It is a busy time for the legendary Suicidal Tendencies but that doesn’t stop Mike Muir being in the mood to chat when HEAVY Mag gets him on the phone to not only talk about their upcoming trip to Download but to chat about their brand new EP that is only available to members of their fan club.
Mike laughs when I tell him how good the EP sounds. “It was actually something that we were going to put out before the album,” he explains. “It kind of gives us the chance to say the same thing four times – we want to get that point across that there is more than one way to do things. The best way to do that is to find a way to do it yourself because if you work with people you have to compromise but if you work by yourself you can standout – when you are younger you fight with your fists and that causes the scars that define you, but when you are older you fight with your mind and those ones are mental scars and those ones are much deeper and more developed. It is more the point of not mob mentality but to stand up and believe in yourself. Get to know yourself and yeah you are always go to find things about yourself that you don’t like, and there are some things that you can’t change, you have to accept that but also find the things that you want to work on. This EP was a chance both politically and musically to do something that wasn’t catering to a specific person.”
As talk turns to Download and the Australian tour we talk about the fact that Suicidal Tendencies have been around for so long now that their fan base is multi-generational. “We are very fortunate that are there that fell in love with the band when they were a kid,” Mike says. “Then they bring along their kids that are 12 or 13 years old so that their first show can be a Suicidal show. A few years ago at a show there was four generations of a family there –a great-grandfather, a grandfather, a Mum and her kids. We’ve had people tell us my kid wants to come to one of your shows but he is only 14 and not 16 yet…. that’s a real bummer because my kid really wanted to see you. We have been so fortunate though to be able to do so many things though, to me that is what Download is going to be… in five years or in ten years we’ll be somewhere and someone will come up to us and say “Hey, the first time I ever saw you was at Download and I had never heard your music before that. So year this is going to be a great opportunity like that.”
Suicidal Tendencies will be playing at Download in Melbourne and sideshows (see below):
