MaggotHouse 2

MaggotHouse

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MaggotHouse

MaggotHouse has been releasing experimental music from the UK for over 10 years. Most of the artists are side projects of label owner Ben Neal and include his own work as techno artist Phluxm, post-hardcore metal from Jazz Thrash Assassin and Meatfeast, electronica from Octopod, and comedy from Bazooka Chicken and Polly Daniel Son. Many of the artists are old friends.
What song of yours is the one you like the most?
I think Meatfeast’s “A Void can Be Willed” was one of the best recordings we ever made – it’s one of the few that really fulfilled the crazy vision we had for the song, which is sometimes difficult to do when you don’t have a large budget.

“A Void Can Be Willed” by Meatfeast

Somebody please put me down
Where’s somewhere I can sign up?
I would just bury myself…
But the dogs might dig me up

I’ll drown myself in a bowl
And prob’ly fail to drown
“Back to work slave!
Back to work!”

Lets go run naked through grass,
(A passive way to get lashed)
Cut off our hands and our feet
Then go and swim at the pool…

I’ll drown myself in a bowl
And prob’ly fail to drown
“Back to work slave!
Back to work!”

Lie still… lie still…
If maybe you tried hard enough,
A void can be willed
“Get up! You silly wet bitch!”

I’m busy burning your stuff
My stuff was not enough…
I’ll sit here screaming your name
To tell you “I’m OK”!

I’ll drown myself my a bowl
And prob’ly fail to drown
“Back to work slave!
Back to work!”

What is the problem with you?
Your sick is in my sandwich!
I’d rather be on my own,
To drown myself in my bowl

I lay awake last night
And learnt how not to fight
“Back to work slave!
Back to work!”

Lie still… lie still…
If maybe I tried hard enough,
A void can be willed

Stop…
No Won’t!
How do you write your music?
MaggotHouse is all about capturing moments of madness and crafting extraordinary sounds. Often songs are improvised and then stripped down to keep the best bits and remove unwanted extras. Who and how the music is written varies from artist to artist but is usually produced by Phluxm.

What influences do you have?
We love Mike Patton, Trent Reznor, The Locust, Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, Wrong Music, Frank Zappa among many, but our main influence is definitely Alcohol.
What´s the best experience you have had with your project?
We just keep on going and keep reinventing ourselves. We’ve played festivals, run events, done podcasts, done plenty of recording in studios, made videos and laughed so much it’s hurt. Phluxm’s “Bread Machine” was played on BBC Radio 1 by Mary Anne Hobbs a while back and we sold some CDs at Sonar Festival in Barcelona one year.
What plans do you have this year?
This year we’re releasing a new EP by Octopod called “Three”. Octopod is a retro electronica project by Meatfeast guitarist Jon Garbett produced by Phluxm. It’s sounding great so far, very dancefloor friendly and melodic – chiptune really.
 Mention something you don´t like about your project
We’re terrible at promotion and marketing and love to scare and alienate people. It’s fun and interesting, but a catastrophic combination when you want to build an audience. We’re probably more suited to the Arts than the Music Industry in many ways.
Mention the biggest sacrifice you did for your project.
We personally organized and funded a crew for the video shoot of “Self Inflicted Haircut” which was months of work and a fare amount of cash especially since we edited the video ourselves too and the laptop we bought specially to do it broke after we’d finished. I was burnt out afterwards.
What band, music project or soloist from your city do you like? Why?
Supersonic Festival is one of the best festivals in the UK for experimental music and I’m proud to say we’ve been involved in a small way for years. It’s great to see it prospering and even better to be playing it again this year with cartoon rave band Swoomptheeng (www.swoomptheeng.com).
If your project was a word, what would it be?
Drunk
Who answered these questions? Where were you when you answered the interview?
Interviewee : Ben Neal, Birmingham, UK

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