The Beauty of Being Blasphemous: Interview with Carl Begai!

It's always a pleasure chatting with rock writer extraordinaire, Carl Begai of Bravewords.com- Mr B is a longtime supporter of My Ruin and it was nice to take a moment away from talking rock shop to discuss my other passion. Check out our latest interview for BGD reposted via his personal website at CarlBegai.com and visit my store online at www.bgd.bigcartel.com to see my current
one-of-a-kind custom jewelry online now!
xo
Mrs M

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"THE BEAUTY OF BEING BLASPHEMOUS"

Interview with Carl Begai

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My Ruin vocalist Tairrie B. Murphy doesn’t subscribe to the mythical glitter of stardom, nor does she believe it’s necessary to get her assets out to sell her music. She’s an artist in the truest sense of the word, suffering both figuratively and – as the need arises – literally in order to get the results of her creative energy out to the masses. And, like many of her kind, she isn’t restricted by the “musician” box checked on her resumé. For sheer love of creativity, Tairre has her own business marketed under the banner Blasphemous Girl Designs, offering up one-on-a-kind custom jewelry for those interested in wearing a piece of in-your-face inspiration. Certainly not as high profile as selling hot sauce by the case or moonlighting as an actor, but it’s another pursuit that gives Tairrie a sense of accomplishment.

“I’ve always been a do-it-yourself girl,” she begins. “Back in the late 80's and early 90's, when I was a rap artist, I used to design custom pieces of jewelry that I would have made for myself at the Slausen Swapmeet in Los Angeles where Eazy E and NWA used to get stuff made. I was really into two and three finger rings, nameplates and cut out earrings. Before that, I was designing custom jeans and jackets that I would cut, bleach, sew, paint and embellish with various patches, vintage fur and found objects. I remember having this woman come up to me at an underground club I used work at one night, and she was a buyer for a really upscale store in Beverly Hills called Camp Beverly Hills. She asked me where I got my jeans and when I told her I made them myself she gave me her card. Next thing I knew, I had set up a make shift factory in my grandfather’s garage to hand make 80 pairs. It was crazy!”

“I have a lot of old videos of underground fashion shows I used to be a part of at clubs like Scream and Lunch back in the day, when I would design a whole custom collection and get my friends to model for me on the makeshift runways, strutting my designs to early Public Enemy and Malcolm McLaren records. It was a lot of fun, but it wasn’t until I was in my previous band Tura Satana that I started to design various pieces of jewelry to wear on stage and in photo shoots. I began seriously designing my own band’s merch once I started My Ruin. This is also when I started to create specialty pieces for our fans and friends. I think there’s a beauty in making one of-a-kind things by hand and from your heart that you can’t get with sourcing it out to a company to be mass produced, but it’s really hard work and time consuming to do it all by myself. When the time is right it might be nice to take it to the next level at some point and get a few of my ideas backed by a larger company.”

My Ruin fans have seen enough of Tairrie to know that she concerns herself with artistic expression first, income second. With that in mind, the question is raised to whether she’s ever second guessed herself with regards to turning what was a hobby into a potentially lucrative business. As in, if Blasphemous Girl Designs were to become large scale successful, does she worry about the diehard My Ruin fans consider it selling out?

“Not really. I honestly find it hard to imagine the fans of my band ever thinking I’m a sell-out in terms of what those words truly mean. I’ve been so underground in everything I do for so many years now that I highly doubt the term ‘sell out’ could ever apply to me at this point in my career. Musically, I’ve never been the girl looking to make it big on a commercial level because I believe it would mean giving up a great deal of myself and my personal integrity to make that happen, and that’s not what I’m about. There’s a fine line between keeping your artistic credibility and whoring yourself out to the highest bidder in whatever field you’re in as an artist. That being said, it would be nice to have my company grow over time and reach out to more people on a larger scale, while still having a bespoke boutique vibe about what I do. I think the possibilities are there, and I think those who have been with me on my journey would continue to support and stand behind me if and when I made that leap.”

Given the items listed on the website are often tagged as being sold out, as well as the sheer number of items available, it’s clear that BGD’s inventory consists of mostly one-of- a-kind pieces. A potentially painful situation in letting some of them go...

