{"id":6561,"date":"2016-01-31T19:08:15","date_gmt":"2016-02-01T00:08:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.altwire.net\/?p=6561"},"modified":"2023-12-06T06:37:20","modified_gmt":"2023-12-06T11:37:20","slug":"puscifer-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/es\/entrevista-a-puscifer\/","title":{"rendered":"Entrevista a Puscifer: preguntas y respuestas con Mat Mitchell"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PusciferMS\"Formed in 1995 (as Umlaut), and filled with a very diverse and revolving group of musicians, Puscifer<\/a> is a band fronted by veteran hard rock singer Maynard James Keenan (Tool, A Perfect Circle).<\/h4>\n

The touring lineup is comprised of  Maynard James Keenan (vocals), Carina Round (Guitar, Banjitar, Tambourine) , Mat Mitchell (lead guitar), Jeff Friedl (Drums, Samples), Mahsa Zargaran (Keyboards, Samples, Guitar, Backing Vocals) and Paul Barker (bass).<\/p>\n

Labeled by Maynard as a product of his “collective subconscious”, the folks in Puscifer are currently gearing up for Round Two of their Money $hot Tour, bringing their highly stylized and theatric live show across the states for a second time. We recently had an opportunity to speak to the band’s Lead Guitarist, and co-songwriter Mat Mitchell about the tour and his thought’s on the band’s evolution and many other exciting topics. Also, in an AltWire first, we reached out to the band’s fans on Reddit <\/a>and curated a range of questions to ask Mat during our interview.<\/p>\n

Check out what Mat had to say below!<\/p>\n

AW: It’s been almost five years since Conditions of my Parole and almost three years since Donkey Punch. Each album seems to take a very measured step forward. Does that come naturally?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mat Mitchell \/ Puscifer:<\/strong> Yeah absolutely I think we\u2019ve learned from each record, and each tour and the relationships have kind of developed over time. It\u2019s a natural progression for sure.<\/p>\n

AW: Branching off, do you see “Money Shot” as the progression of the sound that was expressed in “Conditions of My Parole” or something entirely different?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mat Mitchell \/ Puscifer: <\/strong>A progression probably. There are certainly elements that are similar, but it wasn\u2019t intentional. Anything that is similar or different [to Conditions of My Parole] was not intentional or deliberately thought about. It was a natural progression and a very organic step to where we are now.<\/p>\n

AW: We’ve seen videos of the band recording in Maynard’s wine cellar. Does this mean that Puscifer writes and records year round?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mat Mitchell \/ Puscifer: <\/strong> It\u2019s definitely year round but it\u2019s not always there. Sometimes it\u2019s in LA, and sometimes it\u2019s at the wine cellar, but it all depends on what\u2019s happening in everyone\u2019s lives. It\u2019s really nice to work in that environment, just because it\u2019s such a different environment than working in a studio. Being up in the mountains and away from a big city just puts you in a different head space and we find that it\u2019s a real creative environment, and that we get a lot done when we\u2019re out there.<\/p>\n

AW: Acoustically, what’s it like to record in the Caduceus Wine Cellar?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mat Mitchell \/ Puscifer: <\/strong> In a studio everything is controlled and out there it\u2019s very wide open. It\u2019s made for something completely different, so it comes with benefits and drawbacks. The key is just finding where it benefits and taking advantage of it. The drum sounds are amazing because there are a lot of concrete and round wooden barrels so we get a pretty amazing drum sound out there.<\/p>\n

AW: When recording, do you approach the programming with a plan already in mind for how to reproduce certain textures live with other instruments: i.e., guitar, bass, synth, etc.?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mat Mitchell \/ Puscifer: <\/strong>I certainly have thought about it but I try not to write or produce thinking too much about how it\u2019s going to be interpreted live. Because I don\u2019t want to not do something just because of that. I don\u2019t want to put those kinds of restrictions. When we\u2019re making a record we just focus on making it as good as we can and exactly what we want it to be, and then we interpret it later when it comes time to do it live. It becomes a fun challenge and an exciting thing to do to listen to it and figure out how we\u2019re going to interpret it and what things we\u2019re going to try to reproduce and what things we\u2019re going to change to make it more fitting for a live show. I certainly think about it on occasion but usually we try to keep it separate.<\/p>\n

