As everyone who has been following VFTU reviews well knows, I have been long championing the mighty & miserable Those Poor
Bastards and their lead vocalist/mastermind, Lonesome Wyatt. Now with the completely amazing Satan is Watching full length still
burning hot in my stereo system and the equally impressive Bitter Harvest “duet” CD with Rachel Brooke garnering the attention it so
rightly deserves, I am being granted the divine opportunity to interview the man himself on the doin’s & transpirin’s in the world of
The Poor Bastards and the Lonesome one himself.
Greets Wyatt, first off let me thank you for taking the time to conduct this interview and educate our readers on some important
music that they most likely aren’t familiar with. I hate doing these generic bio questions but for our readers who may not know much
about you & TPB, it would surely get them off to a solid start.
Wyatt: Well thanks for having me sir. We’re a two piece band (Lonesome Wyatt, The Minister) of holiness preachers and we play ugly
and rusted music.
Thematically speaking, what would you describe the overall feel or purveying atmosphere to be in regards to TBP?
I’d say the overall feeling is one of dread and claustrophobia. We usually write songs about our main interests, which are murder,
God, hopelessness and death.
I have read a few times on the net how your inspiration comes from both true country and Black Flag. Black Flag has always been an
extremely influential band for artists involved in many genres but have their been any other specific artists that inspired you when
starting this miserable music or that continue to inspire you today?
Any music that has some truth and uniqueness to it. I like songs that are made because the creators are inspired and believe in it. It’s
usually pretty obvious when bands are just trying to make some money or propagate some fake image. I’ve always been partial to The
Birthday party and Blind Willie Johnson. Tom Waits never fails either.
Going back to your most recent Those Poor Bastards CD, “Satan is Watching”, it has a somewhat less experimental feel that the
previous CD “The Plague”. I know it was recorded prior to “The Plague” and shares much in common with the “Hellfire Hymns” release
from when it was recorded but what was the reasoning to delay it’s release until after “The Plague”?
It was held back mostly because I couldn’t get permission from Hank III’s label to use his name on “Swallowed By Sin.” I didn’t want
to just sit around and wait for those assholes to give me permission to release something they had nothing to do with so I recorded
“The Plague,” and put that rotten thing out instead.
Seeing that your last couple albums were not released sequentially and that experimentation and originality are the name of the game
for TBP, what can we expect on your next offering?
We’ll be putting out two 7” records for Halloween. The first one is called “Abominations” and has more of an experimental/odd
sound. If you liked “The Plague,” you’ll probably like this awful one. The other one is an acoustic version of “Black Dog Yodel” that I
recorded with “Skelton” on his tour bus. It’ll also include live versions of “Black Dog Yodel” and “They Don’t Make Folks Like They Used
To,” on side B.
Any idea when your next album may see the light of day? Also, do you have any plans for doing a follow up to the Lonesome Wyatt
and the Holy Spooks “Sabella” debut?
The next full length TPB album will probably come out near the end of next year. There are about three more songs I need to record
and then we’ll have something. We just recorded one that was 12:30 minutes long. It’s pretty disgusting. I’m not really sure about
another Holy Spooks album. It’d have to be something different than TPB and I don’t know what that would sound like right now.
TBP have done some really interesting takes on a couple of cover songs, most recently Johnny Cash’s “I Walk the Line”. What do you
look for when choosing your covers and will this be something that we can look forward to seeing more of on future releases?
I remember thinking that if the lyrics to that song were sung in a more disgusting way, it would give the song a whole new meaning.
It changes it from a love song of fidelity to a threatening stalker song. Overall we try to stay away from doing covers unless we can
make the song our own. We may do another, but nothing is planned.
NHR Rec and Voices From The Underground have always been geared primarily towards Black Metal, Death Metal, and other extreme
music forms but are now branching off into more and more eclectic and non-metal underground sounds. What do you think some of
our more adventurously eared followers could relate to when listening to your material?
People who are interested in the darker and bleaker side of life should be able to find something to relate to in our songs. Anyone
who appreciates music that doesn’t stick to any one genre and goes where it needs to go.
Actually I was quite surprised by the vocals on the title track to “The Plague”. Was there any influence from Black Metal on that track
as you emitted a pretty grim funereal croak on that one?
