We’ve reached an age in metal where everything is very serious and artistic, which is certainly not a bad thing. After all, art tends to reflect the current climate of society, which has been all too bleak and harrowing as of late. In the extreme metal underground especially, it feels less and less likely that you’ll come across a band that are happy to be silly, to be utterly ridiculous, and most importantly, to have fun!
Enter London-based stoner metallers Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters… The name says it all, really! This band don’t need to write songs about life’s afflictions or the downfall of society or draw from the works of Nietzsche. Why would they when they can write about weed and bad Chinese buffets instead? But on top of that, the band members always take the stage dressed in corpse paint and tie-dye shirts. Everything about this band is utterly ridiculous in the most refreshing way. Once you know about them, you certainly won’t forget them!
Astral Noize ventured to Rebellion in Manchester where Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters happened to be playing. We caught up with them in the green room after their set and, whilst battling the heavy riffs of fellow Londoners Elephant Tree, discussed forthcoming album Come & Chutney, out next month on Riff Rock Records.
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So… Tie-dye and corpse paint! That’s a lethal combo, where did this idea come from?
Owen Carty [Guitar/vocals]: Two things that don’t go together…
Will Hart [Bass]: We like black metal and we like hippy 70s music.
Owen: …So we thought “what can we do not to take the piss, but to have fun?”
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How did your ridiculous band name come to be?
Will: We couldn’t decide on a name.
Mark Buckwell [Drums]: We kept on adding words.
Owen: It started as just Bad Kush.
Mark: We started as Garden Select, which was a vegetarian pizza.
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How does one master the chubby thunderous bad kush?
Mark: You’ve got to have the gut for it, you have to prepare it with a lot of chilli sauce.
Owen: You have to be able to eat a lot of food that has passed its sell-by date and a lot of really bad Chinese buffets… You have to have a stomach of fucking steel!
Mark: If it’s two days old, it’s still good!
Will: You need to be ready for gut rot too, that’s gonna come!
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Frank Zappa once asked, “Does humour belong in music?” So I’ll ask you the same!
Owen: No, because we are a serious band and humour does not belong in music. No humour at all. We are not funny guys, this is not funny music, this a serious genre that we take very seriously and we will be very offended if anyone thinks we are a comedy band.
Will: If you want to be the best, you have to be serious.
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Your new album is titled Come & Chutney… What inspired such a title?
Owen: Well… It’s basically “come with us and make some chutney”, so you can interpret that how you want. The word “chutney” could mean fun, or literal chutney. The word “come” could mean semen or just “come and see me later and we’ll make some chutney together”.
Mark: It’s what you make of it!
Owen: Lot’s of deep thought behind that silliness.
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Tell us the story behind ‘Doggy Bag Of Slurry’…
Owen: The actual title ‘Doggy Bag Of Slurry’ is from an Alan Partridge quote.
Will & Mark: [simultaneously] I didn’t know that!
Owen: If you read his first book, he has a doggy bag of slurry in his attic because his first books got pulped, so as a memento he kept a doggy bag of slurry. But the song itself is about ancient Celtic demons.
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Where was the album recorded and who with? Do you have any crazy stories from the recording sessions?
Owen: It was recorded by Rick Rubin.
Will: It was recorded by Sam Thredder [of Slabdragger] at Crow’s Nest Studios [in London], we mixed it and got it mastered by Pedro Teixeira. He’s an absolute dude.
Owen: We bought a Chinese takeaway and it was two days old in the studio, but Sam ate some and got food poisoning.
Mark: I thought it was great though, I think it matured.
Owen: It’s like cheese, it gets better. We don’t get food poisoning, we just shit ourselves.
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The album has guests from members of Ten Foot Wizard, Vodun and Riddles, how did this come about?
Owen: We just wanted to include our friends. We’d already done a song with Gary [Harkin, vocalist for Ten Foot Wizard, who joined them on stage tonight] on our last split. Originally it was meant to be with Jack [Townley, guitar/vocals] from Elephant Tree who is playing now, but his baby was born so he couldn’t do it.
Will: He had to make a choice and he went with the baby… Don’t know why!
Mark: What a dick!
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What are Chubby’s plans for the future once the album comes out?
Owen: We have something very special we’re gonna do after this album, something that may separate us and annoy a lot of people. It will be very different and people may not like this. I’ll give you a clue… Tango & Cash, David Hasselhoff, Jean-Claude Van Damme…
Mark: End of the World festival, an Irish tour with Elder Druid.
Will: Riff Fest! Gizzardfest!
Owen: We have something very special planned for Donald Trump’s visit on 13th of July!
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Come & Chutney is out 13th July on Riff Rock Records. Pre-order here.
Words: Chris “Frenchie” French
Pics: Rich Smith / Digital Bath (@digitalbathrich)
