defecation and more, when I was playing in a grindcore band in the 90’s... And their music is still blasting your head (until explosion), So it’s really cool to post an interview about the past and present of the band :)
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1. Hello, hope it's nicely grinding in New Orleans? Are you listening to something while answering these questions?
Thanks for contacting us & supporting Mule Skinner. I have been working on writing new songs for new Mule recording recently but have also been checking out the new Nails “Every Bridge Burning” as well as a Trucidio collection of tunes.
2. I
think we will start with the beginning… What's your musical background
like? Before playing in the band, were you more into punk hardcore
or metal as a kid? What were the first extreme or hard hitting bands
you got into?
As a kid I played drums and picked up the guitar at 15 years old. I always liked metal and started out with Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and bands like that. Later on I found early Metallica, Slayer, Dark Angel, DRI and those are the bands that really switched my interest into playing guitar. The first extreme bands I listened to were early Napalm Death, Terrorizer, Righteous Pigs, etc.
3. When
you started to play music, what were the motives? Did you start
playing covers first, or rapidly came with your own songs, or it
was just for fun at the beginning? It seems your first "Stripped
of Flesh" Demo 1991 was all composed of your own songs?
I pretty much
started by writing original music on guitar. We had a thrash band
Rude Awakening, which was all original music. We jumped right in
and started playing shows around New Orleans in the late 80’s. Local
bands like Soilent Green, EyeHateGod, Exhorder were all just starting
out so it was a very cool time to be playing metal. We started Mule
Skinner in 1990.
4.
"Mule skinner" has a somewhat nostalgic meaning for me,
in 97-98 I was playing In a grind band, and the name Mule skinner
was often quoted alongside Terrorizer, early Napalm death and more...
Which other bands did you play live with in the 90's? Were there
some cool metal or grind bands in your area?
Like I mentioned, there were tons of great local metal bands we were fortunate enough to play and be friends with. Mule Skinner was one of the first NOLA grind bands. There was also Flesh Parade and Paralysis who were on the extreme metal side with us.
5. For
the peoples who aren't naturally English speakers, could you explain
what is a Mule skinner? Did you choose it for the sharp side of
the knife? :)
This is the true story of how we became Mule Skinner… I used to know a guy who was constantly getting drunk, fucked up, and stayed in trouble with the police. He loved to fight and was just a bad ass redneck dude. He would call me at crazy times at night for rides or whatever. He had Mule Skinner tattooed on his arm. This was way before tattoos were common. We needed a band name for our new, mean grind project and I was like “Mule Skinner, that’s it!”
6. Your
first album "Abuse" was released in 1994 on Sludge records.
How did you get in touch with them? Why a french label? You think
it could be re-released sometimes?
I was big into the tape trading scene, which as you know was all done by mail. One day I received a letter from Sludge records with an offer to release a 7” EP and a budget to record a full length LP. They had our demo and had read a review of Stripped Of Flesh in a German zine.
7. How
were the feedbacks about this album back then? It was before internet,
so things were probably quite different for communication, distribution...
Some peoples were even gluing stamps :-)
Oh yeh, all communication was done through standard mail and we would all write messages on the backs of band’s flyers and help promote extreme music in any way possible.
8. For
1994 I think the production is very clear and powerful... It's even
surprising when you listen to the album in 2024... Was this a very
good studio, or were the technicians well-used to record grindcore?
We recorded in a New Orleans studio which was brand new at the time. It was our first time recording digitally on ADAT format. The engineer was into metal but had never been exposed to grind before. He was open minded and cool though and we had a good time experimenting with the recording process. Other NOLA bands liked the way ABUSE sounded and started recording there after us.
9. I
think you probably enjoy Disrupt and their album "Unrest"?
There's somewhat the same energy than your first album, even if
the style is different, more crust.
Yes. We always had a big crust and hardcore influence from back in the days of The Accused, Agnostic Front, DRI, Pungent Stench’s “Extreme Deformity”, etc. NOLA’s early metal scene was very much a hardcore music scene as well. You can hear that influence throughout all of the big time metal bands from our area.
10.
What's the difference between the 90's Mule skinner and the current
formation of the band? Perhaps you're "older, fatter, balder"
(as the Belgian band Black bleeding says), but what else?
HA! That’s
an awesome quote…
I would say musically we KNOW what Mule Skinner
is about and we focus on our strengths. We really try to give our
fans the most solid songs that we can with no filler or any bullshit.
When you sit down to a new Mule Skinner, you’re hopefully going
to get what you hoped for and more. We very much appreciate everyone’s
support and the ability to keep making extreme music all of these
years later!
11.
You released a new album in 2018, again on an European label (F.O.A.D),
with more death metal influences this time... Perhaps it's closer
to "Harmony corruption" than before... Do you think it's
natural to turn more death metal with age? You might be less “explosive”
and the brutality comes out a little different way?
Jessie Pintado
and Mitch Harris have always been huge influences of mine as song
writers in this genre but really never as Napalm Death. The more
melodic sound you hear would be from Mentally Murdered, because
I never listened to much after that.
12. Then a new two songs 7" Ep came out in 2021, perhaps with more sludge than before? Is this a genre you wish to use more in the future?
Growing up in the NOLA metal scene I can tell you we never heard the word Sludge. I honestly still don’t know what Sludge is and have never really thought about it. We just think in terms of “Heavy”. It’s like “Scum”, sometimes you just want to play something heavy – and the slower, heavy just accentuates the fast. It’s all about the groove.
13.
Since both bands are located in New Orleans, how come no one asked
to release a MULE SKINNER/ SOILENT GREEN split Ep? This would have
been very nice! Are you friends with them?
Our history
with Soilent Green and it’s members goes back to the late 80’s.
Brian Patton was like my older brother and Ben Falgoust is one of
my oldest, dearest friends. I can’t speak highly enough of those
guys and also Tommy Buckley.
14. While watching the Members section of your page on Metal archives, I see a vocalist of Righteous pigs (Joe), or a drummer (Todd) and a bassist (Tony) of Flesh Parade used to play in Mule Skinner at some point... Is it true, or is this website wrong again with lineups? ahah
Tony and I played in the NOLA thrash band Rude Awakening and then formed Mule Skinner. Tony didn’t start playing in Flesh Parade until years later when Mule Skinner was on hiatus. Todd and I played in a side project Hangnail with Ben Falgoust for a short time. Todd joined Mule Skinner for the recording of Abuse and has been a member ever since. Todd, Tony, and myself wrote a few songs with Joe Caper for an intended project that never got completed.
15.
Which bands are you listening to the last months? Is it mostly old
stuffs, or do you also enjoy some new releases?
I listen to mostly old stuff like Waylon Jennings, Townes Van Zant, Hank Williams, stuff like that. I do enjoy Nails, Trucidio, , Goat Whore, Terrorizer’s catalog, a strange mixture I guess.
16.
Is the final grinddown, can you say something nice to those who
read it? :) It can also be used for grindcore promotion \m/
We’d like to thank you Gabriel & NH for your interest and supporting Mule Skinner all of these years. Grinders can find us on FaceBook, Bandcamp and look out for new MS releases in 2025!
Web
pages:
https://muleskinnernola.com
https://themuleskinner.bandcamp.com
https://facebook.com/TheMuleSkinner
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