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| Interview by Burt Wolf with guitarist & vocalist, Paul of MOG RUITH. Interview done June 10, 2006. |
| I AM FAIRLY NEW TO MOG RUITH. CAN YOU GIVE SOME OF THE BANDS HISTORY UP TO THIS POINT? HOW YOU FORMED? ANY PREVIOUS BANDS YOU GUYS WERE IN? Well, the 3 of us have been playing together off & on for about 9 years or so & it was only about 3 years ago that the concept of MOG RUITH materialized. Throughout the years it's been an uphill battle, we tried different musicians, played in other bands, but rarely did we find anyone who took music seriously. It's a long drama filled story, but the 3 of us eventually managed to make it work. As for previous bands I am really not sure about the other guys, I never really asked. As for myself I have had many (completely unoteworthy). Although I did play bass in EXCITER for about 6 months in 2003. Unfortunately MOG RUITH is pretty much defunct now, our drummer quit a few months ago & I recently decided to leave to pursue other interests. |
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| WHY WAS THE NAME MOG RUITH CHOSEN AS THE BANDS NAME? The name is taken from Irish mythology, quite a contradiction actually, none of us are Irish. But I like contrast & contradiction. Just google the name & read about it's origins. WHO OR WHAT HAS HAD SOME INFLUENCE ON YOUR MUSIC & YOUR LIFE IN GENERAL? Musically we all have different tastes, but we have a common ground, the 80's. We especially like Thrash & Speed Metal from that era. We also like some new bands as well, wheter it be Black, Death, Power, Traditional & so on... If really what you're asking is who or what I would have to say just pure observation, realisations, non-comformity & a good dose of hatred. Some would have you believe that hatred is negative, to me it's not. It can be a great source of creativity & self awareness. The key is to not let it consume, but let it guide you. At the same time, I am cynical, sarcastic & a strong sense of self irony. HOW WOULD YOU BEST DESCRIBE THE STYLE & SOUND OF MOG RUITH TO SOMEONE WHO HAS YET TO HEAR YOU? We are self proclaimed. Sounds pompous? Yes indeed. Melodic Blackend Death Thrash. YOUR CD HAS BEEN OUT FOR A LITTLE WHILE NOW. HOW WELL HAS IT BEEN DOING? I actually don't know at this point. I would have to ask. We recently signed a distribution deal with KRANKENHAUS RECORDS www.HRANKENHAUS.ca. In the states we are distributed by THE END RECORDS & in Canada by SONIC UNYON. I should be getting the first round of sales figures pretty soon. |
| WHAT HAS THE RESPONSE BEEN LIKE? The response has been really good, lots of cool reviews. Locally as well we've had good responses more so when we did shows. WHAT IS SOME OF THE LYRICAL CONTENT IN YOUR SONGS? Lyrically the concept is more poetic then having actual references to mythology, philosophy, ancestry, fantasy & so on... Mostly what the mood & feeling was & the time of composition, to me that's authentic. WHO WRITES THE MAJORITY OF THE MUSIC IN THE BAND? I write most of the music & lyrics in MOG RUITH as well as come up with most of the arrangements. Sergey (bass player) wrote a few songs & some lyrics. It's hard to say who did what actually, we have written a lot of songs in the past 3 years. DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER MATERIAL IN THE WORKS OR ANY OTHER PAST RELEASES? No not really, basically we've just created as we went along & we recorded the demo in April 2004. Just after the holidays this year, we went in the studio to record all our songs to keep as reference. We did it live on the floor. We just wanted to preserve the material in case some of us want to get the band up & running again. HOW DID YOUR DISTRIBUTION DEAL WITH KRANKENHAUS RECORDS COME ABOUT? We sent out our CD & we immediately got a response back. We did the CD ourselves & they wanted to releases it as is...That's it. ARE THERE ANY OTHER LABELS SHOWING INTERESTS IN THE BAND? IF SO, WHO? Not at the moment, time will tell I guess but all & all I have moved on from that demo completely. On the other hand I have my own project & I have recorded 11 songs & hopefully it will spark some interest. |
