As Detroit’s transitioning rock culture births a new generation of heroes, Mexican Knives have reintroduced the gritty, dark, soulful sounds that built the city’s reputation. Somewhere between the worlds of untreated alternative-punk, grim roots-metal and excruciating Gothic-soul, the group has found their signature semblance. 

 

 

After a turnover of multiple members, Mexican Knives have assembled their 5-piece setup as a Detroit rock powerhouse. In addition to their vivid live performances, locally and outside of Michigan, the band’s latest two-track EP, Other Tramps, was released in late August. The group now looks forward to the pressing of their 45 RPM vinyl recording with another Detroit scene favorite – Ritual Howls.

 

Mexican Knives spoke with Detroit Music Magazine while picking-through crates of vinyl at Grootka Records, located beneath PJ’s Lager House in Corktown, Detroit. Each band member chose a single record, from the wide variety of Grootka’s collection, to represent themselves. Mexican Knives discuss their sound, their “Killer Snake” music video and what records they chose, and why.

 

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As a group, you seem to be pretty selective with your instruments. John and Josh – you play a lot of Fender gear. Zach, you’re pretty regularly using a semi-hollow body guitar of some sort. Blair’s drum setup seems pretty minimal besides the tambourine hi-hat. Not a whole lot of toms there. Ruth, even your microphone seems to have some character. When you choose an instrument, do you choose it for your own sound, or do you make that choice with the band’s sound already in mind?

 

John: Zach definitely does, and I do too. That’s more for the equipment that we use though. Zach got a 70s [Fender] Twin Reverb [amp] and an Echo Box, and that’s when it started to really shape what our sound was like. Whenever I would see these guys, before I played bass, I always thought that the bass sucked. [Laughs] And I had an idea in my head of what I thought it should sound like. So, I have an old custom head that I run through. It breaks up really well, so that gets it a little grittier. We’re always trying to do darker sounding stuff. So, that kind of gritty tone from the bass definitely adds to it. Then didn’t you get that delay pedal? [To Josh]

 

Josh: Yeah. I got it for the band. And I play out of a Fender Deluxe instead of playing out of that Peavey [amp]. I used that for a minute.

 

Zach: Yeah, [Josh] came in and was just kind of passive about what he was going to do. It wasn’t my choice, but we kind of had that Peavey amp laying around. But, you know, a shitty amp that doesn’t sound good – nobody is going to make it sound good.

 

 

John: When you’re in a band for long enough and you have a sound that’s in your head – especially for Zach, because most of the songs start with him – you realize after a while that investing some of your money into equipment to make that sound really helps out. You can play one song on certain types of instruments, and it will sound pretty good. Then you play the same song on the right instruments and equipment, and it sounds exactly like it’s supposed to sound.

 

Zach: You just want to put yourself in a position where, when you pick up a guitar, it sounds exactly how you feel. I spent a lot of time talking with a lot of people before I was buying amps. There were a lot of great people that I have pretty close relationships with –  Joey Mazolla, who played with The [Detroit] Cobras was one. I lived with Danny Kroha, who was in The Gories and The Readies – he’s an incredible musician. I had the opportunity to pick his brain a lot. And a lot of it was trial and error. But, ultimately the goal is to plug-in and be able to play the instrument by feeling inside what it is you want to play. Rather than having to manipulate something.

 

Ruth: I guess I notice the difference when I’m singing through a mic that’s not technically a vocal mic. I do like the sound more from a vocal mic. But I usually tend to work with whatever’s there. There was this old Shure, Crooner microphone – it broke, but I used that for a little while in the beginning. I did like the sound out of that one. It was really heavy. [Laughs] But I tend to use whatever I can get and maybe mess a little with the reverb. We played a show one time in Cleveland, and the sound guy did a pinch of reverb, and a pinch of echo – it sounded so good. I feel like I haven’t been able to get it just like that again. I gotta figure out what he did. [Laughs]

 

Well, it almost seems that when the band is playing, sort of like how Meg White would highlight Jack White’s guitar by having a reserved drum part…

 

Blair: Are you saying I suck at the drums, dude? [Laughter]

 

Absolutely not. But, it seems like the guys of the group do that for Ruth’s vocals. You seem to deliberately stay away from competitive playing. As loud as you guys get – you never outshine her part.

