http://www.MidnightCalling.com
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MC: Where does the name Mockingbird Lane come from? To me, it conjures up sort of an "American Gothic".
ML: Mockingbird Lane comes from two places… First, "The Munsters" television series. It was the street they lived on. That show was a large part in shaping me into the fiend I am today. Second, there where some experiments ran some years back… I won't really talk too much on that. If you do the research you'll find it. I don't want to give too much away.
MC: How would you describe your music to someone who had never heard it before?
ML: I usually describe it as dark, gothic-punk. When I try to explain the different influences and styles of music that Blizzard and I have brought together into it people usually just look confused and walk away. So I usually just say Death-rock, Goth-punk or Horror-punk… That usually works for most occasions.
MC: I understand that "I Vampire" and "Wolfshead" are appearing on a compilation. What compilation is it? Has it been released yet?
ML: They were recorded for a compilation of Oklahoma bands that a fiend of mine was putting together, but it's not going to happen. Ended up being more money than he could acquire and I guess he lost interest. So if anyone wants to use them on a comp they are up for grabs, contact me.
MC: How about your Misfit's cover "She"? Has the Misfit's tribute CD come out yet? Does Mockingbird Lane plan to release anything soon?
ML: The first Misfits CD is supposed to be out now at Crypt of Blood Records. There should be a link on the mp3 page of my site. I'm not sure when the second Misfits CD will be released. As for our own CD, a lot of stuff has happened to keep us out of the studio. I will probably release another demo by October. This time it will be even more low quality. Some live stuff taken from video and some 4-track stuff we recorded last month when BJ got out of prison.
MC: What are some of your musical influences? Also, what do you like to listen to?
ML: My influences are bands like The Bolshoi, Concrete Blonde, Samhain, T.S.O.L., Josie and The Pussycats, The Sisters Of Mercy, the Church and 45 Grave. There are a lot more… that's just what comes to mind right now. I listen to a lot of different things… Mostly I listen to old country music though. I like that a lot.
MC: How's the search going for other band members? Are you and Blizzard still pretty much the "core" of Mockingbird Lane?
ML: It is still pretty much Blizzard and me. Now that BJ is out of prison we did some recordings with him. Abby may start to play bass after I get moved to VA.
MC: I'm dying to know (no pun intended): Exactly what happened in the Funeral chapel that night?
ML: Not much really happened. I never told the guys sitting in at that time that the chapel was haunted or that there was a body on display. They were a little nervous about practicing in a funeral chapel anyway and got freaked when my fiends drug out the corpse. The weird shit usually never happened until 1 am. So I figured I did not need to tell them the place was haunted on top of that but as soon as I started the first verse for "Monster Mash" lights started going off and on the temperature dropped considerably and there were a lot of noises and movement throughout the building. We saw some woman walking around in the other room and just all kinds of little creepy shit was going on. They tried to laugh it off at first. They thought it was my fiends trying to fuck around with them, until they realized everyone was in one room. The guitarist even swore the corpse was moving. He thought the corpse was someone I knew and was going to jump up and grab him… that I was trying to scare him as an initiation into the band. (I had previously done things like make the drummer jump through fire as initiation) After they had realized it was not a prank they were even more freaked out and never came to the gig or answered the phone again.
MC: How have your touring experiences been? Where have you enjoyed playing the most?
ML: Touring has not happened much because of the lack of band members. No one wanted to stick around long enough to go out. Our favorite place to play though has been Lawton Oklahoma. It's great there. The crowd is nothing like in the rest of OK and the bands we played with were great. Our Samhain gig was the best. We played with Eerie LN, Day Of The Sick, Earth A.D. and Antarctica Vs. The World. I was covered in sweat, spit, blood (real and fake) and all kinds of other shit no one wants to hear about by the time that weekend was over…
MC: What do you think of the U.S. Deathrock scene?
ML: I've never really been much a part of a scene or known of many of the bands. The little I have found out about and the bands I have heard are great though.
MC: What will Mockingbird Lane be up to in the near Future? Is there anything else you'd like to add?
ML: Near future holds a lot of moving around and hopefully some real recording sometime early next year. The way things have been going I don't want to make any promises. As far as anything to add, we want to hear from people. We want to know what you think, where you are from. Get on the site and send us mail and e-mails.
