Three years go by quickly these days. In March 2014, I was working as an academic while my wife handled the goings on at Weekly Alibi‘s music department. That spring was a tough one; I was struggling with an auto-immune disease that can make me feel disastrously grumpy, to say the least. But my wife, in her rock and roll wisdom, thought a good thing, a thing that might pick up my spirits, would be to go see a decent show.She was right. On a night just before the equinox, we rolled down to Low Spirits to check out a band called Bestial Mouths. In a lifetime of concerts, in a world based on rock music, this gig was one for the ages.Uranium Worker, a short-lived but ultra-intense local folk-punk duo opened the show. Alchemical Burn followed with a thought-provoking set. Raven Chacon was there too, experimenting with sound and the things that make sound. When Bestial Mouths took the stage, I felt a sense of completion that was confirmed by a band whose intensely provocative, world-drowning performance of noise and nuance set the stage for where I thought rocanrol should go.Three years later and I am now the editor of the music section. I keep up with Lynette Cerezo, who befriended my wife through Facebook, digesting her thoughts—and her band’s evolution and continental success—through the airy mediums we’ve been granted in this, the postmodern age.I caught up with Lynette, just as Bestial Mouths (Lynette Cerezo, Eddie O and Brant Showers) began the tour to support their recording, Heartless, a dark but transformative work that invokes existential dread while promising that the mystery of life may be engaged by living—frantically, formidably and fantastically. Bestial Mouths will play a gig at Sister (407 Central NW) on Tuesday, April 4, at 9pm.Weekly Alibi: You guys are currently out on tour. But you also have a new video you directed. Tell me about that.Yeah, right now is the US tour. We’re supporting our album Heartless, but also promoting the new album of remixes which is called Still Heartless. The video for “Worn Skin” was my directorial debut. I shot the video in Berlin. In the past, we’ve always worked with other directors who had visions and ideas that were really amazing, really great. But when I wrote this song, I had visuals in my head … I just wanted to see if I could make it happen. I think it turned out pretty good; I’m very happy about it.For readers who haven’t experienced your band, what exactly is “Bestial Mouths”?I guess the best way to describe it would be—I really don’t sit down to create a certain genre—commentary on everything I’ve listened to in the past, what’s going on in society. Basically it’s the experience of life filtered through my perception. It’s how I feel. I tend to do things that will make people feel more emotions, especially ones they might not normally feel. It’s pretty dark.Listening to your music , I notice there’s a darkwave or industrial feel to the proceedings, but also a danceability that recalls the best of the new wave movement. How did that evolve?I grew up listening to punk rock. But then I got into synth music, minimal synth. And experimental, industrial and noise. I think that what I’m doing is combining all of those elements. I know when I would watch [other bands] I would really like it but I would want more rhythm, something to follow the noise and chaos; I’ve always loved tribal drumming. I want that sound, that beat, to follow.Is the music that results from those influences a collaborative effort?It’s definitely a collaboration. We all have similar aesthetics and a unified vision. They [the rest of the band] put their touch on what I present, so you can create things you never expected. I really think that’s the really cool, key thing about Bestial Mouths. We talk about it, brainstorm and then go forward with what becomes the essential expression of Bestial Mouths.
Aural Fixation: Bestial Mouths Beckon
Cerezo’s Dark Vision Shines
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