Ha, well thanks sir. I had been listening to some records by Death and My Dying Bride at the time, so that could have infected my soul
in some way. I basically just wanted to try to do something different with the vocals to convey the sickness of the lyrics.
Your new “duet” CD with Rachel Brooke is simply outstanding and your both of vocals merge perfectly together and play off each
others well. Can you tell us how this pairing came to pass? Any plans for any future collaboration?
Last summer we did a small tour in Montana and Rachel was part of that bill. I thought she had a unique voice and hopeless lyrics so I
asked her if she wanted to try to collaborate on some songs. It started out as a 7” but we liked the songs so much that we decided
to expand it to a full length album. For the next LP I would like to try more with the 50’s style sound we did on “Darkness.” At some
point I’d also like to do some deranged religious songs with Sons of Perdition.
Being a half assed producer/engineer myself, I am very impressed with the sounds and atmosphere that you managed to conjure on
your releases. What are you using to create these horrid sounds and how do you dream up such madness? Also, have you or do you
have any plans to produce anyone else’s material and add your own unique and eerie production twists to?
I just use very cheap and obsolete equipment to give it more of a broken sound. I use one $90 microphone to record everything.
Right now there just isn’t enough time to produce anyone else’s junk. Maybe in ten years or something.
Seeing as TBP is a touring act, and I know this has been asked before, but are there any plans ever to make your way up to Toronto
or Canada? We need what you got up here in a bad way. Bring that old time gospel to us northerners! The Southerners have had
their share already! Haha!
We hope to get up there soon as well as overseas. It’s just time consuming and overwhelming to get it all organized. It’ll happen
though so just keep praying in the meantime.
Well before I completely bore you with my barrage of questions, let me just thank you for the opportunity for this interview and for
the amazing music that you have created. It surely left a mark on me and leaves me wanting more and more. Any closing comments,
statements, prayers, or hymns you’d like to pass along to our gracious readers?
Keep your eyes on Jesus.
Please be sure to check out & Support Lonesome Wyatt & Those Poor Bastards at the following sites and for fucks sakes buy some of
their CDs! You’ll not regret it:
http://www.thosepoorbastards.com/
http://www.myspace.com/thosepoorbastards
http://www.myspace.com/lonesomewyatt
Bastards and their lead vocalist/mastermind, Lonesome Wyatt. Now with the completely amazing Satan is Watching full length still
burning hot in my stereo system and the equally impressive Bitter Harvest “duet” CD with Rachel Brooke garnering the attention it so
rightly deserves, I am being granted the divine opportunity to interview the man himself on the doin’s & transpirin’s in the world of
The Poor Bastards and the Lonesome one himself.
Greets Wyatt, first off let me thank you for taking the time to conduct this interview and educate our readers on some important
music that they most likely aren’t familiar with. I hate doing these generic bio questions but for our readers who may not know much
about you & TPB, it would surely get them off to a solid start.
Wyatt: Well thanks for having me sir. We’re a two piece band (Lonesome Wyatt, The Minister) of holiness preachers and we play ugly
and rusted music.
Thematically speaking, what would you describe the overall feel or purveying atmosphere to be in regards to TBP?
I’d say the overall feeling is one of dread and claustrophobia. We usually write songs about our main interests, which are murder,
God, hopelessness and death.
I have read a few times on the net how your inspiration comes from both true country and Black Flag. Black Flag has always been an
extremely influential band for artists involved in many genres but have their been any other specific artists that inspired you when
starting this miserable music or that continue to inspire you today?
Any music that has some truth and uniqueness to it. I like songs that are made because the creators are inspired and believe in it. It’s
usually pretty obvious when bands are just trying to make some money or propagate some fake image. I’ve always been partial to The
Birthday party and Blind Willie Johnson. Tom Waits never fails either.
Going back to your most recent Those Poor Bastards CD, “Satan is Watching”, it has a somewhat less experimental feel that the
previous CD “The Plague”. I know it was recorded prior to “The Plague” and shares much in common with the “Hellfire Hymns” release
from when it was recorded but what was the reasoning to delay it’s release until after “The Plague”?
It was held back mostly because I couldn’t get permission from Hank III’s label to use his name on “Swallowed By Sin.” I didn’t want
to just sit around and wait for those assholes to give me permission to release something they had nothing to do with so I recorded
“The Plague,” and put that rotten thing out instead.
