Talking with . . .   Mucus Membrane

Interview with guitarist Tom Persons
Guitarist Tom Persons has been involved in death metal for many years now. He originally lived on the East Coast and was a member of underrated death metallers Pessimist. He split and moved to California, playing with underground legends Psypheria and Sadistic Intent. During this time he also formed Mucus Membrane with former Dying Fetus singer Vince Matthews. They recorded a pair of demos but line-up changes kept things unstable save for Tom's direction for Mucus Membrane. Last year Hammermill Records released Mucus Membrane's stunning debut, Shades Below, one of the best death metal albums in years. Now Tom's got a new, stable band around him and they will be recording a new album soon. In the mean time here are some questions for him.

How do you feel about how Shades Below came out?
Well I was stoked when I first finished it. Now that I've been listening to it for awhile I still think the mix is really good but I think it could use a little less high end and more bass guitar. Given that I keep learning and becoming better at mixing and recording metal I'll always look back and think I could do a better job. It's when I look back and think, "That's the best that it'll ever get!" that I'll know I'm in trouble.

As you prepare to record the second full length, are there any things you would like to do differently when you enter the studio?
Man, good questions, I'm going to read your interviews regularly because this is exactly the kind of stuff I always want to know about my favorite bands. Anyway, yeah there are a few things. To start with we'll have a real drummer and not a drum machine so that should give the mix a lot more depth and space than Shades. Also I'll be using a couple of killer tube amps on the next recording, an Engl Powerball and a Peavey 5150 II, so the guitar tone should absolutely crush. I went out of the box on Shades and didn't use a single amplifier. It's all done with Digidesign micpres and software preamps like the Line 6 Amp Farm and the SansAmp PSA-1. It turned out pretty damn good, but I think I'll be sticking to traditional guitar and bass amps from now on. Also, I just bought the Ozone mastering suite of plug-ins so the final mix should be much better on the next c.d.

You have a new guitarist, Scoobie Creamer, how is he working out? What does he add to Mucus Membrane's live shows?
I can't begin to say enough good things about this guy. Not only is he probably the best guitarist I've ever jammed with but he's also one of the most laid back, easy to get along with people I've ever met. I can't wait until we start writing some songs together, we'll have least two to three collaborations going on the next c.. As far as the live shows, he definitely adds the missing piece. I like to write a lot of guitar harmonies in our music and while our bass player Jon can more than handle doubling the guitar parts when necessary, there's nothing like the sound of two guitars harmonizing. We just have a crushing wall of sound now when we play live. It reminds me a lot of how Pessimist sounded when I was jamming with them.

You've been involved with several acclaimed death metal bands, why did you feel a need to branch out with your own band in Mucus Membrane?
When Mucus started in 1996 it was really Vince's idea. He came up with the name and the original concept and we spent a weekend writing the songs on the first demo c.d. This was happening at the same time I was in Pessimist. During this time I was trying to decide if I should move to California or not. As it turned out the situation in Pessimist started getting a little weird so I decided to make the move out west. Of course, three months later Pessimist signed to Lost Desciple. Just my luck. Anyway, Vince and I had planned on recording a Mucus full length after I moved out here. But, after I wrote and recorded everything except the vocals Vince joined Dying Fetus and that took up way too much of his time. Besides, by that time I had joined Psypheria so Mucus was still just a side project. It was really my experience with Psypheria that made me realize I should focus all my efforts on Mucus. Psypheria never really liked the 80's thrash and speed metal influence in my writing so eventually we parted ways and I found that most of what I had written during my three plus years in Psypheria had ended up in new Mucus songs anyway. So by late 2000 early 2001 Mucus Membrane was the main and only band I was playing in.

Are you still in touch the Pessimist? If so, are they still around and what are they up to these days? I always felt they never achieved the success they deserved.
Oh yeah, I recently heard from both Kelly and Chris and they are working on new material for the next full length. I'm pretty sure they have a full band together, but they might still be looking for a singer. I've always thought that Kelly wrote killer material and I'm also suprised they haven't gotten more recognition. In all honesty I wished I could have mixed their last two c.d.'s. I mixed and played on Cult of the Initiated and I've always liked that one the best. Blood for the Gods and Slaughering both had great music on them but I thought the mix could have been better. Now that I think about it, can we get Scott Burns out of retirement? He could do a way better job than I can mixing death metal. Hell, Tom Morris for that matter.

