D-Beat Death Thrash! Could there ever be a more appropriate description of a band’s sound than Hot Graves’ self penned genre? The
name says it all. Sure there’s D-Beat and fucking lots of it. It’s the motor that propels this four headed beast and keeps it’s
momentum at the slightly unhinged level that translates to pure fucking awesomeness. But it doesn’t end there. This isn’t some
generic ‘Dis’ band pumping out the same old, same old. Hot Graves have considerably upped the ante by mixing old school, grizzled
Black Metal-isms and thunderous Death/Doom brutality onto the framework of their severe D-Beat misanthropy. One listen to their
demo or the tunes on their MySpace and you can clearly see the seeds for future devastation have been firmly planted in the
underground.   

Greets Hot Graves! First off let me say how fucking amazing your ‘D-Beat Death Dirge’ demo is. Absolutely amazing!  
Myk: Hails, and thanks for the kind words, good sir.
Tim:  Hello and thank you.

I guess before we really get into it we should get the obligatory band introductions out of the way.  
Myk: I do the guitar and throat, Matt does the drums, Tim does the bass, and Dustin does more guitar.

What brought all you guys together and got you steered in this D-Beat Death Thrash direction?  
Myk: Well, Matt and I wanted to start a fun band just to play catchy punked-out metal in a very caveman way.  But I wouldn't be
really happy just creating a band to fit with a particular style set that is already well stocked with mediocrity, so naturally my/our
tendency is to throw ALL our favorite shit in there in the right proportion, and let it be what it is.   
Tim: Yes, we were all playing in other bands, and Myk asked me if I wanted to do this project and said to me something to the effect
of “We want to keep it simple enough that we can just trash out on stage” and I thought it sounded like an awesome idea. After
that, there wasn’t much thought of what the music should be, other than we are all fans of punk and metal, so that's what we play.

The Hot Graves style is a pretty large shift from the stryles of “The Kvlt ov Ouroboros” and “By The Horns”, how has the cross over
appeal been from followers of your other connected acts?    
Myk: I get a lot ov comments like "What's up with Thee Kvlt?" at our shows in certain places in Florida, people wanting to know when
I will get back to doing stuff like that.  Actually, if you check out the last couple songs Thee Kvlt did, you can hear a tiny premonition
ov the Hot Graves style creeping in, but only with some D-Beat thrashy parts.  Like I said earlier, Matt and I wanted something fun
and less-technical to play than By The Horns, so this band sprung out ov that desire.  I didn't write any music for BTH anyways, so
that style is all up to Dustin and Casey in that band.  Pretty much, Hot Graves has a wider appeal than both bands, because it's just
catchier and more to-the-point, whereas i feel we were trying to be more "impressive" technically in those other bands.  
Tim: Yea, I knew Myk from Thee Kvlt and By the Horns and got to play many shows with both bands in my old band Secrets She
Kept, and when Hot Graves got started we got a chance to do all the things we couldn’t do in our other bands, i.e. there wasn’t
really a place from duel guitar solos in Thee Kvlt, and there wasn’t a place for punk rock covers in SSK, so Graves just gave us a
chance to show people who dug our music what else we could do, and the reception from people has been pretty cool thus far.




















You also seem to be interested in a pretty wide variety of music. The Bad Religion cover on your demo is fantastic and I have seen
you mention in some other interviews influences ranging from Celtic Frost to Discharge to Slayer and obviously some regular punk rock
as well. Was it a plan for you guys to try to incorporate this all together to make your sound what it is?  
Myk: Not so much a plan, but just an inclination. I'm a DJ also;  all kinds ov music like Hip Hop, Reggae, Funk, etc. along with Metal and
Punk ov all flavors, so my mind is geared towards mixing things up.  I have a Rap Music mindset, in some ways:  at some point,
someone said "Oh, this bassline from this Grand Funk record would sound great over these James Brown drums" and they made a
classic rap song with it, or whatever.  So I kinda look at it like that.  What does this song need to keep the thing poppin' fresh?  
Every song has that D-Beat rhythm,... the pounding, ferocious rhythm... but it's what other flavors we add, and where we add them,
that make it fun, and we can't plan that, really.  It just happens naturally.   
Tim: There is just too much awesome music out there to be narrow-minded about it. If it’s funky or cool, I‘ll be down with it, but
yeah... no plan, It just happens

