It was pouring rain, and I was coming down with pneumonia. Ā I knew this as I made the trek from Birmingham to Little Rock, and all I could think of was what the hell I was about to witness. Ā St. Vitus, YOB, Weedeater, Rwake, and Norska all in one night. Ā After parking and hauling my ass through the downpour, I found myself standing in the entrance to the Rev Room. Ā It was about an hour before show time, and I saw two men having a conversation right outside the doorway leading to the show space. Ā One was obviously the guy who ran the venue, and the other was a guy with long hair, a beard, a Norska shirt, a pair of shorts, some Chucks, and round glasses. Ā It was the glasses. Ā I knew it was Mike Scheidt, and despite having never met the man before, I immediately felt a kinship with him. Ā This was confirmed as I extended my hand to introduce my (nervous) self, and Mike refused, choosing instead to embrace me and welcome me to the show.
From that point forward, I witnessed one of the, if I may use the word, coolest moments in all the shows Iāve ever attended. Ā Mike Scheidt is a fan first and a musician second. Ā Perhaps one of the main reasons for YOBās incredible influence in the metal and music world is due largely to the fact that its vocalist is on a plane of understanding that humanity would do well to emulate. Ā Mike and I had a continuing conversation throughout the evening, and at the end of the night as I made the trip back to Birmingham all feverish and coughing my ass off, I couldnāt help but think that while Iād witnessed the unparalleled sonic pummeling of a YOB show, Iād, more importantly, seen the concept of what I considered a ārock starā thankfully fade into oblivion. Ā I had the opportunity to chat with Mike about a great deal of things – just a few of which are here.
Mike, my first question for you is whatās brought you to this point, man?Ā From your earliest childhood memories to now, how have you see yourself evolve as a musician?
Well, I think my evolution is funny because when I was a kid playing, I was playing metal songs, but I was hanging out with punk rock bands.Ā I mean, what made me want to do it was actually this band called Dirtclodfight.Ā Theyāve been around for a long time, and when I was a kid, like fourteen years old, Dirtclodfight hadnāt formed yet, but the brothers, Phil and Fred Merwin, and my buddy Eric Dorman and Austin used to jam, and theyād be doing Dr. Know covers and new Trouble covers and Black Flag, and it just really had a big impact on me to the point where I wanted to start playing guitar.
Eric Dorman and the others were doing Celtic Frost covers, and he taught me a lot of what I know about playing the guitar, so thatās when I started playing and my influences back then were like early Metallica and Slayer and Onslaught and Oz, like old band Oz, and definitely Corrosion of Conformity. Metal and punk is where Iāve always kind of been and you fast forward to 2012, and it hasnāt changed much, you know.Ā Iām not sure Iāll ever grow up, but I do think that my evolution changed a lot when I started doing a little Travis picking.Ā I did that working really high in a guitar shop for about ten years, and the guys that work there, thatās all they did, so thatās what I learned.Ā Itās like, āWell, alright, well I have to learn how to play for real.ā
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Well, your solo stuff is very different.Ā I mean you donāt hear the metal, necessarily.Ā You hear a lot of folk.Ā I mean thereās a certain blend to the sound that speaks to your obviously varied influences.Ā
I mean, I was born in 1970, so I was crawling around listening to the folk explosion that is still very much alive on the radio.Ā Then you had all the early stuff that was considered āpopā, which is everything from Steely Dan to Doobie Brothers to Zeppelin to the Beatles to Hendrix and Janis Joplin and, Gordon Lightfoot, and Cat Stevens, so thatās what I grew up on.
When I think of acoustic music, I donāt think of it from a metal perspective.Ā I think of it from an acoustic perspective and so, in doing my solo record, it was tempting to do YOB unplugged, but that felt like the easy way out.Ā When I say that I mean, itās still six songs in 42 minutes, so Iām not sure if Iām totally fooling myself in thinking that itās drastically different, but in my mind it is.Ā Getting a lot more into King Crimson and Rush had an effect on the music and then each era of metal and punk has then further refined where I come from. Ā Like seeing Will Haven blew my mind and changed the way I played forever.Ā Seeing Immolation blew my mind and changed the way I played forever.Ā I started playing different chords and more discordantly upon getting really into them, and then there was Sleep and Electric Wizard and all of that, so I really come from a lot of different places, but itās not that out of character from where Iāve always been.
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Right.Ā It kind of varies and changes as we grow, but essentially comes from the same place.Ā Take New Order, for instance.Ā I hear so much of their influence, especially today, in so many bands that are considered metal.
Iāve always been a New Order fan.Ā Joy Division I couldnāt appreciate until much later on.
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It seems like in the last five or six years, thereās been a resurgence of respect or critical acclaim for metal, Mike.Ā Youāve got so much exposure now for incredible bands.Ā Whatās the deal?
