As someone who followed Long Island booze hounds Dirty Rig from their Blood, Sweat and Beer inception to their unfortunate fizzling out, I was glad to see bassist Steve “Buckshot” Seabury emerge with a new band in record time. The yet-instrumental trio Moth Eater — in which Buckshot is joined by former Scar Culture guitarist John Conley and ex-‘Rig bandmate Dave Ardolina on drums — boasts a darker sound than the lighthearted, Kory Clarke (Warrior Soul, Trouble) fronted outfit Dirty Rig became by their end, with sludge-covered Southern riffs basking in the traditions of New Orleans and the Southeastern set that gave birth to acts like Alabama Thunderpussy, Weedeater and Beaten Back to Pure. The music is still drunk, but it’s a more aggressive kind of drunk.

With three demos posted on their MySpace page and a rehearsal video to their credit, Moth Eater are clearly just getting going, but The Obelisk is proud to be the first to discuss the trio with Buckshot and introduce them to the scene at large. After the jump, the bassist discusses Moth Eater‘s formation, putting together his own label — Giddy Up! Records — where to find half-price Blue Moon for a pre-practice ritual and when we can expect a debut release. Crack open a beer and enjoy.

Let’s do the secret origins thing: What’s the back story for Moth Eater? How do you and John know each other, how did Dave enter the picture and how did the band come together?

I have known John for years. We hang in the same metal circle here in NYC. He is an amazing guitarist and one of the best in the area. I was a big fan of what he did in Scar Culture; they were bad ass. After I quit Dirty Rig I took some time off to get my shit together. I got the itch to play again so I called up Dave, the old drummer of Dirty Rig, and asked him if he wanted to jam. He told me that he couldn’t wait to pound on his drums and work together again, so we met up at the bar to shoot the shit and in a nutshell Moth Eater was born.

The music is a stylistic change from Dirty Rig, but even more so for John coming from Scar Culture. When you were putting the band together, did you have a doomier sound in mind than what you’d done previously, or is what’s out there so far just the result of jamming in rehearsal?

I honestly didn’t have any idea what kind of music we would write together. The three of us love our music with a side order of a 2×4 upside the head. We’ve had 12 rehearsals so far and these are the first couple of tunes written. I am really excited and impressed how fast this is coming together. We already have nine tunes and they are pretty much ready to roll.

There’s something very raw and fresh about listening to a band’s earliest work, like the three demos you’ve posted on the MySpace page. How do you feel about the material so far and how do you think the writing will change as you’re putting together the album?

The other material is sometimes slower but heavy and the other jams are faster and even heavier. My whole thing is if you can’t drink to it, fuck to it or bang your head to it, then it’s personally not my thing. I am really stoked about what the three of us are writing and have come up with so far. I just can’t wait to jump on stage and tear shit up.

Check out our Moth Eater rehearsal video we did on YouTube [below]. It has a couple of different tunes on there that aren’t on our MySpace. You will get to check out the vibe of the band. It’s a cool two minute video.

What’s the singer situation? Are you guys staying instrumental, or will one of you tackle vocals?

Because the band is so brand new and we didn’t know what direction we were going to take we decided just to drink some beers and write some music. The music has taken a direction that all of us are very happy with. I think we have basically found our sound so now we are starting the audition process. We know what we are looking for as a singer now so we are hoping to fill in that void and be the voice of Moth Eater.

If you are digging what you hear from these early demos and want to throw your hat into the ring you can reach us from our MySpace page.

“Lead Belly’s Revenge” has the most stoner rock feel of the three tracks, “Motha Chunga” has a kind of Beaten Back to Pure aggressive Southern vibe, and “The Thunder Gods of Monster Island” drops into that nasty sludge groove toward the end. What other sonic tricks are up Moth Eater’s sleeve? Assuming there’s more material than has been posted, what does it sound like?

That’s awesome you say that “Motha Chunga” has that Beaten Back to Pure sound. Those guys are bad ass. But honestly it depends on how buzzed we get before rehearsal to determine what tempo or structure the songs will take when we jam. Joking! Well, kinda.

We have a couple of songs that will just beat the shit out of you. The grooves are so heavy and fast I love them. We have a couple of molasses type jams that are just pounding the riff over and over and over again. Slow and steady — there isn’t anything wrong with that. I think people who like heavy music in general will enjoy what we are doing.

Describe the writing process. In the video you can see everyone jamming out on the riffs, but when a song or a riff idea is first introduced, how does that go?

The writing process starts at the local bar to get warmed up. Their happy hour rocks — half priced Blue Moons and food. Just doesn’t get any better than that. Once we pick up the 12 pack and head over to our rehearsal space, we just start fucking around to get warmed up. John and I will throw out a couple of riffs that we have been playing around with during the week and we just power it out. We will all know in a matter of minutes if the song sucks or not. It’s actually a pretty laid back vibe with a lot of goofing around but we do try to write one song per rehearsal.

What is it like for you to start over at this point? After Dirty Rig, how does it feel to be hungry and in a new band again? What lessons are you bringing with you from what you’ve done before?

After Dirty Rig I didn’t want to play at all. I was really burned out with all the drama. Dirty Rig, to me, was supposed to be a band who all shared the same visions and goals. After time passed and going on the road I got to learn the true intentions and agendas from some of the members, it was a shame but a valuable learning experience. I won’t say it was all bad though because I did meet a ton of cool people, the fans were a force and are still very supportive, I got to travel to far away lands and drink some of the best beer ever and I lived out some of my childhood dreams. Memories of a lifetime, good and bad (laughs)!

Moth Eater is the band I always wanted to play in. The music is massive and the band is about family. If you fuck with one of us you fuck with all of us. That is how all bands should be. The sleeping bear has woken up and I am very hungry and very much motivated. I honestly have never been more excited about any other project than I have for this band. These guys are the best musicians I have ever jammed with and it’s just a great rock and roll vibe.

Is Giddy Up! your label? How did it get started and what are your plans for it?

Yeah it’s my little startup label. Metal is my passion and my life. I just want to help out the scene the best I can and help contribute to it the best way I can. There are some many great metal labels out there right now so I hope there is room for one more.

I haven’t signed anyone yet but I am very close to a couple of deals. We have great distribution channels and I am hoping be announce the first releases very soon. If anyone reading this knows of any killer bands looking for a deal please drop us a line at the label’s MySpace page or the Moth Eater MySpace page.

Will Moth Eater tour?

I think right now we are going to focus on playing regional shows just to build a foundation. We have received a couple of offers already to run some dates together in Europe and Australia. I love to travel, so yes, we will probably take these offers up.

Any idea when we can expect a full-length or an EP release?

We are hoping to jump into the studio in May or June to start recording. I am hoping that our debut release will be out by this fall through Giddy Up! Records. We are talking to a label about putting out our vinyl too. It’s going to be a dream come true for myself.

Moth Eater MySpace page

Giddy Up! Records

Tags: Instrumetal, Long Island, Moth Eater, Sludge

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 25th, 2009 at 11:48 am and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.