What caused Lawnmower Deth to split up and, likewise, what made you reform in 2008?
It kind of came to a natural end really. There were no musical differences or falling outs within the band which is very boring actually.. so boring an answer that I've just decided it was due to Mr Flymo (Chris Flint, drums)'s neck hair ! It was too much man...it was spouting out all over the place and we couldn't concentrate on the music anymore. I mean I was worried for the health and safety of the rest of the band. Really it is massive and out of control, he should be ashamed.
The reformation was all thanks to those fine young gentlemen in Bullet for My Valentine. I'm not 100% sure how it happened, but we got the offer to reform for a one off gig supporting them at the Ally Pally, and it's one of those offers where you think...fuck me, are they serious?? And they were so we did it, and rather a splendid time was had by all. After that we keep getting offered gig's we just can't say no to.
Like Download and now Damnation Festival. One day we will retire back to our pits never to be seen again.
What were you guys up to in the intervening period?
Well...funnily enough just after we split, Pete Lee (vocals) was contacted by Simon Cowell and he was offered the part of Will Young, a few years later he went on to win Pop Idol in a head to head with Gareth (Mr Flymo) Gates which came as a bit of a shock to the rest of us.
I was offered the role of the Ginger one in the Spice Girls, but due to my shocking wind problem Posh had me thrown out of the band. Mightymo (Chris Parkes, bass) was the pole dancing double for Demi Moore, and Scitzo (Gavin 'Paddy' O'Malley, guitar) went on to become Fat Pat in Eastenders.
Not Sure what Kev (Papworth, guitar) was doing for all these years as we've only seen him twice and to be honest I think he's actually Elton John in his spare time!
You played a one-off show supporting Bullet For My Valentine, which has developed into a few shows including a couple of Download appearances and Damnation 2010 in a couple of weeks. Is this a sign that the Lawnmower is fully back in action?
Good god no! Really, we were shit back in the day and if we keep on doing this we will get found out again. The odd gig here and there shouldn't harm anyone...but honestly, a bunch of grown up men singing about killer rabbits and beverage accidents? We should be laid to rest in the nearest compost heap.
Does it warm the heart knowing people are still interested in Lawnmower Deth after all these years?
I think it's a worrying thing myself. But being serious for a few moments, we came back into this not really expecting anyone to care less. Then at the BFMV gig we had nutters come to see us who had travelled from all over the place (Greece was the furthest that I heard of) which was very humbling, and even the younger Bullet fans kind of joined in (some didn't get it...but that was to be expected I suppose).
Then we got offered the Download slot and we figured that even if we get bottled off at least we can say we did it. However the reaction that we got on both occasions was unreal, I mean TOTALLY unreal.
We go to work every day like everyone else and to be able to go out on a weekend and play to a crowd like that is something else. I think everyone could tell how moved we were by the reception we got, but I also believe that there are a large number of people who want to be entertained and feel a part of a gig. That is what we have always been about, the music is just a background noise for the audience to fool around with us to!
Plus we got to play on the same day as AC/DC...nuff said :0)
How did you come to be playing Damnation?
Ah...that will be the seductive powers of Lisa Coverdale and the rest of the team at Damnation (and the promise of free Jagger...nudge nudge...wink wink!). I just hope we do them proud and put on a great show, they really work hard to put on these festivals and I hope people come down and support them.
You excited to be there?
Sure are! Although it's really hard to get all of us together at the same time. We've not seen Kev since Download and we hope he'll be there (even if it is to tit about at the side of the stage again like he did for Download). Because we are so dysfunctional as a band it's really hard to plan anything for the gig.
Most of it kind of comes together on the night so it's really shit your pants time when we do these things. If the crowd are up for a good time then it really helps us to feed off it. If they want to hear superb musicians and technically well arranged songs, then that's us fooked to be honest!
You're on the Damnation bill with some new-wave UK thrash bands, do you have any thoughts on bands like Mutant and SSS?
Paddy is well into all new thrash and he's been almost too excited about seeing SSS (look out lads...he's a stalker!), Mr Flymo and Mightymo are also SSS fans. I have to hold my hand up and say that I have no idea about anything new since No Sleep till Hammersmith came out! But I'm really looking forward to seeing our old buddies Sabbat again. Plus Gama Bomb supported us last year and they were brilliant so I will try to check out as much of the line up at Damnation that I can.
Listening back to your debut ‘Ooh Crikey! It’s Lawnmower Deth!’ it’s hilarious and more than a bit out there - how did you hit upon the idea of the Lawnmower Deth comedy sound?
Comedy...? We were dead serious!
'Ooh Crikey...' really summed up what we were like at that age. We had no idea about anything really, Pete, Chris and myself grew up together and got into metal like every teenager should. We loved Venom, SOD, Motorhead etc. and we all had a really stupid sense of humour. So when we joined forces with the looney that is Mr Flymo and then Schitzo joined the ranks (nobody is as daft as that lad!) it just kind of happened. We wrote songs that made us laugh, basically because we didn't think it would get out of the bedroom, let alone onto the Download stage 20 years or so later!
I suppose the kind of TV we watched also had some influence...Young Ones, Animal House, Monthy Python, Spike Millagan's QI series etc. anything stupid and futile made us laugh (and still does!)
The cover artwork for that album with smiling evil lemming things flying through space with a huge lawmower is also some of the best I’ve seen, what gave you that idea?
Evil Lemmings?? They are Killer Cobs mate...and they will have you!
We were very lucky to be mates with Dan Seagrave, we all used to drink down the same pub and he's a brilliant artist. At the time Flymo used to do a fanzine style cartoon comic about a creature called Cobshape who always ended up getting really pissed and slaughtering ponce like wimps in glam bands. We took it a stage further by turning Cobshape into flying killer cobs for the song. Then Dan being one freaky out there kind of fella took it to the max with that artwork. I don't think any of us could believe our luck when he came round with that cover. He did the split album artwork to which is brilliant, but 'Ooh Crikey...' still blows me away when you look at it in detail.
Even better is the art on 'Bozo Clowns...' there's so much going on in that picture if you study it! I just wish I had the originals.
Any chance of future releases, and would you continue in the vein of your last album Billy or closer to your earlier material?
Noooo...as I said before, this time round we are doing it as a hobby and it will be limited in terms of how long we continue. We may have a bash at writing a song or 2, but I doubt we will ever get it together to record or release them.
Which song is the most fun to play live?
I really like playing Flying Killer Cobs, but we've just started to play Urban Surfer again and it's great fun to play...however it's bloody complicated compared to our other stuff so I'll reserve judgement on that until we've done it at Damnation (it may go horribly wrong!)
Who’s your favourite comedian?
Eddie Hitler!