Well, you know, itās fascinating.Ā I think in the 80s and maybe even in the early 90s as far as like bigger publications go, thereās artists in music and metal ā theyāre musicians, but itās kind of like itās entertainment; kind of the way like going to see Friday the 13th is entertainment.Ā Thatās not art.Ā Itās Friday the 13th, and I think that definition is maybe expanded some, but I also think, too, that metal and all of its offshoots existed without that support and thrived without it.Ā I mean, band after band after band, album after album after album: punk bands, hardcore bands, metal bands; they existed in this underground world and played all this music that they had no choice but to play.
It wasnāt cool at all, and itās kind of clichĆ© to say, āOh, it wasnāt cool but we were doing it,ā but you got your ass kicked.Ā It wasnāt cool, and then especially in the 80s there was all the metal hardcore friction.Ā It wasnāt cool in metal if you were punk, and it wasnāt cool with the punk kids if you liked metal, so there was this friction.Ā Going to see Motorhead and Cro-Mags in 1986 was a really tenuous meeting of people because Motorhead brought everybody, and so it was skinheads and punks and metal guys and bikers and it was just fights all night.Ā Iām like 14 years old in the back of the room in a Saxon shirt just praying I donāt get destroyed, but itās changed a lot, and now it justā¦metal shows have a refined audience a lot of the time.Ā Iām not bagging on them, but Iām not talking about like the Disturbed crowd or something like that which is, I donāt know, maybe Iām a dick saying it, but it does seem like a meathead kind of crowd a lot of the time, but if you go see Sunn, itās a very sophisticated crowd.
Itās people from all walks, and so I think these journalists have started to see that and are like, āWait a minute, you know, this never needed us, and itās growing and growing and itās progressive.āĀ I donāt know how many other styles of music are really truly progressive, because even when I listen to so called progressive rock, I think, āWell, where are you progressing it?Ā Did this not exist in 1973?ā Maybe it did, maybe it didnāt.Ā Is it really progressive now, or are you a progressive rock band the way a punk rock band is a punk rock band, and youāre not reallyā¦ itās just a genre now.Ā Itās not progression.Ā I do think that in metal there are bands that exist today that did not exist in 2002.Ā There were bands in 2002 that existed, that were creating metal that did not exist in 1992.Ā Thereās always the emulation bands, you know, whether it be thrash metal or whatever, and I have no problem with that at all.Ā If their hearts are totally in it, and it makes me feel their sincerity, then I kind of donāt care what theyāre doing.
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I just think people are just kind of recapitulating whatās been there all along, but it seems like more bands in the metal genre are focusing more on the art itself and not so much the image.
Well, I think whatās happening as metal has become more wide stream, thereās been more of a widespread acceptance of it.Ā I do see danger, and itās starting to kind of be a parody of itself a little bit where Iām looking at band photos, or going through a magazine and it looks like itās an advertisement for a movie.Ā You know, itās so over the top, and I just come from an area that you just really had to have the substance.Ā You really had to have the substance, and the image was part of it, but I mean, how many bands have we heard that have goats and skulls on the cover and then you spin it and itās like itās not quite there yet.Ā Itās half cooked, or Iām not going to say it sucks, but itās just the heart isnāt there.
Itās image heavy, substance light, so I think that there is some danger with that, but I think itās just the nature of something getting bigger.Ā More people want to get involved, but they maybe havenāt found their personal connection to it yet, or they havenāt found themselves in it and how itās not about trying to sound like or look like, itās what am I moved to write.
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As far as when you approach things from a lyrical standpoint, what are the main influences? Whatās the catalyst for you?
Oh, man. Yeah, my influences come from Eastern Mysticism, Ramana Maharshi, Sri Nisargadatta, HWL Poonja, Shunryu Suzuki, Zen tradition, Chogyam Trungpa ā I also love Bukowski.Ā For me to write the lyrics I want to write ā itās basically like if you go to the nonfiction section of audio books ā thatās kind of where I come from I guess.Ā I have nothing against people that write fantastical lyrics or whatever the lyrics are.Ā I just want to be a righteous aware human being, and so thatās what I want to write about, and thatās what I feel good writing about, and thatās where I feel like I can connect with other people, because I can reach out with my lyrics and find like minded folks, and then on stage, when we play, we get to share that.Ā We get to share that together.Ā Their experience is my experience; itās their experience, itās my experience; but I donāt like to write it from the point of view of being aware or being awake.
Iād rather write it from the true sense which is schlepping towards it or stumbling towards it. Ā Fall down, get back up.Ā Falling down – thereās nothing wrong with it.Ā Itās better for falling down and getting back up.Ā Itās from a human imperfection and hopefully unpretentious standpoint. Ā The best scenario is when if we can be really awake and present on stage and then we can have a group of people with us that are feeling that or bringing that and then bringing that to us, then weāre bringing that to them and they bring that to us, and then it becomes this environment that becomes much like sacred space. Ā It becomes more than musicians on stage and people in a crowd; and so thatās whatās the most exciting thing to me.Ā I donāt see us as entertainers.Ā Weāre just up there digging deep and itās a path and itās a method.