What prompted you to move out to California? What's different about the West Coast?
The KGB(killer green bud) of course. Seriously though, I moved out here to finish college and get a job in computers so I could eventually open my own studio. Well, I ended up getting a killer job instead writing multitrack recording software (Pro Tools... think Cakewalk, Cubase, Live, Logic, Garage Band, etc.) and jamming with some pretty killer musicians out here. One of the biggest differences between the west coast and east coast scenes is the lack of border skirmishes. When I lived in the D.C. area the Virginia bands hated the Maryland bands and vice-versa, it was all so stupid and couterproductive to the scene. That's why, in my opinion, very few bands from that area made it big. There was very little local support. Out here people will support local bands from all over California, but they're so stoned they don't travel far from home for shows.

How would you describe your style as a guitarist? What is important to you regarding your playing and sound?
That's a tough one. I guess somewhat like Dave Mustaine in the sense that I specialize in having great timing and tight picking while being a little bit of a loose cannon while soloing. To take the analogy even further, Scoobie complements my playing in the same way the Marty Friedman complemented Dave's. Scoobie's solos are mind boggling to me, I seriously think he could pull off most of Necrophagist's Epitaph with a little practice. I think the most important part of being a musician in a death metal band regardless of what instrument you play is having a good sense of timing and being able to react quickly to what you hear the other guys are playing. There are so many talented musicians out there that the only way to distinguish yourself as a band is to be so tight and balls on that when people who don't like death metal hear you they say "Damn those guys are good". Nile has that effect on people and I can only hope we are as tight as they are some day, we're workin' on it. As far as sound goes, you gotta turn up the mids. No scooping the mids out of your sound. I know it sounds great when you are crushing it through a practice amp but in a live setting it causes the guitars to disappear in the mix, 800 - 2000 Hz is where the guitar has balls. So to me it's finding that death metal tone without scooping the mids. I try to do this by playing a seven string and using an amp with lots of gain. Scoobie gets a crushing tone from a six string with eleven gauge strings tuned to B. Also the speakers make a huge difference. I use Vintage 30s and Scoobie uses Greenbacks and Vintage 30s. Either sound great for death metal. Celestion GT75s just don't have the low end balls that the others do and don't even get me started on Peavey, Crate, or HK cabs.

I was most impressed with how catchy and brutal Shades Below is, do you think death metal can be memorable or do you think most people are interested in the over the top technical and brutal aspect of the genre?
Good question. That's hard for me to answer because I am a die hard old school metal head so I draw infuence from so many bands. Basically, I've met very few metal bands that I didn't like. Excluding nu metal, glam metal and rap metal I like just about everything, from Rush and Judas Priest to Necrophagist and Spawn Of Possesion. So I think death metal can be brutal and memorable, and I think the over the top death metal crowd can get into slightly less technical, but more memorable tunes. Most of the people I know who dig Cryptopsy and Hate Eternal also dig bands like Opeth, Arch Enemy, or God Dethroned so I'm hoping that we are right up their alley.

What are some difficulties you've faced through the years in keeping Mucus Membrane going?
Finding dedicated members. It's probably a struggle for any death metal band. The bottom line is that it takes up a ton of your time and you don't get paid much until your at the level of a Nile or a Morbid Angel so you have to love being a musician and love the music or it just won't work. I've jammed with a lot of people over the years that loved the idea of being in a band and liked to be able to tell their friends that they are in a band but when it came down to practicing your ass off to learn that new song they just didn't want to do it. So when you have somebody holding the band back you either cut loose the dead weight or you'll explode from the inside.

What does the future hold for you? Are you involved with any bands at the moment or is Mucus Membrane your focus now?
I'm recording some local metal bands here in Sacramento like Forsake The Flesh and Kolosson in my home studio. However, Mucus is the only band I play in.. I was playing in two bands for awhile but it was taking up way too much time and I wanted to put as much effort as possible in promoting and writing for Mucus Membrane.

When will you enter the studio to record a new album?
We will probably start tracking the drums in mid to late summer. We have a few more songs to write before we get started.

Final comments?
I think that covered things pretty well. I guess the only thing I'd like to add is that we plan on recording a two song promo here in a couple of weeks to give away at shows or to anyone out there who wants to hear what the new lineup sounds like. Also, we'll be posting the songs on our website and our myspace site (see links below) so everyone check back in a month or two and let us know what you think of the new tunes. Thanks again for the interview and the kick ass questions. Take it easy Brett, and stay metal. www.mucusmembrane.com and www.myspace.com/mucusmembrane.

Discography:
2005... Shades Below (Hammermill)

Current line-up:
Josh Ditri... vocals
Tom Persons... guitars
Jared Deaver... guitars
Jon Borrmann... bass
Joe Lopresti... drums

Mucus Membrane

TTM reviews of albums by Mucus Membrane:
	2005 - 'Shades Below'