An Armchair Critic - Interview!

We recently had the pleasure of speaking with Jonathan Taylor of An Armchair Critic Blog who gave us a brilliant review of our new album and wanted to follow things up with an interview and a few interesting questions, including some we have never been asked before. We'd like to thank Mr Taylor for taking the time to speak with us and recommend you check out his rad new blog. Thank you also to the wonderful Andy Watson [www.drw-images.co.uk] for the photographs which accompany the Q&A. Both gentlemen of the highest order!

xo

Mrs M

[WWW.ANARMCHAIRCRITIC.COM]

AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

with Tairrie B & Mick Murphy of My Ruin

An Armchair Critic has been given the opportunity to lose his interview cherry to one of the most influential metal bands of the last decade. My Ruin's refusal to conform to the corporate junket has allowed them the opportunity to continue producing quality records, without the black corporate raven sat on the top of their speaker stack. With a combined and enigmatic combination of Tairrie B and Mick Murphy guiding the sound and evolution, their recent release ‘Ghosts & Good Stories,’ is an album that is as heavy as it metal.

By Jonathan Taylor

When you were starting out in the music industry did you ever anticipate being the lead singer of a metal band?

TBM - No. Being in a metal band was the furthest thing from my mind at that time. As most people know, I started my music career in the hip hop world as a solo rap artist and this was what I lived and breathed for many years before starting my first metal band [Manhole] which later became Tura Satana.

Tura Satana was one hell of a band, how was it to be in a band the helped redefine hard rock?

TBM - Thank you, that’s very nice of you to say. Back then, there weren’t really a lot of women screamers fronting bands that were playing the type of music we were playing at that time so I didn’t really have a great deal to relate to on the female front. I had to basically find my own way and navigate through the male dominated world of hard rock & metal which I was not very familiar with and was not always that inviting. I think I learned a great deal in those days about who I was as a woman which helped to define who I am as an artist. Tura Satana and more importantly, Manhole were both seminal bands that opened the doors for girls in many of the popular metal bands you see nowadays and I will always be very proud that I can say that.

You were known to be good friends with Lynn Strait; I have often wondered why you never appeared on the tribute album 'Strait Up!'?

TBM - Yes, I used to wonder this same question myself for many years and having you ask me this out of the blue is a bit eerie because strangely enough it wasn’t until a couple weeks ago that I found out part of the reason I was suspiciously left off. It’s sad that I wasn’t included on the tribute album for Lynn while a few people who had no place on it were instead because it was more about big names than true friends and people who actually knew and loved Lynn. I wrote a wonderful tribute to him on My Ruin’s album “A Prayer Under Pressure of Violent Anguish” called “Rockstar” which we released in 2000.

I was wondering what bands it was that you grew up listening to, and do these still to this day play much of a role in your sound?

MM - I am going to list the biggies chronologically as they came into my life starting back as a kid in ’74. Kiss, UFO, Deep Purple, Aerosmith, Rick Derringer, Jeff Beck, Judas Priest, AC/DC, Rush, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, Ozzy (w/ Randy Rhoads), Motley Crue, Ratt, Dio, Loudness, Anthrax, Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Voivod, King Diamond, Mercyful Fate, Black Flag, Descendents, All, Fear, Bad Brains, Rollins Band, Badlands, Pantera, RHCP, Soundgarden, Mother Love Bone, Alice In Chains, Nirvana, COC, RATM and Helmet. Yes, they’ve all influenced me in one way or another over the years and still do.

You are clearly an extremely talented musician, but how did you become such an accomplished producer? Had you done any before you joined My Ruin?

MM - I have been recording myself since the ‘80’s. That’s how I write songs. I just know what I think sounds good, tight, in tune, in time, vibey and powerful. It was a natural progression.

I have read in many interviews that you are an incredibly chilled and humble man, how have you sustained this in an industry that has a reputation for destroying musician’s souls?

MM - I don’t have time for bullshit so I don’t go around bullshitting. This town and industry pretty much sucks but I love to play music so that’s what keeps me going. My southern upbringing also helps me keep both feet on the ground (most of the time).

Ghosts and Good Stories’ seems to be much heavier in sound than your previous recordings, what do you think has influenced this?

TBM - I would have to say that our growth as musicians and Mick’s getting more involved in the recording and producing side of things with each new album has definitely influenced our sound in many ways. I think we always try to keep the soul of our music true to who we are as a band with each record but it’s nice to experiment and try new ideas when we go in the studio.

MM- Heavier songs just happened this time around. The record also has a big sound and that helps convey the heaviness more effectively as well.

The lyrics of ‘La Ciudad’ speak of your love and hate for LA, what was the motivation for the lyrics and how has L.A. changed during your musical career?

TBM – I am a California native. I grew up in the San Fernando Valley and being that I was born and raised here, I will always have a certain heartbeat for Los Angeles but at the same time I have had a sort of love/hate affair with the city for years. I found myself writing this song as a narrative for how I began to feel over time as someone who has spent her life in LA and watched it evolve through the TV eye of the media as well as the music scene and various friendships with people who reside here. While this city can indeed be very beautiful and inviting there is also a darker side and this particular track is more of a misanthropic ode to its plastic wasteland of fakeness with six degrees of separation between reality and fiction under the bright lights of the Hollywood sign. That’s how I would define it.

How do you collaborate on the writing and structure of My Ruin songs?

