Dear friends, it has been two weeks since the debut full-length "V těle a zemi" by the Czech post-metal act Mayon was released, and so our irregular "Talks" series, which is all about our titles and their authors, is at it again. The topic is clear and we talked things with the Mayon guitarist Crack. Enjoy!
MAYON: Vinyl is a serious thing! We are glad that our debut was released on it
A journey that took several years. Such could be the full-length debut of the Czech post-metal act Mayon in a nutshell. It bears the title V těle a zemi (In Body and Earth) and was the focus of our conversation with the guitarist Crack.
What are your feelings now that the album is out?
Wonderful! It is in fact a sort of culmination of the last several years. And I mean it literally, since we started writing the first songs for the album sometime in summer 2021, we recorded them in summer 2023, made a music video for the title song in spring 2024, created the album merch this Spring, and now at last the album is released. The sad thing is that it took this long, so the euphoria gets mixed with annoyance that now people will expect us to play primarily these songs, while in fact we have been playing them for some four years now. On the other hand, it will be exciting to watch how they will do on live shows now that fans know them through and through, as well as how they will compare with the new songs that are currently taking shape.
Is this the very first vinyl in your music career? How do you feel about vinyls?
Yes! It is for all of us and a great satisfaction for me personally. In my opinion, vinyl is a serious thing. A big and costly endeavor. It shows you fucking mean business. When I brought the boxes with the vinyls to our rehearsal room, me and the bassist Radek shook hands and nodded that after the 15 years we have played together, it finally happened. I collect vinyls and I try to make time to listen at home. There are still more CDs than vinyls in my collection, but the ratio is changing.
Each scene has its specifics when it comes to music media. What is the situation in post-metal?
It depends. I guess post-metal belongs to the more extreme genres, meaning that it is not music for everyone. Nothing to dance to, rather longer songs. In short, a somewhat enclosed, sectarian-like scene. I am exaggerating of course. Here the vinyl will work best, for the vinyl collectors are crazy enough to actually having to pull out the vinyl, put it on the turntable, place the tonearm… and as it is finally spinning, then listen to it. Such active listening will most likely fit post-metal like a glove.
Though Mayon can be classified as post-metal, you point out there are other elements in your music. How do you see it then?
That post-metal is not our intention. We like it, we listen to such bands, but at the same time we are attracted to other music. In our music we tend to mix hardcore with shoegaze, sludge with grind, noise with western. All based on feeling. When writing a new song, we don’t think about how it should sound like, how long it should be, whether it’s supposed to have vocals or not. When I think about it, I guess we do really have a post-metal song per se. The closest one is perhaps just the title song V těle a zemi.
How do you see the Czech post-metal?
I am not sure we have some pure post-metal. In fact, I am not sure what post-metal exactly is. The way I see it, I would point to Lvmen, as this band influenced many other bands that fuse screamo, hardcore or doom. So, for example Drom, Tomáš Palucha, Tengri, Nod Nod, Ema Camelia, Underground Theatre, Tosiro, ŁŪT, Anurrn, Esazlesa, Le Bain De Maid, Ravelin 7, Velo, Five Seconds to Leave, The Owls, Elbe, Nuummite… those are or were bands that I would include in the subgenre and that we have been meeting on stage, sharing together what can be called a scene. Lest I forget, I must also mention FDK, who are probably closest to the term post-metal, as well Thema Eleven and their genius cover of Man with Harmonica by Morricone.
Post-metal is no doubt a small scene. Does that suit you? Have you ever had bigger ambitions for more fame, money and bikes?
I had. When I was 15 years old and just finished reading Come As You Are and grabbed a guitar. Then when I was 26 and knew I don’t have much time anymore (laughs). I like the romantic idea of being poor as a church mouse, having no strings attached and head out into the world on an endless tour. When I was reading The Storyteller by David Grohl, I reckoned this life must be great – at least for a time. But I have a son, a wife, a stable job and so I leave such ideas to pub debates with my friends. I did also read the Mudhoney biography and that’s some rock’n’roll. They touched it (the fame, the money, the bikes…) but in the end they all have families and jobs and tour only when their bassist, who moved to Australia, can take leave from his work at a hospital. Back to your question… Commercial success has in it (at least for me) the bad taste of some sort of pandering. Or at least of sharing some sort of, shall we say, mass taste. However, all of that keeps avoiding me my whole life, and so do any ambitions for fame, money and bikes. On the other hand, that does not mean I have no aspirations in music. I like to play gigs, and I enjoy it when there is a big crowd. I like it when someone listens to our songs and buys our merch. I guess I see it more like sharing the joy of composing rather than building fame and making money.
