Stump Mitten

Nathan (left) and Conor of the Stump Mittens

Pig: Stump Mitten, where did the name come from?

Nathan: It came from a performance artist named Mike Parr, he's a one armed artist, he wears a little mitten on his stump.

Pig: Tell me about stump mittens history?

Conor: We started off as a concept, like the Garden Gnomes (Connors other band), but the concept was different but along the same ideas. The Stump Mittens are, I guess, in many ways more commercial than the garden Gnomes, they've got more of a death metal sound...

Nathan: Folk death metal.

Conor: We wanted to create a completely original sound using the basis of our talents.

Pig: Who's in the band?

Nathan: Me, Conor, Travis and Nick. (Emma later joined the band).

Pig: What are the band's main influences musically?

Conor: I'd say the classic bands like Carcass, Pantera, Ministry and all those sorts of bands, and also the Mamas and Papa's, we sort of combined them in a way.

Nathan: Patty Smith, just imagine those five bands combined, you get a pretty good picture of what we sound like.

Pig: What are bands main influences politically?

Conor: We've got a strong belief that the band scene at the minute is sort of cliche and we believe that the drunken party scene is an up and coming scene, we also believe the world is going to end pretty soon, I can't speak for the other band members but this is my personal belief. Nathan: We also believe quite strongly in not wearing shirts on stage and head banging in unison. Pig: Who's responsible for the band's sound, words and song structure?

Nathan: Travis, Conor and I write the songs, we just let the words flow like a stream of consciousness lyric writing process, where we just shout out any words that seem kind of appropriate to the song.

Conor: We've also got a great deal of sexuality in our songs, it's sort of a repressed sexuality which needs to be expressed and it comes through in our rhythms, our rhythms are very sexual, very rhythmical.

Pig: There is a rumour of a lack rhythm, what do you say to this?

Conor's brother: I think it's the lack of the whadda, whadda.

Nathan: We've got very sexual lyrics, one of our latest songs is called Beer and another one is called Hog... oh no, not Beer, it's um... called Beaver.

Pig: If you became immensely popular would you consider moving east?

Nathan: No.

Pig: Why is that? Is there no chance of that?

Nathan: No, no chance.

Conor: Perth needs a greater band scene, there are lots of bands copping out and moving over east just to get a better audience but really what Perth needs is a band that will stick with it and make the scene.

Nathan: Then everyone from over east can move here to see us.

Pig: What's your opinion on the Perth scene?

Nathan: I think it would be far healthier if there was a lot more alcohol freely available, especially to minors, because that way they'd have far more parties and far more chances for us to play.

Pig: What Perth bands do you consider more superior to yourself?

Conor: Allegiance have a contract with Judas Priest, but I think they should have given it to us. Nathan: Judas Priest would benefit greatly from playing with us, far more than with Allegiance

Pig: How did you get into this type of music?

Nathan: It was the other night when Conor put on his hard core sampler that he got for free from the local record shop, especially the second track by Pantera.

Pig: What sort of moods are you trying to create in your music?

Nathan: Basically just hatred and fear and mixtures of the two.

Pig: What about loathing?

Nathan: Loathing and death and pain, basically that's the type of lyrics we write and the type of sounds we are trying to produce.

Pig: Are you trying to change the way people think?

Nathan: Ah, Yeah.

Pig: In what way?

Nathan: We want them to think that we are really good.

Pig: Do you feel your music is only suitable for a particular audience, or do you feel that anyone could like it given the chance?

Nathan: Oh definitely anyone would and could like it, it's just because we're completely underexposed that we don't have a massive following yet and we've only played one gig of course. Everyone would love us if they heard us.

Pig: Do you consider the size of your penis when buying a car?

Conor: Well I don't actually have a car so I guess I don't actually have a penis, but if I was actually to buy a car I don't think I'd base it on the size of my penis. I would base it more on the speed at which the car goes and what the car means to me, yeah. People say that a car is an extension of a man's penis, but no man has a two meter long penis.

Nathan: We catch a lot of trains.

Pig: What did you think of Frente's performance on Home and Away?

Nathan: Oh I don't have a telly.

Conor: I thought it was really good.

Nathan: Was she pushing her breasts out? 'cause she's meant to do that a lot.

Pig: A lot of people smash their instruments at the end of their performance, have you ever done this, or considered doing this?

Nathan: We often get exited towards the end of our jams and become very primitive and stuff and we could definitely see ourselves smashing our instruments if we could afford to buy new strings or something, I don't think it will happen.

Pig: If you considered your lead singer as an instrument would you smash him up at the end of your performance?

Nathan: We don't have a lead singer, we don't have a leader of our band, we are a democratic egalitarian society.

Conor: But we do get pretty smashed when we do a gig.

Pig: What do you think of the Court government, and what will it do against or for W.A?

Nathan: I don't know, the Court house-hold would definitely be a really good place for a gig, I'd certainly like to take my shirt off in that house, it would be really good.

Pig: Any last statements?

Nathan: Yeah, can I have another sip of your beer Nick?

Pig: Yeah.

Nathan: Cool.