INTERVIEW: EYEHATEGOD
Interview by Tegan Retzer
Mike IX Williams is the lead vocalist and one of the founding members of the American metal band Eyehategod. Born in North Carolina, Williams is a central figure in the New Orleans music scene. Known for his distinctive vocal style, Mike IX has been a defining presence in metal.
Tegan Retzer
Honestly, getting to know about you and getting to know your experiences and taking the time to get to know each other, so I guess one of the first questions I had was about how you’ve traveled around the world, hitting places throughout Latin America and countries that other bands haven’t really paid attention to like Taiwan and Thailand. I spent last semester in Chile and I got involved in the underground scene a little bit and one dude was wearing an Eyehategod t-shirt, which I thought was very cool. What does it feel like to know that your music has impact and influence around the world?
Mike IX Williams
I mean it’s awesome. It’’s amazing, and those fans are rabid in South America. They are there completely fucking rabid. They’re so excited to see us. It’s a great feeling. Yeah, we’ve been around a long time. It’s about time we get recognized. We used to get actual mail from there. Now it’s just emails and texts and Instagram and all that. They want us to come back really bad. It’s easy to spread your music these days.
Tegan Retzer
Do you have any very memorable fan interactions that you can think of?
Mike IX Williams
I mean there’s so many. We’ve been a band for 36 years. Speaking of Chile and Santiago, when we pulled up to the club, there was this guy waiting for us, and he was absolutely out of his mind drunk. It was like four in the afternoon, and he has Eyehategod tattooed across his chest like his entire chest. That was fun. That was cool. That’s not the most crazy or anything, but it’s one I remember.
Tegan Retzer
For sure so Eyehategod formed in New Orleans, a city rich in culture with an incredible music scene ranging from really everything, blues, hip-hop, rock, and so do you think that Eyehategod would be what it is today without New Orleans and have the other scenes within New Orleans influenced Eyehategod?
Mike IX Williams
Yeah absolutely, a huge part of the band is being from that city. I wasn’t born there. I was born in North Carolina, but I’’ve been there almost my entire life. The heat and the humidity and just the culture and everything too that comes with the city like it couldn’t be any other city. We couldn’t be from anywhere else. There’s no way.
Tegan Retzer
So I read a little bit about your experiences growing up and the music that you listened to and the shows that you went to. I just want to know about your experiences growing up in the music scene and for you to talk about the concept of an outcast and music for outcasts and what being an outcast means to you and what kind of advice you have for younger people that might feel the same way.
Mike IX Williams
I don’t know what advice I have, but just be yourself; that’s number one. Don’t be scared to just be yourself and start bands, do zines, and things like that. I started getting into music very young. I had two older brothers, so it was all Alice Cooper, The Who, and, you know, Aerosmith a little later and stuff like that. Black Sabbath, then Led Zeppelin, you know? But then I got into KISS. Everybody was into KISS back then; it was a whole different world. KISS was the biggest thing for boys my age. That was the thing. I’d buy every KISS thing there was. I probably made Gene Simmons partially rich, which sucks. But anyway, then you’d see a little blurb in these KISS magazines. It’d be like this new thing from the UK or New York—punk rock. I was like, “Fuck KISS; this looks fucking awesome.” It just looked really cool, and just the attitude—it was me. Those kids were outcasts themselves, and I grew up with not many friends and being shy when I was very young. I made friends instantly in the punk scene. I started going to shows when I was 12. My brother would bring me—he worked at a club that had punk bands. There was a local band called The Normals. There were a bunch of local bands, and he would take me to see them when I was 12 years old. As I got older, I’d seek those bands out myself.
Tegan Retzer
I saw a quote the other day that I really liked about the idea of valuing self-expression over acceptance.
Mike IX Williams
That’s what the music is all about, you know? It’s hard growing up and doing that; it’s easier said than done because everybody’s self-conscious as a teenager. But you have to just do what you got to do, I guess. I remember dying my hair for the first time when I was like 12, just chopping it up and spiking it. Everybody thought I was a fucking weirdo in school—I was the only kid there doing that. I did meet another kid who eventually started doing the same thing, but at first, no one liked me. As time went on, though, they started to get to know me, and I made friends.
