Buffalo based Mutant Suicide Squad is going to rip your head off! Not literally, but you catch the drift. This band in it’s early stages of development, has something to prove to all of you…and they surely will! Steeped in the Horror based Punk and Hardcore styles of some past greats, the band is growing musically on a daily basis. One listen to the Reverb Nation page will give you the idea of the possibilities that lie within.
Although, the recordings are raw and of an un-studio like quality, you can see what the band is aiming to do. I can not wait to see the results. The live show is where the band is going to make their impression for the time being. They dress the part, they rage with theatrics, and they destroy the audience. I was highly excited to find a band with this kind of vision in the Upstate scene. There are few and far between. So I had to get their take on things, and see what can we expect next from these guys. If you are not familiar, I introduce you to the Mutant Suicide Squad!
Erik: Who are your biggest musical influences? How did your involvement in creating music begin?
Izzy Deadly: I have a wide variety of musical influences but for this project, the two main ones would be The Ramones and Misfits. I grew up in the 90’s back when 103.3 The Edge was called The Fox. It was a good time for music. I was always trying to start bands with my friends. Even if it was just banging on an empty pop corn can or strumming ferociously on a makeshift guitar built out of cardboard with rubber bands serving as strings. I’ve gotten a little better since those days.
Jez A. Disaster: Misfits, Ramones, Riverdales, The Riptides, Deftones, Johnny Cash, and other influences. Some are oldies from 50’s & 60’s. My involvement in music began when I was a child. I often wrote lyrics and made up melodies to them. There were periods where I went a few years without writing, but here I am writing again. I never imagined I would be doing it again let alone doing it for a band.
Dirty Horror: I’ve been playing since I was a little kid in the early 90’s in groups that were more like bands that never made it out of the garage and did not last very long. Myself and Izzy have been playing music together since late Summer of 2006. So far we have collaborated together in 3 bands (Sprung Corpses, Aaron Omen and Mutant Suicide Squad). In Buffalo there’s really not much around when it comes to musicians of this style of punk rock. Me and Izzy have always collaborated very well together and I think in this band we are doing the absolute best we have ever done. As a drummer I didn’t have to change much of what I usually do and that’s pretty comfortable for me. Though I’m always up for a challenge within certain limits.
Erik: How did the band come together originally, and what have been your biggest struggles in the early stages of the band?
Izzy: It originally started when me and Jez jokingly said maybe we should start a band together. Shortly after, we’d hang out, drink beer and play songs we both knew. It started to progress into playing open mics. Once we started making up originals, we figured it was time to start looking for band members. Considering this is still the very early stages of the band, we are currently trying to find a couple more members to complete the line up.
Jez: We are still in our early stages of development. At first, it was hard to find ways to play out. At the time we could not find a drummer who had similar taste in music.
Dirty Horror: Izzy got a hold of me awhile back asking if I’d be interested in playing bass for his and Jez’s project. At first I was hesitant because we all have our bumps with former band members but then I just said fuck it and said I’m in. After around that time Izzy got a hold of his friend Joe and started recording the three originals. Within days the demo was done and sent to me to learn and get a feel for the songs on bass. I called him up the next day and said I’m ready and did bass for a few practices while we were going over ideas for the songs and auditioning drummers. Shortly thereafter I moved to drums since it’s hard to find a drummer or a reliable musician where we live, especially for a sound you already got in mind of what you want. For all of us the waiting for even a decent drummer was tiring. I have my kit at my practice space and I play well so I just thought it would be better for the band, and it has been.
Erik: The songs on the ReverbNation page are raw, but show a brutal display of power! I think the potential is endless. What are your future plans with recording and are you currently working on getting something together?
Izzy: The songs on the Reverbnation page are an unofficial demo and should probably never have been posted for anyone to hear. but as Bill O Reilly would say- Fuck it, we’ll do it live! We do have plans for recording in the very near future.
Jez: Our future plan is to definitely do a professional recording when we have created more music. This is something we are currently working on.
Dirty Horror: I’m hoping to actually be on a recording. [Laughs]. Those recordings on the page are of a fellow band mate from our Sprung Corpses/Aaron Omen days Eareckson who’s playing drums on that demo and he also filled in for bass for one recent gig. At the time, I was going to do bass and Izzy and Jez were in the process of recording the demo for me to learn the songs. . We have more tunes done now and are still in the process of working on some new ones. You’re gonna love’em or hate’em. Either way, you’ll still be a fan.
Erik: What are your favorite venues to play?
Izzy: I’ll have to get back to you on that seeing as how we haven’t played an actual show with a full line up yet. But from past experiences I don’t think I have any favorites. I think it just depends.
Jez: We have used open mic nights as practice to prepare for live shows.
Dirty Horror: I always loved Mohawk Place. It’s a great venue downtown where we live and where we practice upstairs. The Fallout Shelter in Aliquippa, PA was a great place to play. I hope to play there again soon. So stay tuned.
Erik: The Horror/Punk/Hardcore scene is also a great place of morbidly beautiful art and theatrics. What is the most appealing thing about not only creating the music, but creating a vibe that people will latch onto artistically?
Izzy: I just think its fun to do. Plain and simple. We could be the average band or look and act like weirdos. I think, weirdos suits us the most.
Jez: The most appealing thing about creating the music is being in an atmosphere where we can just be ourselves.
Dirty Horror: We’ve always been huge fans of The Misfits and similar horror type of bands. However there are some good ones and some awful ones. I personally got tired of a lot of the “bad Danzig imitators” around in the genre. That’s what I like with this one. Jez’s voice is different than bands like The Creepshow, Zombina and The Skeletones or The Spookshow do. Vocally it shows so much potential and skill without sounding like a current day pop diva. She’s got talent that’ll blow people away and with all our back ups we really bring in a tight sound. I like how we’re not limiting ourselves with different types of sounds and styles of music that range from pop-punk, thrash, hardcore punk even 1950’s sounding old time rock n’ roll. I love what we’re doing and only hope we keep at it and still have fun. We got a look down. In this type of band I feel it’s important to have that rather than just going up in street clothes or something like that. It gives a vibe to the audience of what they’re in for and they will be surprised what we play in the process. Next to the splattering of blood from us [Laughs].
Erik: What are the band’s goals in the next year?
Izzy: To keep creating the type of music that we want to hear. Aside from that, the future is a mystery.
Jez: Making more music, and getting more out there.
Dirty Horror: To continue making music together and infecting it upon the minds of our listeners keeping the nightmare alive on stage. I hope we hit up more out of town and out of state gigs soon when the weather clears up a little bit. That’ll spread it faster than playing the same old venue once or twice a month. Locally, there’s no other band similar to us in our area and that’s both cool and in some ways it sucks. Here, some bands and promoters are really picky of who they put on a bill for a gig. I feel this band really has something and together we’re really going to open some eyes. Get ready.
For more information on Mutant Suicide Squad-
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mutant-Suicide-Squad/132237720211212
-Erik Jensen
