Mentallica are hailed as Europe’s finest Metallica tribute act, recreating the live experience of a real Metallica gig for fans across the continent. They spend their weekends thrashing out their favourite ‘tallica tracks, gathering new fans and making new friends at every turn. And sampling local beers at every opportunity, of course. No surprise then that our catch up backstage at Mr Kyp’s in Poole is riddled with positivity.
So how’s your year been?
Dave (Bass): It’s been really good; we’ve played more gigs than we ever have so we’ve had a great year.
Aid (Guitar): Sixty by Christmas!
Dave: Yeah and we’ve had some really good ones, we played the Channel Islands and had some great beers and picked up loads of disgusting stories - they never stop!
Aid: It’s been a very good beer!
Aid’s witty pun was naturally followed by mass laughter and an offer for an unfortunate looking kiwi fruit.
No, thank you. So have there been any stand-out gigs?
Dave and Aid in unison: Guernsey!
What makes it so memorable?
Chris (Guitar and Vocals): Coming off stage knowing we’ve done it right.
Dave: Seeing that people have enjoyed it. We played a gig a few weeks ago, a tiny place but it was rammed and I loved that. And we played a great rally in Guernsey and basically their clubhouse was an old German Bunker. It was so fantastic just drinking through the night in this two-roomed bunker and I said to the guys who run it that they should knock the two walls in and he said ‘well they’re eight foot thick of concrete so and full of dead bodies!’
Epic!
Aid: Maybe suggest they put a serving hatch in!
Dave: They probably won’t do that. [More mass laughter]
Aid: Once some guy fell into a pile of broken glass! Cut his hand and it dripped everywhere... and another guy had to call an ambulance for a back injury.
Dave: So that was really memorable!
Chris: Another time this one bloke had both his teeth knocked out in a mosh pit...
Dave: And who was that girl who was carried out to an ambulance?!
Chris: Oh yeah!
A lot of passion then!
Dave: Yeah, you always know it’s been a good night for us when somebody gets hurt!
Describe your average day as a tribute act.
Aid (assigning various tasks to the band members): Drive. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep... and then on the way back; sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Drive!
Dave: It’s a long day for us really; we usually meet up about twelve o’clock.
Aid: Then it’s an eighteen or nineteen hour day.
Dave: But we have a great time, few beers and a good laugh.
How many gigs do you do a week?
Aid: One or two, Fridays and Saturdays mostly. We’re too extreme to play five nights a week!
Extreme is the right word. Mentallica do what they do so incredibly well that it’s impossible to find fault. Many tribute acts could be branded disappointing or subpar simply because they’re not the real thing, but the Dudley foursome are impeccably tight from start to finish. The crowd embrace every second of classic tracks ‘Seek and Destroy,’ ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ and ‘Enter Sandman.’ They’re lead by an inspirational gang of head banging school children at the barrier who, in Chris’ words, do, in fact, ‘speak fluent shout.’
How’s the set list put together and do you have favourite ‘tallica songs to play live?
Dave: We do it five minutes before we come on! But we always keep our set lists so we know what we played at the gig last time - there’s probably five of the big ones we have to play every night, everyone’s favourite songs, but we swap it around and try to play differe
nt things every time.
Aid: A bit like Metallica do really, they tend to keep six or seven songs in every night off the new album and the classics.
Chris: I like ‘Hit the Lights.’
Mort (drums): To play at the minute- ‘Motorbreath’!
Aid: ‘Fade to Black’!
Chris: I like the likes of ‘Sanitarium’ and the thrashier stuff like ‘Ride the Lightning.’
Aid: He likes the ones where he can sing quietly and see the girls looking at him.
Chris: Yeah, gota get laid somehow!
Indeed! Did you like the new one?
Chris: Yeah it’s great. It’s challenging but I love it.
Dave: There’s at least one album that people say isn’t so good so this one’s a real return to form really. They’ve sold out gigs all over the world so you can see how popular they are. Fair play to them!
Have you seen them this year?
Dave: We saw them last year at the NEC, was a great gig.
Aid: Yeah I saw Dave down the bottom going [wave’s arms frantically] ‘ahhhhh!’
Chris: He’s always doing that though.
Dave: (laughs) that was on the way there!
Aid: He was disappointed he didn’t get a beach ball though. You know in’ Seek and Destroy’ there’s the huge black beach balls?
Dave: But I got a plectrum! It bounced off this woman’s head next to me and right into my hand.
Do you use it?
Dave: No I don’t, I’ve kept it somewhere safe.
Aid: It’s so secret he doesn’t know where it is!
So have you ever met them?
Dave: No but we played at a University three or four years ago and everyone was asking if we’d seen the interview with [Metallica Guitar legend] Kirk Hammett. I hadn’t seen it but in it Kirk was asked who his favourite band was and he had said ‘Oh its Mentallica.’
Chris: His favourite tribute band.
Dave: Hmm I haven’t seen the interview. See you made me look a liar now! That’s it! [Dramatic rock star-style tantrum]
Aid: “I wanted cheese and onion crisps!”
That was clearly an in-joke. There are plenty of them tonight - but that’s what you’d expect from four guys who spend their weekends drinking, shredding and playing homage to the greatest metal band of all time.
Dave: The first time we ever played their sound engineer pitched up. It was really good of him to do the sound for us and he gave us tapes, all their intro stuff and plectrums and said ‘Metallica have heard of you and they say all the very best.’ That was a really nice thing for him to do. They’ve picked up a lot of their sound crew from [legendary British heavy metal band) Diamond Head.
Aid: We actually played with Diamond Head!
Dave: Yeah, which was fabulous.
Chris: We’ve actually nearly supported Metallica once or twice. There was some idea they were going to come to the country when they released [1998 Cover album] Garage Inc and we would support them doing their old stuff so they could just come on and mostly play that album. And also when they released [2004 documentary film] Some Kind of Monster we were going to play their after show party but that never happened.
Dave: So we’ve been close but never actually met them. Yet!
What does the future hold for Mentallica?
Aid: We’ve actually got gigs booked until this time next year – right up until December 2011
Dave: Yeah so we’re going to keep thrashing away. As long as we’re enjoying it we’ll keep doing it I think.
Aid: As long as my prostate holds up we’ll keep at it!
Coming back soon?
Aid: Hopefully!
Chris: This is one of our favourite places to come definitely.
Aid: I was going to ask Mr Kyp if we can play Halloween next year.
Dave: I’m getting married next week! So Halloween this year was never an option.
Aid: You sap!
Dave: Yeah I’m sure it’ll work this time, I’m sure!
What is it you like about Kyp’s?
Chris: It’s just a lovely looking venue, great place. And the crowd are mad - always mental. They just look after you really well here. Great set up and a great sound.
Dave: It’s definitely one of the best venues in the country.
Let’s just hope they provide Dave’s wedding music. Tonight’s show at Mr Kips is brilliant – so good they didn’t want to end. And, with quality, precision and a dance floor alive with devoted fan base of head banging teens and appreciative metal head veterans, who could blame them?
(After the gig) So how was it for you?
Dave: Phenomenal. Such a great place, you cannot fail to love it here, just great. I feel great! Cheers for making us feel special.
Long live the Masters of Tribute and the future generation of metallic heads.
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