interview with Martyred Whitmans

What´s the name of your band? In the beginning the band was called Auburn. I named it after my sister in las Aubree, as a suggestion from my wife (who was my girlfriend at the time). But then I rant in to some issues because there was another group name Auburn. So then I changed our name to the Masonic Weird, as a sort of "stream of consciousness" thing. I was in a car with my friend on the way to a concert, and we passed by a Masonic Cemetery, and thought, "that's weird. Masons ate weird, that they get their own cemeteries." I didn't really like how people were responding to the name, and I wanted a cooler story to tell about it. So on a trip to Montana to drop off my brother at school, I saw the exit to the "Whitman Massacre". They were early missionaries who were slaughtered by a local tribe. I read up on it, and I thought about how tragic and was, and felt that contained the most appropriate amount of anxiety that the band related with. So I went with," Martyred Whitman's ", not because I felt that the Whitmans were martyred, but because of the confusion of what our modern martyrs really are. The most profound part of this story is that the murderers refused to give themselves up too the angry mob who wanted vindication. So it was the innocent members of their own tribe, who knew the Whitman's, who offered their own lives instead. Those were the true martyrs, but the Whitman's get to be the ones who are remembered. There's so much tragedy and beauty in that story. That is the stuff that I am compelled by, and what i think our music is really about. Now, however, because if the different directions that folks in the band have gone, in developing a HOST of new projects with a lot of new friends I've made, and some old friends as well. Right now I'm working on new songs for a project called "An Arrow", as well as a separate Doom Metal project, and some other more psychedelic work that don't really have any names.
How was the band formed? I was in a band called Joshua Fire that had spilt in 2006. I tried to keep it going with the singer, John Marr, but he wasn't able to continue, because if some prior commitments. So I began writing on my own. I began borrowing musicians from other local bands for shows. My first drummer was friend of John Marr, Mark Wallace. He was a great drummer, but his schedule didn't permit to work with me, so then Dave Rossing, who was learning the guitar parts, enlisted the help of Jesse Bearce on the drums. He's pretty much the only"original" member. They were both still working in a project called, "Still Speaks" I was able to wrangle Ryan Meyer into playing the bass with us, who played with us in Joshua Fire. We were all able to get one show in, which was a CD release party for my friend Liana Stone (at the time, she was Bumstead). I helped produce and mix the album, and was working on that while trying to keep together this project, as well as producing some tracks with another friend, Charity Brophy. After that show, I went through a few other musicians who filled in at a few shows, Matt Seymour, Ashton Tallmadge, Kaleb McKay, and Tyler Steele. Then I ended up with my high school buddy, Jeff Reid, who ends up tracking out all the bass parts on the first EP, Do Not Resuscitate. He played with us on bass for about a year, and my Donald Seymour was on guitar. Jeff wasn't really looking where the band was going, so he decided it wasn't something he wanted to continue pursuing. Then about a month later, Yehuda McKay's wife (Yehuda is Kaleb's brother), had a dream that basically encouraged the idea of Yehuda playing on bass. Then it was pretty much Yehuda, Jesse, Tyler and I from about 2008 to 2010. Then Tyler went to Calvary Chapel Bible College, and we went with just the the of us, Yehuda Jesse and I. Y that is the period where we started tracking for our second EP, The Plague: Manic and Self Medicated, (which was supposed to be a trilogy), which we released as Masonic Weird. Can you tell about your band?Well I think the real unique thing about our band is that from the beginning, I really understood how a band is really like a marriage. So we've always emphasized or relationship together above the music. Even now, Yehuda, Jesse, Tyler and I don't really get together too often, but that's just because the nature of relationships change. Other things become more important. Wives, children, responsibilities. Those are the things that the music comes from, so we've always been very careful not to stifle that. We try to accomplish as much as possible with the little that we have, and it's all been an experiment to see how far it gets us. None of us have ever been very trusting of agenda or ambition. I think where the band has been and where we are now is a treatment to how much we value honesty.
Where are all band members from?/Who does what in the band? Yehuda is from Minnesota, he plays bass and sings back up. Jesse is from Ohio and pays drums. I'm Sean Lewis and I'm from Oregon. I don't and play guitar.
