Fresh out of the studio from recording their new album Zebrahead arrived in the
The slightly odd sight of three adult rockstars drinking beer while a Harry Potter film plays silently in the background greets Bandidge’s arrival on the bus and this added to the cheery greeting given by singer/ guitarist Matty Lewis and rapper Ali Tabatabbae set the mood for what was to follow.
It was clear that one thing was on the agenda. To make each other, and stand in drummer Chris Dalley, laugh as much as possible. Occasionally the band would get around to talking about music.
Over the course of the next 15 minutes the banter between the two would confuse and amuse in equal measure in one of the funniest yet strangest interviews of the year so far.
Your new album seems like a good place to start, from the videos you posted on youtube it looks like you had a lot of fun in the studio.
Ali: “Well actually we really don’t like each other very much so to be forced to spend that much time together.”
Matty: “I’m having a hard time right now looking at Ali.”
Ali: “We usually tend not to speak to each other much.”
Matty: Don’t look at me.
Ali: “And also…”
Matty: “Stop looking at me.”
Ali: “You keep saying that so I’ll look at you Matty. See this is why we don’t hang out.”
Matty: “This is why I can’t do it, I can’t do it anymore.”
Ali: “So pretty much the only thing that keeps us together is we’re really all into scat and prostitution and we tend to just hang out because of that.”
Matty: “It must be the prostitution because I don’t know what scat is.”
Ali: “Oh you don’t know what scat is?”
Matty: “No”
Ali: “It’s when I shit on your chest and you go thank you Ali.”
Matty: “I thought that was called… pooping on your chest.”
Matty: “It was a good time, it was a good time.”
General Laughter
Matty: “We’re sorry.”
Have there been any changes to the Zebrahead sound on the new record?
Ali: “Matty doesn’t suck as bad on this one.”
Matty: “Well you know, I don’t suck as bad.”
Ali: And what else?
Matty: “Ali raps Jay Z lyrics, it’s weird.”
Ali: “Yeah well I’m not very creative so if somebody has already done it why would I spend time. I’d rather watch porn and shit on people.”
Matty: “Scat, Scat, Scat. I think our sound is pretty much the same. It’s just a better version of it.”
Ali: “Ok we’ll do one serious answer. Are you ready? Here it goes. This is our second album with Matty and I think on this one it was a lot more comfortable because we kind of learnt how to write with each other and we weren’t feeling each other out as far as you know, what other people were capable of.
We kind of had an idea so we were focused on the songs and everyone had a clear vision of ultimately what we wanted the songs to sound like and I think it really comes across when you hear the album.”
Following recording your second album in the band have you become more comfortable with your live performances?
Matty: “Oh yeah. I was becoming more and more comfortable like half way through the touring cycle of the last record and now it’s like we’re all part of one. Except now we have to play a week of shows with a new drummer for a week.”
Ali: “Did you hear that story? It’s a great story. This is Chris he’s in a band called death by stereo who are friends of ours from back home and I’m a big fan of their band.”
Matty: “I’m not.”
Ali: “Our drummer Ed bought a motorcycle two days before we left for the tour and decided he wanted to have a beer shirtless, and shoeless, and go for a ride and he saw a cop. And I don’t think the cop even saw him but he freaked out and flipped his bike. The whole side of his body got messed up.”
Matty: “He’s got a scab or a scar that looks like the Wu Tang Clan and then he’s got what looks like a bullet hole. The reason why he couldn’t come was because he wouldn’t go to the doctor.”
Ali: “Do you know why he went to the doctor?”
Matty: “Why?”
Ali: “Because he called me and was like I’ll be fine, I’ll be fine. And I said Ed what happens when we’re in the
He could have made use of the
Matty: “He could of.”
Ali : “But what the doctors had told him was that if he had flown with the amount of infection in his leg he could of got a blood clot and died.”
Matty: “Well his foot, he’s got fat feet. His left foot doubled in size and was freaking huge and it looks like a big football.”
Ali: “You know Fred Flintstone, he’s got one of those feet now.”
Are there any songs from the new record that you’re particularly proud of or are looking forward to playing live?
Matty: “We’re playing a new one tonight actually. It’s called Mental Health. I’m proud of all the songs. This record is our best yet and I’m very proud of it.”
Ali: “How many songs did we record all together eighteen?”
Matty: “Twenty. Not counting photographs nineteen.”
Ali: “I think out of the nineteen we’re probably going to end up putting like seventeen of them on there.”
Matty: “It’s going to be a big one.”
Ali: We’re pretty stoked about it.
Your last visit to the
Matty: “That was a great time.”
Ali: “We had kind of known those guys through friends and they invited us out to play with them for those shows and it was really cool. The first day of the tour we new we were going to get along because we roll into our dressing room and Chris from Bowling For Soup had made little beer coozies for all of us with his face on holding a beer. And in each of the coozies was a joint and it said welcome to the tour.”
