interview by Guitar Doug of the Insurgents

The rock band Mos Generator consists of Tony Reed on guitar and vocals (ex-treepeople), Shawn Johnson on drums (ex-mindfunk), and Scooter Haslip on bass (ex-Voodoo Gearshift). They have opened for bands such as Clutch, Blue Cheer, Kylesa, 3 inches of blood, High on Fire, Mudhoney and Dixie Witch. They have done two West coast tours and have played the Stoner Hands of Doom Festival in 2006 and Hempfest in 2006.

Few could argue against the fact that Mos Generator is one of the best rock trios in the Seattle music scene. Many would say they are the best. The Bremerton based group is well respected among Seattle rock musicians for their huge sound and songs reminiscent of early Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. In fact, the leader of the band Tony Reed cites Black Sabbath as his greatest musical influence and drummer Shawn Johnson cites John Bonham of Led Zeppelin as his. Scooter Haslip lays down a bottom end on bass that must be felt live to believe.

Shawn even plays the Ludwig reissue Classic Series drum kit, which is exactly the same one played by Bonham in 1969. Zeppelin fans already know the kit I am speaking of. It’s a green sparkle kit with a 26 inch bass drum, 14 inch rack tom and two 18 inch floor toms. The snare drum is a 6 ½ inch deep Ludwig Supra-phonic which everyone knows is also the snare played by Bonham. The sound is much different than the later kits Bonham played that were the clear auburn Ludwig Vistalite series drums that became his trademark set. Those drum sets were not made of wood like the 1969 kit and never sounded quite as heavy. The snare drum however always stayed the same throughout Bonham’s years with Led Zeppelin. The snare drum had a drum shell made of brass covered in chrome and is unmistakable on Zeppelin albums.

Because Mos Generator is so heavily influence by those bands, I wanted to talk with Tony about them and how Mos Generator’s sound is so greatly influenced by Sabbath and Zeppelin. Being an old Sabbath and Zeppelin man myself, I rattled off question after question about both bands in my interview with Tony Reed. In a sort of rock-n-roll version of Stump the Wizard, there was no question Tony did not instantly have an intelligent answer to. In fact, Tony Reed knows more about Black Sabbath than anyone I have ever met, and knows exactly how the band has influenced him personally and musically.

Mos Generator will be headlining Guitar Doug’s Rock-n-Roll Sunday July 29th at The Funhouse at 9 pm. Also on the bill are Plaster and Evil Twin. Below are the highlights of my lengthy interview with Tony Reed of Mos Generator.

What are the top three rock groups that have influenced you and why?
First, would be Black Sabbath. They are the heaviest, most primal band of all time. When I listen to them, I am in awe of their control of power both musically & lyrically. Second, would be led Zeppelin. I am most taken by their drama, on record and on stage, also, for Zeppelin’s inspirational productions and for John Bonham’s drumming. Third, would be Thin Lizzy. Phil Lynott could rock your ass and bring you to tears at the same time. It’s the most beautiful rock music ever made.

Would you consider Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin the founders of what has become known as Heavy Metal?
Cream, Blue Cheer, Zeppelin and a handful of other bands laid the foundations for Heavy Metal, but I think the first real Metal band was Sabbath. Not just musically but lyrically as well. Geezer Butler was an amazing lyricist. Between the lyrics, Ozzy’s voice and Iommi’s mammoth guitar riffs how could you go wrong? Nobody even touched them for years.

Interesting. I am curious what you classify as Heavy Metal lyrics and why you feel Sabbath had them first? One could argue the same for Led Zeppelin.
Zeppelin’s lyrics were still pulling from the blues and adding Lord of the Rings type imagery. Sabbath lyrics were very descriptive and they wrote about some really heavy topics for their time. The Paranoid album has some of the scariest lyrics ever written. The fact that the topics were real issues made them totally effective. Songs like Hand of Doom, Electric Funeral and War Pigs were meant to be the death of peace and love for sure.

Do you feel the song War Pigs is lyrically relevant in 2007?
War Pigs has been relevant since it was written and it always will be. There will always be a war going on somewhere

Of the vocalists who have sang for Sabbath over the years, which two were the best for Sabbath in your view and why?
First is Ozzy of course and next would be Dio. Ronnie James Dio helped put life back into Sabbath. I’m not going to say I don’t like the last album with Ozzy, which was Never Say Die, but Heaven & Hell and Mob Rules have great energy and the band was on fire. That is also the time that I really discovered Sabbath. I saw them at the Seattle Center Arena in 1982 when I was 12 years old. 99% of Sabbath fans are going to say the Ozzy era was best. Sabbath were years ahead of their time and were the heaviest.

Tell me about the gear you use live.
We try to stay vintage with our gear. Live, I use a ‘74 Laney Klipp 100 head and a hot plate through high watt cab loaded with 30 watt Celestions. I don’t process my sound at all. I run straight into the amp. I’m not too fond of ruining the amp’s natural tone. I use the hot plate because Laney heads sound best on 10. Right now I am a huge Laney freak. I just started collecting Laney amps and they are rare as Hell. I use a Gibson es-135 semi hollow-body guitar. I generally only use one guitar at a time. I don’t bring backup guitars. It’s just more stuff to forget. Gibson is my brand of choice. I used a Gibson l6-s until about a year ago when I got the es-135.

What is coming up for Mos Generator in the next few months?
Coming up in September we have a new disc called Songs For Future Gods, out on Small Stone Records. There is also a Buffalo tribute album coming out of Portugal later this year and we just filmed a few shows for a live DVD and CD hopefully out by the end of the year.

How did the recording of the DVD go?
We brought in a killer crew to help us with video, audio and lights. Everybody did a phenomenal job. The end product should look and sound great. We played two nights and hopefully we can pull 8 to 12 useable songs from both nights. Also included on the DVD will be a documentary about recording our new CD and some raw clips of us over the last 6 years.

You’re producing other acts including Witchburn, which includes former members of Drop Six and Hells Belles. How long have you been producing?
I’ve been recording and producing for 15 years. My base is at Temple Sound in Port Orchard. In recent years I have recorded records for Kane Hodder, Schoolyard Heroes, Vendetta Red, the Hitch, Neutral Boy and Flamethrower. I am also working with Labelmates Valis and working on demos with Witchburn.

Thanks for coming in Tony Reed and I can’t wait to hear you guys blow the doors off the Funhouse July 29th at Guitar Doug’s Rock n Roll Sunday. To hear Mos Generator yourselves, check out the bands songs on myspace or search out one of these recordings.

Discography-
Mos Generator CD- 2001 (music abuse records), The Late Great Planet Earth LP 2005 (undersea / music abuse records), The Late Great Planet Earth CD 2006 (South spit Records/USA and Nasoni Records/Germany), Sucking the Seventies Compilation 2006 (small stone records), The Vault Sessions CD 2006 (music abuse records), Tales from the Vault 10” picture disc 2006 (flotation records), Mos Generator/The Hitch Split 7” 2006 (flotation records), Anniversary of Brutality, (online Misfits Tribute 2006)