Artist Profile: Up Close & Personal With The Madmen Of MERGATROYD
Back in April, MADCAP Records Australia welcomed our first-ever heavy rock act MERGATROYD to the label.
After months of writing and development, MERGATROYD will release their brand new EP ‘Splitting Hemispheres’ later in October.
In the lead-up to the release, we had the MERGATROYD lads answer a few simple questions and tell us what they’re all about.
Darryl Young, guitar/lead vocals
Darryl Young – guitar, lead vocals
What is your role in the band?
Guitar, lead vox and designated drinker.
Describe your playing style?
Kamikaze guitars. A mix of grunge, blues and rock through an overdrive pedal.
Name two guitarists who have influenced your playing style.
Toni Iommi and Kirk Hammett.
Why did you start playing guitar?
Music runs deep and channels a lot of things from the underlying subconscious, and the guitar felt like an automatic decision.
What is your all-time favourite album?
‘L.A. Woman’ by The Doors.
What is the most embarrassing album in your collection?
I’m not really embarrassed about anything I listen to.
As the frontman for Mergatroyd, what is your creative vision for the band?
To keep testing the boundaries of what we think we can or can’t do.
In the event of a zombie apocalypse, what would be your weapon of choice and why?
I’d go incognito and wear a One Nation shirt, so they would think I’m just another mindless, groaning zombie.
Aaron Karney, guitar
Aaron Karney – guitar
What is your role in the band?
I provide meaty riffs.
Describe your playing style?
Messy.
Name two guitarists who have influenced your playing style.
Dimebag [Darrell, Pantera] and Mikael Akerfeldt [Opeth].
Why did you start playing guitar?
It looked like something I could do.
What is your all-time favourite album?
Damn, now the hard questions!! There’s far too many all-time faves; they’re all faves at different times for different reasons.
What is the most embarrassing album in your collection?
I don’t have one; other people might think differently.
How does your guitar work complement, or contrast with, Darryl’s?
I think we approach the guitar in a different way so we have a complementary contrast going on. I don’t do lead [guitar] stuff, so Darryl does that.
Autobots or Decepticons?
Voltron.
Mick Maduna, bass
Mick Maduna – bass
What is your role in the band?
To bring the drugs and thunder.
Describe your playing style?
My style is something like Sid Vicious [Sex Pistols] playing bass for Metallica.
Name two bassists who have influenced your playing style.
Damn it. The answers are Shavo Odadjian of System [Of A Down] and Nikki Sixx, haha. There are plenty of better bass players that I know but I’m certainly not good enough to be influenced by them, LOL.
Why did you start playing bass?
I sucked at drums and guitar just has too many strings.
What is your all-time favourite album?
I don’t have a favorite album; I’ve got maybe 10?
What is the most embarrassing album in your collection?
If it’s in my collection then I’m probably not too embarrassed by it. I got rid of my Richard Simmons record.
Most difficult bass line you can play?
Probably porno bass.
Complete this sentence: “Hello, my name is Mick and I’m…”
“Hello, my name is MICO and I’m not an alcoholic! The judge said I had to come! Oh wait, this isn’t AA? Pass me a beer!”
Rhys Edwards, drums
Rhys Edwards – drums
What is your role in the band?
Co-Founder, smasher of drums, composer & arranger of songs, merch organiser, logistics liaison, man on the ground, graphics & web guy, and I drive the van aka “the White Whale” aka “the Merga-Tank”.
Describe your playing style?
I listen to a lot of different styles, but mostly a heavy dose of hard southern rock with a dash of jazz and a pinch of black metal.
Name two drummers who have influenced your playing style.
There is a lot for their different styles but to narrow it down to two it would be: Vinnie Paul [Pantera] and Jimmy Chamberlin [The Smashing Pumpkins].
Why did you start playing drums?
I’ve always had a love for music even as a young lad – tapping away on any surface within reach, sitting back watching my INXS ‘Greatest Hits’ VHS. But it wasn’t till one day; I was watching my MTV and Pantera’s ‘I’m Broken’ came on, and I saw Vinnie [Paul] playing those drums. I knew from that moment that I wanted to play the drums, hard and heavy.
What is your all-time favourite album?
Sunk Loto – ‘Big Picture Lies’
Till the day I die, this will be my favourite album.
What is the most embarrassing album in your collection?
No album in my collection is embarrassing. I have no regrets [about] what I buy and every album has been listened to over 100 times. And I can’t even point out a weird one as my collection goes from metal, to country, rock to blues and rap to orchestral.
The hardest thing about being a drummer?
Carting my kit around, setting it up and taking it down.
You get to rule the Universe for one hour; what do you do?
Find alien life in the universe, or create it. Either way, everything will now be ‘Star Wars’.
MERGATROYD release their new EP ‘Splitting Hemispheres’ via MADCAP Records Australia on 13 October. Get your copy at www.madcaprecords.com.