AW: During the songwriting process, does the music or lyrics come first usually? How long does it normally take from the initial writing to the final cut of recording?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mat Mitchell \/ Puscifer: <\/strong>It varies. Sometimes I\u2019ll present music and Maynard will write to it, and sometimes he\u2019ll present lyrics, or a line, or a story and then we\u2019ll work together. As far as time it really depends. We\u2019re kind of always throwing ideas down, but it\u2019s not always with the intention of immediately turning it into a song. There\u2019s ideas that may sit for two or three years before they get on the table for any sort of dissection. Then there\u2019s other songs where Maynard will be like \u2018oh I\u2019ve got a vocal idea\u2019 or I\u2019ll be like \u2018I\u2019ve got a guitar idea\u2019 and then the song is done in a day. So anything from 2-3 years to 24 hours!<\/p>\n

\"Puscifer-635x336\"<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m really proud of the show we\u2019re doing now, and I really want to play this show in front of as many people as we can. It seems like people are enjoying it and I couldn\u2019t ask for anything more…”<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

AW: How does having a revolving line-up of various musicians affect recording in the studio and live performances from the band’s perspective?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mat Mitchell \/ Puscifer: <\/strong>I really enjoy it because we can do whatever we want. If there\u2019s someone that\u2019s going to bring something to the table that\u2019s different than what someone earlier brought to the table, there\u2019s no ego or no feelings that are going to be hurt. We know that it\u2019s all about the bigger picture, so as a producer it\u2019s great. I can call on this person for \u2018this thing\u2019 and this person for \u2018that thing\u2019 and the palette of artists becomes way bigger. I think it makes for better songs and for a better fuller \u2018big picture\u2019, and I think it\u2019s just a lot more interesting that way.<\/p>\n

AW: How do you come up with the themes for the videos and live shows? Like the current running Luchador wrestler theme. Who\u2019s the wrestling fan in the band?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mat Mitchell \/ Puscifer: <\/strong>[laughs] Well we all are, and there\u2019s kind of been a recurring theme from the last record and from the EP where we started introducing a bit of that, so we wanted to expand on it. As far as artwork and videos and things like that, Maynard and I both throw in ideas and we brainstorm on what things might be cool, and what stories we want to tell, and how we\u2019d like the flow to go from act to act and how we\u2019d want the show to progress. We just kind of weed it down and go from there. Again, working with other artists and kind of going back to your last question about the different musicians, it\u2019s the same with different visual artists and people working on the different story ideas and with all the different additional talent we have working on the live shows, we kind of have just left our doors open. We\u2019ve always been open to trying different things and we\u2019ve gotten lucky.<\/p>\n

AW: What is it like creating a persona to have on stage? How much of yourselves (the band) is coming out?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mat Mitchell \/ Puscifer: <\/strong> I think everyone is pretty much themselves. There\u2019s certainly a bit of theatrical elements that we bring to make it a little more interesting than being ourselves, but I think everyone\u2019s pretty grounded in just doing their thing. Certainly Maynard and Carina have to bring more energy and theatrics because they\u2019re the frontrunners, so there\u2019s more of their personality being displayed.<\/p>\n

AW: Can we get a rig rundown of your live setup, specifically which pedals you run through your midi controller, and if you select your Fender and Marshall one at a time or run them simultaneously?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mat Mitchell \/ Puscifer: <\/strong> The main amp is the Fender. A lot of people think \u2018Fender clean, Marshall dirty\u2019 and that\u2019s not how I do it. The Fender is 90% of the sound, it\u2019s a Fender Vibro-King and occasionally if I want something a little more \u2018mid\u2019 focused I\u2019ll switch to the Marshall or blend the two. As far pedals go, I use a tube screamer and an old Boss Fuzz pedal, and just the normal stuff. A lot of Boss pedals, which kind of surprised me. We were working the Conditions<\/em> record and over the years I had become a bit of a pedal collector like most guitarists. I\u2019ve got all these boutique fuzz pedals, and all these things that I think are going to be amazing but then I\u2019m finding myself gravitating back towards a lot of the Boss pedals. Some of those things just can\u2019t be beat. Even in my live rig, there\u2019s a couple of \u2018boutiquey\u2019 things but the majority of them are Boss pedals. Then I have a Fender Esquire guitar, and a Jerry Jones Bass 6. A lot of people ask what the longhorn black guitar is and it\u2019s Jerry Jones Bass 6. It\u2019s really good for that \u2018spaghetti\u2019 kind of stuff, the in-between an a bass and guitar octave \u2018noodly\u2019 type stuff. It\u2019s really cool for that.<\/p>\n

