{"id":20232,"date":"2014-07-15T00:00:54","date_gmt":"2014-07-15T00:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=20232"},"modified":"2014-07-16T19:49:59","modified_gmt":"2014-07-16T19:49:59","slug":"feature-mordred-07-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-mordred-07-14\/","title":{"rendered":"MORDRED – Back To Life (July 2014) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

MORDRED – Back To Life<\/strong><\/span>
\nNeil Arnold<\/span>
\nJuly 2014<\/span><\/p>\n

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Mordred (l-r): Danny White, Jeff Gomes, Scott Holderby, James J. Sanguinetti, Aaron \u2018DJ Pause\u2019 Vaughn and Art Liboon<\/em><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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\nIn 1989 an album would be released that would literally change the face of hard rock and heavy metal as we knew it. It was an album that unexpectedly married an array of musical influences ranging from thrash metal, funk, soul, rap and pop. After years of what could be considered hair metal pomp, pout and posing and neanderthal chest-pounding denim-clad metal, Faith No More\u2019s The Real Thing<\/em> was a breath of fresh kaleidoscopic air and, bolstered by a trio of colourful singles, it became one of music\u2019s most essential purchases for fans of varying musical taste.<\/p>\n

Now, although we didn\u2019t quite expect such a vibrant display of power and diversity on such a huge scale from Faith No More \u2013 these guys had been providing rather unnatural, intelligent and misunderstood rock music years before The Real Thing<\/em> hit the racks \u2013 during the same year another album of equal importance, yet of less impact would emerge.<\/p>\n

Mordred\u2019s Fool’s Game<\/em> arose from the clogging waters of the San Francisco Bay Area thrash scene and effortlessly still maintained that metallic crunch that we\u2019d come to associate with bands such as Testament, Exodus and Death Angel, and yet somehow there was an unpredictable fusion of funk, soul and streetwise attitude too.<\/p>\n

Considering that Mordred had begun life as a leather-clad metal band with a medieval slant, Fool’s Game<\/em> was one of the bravest records of the era, featuring the soulful croons and choppy raps of vocalist Scott Holderby, the crisp guitar licks of Danny White and Jim Taffer, the funky bass slaps of Art Liboon, the robust drumming of Gannon Hall, and above all, the inclusion of \u2013 shock horror! \u2013 a DJ named Aaron \u2018Pause\u2019 Vaughn.<\/p>\n

Long before nu-metal held its sickly grasp over the metal scene, Mordred were plying their trade by churning out some truly intriguing and, dare I say it, original tunes. \u2018Every Day\u2019s A Holiday\u2019, was a funk-fuelled, jerking, cavorting slice of alternative metal that nonchalantly sat alongside the cover of Rick James\u2019 classic \u2018Super Freak\u2019. Elsewhere on Fool’s Game<\/em> the band showcased their knowledge of British rock bands varying from PiL to Thin Lizzy, all the while maintaining a metal edge but with a cool jerk aimed more towards the Beastie Boys style of groove.<\/p>\n

By 1991 Mordred had cemented their place in heavy metal history as one of the genre\u2019s most inventive acts with the release of their In This Life<\/em> opus. Musically, Mordred had well and truly fled the Bay Area nest, appealing more so in sound to those in Britain and Europe than in their own backyard. Sold out tours, resulting in the 1992 release of a VHS recording (In This Live Video<\/em>) of one of their legendary London Marquee shows, and Mordred were well on the way to becoming originators of a sound that six or so years later would be made even more popular, and yet sadly commercialised by acts such as Limp Bizkit.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Mordred would not surf the same waves of success, despite the cosmic variations of their slower, yet more progressive EP Vision<\/em> (1992) and their third full-length, The Next Room<\/em> (1994) which, although bereft of Holderby\u2019s style, would inject higher doses of grunge; the Seattle sound which would eventually destroy the metal scene for a good few years to come.<\/p>\n