Tegan Retzer
In another interview, someone was asking you about being a pioneer in sludge metal and using the term ‘sludge,’ and you didn’t like that. Do you find labels restrictive, or are they just obsolete?
Mike IX Williams
I think they’re very restrictive. “Sludge” is such a silly word to me. It’s not derogatory, but it feels weird. It dumbs down the whole thing. People start thinking it’s all about smoking weed or something, which it’s not—at least not for us. Plus, we were around before that was even a thing. The Sex Pistols were a band before “punk” was a label, and it’s the same with us. I was a journalist; I wrote for magazines, lived in New York, and wrote for a big metal magazine. I’ve written for websites and things, so I know sometimes you have to label things, but the “sludge” thing just got really out of hand. It reminds me of “grunge,” which was another whole scene that was kind of the same stuff we were into—metal, hard rock, punk, all mixed together, with blues and other influences. I never liked it, but now, when kids come up to me and say, “You’re the greatest sludge band,” I’m like, “Okay.” I don’t want to insult them, but I do say in interviews that I hate that word.
Tegan Retzer
Kind of related to that, I was talking today about some of your album art and your merch and how a lot of times, I think fans tend to like lean into like a corniness, a certain corniness especially with heavier music, but I’ve always loved the aesthetics of your band in the merch and in the album art. Where do you get the inspiration for your band’s aesthetics?
Mike IX Williams
It comes from my brain, which is pretty dark, I guess. In the beginning, I used to do all the art. When we first started, I did all the art with a pair of scissors and a glue stick. Those first album covers are my art. Up until a certain point, Gary and I both did the art, but now he does it through Photoshop, so no more glue sticks or scissors. It all comes from wanting to be different and to do something entirely different than every other band out there, but also taking influence from other bands. For example, the first two album covers were a Discharge ripoff, and there’s this band called SPK, which I really loved. Their early stuff was very strange and sick—early industrial, before they put a dance beat to it. They would break into mental hospitals and film stuff; they have an autopsy video they would play at their shows. It was a very disturbing vibe, and I kind of wanted to do that to people. The actual stuff we used on our album covers was just a coincidence of what was laying around. Our first drummer, who passed away, his mom was a nurse, so we had all these medical books lying around at his house. At the apartment I lived in, there were a bunch of nudist magazines—nothing graphic, just people playing tennis naked and weird stuff. The original cover for our first album was banned, so now it’s just the house on the cover. But inside is the actual real cover that was banned—two girls tending a fireplace naked, a guy with skin diseases, just weird stuff. I thought it looked cool and was strange to put all that together. It was something totally different and unique to us.
We also started using religious-type imagery, which comes from being in New Orleans. New Orleans is a very Catholic town. I’m not Catholic, and I don’t believe in God or anything, but it’s huge to be Catholic in New Orleans. It’s always kind of pushed down our throats; there’s always some Catholic holiday. I think that was more of our drummer’s influence on the art because his family’s Catholic. We kind of started using that too. Religion for me… I’ve never believed in God. My dad would make us go to church on Sundays, then come home and get drunk and beat us up, so I learned that God is bullshit at a young age. I don’t have much influence from religion, but our drummer did. His whole family celebrated Catholicism. I went to a Catholic school, but I wasn’t Catholic; it was just because my brother put me in one since the regular schools were so bad, and I hated it. The band’s name, Eyehategod, was meant to be offensive. There was a lot of shock value with our early stuff, especially the early songs, which were meant to be insulting and offensive. The name of the band was actually thought up by another singer before me, who was only in the band for two rehearsals. It meant all kinds of stuff to him, and we kind of made our own meaning to it.
Tegan Retzer
Has the band’s name given you any troubles in terms of like booking venues or anything like that, especially early on in your career? Did places want to take you?