You recorded the album with Amák, a producer whose reputation is indeed growing. What is behind it would you say? What makes him so specific?
He said it himself in an interview somewhere. That he can work with anyone. He has his own sense of humor and is a total music maniac. He has the feel for guitar music, but at the same time he does not frown on any kind of music. He is versed in pop, rap, even noise/grind. He is in fact so unspecialized that it makes him special. Either way, for me he is a guy who grew up on the same music as I and who is surrounded by immense quality. This is what makes him tower above all other enthusiasts. When you are recording a Killing Joke album, are living the rock’n’roll life in USA hands on, or are doing FOH for Unsane, Mono, Russian Circles or High on Fire, it has to turn you into a killer producer.
It seems to me that the Czech metal scene still sees a producer as something almost exotic. How important is his role do you think? Should bands consider having one?
Sure. We musicians have a wee bit problem with our egos. When you do something, you don’t want anyone telling you how. Or you do in everything. I guess it depends on what exactly you want to do. What is your target audience. A producer should know what helps your music and what gives the band a boost. That said, when you consider (years later) how your favorite music sounds like, you realize it is only a production-wise calculated/calculating music. It gives you the creeps. I grew up listening to nu-metal and it is still close to my heart, but you know what I mean.
What does it mean for you that the album was released by MetalGate?
I have to say that after absorbing various information my initial excitement was replaced by even more excitement! It is a great label. A metal company of the year with many superb records and books behind their belt. A label that writes metal history. And it’s cool to be working with Ondřej. Except for Dymytry who are in there somewhere, their catalogue has great things to offer. Well, I am nervous if the hardcore MetalGate fans will accept us or damn the whole label to burning hells because of us. On the other hand, compared to Tortharry and the sort, we are a lesser band.
Though we are talking about Mayon, I assume you were an active musician already before that. Can you describe your career?
Let us begin when I was playing songs in the vein of Degen and co. (Smeg and the heads) on an out of tune four-string guitar and was drawing black and death metal covers for albums I would record someday. That was when I was twelve. Later when I was more realistic, me and some guys got together and formed a band called Zvuková terapie. After two gigs, we changed the name to Social Party, which lasted in various line-ups and musical directions all the way to the covid years. At the same time, there were different smaller projects and colabs. For example, Chocolate Box, which was me and the drummer from Kolo Kolo Mlýnský. There was also my solo project Laokoon, with which I did one EP with a spelling error that can be found on Bandcamp, and I think the more famous band from Brno that has the same name still doesn’t like me. Getting back to the Social Party, we managed to do some fine recordings and tour in Europe. In fact, the first EP of Mayon is the postscript to what we did with Social Party in its final years, i.e. the songs Večery v Ryu and Necit.
And as a fan? What did you grow up listening to? What had an impact?
That would be a topic for a very long conversation about myself. In short, my older brother of twelve years got me listening to Depeche Mode, Nirvana, Ministry, Sepultura and so on. So, when music began to catch my interest, I headed in the well-known direction. Added to that was the Czech underground thanks to the legendary compilation of the Big Bang! magazine called Full Moon, which featured such bands as Kurtizány or Gnu. We are talking about the early new millennium, with me being an adolescent nu-metalhead and a fan of the unusual sound that was coming from the Silver Rocket label. In the meantime, I discovered grunge, especially Mudhoney. Then a brief infatuation with Vypsaná fixa, followed by me coming back to my senses with hardcore and loud bands such as Akimbo, KEN Mode, Gaza, Cult Leader and others. In between all that, I inadvertently graduated in music pedagogy, so I have some insight into classical music and its history. I also like the 60s and the 70s. Simply put, there is a lot of what I listen to. Lately I don’t have much time to discover something new, which is a pity. In fact, nowadays I listen to music only in car or when jogging, and then I most often listen to the same bands over again. It has been a long time since I did that with a new band. There is not much that can surprise me now. That said, on last year’s Brutal Assault I came across Show Me the Body and kept listening to them for the rest of the summer and better part of autumn.