The new breed of Motograter


August 18, 2009

Named for the bass-like instrument created by Bruce Butler and identified by their trademark tribal body paint, Motograter’s stock steadily rose from its formation in 1995 until snagging a second-stage slot on Ozzfest 2003 and releasing an album the same year through Elektra Records. But by mid-2005, the band was on hiatus and members had gone their separate ways. Frontman Ivan Moody (aka Ghost in his Motograter days) went on to become the singer of Five Finger Death Punch. As of late 2008, the band is back, its new lineup featuring Butler, guitarists Nuke and Tyler, bassist Mylon, drummer Twitch and frontman Angel. They are in the midst of the nationwide Halos and Horns Tour with Darksun and have commenced work on their first album in six years. Live-Metal.net’s Greg Maki caught up with Angel to discuss the band’s reformation, the new album and more.

Live-Metal.net: To start off, how did you end up joining the band?

Angel: Well, I was originally a really big fan of the band and I knew some people who knew members of the band, and I came in to do a side project called Curiosity Killed the Cop with them. It slowly but surely evolved back into Motograter. We called up Bruce with the idea and it worked. Everything seemed natural and organic and it wasn’t forced at all.

When was it that the band reformed?

About two years ago, I came out from Denver and started the whole CKTC thing. Then we decided to just do it as Moto about six months later. So I’d say about a year and a half ago is when we started really focusing on Motograter and babying it back to what it could be so that it was done right.

You’re on tour now, but before you went out you were working on a new album, I guess, right?

Yeah, we wrote about 14 tunes. We’re pretty happy with the majority of them. Some need some tweaking. So after this tour, we’re gonna get in the studio with James “Jimbo” Barton, the producer of the first record, and we’re gonna hammer it out. If it takes longer, then that’s what we’re gonna do ‘cause we want to give the fans what they deserve. We’re not gonna pop out nonsense.

Have you signed with a label at this point?

No. There’s some people that we have in mind to give first dibs to, so to speak, that we would like to talk them first ‘cause there’s history of business with them and this band. So it makes more sense to go where you’re known.

How would you describe the new material, especially compared to the self-titled album?

A lot of bands say they’re staying true to their roots and they try and describe it the best they can to not scare people away. But the fact is, we’ve gotten a lot heavier with the new material. We still keep the melodies. We’ve just introduced more modern-style metal into it. There’s breakdowns, there’s solos. But it still keeps that tribal base in there. We’ve got the moto and a bass guitar going at the same time. It’s just really low end.

Yeah, it should give you a really big, thick sound.

Yeah, it fills holes that you don’t think are there until you add an instrument and you’re like, “Whoa!”

You mentioned the producer, James Barton. What is it like working with him? What does he bring to the whole process?

Complete and utter professionalism. It’s a pleasure to work with somebody who’s worked with Rush and Corey Taylor. He’s got an extensive background and he’s just the nicest guy. He does it for the right reasons. There’s a lot of people out there that may do it for the business of it, and I truly believe that Jimbo’s heart is in the right place and it’s for the music.

Toward the end of the first run that Motograter had, I saw one of the last tours and they weren’t wearing any of the makeup or body paint or whatever. Was there ever any question of whether that would come back this time?

Absolutely not. The members that are involved right now had nothing to do with that choice on that tour. It’s unfortunate that the public had to see that because I view it as somewhat of a weakness. We are most definitely keeping our tribal roots. That’s how we came out. That’s what we’ve been doing for years, ’95 to now. This band spans so far back and there’s been so many reinventions of it and different members in and out, so for the people who are really concerned about the roots of the band and how it came out, we’re staying true to that. We’re really keeping the paint. We’re keeping the basic sound that we were looking to create in the first place.

When you’re getting ready for a show, how long does it take to get all that stuff together and get ready for that?

It’s a whole ritual. About an hour before our set, we get together, we get everybody else kind of away from us so that we center ourselves and kind of be just the band. We get ready for the show, whether it be stretching or meditating or whatnot. And then about 15 minutes before the set is when we start putting the mud on, so to speak.

I guess once you do that, that must make it pretty easy to get hyped up and do the show.

Yeah, when you’re doing all that you start to hear the last band’s crowd. The band we’re touring with, their name is Darksun and they’re just absolutely amazing at what they do, and they do a great job of getting that crowd ready for us. We love them. They’ve become like family on the road. It’s really easy to get amped before we hit the stage.

So this tour started about a week ago.

It actually started on the 25th of July.

Oh, OK, so a couple weeks you’ve been going.

It just seems to keep getting better and better the farther east we get. A lot of hospitality out here, a lot of genuine people and we really appreciate it.

Are you finding that the people, the fans out there, still know the name, still know the band after you’ve been away for a while?

Yeah, man, it’s really surprising, too. You’re gonna have your skeptics. Ivan was a great singer and they’re big shoes to fill.

Yeah, I was wondering how you were dealing with those sort of comparisons.

I go out and I do my job. I don’t think about that. I don’t want to tarnish anything that he did, but this is no longer his band. It’s my band. So that’s how I come at it.

You said after this tour, you’re gonna go work on the album some more.

Right.

	Angel

Any more plans beyond that, as far as when it might come out or when you might be back out on the road?

Depending on how it goes, how smoothly it runs through, we might be able to bang it out because we have so much material. If it doesn’t, like I said before, I don’t want to force it, the guys don’t want to force it. We want to give the fans what they deserve and what they’ve been waiting six long years for. You can’t rush perfection and that’s what we want. We want a perfect product. As far as other plans, we’re planning on going back out on tour shortly after this tour, so we have a small window, about a month and a half, to get in the studio and see how much of it gets done correctly and the way we like it.

Going back further, where are your roots? How did you get into music as a career? What are your influences?

As funny as it sounds, it dates all the way back to when I was 5 years old and I first heard Billy Idol and Michael Jackson, rest in peace. I know that may sound cliché at this time, but that’s a genuine influence and it sticks with you the whole way. When you see people like that, that are just really out there and reaching for the stars, you want to do the same thing.

Have you been in other bands before this, anyone we might know?

I was in a local band in Denver called Relevent and that was about a two- to three-year stint. I love those boys. We still talk. They came out to the Denver show. That’s pretty much the history of that.

Your name, Angel, is that your real name or a nickname?

It stems from younger years. I was brought up in a very religious family and my name’s Michael. So everybody told me, your name’s very important and named after an angel. So I kind of took that in and lately kind of found my own way, and the name’s stuck for the last eight years.

I think that’s all the questions I have for you. Is there anything else you’d like to say, to the fans or anything like that?

Just keep those horns up, man. We’re coming for you and we’re not gonna disappoint.

RELATED LINKS:
www.myspace.com/motograter

©2009 Live-Metal.Net