Mike IX Williams
We used to have trouble in the beginning, especially in places like Tennessee and Kentucky. There was even a protest in New Orleans where people marched around the venue carrying crosses on their backs. We didn’t even play that night, but it was Halloween, and some runaway kid’s mom found a flyer that said Eyehategod on it. It was on the news, and they marched around the Lion’s Home, where my other band played.
Tegan Retzer
If anything, It starts a conversation because of the shock value and it allows people to ask questions. That’s the thing. Even when I was telling people about this interview and show review, their first question was what is that and why that name. It gives you the opportunity to start a conversation.
Mike IX Williams
The name of the band was always meant to be offensive, but it starts a conversation. I’m glad that people still find it offensive because, like you said, it starts a conversation, but also it’s almost like jabbing the Christians, saying, “Look, fuck you. Your religion is stupid to me.” I think it’s one of the worst things ever; it starts wars, excludes people, and is just ridiculous.
Tegan Retzer
I see it a lot in a number of bands that are just trying to point out the hypocrisy and the corruption within the church, especially the catholic church so no I think that’s important. Also your first album, In the Name of Suffering, had a very raw and primitive sound due to limited resources. How did those early challenges impact the band’s identity and sound? How do you approach the balance between evolving musically and maintaining your core sound?
Mike IX Williams
We recorded it very cheaply and didn’t know what we were doing at all in the studio. We just recorded it live, all played at the same time, no overdubs or anything. Some people love that record and think it’s the best we’ve ever done. Over the years, our music has definitely evolved. The last album we did sounds nothing like the first album, but it still sounds like Eyehategod because it’s us four guys. For one thing, it’s always going to sound like Eyehategod, especially with the vocals and Jimmy’s guitar sound. Even when other people have filled in for us, it still sounds like us because it’s just us four guys. When people heard our last album, they commented that they hated it because you could understand what I was saying, my vocals were too clear. But you can’t please everybody, so we just do what we want. This band was always been about the sound we wanted to hear. I come from punk rock, Jimmy comes from metal, and we’re into a thousand other types of music too. Our new drummer is as well. It all comes from our influences and inspirations.
Evan Suslovich
What are you listening to right now?
Mike IX Williams
Right now, I still listen to old stuff like The Germs, The Dead Boys, and Black Flag—always Black Flag. Believe it or not, a Sum 41 song, the one that Iggy Pop sings on, ‘Little Know It All,’ is on my Spotify right now. I don’t like pop punk very much, but that one song is really good. I’m always going backward, finding bands from the 70s or 60s that put out one 7-inch and disappeared, but it’s this crazy heavy rock or early punk stuff. YouTube’s great for that, and there are a lot of comps out, like the Killed by Death compilations.
Evan Suslovich
Is there anything you listen to that people would be surprised by?
Mike IX Williams
Probably a lot, depending on the person. I listen to hip hop, and some of our more metal fans, the Pantera ones, are shocked by that. But I listen to so many different types of things. I really love ABBA—I really do. I think they’re well-constructed pop songs. I really like that, you know? And there’s other pop stuff I like, I can’t think of offhand, but I also like The Carpenters a lot. I like them because their music is really creepy to me. It’s like… Okay. It’s really syrupy, sweet stuff. Real sweet, syrupy stuff, but the whole vibe, everything going on behind the scenes of that band was really strange. And she was bulimic, anorexic, and he was like popping pills the whole time. It’s a very strange band to me, but they give it a disturbing vibe, so I like it.
Evan Suslovich
Do you remember one of the first feelings where you were in a setting or at a music venue and felt like “this is my place. I feel accepted?”
Mike IX Williams
Yeah, I do, actually. Well, at first, when I first got into punk, my brother would bring me to shows. I didn’t know anybody, you know? I was just this kid there amongst all the adults.
Evan Suslovich
And you were the youngest one there, I’m assuming?