“Most of my designs are one-of-a-kind creations, but on occasion I’ll make two or a small collection that is relative to each other, with slight variations within the pieces to keep them all unique in subtle ways,” Tairrie reveals. “Sometimes I’ll find it hard to let a piece go depending on what has gone into the designing of it and the back story of the materials involved. I’ll admit, there have been times I’ve become attached to certain designs while in the process of bringing them to life. I often feel like I’m letting go a part of myself as I’m wrapping them and sealing the packages to be mailed.”

“I sign and scent everything with my signature oil that I mix by hand and have worn for years,” she adds. “I sometimes sell vials of it in my store as well. It’s one of my most popular items and I’ll have people come up to with a design they purchased months ago telling me they can still smell the oil on the leather, and how much they love it. I love that!”

“It’s a weird feeling to let your designs go but one that I have also come to enjoy knowing the people who will be wearing my creations will appreciate all the time and love that went into making them. I think that’s why I like the idea of selling to fans of my band rather than total strangers. I like having that personal connection and possibility that I’ll someday see them wearing it, whether it be in a photo they send me or front row at a My Ruin show. That’s the part about expanding my company that I’d miss.”

Tairrie offers a look inside her creative process for Blasphemous Girl Designs:

“I’ve been creating what I call my Blasphemous Girl Designs since 2001/2002. It started with making a few pieces for one off shows we played in LA on Valentines Day or Dia de los Muertos and then branched out to my making custom clothing and jewelry for our tours to go along side of our merch. I also used to sell pieces to a store in Hollywood called Blest, which was a really cool place to find custom designer one-off pieces that were a bit more high fashion and even couture. In 2009, I opened my first online store and things just sort of took off from there. I create about five collections a year at this point. I was heavily into deconstructing clothing for a while but I really prefer making jewelry these days, although every now and then I will stud a jacket or paint a shirt or vintage slip. It’s become a nice little fun side business.”

“I believe, as an artist of any kind, you have to create when the muse speaks to you and the mood strikes. It’s the same with song writing; I feel a cathartic energy and an almost inner therapeutic release when designing. I often incorporate found objects, vintage keepsakes, classic images and religious icons within my pieces to help each tell its own story, and I suppose in a way, my own story. When I write a song, I usually do a few re-writes before I am ready to record it, and even then, when I’m in the vocal booth things always change at the last minute. There’s a long process when it comes to lyrics that goes from structuring the subject matter in my own mind, to arranging the words line by line on to the delivery, and ultimately the mixing with the music before the final master. I think you need to know when to let go. I think many musicians have trouble with this and will work on a song for months and months, re writing, recording and mixing it again and again until it loses that special something it had when it was first conceived. The same can be said when it comes to art. Sometimes you just need to go with your gut and feel with your heart rather than over-think it all with your head.”

Religious imagery is a common element in Tairrie’s songwriting. It bleeds down into her art, to the point that it’s become something of a BGD calling card. And, of course, depending on the mindset of people outside of the My Ruin circle, some of her jewelry designs have been branded controversial.

“I can’t really explain my attraction to religious imagery,” Tairrie admits. “It’s something I’ve often tried to understand in my own mind but have never really been able to define verbally. While there’s an unspoken comfort for me found in the beauty of certain images I’m drawn to, there’s also a fear and loathing behind the ideas of what many of those images and icons are meant to represent. This is where the dichotomy of the struggle within my own head lies when it comes to how I interpret them at the time. Whether I’m writing a song or designing a piece of jewelry, I’ll usually let the images guide my subconscious mind to the darker side, whether metaphorically speaking with words or color and concept combinations.”

“I don’t set out trying to be shocking or controversial. I never have because that’s not what I’m about as an artist. I do what I do based on what I feel. That’s really all I can say. I think the fans of my band that listen to my music and purchase my designs do so because they feel a connection with me. I’m sure there are some people who don’t get it as much as others do but I think they all understand and appreciate the blood, sweat and emotion that goes into everything I do. I love the freedom of creating something new by recycling something old and combining images and ideas that would not necessarily go together. I’ve always been a fan of mixed media art on a larger scale, and for many years I’ve painted religiously inspired statuary and created assemblages that have hung on the walls in my home or the homes of my friends. I’d love to put some of these types of things in my store, but the thought of shipping them scares me when it comes to their size.”

