Shotgunning Brews And Farts – An Interview With Wizard Rifle
Wizard Rifle are perhaps the greatest band you’ve never heard of. Their unique brand of noisey hard hitting metal has always fascinated me, and after tours with marvelous bands like Bongzilla and Black Cobra it’s starting to feel like these Pacific Northwest boys might be getting somewhere. With a new album in the can and a whole bunch of touring plotted out for the next year or so you’re going to be hearing a lot more from these noise rockers, I’m just curious to see how it all shakes out. Sitting down with them on the last day of Psycho was a pleasure, we got a little silly – but if that doesn’t reflect the nature of this band I don’t know what will.
How the hell are you guys?
Max (M): Awesome, loving the Vegas!
Sam (S): First time I’ve been here – this is fucking cool. I’ve never seen anything like this before.
M: We’re going to get a residency here, play the casino twice a night.
How does it feel to get asked to play this festival?
M: We’ve been looking forward to this for a year. It’s a party with all of our friends attending.
S: It’s trippy to see the number of people we know here.
M: All the best bands too!
S: And watching grindcore from the pool!
You guys have radically changed your live for each other, what created that brotherhood?
M: The stars! (Laughter) It was a mutual sort of frustration with trying to get bands together and making things happen and people flaking and not being reliable or committed to creating things. We were just like “Let’s not flake and make this happen” and that’s kind of the point of the two piece. It’s two people We don’t need a bunch of people on board. It’s streamlined. Coordinating a band with peoples lives is complicated, I don’t know how bands do it with five members. Everyone has their own lives.
S: The way we write our songs… I can’t imagine more than just the two of us on board at this point. It takes a long time and depends on us being able to work on shit without interference.
M: The fact that it’s two of us makes it easier to just keep doing it.
How have you adapted now that Sam lives on the opposite side of the country?
M: It hasn’t changed that much. The next album is totally written and we are recording next week. We will be touring for at least a year before we think about putting together the next release and we will figure it out then. For now we are just trying to make this album awesome.
S: Neither of us is ever in a fixed location for too long anyway. In a few months we could be right next door again.
M: The distance will only stoke the passion! It will ripple across the country. We like to stoke the sexual tension to the highest degree?
Is there sexual tension?
M: (Laughter) Not at all.
S: Maybe.
M: Maybe we are both so deep in the closet we don’t even realize it!
Can you at least appreciate the inherent homoeroticism at play?
M: Totally. Especially since we play shirtless. The bond of playing music with someone is… special.
S: He’s the only dude I could drive around the country with over and over again and have it be cool!
Who has the gnarliest farts?
M: Sam!
S: I was going to say that’s vile slander but that’s probably true.
M: Over the course of our relationship we’ve become very knowledgable of each others bowel movement patterns.
S: I’m a morning trumpeter.
M: For the record, Sam shits five times a day! The drumming moves the food through his body very quickly.
S: I’d have to ask other drummers about that. Maybe the arms going up and down are like a water pump.
Max, you’ve express a passion for shotgunning beers, where did that originate?
M: I studied with some of the masters of shotgunning. Actually I invented it back in 1873 when I was… anyways… (Laughter) I’ve known some pro level shotgunners. Our friend Andrea was a champion beer chugger. She could down a pint of beer in seconds!
S: We shotgunned with a battleaxe in Vancouver!
M: We played a show at the Rickshaw and at the house we were staying they had a battleaxe. It was freezing outside but we went out and pierced our kegs with the battleaxe. Then they made us hot buttered rum and it was amazing.
S: Then the next morning they took us to a petting zoo. It was amazing.
What do you think attracts people to Wizard Rifle?
S: I’m not sure. Mass confusion. (Laughter)
M: I think people more than the specific music taste our genres we dabble in is that people pick up on the energy and that we are excited about what we are doing and that we believe in it. People can tell how much we believe in the music. People get excited when they see that.
S: We don’t have a ton of people who always come out but a lot of folks get pumped and walk up and tell us that.
M: We’ll be the weirdest band on any bill, but if you want to see the weirdest band you’ll like us probably.
What do you love so much about music?
M: Music is the only thing that matters. When you can get to the spot where you’re not thinking about shit you’re in the zone.
S: It makes me feel a way nothing else does. I love art, movies, food and all that but if I was incapable of everything else I would only listen to music.
M: It makes you feel alright about being alive.
