INTERVIEW: Thrash Bandicoot – Milwaukee Cannibal

Interview by Adrian 'Dren' Barham

Thrash Bandicoot

Australian thrash/death metal band Thrash Bandicoot have just released their debut EP Milwaukee Cannibal on January 6. Described as spine-wrenching thrash metal, we find out more on the band and the release.

 

Metal-Roos: With social distancing becoming more mandatory, how has it affected the band? Can you still practice/record together?

Thrash Bandicoot: With all the restrictions in place we can’t practice as a full band, but it’s motivated us to get behind all that fun business stuff everyone loves so much.

Metal-Roos: Bands have moved to streaming concerts live with no crowds. Is this something for you?

Thrash Bandicoot: It’s a brilliant idea we’d love to get behind, but with the government introducing the 2 person rule and music classed as a non-essential business, it’s not currently possible for us to get together. Live streaming each instrument separately is definitely possible but there’s a lot of syncing issues, so as soon as we find a way around that, we’re straight on it!

Metal-Roos: I just purchased your EP Milwaukee Cannibal on Bandcamp. How important are people like myself in this current climate to help support bands? Wat else can people do to help out?

Thrash Bandicoot: Thanks mate! You guys are the bread and butter, the cirque de siqunts. With all the gig cancellations happening around the globe, it makes it hard for bands to showcase their music properly and having fans spread the word, buying an EP or grabbing some merch really helps and drives us harder. Keep it up! We truely appreciate it and we know people won’t be disappointed with the results.

Metal-Roos: The lead track from the EP is based on Jeffery Dahmer. What other topics have you written about or will write about in future releases? Any plans?

Thrash Bandicoot: Dreamy isn’t he? The topics on our EP span from old mate, to torture, to problems with the modern world.  Our first album is going to be a lot more streamlined in terms of song topics, and it’s really exciting to see how it’s shaping out! The song ideas are based around the destruction of just about anything, be it yourself, the planet or people in general.

Metal-Roos: The guitar tones on the EP are insane. As a bedroom guitarist jamming out, I’m interested in on how you found the tones for the guitars. How did you dial them in and is this an progressive process looking for new tones or will this be set as is?

Thrash Bandicoot: We have Matt Clarke (Daemon Foetal Harvest, Bastardizer, Darker Half) and his countless hours behind the desk to thank for that! We recorded our tracks with pre-patched digital tones in the studio, then Matt weaved his magic using a couple of heads and mashed ’em together. We were blown away by the sound and have no problem doing the same thing for our future releases. It’s really cool to hear how similar the live tones are compared to the recorded tones as well.

Metal-Roos: Thrash Bandicood was scheduled to play MUDU along with many other bands around our great country. The event has now been postponed. When the all clear to resume life as normal comes, will the band complete the scheduled gigs. Will this be something the band would like to do if at all possible given the fact that schedules may have been changed or may have other factors that prevent this from happening?

Thrash Bandicoot: We’d love to play all our cancelled shows when and if they get rescheduled, its just a matter of clashes. We have Steel Assassins and Thrashfest to look forward to in November and December so we’re hoping nothing gets in the way of those. We’ll be doing our best to ensure we’re able to play all our rescheduled shows, and new ones as to not let any fans or promoters down.

Metal-Roos: I’ve heard on social media that this year 2020 is pretty much a write off but 2021 will be a revival for new music. Bands will have spent this time creating new music. It will be one of the best years for releases. Is this something Thrash bandicoot are doing as well?

Thrash Bandicoot: It’s only a write off if you let it, we’re keeping all the behind-the-scenes stuff in motion and using this time to tackle the bits no one wants to do. Seeing as we write most of our songs together and we can’t practice as a band, having a full release by early next year is unlikely. Though regardless of restrictions, we’re pushing hard to produce as much killer material as soon as possible. We have an albums worth of ideas and we send each other riffs, song ideas, all that stuff. So keep an eye out!
Really looking forward to see the local releases for 2021

 

Interview Date: 2020-04-20

Interviewer: Adrian ‘Dren’ Barham