Mike IX Williams
Yeah, I was the youngest one there. But I guess, like, ‘81, when hardcore became a thing. Going to see bands on my own, by myself. I was in a boys’ home then, and I used to run away and go see bands. So just doing that, or I’d have somebody come pick me up and say they’re my uncle, or my brother, or something, and lie to the boys’ home. But yeah, going to hardcore shows in, like, ‘80, ‘81, like seeing the Circle Jerks or Black Flag. Having no brother with me, no supervisor, bringing me to the show. And that was my people. Making tons of friends and sneaking back in the boys’ home. It just felt super exciting. It was an electric feeling. It was like, those times are amazing. For sure.
For 36 years, this band has been… We’ve seen the crowds get younger, I guess because I’m getting older, but also these new kids are getting into it, and I’ve seen people come up and they’re like “you changed my life”. And their dad’s with them, and the dad’s a fan and the kids are a fan. Then maybe their kids will be into it. Well… It’s really powerful stuff.
Evan Suslovich
Do you think YouTube and Spotify and Apple Music and all these things helps you out. Brings so much more exposure? So many more people are finding your music. Do you think that’s… How do you think that’s changed things for you?
Mike IX Williams
I mean, you know, it’s the internet, so it’s all over the world. But we used to answer all our mail. We’d get mail, and we’d answer all of it. We’ve always been a DIY and fan-oriented band. Like, we don’t do meet and greets, because they’re dumb, for one thing. And besides, because we hang out after the show. We’ll be at the bar. We don’t… we wouldn’t charge people money to come hang out with us. That’s so silly?
Evan Suslovich
I saw something, a chart. It was, like, when you’re a certain age. I don’t remember the ages. The music you were listening to is what you will listen to the rest of your life. It’s kind of when you’re developing.
Mike IX Williams
That’s why I guess I’m still into punk rock and other stuff. But that’s the stuff that I still always go back to. And it kind of defines me now.
Tegan Retzer
What are you looking forward to? Any exciting projects? Anything that you’d like to share?
Mike IX Williams
We just came back from Australia and New Zealand. This tour has been two weeks so far, and we have a week left. A month ago, we were in Australia, and that was amazing. But we’ve got… We’re going to Mexico next month. We’re flying in for that, like, one big show. And then, what’s next? We’re doing a tour… October, we’re going out with Soulfly. This band, Soulfly.
Tegan Retzer
Okay, yes, of course. Yeah, we just talked about Soulfly today.
Mike IX Williams
I don’t know their music that well, but I’m friends with Max, the main dude. He’s a friend of ours, and, you know, he asked us to go on the tour. So that’ll be fun. I don’t know. I think their music’s more tribal than, like, Sepultura or something, I think. I don’t know, really. So then after that, we’ve got this boat cruise that Lamb of God are doing. It’s four days, and we play twice a day, every day. Or something crazy like that. We’re going to make a tour around that. December, we go to the UK for three weeks. Just the UK.
Tegan Retzer
So your schedule is jam-packed.
Mike IX Williams
We’re already working on next year. But as far as personally, I’ve got so many bands that have asked me to do vocals. I’ve got to get to those at some point. We have some time off next month. Maybe I’ll try to go in the studio. There are noise bands. I do spoken word stuff too. I have a book out. I don’t know if you knew that.
Tegan Retzer
Share about your book.
Mike IX Williams
It’s called Cancers of Social Activity, and it came out in 2003. It’s just poetry and lyrics. And I’ve got probably three more written. I’ve just not had time to put them all together, but… yeah. And so I do spoken word and noise stuff. So I got projects. I got hardcore bands that I’m doing vocals on. If they’ve not forgotten me by now. So, yeah, I’ve got a lot going on. I’m putting out some more. I’m definitely putting out another book and these chat books I’m going to do.
Tegan Retzer
Wonderful. It sounds like you’re an artist of all mediums. You talk about putting together the art for the albums and then doing music and then doing spoken word.
Mike IX Williams
Yeah, I love art. I love other people’s art and I love my own. Doing art like music, writing, actual art. Shout out to Danny, Danny Williams and Gary Williams.
Tegan Retzer
Wonderful. Shout out to them. Thank you so much. This has been great.