I think the sound you’ve developed is a very unique take on both D-Beat and Black Metal and I think it really sets Hot Graves apart
from the rest of the underground. I would probably class Dishammer and Order of the Vulture as contemporaries but neither band
possess the ‘metalness’ that emanates from Hot Graves. Have you noticed a cross over appeal from both the punk & metal sides of
the underground fence?  
Myk: I feel like the crust punk folks tend to have a sympathy towards Black Metal more than other genres ov metal, but I don't
know...  When I was really young and first hearing punk rock, I thought "this is just like metal, but with worse guitar players."  I
always liked the aggression and sound ov both.   
Tim: That’s funny I’ve totally been jamming both Order of the Vulture and Dishammer hard recently. We definitely have both punk
rock and metal fans. I’ve always had a little trouble deciding whether some bands are punk or metal, and I don’t really care to figure
out the answer. It’s like on the Dishammer's Vintage Addiction record, some of those songs have such a punk rock vibe and some
have a real metal vibe, so are they punk or metal? I don’t care, they’re a cool band, and that’s all I really care about. Hopefully people
only care that we are a cool band. I totally feel ya Myk on the crustie love of Black Metal, and I ain’t hating.  
Myk: Yeah, it's tangible.  I would say as far as contemporaries in my mind, Dishammer for sure, and also Choke Thirst Die from
Germany...  big shout also to War Ripper.  and Evil Army.  and Villains.  and Ramming Speed and COFFINS.

I read somewhere that you were planning some type of covers album. Can you shed a little light on this?  
Myk: We have always done covers, because it's fun for us to do as a band, and it sets up a weird dialog between the audience and
the band.  Like, if we play a song by The Accused, someone invariably is like "DUDE, I fucking LOVE The Accused!!!" and proceeds to
connect with us on that level where maybe he/she would not have before.  So we keep stockpiling them up, and eventually soon
we'll record them all and compile them on a cassette tape for the true fiends.  We spent like a half hour playing Roky Erickson covers
the other day, so... y'know.

Besides the obvious Discharge and Hellhammer influences, what other bands helped mold what Hot Graves is today?   
Myk:  I'd say Midnight, cuz we got our name from one ov their songs, and we respect their brand ov Venom worship to the max.  
Definitely The Accused, all the old Thrash we used to listen to, Swedish D-Beat joints, Darkthrone.  That's about it.   
Tim: Similar to what we said earlier, there are so many cool bands out there, but yeah definitely old thrash, and the dudes like
Midnight that are bringing that style back in a proper manner. I used to see Asshole Parade like once a month growing up in
Gainesville, and while we don’t really have too much common with them musically, it just helped me love aggressive, fast, loud music.  
Myk: Actually, I just remembered having a thought that I wanted us to sound like Eyehategod playing D-Beat/Thrash at one point.  
Mostly because I want our guitars to mesh like that.

I personally think the sound and style on your demo is near perfect. Did it turn out exactly as it was drawn up or can we expect
something even more incredible in the future from Hot Graves?
  
Myk: I'd like to think that it will be more incredible, but it will probably just sound better.  I'm stoked you enjoy the sound ov the
demo, I thought it was cool and kinda different.  Super overblown tape-saturation on the drums just seemed so FUN at the time.  
The demo was definitely planned to how it was, right down to the inclusion ov the cover song.  There's songs on there we don't
ever play anymore, though.

















With awesome song titles like “Raining Puke” and “Metalblaster”, what are you normally aiming for lyric and theme-wise?    
Myk: Usually, something just has to jump out at me, either a catchy line or idea.  "Raining Puke" is my ode to alcoholic death, and
"Metalblaster" is a tribute to loving to get yourself totally destroyed by an awesome band.  Our other songs are about murder, killing,
blood, crust punk fashion, satan, sour interpersonal relations, and other angry stuff.  Normally, I really just want some catchy shit to
say during the chorus part.

I also checked out your ‘blogumentary’  vids on Youtube. This is an excellent idea and gives the masses a more candid look into what
you guys are all about. Who came up with this idea? Can we expect more ‘blogumentaries’ in the future?
 
Myk: Matt came up with the documenting-everything-and-making-videos idea, and I said we should call them "Blogumentaries", and
it's fun for us, cuz it gives us something to do on the road, filming and editing and all that.  We just try to capture the awesome
bands we play with, and the fun people we meet, and the good times we have as a band on the road, ballin' on a budget.  And you
can expect MANY more in the future, 'cuz we're hitting the road this summer and we mean to have some fun.

