Bloodsucking Mallory Interview by Kris Hex Arrangement for the Interview by DJ Jason
“Millionaire heiress Mallory Murdock was killed in a little town nearly Ford Harris by a gang of some creepy pigs and criminals. They betrayed and killed her in a cruel murder. After that they left her dead in a dark cellar. That is where she was found by the tramp and hobo Johnson Tomson and his gambling cat Mike Struggle. He picked her up and took her dead body to the voodoo-priest Papa Nekoma who spoke out a spooky voodoo magic on her. Mallory was awoke from death and became an undead vampire. From this day on she tramps with Johnson Tomson and Mike Struggle in search of her murderers to take a bloody revenge. She becalms her bloodthirstiness with the blood of the poor guys who cross her way”.
- Ok to start off, mind introducing yourself to the readers?
Mallory (MM): Bloodsucking Mallory are Johnson Tomson for the guitars and producing, me for the vocal and the bass stuff and Mike Struggle is the band cat ;-). We founded at Halloween 2015.
- To start, I love a lot of German goth rock; it’s always very theatrical and given that the band has a story behind it hand crafted by the musicians themselves is really cool. What’s even more interesting is that you guys take influence from American delta blues and early punk from the 70’s and 80’s ala 45 Grave and Wayne County; Was it a conscious decision to break apart from the usual tropes of the scene or did it just happen organically?
JT: Well, I really like the American blues stuff like Robert Johnson or Muddy Waters but also blues rock like Joe Bonamassa or Jimmy Page. Mallory is more familiar with country music like Lyle Lovett. Gothic Rock is the scene we`re in and I played a few gigs with 45 Grave as a guitarist in Europe. Here in Europe, we have many stylistic borders, what means when you`re a goth, you`re not allowed to play blues and when you play blues, it`s forbidden to play punk. It’s our kind of punk rock to give a shit on it 😉
- I grew up in the American south, specifically southwest Louisiana, which is full of horror and urban legends pertaining to everything from vampires to the Loup Garou (werewolf) to Voodoo (or more accurately Voudun). I imagine there is a kinship there musically and aesthetically, were you guys fans of American southern folklore? I know Germany has a rich history with horror and fairy tales as well, and I know you add a comic book like element to the bands mystique which all ties in nicely.
JT: A good question. Yes….we`re like the tradition of the American music, especially the voodoo elements in the blues. In Europe, the traditional music has many medieval influences which take part in bands like In Extremo or Subway To sally, which are very popular here, but that`s not so interesting for our music cause you hear it here everywhere in Germany.
- With the resurgence of vampires in pop culture and as a fan of horror myself, what do you think of silly movie series such as Twilight and then the more interesting takes such as No Lovers Left Alive which deals with a more modern and practical view of what it would mean to live for hundreds of years as something unnatural?
MM: Ok, to live for hundreds of years can became a little, little boring :-). For me it`s the romantic , aesthetic and also erotic part of the story which influenced me. Twillight has more from a teenie-movie with a soft, soft vampire touch to make it more popular, but isn`t it nice that such and old story as the vampires tales take part in the popular youth ? But I more prefer movies like “the hunger”…..
JT: Yes….absolutely……..but also no lovers left alive
Mike Struggle (MS): Miau 😉
- Mallory , I know you had mentioned that dark country or gothic country is not a well known genre of music, in the U.S. we have musicians such as Screech Holler and Hank III who have darker elements to the music, do you ever get mixed reception to your music when people hear it for the first time?
MM: No…..we try to mix the music we like. The first time I had the idea to bring country influences to gothic stuff Johnson thought it was a very good idea, so no one here did this.
JT: I only knew 16 Horsepower or Wovenhand as the only bands who brought this music on a darker level. I don`t like the declaration of Wovenhand, but I saw him on a concert in a church in Amsterdam and it was very fascinating.
- Johnson, you’ve played with 45 Grave before, was it an interesting experience playing with one of your influences? I know the band is still very active on the west coast of the U.S. and they’re all really nice people (got to see them live at the last Convergence, good stuff!) so I figured you probably had a fun time.
JT: Yes, it was a vvvveerrry funny time and I`m still in good contact with Tom and Branden. They are very nice guys and brilliant musicians. I have learned a lot from them. Here in Germany most of the musicians need to proof how good and professional they are. When I meet the band the first time on my first gig with them, there was no rehearsal before and I asked Tom how can they do that….how can they put such a trust in me. He said:” Well….you`re a guitarist. You`ve said you do the gig……that`s enough for us to put the trust in you…..so play the fucking gig and have fun”. With German musicians that will never happen like this.
Oh….and I have learned what a “stud” is (I didn`t know the word before and there is no German word for that :-D).
- German is the chosen language for this project, honestly it’s nice to see it used more often in lieu of acts trying to stick to English for global appeal, has that been a source of endearment when promoting the bands music to native audiences?
MM: I´ll try this in English language first, but in German my voice sounds even better in this music. But it`s also possible to do a song in English.
JT: Oh….she sounds veeeeerrrrry sweet in English 😀
MM:Grrrrrrrrrrrr……….
MS: Fchhhhhhhhhhhhh 😉
- Ok to wrap up, what releases do you currently have out for those who are interested in your music and what live gigs do you have coming up?
MM: Oh…. first we had to recording a few songs more. In one of them it`s planned to involve a musician from another band. Just let me say: it`s a turn around Nick Cave song 😀 with me as the murder (why should all psychotic murders be male?) :-D. We always thought about playing live. At the time we`re looking for some musicians and some locations to make some gigs.
Thanks again!
Thank you and excuse our “broken” english 😉
