MusicRadar
The No.1 website for musicians
Mastodon's Bill Kelliher talks Sonisphere festival
He rates the bands on the bill
Joe Bosso, Wed 29 Jul 2009, 8:44 am BST
New to the summer festival scene this year is Sonisphere, a six-country, seven-date hard rock extravaganaza that boasts one of the strongest lineups we've seen.
Sonisphere hits the UK's Knebworth Park the weekend of 1-2 August, with acts including Metallica, Slipknot, Thin Lizzy, Lamb Of God, Alice In Chains, Bullet For My Valentine and others. (Check the official Sonisphere website for details.)
MusicRadar asked Mastodon's Bill Kelliher about playing massive outdoor fests, and got his thoughts on Sonisphere.
Outdoor fests an 'art form'
"Playing huge festivals is almost an art form," says Kelliher. "What works in a big club or an arena doesn't fly at an Ozzfest or something like that. I imagine Sonisphere is going to be the same way.
"You have to gauge the bands you're up against, see who you're in-between and you have to check the audience. I mean, if you're playing before Slayer, you better know that their crowd wants blood, and you have to hit 'em hard. But if it's The Flaming Lips, you have room to experiment, 'cause the audience is all tripped-out."
As for Knebworth, Kelliher is stoked. "It's going to be an honor," he says. "Growing up, I always heard about these legendary bands playing this place called Knebworth, so the fact that Mastodon is going to play the same place as Led Zeppelin once did, it's gonna be awesome!"
We ran down some of the bands on the Knebworth roster for Kelliher, and here are his comments:
1. Metallica
"Mastodon pretty much wouldn't exist without Metallica. To say they've influenced us...c'mon. They're gods. I respect them in every way possible. They've put out five life-changing albums: Kill 'Em All, Ride The Lightning, Master Of Puppets, …And Justice For All and the 'Black Album' - each one is a desert-island disc.
"We got to play some shows with them a while ago and they were brilliant. Super-cool dudes. Totally down to earth. But what fantastic musicians! They actually sound like their records - that's how great they are. I don't know how they do it. Practice, I guess."
