The Leviathan's Mandible Interview
1. Who came up with the bands name and whats the concept behind it.

Travis-I came up with the name, looking through the dictionary actually. I found mandible and thought wasnt a word used enough,and just so happens at the time,I was listening to mastodons album leviathan so I thought it fit well together. It basically translates to the monsters jaw, a leviathan of course being a sea beast or giant creature and mandible being the lower jaw. The jaw is what sea beast used to sink ships and crush sailors so it fits in how our music is heavy and crushing,whether it be the music itself or the lyrical content.

3. Can you give us a brief history of the band.

Travis-The band started out in 2004 with me on vocals and doing drum programming and josh (drums) playing guitar. We did shows and recording with that line up til fred (guitars) joined in 2006 on bass. He played several shows on bass then moved to guitar.In early 2007,after some talks,we decided to try with real drums so josh moved to drums and weve been happy with the current line up ever since

4. Do you think that the effect has been taken away from old school zines you could recieve in the mail, now that we can have webzines like on myspace?

Travis-I think the whole digital age has been a double edged sword.Well its def easier to get online and check out a webzine or blog, I personally like all the heart and passion that goes into an old school DIY zine

5. What kind of audience would you say your music is for.

Travis-I really hope that everyone could find something to appreciate . We have traditional grind parts,we also have death metal riffs,some punk then combine it with sludge and doom.So really we have something to appeal to every fan of all types of heavy music, even if they dont like our music, id hope they would appreciate our passion for playing music

6. Describe your point of view when you are playing on stage.

Travis-Ive always had the view of myself on stage as a maniac preacher of sorts. The audience as my congregation,our music is my sermon. Its specially adds to it when looking out and seeing people vibing off our music,whether its just standing there banging their heads or getting involved in the pit.

7. Being unsigned, what record label would you like to deal with?

Travis-I would personally love to deal with a label that is as passionate about our music as we are. That they respect us as artist and dont try to change who we are or the music we write.I think thats the most important thing respect.

8. What is your song writing process like? Does everyone get involved or is it just one person who does it all?

Travis-We all add in our own input. Sometimes fred will come up with a riff,then josh will write drum parts to compliment it then ill add my vocals. Sometimes josh or I have came up with riff ideas. Once we have the base laid down,we start adding in more. we try out all ideas to see what actually fits and doesnt. We try not to rush the song,even if it takes a couple weeks to complete a song were truly happy with.

9. Who are your musical influences?

Travis-Me personally, circle of dead children, nasum,pig destroyer,napalm death,deicide and phobia. The band as a whole,we have allot of varied influence. We try not to get to stagnant with our music and draw influence from places most wouldnt think of,whether it being sludge/doom or even post rock.

10. What other bands have you shared the stage with?

Travis-We have been lucky to share the stage with some great bands,such as today is the day,maruta,circle of dead children,skew,putrid pile,baby basher,macerated,waiting mortuary,cursed to black,rampant decay,okosu,three faces of eve,tora tora tourettes and many others.

11. Before a show, is there anything you do to prepare yourself mentally or physically?

Travis-We usually start shortly after setting up so allot of the times we dont have time to warm ups but I know fred does like to play alittle before we go on to get loose. I used to do vocal warm ups but have fallen out of the habit. I usually look over the set list, go over the lyrics to any newer songs we are playing,stretch then im ready to play.

12. Have you ever been a tape trader?

Travis-I never got the chance to be a tape trader, the area I grew up in was very rural so I didnt learn about metal til school. I didnt trade tapes but I def traded cds.Thats how I got some of my first metal cds,including slayers reign in blood

13. Do you think it is easier or harder to write short songs than long songs?

Travis-I find both to be equal. Longer songs of course need more music and vocals written but all songs seem to be difficult sometimes at first but once we got the creative juices flowing,we seem to have no problem coming up with something kick ass and brutal.

14. What do you think of nu-metal?

Travis -Nu metal is what it is, I personally dont listen to or like it but if its someones first taste of metal,it can be a good way to open them up to a new form of music and hopefully they will want to dive deeper and want to discover even heavier,faster forms of music.

15. What else is in store for the rest of 2009?

Travis- We have a split coming out sometime soon with Throwing Shrapnel,from Mass. Its going to be their last recorded material ever and our the first new songs weve released since our full length dead verses in early 2008. We are also going to start recording a new ep,titled The Architect in Absentia while playing some shows in and out of virginia. We will hopefully at least do a small tour this summer,but that depends on our job situations and what not,til then we will continue to get out as much as
possible.

**A QUICKIE WITH TLM**
1. Hustler or Penthouse? Oh man,neither,I prefer the real thing but if I have to choose,I pick hustler.

2. Mosh or Slam Dance?slam dance,its more fun,though I dont care what people do,as long as they have fun and dont hurt anyone.

3. Imported beer or Domestic beer? I dont drink personally so id have to ask josh,though im sure hed say domestic cause tends to be cheaper

4. Metal Sanaz or Mistress Juliya?I really have no idea who either one of them are,haha is that bad?

5. Wonder Woman or Cat Woman?Cat woman, that skin tight leather outfit and the whip, sounds like a fun night

6. Download or Buy CDs? I personally do both, ill download a cd and if its awesome,ill buy it. I think buying cd is def important,specially to local bands. Its cool if you want to download but support the bands as well and buy some merch.

7.MOD or SOD? SOD all the way, speak english or die to this day is still one of my favorite cds ever

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