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By: Richard Collins
Photos courtesy of Jose Ramon Caamaño Photography
Over the last few years Early Mammal have gained a reputation for being psychedelic rock’s hidden gem. They’ve release two incredible albums, but have seemingly lurked in the shadows of the scene. However, with an appearance at Raw Power Festival and a new album coming out on Riot Season, it looks like this mammal is emerging from the woods and is on its way to terrorizing the neighbourhood. With this in mind, Richard Collins thought it was time to check in and ask guitarist/vocalist Rob Herian and bassist Ben Tat what the fuck is going on.
(((o))): How are you doing Early Mammal?
Rob: I’m about to go on holiday. I feel good… for now.
Ben: I’m just back from a holiday and swamped with work, so swings and roundabouts I suppose!
(((o))): You guys are fairly mysterious, you seem to have been on the fringes of the underground scene for years, releasing albums, but not playing many gigs. Can you give us a bit of background on the band? How did you meet? What was your first gig?
Rob: Boy meets boy meets boy meets girl. Girl leaves, another boy joins. Boy leaves and another boy talks about joining but doesn’t. Another boy does join, but that boy is busy with other boys so soon leaves. Meanwhile one of the first boys vanishes. Finally another boy joins and hangs around this time out of some deep rooted admiration, love or boredom that I can only begin to speculate on. In all honesty though, the only requirement to join this band seems to be having a name easily rendered monosyllabic. Talent is a bonus.
On the matter of gigs, it’s not that we dislike playing gigs (humping heavy shit around for more than twenty years playing in different bands is taking its toll though I must admit), but only a few people seem to ask us anyway. We have fallen in with a small, but perfectly formed group of bands lately, and that provides gigs that suit our needs and desires just fine, for the time-being at least. Our first gig was a friend’s birthday party in Whitechapel. It was probably the best first gig I’ve ever done, and I’ve done a few.
Ben: I’m the one that stuck around, probably out of a combination of all three of those things. I’d played in another band with Rob for about 6 years previously and knew Ben [Davis, drums] from his last band so when I got wind they were on the lookout for another player I got involved. I think my first gig with the band was a Cosmic Carnage night at the Windmill in Brixton; I tend to think quality not quantity is the way forward these days. I quite like the idea of being thought of as mysterious though, maybe it’s time to usher in capes and smoke machines for the occasions we do play.
(((o))): Where did you record Take a Lover? How was the process different to your previous recordings?
Rob: Same place we’ve done all the Early Mammal stuff so far, at Dropout, the studio we share with Hag, Part Chimp (now and then), Stuart the cat, Jase and Candy and others. We have become far more self-sufficient now though. We bought all our own mics and other recording equipment so we could record when and where we felt the need to. Dropout is a great space though, the room has a great sound, so that’s where you’ll find us for a while.
Ben: Yeah the live room at Dropout is a great space. We set up on a Friday night and recorded for two days straight, the album is a selection of stuff from those two days. It’s very liberating to hit record, forget about it and see what comes out rather than record pre-written and rehearsed songs until you get them “right”. Some of the songs had existing structures and had been played live, but some of what you hear on there is what happened to come out at the time.
(((o))): Your style seems to change dramatically on every album, what fuels this? Who’s in charge?
Rob: Me, I am a benevolent dictator (there will always be a master). To be more specific, we tend to work and stretch things out from riffs and rhythms. That’s pretty much how it works. There’s no style, sound or formula we are consciously looking to emulate. That’s just not the way we think or talk about music together. We are a fine example of a stoned mixture of vertical and horizontal power.
Ben: The track ‘Glad is Night’ from the album is a good example of how we work as a band. It started life as a more upbeat number then one day for whatever reason we ramped up the fuzz and halved the speed. We all agreed that it was better that way so that’s how the song exists for now.
(((o))): Take a Lover is coming out on Riot Season, probably the best DIY label in the country. Are you chuffed? How did this come about?
Rob: Very happy. Very very happy. We have all followed Riot Season for a long time, through Mainliner, Acid Mothers, Hey Colossus, Sloath – to name just a few. Andy at Riot Season: top man!
Ben: Yeah, I have a number of Riot Season releases in my collection… the man has excellent taste and judgement, so when he agreed to release our album I was chuffed to say the least.
(((o))): Apparently you’re ready to record your next album, is this true?
Rob: We’ve got two more as it happens… at least.
(((o))): Are you all into similar music?
Rob: I think so. I guess we must come to certain conclusions about what we do based on the music we all listen to, so the similarities and any differences will all be in there somewhere. That’s a more rounded way of looking at it.
Ben: There are definite crossover points, but I think we all listen to a fair amount of different stuff too, which may go some way to explain why our style can be quite fluid. We were playing something the other day and I thought it had a bit of a Springsteen vibe… Rob wasn’t overly impressed with that comparison. Not sure what the problem is to be honest, who doesn’t like a bit of Springsteen!?
(((o))): Who is the best band you have ever shared the stage with?
Rob: I loved the gig with Bong and Casual Nun at the Black Heart last year, but watching the carnivalesque conclusion to this summer’s Cosmic Carnage all dayer at the Windmill with Luminous Bodies at the wheel was pretty special.
Ben: Watching Acid Mother’s Temple tear up the same stage we’d played at Raw Power last year was pretty cool.
(((o))): How do you feel about the London scene currently, is it in a better or worse state than when you formed as a band?
Ben: Better than it’s ever been in terms of the sheer number of great gigs to go to on any given night. We seem to be in some sort of golden era for heavy music at the moment, and as a fan of heavy music I think it’s fucking great!
Rob: I agree with Ben, although I’m more sceptical about London generally (I moved out of town a few years back after over a decade of living there), which has had a knock on effect in terms of the way I view the music scene. There is a lot of good stuff, but there is a fair amount of stuff that still wouldn’t sound or look out of place in an episode of Nathan Barley. The krautrock, psychedelic and satanic/horror tags are being thrown around pretty liberally these days as well, so I think some of the definition around those has been lost. It’s a rapidly churning scene, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Some stuff gets watered-down as a result, other stuff becomes more intense.
(((o))): Name 3 bands who Early Mammal think fucking rock.
Rob: Sloath, (bit more Sloath), White Hills, and pretty much any band Mike Vest seems to touch, especially Bong and Blown Out – the man’s a demon – in the nicest possible sense of course.
Ben: Luminous Bodies, Casual Nun, Bong.
(((o))): If Early Mammal was an animal, what would it be?
Rob: The hideous offspring of a bear and an elk (a belk?).
Ben: I just threw that question out the room I’m in and the responses came back either a jaguar or a moose. Take from that what you will.
(((o))): Apart from the new album, what are your plans for this year?
Ben: More recording. And some gigs… maybe. No, actually a few gigs. The next one being at the Strongroom Bar on October 3rd with Now and then October 17th at the Lexington with the mighty Sex Swing, when with a bit of luck we’ll have some vinyl to thrust into people’s faces.
Rob: What Ben said – further evolution.
Take a Lover is released on Riot Season on October 16th and available for pre-order through here.