MM - I demo riffs, arrangements and songs and present them to Tairrie and we work on them from there or sometimes she’ll give me a rhythm, a lyric or a tempo and I’ll work off her idea. She then writes lyrics and vocal lines to my demo recordings.

G&GS seems at times to have an operatic aesthetic, was this the intention when writing the album?

TBM - That’s an interesting and very unusual interpretation. When I think of the term “operatic” I usually think of singers like Tarja and bands like Nightwish which I would consider My Ruin to be the polar opposite of vocally speaking since I’m more of a screamer than singer. I feel the new album actually has a more of a doom aesthetic than that of our previous recordings which are more rock & metal oriented but I suppose everyone hears things differently and isn’t that really the true beauty of music?

MM - Hmm. That wasn’t necessarily intentional but I’ll take it. Obviously we aren’t operatic sounding like many other bands around today though. We aren’t “sing-songy” at all. It’s more like an aural assault.

What was the motivation for The LVRS side project, and how different was the approach to recording it from recording as My Ruin?

MM - It’s an interesting and different way to approach making music. It’s very cinematic and story oriented so the music must create atmosphere for the words.

TBM - The LVRS recordings were born one evening back in 2003 after I watched a documentary about the murder of Elizabeth Short AKA the Black Dahlia. I had known her story but not in such full detail as that which was told in this particular film I had seen. The details which were so brutal and tragic coupled with the fact that she was so young and beautiful at the time really struck a chord with me and seemed to resonate in my mind to the point I found myself almost being compelled to write about her. I asked Mick to put together music that would be something different and more dramatic than the type of stuff were writing for My Ruin and things just began to take shape. ‘The Sum of Her Parts’ was the first recording for The LVRS debut album ‘The Murder of Miss Hollywood’. I had recorded a few spoken word pieces over the years on the first two My Ruin albums as well as in my previous band Tura Satana but this time it was different and the stories seemed to have a life all their own so we created The LVRS to give them a way to breathe and as another way to express ourselves together musically. The LVRS recordings are heavily influenced by death and romance with the idea that a whisper can sometimes be more frightening than the scream. There are elements of sex, violence and religion thrown into the mix but unlike My Ruin songs which are all based on true life experiences, The LVRS mix fact with fiction to create stories and set scenes that have an almost otherworldly feel and sensibility within their ominous musical soundscapes. They have a very intense yet poetic style to them despite the graphic nature of some of the lyrical content. In 2006 we released ‘Death Has Become Her’ and in 2010 ‘Lady Speaks The Bruise’. "Both are available to download" online at www.thelvrs.bandcamp.com

What song is guaranteed to get you playing air guitar?

TBM - I’m an air drummer at heart but when I do air guitar it’s usually to my husband’s sexy riffs! ;)

MM - ‘Eruption' by Edward Van Halen.

What is the most significant incident /event of your life, thus far, and what lasting effect has it had on you, both artistically and personally?

MM - I have 4 events for this answer … hearing KISS “ALIVE!” at age 4, in ‘75, getting a guitar for X-Mas ’83, starting a band just out of high school and learning about touring and living the rock life and meeting Tairrie in 2000.

TBM - There have been many over the years including getting signed by Eazy E and releasing my first rap album, starting my first rock band Manhole and touring the world, watching Nick Cave sing live for the first time, starting My Ruin, meeting Mick, recording all the albums we have together and the many things we have gone through as a couple both good and bad over the years including my car accident in 2006 which still effects me to this day. It’s really too hard to pin point one significant incident or event because a lifetime is filled with so many highs and lows and they all effect you in different ways and for different reasons.

I assume that music plays a significant role in both your lives. What bands do you enjoy listening to, and is it only metal? And what bands have you recently discovered and would say are worth a listen?

TBM - I enjoy listening to everything from old school rap to classic rock. It really depends on my mood. I love pulling out old CD’s that I haven’t heard in a while and revisiting special memories certain songs evoke. I recently listened to PJ Harvey’s album ‘Is This Desire’ which I haven’t heard in years and fell in love with it all over again. It’s such a gorgeous record. Lately we’ve been listening to the band ‘Ghost’ who we’re both really into at the moment but I fear they might be slowly putting a black metal spell on me with their not so hidden satanic messages and romantic vocals.

MM - I listen to 70’s rock, metal, punk & fusion, 80’s thrash, hardcore and some hair metal, 90’s alternative hard rock & some grunge and post 2000 doom, stoner rock and underground metal.

What was the first song you danced to as Mr & Mrs Murphy and what memories does it hold?

TBM - What an awesome question! This is the first time anyone has ever asked us this. We dance together all the time in our kitchen so I’m sure must have danced to a few of our favorites soon after we got married but the song I really remember as husband and wife would have to be ‘Moondance’ by Van Morrison. It is our song and we danced to a live version of it played by a band at the hotel we were staying at on my birthday soon after we got married. It’s a wonderful memory of an amazing evening.

MM - On a side note, we actually danced to ‘Moondance’ on our 6 month dating anniversary blaring out of my car up in Laurel Canyon back in 2000. On the way home, I got pulled over by L.A. Sheriffs for burnt out license plate lamps and subsequently field sobriety tested on Sunset Blvd in front of The Standard Hotel. I passed!

It is obvious that My Ruin have played some great and legendary venues all over the world, but what is your favourite and why?

