EMQ’s with TROLL TEETH
Hi everyone! Welcome to our new EMQ’s interview with Philly/South Jersey US Metal/Rock band Troll Teeth. Huge thanks to Vocalist, Bassist Moe Eccles, for taking part!
What is your name, what do you play, and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
I am Moe, Lead singer, bassist, and sometimes I play guitar poorly. Kyle has been our drummer for nearly 7 years now, Pete has been our guitarist for two or three years, and our original guitarist Ben has re-joined the band after moving to and then moving back from West Virginia.
The band has kind of had a ton of ebbs and flows in terms of members but I’m happy that the past two or three years we’ve settled into a line-up and flow of how we write music and record. I think the next five, ten, fifteen years are going to be pretty cool because we all have our lives together and make time for Troll Teeth stuff because we all care about it and care about each other.
How did you come up with your band name?
We were originally Sluagh but someone trademarked the name and sent us a cease & desist letter. My drummer Kyle and me sat around thinking of names and decided we needed something so stupid no other band would want to use it as their name. Not too many bands had trolls or teeth in their name so we just said screw it and went with “Troll Teeth”.
What Country/Region are you from and what is the Metal/Rock scene like there?
This question is quite the divisive question to ask us because I consider us a New Jersey band because 3/4ths of our current members were born in New Jersey but we sometimes get lumped in to the Philly music scene which is whatever. So, Philly/South Jersey is the compromise we kind of landed on.
What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)
We have this Split EP coming out called “Blunt” we did with Wax Mekanix but our last full release was called “Goes Nowhere, Does Nothing”. It was half a love letter to Star Trek (My guitarist Pete & me are Trekkies) and half a dismantling of bad leadership. We wrote much of the lyrics before the pandemic but they took on a different meaning when our government kind of just decided to let us die and not care about us.
Wax Mekanix/Troll Teeth “Blunt” (Full Split EP)
Who have been your greatest influences?
Another divisive question because we all come from different backgrounds. I grew up on punk like Bad Religion, NoFX, Agent Orange, etc. Everyone in the band kind of has their favourite stuff they listen to and it comes out pretty well when you’re coming at a song idea from these like diametrically opposed spots. I always joke with people “Troll Teeth songs are really two or three completely separate songs that we duct tape together”
What first got you into music?
I started on Cello in like third grade and it’s kind of always been there. Kyle was a former band kid as well. Pete went to a performing arts high school so he is lightyears ahead of us in terms of line music theory knowledge. Ben probably has the most unique background because he is self-taught but also a natural musician. You can hand him almost anything and within 10 minutes, he is better than most people who spent their whole lives trying to master it. It’s nice that we kind of all have been in music for as long as we have been because we all have enough experience that writing and recording isn’t as stressful as it used to be when we were just starting out.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
We’ve been talking about doing an acoustic Christmas/Holiday album so anyone who plays a “weird” instrument like a harp, accordion, banjo, etc., anything that adds a different flavour to an acoustic song.
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
That’s genuinely a good question because we haven’t had the chance to do any festivals but would love to do something outdoors with great weather and dope fans. Wacken in Germany and Maryland’s Deathfest always look amazing seeing the videos so either of them would be awesome to do.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
Edibles. We had a show where someone was nice enough to bring weed brownies.
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
I don’t know why you chose to support us but we love you. You really do make the darkest days a little brighter helping us know people out there dig our style and understand us as a band.
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
Kurt Cobain. I think he was a really introspective person and self-aware which the big time rockstars nowadays seem to lack. They worry a little too much about image and he used to do and say things because they were the right thing to say, not the right thing for profit or popularity.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
I love the feeling of when you nail a song. Like every measure of the song feels in sync and has just a natural, organic feel to it. Live or in a studio, it doesn’t matter to me, when everything comes together, there aren’t too many better feelings. On the flip side, recording vocals. I know I could go with like “loading in” or having gear break but recording vocals is such a lonely, stressful process and I hate it.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
So, everything is kind of interconnected. I wouldn’t change the industry per se but I’d want a 25-30 hour work week, a higher or basic level of income for everyone, and guaranteed vacation time so more people have an opportunity to explore their artistic sides and move out of the drudgery of being wage slaves. Too many entertainers today are products of growing up rich or benefit from nepotism so I wish society was a little bit more open to social movement and let people who can end up being musicians, comedians, artists, etc.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
Bad Religion’s “No Control”. Has a great flow, great tone, solid lyrics, and awesome energy. I could listen to it every day.
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?
I’m not preferable to one but I will say, vinyl is super expensive in general. Everyone keeps telling up “PRINT GOES NOWHERE DOES NOTHING ON VIVYL!” and it’s like $2,500 to $3,000 bucks for 150 prints. I get the vinyl obsession but it’s completely nuts how expensive it can be.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
I genuinely don’t remember the “Good” gigs. The bad ones where we nearly get in fights in the parking lot or our amps explode for whatever reason are the ones I have photographic memory with.
I just will never forget the one in Wildwood. We ended up playing in a very sad pizzeria (never heard of the place before so we were surprised when we showed up), there was a band who spent longer setting up their pedals than actually playing, there was a band who was decked out in like True Religion jeans and Affliction T-shirts doing metalcore covers of Pink Floyd songs, and the promoter ended up getting mad at us and nearly didn’t pay us because we were too loud for their PA system. Hell of a night.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
Writing. I’ve written two books, self-published (If you can really call it that) but I am an overly philosophical type of person so I have all these dumb ideas I need to get out. Right now, we’re writing our fourth album about Necropolitics so if I didn’t have music, I’d be writing a novel about Necropolitics.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
Like any comedian I know and enjoy. I feel dinner parties are super uptight and I would want five people there to loosen everyone up with some jokes and observations about how silly everything can be.
What’s next for the band?
Well October 22nd was EP release day. We’re shooting for a December release of our two albums (We have been extremely bored in the pandemic). We’re also planning out some cool, interesting, different music stuff like a Christmas Acoustic album and some more EP’s with hyper specific themes that wouldn’t fit on an album. We don’t have a ton of stuff planned for live stuff so experimenting in the studio is all we got going on right now.
What Social Media/Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
We’re on everything so if you search bar “troll teeth” I’m sure we’ll pop up. I’m most active on Twitter and TikTok because I like being funny and they have the most room to have sarcasm, dark humour in everything you do without people getting too upset. Sometimes trying to be funny on Facebook or Instagram is like posting nudes on LinkedIn, no one really wants them there and gets kind of upset about it.
www.tiktok.com/@troll_teeth
www.trollteeth.bandcamp.com/
www.facebook.com/trollteeth
www.instagram.com/troll_teeth/
www.twitter.com/TrollTeeth
www.soundcloud.com/trollteeth
www.open.spotify.com/artist/2jeIa5h7JchUcUds0L3oI1
www.youtube.com/user/NoSexAppealBand
Jaffa Cakes! Are they a cake or a biscuit?
I’m an American, we usually like things with higher calories and fat content. Have you seen our restaurants? People serve cheeseburgers here where the buns are donuts. We don’t have time for petty squabbles over “is it a cake or a biscuit?” we’re too busy trying to kill ourselves with fried dough.
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
I would just say we have a pre-order for $40. You get both albums, our EP coming out soon, a t-shirt, 2 stickers, 2 Troll Teeth picks, 3 posters, and I think some other stuff. You get a lot of stuff for $40 and it eats into our overhead so mixing & mastering is cheaper. You can pick one up on our Bandcamp in the merch section. Outside of that, I don’t have anything else. This was a cool, fun little interview.
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