Troy Sanders of Mastodonhad a chat to Artist Direct about what’s next for the band now that Live At Brixton has been released and he gives some info about the band’s next record!
Do you feel like the new material picks up whereThe Hunterleft off or are you on a whole new trip?
I think, to a degree, it picks up where we left off. As always, nothing was really pre-determined and spoken of beforehand like, “Okay guys, we need to write a lot of long epic songs and a lot of short sweet songs. We need to have a couple of slow ones”. Nothing like that was predetermined verbally amongst the four of us. We go in there and we kind of pick up on whatever comes through Brent and Bill’s fingers and their guitars and build and build. I guess it’s going to be more of a continuation of where we left off withThe Hunter. Hopefully, it’s just a collection of good Mastodon rock ‘n’ roll songs. That’s where it’s headed.
Obviously, your bond is at its strongest after all of these years and records. How much does that bond serve as a catalyst for creating new music moving forward? This band exists with all four of you doing your own thing and converging on one vision.
True!…There’s a lot of trust and faith in one another. Let’s say I could be doing some bass tracks in the studio and those guys don’t even have to be there because they trust me to do my part. I trust them to do their parts individually. Most of the time, we’re all together, giving pointers, and saying, “This might sound better. Try this”. We have a lot of good teamwork still. The same four dudes have been together for fourteen years. There’s something to be said about that chemistry and the continuity of that. It’s very unique. I think the tightness comes from constantly playing live shows. That’s where it really comes throughthe repetition of playing our set night after night.
What’s next for you?
This is our thirteenth year of doing aToys For Totsbenefit every December with a group of friends called Bully. I’ve been rehearsing with those guys. I’ve been going up to Nashville to start living there for a month to record the new Mastodon. I’m going to cruise up there in a couple of days. Brann is situated. He’s all good. He’s up there knocking out some drum tracks. We’ll let him do his thing for a few days, and then join in and start working.
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