Interviewed: Trapped By Mormons Originally posted 03.01.03 By: Gurl 76 |
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When Trapped by Mormons lead singer (and theremin player) Todd Nolan mentioned alligator wrestling (here on out referred to as "wrasslin'") while we were trying to set up an interview, I knew I had to run with it. I picked the Everglades Holiday Park out of the Yellow Pages, as its listing promised alligators and airboats. What more do you need? The park is located at the end of a road of churches, 1970s ranch style houses, plant nurseries and more churches. I arrived to a parking lot full of motorcycle bikers, little old ladies, sunburned boaters with far too many children, and a bus load of people from some sort of Christian group. My Murder Records t-shirt was, apparently, not a crowd favorite. It feels a little unreal, standing outside a gift shop packed with bait, taxidermy, and touristy families, to be surrounded by the musical history that TBM represents. Bassist Mark O'Toole was in Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Guitarist Jeff Hodapp was in the Drug Czars, Morbid Opera, and Roach Motel (who are planning a few "reunion" shows this month in Gainesville and Brandon). Drummer Brandon Samdahl was in the One Eyed Kings and Siesta Trailer Park and is also currently the bassist for Mr. Entertainment. Their credentials almost entitle them to be snobs and smartasses, but they aren't. We are cracking jokes about the scene, about some of the local bands that take themselves entirely too seriously and it hit me. They're not worried about building a huge fan base, about creating an image or even about getting famous. The four are together out of a simple love of playing music. While waiting for an airboat (I cannot believe they have all agreed to get on an airboat), the band goes through their slightly complicated history. Nolan and Justin McNeal, formerly of Pillmagnet, formed the group in 2000. The line up has gone through many changes, so many in fact that the entire band laughs when I ask for an exact number of how many members they have gone through. The current line up, together for around a year now, seems to have just fallen into place, with O'Toole, who produced Pillmagnet's Love Potion #69, as the most recent member to join. When McNeal left the band, TBM took a few months off from playing live in order to rework some of their songs since they were now a four-piece group. They began to play out again last October, playing a few select shows at Tavern 213, Churchill's and Club M (as part of the 2002 Citylink Music Fest). Interestingly enough, none of them seem to have made it through a complete viewing of the movie the band takes its name from (the person who found the name is no longer in the band). Trapped By Mormons is somewhat of a cult classic, anti-Mormon propaganda film from 1922. In the film, which apparently is just plain creepy, a young woman is pressured into joining a sect of Mormons. "It's hard to get through," Nolan admits. "I've tried three times to watch it all the way throughbut, technically, none of us [in the current line up] have seen it." At this point, we're interrupted by the arrival of the airboat. In order to watch any wrasslin', you must board the airboat and go to what I lovingly call "Souvenir Island." The airboat ride is a bit like the Jungle Cruise at Disney World, with the boat "captain" cracking some bad jokes. But our captain also throws in some attempts to sell us all on trying the gator meat (for six dollars a pop) and many references to the fact that he works for tips. Once off the boat, they herd you down a little path and straight into a little alcove of huts. Then you're allowed, for several minutes, to look at what the huts are selling before you are escorted to the alligator area. The highly touted wrasslin' demonstration is a bit misleading. The expert handler, who also mentions he works for tips, gives a brief demonstration on how he can pet the gator. It was all very interesting, but I was expecting some politically incorrect man versus animal sort of fight. While milling around the island, TBM discussed their latest project, their debut EP entitled Go Go Go. While the drums were recorded in a commercial studio, the rest was recorded in O'Toole's home studio. The process of recording in a home studio "is much better," says O'Toole, who also produced the CD. "It's less time constraining. You're not on the clock." Nolan is quick to interject his opinion of O'Toole's home studio. "You just wanted me to sing in the closet, with the air conditioning turned off. It's Suicide Studios. He's got a little window unit so you have to turn off or otherwise you got a window unit in our song." Go Go Go, featuring cover artwork by Nolan, will contain five songs and be released around the middle of March. And the tracks on the CD do an excellent job of capturing the intensity of the group's live performance. There is a universal consensus from band members to fans to music critics that TBM plays loud. And that's the best volume to enjoy their music at. Their style of Stooges-era punk rock with elements of noise and alternative blended in for good measure combined with Nolan's frenetic front of stage antics clearly make them one of the better bands performing live in South Florida. There are no immediate tour plans. Instead, the band is focusing on booking shows in the South Florida area (including an upcoming April 11th show at Churchill's) and possibly the northern Florida area. Though they had a bit of an unstable start in terms of line up, TBM now consists of a cohesive and dedicated bunch. They're talented musicians who managed to pull off a CD that is as engaging as their live performances. And they're a hell of a lot of fun to bring down to the Everglades. |
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Interviewed: Trapped By Mormons Originally posted 03.01.03 By: Gurl 76 |