MM - The most familiar is the Whisky in L.A. for sure. They treat us like family there.

TBM - I can’t really tell you my favorite venue but my favorite city will always be London.

You are both marooned on a desert island; you have food, bedding and shelter! What three luxury items would you wish to have with you?

TBM - Red lipstick, Angel perfume by Thierry Mugler and my laptop with unlimited WIFI.

MM - iPod, guitar and studio.

With all the turbulent times within the line-up of My Ruin, was there ever a time when you thought about splitting up the group?

MM - There has been many times when I thought to myself it might be over but somehow My Ruin keeps going because Tairrie and I really love making music together.

TBM - Yes. I’d being lying if I said I didn’t. Being in a band is not always as fun as it may seem on the outside to those looking in, especially when you have to deal with some of the people we’ve had to deal with in and around My Ruin over the years. We’ve gone through some serious trials and tribulations throughout our career but we would never end the band because of someone else. When we end it, it will be on our terms because we simply don’t feel the need to continue. Thankfully that day has not come yet. In fact, we have the first of a few very big band announcements coming in August which we have been keeping secret and can’t wait to share!

An Armchair Critic Review!

[Photo by Andy Watson @ www.drw-images.co.uk]

Jonathan Taylor is An Armchair Critic with an awesome new music blog we recently discovered and recommend you check out! Thank you again to Mr Taylor for his beautiful words and thoughtful review of new album which you can read below.

xo

Mrs M

WWW.ARMCHAIRCRITIC.COM

By Jonathan Taylor

Ghosts and Good Stories is a significant release for My Ruin, it marks a decade of releases, of which this is the sixth album. As always it is unapologetic in its tone and never disguises its intent. Now recording as a two piece My Ruin are tighter than ever. The marriage – both musically and physically- between Tairrie B Murphy and Mick Murphy has culminated in My Ruin’s finest album to date. The intensity of two closely linked individuals explodes in a very controlled firework display of despise! Mrs M’s vocal outpourings of bile and hoodoo screams are perfectly complimented by the Sabbath drenched Southern sludge swagger of MM’s thick riffs and transcendental solos; this, along with the pummeling bass lines – heavy enough to blow the skin from your face - and the decimating drums create something awesome and beautiful!

The opening chords of ‘Diggin’ For Ghosts’ are so heavy you can feel the sweat being pulled from your brow. The immense doom of the intro howls with the midnight yearnings of a werewolf. This southern gothic soaked setting is perfect for the lyrics and delivery of Tairrie B’s purging of the soul in a grotesque tale of self-redemption; perfectly summed up in the line ‘If I kill all my demons – Will my angels leave me alone.'

The second track ‘Long Dark Night’ is, without competition, the heaviest tune on the album. Tairrie B screams and scolds the world of religion for its stagnating insomnia, the one that prevents the human spirit achieving atonement from past transgressions and past humiliations. The hoodoo voodoo sermon and deep riffs scream so hard that they tear deep into the soul and pump a floundering heart.

The track ‘Money Shot’ is a visceral attack on the weakness of woman in rock bands; those who allow themselves to be manipulated by the greed of an industry that is no longer governed by the artistic credibility of an artist but one governed by flesh equaling dollars. You can not help but feel this song is a sympathetic plea to the likes of Taylor Momsen, while at the same time a scolding from the high priestess of rock; a women who has never given ‘them what they need.’

‘La Ciudad’ screams with pure rock riffs in a requiem for Hollywood. The lyrics disclose the underbelly of a town that parades its Midas touch. This song openly shows the scars beneath the makeup of lies. The operatic guitar solo is so perfect in its grandiosity that it perfectly depicts the ‘town (that) has lost its shine’ – Tairrie B delivers the final line ‘La Ciudad de la Ruina’ (The city of Ruin) with a significantly mournful voice. A perfect executed track.

‘Deathknell’ closes proceedings; a dirge of bass and the echo of a guitar lead the exorcism of a doomed courtship and the subsequent resurrection from heartache. It does not promise an escape from the scars left behind, but relief from them by reflection. The albums finally ends fittingly with the exquisite dirge of Mick Murphy’s guitar.

G.&.G.S. is a beautiful offering to a loyal fan base. One final high point is the choral overdubbing on ‘Repose’ which hails a choir of fallen angels to deliver their deities blessings. Simply stunning!
Big thanks to Tairrie B Murphy and Mick Murphy for allowing me to use the exclusive photo of them ....... awesome couple who know how to ROCK! X

Schoolly D loves My Ruin!

This is a shot of my long time friend and Philly rapper Jesse [Schoolly D] Weaver who called me up one night to tell me he was about to do a rap show and he was wearing a My Ruin shirt on stage, then sent me this photo to prove it. Gotta love it!

Hip hop meets rock with the original gangster.

xo

Mrs M

Open Heart Zoo Interview!