Not surprisingly, My Ruin’s music and song ideas play an important role in the pieces she produces for Blasphemous Girl Designs.

“It happens all the time, but it’s usually with my art imitating my life, which more often that not means my lyrics. After spending months writing and recording a new album, it’s not unusual for the theme of that album to resonate with me for months and sometimes years after, so I’ll find myself drawing on songs and subject matter that I can make tangible and flesh, so to speak, in the form of wearable art.”

On a business level, Blasphemous Girl Designs continues to develop because Tairrie is able to turn a profit. It’s a baby steps project with legs that she remains dedicated to between writing, recording, touring, and having a personal life.

“I would like to continue to create custom designs and eventually take the next step with a few of my signature pieces,” Tairrie reveals. “I think it’s a soulful and heartfelt process that just doesn’t happen overnight, and in order for me to be able to devote the serious amount of time and energy I would need to do it the way I’d want to. I think I’d have to make a few changes in my life that I’m not ready to make at this moment.”

“I’ve just launched my latest fall collection for September, but I’ve actually been keeping something under wraps for the last few months,” she continues, “but I’m about to make the official announcement soon so I can’t go into all the details yet, except to say that I have recently been contacted by a UK based jewelry company and designed my first high-end custom ring. It’s nothing like anything I’ve ever seen. I just received the prototype last week and it blew my mind. I’m planning a photo shoot for it now and will be introducing it in the coming months online. All I can say is that it has seven pieces and was designed in honor of My Ruin’s new seventh album, which is coming out in December of this year. It will be available in my store and each ring will be hand made and shipped from the UK.”

A SOUTHERN REVELATION!

OUR SECRET IS REVEALED!

Dear Friends!

Our secret is finally out and we are excited and proud to announce that we have a new album coming in December! Produced by Mick Murphy & Joel Stooksbury, “A Southern Revelation” is the 7th full length studio album by My Ruin. It was recorded at Soundtrack Black Studio deep in the snowy mountains just outside of Knoxville, Tennessee in the cold January winter of 2011.

As a thank you and gift to our longtime friends, fans and My Ruin family worldwide, for your continued support and rock love for us, “A Southern Revelation” will be made available as a 100% FREE DOWNLOAD digital only release on December 7th and just in time for Christmas exclusively via www.myruin.net in your choice of 320k mp3, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire.

The new album includes 10 tracks: Tennessee Elegy, Highly Explosive, Walk of Shame, Deconsecrated, Middle Finger, Vultures, Seventh Sacrament, Reckoning, The Soulless Beast and a cover of the Van Halen classic Mean Street.

In 2010 My Ruin signed a 2 album deal with Tiefdruck Musik based on lengthy conversations with label owner and founder Daniel Heerdmann. We felt he understood our band and what we were looking to achieve with our new album. He was completely supportive and encouraging to us during the entire recording process.

In July, My Ruin delivered our 6th album “Ghosts and Good Stories” to Tiefdruck Musik. We were on a high after recording what would soon become our most critically acclaimed album to date and everything felt great. We had begun to confirm shows for a European tour and were looking forward to working with our new label when suddenly there was a strange and unexpected turn of events and Daniel Heerdmann changed from being our biggest supporter into our most vicious adversary overnight. We had no idea why or where this sudden shift in attitude had come from. We were now dealing with a completely different man and it was scary. We quickly began to discover many of his promises had been lies regarding money transfers, marketing, promotion and tour support. This led to our being forced for the first time in our career to cancel our tour as chaos and confusion set in. Our album release was delayed in every territory and our once friendly mutual respectful relationship was now done. To date My Ruin has never received any accounting from Tiefdruck Musik for album sales.

Instead of touring “G&GS” in September 2010 as planned, we found ourselves at home due to circumstances beyond our control, reading the barrage of hateful and unprofessional emails which were being sent to us and our attorney. Mona Miluski, who was Tiefdruck’s in house publicist, relayed to us that all of this was a pattern and just one of the many reasons she had decided to leave the label after seeing this happen to many bands previous to My Ruin signing with the Tiefdruck. Before our album finally came out in September, we decided to cut all ties and contact with the label who we believed were now on a campaign to sabotage our album and reputation. With no promotion or support for “G&GS”, we were left to fend for ourselves like an unsigned band. This was when Mona Miluski started her own freelance press agency Platinum-PR, joined our team as a publicist and we began our DIY press campaign which proved to be a huge success as the album received some of the best reviews and press of our career.