What was the ambitions of the band when you started? To Eeyore music that we could be confident sharing Roth people. If it was something that we liked, then by default, logically speaking, someone just might also like it. I think we accomplished that.
Could you explain your music to someone that haven't heard you? The music I wrote is very guitar oriented rock that draws a lot on early nineties influences, along with the more modern early two thousand post hardcore scene. I see us as a confluence of The Chariot, He Is Legend, meets Nada Surf, Weezer, Alice In Chains, and the Melvin's. I'm also a big Smashing Pumpkins, which is kind of unavoidable if you've hear us.
Where was your first gig? Mack Theater, McMinnville, O Oregon
Where was the latest gig? Trinity Mansion, Sheridan, Oregon
Who writes your songs?/Who writes the music who writes lyrics? Sean Lewis
Who has the best since of humor in the band? I have to day Yehuda. He's well renowned for cheesy puns.
What's good/bad with the band?/What genre do you feel you are?
I feel that our strength is in our musicianship. Without a doubt our weakest point is our vocals, just because I don't really care about vocals, lol. However, I do try to make it work as best I can. I do like singing, and I believe we have something very strong to say. I just don't emphasize vocals as much as the music itself. We're s mix of moodier rock styles. Goth, punk, grunge, psychedelic metal, post hardcore, new wave. I think if I would pick, I would say psychedelic apocalyptic rock/metal
Why did you pick that particular style?/What are your songs about? I've related very heavily with the Old Testament prophet, Jeremiah, as well as the New Testament Revelations of St. John, very heavily, since I was young. It's been sort of an undeniable reality that the world is going to shit, because everyone's such a fucking asshole, and no one seems to care to do anything about it to make it different. Everyone's resigned themselves to the shit they're given, and they all just share it together. There's no imagination about how to do life any differently. So I feel that the grunge movement of the nineties, as well as most death and black metal really honor that observation well. So I like to draw from their honesty. I also really draw from the blues roots that I come from in my family. We're all blues musicians, so we play blues. But i think that's the hope that we have in our music. We have enough care and enough hope to write a song about it, record it, and share it with our friends.
Do you write your own material or mainly covers? We've covered a handful of songs, but I wrote most everything we play.
Have you made any albums?/If yes what are they? Right now, we have two recordings available for download at digital distributors, on Spotify and iTunes. We don't have anymore hard copies for sale but they are:
Do Not Resuscitate The Plague: Manic and Self Medicated
I do have other songs that Jesse and I will work on tracking it and releasing when we get the time to get together for that. I'll be releasing a couple other singles by Christmas time.
Do you have any clips on YouTube? Yup YouTube.Com/martyredwhitmans
How old are you?/What got you started in music? I'm 29. I got my start learning drums with my cousin when I was about 11. Then my grandpa taught me a bunch of surf rock songs when I was 13, then i learned a bunch of tool, smashing pumpkins and Soundgarden that summer. I started writing songs for my first band, Inexposed, when I was 15.
At what age did you start playing? Answer in last question
How old were you guys when you first stood on stage? Together? 21 boy sure about the others.
What year was the band started? 2006 Best/worst gig you've played? Best? Not sure. Would've been at the Satyricon in Portland though. I think the worst was probably opening for Icon for Hire at Calvary Chapel in McMinnville.
What places will you be playing in in the imidate future?No performances. We've pretty much retired from the stage for now, until further notice. Anyone who wants to be kept up date date about any bands or shows that any of us will be involved in can find the House of Morning in Facebook and twitter. That's v basically the overarching banner over all the projects that I and everyone else i know are involved in. It's a brand new effort to consolidate all the talent and influence I'm surrounded by, and build a bigger stronger picture of music, art, and culture.
Where have you played from then till now?
