Cannibal Cheerleader

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TREASURE MAMMAL – INTERVIEW
Hey everyone, Cannibal Cheerleader is back in action, all moved in and now located at its new office here in Austin, Texas. So, without further ado, let’s get back to the music. Cannibal Cheerleader favorite Treasure Mammal, aka Abelardo Gil has been busy these days, popping back into the studio and releasing a split EP with Whitman. Today though might be one of the most exciting in recent memory as tonight our friend T. Mammal is playing a show in Phoenix with none other than Austin’s own Octopus Project. If you’re in the Arizona area, it’s obviously completely crucial that you attend this once in a lifetime convergence of so much bizarre talent.

In other TM news, recently we here at Cannibal Cheerleader got a chance to conduct an email interview with the madcap experimental artist and here’s a sample for your reading pleasure:

“Describe the Treasure Mammal experience to the uninitiated. What is
your music all about? How would you describe it?

The TM experience for the uninitiated is communal experience conveyed through performance/music about trying to live in the moment, dancing, enjoying the ones around you (even if they are strangers) and enjoying music. My music is all about embracing musical mistakes and trying to make a world to escape in for a short time. My music is like surfing on a dream catcher that eventually got lifted up by a pegacorn (unicorn/ pegasus) and you were taken in to space and shown all the possibilities/ beauty of life.“

This completely awe-inspiring answer is of course just a sampling, read more at the bottom of this post and of course read the full interview in the September edition of the Cannibal Cheerleader zine.

Speaking of which, copies of issue #1 are going fast so if you’d like a copy delivered to you, email me at cannibalcheerleader@gmail.com. Of course, you’re going to have to do something for me too, such as recommend a few cool bands or take some rad pictures of CC favorites!

Here’s a quick T. Mammal video to jump-start your work week:

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SPINNERETTE REVEAL “VALIUM KNIGHTS”
We here at Cannibal Cheerleader have long since been betrothed to Brody Dalle. She doesn’t really know this yet, but we’ve been together for a long time. Growing up in Smalltown, East Texas left plenty of room for romance in our nerdy lives and the raucous rampage of the Distillers was just the kind of girl we were looking for. Seriously though, Brody remains one of the greatest vocalists in rock music ever, and her seering punk poetry still manages to make our ears bleed to this day.

Now, having placed the Distillers on hold after their magnum opus Coral Fang, Brody Dalle has formed a new band called Spinnerette, supposedly offering a more experimental and electronic edge to the Rancid-ready sound of old. This weekend on the band’s Myspace it was revealed that the first single off the album “Valium Knights” would be sent to members of their email list, and what a doozy of a track it is. Taking the Brody croon to new heights of musicianship and combining a grimy bassline with light, spidery guitarwork, all behind a cascading din of drums, the track is painfully short but packed with enough sweet grooves to suffice until the whole album is revealed. Definitely a far-cry from anything Distillers but incredibly satisfying nonetheless, here is Valium Knights:
Spinnerette – “Valium Knights”

I strongly encourage everyone to join the band’s email list, and not just to honor the memory of the late-great Distillers, but to become involved in what’s promising to be an excellent and engaging band. Looking forward to hearing more from these guys!
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NEW BAND CHEER: FOLLOW THAT BIRD!
Straight off a recommendation from the gals in Southern Drama comes Austin’s own Follow That Bird!, an all-girl punk trio with a penchant for snaky guitarwork, fierce and passionate drumming, and the unhinged and unmistakable vocals of one Lauren Green, whose voice comes across as a mix of the Corin Tucker operatic-yelp and post-punk songstress Siouxsie Sioux’s husky growl. The demos on the band’s Myspace speak to a collection of whip-smart punk begging to be committed to tape, so much so that the group’s earlier tracks seem pale in comparison. Follow That Bird! are clearly on the verge of dropping a bomb on the Austin punk and indie scene, just feel lucky that you’re getting to hear them they explode. The girls in FTB are playing this Wednesday at Beauty Bar and you know Cannibal Cheerleader will be there snapping pictures for your enjoyment!

I haven’t been able to find any mp3s online but here’s a quirky little YouTube video of one of our favorites, “Run With Knives”:

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TREASURE MAMMAL INTERVIEW (CONT’D)
Here are a few more questions from our special Treasure Mammal interview – enjoy!

Talk about the T. Mammal live show. Do audiences need to see your performances live to get the full effect? What goes through your mind when you’re performing?