After disbanding shortly after the release of The Next Room<\/em>, the members of Mordred went on to do their own thing \u2013 some musically, others not so. At the time I was eager to keep the Mordred fires burning and ran a blog<\/a> devoted to every whisper that emerged from the varying members over the years. So it was with some joy that in 2001 the band, with a few line-up alterations, reunited for a gig only to then disappear off the face of the Earth for another 12 years. But now, Mordred are back, ready to record and perform for us all over again. I recently caught up with guitarist Danny White and vocalist Scott Holderby in order to keep tabs on what has become one of the most talked about reformations in metal history. I was intrigued about how this reunion came about and wondered just how serious it was?<\/p>\n

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Mordred 1989 (l-r): Gannon Hall, Art Liboon, Jim Taffer, Scott Holderby and
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\u201cWell I can only speak for myself,\u201d Danny responds. \u201cIt all started last August (2013) when I decided to finally return to San Francisco on vacation. I actually went back to hang out and play with some of my friends from high school and I was staying with my old friend Matty Jepson. We tried to get something together but one of the guys was in Japan; it just didn\u2019t work out. While I was there I got in touch with the guys in Mordred to see if we could do some playing. My friend Bill Storkson graciously offered his practice studio for us to jam in and it ended up being myself, Jim (Sanguinetti), Art, Scott, Slade Anderson, an old bandmate from the Mercenary days on drums, and Sven Soderlund (Mercenary) on guitar as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scott interjects: \u201cWhen Danny visited for the first time in a long time, we got together with drinks and friends, and someone had an idea that sounded fun. The first jam was really fun, so we decided to do another before Danny left. A good friend of ours has a mini-concert hall with stadium gear… just kidding! It was loud and sounded good, most of all it was a blast playing the Mordred songs again. Danny took a few pictures on his hand held mobile slave device, and posted them.\u201d<\/p>\n

It seems there\u2019s been a lot of interest regarding people still wanting to hear Mordred again and yet the band members seemed surprised by this. \u201cWe had a lot of fun and it was great to see everyone,\u201d says Danny. \u201cAt the time I thought that would be the end of it… you know, maybe hang out once in a while or whatever. Then I got a friend request on Facebook from a guy I had never met before. Normally I don\u2019t accept those from people I don\u2019t know, but I was in a good mood being on vacation, so I said sure why not. His name was Matt Denny and he asked me if I knew that we still had a following over in the UK. I said \u2018No?\u2019, and honestly I was a little disbelieving… I had had no idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, it was as simple as that then? \u201cYeah,\u201d Danny replies. \u201cHe asked \u2018What would it take for you guys to come back over?\u2019, and I said jokingly, \u2018Money\u2019. And then he said \u2018How much?\u2019 and I said \u2018Whoa wait a minute, are you serious?\u2019 He said he was and I said I would have to ask the other members of the band if they were even into it? Things had changed so much, people had careers and families. I said I\u2019ll have to find out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thankfully for us Mordred fans, a majority of the band members were interested in a tour. Danny continues, \u201cI asked each one of them, and one by one they said \u2018Sure sounds like it would be fun to go back over and play for everyone\u2019, it sounded like it would be a really good time. What\u2019s really kind of crazy is, if it ends up that August 22nd 2014 is the first day of the tour (in Dublin), which is what it\u2019s looking like now, that will be the one year anniversary to the day that Matt \u2018friended\u2019 me on Facebook. Everything about this reunion has been kind of steeped in serendipity and synchronicity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scott adds, \u201cWe were all receptive to the idea and thanks to Matt, and Lee (Farmery), the drummer in Furyon (the support band for the upcoming UK and Ireland tour), we have a full blown tour.\u201d<\/p>\n

As one would expect with any band that has been around in some form since the 1980s, Mordred has had its fair share of members, but a majority of its line-up has been stable from the debut opus to The Next Room<\/em>. Mordred circa 2014 is sadly bereft of drummer Gannon Hall who appeared on all of the studio releases, but due to work commitments has been unable to offer his talents this time. \u201cThe line-up now is Danny White (guitar), Jim Sanguinetti (guitar), Art Liboon (bass), D.J. Pause (turntables \/ keyboards), me (vocals) and Jeff Gomes (drums),\u201d Scott reports. <\/p>\n

