When the Chronicle learned Mastodon would be rolling through South by Southwest to promote this month’s seventh studio LP Emperor of Sand, no better interviewer could’ve been at our disposal than Austin musician Gary Lindsey.
Black Eyed Vermillion’s growling frontman, with whom yours truly has gigged alongside, toured with, and bled on, possesses an intimate knowledge of the Georgia prog-metal gang. Screamer in Hank III’s punk/metal project Assjack, Lindsey also spent five years, 1995-2000, as singer for sludgy experimental punk act Four Hour Fogger alongside future Mastodon pillars Brent Hinds and Troy Saunders. The local force of nature has been friends with the other half of the band, Brann Dailor and Bill Kelliher, since their tenure in Today is the Day.
Listen for Lindsey’s harmony vox on “Aunt Lisa” from Mastodon’s 2014 long-player Once More ‘Round the Sun.
No surprise, then, that his interview with Dailor, recorded by phone while Mastodon’s drummer/vocalist/lyricist navigated rush hour traffic last weekend in Atlanta, sounds like old friends cutting up. Topics of discussion include: Dailor’s non-flourishing comedy career, what Mastodon “reads” on the bus, the artistic pressure involved in being three-time Grammy losers, how he stays in good enough shape to sing and play complex drum parts simultaneously, and the real-life circumstances behind the foursome’s already acclaimed new album, due March 31.
Listen to the full conversation, as a matter of fact.
Mastodon appears in-store at Waterloo Records a week from today, Friday, March 17, 3:30-4:30pm, to sign a limited run of SXSW lithographs for anyone who pre-orders a copy of Emperor of Sand. The band’s official festival showcase is then that night at Empire Garage, midnight. Black Eyed Vermillion performs earlier that evening at the Scoot Inn.
This article appears in March 10 • 2017.