Not going to check out Black Sabbath on Friday, Sept. 9, at Isleta Amphitheater? Well, fear not, fabulous rocanrol warrior! While the Ozzman and company recede, a new generation of fast-food-fed metal heads waits in the wings. A week after the big show, a new crew will be serving Plutonic grub, hot and fresh, here in Burque. Your order’s up next.But just remember, the dude that manages Black Sabbath parody act Mac Sabbath, Mike Odd, doesn’t want to talk about any particular American burger joint or its costumed representatives, real or imagined. He wants to talk about rock music.The man who brought his oddly, humorously occult yet deadly serious take on pop culture to El Lay with bands like Rosemary’s Billygoat wants people to believe that Mac Sabbath is real.And in a bizarre, parallel universe-embracing sort of way they are. Odd maintains that the leader of the currently hot parody band, frontman Ronald Osbourne, came through a trans-dimensional portal with his bandmates to bring Mac Sabbath to a hungry world.With this narrative filling the band’s Styrofoam plate—and some pretty decent chops, besides—the quartet set out to conquer the world. On the West Coast, the press and audiences have embraced them voraciously. Those humans crave a delicious combination of comforting, albeit substantive classic rock, the vague childhood memories of being indoctrinated into the cult of fast food by clever and cute cartoon characters and the transgressive, postmodern intersection of two potent cultural forces.Or something like that. Weekly Alibi chatted with Mike Odd about such as Mac Sabbath prepared to embark on a tour of the western US. They’ll be stopping by Launchpad (618 Central SW) on Friday, Sept. 16, for a concert that will destroy your eardrums, re-invigorate your belief in the power and majesty of Black Sabbath and probably cause you to spend loads of feria on fast food cheeseburgers, fries and shakes—from your choice of conveniently located outlets—immediately following the show.Weekly Alibi: So, you’re the manager for the infamous Mac Sabbath; what’s that like?Mike Odd: [laughs manically]: I used to run this freak museum in east Hollywood called The Rosemary’s Billygoat Odditorium. It was was based on my band, Rosemary’s Billygoat. We brought audiences the strangest things we could find. We had a big party, a big freak show, every month. In situations like that you’re so immersed in the weird stuff of the world that you’re not chasing it down, it’s chasing you down; like the guy with a two-headed otter in Santa Monica. One night I got a call, this guy says I need to come see this band at this burger place in Chatsworth, [Calif.]; “it will change your life,” he says.What happened when you went out there?I figured I was going to see some hamburger bun with the Virgin Mary baked onto it. Anyway, as I sat down in a booth, this abomination of a clown comes storming through the front doors and starts spewing these intense concepts all over everybody’s lunch. He’s kinda got that Skeletor makeup going, red and yellow paint is dripping from his outfit and he’s filthy. He starts telling me that it’s my destiny to manage his band; then he gets kicked out as he is yelling the words Mac Sabbath at me. Later on, another phone call came. This time the voice on the other end told me to come to the burger joint, but late at night.Did you go?I did. Down in the basement I saw these mutated fast-food mascots making music, playing Black Sabbath songs amidst frozen hamburger buns, freeze-dried condiments, while screaming about GMOs. I was literally blown away. Afterward, they asked me to take them above ground.So what was the next step?I started getting them gigs in Los Angeles. People that saw and heard Mac Sabbath for the first time were shocked. When the curtain falls, it’s absolutely hypnotizing, the colors, the whole experience. As much as it is ominous, wicked, gnarly and metal there is still something about Mac Sabbath that’s cute. The phenomenon moved so fast. We booked a bunch of shows in LA. We put a video of one of the band’s performances on YouTube. Fox News picked it up, then MTV, then Black Sabbath posted it on their website. Because of all of that, we went to England and played the Download Festival; we played with Motley Crüe, KISS, Slipknot and Judas Priest!And then you returned to to conquer the US, right?Actually the band is planning on world domination. You gotta realize I’m dealing with a disturbed clown that believes he teleported here from the 1970s to save us all from the current state of sustenence in music. Ronald wants to get us back to when music and food were real. Ronald’s a visionary. And you know how those visionaries can be. He has fun making me the conduit between fantasy and reality. It’s totally worth it; “Iron Man” becomes “Frying Pan” and “Supernaut” is “Super Size.” Drive-Thru metal is the next big thing, dig?
Music Interview: Mac, Not Black
Sabbath Parody Band Sizzles With Special Sauce
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