Interview With Jordan Of Mary’s Abortion
So, Mary’s Abortion… going for the classy crowd, were you?
With the name I wanted to project the message & image rolled into one before you hear a single chord or verse let alone song..
To me the name is as Edward Norton would say in American History X “This means not welcome”.. I don’t want their to be any misconceptions on what we are about.. I don’t want the mainstream crowd or some Christian kids coming to our shows & then thinking “I liked them until they started badmouthing my beliefs”.. I want everyone to assume what they’re in for at least.
How would you describe the metal that you all play? Genre or otherwise?
I like to look at it as majorly blackened death metal influenced by sometimes the speed of thrash & the unrelenting brutality of grind… but also /w/ some accessible parts from what’s (I’d hate to say mainstream but..) more well known in metal… but the heavier bands you hear of that most fans of metal know (Devil Driver, newer Chimaira, Lamb Of God)… We are basically an Extreme metal band.. We have varied aspects but we like to stay pissed off & keep it as heavy & fluid as we would for a show.
With Mary’s Abortion’s turbulent history, was that there a lesson to be learned? Or was it all just a bunch of unfortunate happenings?
There was a LIFE lesson learned man. I’ve been through friendships because of this band… it was the springboard to show me a lot of people’s unreliability, & no matter how tight you were as friends or “are” for that matter you just can’t keep giving chances & assuming things will be different.
If someone doesn’t put forth the effort you’ve got to simply let them go.. they’ll just anchor a ship you want to sail..
But to elaborate, some people just didn’t have the time initially but they overall never had the devotion. I personally am an extremist. If I want to pursue something I absorb myself & their’s no half assing involved. But these people just wanted the glory of being in a band /w/ none of the work.
Once I moved on I realized it was more than just for the band but I couldn’t have these people in my life anymore, & I couldn’t make excuses for them anymore whether it be in this band or my personal life.
Who would you say are your biggest influences?
Musically I’d have to say Morbid Angel is the biggest by far, Goatwhore, Watain, Marduk… so on & so on …but then visually I’d say 1970′s era Church Of Satan rituals, any type of sacrilegious horror movies.. A lot of stuff based in the occult…
Now, lyrically their is an underlying positive message… sure it’s opposing religion but it’s also for those afraid to say they do not believe or those saying they are Christian (or whatever denomination) /w/out believing but only out of knowing they’ll be accepted for it & looked at as a horrible person if they said they in fact don’t believe in this corrupt belief system..
It’s for them to possibly be there empowered with like minded individuals & to possibly give them strength or insight through what I’m saying as possible ammunition or rebuttals or knowledge to back up their own views.
Is the metal scene around your neck of the woods bountiful? Or is West Virginia as dull as it seems (in terms of metal support)?
Well for awhile their seemed to be bands popping up out of every nook & cranny, but we
all know this is not a particular good thing… Some are fucking horrible (or were).. Alot of the so called scene fizzled out, but in local music in general it is it’s own monster.. their’s alot of shit out there but metal is a smaller crowd outnumbered by the hippies & hipsters & reggae fans & country folk & everyone stuck in the 90′s still calling things “grunge” & “alternative”..
Sadly Byzantine who had some great success called it quits, but their’s still bands like Karma To Burn & they are becoming this LEGEND status which is really exciting I feel for anyone from West Virginia that is a fan.
I think the support is here but just more scattered & less organized…
Does Mary’s Abortion have any demos or whatnot circulating?
Sadly no… by now if I knew all the obstacles I would encounter throughout the almost 10 years of trying to get this tangible I would’ve fired everybody & just learned how to play everything myself during that wait. But I suppose at least by learning the hard way you become more cautious so that it doesn’t repeat… plus I’m working /w/ killer people right now & it works for what I had in mind all along.
If you could get anyone to do cover art for a release of yours, who would you nab and what would you have them draw?
Actually I already have the people I wanted for the cover as soon as we come up /w/ all the money to do it… Chad Ward from Digital Apocalypse & Crash (the model from Godsgirls I believe).. I can’t say much about the cover but people are going to shit themselves when they see it.. it definitely lives up to our name.
But otherwise if H.R. Giger would actually create something new & to specifications that would be awesome, or anything collaborative with Paul Booth would be amazing as well.
Does Mary’s Abortion have any bitchin’ live performance stories?
Well regretfully no due to people’s unwillingness to actually treat it as a band in the past… But where that never happened the lifestyle was that of all 3 Pantera home videos combined.. I do not shit you this… We all consumed so much alcohol back then it was the thing of urban legend!
I remember once between me & the original drummer alone killing roughly 30 some beers a piece on top of splitting a BIG bottle of Crown Royal… when I say big I mean the ones /w/ the handle in the back.. that big…
I always wondered how I didn’t die.. & I lived like this , we all did for months on end… starving but somehow being in a continuous stupor… their were crazy nights of fighting, to jail visits, to public sex /w/ chicks, everything you could expect…
Put it this way.. if that 1st line up succeeded their would have to be 3 Behind The Music Specials on it because I don’t think any of us would’ve survived the experience.
Who’d win in a fight: Hedonism Bot or Zombie Jesus?
Zombie Jesus hands down! I’m partial because for 2 years straight before anyone ever annexed those words together I dressed up as “Zombie Jesus” for Halloween.. gore & all.. I love that outfit.. ’07 & ’08 I believe… plus zombies are the most badassed horror creations EVER!..
Is there anything you’d like to add for the E-MetalSpace & Funeral Rain audience?
uhmm sure… Although their is nothing posted on our page musically their will be. We are working on stuff now & trying to have something on the Funeral Rain Records Compilation before the deadline.. something that’ll preview our album.. which is very likely.. we are also having session drumming on this album from a legend amongst Death Metal.. an innovator.. I won’t give that info up yet but.. think of possibly your all time top 5 death metal drummers & I guarantee you he’s in that list.
Anyways thank you to E-MetalSpace & Funeral Rain & to anyone generally who took the time out to read this interview. For more information about us add us on MySpace www.myspace.com/marysabortion & in the immortal words of Mr. Phil Anselmo… “Eat Pussy ’til your jaw breaks!”
SIN:JoRdAnHeStOn