Karma To Burn interview with Rich Mullins: "Anselmo, Garcia and Homme lie to their audiences all the time. We never bullshit anyone"

23/01/2013 @ 12:30
Third visit to our country, from the up-tempo, stoner heroes, Karma to Burn, only four years after they got back together and I truly believe that they are one of the few bands that no one can never stop to enjoy. Music that makes you have a blast, beers and “weird” smells, marvelous riffs and this party attitude that guarantee that not only everyone will have fun, but also that the fans will be multiplied by every time they visit us. On the occasion of this forthcoming appearance we talked with Rich Mullins (bass) about being sincere to the audience, their upcoming album and the split-up they had.

It’s almost three years since you guys reunited and last year’s "Slight Reprise" is the third record you released in this period. Is it some kind of an urge to 'catch up' because of the previous years that you remained inactive?
Absolutely, mostly that was about trying to right some wrongs from our past. We were a little bummed we couldn't make it exactly like we wanted, 11 opening the record for instance but it still was nice to explore those songs again.

What was the reason that you splitted up in the first place?
Oh man, drugs, drugs, drugs and bad attitudes. It’s very hard to think correctly when all you think about is yourself and you think very little of yourself, know what I mean?

Karma To Burn"Slight Reprise" is not a proper record but a remake of your debut playing the songs instrumental. Why did you choose to do this?
As we said earlier just trying to correct past errors. Re-changing what we were forced to change way back when we were too young to know better.

Playing fully instrumental, some emotions might get lost in the way because of the lack of vocals, but you guys make it like it doesn’t matter. How do you manage that?
Personally I think it’s quite the opposite. We are never forced to lie about our sentiments due to lyrics that do not accurately reflect how we feel on any given day. We feel we are far more powerful than any vocalist. Seriously, think about how much most vocalists lie in any given set... Do you think Phil Anselmo is still searching for respect? Does John Garcia really love brushing his teeth? Does Josh Homme really believe his love is like a flower? Come on, those guys lie to every audience, those lies are just notes to them but they are emotions to the audience. Our music never bullshits the audience.

Karma To BurnIn your previous two records you collaborated with Year Long Disaster’s Daniel Davis, very successfully. Have you ever considered of hiring him as a permanent vocalist?
Nope. Talk about lying to the audience? If all of his lyrics were about how much he wanted to be famous without working for it. Maybe we would think about putting him in a fop suit and letting him go for it. Heheheh.

Is there another vocalist that you’d love to collaborate?
Scott Kelly and Rihanna.

What concept is hiding behind the numbers?
Chronological order. Watching growth truly.

Karma To BurnIn the last few years seems like stoner / heavy rock has come to a decline and I think that is because of the lack of progress. Do you see that too and if yes where do you attribute that?
I don't want to get too negative here but holy hell a lot those bands, especially the Swedish ones and the ones that got back together without their original main song writer are not very good.

A kind of odd question now: Kyuss are like a totem of stoner music and their reunion caused a series of good and bad events such as lawsuits, etc. What’s your opinion on the matter?
Hopefully people can see what they are really about. Money. They do everything for money. Sky Valley is a nice record, after that it’s pretty damn repetitive to me. I know the music business revolves around Los Angeles and the money people put behind the groups that come out of there. What I find amazing is how someone can beat women over and over and not go to jail. Nor even have women unite and try to stop the madness. Doesn't that cause you to wonder as well?

Karma To BurnThis is the third time in less than four years that you will play live in Greece. I guess you love playing here and of course we are having a blast as well. Is there anything new that we could anticipate for your forthcoming show?
Lots of new songs! We love playing, we try to go everywhere once every year, especially Greece, it’s such an amazing atmosphere.

Are there any thoughts on a new record? What can we expect?
Hell yes. It will be out near end of the summer. We will play a big chunk of it this week!

That’s it guys and thank you for your time. The last words are yours.
Thanks a ton and see you soon!
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