Portland: Ash St Saloon Tonic Lounge Hawthorne Theater Red Room Twilight Cafe Bossanova Ballroom Satyricon Meow Meow KPSU studios
Salem: Triangle The Space Ike Box
McMinnville: Cornerstone Coffee Roasters Mack Theater 3rd St Pizza Calvary Chapel
Vancouver: 15th St Pub
Camas: Tomfest
Seattle: Studio Seven
Sheridan: Trinity Mansion
Witch band is the best you´ve seen? We really love playing with: Luminous Veil (Magnon) Deep Sea Vents Strangeletter The Magpies In My Opinion (Ornamental) Bliss We especially loved playing with Trophies
Is it always the same songs live? Nah, we always kept our set very loose. It made it so we'd have to know the songs more intimately, I think. We also really like to just jam on riffs. Just not like jam band style.....
What has been the best/most promising gig so far? Ja ja, no way. I don't like this question, so I'm gonna skip it.
Have you had any bigger tours from start to now? No, we only always played local. We could never afford a tour.
How big crowds do you usually play for? Typically about 20-30
What are the plans for the rest of the year?
Well, as part of my new efforts with House of Mourning, I'm working on starting a new video blog. I'm also in the middle of being involved in about 5 or 6 other projects. Writing songs for An Arrow, tracking out the rest of the Martyred Whitman's songs that we want to release. I'll be drumming in a prog type metal band with some friends out in Newport. Talking about a Doom Metal project with Ethan from Deep Sea Vents. Also just starting to get involved with my long time friend, Anthony DiRocco, and Mark from King Ghidora to work on a psychedelic rock project. I've got my work cut out for me.
Where do you usually play? Lol, Portland
How do you get psyched up for a gig? That's between me and Jesus.
What are your goals with your music?
People are my goals. Music has the distinct honor in human consciousness of being a single voice for masses. My goal is to facilitate and honor what it is that we all wasn't too say together.
When did you decide to go all in for the music? As soon as I learned my first drum riff.
Is it easier to get your inspiration from older bands or from bands more modern?
I think I draw more inspiration from my relationships than music, but i listen to a lot of music, young or old, so.... I guess I would say old because it's easiest for me to relate to.
What are your sources of inspiration? Horror movies, TV, the Bible, my family.
What's the first step when making a new song? The riff. Whatever the focal point that comes to mind initially. Sometimes it's guitar, sometimes drums, sometimes a vocal melody. Just depends.
How do you feel about the downloading of music instead of buying albums? I think it's great. I think musicians are fucking ridiculous for getting butt hurt about the "royalties" they're being cut out of. You're not promised anything. This is where people nowadays need to understand something. The problem is not the downloading. It's the money. It's a corrupt, top down system, engineered by greedy people that placates to people's fear. So actually, it's not even the money, it's the fear. "If people don't pay for my music, I won't be able to make music!" Bullshit! You can make all the music you want! You don't even need any equipment! It's practically everywhere, at least here in the states, and it's all relatively inexpensive. So everyone and their mom has a home recording unit,a guitar and a microphone. Most of the people in hanging out with in this neck of the woods are DJs, and they don't even need THAT shit. They all do what works for them, and they work with what they have, and they make their music. So I am convinced, and concerned that it's that same seed of greed (song name, called it), that's been planted in them, that they are feeding off of that drive their careers. It's an Apple, consumerist, culture we live in today, so that's what we're getting out of our musicians, and that is what has become the conscious choice of our modern human existence. What is it that we're trying to tell the world to think about? That we're all greedy. The House of Mourning is all about seeing that end. Musicians and artists who are willing to give from whatever they have, sharing that together, and connecting in a real way. Through our real lives that we're living together, and dreaming a common dream that produces something that we all really want. Which, I think, if you ask any real musician, it's just to hear people coming together to make a statement that matters, and they do it together, and your song was part of that. That's what's awesome about crowd funding today. That is, I believe, the bridge in the help between artists and fans. It says, he, in all honesty, this shit is expensive, and we are broke ass musicians. But there's people out there that aren't broke, and they have money, which has nothing to do with who you are as a person, and what your work ethic is. If that were true, the African diamond miners, and farmers would be the richest people on the planet. But no, who are the richest people? Oh yeah, that's right, the people who exploited those people. Wealth is distributed the way that it is so that people would decide for themselves that the best way for this planet is to share. Crowd funding is the conduit for making that connection, and should be how all musicians approach their projects, if you ask me. That's pretty much nearly exclusively where I intend on being with funding my projects in the future.