Interview by Daniel Liberto
www.openheartzoo.com
:::::::::::

Composed of Eazy E’s former rap protégé, ex-Manhole/Tura Satana lead vocalist Tairrie B and her multi-instrumentalist husband Mick Murphy, My Ruin first broke onto the scene in 1999 as a vehicle for Tairrie’s solo material. Releasing her debut album, Speak and Destroy, that same year, the band have since distributed numerous LPs including their most recent 6th studio effort, the “reflective and apocalyptic” concept album, Ghosts and Good Stories.Defined by a sound consisting of “passionate vocals set against heavy rock beats”, in the early days the group, led by rapper turned metal vocalist Tairrie B, was made up of four members. As chopping and changing became an ever-present feature of the band’s identity, much like Trent Reznor’s Nine Inch Nails, My Ruin was to essentially be a project that reflected Tairrie’s aesthetic direction.Such changes were too however be steadied by the presence of Mick Murphy, a versatile, multi-instrumentalist musician who has assumed the role as My Ruin’s principal songwriter, producer and musical director. Establishing his trademark southern-drenched sound alongside Tairrie’s screaming, heartfelt vocals, the Los Angeles-based duo finally found their musical utopia as an authentic underground DIY band, following years of frustration tangled within the greedy constraints of music industry politics.

This rejection of contemporary, superficial industry ethics is further characterized by the duo’s friendly and very much humble nature. Illustrating a generosity that has over the years benefited many up and coming bands, it is their magnetic aura coupled with a hungry, irrefutable passion for music that has enabled cult independent bands, such as My Ruin, to flourish amidst times of global recession and uncertainty.As a testament to their dedicated, workaholic attributes, since completing their UK tour the band are currently juggling various other projects that include: Death Work Professionals – a throwback to old school gangsta rap, Blasphemous Girl Designs – Tairrie’s own custom jewelry line, a book documenting their vast experiences in the industry and a new music video that is set to air within the next few weeks. Indicating the levels of hunger and drive still inherent within these “old school” music veterans, OHZ sat down with the band to discuss topics as diverse as religion, the evolution of music industry politics, their new album and the story behind Tairrie’s acquaintance with rap pioneer and celebrated legend Eazy E.

MY RUIN - EXCOMMUNICATED

:THE INTERVIEW:

OHZ: How has “Ghosts and Good Stories “ so far faired on both a commercial and critical level?

TBM – My Ruin is not really a commercial band. We never have been. We don’t make music to appeal to the masses with a label and management team directing our every move behind the scenes. We make music for ourselves so that term really does not apply to us. On a critical level, the press has been amazing. We’ve received some of the best reviews of our career with this new album and we’re very proud that so many fans who have listened to it have embraced it and also given us such a great response both online and at the live shows. It’s always heartwarming to see people screaming along with me in the audience and rocking out to our new material the same way they do with our older songs.With each new album we record I feel we grow and learn about ourselves as artists and become better at our craft. I’ve come a long way since ‘Speak & Destroy’ which was the first My Ruin album [and without Mick] that I recorded in 1999. ‘G&GS’ is definitely a testament to our staying power as a band and as a couple. Over the years together, we’ve really worked hard to hone our own style that is unique to us and we feel ‘G&GS’ is our finest work to date.

OHZ: Listening to the album, it’s evident that religion plays a key role in underpinning your frustrations with contemporary society. What are your key issues with the church?

TBM – Sadly religion has been the cause of much hatred, violence and murder all over the world for centuries, turning man against man and man against woman in various cultures and societies. It has fueled wars, rapes, killings and terrorism. That being said, I myself sometimes do not understand why I am drawn to it or why it has always played a heavy role within my lyrics throughout the years, dating back to my days in Manhole and Tura Satana.I suppose you could say that I’m a hammer and nails type of girl because I enjoy using religious imagery explicitly in the metaphorical sense, yet I don’t just gravitate to it for its aesthetic. I find the potency conjured up by certain words and phrases to exude an array of mixed emotions within myself and others. I love the language of The Bible and it has often been an inspiring muse with its exciting and dramatic tales being both frightening and comforting. I don’t necessarily find it all that believable but I do find it to be one hell of an interesting story. As far as the Church goes, I have many key issues that reach far beyond the Catholic and Christian religion, which is evident on ‘Eyes Black’, a song both deep and, because of its subject matter, difficult to write. However, I felt it needed to be addressed just as the situation of so many women suffering and forced to live in submission worldwide needs to be addressed. ‘Abusing the Muse’ is another track that I felt compelled to write where I am not using religion in the typical form I am used to. Instead, it is a full frontal assault, call and response condemnation of the Church and all the self righteous evangelists, preachers, priests and prophets that judge and persecute others in the name of God as they pray for profit. I am certainly not in a band to push my personal agenda or preach from my pulpit, but I do have many strong opinions on organized religion based on personal knowledge. I’m not in favor of brainwashing. I believe in free thinking so it’s hard for me to get behind the idea of certain aspects of the Church and what it represents. While heavy metal and rock & roll are about as anti-establishment as it gets, religion is the extreme opposite. I know the two contradict each other completely and make for strange bedfellows, yet I find when they are combined in the way I bring them together, they make for a fiery dichotomy which is really intriguing to me musically speaking. I loathe talking religion because I am really not an authority on the subject and it’s hard to explain how my mind works when I write.

OHZ: As is often the case with the majority of metal albums, the content of your latest release is brimming with anger. Does this aura of hostility play a role in your everyday lives or are you characteristically laidback when away from the recording studio?

MM – I am a pretty laid back person in general but I can get angry or frustrated just like anybody can. I really like music with energy and aggression so I write with a lot of both. Tairrie’s lyrics are intelligent, confrontational and venomous so this inspires me to come up with riffs and songs that innovatively throw down in a musical way.