AW: I hope you don’t mind me doing so, but I\u2019d like to go back to the Bataclan attacks last year. The band performed a show in New Haven, CT shortly after the ISIS attacks in Paris where your bandmate Matt McJunkins was held hostage. During the show Maynard said that he, “barely made it through the show.” Would you be willing to describe what it was like playing that show and performing those songs? Did the band ever consider cancelling the show?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mat Mitchell \/ Puscifer: <\/strong>I don\u2019t mind talking about it. [At first] there was the initial finding out that there is something going on, and knowing that your friends are in the city, and then actually finding out that there are things going on in the building that they are in. It was a roller coaster, because these are your loved ones and you want them to be safe, so we were all on the edge of our seats and trying to get any information that we could. We were very happy to find out that he was safe and that most of the band and their entourage were fine. So you\u2019re happy, but also you\u2019re shocked and it kind of hits you. I don\u2019t think anyone was considering cancelling the show or anything, just because you\u2019ve got to keep moving. You can\u2019t just stop because something bad happened.<\/p>\n

During the show there were just certain songs and lyrics, you know, where you\u2019re playing the song and you\u2019re thinking about what your friend went through, or what the people who didn\u2019t make it went through and it\u2019s just an emotional thing. We never considered canceling and it wasn\u2019t something where we went into it thinking about how it was going to affect us. We all just kind of dealt with it how we did, and I think that\u2019s part of the healing too. Getting through it and having those emotions, you know?<\/p>\n

AW: Absolutely, and I just wanted to thank you for being willing to revisit that. I know a few of our readers wanted to know your thoughts on the incident, and your openness to discuss it is appreciated. Going back to your own music\u2026will Puscifer continue to try and release something on a fairly regular schedule or do you see future projects coming to fruition if only the time is right for everyone?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mat Mitchell \/ Puscifer: <\/strong>It kind of just revolves around what\u2019s happening at the time, and what\u2019s going on and who\u2019s doing what. We\u2019re constantly being creative and working on things, and it\u2019s usually a year out or a few months out where we\u2019ll be like \u2018hey why don\u2019t we put out a record this year\u2019, you know, and then we\u2019ll take all of those ideas and start finalizing and consolidating and developing things. As far as doing it any more regularly, I don\u2019t know. It just depends on what kind of time we have, and what we\u2019re feeling at that point. We don\u2019t really have a schedule outside of this record, or this tour, and we\u2019re kind of going from there. Maynard\u2019s busy with his wine and he has a couple of bands that he does, so he\u2019s super busy and everyone else has their own things too. It just depends on when everything aligns and when it seems like a good time for everybody.<\/p>\n

AW: What’s something you would like to accomplish with puscifer? What do you hope to see in the year ahead?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mat Mitchell \/ Puscifer: <\/strong>As far as what I\u2019d like to accomplish, I\u2019m very happy with the record we put out. That\u2019s an accomplishment that I\u2019m really proud of and I just want to keep on making good records, and good music. I\u2019m really proud of the show we\u2019re doing now, and I really want to play this show in front of as many people as we can. It seems like people are enjoying it and I couldn\u2019t ask for anything more. I just want to keep on doing what we\u2019re doing and hopefully people will keep on enjoying it.<\/p>\n

UP NEXT ON PAGE 2 – AltWire Reddit Bonus Round: Your Questions Answered…<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

