Interview: MUDMEN

December 2003

The MUDMEN is a brand new band from Belgium.
Their first album, 'NO FUCK NO RIDE", will be out in a few weeks on Tombstone Rcds. Old-school Psychobilly and cool state mind. Thanx to Franzie, the drummer, who answered to the questions.

 

1) Who are you ? Describe yourself in a few words.

We are The Mudmen from Belgium (yep there is still psycho in Belgium).
On guitar and vocals is Filip (25), on drums Franzie (me) (28), on electric bass Sam (24) and Fonzie (24) on stand-up bass. We like to listen to all kinds of music, mainly rockabilly/psychobilly related stuff.

2) How long have you been playing for? Some of the membres have played in other bands before?

We have been playing together for almost 6 years now, not playing too many shows, just the ones that we like or those that look attractive. Before that Fonzie and I (Franzie) played in another local psychobilly band called 'Go Go Ruffian' which split up in 1996. Filip and Sam did a lot of jamming before.

3) "MUDMEN" : Where does the name come from?

We started with a lot of jamming. Not thinking of becoming a real band.
But when some friends asked us to play (just for fun) at a Halloween Party back in 1998, we needed a name. Because we thought this gig was only a one time performance, we decided to call ourselves The Miami Mudmen. Mudman came from a Sharks song we liked to listen to that time. But more gigs followed, so later we reduced it to just The Mudmen, because we didn't like Miami anyway.
So you can say Alan Wilson & The Sharks inspired our name. But still we think it's just a name . the music is more important

4) Where are you from?

We all live in the same town, Zoersel. It's a small village 10 minutes from Antwerp, Belgium. Although it's a small village a lot of Belgian rockin' bands were formed in this neighborhood, bands like The A-Bombs, Boozy, Fabulous Frankies, Sin Alley, The Ohara's

5) The WILD ONES used to sing "This Land Wants Rock", speaking about Belgium. A lot of things seem to happen there. Do you think it has help you to be Belgian?

I don't know it has helped us. At the end of the 90's it was all surf & rockabilly over here, psychobilly was in a major coma. But in the last years the concerts have become more crowded, because of the upcoming popularity of surf (mainly Fifty Foot Combo) garage & speedrock.
Drunkabilly rose again in co-operation with the Lintfabrik. So as the only Flemish psycho band we played quite often over there, so maybe that helped us. The good thing about this country is that now speedrock, psycho, rockabilly, surf or garage bands can play at the same festivals. They can reach a bigger audience.

6) How could you describe your music?

Some people will call it old school psychobilly, others will say it's heavy rockabilly, and so on. We just play our interpretation of rock'n'roll. It doesn't matter what they call it. As long as we have fun playing it.

7) What are your musical influences? Which bands are you listenning to?

Oh, there are a lot. Every band member has his own influences. I like the mid 80's Klubfoot psychobilly bands and also some original 50's rockabilly, swing, ska, etc.. But if we combine all 4 members interests it must be something like a mix of The Meteors, Batmobile, Restless, Motorhead, Elvis, Johnny Cash, Dick Dale, Guana Batz, Caravans, Carl Perkins, Long Tall Texans, AC/DC, Dead Kennedys, D.A.G., Krewmen, Rattlers, Stray Cats, Slayer, Frank Zappa, Chris Isaak, Torment, Frenzy, The Sharks, King Kurt, Ratmen, Dave Phillips, The Sonics, Clement Peerens, The Centurions, Ramones, Legendary Raw Deal, Mad Sin, Brenda Lee, Gene Vincent, The Cramps, old Metallica, Bad Manners, Paladins, Frantic Flintstones, Collins Kids, Big Six, The Clash, Ronny Dawson, Ricochets, Pixies, Madness, Rochee Sarno, etc etc etc .. Enough? As you can see, we have many influences. As long as they are musicians who believe in what they play and do, and know how to rock of course.

8) Other Influences?

Fast cars, Hot women, Whisky, Jupiler, Duvel (a lot of), Al Bundy, Old School Skateboarding, Monty Python, Arthur Fonzarelli, Betty Page, The Young Ones, Ren 'n' Stimpy, gaz, grass & ass ..

9) One of the particularities of the band is that you play with an electric-bass and a double-bass in the same time. Why this choice?

Many double bass players will know why! A slapping stand-up bass has a great sound, especially in this scene. But most times it's difficult to find the right powerful sound for this bass on stage, so for adding more boost & power in our music, we decided to play with e-bass AND slap bass, also live!

10) You are going to make your first album. What can you tell about it? Who will release it?

In the spring of this year Tombstone Records contacted us and showed interest in releasing an album with us. So in August we went into the studio and recorded 13 songs, co-produced by Eric 'Batmobile' Haamers. The cd will be released in January 2004. The album is titled 'No Fuck No Ride'.
It's up to you to like it or not.

11) What would you think about the current NeoRockabilly & Psychobilly scene?

I'm glad there is still a scene! It's good to see that there are still new bands rising. Sadly enough many of those 'new' bands are kind of boring, it 's like they just stand there and play something they don't like. But I have to admit some people also might think the same about us.
But anyway, the scene is still growing (even far abroad from Europe) and that's the most important. And we are also glad that there are a lot of new fresh teenage psycho/rockabilly lovers. As long as they realize that it's not just wearing Underground Shoes, Lucky 13 or having a big quiff and a lot of tattoos that makes you a true billy, the scene will never burn out. We believe psychobilly or rockabilly is a kind of music that you love deep in your heart and soul, and it's not about the looks. But after all we are happy to see that it's still alive.

12) What are the next projects of the band?

No future plans! We just go with the flow. We will see what happens. We are not looking to become a popular band in the scene. We are very modest.
We just want to enjoy ourselves by playing our kind of rock'n'roll. We also are not able to do a lot of foreign concerts, because of our jobs and the expensive travel costs. We are too expensive for a band that is unknown outside of Belgium. We understand that and just keep on enjoying ourselves by playing music we like. Our Cd-presentation is in January in our hometown Zoersel (near Antwerp) with Tombstone Brawlers and The Caravans. And in February we will play at a major festival in Amsterdam (Holland) with Frantic Flintstones, Batmobile, Milwaukee Wildmen and more. So that's our
future at the moment.

13) Have you got something else to add?

To all psycho & rockabilly lovers: keep on rockin' and stompin', so this music will never die. It's you that keep this fire burning, be proud of it. You don't have to like The Mudmen, but if you do . you can check www.the-mudmen.tk for more information about us. And cheers to the "Go Psycho"-crew and the PORKS too.