Interview by Roberta Ilaria Rossi & Miriam C.
Young and talented, with a big desire of doing lots of new things, the Canadian band Mortillery is proud their second album “Origin of Extinction”, a pure thrash old school metal quite inspired by Overkill sound. In occasion of the official release sponsored by Napalm Records, we’ve got the chance to exchange a few words with the frontwoman of the band, Cara McCutchen, who brought us in a world of powerfull riffs and guitars that spit fire. Here’s our chat!
Today our website has the great pleasure to welcome Cara McCutchen from Mortillery. Welcome Cara. How are you doing? 🙂
I’m doing awesome! Thanks so much for having me here!
For those who still don’t know anything about you, would you like to introduce a little biography of yourself/of the band?Sure! I am the singer for the band Mortillery from Edmonton, Canada. I started singing in metal bands 10 years ago. It has always been my and Mortillery‘s intention to play old school thrash metal.
Ok. Let’s break the ice talking about Mortillery album, called “Murder Death Kill”. It has been released by Napalm Records and it’s your debut album. What could you say about this experience?To be honest it was quite a surprise when we received the phone call from Napalm. There are not too many metal bands from Canada that get such a great opportunity to be supported by a major label. I think I am still in shock about it actually. Napalm has done such a great job so far spreading the word about us.
Also not so much time ago (on Febraury) was released your second album “Origin of Exstinction”. What you can say about its genesis?By the time “Murder, Death, Kill” was released internationally, “Origin of Extinction” was almost completely written. We all work really well together musically. We were back in the studio recording “Origin of Extinction” in July 2012
Also what are the main differences that you can notice between your debut “Murder, Death, Kill” and this last one? What changed?I think the biggest difference between the two albums is that we have all really become better musicians.
In the “Origin of Extinction” limited version, you have inserted some cover songs, what means for you [I mean the band] and how, in which way, were important as for the band’s influence?Napalm wanted us to throw in some bonus material so those three songs are ones that we have played live before. It’s important to us to pay respect to the bands who started it all and by covering their music we feel that we are helping to keep that type of music alive.
How was the cooperation with the Austrian label born? How did you get in touch with it?Basically, we just recorded the album and then released it through HPGD Productions. Then, we mailed it out to a bunch of different labels. Months went by and we just figured that no one was interested in our music. Then, out of the blue, Napalm phoned us.
Among your influences, you name giants like: Judas Priest, English Dogs, Warfare, Broken Bones, Iron Maiden, Crucifix, Slayer, W.A.S.P., The Accused, Anthrax, Death Angel, Destruction, Detente, Discharge, Razor, Sacrilege, Sentinel Beast, Tankard, Toxic Holocaust, Violator, Znowhite and early Metallica. Indeed, a lot of good stuff. Where does your passion for these bands come from? How did it come to life?When I was 13 years old, my cousin, who was in a death metal band at the time in Toronto, gave me a shitload of his vinyl and tapes (Twisted Sister, Annihilator, Leatherwolf, Kick Axe, Metal Church, Judas Priest and more). It was pretty much full speed ahead for me after that and I never looked back!
As I said earlier, you’ve released this record thanks to Napalm Records, but I know that before signing a deal with NR, you’ve distributed the record thanks to Horror Pain Gore Death Productions. What could you say about it?Mike Juliano (owner of HPGD Productions) has always been a huge help for us! He is an amazing guy and a true metal supporter. He was the first label to show interest in us and I would work with him again in a second! His passion for metal truly stands out and I will never forget what he has done for us.
What could you say about the writing and recording process?I have been in a few bands over the years and I must say that Mortillery and all of the members were destined to be together. We are by far the most efficient band that I have ever been in. We all write our own parts and there are rarely complications. It somehow just works out. I find that it is so rare to find members that are all on the same page musically and with goals. I am a lucky girl! Writing is always fun but I must say, I’m not a huge fan of recording. Not sure why.