If there’s one part about this interview that impressed us the most, it was Mat Mitchell’s willingness to answer every single question that we threw at him during our nearly 30 minute interview. As mentioned in page one of this story, we decided to do something a little differently this time around and reach out the band’s fans on Reddit to see what kind of questions we could receive. This resulted in over 20 unique questions submitted, all of which Mat stuck around to answer at the end of it all. Below is a rapid-fire round of extra questions, all submitted by fans on the r\/puscifer<\/a> and r\/ToolBand<\/a> subreddits. Enjoy!<\/p>\n

AW: Were the Cinquanata shows ever taped?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mat Mitchell \/ Puscifer: <\/strong>I do have audio recordings of those performances, but we did not film them.<\/p>\n

AW: Any plans to release those audio recordings?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mat Mitchell \/ Puscifer: <\/strong> We\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n

AW: Any good stories from the Nine Inch Nails Lights<\/a> In the Sky tour?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mat Mitchell \/ Puscifer: <\/strong> [Laughing] No comment! [Continues Laughing]<\/p>\n

AW: Any plans to release another DVD at the end of the Money Shot tour?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mat Mitchell \/ Puscifer: <\/strong> I\u2019d like to! I really liked the last one. I thought that it was a really good representation of the show and it was something that we were pretty proud of so I\u2019d love to do something again. We\u2019ve recorded some stuff and we\u2019ll probably record a few more shows, so if all goes well I\u2019d love to do it. I really liked the last one so I\u2019d love to do another one.<\/p>\n

AW: How did you get your start in becoming a musician, and who were some of your favorite bands growing up, as well as some of your favorites today?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mat Mitchell \/ Puscifer: <\/strong> Growing up I was in middle school and they offered a guitar class. It was an opportunity for me to get out of a harder class so I made the jump. I really kind of gravitated towards it and was interested in putting in the time to get better at it and get good at it. I was always a music fan and there were always records playing in the house when I was growing up, so I always had an interest and a love for music. So I kept playing and circling myself around other people that played, which helped keep the drive up. I started playing in bands when I was 16 and 17, and did some regional tours when I was 17 and 18.<\/p>\n

As far as my inspirations went back then\u2026a lot of metal stuff like Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden to bands like Bauhaus and Joy Division so a broad range of stuff there, for a lot of different reasons. For guitar it\u2019s nice to know some of those metal riffs as the music is very guitar centered, so those bands were great to kind of learn guitar on. Then there were guys like Daniel Ash for the opposite end, for things like texture and songwriting and outside of the box stuff. With new wave a lot of that inspired me for the electronic and the keyboard side of things. I listened to that as a kid and I\u2019m not embarrassed by any of it, I still listen to that stuff and I love all of it.<\/p>\n

With new bands, there\u2019s a lot. Of course when I\u2019m on the spot I go blank [laughs], but Big Black Delta I like a lot, I like Phantogram a lot, and a lot of the pop stuff that\u2019s out there. TV on the Radio is awesome, The Knife. I don\u2019t know, that\u2019s a short list and I\u2019m sure I\u2019m missing some major ones but those are a few good ones.<\/p>\n

AW: Will we see Jonny Polonsky on guitar at any live shows in the future, and will the second drum kit ever return?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mat Mitchell \/ Puscifer:<\/strong> Polonsky? Probably. He\u2019s around and he\u2019s a friend, and he did make an appearance with us before. He\u2019s played with us since he left as the primary guitar player, so I wouldn\u2019t say we\u2019d never see him again.<\/p>\n

For the second drum kit, Mahsa\u2019s a drummer so it\u2019s not that far of a stretch to think that she would be playing some drums with us. Also, depending on which friends are in town, I love having double drums. We have double drums on all the records so at some point that will definitely happen.<\/p>\n

AW: Coffee or tea?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mat Mitchell \/ Puscifer: <\/strong> Morning and night! [laughs] I\u2019m coffee in the morning, and tea in the night!<\/p>\n

AW: Finally, the most important question of all: chunky or smooth peanut butter?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mat Mitchell \/ Puscifer: <\/strong>If I had to pick one I would say chunky. Having said that, I think it\u2019s because with everyone it\u2019s always smooth. It\u2019s just the variety, as unfortunately with everything the option is almost always smooth. So I would pick chunky.<\/p>\n

Puscifer – “Money Shot”:<\/h1>\n