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Mordred (l-r): Aaron \u2018DJ Pause\u2019 Vaughn, Jeff Gomes, Scott Holderby, James J.
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Having worked with such an eclectic mixture of bands ranging from Primus, Psychefunkapuss, Limbomaniacs and Fungo Mungo to No Doubt and Deftones, it would seem that Jeff Gomes seemed the ideal candidate to fill Gannon Hall\u2019s boots. \u201cWe\u2019re extremely lucky to have snagged him for this tour,\u201d beams Danny. \u201cIt\u2019s the perfect match actually. Gannon has extended his regrets but has taken on a new job and will not be able to come with us this time out. There is some talk about him showing up at a show here and there on the tour if time and circumstances permit. The rest of us were pretty bummed he couldn\u2019t make it, but obviously we all understand. Maybe he will join us for future tours if the stars align?\u201d<\/p>\n

With the new tour in the pipeline I couldn\u2019t help enquire as to whether Mordred would be tempted to record some new material, or even breathe new life into a few older, unreleased tracks that I\u2019d come across over the years. Danny was quick to respond, \u201cNew material is being written now to be released right after this tour, but we will also have one or two tracks to release before the tour, one of them being \u2018The Baroness\u2019, a track from the Vision<\/em> era that I\u2019m putting guitars on as we speak. The new stuff sounds like a combination of everything to me: Fool\u2019s Game<\/em>, In This Life<\/em>, Vision<\/em> and also an amalgamation of things I\u2019ve been listening to recently.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mordred have always been a sum of many parts musically, but in a world of rehashing they remained staggeringly original throughout as if the unusual yet fluid style came naturally. \u201cThank you,\u201d Scott responds. \u201cIt was natural and intentional. We practiced all the time back in those days, and went out at night with our gang of friends, listening to all sorts of different things. From Public Enemy to Dead Kennedys to Cymande to Ministry to The Cure and Joy Division to Slayer<\/a> and Metallica. Whatever gig or party, wherever we were, we heard things that could work in Mordred. Some things worked, some things didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the musical tastes of the band naturally altering over the years, I wondered if any new influences would become apparent in the overall sound? After all, The Next Room<\/em> platter had a distinctive grunge feel. \u201cRecently I\u2019ve been very interested in Latin and traditional Irish music,\u201d reveals Danny. \u201cI\u2019ve no doubt that that mindset has and will enter into my writing.\u201d<\/p>\n

I wait for baited breath for a slab of Irish thrashing funk metal then!<\/p>\n

When Mordred split up after The Next Room<\/em>, as a fan I was pretty distraught, especially as Scott Holderby had fled the nest to make way for the more mainstream yet powerful vocal tones of Paul Kimball. I never dreamed that the band would\u2019ve reformed for a tour and I imagine it was something that no-one present expected. \u201cIf you had talked to me before August of last year I never would\u2019ve thought this would\u2019ve been possible,\u201d states Danny. \u201cIt just hasn\u2019t been on my radar, I\u2019ve been busy living my life here in my hometown, New York City. The Bay Area has always held a special place in my heart socially, creatively… everything, but when I left San Francisco to be honest I thought I was done with Mordred. That time when I left was probably one of the hardest times of my life, I saw my childhood dream die. But as people do, I moved on and healed and built a life for myself. This tour happening now just makes sense, and it\u2019s been completely organic. I would definitely say that this is a labour of love. I wouldn\u2019t say that it\u2019s been easy necessarily, but I wouldn\u2019t say that it\u2019s been particularly hard either.\u201d<\/p>\n