In the eye of the storm, Mick and I decided to vent our anger and frustration by writing our thoughts and putting them to music while home in Los Angeles. Within 2 months we had enough material to record another album. Having already planned to spend the holidays in Mick’s hometown of Knoxville, we decided to reach out to a friend and fellow musician Joel Stooksbury who had built his own home studio hidden away in the hills of Tennessee. Knowing our situation and without the luxury of a budget or financial backing of any kind, Joel expressed his interest in recording with us purely based on his wanting to help us make a rad rock record. Soon we found ourselves at Soundtrack Black Studio for 3 very cold and snowy weeks quietly making what would become My Ruin’s 7th album “A Southern Revelation”. After all we had gone through leading up to the making of “A Southern Revelation”, it was an amazing and very calming experience to be out of our usual element in Los Angeles while recording and instead be in Tennessee surrounded by longtime friends and family while working with Joel. Not only did he and his lovely wife Mindy open their hearts and home to us but he proved to be an incredible co producer/engineer/mixer and a loyal friend along the way.

“Ghosts and Good Stories” was a great album and there was potential for both My Ruin and Tiefdruck Musik to build a real foundation together on this as a band and label had it been properly handled and promoted as agreed. Unfortunately, Daniel Heerdmann crossed the line with us on both a personal and business level from which there is no recovery. Recording another album for Tiefdruck Musik is not an option for us, so we have made the decision to do something out of the ordinary by following in the footsteps of a few disgruntled artists before us and give our new album “A Southern Revelation” away as a free download. In an age where the majority of fans download their music for free on torrent sites, all we ask is that this time you get it directly from us. This way you will get the best quality version possible.

Both sacred and profane, “A Southern Revelation” is My Ruin’s meanest and most pointed recording to date. It is a highly focused, intensely passionate and cathartic record that invites it’s listener with us on our personal journey of reckoning in retrospect. Staying true to our sound and confrontational lyrical delivery we believe “A Southern Revelation” stands alone in My Ruin’s catalog with renewed razor sharp, violent scream vocals and spoken word over stone cold crisp yet doomy metallic rock guitar riffs.

While friendship is a fashion and honesty is the holiest disease, this is our seven daggers of Megiddo; this is our slaying of the beast.

♥

very truly yours,

Mr & Mrs M

[Video Created by Tor Burrows of Notorious Design]

Big Announcement Coming!

Dear Friends,

As many of you know who have been following us on Facebook, Mick & I have been keeping a very special secret under wraps and close to our hearts since December of last year when we went home to Knoxville, Tennessee for the holidays. It's been a struggle not to spill the beans and we appreciate you being patient with us. This is to let you know that after many long months, we are finally ready for it to be revealed.

We would like to invite you to join us this Saturday, September 10th as we unearth our news on top of white and snowy ground and share our Southern inspired wintery secret with all of you. Our official announcement will be posted in a new video at the top of our blog for your viewing pleasure.


Remember, good things come to those who wait, so make sure to save the date and tune in this weekend to find out all about our gift for you.

xo
Mrs M



"I prefer winter when you feel the bone structure of the landscape
the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show."

New BGD Collection Online Now!

NEW COLLECTION ONLINE NOW

@

www.BGD.BIGCARTEL.com

Why be beautiful, when you can be blasphemous!

'Long Dark Night' - Video Premiere!

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We are proud to present our new video for

"LONG DARK NIGHT"

Enjoy, share and thanks for the rock love & support!

Directed & Edited by Tor Burrows

'Long Dark Night' - Video Premiere Announcement!

Dear Friends!

We are excited to announce the premiere of our new video for "Long Dark Night" which will take place Monday, 8th of August here on our site and was directed by our good friend and longtime fan of our band, Tor Burrows of Notorious Design.

This latest offering is video number 5 for My Ruin that Tor has directed for us but this time, unlike her usual live performance only style videos, she has created a beautiful world encompassing the band which I have had a hand in bringing to life with her based on the inspiration behind the lyrics of "Long Dark Night" from our current album "Ghosts and Good Stories".

