Who was Mortar, and when did the band form?
Well, I met Brian through a friend in school. Brian was teaching guitar, and then I got hooked up with him in 1986. Well, a bunch of lessons later and about 8 months after that, (right after I ran into Brian at DRI at Medusas) around the time I was graduating from high school, Brian’s band, Mass Genocide, disbanded (Ray quit & Jeff joined Life Sentence). So Brian being a guy that never let anything slow him down with music, decided that I had come along with my skills, and that we should start a band.
With that being said, Mortar formed in the early summer of 1987, with Erik on bass and Heavy Eddie on drums. Ed was in Mass Genocide with Brian. Things started well, then we had to give Ed the boot and we eventually got hooked up with a great guy named Tim thru our neighborhood friends...Zoetrope. Things were back on track, we had 5 songs going well, we were recording them at Sea grape Recording Studios, Inc., "a state-of-the-art audio production facility in Chicago, Illinois". Everyone in the Metal scene was doing stuff there. Brain knew Mike & Tom, because he did a lot of the "building of that studio", and Brian’s previous bands Mass Genocide, as well as Genocide recorded all there stuff there. So, things were good? Nope, Erik and Tim decided to move on and do their own thing before the tape was finished. Leaving Brian and Me high and dry, but determined... we finished that frigging tape.
So... Brain and I approached Ed, again(sigh), and told him what we wanted to do, and there no fucking around this time. He was cool with it. He didn’t like Erik, so now that he wasn’t around anymore, we could make things happen. So in 1988 we got Del (the guy who almost burned down the Chicago Metro with his burning mannequin stunt, with his band Mayhem, that also featured Lou from M.O.D & Ministry), and Oscar, from a band called Annihilation.
We recorded 2 demos in 89 at Sea grape Recording Studios, "Conquering Armies" & "Hell Fire". During that time we were doing shows with lots of regional faves like Znowhite (Cyclone Temple), Wrath, Sharon Tate..s Baby, Zoetrope, Tyrants Reign and Stonehenge. Doing killer opening shows with Nuclear Assault, M.O.D., Overkill, & the Milwaukee Metal Fest (in a time before you had to "buy & sell your own tickets" to play that gig!). The Chicago scene was kick ass back then too. With palces like The Avalon, The Cubby Bear, The Rock Room at Medusas The Main room at Medusas, The Palace, Chances R, The Thunder Dome at The Exit, and Boat shows that the Exit put on, The Thirsty Whale (which we got banned from for over a year, we didn..t really care either, they eventually begged us to come back, it..s true!), and the place that became OUR House of Metal, The Gate Way Theater. We ruled that place. We put on such spectacles in that joint. The pyrotechnics, the bombs, the Air Craft Landing Lights, the Wall of Thunder! It really couldn’t be matched on a local level or a national level with the budget we were using.
Things seem perfect... but nope, we had to give Ed the boot again. Shit happens, it’s business. So, after a short search, we ended up finding Scott (This guy was a drum god!). He was incredible, and we didn’t lose anything by dumping Ed again. We recorded all the old stuff with Scott on the drums and a bunch of other songs that we hadn’t recorded. That was the ..13.. demo. I don..t even remember where we recorded it. Also, we wrote and recorded "Evilution" our first "single" (that was done at Sea grape Recording Studios) and did a video for it. The video was done by somes guys we got hooked up with thru the Steel Mill radio show, and they offered to do a video for us. Abunch of filming of shows and other odd places, Evilution turned out great. I..ll try to find it and put it up on the site someday (I have it, the sound is crappy, but I’m working on uploading it soon).
Anyway now it’s around 1991 maybe more like 1992? And Del is having personal problems (It was pretty fucked up stuff), has been having em for a while too.
So, we decide, he needs to deal with em, and we need to move on. We end up finding Jim Todd (I FUCKING LOVED JIM, He was a great performer & singer, just a totally different kind from Del). Jim sang in Genocide for a while, and I knew he could fill part even before hearing him sing a single note. It was just one of those things. "Johnny Bravo"?