TBM – Back in the day I could have easily answered yes to this question but now I hope I’m a much more calm and relaxed person. Like with most artists, my music is my therapy and a release for me. Many things make me angry and sometimes those emotions do help to fuel my lyrical content, but I consider what I do as a vocalist to be more about passion than hatred. I prefer substance over fluff and I don’t scream for the sake of screaming or write confrontational lyrics just to show how pissed off and mean I can be. I write them to convey a clear and concise message of intent which goes hand in hand with the instruments. Many of our songs are strong message oriented anthems of defiance and rock & roll middle fingers that both men and women can connect with and relate to. I try not to label myself as an angry artist because I have many sides, just as our music has many sides and that’s the beauty of what we do. In our everyday life I am a pussycat. Just ask my husband. Meow!

OHZ: In terms of your collaborative process, do you both tend to write the album’s lyrics or is the songwriting process considered to be more Tairrie’s terrain?

TBM – I write the lyrics however, I enjoy running thoughts and concepts by Mick and getting his input on my ideas. We work as a team in our songwriting and he does the same thing with me when he is demo-ing a song. Mick has always been the main music writer in My Ruin nd now he’s also producing our albums and playing the bass and drums in the studio, as well as the guitar. He’s become a one man band when it comes to the recording and we know each other so well after 11 years that our music comes very natural to us.

OHZ: Who came up with the album’s title and to what extent do you feel that it effectively represents the music on display?

TBM – I came up with the title and also with the cover art, which is actually a vintage shot that was taken of my great grandparents in front of their house back in the early 1900’s in Michigan. From the moment I saw the image it spoke to me with its very otherworldly and somewhat haunting mystique surrounding it. I set the photo aside on the desk in my office and found myself looking at it daily during the time we were in the studio. After writing ‘Diggin’ for Ghosts’ – which is the opening track on the new album – the photo just sort of became my silent muse to the point where I knew it had to be the cover art. ‘Deathknell’, which is the album’s closer, was written as a love letter to Mick with the photo as inspiration for lyrics. It’s a very epic sounding, ominous doom, heavy spoken word tale of a couple who have weathered so much in the house they built together and with all the trials and tribulations they have experienced from outside forces, yet still remain as strong as the music they make. It represents us completely.

OHZ: How would you compare “Ghosts and Good Stories” to your previously released material?

MM- I think it fits our evolution nicely. It takes the music to new places while staying true to our style and roots. I’m really happy with how “G&GS” turned out, from the songs and production to the artwork, and I believe it is our best one yet.

OHZ: What would you define as being the major difference between the US and UK metal scene and what factors do you attribute to your success in the UK, in relation to your reputation in your homeland?

MM- I don’t really claim to be an expert on the modern metal “scene”. The UK has been great to us for many years and it has become our home away from home. We have also had great experiences in France, as well as many amazing shows in our hometown of Los Angeles and all over the USA, where we discovered that there are many My Ruin fans spread all over America.

OHZ: What are the key reasons behind My Ruin’s transformation from a traditional four-piece band into a present-day two person project?

MM- Simplicity. I write the music and I know the parts inside out, so why not just play all the instruments on the record? It saves time, money and energy however, I obviously cannot play everything myself live so we have a rhythm section that we take on the road with us when we tour. For our last big LA show and UK tour in March it was Luciano Ferrea on bass, who is new to My Ruin, and Matt LeChevalier, who previously toured with us in 2006 and recorded drums on our album “Throat Full of Heart”.

OHZ: When, where and how did you first meet each other?

TBM – I met Mick in 2000 at the home of fashion designer Terri King. I had modeled in her show earlier that evening at the El Rey Theatre and was at the after party in the Hollywood Hills when I was introduced to him by a mutual musician friend who had toured with me in 1999. I was sitting on a purple velvet couch at the time. During the evening I remember telling another friend that he was the man I was going to marry. My friend laughed and said I was drunk and didn’t even know the guy, but after exchanging phone numbers, written in my red lipstick on brown paper bags, here we are still together 11 years later and married. We tied the knot in 2008 on Christmas Eve in Mick’s hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee so I guess I was right!

OHZ: Does your status as an “underground” band ever frustrate you and are you ever tempted to sign a deal with a major record label?

MM- I have a hard time imagining My Ruin on a major label, however it does get frustrating when you feel like your band isn’t getting the promotion it deserves from a label or from the people hired to work your record. It would be nice to have the budget to buy on bigger tours in the US and Europe like other bands, but we don’t have a team financially supporting the band by bankrolling everything. When we tour, we usually have to headline the shows ourselves and that can be a little frustrating as well at times because it gets difficult to build your fan base outside of the people who already follow My Ruin.

TBM – I’ve been signed to more than a few labels in my career, both big and small, and it’s all the same. Today it’s almost harder to get a decent booking agent than a label. I am not excited about the idea of working with another one at this point. I want to self release our next album. Looking back, I wish we had done this with ‘Ghosts and Good Stories’ because it would have saved us the headache and aggravation of having to deal with Tiefdruck Musik and owner Daniel Heerdmann, who is the Devil in my opinion. Releasing our album on this label was the worst experience we have ever had dealing with someone in the music industry and that says a lot considering our history. We cut all ties with Tiefdruck right before our record was released and we’ve never regretted the decision.

OHZ: Has the rise of downloading and subsequent decline of record sales at any point threatened the existence of future My Ruin projects?

