Tomahawk, the latest band fronted by Mike Patton (Mr. Bungle; Fantomas; Faith No More) is a project that successfully continues to defy musical genre's. Tomahawk's music engages with a unique ability to leap musical borders in a single bound. Although it is less prone to rapid, schizophrenic musical shifts Tomahawk's sound manages to dip into a number of different territories. Their loud/soft dynamics; heavy, distorted guitars and repeating ominous riffs gives off a Tool-like sensibility and with Patton's tremendous bent style of heavy metal meshed with a twisted, barely recognizable brand of country Tomahawk distinguishes it's own identity. I suppose the fact that Tomahawk recorded its debut in Nashville and was produced by Joe Funderburk (The Judds, Jerry Reed, Emmylou Harris) may have something to do with their oblique take on country music.

Joining Patton on this musical journey are Jesus Lizard guitarist Duane Denison, Melvins bassist Kevin Rutmanis, and Helmet drummer John Stanier- thus squaring them off as a underground super group of sorts. This album reflects the collective talents of these groundbreaking, established musicians and molds them into a whole new entity. I recently spoke with Guitarist Duane Denison about Tomahawk and the history behind the band.

BALLBUSTER: Take me through a little Tomahawk history. You met Mike Patton in 2000?

DENISON: Yeah.. He came through Nashville with Mr. Bungle and I was playing with Hank III at the time. One of the guys in Hank III was friends with him and Bungle so he took me to the show and I was shocked and amazed at their show. Then I met (Patton) afterwards and he told me about his label and was curious if I had been writing any new stuff since the Jesus Lizards had broken up.. And I had, I had acumulated some stuff and so we started talking about maybe doing something..

BALLBUSTER:So, already within that first meeting you guys already knew you wanted to work together and what direction you wanted to go in and all that stuff?

DENISON: No, not really.. I think Mike thought that I'd like to put out some kind of avantgarv improv thing or something like that. But, I just thought about it and wasn't into it. I wanted to do another rock thing and I wonder if he'd have tome to work with me on it and he made time and that's kinda how it happened.

BALLBUSTER: The whole thing was recorded in Tennessee?

DENISON: Yeah, in Nashville

BALLBUSTER: What a great place to record a rock and roll album..

DENISON: Yeah, I kind of like the idea of an unusual location, plus I live there now, so..

BALLBUSTER:Cool.. Now, This album was produced by Joe Funderburk who is known for producing a lot of country artists like The Judds..

DENISON: He's done a lot of rock stuff too.. Most of it was sort of local and regional rock, but he was familiar with everybodies background in the band. He's definitely a rock fan. So, it wasn't as much as a stretch as people might think.

BALLBUSTER: How did you get him on the team?

DENISON: I had met him by just living in Nashville. He had been to Jesus Lizard shows and Melvin and Helmet shows and all that so it just kinda worked out.

BALLBUSTER: What elements as a musician do you get from Tomahawk that you didn't necessarily get with Jesus Lizard or any of the other projects you worked on?

DENISION: Well, anytime your with a new group of people the different personalities kind of add into something.. I write the bulk of material, but I always listen to what people have to say, their observations or what have you.. So, with different people there's a lot of different influences coming in. Plus people play differently, so as a writer I may write things for peoples strengths or preferences.. Then, once we got out and started playing together we kind of grown into something else.. That's a natural thing.

BALLBUSTER: Yeah, you guys been touring for almost a year..

DENSION: Yeah, we've done a US tour a European Tour and Australian Tour and now we're back in the US doing this thing with Tool. So, now that we've played together for a while we've developed a 'Group Personality' if you will..

BALLBUSTER: Tell me about the creative process, when you guys sat down to write a tune. Did you already know what direction you wanted to go in?

DENISON: No.. Typically, I'll come up with some sort of riff or groove or some sort of chord sequence and then we just play with it and see where it goes. Then Mike (Patton) will come up with a vocal line without lyrics, just some sort of melodic thing or a rhythmic chant and then usually the verbal information is the last thing to happen.

BALLBUSTER: It must be an interesting to see what kind of lyrics he's gonna throw into the mix?

DENISON: Yeah.. Well, I kinda collaborate a bit on the lyrics too, so.. A lot of times I'll come up with something and just hand it over to him and say, "here, see what you can do with this or not.." (Laughs)

BALLBUSTER: The Tomahawk lyrics are kind of unpredictable and I think that's the beauty of this album. I mean, you guys tackle some creepy subject matter with references to murder, masturbation, feces, sodomy, and perversion. (laughs)

DENISON: (Laughs) Oh man..

BALLBUSTER: Where do these ideas come from? Do they just come out when you're writing?

DENISON: Man.. I don't know how to answer that..

BALLBUSTER: Okay, a quick example- the song "Laredo" has lyrics that go, "The cat's in the bag and the bag's in the river" How did those lyrics come about? Are they spontaneous or pre meditated?

DENISON: Well that song we wanted sort of a South of the Border, drug deal, Santa Ria mood and that riff was based on an Afro-Cuban kinda thing. So, that was a theme that just kinda came out of the music, the mood. We were just trying to get the words and the music together to create a mood..

BALLBUSTER: How do you manage to stay fresh and original in rock music when its so saturated with rap-rock, nu-metal and everything else? How do you avoid being influenced by main stream culture?

DENISON: We're not totally unaware of main stream culture, we're in the middle of it, it's everywhere you go and kinda hard to avoid it..

BALLBUSTER: That's what I mean, it's everywhere.. How do you guys manage to maintain a sense of originality?

DENISON: Well, You just have to make time to listen to different things that aren't part of the main stream. Just watch and listen to things that aren't part of that. It seems like now-a-days with all the different specialized record stores and with the internet and all the different movies you can get and books and stuff, make it easier than ever to find things that are outside the normal range. That's kina we all do. Whether it's listening to soundtracks or listening to Chamber Music and stuff. Like I said, there's so much rock and main stream stuff around and getting away from that is the idea.

BALLBUSTER: So what influences you? You mentioned Chamber music, does Chamber music influence you at all?

DENISON: Yeah, it does and without sounding pretentious I listen to a lot of things that aren't rock and every now and then it just sort of triggers something and it makes me want to create. Look, I do like some things that are fairly popular; I like Queens of the Stone Age and Radiohead. Neither of those groups are really obscure, so I think there's still some good stuff here and there, there's just not that much of it.

BALLBUSTER: So, as an artist, what are you trying to do?

DENISON: To me, when I started playing guitar and playing in bands I did that because I wanted to make up songs and play with other people who wanted to make up there own songs. I never wanted to be one of these guys who would play anything as long as there was money in it for them. Not me.. I think that the goal with any of the bands that any of us has ever been in is personal to an extent and do things that maybe no one else would.. On the other hand, I'm not so terribly different from a lot of the fans who come to our shows. I mean, I watch the same movies, read the same books and stuff, so I tend to think that if I come up with something and I like it then I think that other people might like it too.

The band has just finished up it's US tour with Tool and will head back into the studio to begin work on Tomahawks follow-up this fall.

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