Seeing that your last couple albums were not released sequentially and that experimentation and originality are the name of the game
for TBP, what can we expect on your next offering?
We’ll be putting out two 7” records for Halloween. The first one is called “Abominations” and has more of an experimental/odd
sound. If you liked “The Plague,” you’ll probably like this awful one. The other one is an acoustic version of “Black Dog Yodel” that I
recorded with “Skelton” on his tour bus. It’ll also include live versions of “Black Dog Yodel” and “They Don’t Make Folks Like They Used
To,” on side B.
Any idea when your next album may see the light of day? Also, do you have any plans for doing a follow up to the Lonesome Wyatt
and the Holy Spooks “Sabella” debut?
The next full length TPB album will probably come out near the end of next year. There are about three more songs I need to record
and then we’ll have something. We just recorded one that was 12:30 minutes long. It’s pretty disgusting. I’m not really sure about
another Holy Spooks album. It’d have to be something different than TPB and I don’t know what that would sound like right now.
TBP have done some really interesting takes on a couple of cover songs, most recently Johnny Cash’s “I Walk the Line”. What do you
look for when choosing your covers and will this be something that we can look forward to seeing more of on future releases?
I remember thinking that if the lyrics to that song were sung in a more disgusting way, it would give the song a whole new meaning.
It changes it from a love song of fidelity to a threatening stalker song. Overall we try to stay away from doing covers unless we can
make the song our own. We may do another, but nothing is planned.
NHR Rec and Voices From The Underground have always been geared primarily towards Black Metal, Death Metal, and other extreme
music forms but are now branching off into more and more eclectic and non-metal underground sounds. What do you think some of
our more adventurously eared followers could relate to when listening to your material?
People who are interested in the darker and bleaker side of life should be able to find something to relate to in our songs. Anyone
who appreciates music that doesn’t stick to any one genre and goes where it needs to go.
Actually I was quite surprised by the vocals on the title track to “The Plague”. Was there any influence from Black Metal on that track
as you emitted a pretty grim funereal croak on that one?
Ha, well thanks sir. I had been listening to some records by Death and My Dying Bride at the time, so that could have infected my soul
in some way. I basically just wanted to try to do something different with the vocals to convey the sickness of the lyrics.
Your new “duet” CD with Rachel Brooke is simply outstanding and your both of vocals merge perfectly together and play off each
others well. Can you tell us how this pairing came to pass? Any plans for any future collaboration?
Last summer we did a small tour in Montana and Rachel was part of that bill. I thought she had a unique voice and hopeless lyrics so I
asked her if she wanted to try to collaborate on some songs. It started out as a 7” but we liked the songs so much that we decided
to expand it to a full length album. For the next LP I would like to try more with the 50’s style sound we did on “Darkness.” At some
point I’d also like to do some deranged religious songs with Sons of Perdition.
Being a half assed producer/engineer myself, I am very impressed with the sounds and atmosphere that you managed to conjure on
your releases. What are you using to create these horrid sounds and how do you dream up such madness? Also, have you or do you
have any plans to produce anyone else’s material and add your own unique and eerie production twists to?
I just use very cheap and obsolete equipment to give it more of a broken sound. I use one $90 microphone to record everything.
Right now there just isn’t enough time to produce anyone else’s junk. Maybe in ten years or something.
Seeing as TBP is a touring act, and I know this has been asked before, but are there any plans ever to make your way up to Toronto
or Canada? We need what you got up here in a bad way. Bring that old time gospel to us northerners! The Southerners have had
their share already! Haha!
We hope to get up there soon as well as overseas. It’s just time consuming and overwhelming to get it all organized. It’ll happen
though so just keep praying in the meantime.
Well before I completely bore you with my barrage of questions, let me just thank you for the opportunity for this interview and for
the amazing music that you have created. It surely left a mark on me and leaves me wanting more and more. Any closing comments,
statements, prayers, or hymns you’d like to pass along to our gracious readers?
Keep your eyes on Jesus.
Please be sure to check out & Support Lonesome Wyatt & Those Poor Bastards at the following sites and for fucks sakes buy some of
their CDs! You’ll not regret it:
http://www.thosepoorbastards.com/
http://www.myspace.com/thosepoorbastards
http://www.myspace.com/lonesomewyatt
Interview by: K.N.
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