MM- It certainly doesn’t help. You can pretty much forget record sales if you’re underground. You have to find other ways to survive and that’s what we do. You really have to do this for the love of making music because, more often than not, it’s going to get downloaded for free.

OHZ: Do you consider the music industry to be financially viable for new up and coming DIY groups?

MM – Some bands will do well and many more will fail. That’s just how it goes. The game has changed immensely over the past 10 years so the methods of business, for better or worse, have evolved with those changes. The internet and social networking sites are now flooded with self promotion to the point where it’s a sea of spam, so it has gotten harder to stand out from the crowd in certain aspects, but on the other hand you can reach the whole planet from your garage studio too. It is a completely different world from when I started 20 plus years ago.

OHZ: What type of music do you both tend to listen to in your spare time?

TBM – We listen to a lot of classic rock & metal, old school gangster rap, early punk & hardcore, low rider oldies and stoner doom. At the moment we’re listening to a couple of bands we recently discovered called “Firebird” & “Ghost”, who I believe may be slowly putting a spell on me with their not so hidden satanic messages and romantic vocals. They sound a bit like Blue Oyster Cult meets Mercyful Fate and Pentagram.

OHZ: To date, what do you both consider as being your greatest achievement?

MM – Having stayed true to ourselves and our musical beliefs.

MY RUIN – UK TOUR MOVIE – 2011

:TAIRRIE:

OHZ: Given the fact that your vocals require a great deal of screaming etc, what is the secret behind you being able to consistently perform while touring?

TBM- There is no great secret, touring is hard on everyone vocally and it can take its toll when having to deal with harsh weather conditions, cold venue temperatures and germs, which get passed from fans to bands because of all of us being in such close proximity. I also enjoy getting into the crowd and sharing my microphone with the fans which, despite being characteristic of My Ruin and well worth the risk, probably doesn’t help matters much. I try to stay as healthy as possible before and during our tours but, being a California girl, I’m used to a warmer climate and sometimes the change is very shocking to my body. Although I’ve been going to the UK & Europe since 1996, I’m still not used to it. I make sure to drink a lot of tea on the road and in the studio. Throat Coat is the best with honey and fresh peeled ginger root added to the mix. I also use a throat spray called Vocal Eze which is a bronchio-dilator and strong respiratory anti-viral, anti bronchical that lubricates and stimulates immunity. Vocal Eze contains a mixure of herbal remedies like marshmello, ginger, osha, echiancea and licorice roots, along with propolis that together help to soothe and heal a raw throat. I never tour without it.

OHZ: Having been involved in the music industry since the 1980s, how much do you feel the industry has changed and to what extent do you feel these developments have had a positive or negative effect?

TBM – A great deal has changed since the days when I first started in the business and many things have remained the same. Being that I came from the rap world, the majority of my experiences were on a different level than what I have had to deal with in the rock world, but there will always be those similarities that exist on both sides and still hold as true today as they did back then, especially when it comes to men and women. I am not a fan of the music industry in general, based on what I have been through on both major and indie labels. I would like to believe things are slowly changing for the better so that one day labels will be extinct and artists can do it all for themselves, but that may just be wishful thinking because labels seem to make artists so deeply dependent on them. Another negative would be that, thanks to the internet, there is really no mystery left in music these days. Everything is there at the push of a button and sometimes even the things you don’t want to know about someone. Mick & I always remember when we were growing up and used to buy an album to read the sleeve and this was all that we really knew about the bands we loved, other than interviews we read about them in certain rock magazines at the time. Now the internet has taken over and with the invention of so many social media outlets like My Space, Facebook, Blogger and Twitter, where people feel the need to inform the public on every move they make and thought they have all day, it really does not leave much to the imagination and I am guilty of this myself. My Space is done and dusted for all intents and purposes and we recently deleted our Twitter accounts because it just became too much. I love connecting with the fans and friends of our band on Facebook, but even that can get a bit scary at times because it’s so personal and can start to feel a bit invasive when people get creepy and cross the line. Back in the day, MTV started as a positive. It was a groundbreaking company that introduced the world to the art of music video and many amazing bands and musicians. However these days it just caters to the lowest common denominator and promotes bad behavior with its ridiculous reality shows and lack of decent music. As far as music goes, there is nothing I find interesting on MTV or VHI. Most of it is of no value because it’s all so dumbed down lyrically and watered down musically. The current landscape of women in music leaves a lot to be desired and little I find I can relate to as a woman. As an artist, I understand that times change and you have to grow and go with it in order for what you do to remain relevant, however, this does not mean following every trend and becoming something you are not comfortable with to satisfy someone at a label who simply wants to make money and views you as a product not a person. We all view the world in our own way and what I might deem, musically speaking, to be intellectually defunct or lacking substance, because it’s sold a million copies to a mainstream audience yet still sounds like complete rubbish to my ears, someone else might see as creative genius based on those same figures, without necessarily paying attention to the lyrics or music and just the hot half naked chick singer. The music industry is a shallow graveyard filled with dead bodies of rockstars who became famous and couldn’t handle it, or who couldn’t handle it because they never became famous. It’s an ugly place that I would not recommend anyone entering unless they have a thick skin and can take rejection. It takes a great deal of dedication and hard work to keep your dream alive in the rock underworld. As far as the positive attributes of the industry go – we love making music and connecting with the fans of our band, and it’s hard to imagine doing anything else because we love it like we do despite all the drama that comes with it. We’re very grateful there are people out there who care enough about our music to continue to want to hear it and inspire us to continue creating it. We enjoy playing live, writing and recording. This is what keeps us going. Everything else is bullshit.

