MASTODON guitarist Bill Kelliher says band will begin working on their next album in 2024
Speaking with the Guitar Summit guitar show in Mannheim, Germany yesterday (Saturday, September 23), MASTODON guitarist Bill Kelliher was asked about the status of the band’s touring schedule and new studio LP. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Yeah, all those things. I’m constantly writing. We just got off a tour with GOJIRA just a couple of weeks, about a month ago, and we’re about to do a cruise back home.
“We’ve never done a cruise — like a rock and roll cruise — with LAMB OF GOD and GWAR and SHADOWS FALL. That’s gonna be really fun. And then at the end of the year, in November, we’re gonna do a South American tour with GOJIRA. And hopefully when that’s over, December and in the beginning of next year, we can start sitting down and actually riffing out and writing a new record.
“Because it’s already time to — it’s past time to write a new record, even though [2021’s] ‘Hushed And Grim’ was a double album, and I feel like there’s a lot more juice for the squeeze of that record, but we just haven’t — because of COVID, we didn’t tour enough on it. We haven’t done a proper European tour. There’s a lot of places we’ve missed and it’s, it’s hard these days to get out and tour because everything has changed.”
Discussing further the difficulties MASTODON and other touring bands have to face in the modern day, Bill continued: “Without going into too much detail, the price of everything, the price of gas goes up. And that trickles down to us as a band. When we go out on tour, we have to come up with half a million dollars just to support the tour, like of our own money that’s supposedly saved, which I don’t have that much money — we don’t have any money saved.
“Every time we do a tour, we spend all the money — we give, ‘Hey, here’s your paycheck.’ ‘Cause we were home for two years from COVID, and try not working for two years. It’s difficult. Luckily, my wife works; she’s got a very good job. So it’s been very difficult. Our manager passed away a few years ago, and that kind of put us in this crazy tailspin, ’cause he was our everything. And COVID happens, and the way the world is going right now, it’s not the easiest thing to get out there and just start touring and trying to make money.”
Kelliher added: “Like I was saying, with ‘Hushed And Grim’, I just feel like that record — and I knew this was gonna happen, because if it comes out during the pandemic, it’s not gonna get as much attention as, say, if there was no pandemic and you put a spotlight on it, ‘Hey, you guys got this great 90-minute record.’
“There’s a lot of songs on there to be… We only played a handful of them. I mean, I guess it’s good to have all that ammunition in the bank, like, ‘Oh, we can pull out all these songs,’ but sometimes it’s hard when you’re out there on the road. People are, like, ‘Why don’t you play anything off ‘The Hunter’?’ ‘Why don’t you play anything off ‘Once More ‘Round The Sun’? ‘Cause we only have an hour. And we have to play… I don’t know. It’s difficult. But those are good problems to have.
“The answer to your question is yeah, next year we are gonna write a new record, and I’ve already started writing and I’m very excited about it,” Bill said. “It’s a nice time. It’s just — I guess what I’m getting at is, like, it’s already time to write a new record and take time off when my wife’s, like, ‘You need to get out there and work.
“You guys haven’t worked in the past three years.’ You’ve only done a month a year.’ It’s not a lot of time out there. But I’m, like, yeah, well, the world is upside down and the gas prices are crazy. And everybody’s on tour trying to make back their money from the lost wages. And it’s a mess. But I’m not gonna let it stop me from writing the next right-turn record.”
In October 2021, MASTODON unveiled their ninth studio album, titled “Hushed And Grim,” which was released through Reprise Records. This album served as a successor to their 2017 release, “Emperor Of Sand.” The recording took place at West End Sound, situated within Ember City, a rehearsal facility managed by MASTODON members in Atlanta. Overseeing the production was the Grammy-winning producer, mixer, and engineer David Bottrill, renowned for his work with bands like MUSE, DREAM THEATER, and TOOL, among others.
The creative journey behind “Hushed And Grim” was significantly influenced by the untimely passing of MASTODON‘s longtime friend and manager, Nick John, in September 2018. Nick John, who also managed GOJIRA, succumbed to pancreatic cancer, leaving a profound impact on the band’s creative process.
The captivating artwork for “Hushed And Grim” was crafted by the accomplished artist Paul Romano, a long-standing collaborator of MASTODON. Romano had previously designed album covers for the band, including “Crack The Skye,” “Blood Mountain,” “Leviathan,” and more, adding to the visual legacy of their music.