It’s been a while since Decibel checked in with avant-grind outfit Squid Pisser, led by Baxter Yogurt aka Tommy Meehan aka GWAR’s Grodius Maximus, but the band are back and gearing up for their latest release, Throat Slave. Dubbed a “full-length EP,” the new release comes with five new songs and some heady remixes. Of course, you’ll have to wait until August 28 to hear the full shebang but Decibel is give you a taste until then.
“Tumors” is the conclusion to the A-side of the EP, which features a number of electronic remixes on the flip side. In addition to the new song, Decibel spoke to Yogurt about the new EP, remixes and playing with a new lineup. Throat Slave is out August 28 on Skin Graft.
Talk to us about the song “Tumors.” What’s it about?
Lyrically, “Tumors” is about identifying and removing malignant people from your life. There are emotional vampires out there who try to steal your light and then pretend it was theirs all along. They survive through manipulation, lies, and borrowed identities because there’s nothing substantial underneath.
The song is about finally sticking a fork in those people. They’ll move on and become somebody else’s problem, but not before they try to drain everything you’ve built and rewrite the story to make themselves look like the victim. Often, their own patterns will catch up with them though…
Experiencing people like that can leave you questioning yourself for a long time. A lot of abusive behavior is learned at an early age, and while that’s tragic, it’s still every person’s responsibility to break those cycles. Many never do. At a certain point, you stop trying to fix them. You have to learn to recognize them, keep your distance, and protect your peace.
Your new EP Throat Slave is a little weirder and a little more thoughtful than your last release. How do you balance serious topics like paranoia and self-examination with the ridiculous antics of the band?
I’ll say this is probably the most personal record I’ve written lyrically and I also think it’s our most accessible. I don’t really know what’s weird anymore. I don’t pay much attention to what everyone else is doing. To me, making art that looks and sounds like everybody else is fucking weird. What’s the point? How desperate are we to be part of a scene? Take us or leave us, but we’re here to be as honest as we can be.
Squid Pisser has always been about shooting straight from the hip and from the heart. Life’s too short to make something you don’t actually believe in. We have a chance to build our own world, and I’m not going to second-guess myself. There’s definitely an absurdist side to what we do, but none of it feels calculated. We just follow whatever feels honest, and the music, artwork, videos, and live show grow naturally from there.
There are also a bunch of dance and electronic remixes on Throat Slave, which are maybe more extreme than the traditional songs. Did you give the remixers any guidelines or just encourage them to go wild?
We’re fans of fucked-up music, so when it came time for remixes, we already had a pretty short list of people we wanted to ask. We had just played with Fartbarf earlier this year. Mark Fischer from Skin Graft introduced us to Hyper Gal and KK Null. DJ Embryonic Petite Sac and I go back more than twenty years. We’re lucky to know so many absolute freaks.
We wanted each artist to completely reinterpret the material through their own lens, and the only direction we gave them was to just go nuts.
I’ve always loved collaborating with people. Our first LP, My Tadpole Legion, had a bunch of guest vocalists all over it, and my old band The Manx was constantly doing collaborative releases. It’s one of my favorite parts of making music. You end up creating something that neither artist would’ve made on their own, and that’s exciting to me.
My understanding is that Throat Slave is the first time Michael Armendariz and Raz Azraai are involved on the record, instead of just playing live guitar for Tommy’s compositions. How did that affect the outcome of Throat Slave?
Yeah, this is the first Squid Pisser record to feature guitar players other than myself, and that’s exciting. It’s starting to feel like a real band now.
We got some different flavors on this record with Michael and Raz spearheading two of the newer tracks, “Rats” and “Tumors,” respectively. I’m excited about the direction we’re headed, and there’s a real comfort in knowing we’ve got capable, creative minds bringing new ideas to the table.
Michael brings this disgusting thing to the fold. His taste is impeccable, all while oozing out of those little leather pants of his. He’s sensitive, thoughtful, hilarious, and just a nasty little boy.
Raz is probably the most technically-proficient guitarist I’ve ever personally known. He’s definitely overqualified for the job, but he gets what this band is all about and then brings his own kind of fuck to the pile. He and I also played together in Cancer Christ for years, so we’ve been through a lot together.
These guys are two of my best friends. It feels great to be in a band with people you genuinely enjoy being around.