It would seem also that despite its major faults, a social networking site such as Facebook has helped in a big way. \u201cIt\u2019s been really amazing talking with everyone on the Mordred Facebook page and seeing all of the submissions for artwork and seeing everyone\u2019s old Mordred music collections, and especially seeing pics and hearing all of the old stories from past tours. I\u2019ve had people talk about what our music has meant to them, and how certain songs have gotten them through bad times etc. I can\u2019t tell you how that makes you feel as an artist, as you always hope that your music touches someone. This time in my life has been quite magical.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI never imagined it would turn out like this,\u201d interjects Scott excitedly. \u201cThis is going to be killer!\u201d<\/p>\n

When Mordred toured back in the late 80s and early 90s there was no such thing as nu-metal, but instead a burgeoning thrash metal scene as well as acts with an eye for the more alternative side to metal, with bands such as Faith No More, Red Hot Chili Peppers, funk metal and then eventually grunge breaking through. I was intrigued as to whether the band was concerned about whether they could attract new fans or still maintain an interest from their original fan-base? Even so, with so many older bands reforming it would seem the right time for Mordred to reform.<\/p>\n

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Mordred 1991 (l-r): James J. Sanguinetti, Gannon Hall, Danny White, Art Liboon
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\u201cWell to be honest, I\u2019m not really worrying so much about new fans, although of course it would be great if new people came. But that\u2019s really not what this is all about,\u201d replies Danny. \u201cThis is about a bunch of old friends getting together that were in what we thought was a cool band trying something different. It was only after we jammed this last August that the whole idea of putting something together again came up. So I see this as anything on top of that is just icing. This tour is going to be a great vacation. There has been talk about doing things beyond this, but we really want to concentrate on having fun this time out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as re-forming goes, it\u2019s more like… we are playing Mordred songs again,\u201d adds Scott. \u201cWe all still hang out together anyway… these dudes are like my brothers.\u201d<\/p>\n

I always wondered just what would have happened if Scott had stayed with the group and Mordred had outlived the grunge and nu-metal fads. After all, some of music\u2019s coolest bands never seem to get the recognition they deserved.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think all things happen for a reason,\u201d muses Danny. \u201cI think we were a little ahead of our time and, again speaking for myself, I think if we had communicated to each other a little better as a band and as a band of brothers then maybe we might have been able to stick it out. But we were young and stupid when it came to communication. And we were always considered the bastard son of heavy metal back in those days! (laughs) We were a part of the San Francisco Bay Area scene but we weren\u2019t just a thrash band and we weren\u2019t just this or just that, we were our own entity. I think that got us into trouble sometimes as we all know metal can be closed-minded sometimes and there were plenty of examples of that in those days.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scott is equally reflective, but has no regrets. \u201cThe heady days of the late 80s and early 90s were a great time to be out there playing music,\u201d states the frontman. \u201cIt was so much fun. I don\u2019t really think about shoulda, woulda, coulda, it\u2019s just that I\u2019m completely stoked to be hitting it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a summer tour for the UK and Ireland on the cards, I imagined that it would be hard to resist taking the show across the world and then going into the studio to record, but Danny seemed hesitant to commit. \u201cI\u2019d like to say yes, and we talked about it,\u201d admits the guitarist. \u201cBut we\u2019ll just have to see. Everyone has careers and families and obligations, mortgages etc. We are doing some writing and recording, but like I said right now were just concentrating on this tour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Considering how diverse the heavy metal genre became after 1990 I still find it amazing that Mordred, despite positive reviews in the press, found it difficult to be accepted into the mainstream metal area. \u201cWe mixed in different styles with the basic metal base,\u201d enthuses Scott. \u201cNo real problems, some liked us, some didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

And yet with bands such as Linkin Park and Rage Against The Machine combining a hip-hop edge with metal, I still find it frustrating that Mordred didn\u2019t experience similar success. But Scott is humble, adding: \u201cIn those days things were more segregated as a scene, and since we were on a metal label the bands we were put out on tour with a lot of the time were straight metal. Now don\u2019t get me wrong, I fucking love metal but I also love other shit too and we did play with some more alternative bands as well, which was awesome and totally fun. I think it would\u2019ve been cool to go out on tour with Psychefunkapuss or, if we had stuck together and things progressed, Rage Against The Machine etc. It was a different time.\u201d<\/p>\n