OHZ: What were the circumstances behind you initially meeting and signing a deal with Eazy E and overall how was your working relationship with the late, controversial rapper?

TBM - I was introduced to Eazy through Jerry Heller, who was his manager at the time and co-founder of Ruthless Records. I met Jerry through a friend of mine backstage at a rap show. When he found out I was a rapper he was surprised because I was white, but he gave me his card and invited me down to meet him and Eazy at Audio Achievements, the recording studio where NWA worked during this time. I went to the studio a few days later by myself and armed with only a one song demo called “Foxy Lady”, which was produced by Quincy Jones Jr [QD3]. This track featured a sampled hook of the original song by Jimi Hendrix, scratchin by DJ Crazy Toones [Ice Cube’s current DJ and little brother of WC from Westside Connection] along with some beat boxing by DJ Lethal of Limp Bizkit & House of Pain. Eazy, Dr Dre, MC Ren, Yella and The D.O.C were all there. Eazy listened to the track and was very quiet so I thought he didn’t like what he heard. I took my cassette tape, said my goodbyes and started to leave and that’s when he asked me if I wanted a record deal. I thought he was joking because I only had one song, but he wasn’t and I signed with his new Comptown Records label via MCA soon after.

OHZ: How would you describe the climate at Ruthless Records in your period signed there and how did you find the experience of being a white female in an industry largely dominated by machismo and gangster personas?

TBM – I found it exciting one minute and frightening the next. I went through a lot of crazy experiences in a short time of only a few years while being signed with Eazy’s label. There are also some very far fetched misconceptions and rumors about how and why I got signed, which I find hilarious to read or have people ask me about on occasion. For the record I was never personally involved with anyone within the Ruthless family and I left the label on my own terms because I wanted to start a rock band. Eazy did not understand this and I left without his blessing and did not get contractually released from my record agreement until two years after I left and only weeks before his untimely and unexpected death on March 26, 1995. There are machismo and gangster personas in the rock world as well as the rap world and I think my being white was almost secondary at times to my being female. There is and has always been a double standard when it comes to women in music and misogynist attitudes can be found in all areas of the music business no matter what side of the stage you’re on, so it’s important to have self-respect and integrity in what you do. I had no problem holding my own and speaking my mind back then and I still don’t. The only thing that’s changed is my hair color.

OHZ: During this period, did you witness any tension concerning the ongoing beef between Ruthless and Death Row?

TBM – I witnessed a lot of things when I went to the Ruthless offices for meetings and was privy to various intense conversations and stories by both Eazy and Jerry Heller, when he was showing off and acting like a big shot trying to impress me and my female manager at the time. There were bodyguards, guns and many shady characters which were not the normal things you find when at a record label and it began to make me uncomfortable when I was frisked just to enter the building for a meeting. The atmosphere was always thick with tension because of whatever drama was happening at the moment and you could cut it with a knife, whether Eazy was there at the time or not. I knew about the conflicts with Ice Cube and later Dre, but I tried to steer clear of other people’s business and personal affairs because I had enough problems of my own dealing with Jerry Heller. Over time and once I grew to know what a creep he was, I began to completely understand why both Ice Cube and Dre hated the man and felt the need to leave Ruthless. They both made the right decision and obviously their careers were better for it in the end.

OHZ: What is the story behind your metamorphosis from rap to metal?

TBM - Well, that’s a very long story which would require more than a paragraph so I think I should save that one for my book, which I have been quietly working on this past year. I’m a screamer. It has come very naturally for me since the beginning. I feel it was what I was meant to be doing on the microphone and I have recorded many albums with both My Ruin and my previous bands, Manhole & Tura Satana, that I am extremely proud of. However I will always have a special place in my heart and respect for old school rap and the hip hop culture which I revisited recently with my side project “Death Work Professionals”, a collaboration with Mick and my good friend Rhiis Lopez, vocalist of the metal band Ana Kefr. We got together in the studio and recorded a fun little cover and video of Dr Dre and Ice Cube’s classic rap track, ‘Natural Born Killaz’. In fact since people seemed to enjoy it so much, we have recently started writing and working on new material for the project, which you can download for free at www.deathworkprofessionals.bandcamp.com

DEATH WORK PROFESSIONALS - NATURAL BORN KILLAZ

:MICK:

OHZ: Before meeting Tairrie and jumping onboard the My Ruin music train, what type of projects were you pursuing?

MM – From 1989-1995, I was in a progressive metal punk band called Hypertribe. We were based out of my hometown of Knoxville, TN where we built a large following and played many insane shows. We toured the eastern US from Florida to Ohio, self released many demo tapes and released an independently distributed full length CD on our own label in 1994. In mid ’95, we played a string of shows in Hollywood. After that we decided to move to L.A. and changed the name of the band to Movement, as our style had morphed into a darker, stoner alternative metal. From 1996-1999, Movement played around Los Angeles looking to be “discovered” and eventually sparked a demo deal with Noise Records in ’99. Despite everything it didn’t work out, so after 10 years of rock n roll evolution and adventure, the band called it a day.

OHZ: Do you ever feel any frustration towards the fact that Tairrie is often the first name to be associated with My Ruin?