Our new video contains high quality HD live footage shot by Tor during My Ruin's Hammerfest III appearance in the UK earlier this year mixed with footage from our April show at LA's infamous Whisky a Go Go, shot by our friend and former drummer Marcelo Palomino. It also includes some very raw footage I shot of myself in my house with our Sony camcorder along with various pieces of vintage art and film we collected in public domain stock footage. All of which combined help to define the video within it's delicate shadings, hidden nuances and harsh realities.

One of the most special things about the making of "Long Dark Night" is the beautiful footage given to us by filmmaker/photographer Asatuurs Keim of a place called "The Hill of Crosses". For many years now, I have been intrigued and visually obsessed with this magical place located in northern Lithuania. Over the centuries, not only crosses but giant crucifixes, carvings of saints, statues of the Virgin Mary and thousands of tiny effigies and rosaries have been brought to this place by Catholic pilgrims. The exact number of crosses is unknown but estimates put it over 100,000 back in 2006. For some it is seen as a place of peace and power, for others a devotion and memorial. For me however, it is simply a scene of beauty whose landscape speaks to me on an otherworldly level when I view it's images in photographs. It wasn't until Tor came across the footage shot by Asatuurs that this place began to speak to me subconsciously inviting me to have my own personal connection to it within this song, breathing a new scenery into my language. This is when I decided to reach out to the film maker, introduce myself and let him know about our idea hoping he, as an artist himself would understand my need to include his footage in our video based solely on my words written to him in a letter. I had no idea if he would even respond to me but when he did and so positively, I knew it was meant to be and Tor agreed.

I have said that "Long Dark Night" was written while in an insomnia fueled struggle to find the muse lost in sleepless evenings of losing faith, awake with the inability to create. It is a heavy metal torch song if ever there was one, paying homage to those little slices of death and life after midnight. The title of the song was based on a book given to me many years ago by someone I once knew in another life. The book is called "Dark Night of The Soul" based on the poem written by St John of The Cross and is a metaphor used to describe a phase in a persons spiritual life marked as a sense of loneliness and desolation.

For me, this book has always brought me a quiet comfort over the years and served as a strange yet somewhat sacred tool in the making of many records dating as far back as my days in Tura Satana when I recorded "Relief Through Release". I have no idea why I have been drawn to it but until now, I have never used it's title in a literal way to define the emotion behind my lyrics. It wasn't until I experienced my own long dark night while writing "G&GS" that I felt it described my situation, substituting his devotion to God with mine to music.

The truth is, we had no budget to make this video. We are a DIY band and have always had to figure out a way to do it ourselves. With that in mind, we can say that it was a true labor of love made purely with passion, along with Premiere, After Effects and many long nights of editing and chatting on Skype from └A to the UK while cutting and pasting files, photos and footage into a shared folder in Dropbox and writing each other suggestions back and forth on Facebook. Welcome to the digital age! This video was made with no money but a million dollars worth of creativity and an artistic vision between two women who understand each other, the music one makes and the other one listens to.

That being said, I can honestly say that this is my favorite video we have ever made. Over the years and based on personal experience, I've learned that it really does not take thousands of dollars to make a rad video anymore and nowadays, most rock videos are starting to look like the same rehashed formula thing we've seen a hundred times before in my opinion, so what's the point of being another band jumping on that bandwagon when there is so much technology today that allows artists to do something just as good visually, if not better and for little or no money considering what some of these companies and directors are continuing to charge artists with and w/o the backing of labels to help support them. I wanted this video to be unique in it's technique behind the scenes while capturing the essence of the song's identity by taking the viewer on a musical journey with the idea that a "Long Dark Night" is just a temporal state of mind having to do with time rather than eternity illustrated by words, images and iconography surrounding the human heart and soul within the body.

Below is a little screen shot preview for you with a sneak peek at our new video before it's big reveal! This revelation won't be televised but it will be shown online and shared by those of you who understand and continue to support what we do as a band. Please remember to mark your calendars and save the date to join us for the premiere!

MONDAY, 8TH AUGUST

2011

xo

Mrs M
=†=

To check out more beautiful work by the lovely Tor Burrows,

please visit her online at:
www.notoriousdesign.co.uk

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To learn more about film maker/photographer Asatuurs Keim

please visit him online at:

www.asatuurs.com

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