I also find it refreshing that you expose yourselves as ‘normal’ guys and not woodland trolls, super evil Satanists, or pseudo-
philosophers like most of the Black Metal acts of today. Do you guys really care about image at all or is your image the whole anti-
image thing?  
Myk: I don't know.  Those typical Black Metal images don't concern me, although I enjoy seeing some ov that stuff sometimes when
the band pulls it off right.  It's just not a part ov our culture.  Our image is just being dudes.  We like music, getting drunk, playing
shows, joking around, meeting girls, going new places, etc.  I guess we don't spend too much time giving a fuck about what we
portray to people, because we have nothing else to show them.   
Tim: It’s definitely not an anti-image thing at all. I do like some of the Black Metal stuff when it’s done right but that just isn’t really
our thing. At the end of the day I’d like to think we look pretty right cool, right? I mean we wouldn’t want to make blogumentaries
that make us look lame? Like Myke said, we show people what we got ‘cus we don’t have anything else to show.
Myk:  We're very fashionable.

I for one am pretty happy with the way underground music is heading these days with less emphasis on arty shite and a greater
acceptance towards the more primal forms of music. How do you guys see the ‘scene’ evolving?  Good? Bad? Same?  
Myk: There's always someone making shitty music, and someone who RULES.  I only care about stuff that rules.  We obviously kinda
carry a primal torch, if one looks at it a certain way, but I like fancy shit too.  I would be very happy playing a show with both Bone
Awl and Liturgy.   
Tim: Yea man, I’m digging the scene right now. As far as it’s going? I’ll figure that out later. The way I feel about, if you’re one of
these dudes who thinks there aren’t any good bands anymore you’re just not trying hard enough. The scenes always wax and wane,
but there is always something cool going on, and it’s up to the listener to find the good music. Seriously, your new favorite band isn’t
gonna knock on you door and give you their new record. Don’t be mad about lame music, it isn’t going anywhere, just get down with
awesome music.

From what I know, which isn’t exactly much, Florida has a pretty solid underground music scene happening. How is it down there? Is
there a solid following and network of bands or is it a graveyard like up here in Toronto?  
Myk: We play with all kinds ov bands, and it's always cool runnings. There's lots ov Crust, D-Beat, Grind, and noisy bands and they're
always down with the Graves, as are the Death/Black Metal dudes and whoever. I feel like everyone supports stuff pretty good all the
way around. Florida is cool.  
Tim: Florida is really cool. Each city has its own kinda vibe. Jacksonville has some cool metal stuff, with a lot of hardcore going down.
Tampa has the whole “Death Metal Capital of the World” thing, and there are cool bands happening in St. Pete. Gainesville has a lot of
punk rock going on, and a lil’ bit of a name because of the Fest every year, but it is starting to get back to this real awesome DIY
scene that was around when I was a kid. So many good bands are coming through town, it makes it real easy to get stoked on
underground music and to play with cool bands.  





















What can all the underground D-Beating Metal Punks out there expect on your forthcoming NHR Records debut album? When do you
think this beast might be seeing the light of day?
 
Myk: It will be a few songs from the demos done up mega-proper, and all the new jams that slay even harder.  It will be raw and
ferocious, but still recorded better, and we might be recording that in a few days, if not a few weeks.  We were already planning on
recording when NHR got ahold ov us, and their enthusiasm has sparked us to get it rolling and make it happen directly. I don't know
how to gauge their time line, but we should be ready to roll with it within a month or so.

I’d like to thank you guys for this interview and for keeping my Ipod working overtime for the last couple months.
Myk:  Cheers man, and big PREESH for liss'nin.

Any last words, sales pitches, gig announcements or anything else you’d like to get off your chests before this piece is done?   
Myk:  We have the Desecration Time 7" coming out on Satanik Recordings, along with the Demo Comp CD and a 4-Way Split Tape on
Primal Vomit records, in addition to the NHR full length CD, so that should keep folks busy for a minute.  There's the perpetual split 7"
with Ramming Speed that everyone is waiting patiently to pull the trigger on...  we'll see when that comes alive.   We're touring the
East Coast in June, so if we come through your town, don't hesitate to come have a beer and a laugh with some Florida boys.   
Tim: And we just talked about at Hot Graves/Party Time (mem. The Absence/ ex Holy Mtn.) Split 7" in the fall, and by the time you
read this interview we’ll have thought up some more shit and written even more sweet jams for you!

I can hardly wait your debut CD. I is ready!!! Cheers guys!  
OOOUGHHH!!!


WEB:
www.myspace.com/hotgraves
Interview by: KN