I do think that the TM experience isn’t fully expressed until the live show has been seen. When I am performing I usually think about the environment that I am in, what is my part in this environment, and how can I change this environment.

Your music is a really unique blend of genres. What are your influences? Do you listen to much modern music? Who are some of your favorite artists? Do you take influence from anything other art forms like film or literature?

During my first couple of records I wanted to make songs like Robert Rauschenberg made art. So I was really into the cutting/ pasting element of music. He made me want to make sound collages. John Cage has also been a huge influence on me … I do kind of group him with Rauschenberg from the sound collage aspect of things. The only modern stuff I like lately is on the hip hop station. Some of my favorite artists right now are Add N to X, Kanye West, R. Kelly, Babies, Whitman, Abe Vigoda, and Brian Crabtree. I try to take things from everything that I come in contact with in my environment. We are a product of our environment. My favorite people/artists are the ones that make their own environment no matter the situation.

classically trained or self-taught?

I began by doing alot of improvisations, experimenting with effects pedals, putting contact mics on vacuum cleaners. Also, that around a time when I was experimenting with hallucinogenic drugs. The only reason I bring up hallucinogenics is because they put me in a mind frame of putting genres together that wouldn’t neccessarily work together. In short, it made me care alot less about having these music rules make sense. After doing quite a bit of experimentation I started song writing, and over some time I tried to put those ideas together.

I do think of music sometimes as an equation that needs to be solved. For example, if you try to make a song from a country music loop and a hip hop loop where do you place them in relation to each other. Once you try to figure out the composition variables will start presenting themselves and I am self taught.

I remember seeing you perform in East Texas when I was in high
school – you’ve been at this for quite a long time. Is Treasure Mammal
a permanent career choice for you? What is your career trajectory and

what tips can you give for independent artist just starting out?

This November the entity of Treasure Mammal turns 5 years old. This is a permanent career choice for me. I have decided to dedicate my life to music and being the enitity of Treasure Mammal. I do like the idea of getting old and still doing a version of the project. We do live in an ever changing world and it will be great to just ride it out. I do plan on touring in Canada and in Europe sometime in the near future. For anyone starting out, I would say they should figure out the purpose of the music they are making first, constantly make goals for yourself, put out your own records and tour all the time.

What future releases do you have planned? How do you plan on
expanding the Treasure Mammal universe? Has your fanbase grown over

the years?

I have a new split 7 inch coming out with the Numerators from Lubbock, Texas coming out in the late fall. I have a new record coming out early next year called “If You Love Me You Will Get a Vagina”. A mixtape will also be coming out with remixes, different version of songs and freestyles things of that sort. A dvd is also in the works. With my fan base I have planted the seeds, watered them and they grown more than I ever thought they would. I plan on expanding the TM universe by eventually doing some art installations and trying to do some more work on the visual aspect of things

your artistic expression?

I sell stuff on ebay, and sometimes I substitute teach. Lately, I have liked ebay better than any job because it takes the least out of my creativity and I don’t get bummed out on my job. Because there are those days where I wish I could do TM all the time but I have not figured out how to make a solid income doing that. yet.

Does your music have a message? What are you trying to convey?

If there was a message to my music. It would be to realize that you are great, to not be afraid of who you are, that one small thing can change your whole world, if you want to make a change (change it), and to do what you are really meant to do in this life. I guess in summation the message would be to be more self reliant. I write these songs for other people, the people I love, and I also write them for myself.

Stay tuned for bonus questions in next month’s Cannibal Cheerleader zine! Any comments?

Comment from Valium Prescription Medication - January 14, 2009 at 2:45 am

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I am 55 years old. Have been on Valium for 20 days now. I decided to get off of all benzos after much reading and having a friend who was abusing Xanax kill himself (may have been other issues, too). I was taking about 4 mg of Klonopin daily. I read a lot of the reseach on benzos by Dr. Heather Ashton, one of the world’s leading authorities on benzos. I was shocked to see her equivalency table for Klonopin and Xanax. 1 mg of Klonopin or Xanax is equel to 20 mg of Valium. That’s right, 20!! Plus, Klonopin and Xanax have nasty side effects. That did it for me. No more benzos!! Because Valium has the longest half-life of any benzo and the least side effects, I’m using it and water-titration to get off Klonopin, a method widly used in Europe. 10% reduction every 10-14 days. So far so good.

I have experienced some of these side effects -
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I hope this information will be useful to others,
Paul Harris