MM – No that does not frustrate me at all because she started the band and she fronts the band. Her lyrics, vocals and imagery are a huge part of what the band is. Tairrie has been a trailblazer for women in modern heavy music and she deserves recognition and respect. There are a few women in other bands from her past who she’s helped through the years and even put on record and introduced to her fans & friends by way of speaking about them positively in the press or taking their past bands on tour, yet they seem to continue to have a hard on for her by demonizing her to anyone who will give them and their current shitty bands the time of day. It’s pretty pathetic considering how much she helped them get known in their own careers. Both Manhole & Tura Satana were bands that were ahead of their time and Tairrie opened the doors for many of the female screamers out there today. She has stayed true to herself as an artist doing heavy music since 1993, when she first left the rap world to pursue metal alone and without the comfort of a manager or label to guide her. She’s made mistakes along the way, learned some very harsh lessons in business and in loyalty, but on the flipside she has made some records that will forever stand the test of time and for that she can and will always hold her head up high. I’m proud to have her in my life, both in my band and as my wife.

OHZ: Despite being able to play many instruments, which particular one do you consider to be your personal favourite?

MM – I would have to choose guitar by a mile. Rock guitar has been a huge obsession of mine since I was 4 years old, rocking to my older brother’s KISS Alive! record.

OHZ: Have you always, from a musical perspective, associated yourself with the genre of metal?

MM – It’s always been about music with attitude, interesting guitar work and riffs. My favorite genres are probably classic rock, heavy metal, jazz, fusion, thrash, punk, hardcore, alternative, doom and stoner rock.

MY RUIN - DIGGIN FOR GHOSTS - Live: April 2011

Metal Hammer Live Review - Hammerfest!

★ NEWSFLASH! ★

Just posted this new live review of our appearance at Hammerfest III by Dom Lawson in the latest issue of Metal Hammer Magazine. Visit out press section to read the full review!

xo
Mrs M

Band of the Month -The Metalheadz.Com!

BAND OF THE MONTH

★ NEWSFLASH! ★
We would like to thank Tom Fownes for making My Ruin "Band of the Month" on The Metalheadz.com and to Sian Parry for the terrific new 9/10 live review of our show at The Slade Rooms in Wolverhampton on our recent "Ghosts and Good Stories" UK tour in March. You can check out our audio interview with Sian which we recorded backstage before the show below!

xo
Mrs M

VIDEO PREMIERE - Excommunicated!

Dear Friends.

It's the day after May 21st and since we've all survived the "Rapture" as promised we would like to share with you our new video for "Excommunicated" filmed and edited by our good friend and long time fan of our band Miss Tor Burrows of Notorious Design.

We've had the pleasure of working with Tor in 2008 when she first filmed My Ruin on our both our 'Tell Your God' & 'ReligiosiTour' UK tour. This time she joined us on the road for our recent 'Ghosts an Good Stories' March dates and managed to captured a few of our most special moments on stage in Bristol, London, Wolverhampton and Hammerfest!

Thank you again to Tor [and a shout out to her rock partner in crime who filmed a few shows for us with our camera, Miss Elly Daw] for this bad ass video and to check out her other videos and more of her work please visit Tor online @

www.notoriousdesign.co.uk

xo

Mrs M

BGD Store Online Now!

ATTENTION BLASPHEMOUS GIRLS & GUYS!

My BGD store has officially gone live with my NEW 'Summer 2011 Collection'. Just in time for the 'Rapture' tonight! For those of you not being "taken up to heaven" I invite you to visit me @

WWW.BGD.BIGCARTEL.COM

Wearable art for the individual at heart and a little something sacred for everyone including custom made, one-of-a-kind signed & scented scapulars, keyhole plates, bracelets, pendants and my signature relics and rock candy rings. There are also new My Ruin shirts designs for girls & guys in all sizes + limited edition signed album/poster & sticker bundles.

xo

Mrs M

Beauty Fiend Tattoo!

She has been brought back to life after being murdered out in flat matte black, antique gold and baby pink. Her lips are a metallic red and eyes closed in false lashes as her skin shines of pearl white. She is dry and at home again, sacred in her sanctuary among friends and other objects of affection within the reliquary de la ruina. Her head is adorned in her newly golden razor blade crown of thorns and her chest pretends to beat from the bloody vintage glass heart with the metal cross from my microphone stand. She is a mess inside but her make up is perfect. My first muse and my last moment of worship. Born in 2000 and resurrected again and again. She is a saint, herself and a sin. She's been hated, admired and inspired a scream.

She is 'Beauty Fiend'.

Thank you to the lovely Miss Nickie Hobbs for the shout out in the new issue of Devolution Magazine! Nickie rocks and for those of you haven't seen her amazing new My Ruin inspired tattoo she inked on her arm featuring my 'Beauty Fiend' statue, it's time you do!

xo

Mrs M

Women In Rock - MTV Special 1996!

Check out this fun little video blast from the past that aired on MTV Headbangers Ball in 1996. The interview footage with me from 4:01 - 5:36 is from back in the day when I was in my first band, Manhole. It's taken from our making of the video for 'Kiss or Kill' album EPK and the other interview & live footage was filmed when we were on the October Rust Tour with Type O Negative. Until someone recently sent me this link, this was the first time I had ever seen this so I thought it would be nice to share something from my past with you.

xo

Mrs M