What would be your dreams for the band? To wake people up to who they really are, and show them the power that they have when they function together, collectively.
Besides your own music, what genres and bands do you listen to?
Right now I'm listening to a great Portland techy metal band, called Sisyphean Conscience. Also, plenty of Black Metal, namely Dark Throne, Mayhem, Gorgoroth, Satyricon, Immortal, and an awesome band out of Israel called Tangorodrim. Also some stoner bands Melvins, High on Fire, Mastodon. Some death metal, Deicide, Cannibal Corpse, grind core band, Origin. Also getting in touch with some more touchy feely bands like Brand New, Blindside, mewithoutyou. The New He Is Legend record is awesome, as well as the new Josh Scoggin project, called 68, and all his old bands, The Chariot, and Norma Jean. Some Godflesh, and.... yeah, lots of music. I'm surrounded by a lot of DJs these days too, so whatever the hell it is they play... That's a world of genre classifications that I jist don't have the patience to even begin relating with.
What do you hold most dear? Nothing. Nothing is more valuable that everything, because it made everything.
What would be your greatest fears for the future?I'm... Not really... I don't know.... I can't say I'm not afraid of this, but it.. There's just to much in confident in for this to dominate my life, but I anticipate witnessing an entire world collapse in my life. At the same time, I'm not afraid of that. I think I'm with Maynard on this one (referencing his lyrics to Aenima).
When you are on stage, what do you fear most then? Nothing. Fear on stage is for children.
Have you been part of any other projects? Yeah
Have you been in any other bands? Yeah
What do you work with outside of the band and the music? Plenty. I build guitar effects pedals for Subdecay Studios. I live on a farm, and I'm currently working on fixing my busted ass car.
What would you do if there was no music? There would be no me. Everything is music.
How important are your fans?
They are everything, and they should see themselves as more than just a fan, but a very part of me, just the same way as I see that I am part of them. They're not "my fans", they're my Beloved, fan or not.
What's the funniest/most memorable thing a fan has done for you? A married couple wore their Masonic Weird T Shirts at their wedding reception.
How often do you rehearse? Once a week.
Where do you rehearse? Usually at my house,
Name 2 of your own songs you like at the moment? Unholy Uterus of the Witch
What do you feel is the best live band you've seen? Origin
What drives a band that isn't all that famous and renowned to try to make a living on their music and to keep playing? Bands that "try to make a living" on their music, are driven by money. That's why they all break up when they don't have any chance of making any money. Bands that love music, and love people, will keep playing because of their love of music and people.
Do you have any webpages?
Just Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/martyredwhitmans
https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=486503651491188
Any pearls of wisdom for all other bands out there? Love others, as your own self.
Describe your show, visually and musically We really shoot for minimalism, but it's just us, playing our loud ass downer rock.
How do you view the musicindurty of today? As a giant machine designed to control people by placating to their fear, so that they fight against each other and view one another as competition, instead of as family, which is what they really are.
What advice would you like to give other bands? Love others, as you love yourself. Love is sacrifice. Without sacrifice, there is no love.
What are the biggest obstacles for a band? Pride, arrogance and greed.
What is best/worst with playing the clubs? I love playing clubs. I'll never stop.
Tell us about upcomming gigs and why we should be at them? Don't really have any, so I don't want you there anyways. Beer paying attention to the House of Mourning Facebook page, though for updates, because that will absolutely change.
How would you describe your sound in one sentence Driving guitars that follow dissonant melodies, bass lines that follow dynamic drumming, melodic yet sloppy vocals and epic guitar solos.
What is your favorite crappy instrument? Lap dulcimer
What was one of the most quarrelsome times for you in the band? We never really quarreled. Maybe it was when we would suck one night, bit we would usually agree about that.
Whats your Pre-show ritual? That's between me and Jesus
Do you have anything to add? Don't let the world fool you about who you really are. You really can choose a life worth living, and the powers that be are doing everything they can to keep you from realizing that. But their time is almost done, so that our songs will become the new law, and that will be what conquers the entire planet. Not through force, but through patient and enduring love. Be a part of the song, and share what you have to give so that the song grows louder.

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