interview with Cactus Hag

What´s the name of your band? Cactus Hag

Can you tell about your band? Cactus Hag is a three piece sludge/doom band from the northeastern USA. Cactus Hag was formed when I started dating my husband Joe Scurto in May of 2012. We met in the recording studio through mutual friends and this was the first musical project we started together. We have had several lineups since then, and as of April 2014 we have solidified our lineup to a three piece.

Where are all band members from?/Who does what in the band? Joe Scurto, on guitars and vocals; and Tim “Bacon Bone” Theodore on drums, and me Mindy Scurto on bass and vocals. Joe and Tim are from New Hampshire, USA and I am from Maine, USA.

What was the ambitions of the band when you started? To create a new take on sludge and doom metal. To make something that didn't sound like all of the other bands we keep hearing...

Where was the latest gig? At Sonny's Tavern in Dover, New Hampshire USA.

Who writes your songs?/ who writes the music who writes lyrics? Joe writes most of the guitar, we collectively contribute ideas for lyrics, song structure and execution. It is truly a group effort.

What genre do you feel you are? We consider ourselves “sludge” and “doom” but also have many elements of other genres, like black metal and southern metal that are mixed in here and there.

Do you write your own material or mainly covers? Cactus Hag is all original music.

Have you made any albums?/If yes what are they? We just recorded our self titled debut album at Opal Sound Studios in Kingston, New Hampshire USA and are waiting for the tracks to be mastered. This will be self released on CD and cassette tape.

Do you have any clips on YouTube?

Yes, on our youtube channel. http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7g4unpIfPRw53ra-srE5bw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sStQnUAsKuo “Ghost Dance (The Peyote Song)”

http://youtu.be/PuKSBf1mNb0 “Lady of Lucifer”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XkI7OLDloE “The Grand Lodge of the Mirage”

What year was the band started? May 2012

What places will you be playing in in the immediate future? We will continue to play the Seacoast area of New England, we have been playing clubs local to us in New Hampshire. We have a house party and a few other engagements lined up as well.

Is it always the same songs live? No, we try to mix up our set. We rehearse a lot and stay tight on many songs. We are currently writing for the second album so there are new songs being written at every practice.

What are the plans for the rest of the year? We plan to keep working on more material for our second album and to keep kicking ass with playing shows!

How do you get psyched up for a gig? Our favorite ritual before a show and during recording is to drink mead from our drinking horn and just be grateful for each other and the experience we are sharing together.

What are your goals with your music? Our goals are to get our anger out, and to write about things we feel strongly about, such as our hatred for the human race for example.

When did you decide to go all in for the music? Everyone in this band has been a musician since they were a young child. Each of us started at a different point but the end result is that this is a lifelong love for everyone that will never stop. I am the manager of a guitar/instrument store and teach lessons, so music is very much a part of my life at home and at work.

Is it easier to get your inspiration from older bands or from bands more modern? We prefer older bands. The music gear we like to play is all vintage, and the vinyl we listen to is pretty old too. We really enjoy older bands like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, King Crimson, Led Zeppelin, and many bands from that era.

What are your sources of inspiration? The things that inspire us come from all around. The occult, our hatred for people, mythology and culture...and whatever else we are in the mood for.

What's the first step when making a new song? One of us has an idea, we present it to the band and go from there! If there is a new riff we jam on it and see what develops from it. We then record the practice on tape and listen to it as a band and work out the material.

How do you feel about the downloading of music instead of buying albums? I don't agree with it, but in this new world of technology we need to adapt and provide different media for different people. We are open to creating physical copies of our music as well as having it available online for download and for streaming. If someone pirates our album, so be it...as long as they want to hear the music that is what matters.

What would be your dreams for the band? Our dreams are to continue playing music until we can't hold our instruments anymore... we want to tour all over the world and collect instruments and enjoy this for the rest of our lives.

Besides your own music, what genres and bands do you listen to? We all listen to a wide range of things. From Big Band Jazz to the blackest black metal...

Do you have any webpages? Yes.

We are on Facebook www.facebook.com/cactushag

ReverbNation www.reverbnation.com/cactushag

Twitter @cactushag

Bandcamp bandcamp.cactushag.com

Are you in any other bands? Joe and I have several projects between us, we have two active projects other than Cactus Hag with material available for listening.

The first is The Zounderkite. www.facebook.com/TheZounderkiteNH “Dark Alternative dream rock” or shoegaze is the best way to describe the sound. “I got so angry that I wrote pretty music”...that is the way I'm explaining this band. Joe wrote all of the music and I wrote the lyrics and sing. The demo has been recorded and we are working on releasing that for this Fall. We will be working on more content for this throughout the winter months and hope to begin work on the full length in the studio by early next year.

The second active project we have is Torsmane. www.facebook.com/Torsmane This is our black metal project. We have written a bunch of music for it, but haven't had the chance to really record much. I'm playing guitar and singing in this and Joe will also be playing guitar and singing. Not sure when the demo will be finished but it is being developed.

We both have several projects we work on independently in addition to the music we write together. As far as things that are available to listen to/check out the pages for Joe has a Nintendo cover band called Eggplant'd www.facebook.com/geteggplantd , and I have a solo sludge/noise project called Dope Sister www.facebook.com/dopesisterNH.

Any pearls of wisdom for all other bands out there? Be yourself and don't ever let other people dictate your direction. Do what feels right for YOU.

How do you view the music industry of today? The music industry of today is a very mixed up industry. Between the pop music and country that they are pushing on the popular radio stations and the other filth out there it makes it hard to even care what that industry is even doing. The underground is where we belong, and where we have always thrived as fans and musicians.

What are the biggest obstacles for a band? The biggest obstacles for us are financial. If we had more money we would just tour around constantly and keep recording. Everything else is great!

What is your favorite crappy instrument? No instrument is crappy! Some do sound better than others however.

Do you have anything to add?Thank you for interviewing us! And thanks for supporting the underground!

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