We recorded the Evilution demo (where? I don’t remember *no dope jokes please*, it was some super studio in Chicago though) with Jim as the "new singer" (even though most of it was written for Del) and then, the Killing Machine demo (which was started at Sea grape Recording Studios, but finished somewhere else). Things seemed even better then before, we were kicking butt playing shows everywhere. The Vic Theater, The Gate Way, Harpos in Detroit, First Ave in Minneapolis, Flashs in Cleveland, and quite a few other places. We were landing great great shows with more nationals like Savatage, Trouble, Wasp, Overkill, Nuclear Assault here’s in Chicago. Doing great shows with locals like Cyclone Temple, Wrath, The Plague, Life Sentence, Demented Ted, Stygian, Enchanter, Dementia, Rivet Head, and Concussion. "This is a short-list" I can..t possibly list EVERY band we did gigs with. Another video killer quality video for the song "Determination" was shot. (I’m working on getting that one too)p
All was well... then (dum dum dum), sometime in late 93 or early 94, Jim and Oscar decided to split (I’m not going into it, but I understood why at the time). So...Erik (yeah, the guy who quit on us way back in the begining) had just quit Zoetrope(if you want their story, you’ll have to dig for it), so... we brought him back into the fold (Hey, I can give people a few chances). I re-did the vocals on the Killing Machine demo in 94 (Had to do it). And Mortar became a 4 piece (One less person to deal with). We continued doing many kick ass shows. Shows with bands like Forbidden, Malevolent Creation, Brutal Truth, Raw Power, Overkill, Pungent Stench, and Bludgeon. I still thought we had a chance to score a decent record contract and tour for a living.
But, in the hot summer of 1995, the band was at a crossroad. Faced with the new popularity of Alternative & grunge in the industry, the lack of venues supporting metal shows in Chicago, & most importantly, differences/problems within the band, we just called it a day. "Well, it was kind like that". At the time. I really wanted to join Lungbrush as a second guitarist. And was pretty much burnt out trying to keep Mortar together anymore. But, the Lungbrush thing didn’t pan out like I had hoped. And it was a good thing too.
So, that’s it in a nutshell. Sorry I couldn..t provide more exact details of events. But it is, what it was. "We came..We kicked ass..and many won’t ever forget what we’ve done". There is only one Mortar. Chicagos’ Dangerous Metal. Accept no imitations!
Well Dave.. You fucked up my line of questions. Why didn’t you guys ever sign a deal with a record company?
We were continuously looking past smaller-label possibilities in the hopes of securing a major record deal? Fuck, I don’t really know what happened there. Probably avoided getting screwed by not signing some shit deal, but.. who offered us what to begin with? We could go anywhere and play without a label. So, I guess we screwed ourselves by holding out like we did.You mentioned a lot of venues and other bands you have performed with. Any one show you remember as ..a great moment..?
The show at the Vic Theater with Life Sentence & The Plague. That was a great show. But, 97% of our shows were really crazy in some form or another, so getting picky with em just aint fair to all the other shows we’ve put on.What about these pyrotechnics, the bombs, the Air Craft Landing Lights, the Wall of Thunder you mentioned?
The mastermind work of Brian, and red dot gunpowder, lots of it. He was always looking to top the last show. And more times then most, we did. It was cool what he would come up with. Sometimes we wondered if he wasn’t getting a little carried away with it all. But hey, the music was good too. So, we did what we wanted. We aint never burned down anyplace with our show. Things were different back then. We had fire extinguishers!!Any of the Mortar members still performing in bands today?
Not that I know of. I’m sure they all do their thing regarding playing their instruments or what ever. But I’m the only guy that’s been in a bands that does shows playing Heavy music. I stopped for doing music for about three years starting in 1996, but in 1999 I started playing again in a punk band. Then moved out of the city in 2001, and started jamming with Sean from Zoetrope in 2002. Currently (snicker) was in LOKNUT, as the singer, but right now... I’m seeking like-minded musicians to collaborate musical ideas (I’m playing my guitars again, but planning on doing vocals layouts as well). Leaning towards the Napalm Death, MotorHead, Cro-Mags groove. If you don’t hear it, you don’t get it.Why did you decide to start a My Space page?
Because I can. So what are you gonna do now?Um, one last question?
SURE!What do you think of the Metal scene now, and is it better or worse then when Mortar was around?
The scene is what you make it. LOL!
Well, thanks for the time.
Yeah, sure, enjoy the tunes. And check out the video below, Hit The Link! Hit The LINK!!EVILUTION