1.Growing Up
I think my first musical memory was sitting down in front of the TV wearing my Coke bottle glasses with my dad as we watched The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine on VHS. My parents were not musos at all, they just always liked good music: Zeppelin, The Doors, et cetera. On the other hand, my elder brother was blasting Metallica and Tool from his bedroom, which pricked my ears up to the heavy scene. I never looked back!
2.Inspirations
The first drummer who inspired me would have to be Paul Mazurkiewicz from Cannibal Corpse. I saw them playing ‘Hammer Smashed Face’ in the Ace Ventura movie and thought, “Hey, this is brutal! This is the shit!” My main influences as I started playing more and more were definitely Brann Dailor (Mastodon) and Billy Rymer (Dillinger Escape Plan).
3.Your Band
Black Rheno are Ryan Miller, Mariano Palomares and I. I moved to Sydney and needed a place to practise. That ended up being Housefox Studios, where Ryan opened the door wearing my exact clothes (cut up band tee and cargo shorts, no shoes) and said he was looking for a drummer. So we were bros straight away! Same goes for our token crazy riff wizard Spaniard Mariano – he came to Australia from Europe, looking at Housefox for like-minded brethren in order to build a heavy stoner band to take on everything with what he calls a “no bullshit” approach. Our single releases and debut EP Let’s Start A Cult proves this. It was recorded at Housefox Studios by Ryan Miller.
4.The Music You Make
Our style is a sporadic mix of stoner/sludge/groove/grind, intensely fuzzed guitars, hard-hitting drums and brutal, challenging vocals. Most of our music is heavily influenced by bands like Fu Manchu, King Parrot, Clutch, Red Fang, Snot, Kyuss and Cancer Bats. Our three released singles are ‘Jon Sparton’, ‘40 Years’, and ‘No Time For Numb Nuts’, along with Let’s Start A Cult. One thing to watch out for is our live show – it’s blistering energy spat in your face by all members. Just don’t let Ryan see you sitting on your arse not moving. You will be his target until you’re throwing yourself around like a beached salmon!
5.Music, Right Here,Right Now
We need more people supporting live music. Don’t get me wrong, the scene is still great, but it could be a tonne better. Get off your couch and go support some hardworkers doing what they love and putting on a show for you! A standout band for the three of us that we’ve seen lately is King Parrot. They have a brutal live performance with loads of hard work and tunes to back it up – absolute perfection!
Black Rheno play atHideaway Bar on Saturday August 27; andLet’s Start A Cult is out now independently.
