▶ Tell us the interesting story behind the bands moniker.
Nicolas (Guitar) : This is probably the question we’re getting asked the most since we formed the band. The “Mutiny on the Bounty” was a mutiny aboard the British Royal Navy ship HMS Bounty on 28 April 1789. The mutiny was led by Fletcher Christian against commanding officer Lieutenant William Bligh. According to most accounts, the sailors were attracted to the idyllic life on the Pacific island of Tahiti and were further motivated by harsh treatment from their captain. That’s what Wikipedia says… It’s also the name of a novel and two holywoodian movies. The name in itself for us is more a personal joke that we had together when we first started the band about a friend who looked like some kind of a survivor on a desert island we used to call Mutiny On The Bounty. But what we actually liked about the name was the epic sound it has. When you hear it, you imagine yourself into adventures with twists and turns all around. Something a bit unpredictable and that’s what we want to achieve with our music. We love to lead the listener into one direction and mislead them into another one without them noticing it. And quite frankly, the line-up changes and stories we had in the band so far look as nearly epic as the story of the Bounty itself.
▶ When did the band form and how long did it take to find the bands own sound?
Mutiny On The Bounty was created in April 2004 by Sacha the drummer and singer and myself. We started out as a two piece jam band really more into the experimental music. At least we like to thought we were one as back in the time we weren’t really good musicians and still were switching positions on drums and guitars. A few weeks later, we began searching for a complete band including another guitar player and a bass player. Shortly after, we asked some friends of ours to join, Luciano on guitar who was playing in tech/death-metal band and David as a bassist were finally onboard. After a couple of years and a couple of tours and the release of a split cd, David left to focus on his other band and we finally released our first album in 2009 called “Danger Mouth”. A few line-up changes later, Cedric joined on bass in 2010 and Clement as a guitarist at the end of the same year to finally form our strongest line-up to date.After a few months rehearsing, we decided to get back in the studio for a second album and here we are with “Trials” a couple of months later.
▶ What releases have you put out thus far, and which would be the one to listen to for the uninitiated?
We’ve released 2 albums and one split cd so far. Our first release, back in 2005, is the split we’ve done with an old luxemburgish band called Treasure Chest At The Rainbow where you can find 4 songs from each band. It’s very fast and hectic with loads of riffs and time-signatures. Our first album “Danger Mouth” is from 2009 and is way more focused. It is pretty loud and still very fast but the songs are more organized. And “Trials” is just out now in the UK, it is more atmospheric but you can still recognize our sound, but I guess it is more mature and more thoughts has been put into it in terms of songwriting. We’ve recorded it with Matt Bayles (pearl Jam, Minus The Bear, Cursive a.m.m.) and he dfinitely helped us to focus on some elements of the songs rather than playing everything all the time. So I guess it’s definitely the first one to listen to as it gives a more global idea of what we are as a band and as people in general.
▶ Is there a particular live show that stands out amongst all the rest?
We take every show the same way, either if it’s in front of two people or 5000 people. We’ve got great memories : especially some festivals we’ve done this year such as the Rock A Field or the Roskilde where we played in front of thousands of people. But I guess the funniest we’ve ever had was a couple of years ago at a festival in Luxembourg where everyone was yelling at us at the end of the first song. We thought that the crowd was cheering us because they liked it, but in fact they were pointing out that the drum monitor was on fire and we haven’t noticed it while playing.
▶ Can you talk about a Highlight and a Lowlight of the journey so far?
I think one of the highlight was going altogether to Seattle recording with a producer we admire for “Trials”. Even if as a band, when you record, you’re the one still doing all the work, there’s no miracle when you going to the studio, you have to give your best all the time, but going so far away with your best friend to record your songs with a reknowned producer definitely gives you the chill. The lowlight was definitely the two years between 2009 and 2011 where we had so many members leaving the band. Especially when Luciano, our first guitar player, left after the release of “Danger Mouth” we felt like if the band was coming to an end as he was a founding member and a great guitarist. But we wanted to keep going with the band so we’ve done all we could to make it work out, and we’re happy we’ve done it as we’ve never been happier.
▶ What does ‘success’ mean to the band?
For us success is more about being able to play your music without having to care about the money and all the financial aspect, being able to make music and live out of it. I’m not talking about earning milions, but more about being able to live your life decently. Of course, having more people to like your music is another definition of success, having people letting you know that they feel something strong while listening to your music definitely gives you way more than money, but it still doesn’t pay bills ;).
▶ You are in control of forming a 4 piece ‘supergroup’ – who is in it and what do they do?
I can only answer for myself, I guess everyone in the band would have a different answer but I’d put :
* Mike Alabanese (Cinemechanica) on drums
* Jun Izawa (Lite) on bass
* J. Mascis (Dinosaur Jr) + Larry Kaye (Adebisi Shank) on guitars
* Travis Morrison (The Dismemberment Plan) + John Davis (Q and Not U) on vocals
i know it’s a six piece though and I’m definitely into two guitars bands, so it would have been 5 anyway and I can’t choose between these two singers 😉
▶ If you and 3 bands of your choosing were to do a world tour; who would the other 3 bands be? (Active or not)
Same thing as for the other question, the other would give a different answer as well, Id say :
* Pavement
* Adebisi Shank
* At The Drive-In
▶ What will be the 3 strangest things on your rider when you’re able to make any demand?
We’re not guys of excess but I’d be up for having a swimming pool at every show, it’s so relaxing and it keeps you in shape, especially when you spend 3 weeks sleeping on floors 😉 Other than that a good meal and beers is already more than enough 😉
▶ Finally, in a climate saturated with bands vying for listener attention; why should the good old folks at home listen to you guys?
You should listen to us because we’ll probably be the only luxemburgish band you know and it always sounds exotic to know a band from such a small country, then you’ll sound perfectly litterate as you’ll actually know that Luxembourg is a country and not some part of Germany as many people tend to think we’re from 😉