Matty: “Wow what a nice guy. That was a good time, all of the bands that were on it we had a good time with. Army of Freshmen and Bloodhound Gang.
Ali: “Everyone was really nice and it was a fun tour to watch.”
Are you looking forward to playing at Download next month?
Ali: “No (Everyone laughs) No I’m just kidding. We played that once before and it was really, really fun. The thing I love about the download festival is that the crowds are fucking nuts. If they don’t like you they will beat your ass down with bottles you know what I mean so you better have a good show.
With that sort of tension before you play you make sure you play good and you fucking play tight. Actually that was the show that the circle pit was so gnarly.”
Matty: “It was inside like the horse track and the circle pit was so huge, so massive, that the dust went everywhere and got all over the equipment and us.”
Ali: “The next day I woke up to sneeze and I sneezed out a shit load of dust.”
Matty: “It was amazing. I think we’re playing that same stage too.”
What is a typical day like for Zebrahead on tour?
Matty: “I usually wake up and throw the girl away and.”
Ali: “Well it’s a blow up doll but he calls it a girl.”
Matty: “I have to deflate her and put her in my bag.”
Ali: “And then he wakes me up and I take a big shit on his chest.”
Matty: “Scat, Scat, Scat.”
Ali: “And then we sound check usually and then after that if we’re low on cash Chris goes hooking and he brings back like fifteen quid or something and we go get some lunch.
Then we get ready for the show and while we’re getting ready for the show we have to slaughter fifteen live chickens which is hard because fifteen chickens a day is like.”
Matty: “It’s a lot of blood.”
Ali: “I mean where do you keep them you know.”
Matty: “In a trailer. Our trailer is full of chickens.”
Ali. “It’s a normal day really. I don’t know what other bands do.”
Matty: “I hope it’s normal.”
Ali: “Then we play the show and on the rider we have an order for at least five trannys so after the show we hang out with them.”
Matty: “My blow up doll is a tranny doll.”
Ali: “I mean it’s a normal day surely you do the same thing.”
Matty: “There’s a lot of down time.”
Chris: “You’re on a bus so there’s also a lot of sleeping involved. What else can you really do? You can walk around that’s always a good think. I loose weight on tour because I walk around so much. I don’t walk at home because there’s nothing to walk to except for gang members and bell taco.”
One of your songs is regularly used on World Wrestling Entertainment has that had an effect on your popularity?
Matty: “On iTunes that is the number two most downloaded song of ours. It had a huge impact on that. I think they just approached us one day and said Stacey Keibler, who it was going to be for originally, wanted a song.
So we wrote the song and then she went off to dancing with the stars or something like that and it got used for Maria instead.”
Ali: “The exciting part was that we got to bang Maria after we recorded the song.”
Matty: “Yeah Ali and I double teamed her.”
Chris: “Sounds like she was a Chicken on a rotisserie.”
Ali: “You said chicken dude, don’t forget we have to do the chickens before we play. Good old Maria, she’s hot.”
Matty: “She is hot.”
What is the song writing process like in Zebrahead?
Ali: “It depends if one of us has an idea, like if Matty has an idea he will call me on his AM radio because we don’t have cell phones and he’ll be like I have a guitar part and he’ll send it to me. I’ll put on something and then send it to Ed. It’s very collaborative.”
Your live performances feature a lot of crowd interaction has this helped to build a loyal fan base?
Ali: “No.”
Matty Laughs
Ali: “Why does everybody laugh? No you know what it is the crowds are always really cool and when it first started out it wasn’t really like that. So Matty came up with this brilliant idea and was like dude get tasers.
So we have these tasers set up at the side of the stage and if the crowd sucks we just taser shit. After a couple of them get tased the rest of them perk up real quick and they’re like wooo Zebrahead.”
Matty: “I think its called Pavlov’s theory.”
Ali: “And we lock the doors to so they can’t get out.”
Ali: “Chris is drunk I’m really sorry about his behaviour.”
Chris: “I’m not drunk.”
Ali: “I’m really embarrassed for him right now.”
Matty: “He’s out of control.”
Are you still in contact with Justin (Mauriello former Zebrahead frontman)?
Ali: “I haven’t talked to Justin since he left the band. We have some mutual friends that I run into every once in a while but I haven’t talked to him in a really long time. I know his band I Hate Kate but I haven’t been to any of their shows or anything. But Matty and him are tight.”
Matty: “We go water jet skiing.”
Ali: “He actually gets the chickens for us before every tour.”
Matty: “He’s the chicken handler. No, he’s the chicken wrangler.”
Ali: “Yeah he’s the chicken wrangler.”
Interview complete Ali asks if he can turn the tables and ask his own questions however the bands tour manager patiently reminds everyone that there is another interview waiting.
With that Bandidge makes its goodbyes and leaves Zebrahead to enjoy their Beer, Harry Potter and, apparently, their chickens.
Zebrahead’s new album ‘
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