And to corroborate Scott\u2019s reflections, yet lack of regret, Danny adds, \u201cBut I don\u2019t believe in shoulda, coulda, woulda either.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s certainly fair to say that the thrash metal scene has once again become a hive of activity with numerous bands the world over, young and old, either reforming or attempting to recreate those halcyon days which gave us that Bay Area crunch and various other styles within the genre. Of course, many of the new and upcoming bands suffer from being generic, but I wondered if Mordred would ever be tempted as recording artists to inject some of that Bay Area influence back into their sound as they did with Fool\u2019s Game<\/em>?<\/p>\n

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\u201cWell it\u2019s not even so much a temptation in that it\u2019s been pretty natural to go back to our roots when writing again,\u201d responds Danny. \u201cSo yeah, I think a lot of the stuff that we are writing now is going to be rooted in that thrash sound. The new writing is definitely predominantly heavy, but we\u2019re always going to find other sources and inspirations for writing and other styles just to keep it interesting for us! Hopefully, people like it… that\u2019s all we can really hope for.\u201d <\/p>\n

Scott is as equally open-minded, stating, \u201cWe just write songs we like to play, as we have always done. Some like it, some don\u2019t, but at the end of the day, we have to believe it. We have to feel it. I can say this. We are leaning on the heavier side of things, but it\u2019s Mordred… how else are we gonna sound?\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s fair to say that there\u2019s always been an excited air of unpredictability regarding the Mordred sound. There aren\u2019t many bands from that era who could successfully marry funky grooves with thrash metal riffs, that in turn were laced with scratching and streetwise samples. For some unknown reason this colourful combination of styles enabled Mordred to become worshipped in the UK and Europe more so than in America, and this always confused me? \u201cWe did alright in the States,\u201d comments Scott. \u201cWe just connected more with the people of Europe and the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n

Danny sheds further light, adding, \u201cTo be honest I don\u2019t really know why we were more popular in Britain and Europe than in the US. It could be that Britain and Europe were a bit more open-minded towards a band that tried some new things and new directions in metal. There is a history of Europe and the UK embracing American artists, sometimes even more than America itself. One style comes to mind being jazz; artists like Charley Parker found Europe much more supportive. If the stars align and things do move forward in some capacity, I have no doubt that we would have more acceptance in the US this time around simply because it\u2019s a different time and there have been so many other bands that have been experimenting with styles like we did. It\u2019s much more accepted now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Metal Forces<\/em> magazine supported Mordred from day one and both establishments appear to be back for another bite and working in cohorts once again. I\u2019m curious as to whether the guys are surprised to have come full circle in appearing in these hallowed pages once again? \u201cI am grateful, and humbled, and surprised, pleasantly of course by the response, and excited,\u201d responds Danny.<\/p>\n

Scott seems even more elated, adding, \u201cThank you Metal Forces<\/em>, and thank you to all of the people who have helped and supported the olde band…. Mordred will reign!\u201d<\/p>\n

And so there you have it, the much anticipated return of one of metal\u2019s most innovative bands. Mordred will be touring the UK and Ireland in the summer beginning on the 22nd August at The Voodoo Lounge in Dublin. Check the image above for the full list of dates.<\/p>\n

Interview published in July 2014.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MORDRED – Back To Life Neil Arnold July 2014 Mordred (l-r): Danny White, Jeff Gomes, Scott Holderby, James J. Sanguinetti, Aaron \u2018DJ Pause\u2019 Vaughn and Art Liboon In 1989 an album would be released that would literally change the face of hard rock and heavy metal as we knew it. It was an album that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,1313],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-mordred"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20232"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20264,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20232\/revisions\/20264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}