It was such an honor to share the stage with those bands. Death Angel came up to us after the show and said that they really liked our music, which was a huge compliment for us because they have been playing this style of music for so long. They even bought some merch! Then a few months later, a friend of mine saw them in another province and told me that they were wearing Mortillery shirts on stage! Hearing that gave me that excited tingly feeling in my stomach!
What have you learned so far?Well, because I have never taken any music lessons (except drum lessons 15 years ago) I have to say that I have learned A LOT!!!! I have learned something about myself from every musician that I have ever worked with. The one thing that I have always stood by is that I am going to do what I am going to do and I am not going to change regardless if people like what I am doing or not. It sounds harsh saying it but it is important to me that I spend my time doing what I like not worrying about if others like it. However, I am honored to know that there are people out there that like what I am doing.
This is pure curiosity: I wondered, how do you manage to sing and to keep your voice “trained” after having undergone a similar effort? I assume that it needs a lot of power and energy when you have to perform live on stage…To be honest I really don’t do much although a probably should, haha. So far I have learned that getting wasted the night before is not such a great idea and ANY Caffeine is BAD! I usually do a few warm-up exercises and then off I go.
Mortillery sound has lots of the features that thrash metal has: strength, speed, meanness. This is a good point for you. Do you agree?Thank you! Haha. Meanness. I guess I could agree to that.
Nowadays, it’s quite easy to find girls in a metal band. How do you manage to be in a band full of guys? Luckily, the bass player is a girl as well 🙂It actually just feels quite normal for me. I really don’t hang out with too many girls for the most part and it has always been that way for me. I think it is a lack of common interest and the things that I do for fun don’t really appeal to most girls. For example, when I was about 5 or 6, the girls were playing with dolls and I was catching frogs with my dad. My fascination with insects, other dimensions, ghosts and the end of the world throughout my life hasn’t exactly helped me win any popularity contests either. I am also a welder so I’m used to being the only girl. I mean, don’t get me wrong or anything, I am quite fond of the fact that I am indeed a girl. I would just prefer to go fishing with my dog than go shoe shopping or something.
Talking once again about the album, I think it’s a good album to be a debut one. Did you get good feedback from fans and media?Big Time!!!! There are so many reviews out there and I haven’t really read and bad ones yet. Kind of blows my mind.
Instead, how it is the feedback for this second album? I hope good as for the first one.We have had a very positive response so far. Many amazing reviews!!! There will always be some bad reviews of course, but so far we are hearing mostly good things!
Now that the album is out, what will be your future goals?We just finished recording another album so it’s TOUR TIME!!!!
Have you already scheduled some shows in Europe or US? Will we ever see Mortillery in Europe soon?We actually just had a chat about a European tour! After an intense discussion, The plan is to come to Europe in 2014. We feel that as a newer band and because of how far Europe is for us, it is in our best interest to let our albums circulate for a year. We are scheduled to play some Canadian festivals this summer and we have 1/3 of a new album written already. It makes more sense to ensure that when we do hit Europe we are touring for at least a month or two. Our biggest goal is to play Europe, we just want to make sure we do it right!
Hmmm… let’s take a break from the more “institutional” questions and please name out your favourite album and singers explaining why, LOL I hope it’s not too much difficult.Hmm. My favorite album…… That’s tough! I’m going to have to name a few. Judas Priest– “Painkiller”, Grim Reaper – “Fear no Evil”, Exodus – “Bonded by Blood”, Halloween– “Halloween”. Favorite singers….. Sebastian Bach and Kai Hansen because they’re AWESOME!
That was my last question. Thanks for your time Cara. Would you like to share something with thrash fans, our readers and your fans out there?Thank you for interviewing me! I would like to thank everyone that has listened to our music and who has spread the word about MORTILLERY. Every individual metalhead is important to us! AND, don’t be shy, we are just common metal heads and we would love to hear from you. EUROPE!!!!…………..WE’RE COMIN’ TO GETCHA!!!!!!!