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Mike, when youāre not with Yob, when youāre not doing solo stuff, when youāre just chilling out by yourself just in your own personal space, how do you find your zen, how do you find your center?Ā
You know I go through phases of different things.Ā I go through phases of where I listen to a lot of music.Ā Iāll go through phases where I donāt listen to any music. Ā Nothing.Ā I like movies, for sure.Ā When Iām home, I donāt go out a lot.Ā I mean, Iāll go out and see shows.Ā I definitely watch sports, but I also feel like I have to balance all my activity with non-activity.Ā I have three kids.Ā I have 17-year-old twins and a 13-year-old and uh, yeah. (laughs)
Theyāre not with me full time, but they come to my house a lot, so itās really important to me to have a really stable environment for them and for me to be stable myself and the only way I can do that is to balance out all this crazy activity with some centered non-activity; but then also being in activity trying to stay centered.Ā With shit going on itās crazy and with tours, shit goes wrong every other day, and you just have to try to always be āpath of the hero, path of the warrior, path of the hero.ā It nobodyās fault in the moment.Ā You just have to work through it.
I definitely try to stay in shape for a 42-year-old dude and work out and run.Ā I taught self defense for a lot of years ā Krav Maga from Israel.Ā I taught that for eight years and since YOB has been touring a lot more, I havenāt been doing it because Iām out of shape, and Iām in a van all the time and then when I get home, that system is truly a survival system, and I just feel like I need to be in shape.Ā I also read quite a bit.
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Whatās the last great book you read?Ā
Iām in the middle of Blood Meridian right now.
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Oh wow.
Iām solid halfway through that book, and Iāve been reading it in pieces, because I really want to get it and itās really heavy.Ā So, Iāve been reading that.Ā The thing thatās weird is I could be reading like five or six books at a time.Ā I go back and forth between them.Ā I also love retarded books, you know, I mean not that theyāre retarded, but you know, Brian Keene or Edward Lee.Ā Itās very over the top writing, butā¦
Itās popcorn.
Yeah, pretty much, but I enjoy it and some are better than others for sure.Ā Iāve definitely been reading some Lovecraft too.Ā I just have so many that I read.
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Itās just interesting, Mike, to hear the incredible and vast influences you have from all spectrums of life when it comes to what you obviously put into your music.Ā For me, hearing something like that serves to basically eradicate the beat the mindset that people who listen to metal are all minions of Satan, or that we all wear black hoods and burn upside down crosses into our foreheads.Ā We donāt have lightbulbs, we have candles and goatskulls adorning our deep, dank places of residence.
Iām sure thereās a lot of people who will disagree with me on this, but I personally feel a certain kind of hope in that thereās more of a bigger culture of people that are willing to embrace some darkness.Ā Because not embracing it, and Iām not saying taking part in like creating some kind of horrible situations for people.Ā Iām just talking about embracing what it is in us that makes those things happen in the first place because it is human nature.Ā Thereās been a lot of well documented evil done in the name of good, and some people would argue that Anton Lavey actually was a pretty positive dude.Ā He just didnāt take any shit.Ā He wasnāt going to have something force fed down his throat.Ā He was just like, āLook, I stand for myself.ā
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Well, itās the whole Westernized cultivating of religion dynamic.
Thatās right.Ā The Catholics who drink the blood of Christ every day, eating his body ā itās all figurative and all that, and I think just right and wrong, if those lines are getting blurred some or these people are asking questions about what are basically ideologies that are in most cases very young ideologies; weāre talking hundreds of years or thousands of years.Ā Thatās seems like a long time, but itās not in the grand scheme of human civilization.
So they just come and go and whatās constant, you know, letās pay attention to that. Ā What do we have in common?Ā Letās pay attention to that.Ā I guess thatās what makes me maybe potentially a hippie is because I just donāt see where blood shed ever really solves it.Ā Itās just an ideology, but I guess another ideology and from both perspectives, from where they were born and where they were brought up – itās right.Ā And worse, you can really see how the collective consciousness is affected.
Itās not just in a jar.Ā Itās not just in a war theater.Ā Itās the entire world and all creatures and beings.Ā Everything is affected. Ā Everything.Ā The plant life is affected.Ā The earth is blown up in bits, and itās an entire environment.Ā Itās not just a human environment.Ā Itās not just an animal world or a plant world or a matter environment. Ā Itās all of us.
photo credits to: Al Jones and Rynne Stump
Many thanks to Mike and the rest of the YOB crew for their time and for an absolutely stunning show. Ā The mantra of that evening was āFuckinā YOB,ā and Iām inclined to agree. Ā Hereās to great metal and a greater sense of who we are.
Cheers. – D
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