 

Zach: You are totally, dead on. I mean, we’ve gotten into arguments after a show – arguments. It was very plain to us. I always say, and it’s not totally true, but I want to make the point known, ‘No one’s here to fucking see me.’ I’ll say that. Like, ‘No one’s here to see me. No one’s here to see you. No one’s here to hear you… fucking solo on the drums or turn your bass up 100 degrees. No one’s here to see that. They’re only here to see Ruth. That’s the only reason.’

 

 

Ruth: That’s not totally true. [Laughs]

 

Zach: It’s not. But it’s about the vocals. If we overpower her, then we lose exactly what we had intended.

 

Ruth: I do feel like it goes both ways. When I’m working on melodies I feel like I’m trying to punctuate them as well. I try to work within them, not as to stand out and be just a voice, and then these guys. I want it to all sound like it’s coming from the same place. You know, use my voice more as an instrument than a ‘me.’ Rather than ‘myself’ as an instrument.

 

Blair: I think it comes out well in our recordings too. It’s more like a mood. It’s not like a song that you can sing a chorus, and a verse, and it’s just catchy. You know, it’s more of a mood. You listen to it and you get sucked into it, and then all of the sudden you’re spit out again. It’s not something you listen to and right away you snap your fingers. It’s more of a mood. Like, I’d be stoned as shit laying in my tub, like with candles and shit. Listening to “Down to Hell.” [Laughter]

 

Zach: Musicians are an egotistical bunch. So, I think a lot of it is to kind of make sure that… when you’re on stage it’s easy to think, ‘He’s on six, I’ll turn up to seven.’ He turns to seven, then someone turns to eight, and the next thing you know – Ruth is just mouthing words. So I think you’re dead on.

 

 

Your latest EP, Other Tramps, which was released only a couple of months ago, features a track titled, “Killer Snake.” The video for that song premiered through Noisy. How did the concept of that video come to be?

 

Zach: I have a friend who was really excited about the band. She had a friend that worked at Noisy and…

 

Blair: We blew him. [Laughter]

 

Ruth: Just Blair.

 

Blair: Just me. Like… a lot. [Laughter]

 

 

Zach: But, no. Long story short, he was writing a long piece about Detroit bands. We built a report with him and eventually he said he would pass the video through to Vice. And the rest is history.

 

Blair: We all drive brand new ‘B-mers’ now. [Laughter]

 

Ruth: I just had this idea of using a payphone, and then we were going to jam as a band. Then they got into this hypnotizing thing. [Laughs] It kind of went away from the original direction, but it’s super cool. I really like it. Certain things were last minute. Like the cat in the bag. We were going to put this stinky little chihuahua in the bag, but we decided to go with the kitten.

 

Zach: We filmed it mostly in Southwest Detroit, and then here at the Lager House.

 

Why did John not make it to the jam session in the video?

 

Zach: Well his nickname is “Little Snoozy,” so I don’t know if I need to say anymore. He likes to sleep a lot. So, essentially, the idea was she was going to call everyone and then we were going to jam.

 

Ruth: The song is kind of like a Pied-Piper type thing. Then – the possessions.

 

 

Zach: It’s basically a woman who is coming to the conclusion that she has this ability to hypnotize men. That’s kind of how the song goes.

 

Excellent. Well, what records did we choose?

 

John: Alright. I have Talk is Cheap (1988), by Keith Richards. This used to be the only tape in my white Ford Taurus. 96′ – lots of dents. But I still felt really cool, because I would listen to Keith Richards all day. Great record.

 

Josh: I have Beggar’s Banquet (1968), by The Rolling Stones. This is a record I’ve been listening to for years. It’s got a gatefold. I think it makes sense for the record. Gatefolds are legit.

 

Blair: I have the Madonna “Like a Prayer” single… Just kidding. I have Alice Cooper’s Welcome to My Nightmare (1975). Classic record. One of my favorites of all time. It has my favorite intro for a record ever. And there’s Vincent Price hiding in there somewhere. It’s pretty great.

 

Ruth:  I picked Aretha’s Gold (1969) [Aretha Franklin]. It’s a ‘greatest hits,’ but it has a lot of good, early stuff on it. “Do Right Woman-Do Right Man” – great song. The reason I picked it was because there was no Etta James, and there was no [Black] Sabbath. The way she uses her voice is so strong. You can’t touch Aretha. She is the queen for a reason.

 

Zach: I have U2’s The Joshua Tree (1987). I get a lot of flack for my love of U2, but it’s a great record. Any time you have the opportunity to not only be a commercially-successful band, but also have Brian Eno produce your record, that’s incredible.

 

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Mexican Knives are scheduled to perform at The Loving Touch in Ferndale, November, 19 with Temples.

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