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| I READ ON YOUR WEBSITE THAT ROMAN LEFT THE BAND. WHY DID HE LEAVE & WHAT IS HE DOING NOW? Roman left a while ago for various reasons, mostly a time issue for him. Like I said, I have also recently left MOG RUITH & at this point I am not sure if the band will continue. YOUR SITE ALSO MENTIONS YOU GUYS MAY LOOK FOR A NEW DRUMMER OR PURSUE OTHER MUSICAL PATHS. WHAT HAVE YOU GUYS PLANNED TO DO? This is really old news & the site really needs to be updated. It still partly holds true although, Roman wants to play other styles as do I. |
| HAS MOG RUITH PLAYED OUT A LOT? WHERE ARE SOME OF THE PLACES YOU'VE PLAYED & WHO ARE SOME OF THE BANDS YOU'VE SHARED THE STAGE WITH? We played mostly local clubs & bars. We did open up for INFERNAL MAJESTY a couple of years ago. We didn't really get a chance to do a lot of gigs unfortunately. ARE THERE ANY INTERESTING BAND STORIES YOU COULD SHARE WITH US? To be honest not really, we jammed regularly & did shows occassionally. There wasn't much comaraderie between us 3. Each of us lives very different lives. The last years or so that I was in the band I was getting really bored. WHAT WAS THE FIRST ALBUM YOU REMEMBER BUYING? WHAT WAS THE FIRST CONCERT YOU'VE EVER SEEN? MOTLEY CRUE - "SHOUT AT THE DEVIL". I still think that album is as good today as it was back in '83 when it came out. My first "real" concert apart from hundreds of local shows was probably RUSH in 1990. WHAT IS ONE THING PEOPLE WOULD BE SURPRISED TO FIND OUT ABOUT YOU? Ha! Ha! We have nothing to hide! WHAT DO THE MEMBERS OF MOG RUITH DO WHEN NOT DOING ANY WORK FOR THE BAND? JOBS, HOBBIES, ETC? Roman & I have steady jobs, as for Sergey I'm really not sure. Some of us are into fitness. Some of us are into partying excessively. We all go see shows from time to time as well. WHO DO YOU FEEL ARE SOME OF THE BETTER BANDS, LABELS & ZINES FROM CANADA? I've always liked BRAVE WORDS & BLOODY KNUCKLES from Toronto. UNRESTRAINED as well & a little fanzine called MORBID TALES which focuses mostly on underground Metal. As for Canadian bands, I like old school stuff like EXCITER, RAZOR, ANVIL, etc. I'm completely out of the loop when it comes to newer bands from Canada. ARE YOU INTO ANY OTHER STYLES OF MUSIC BESIDES WHAT YOU PLAY? WHO ARE SOME OF THE BANDS YOU HAVE CURRENTLY BEEN LISTENING TO? Good question, I can't just listen to Metal that's so one sided to me. I'm a big fan of 80's Pop like A-HA, DURAN DURAN, Classical (mostly BACH) & 70's Rock like THIN LIZZY. Lately I've been listening to ALAN PARSONS PROJECT...good stuff. |
| WHAT CAN WE LOOK FORWARD TO NEXT FROM MOG RUITH? Unfortunately it looks like there will be no more releases. WHAT WERE YOU DOING BEFORE ANSWERING THIS INTERVIEW? WHAT WILL YOU DO NOW THAT IT'S DONE? Thinking about drinking some beers. Drink some beers. THANX A LOT FOR ANSWERING THIS. FEEL FREE TO ADD ANYTHING YOU'D LIKE TO CLOSE OUT. Stand by your convictions, even the trivial ones. Never falter in anyway. Be true & honest to yourself first & foremost & the world is yours. Cheers. PRC. |
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| 307-1071 AMBLESIDE DRIVE OTTAWA, ONTARIO (CANADA) K2B 6V4 contact@MOGRUITH.com www.MOGRUITH.com |
| ALL PHOTOS & GRAPHICS COURTESY OF MOG RUITH INTERVIEWS MAIN PAGE |