If you happen to catch a concert that features a quintet donning plastic bodysuits and aluminum foil headdresses, then welcome to the world of Invitro. The band is far from being just a novelty with their molded silver hats, however. Invitro is quickly proving that its blend of furious, melodic riffs and circus-like energy is a completely unique presence in the metal scene today. Guitarist Mikey Doling has been in the limelight over the years with former bands Soulfly and Snot, but he says that Invitro is giving him a sense of musical freedom that is worth having to start at square one again.
A release date has not been set for Invitro’s debut release
When I Was A Planet, but Doling says it is likely to hit the shelves closer to summer. In the meantime, the band has been attracting plenty of attention while on its New Revolution Tour, which also features bands Indorphine, Psychostick, and Re:Ignition.
Doling recently talked with Ultimate Guitar writer
Amy Kelly about the instant chemistry he felt with fellow Invitro bandmates.
Ultimate Guitar: The band has talked a lot about how the new album When I Was A Planet is a completely different musical venture than any of you had done in the past. Was the songwriting process equally as unique?
Mikey: The record is very diverse. The songs on MySpace, they’re diverse as well, but the record is very deep. There’s a lot of cool stuff on there. I think it became so diverse because these guys that I put together – Brad Dujmovic, Jeff Weber – they go together like studying jazz and big band. They like very eclectic music, very different. They like different stuff, man. Tom Waits is like our singer’s favorite! Don’t get me wrong, they like the hard stuff, too. They love it, but they’re taste is very different. I grew up loving AC/DC, Slayer, Pantera, Black Sabbath. Mike (Pygmie, guitarist) and Benny (Cancino, drummer), they’re from the desert and they grew up with Queens of the Stone Age, that kind of stuff. We’re guys that come together and try to make something that makes us all happy.
Another thing is that we were such good friends. We get along so well! It was really easy to meld together our styles in music. We’re so honest with each other. Like if somebody brought some idea and it just wasn’t happening, or if it sounded like something else we’ve heard before, we’d all look at each other and go, “Come on, dude. You know we can beat that.” There were no ego trips. We’re just making the best songs that we can. And first and foremost, we have to be a fan of these songs before somebody else.
There’s a big contrast between the manic verse section of the song “New Disease” and the melodic, grooving chorus. What was it like writing a song with such big extremes?
I don’t think we really purposely did that. That just came from out of our hearts. Our singer has a lot to do with that. It just comes out of him naturally. I don’t know how it happens. When it did happen we were high-fiving, that’s for sure!
Do you usually know right off the bat that you’ve got a killer song on your hands?
You know, sometimes it works that way and sometimes it doesn’t. There are a couple songs on this record that were like that. For instance, I would say “Transfer.” We knew right away that riff was a monster. The thing is, the first riff is so simplistic that I didn’t know it was gonna be so big. “Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah…” What is that? And then it just turns into this monster song.
Then it happens to songs that nobody has ever heard that didn’t make the record. We were sure, “This is it! This song is incredible!” Then we start putting vocals on it and we recorded it and were like, “Dude, this is awful!” We threw it away!
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| "The songs posted on MySpace, they’re diverse, but the record is very deep." |
Do you think that the songs you threw away will ever see the light of day somewhere down the line?
We wrote about 35 songs and only 13 of them made the record. So yes, there is a lot of material that we could go back and probably use down the road. But we probably won’t because we’re so damn stubborn. We could write a song and it’s old news in one day. We’re onto writing another one. We’re writing monsters!
On “Hollyvision,” there’s a fantastic riff that sounds as if it’s being used throughout most of the song.
Yeah. I like to do that. You know where I got that from? Soundgarden used to do that a long time ago. I listen to them now a lot and I notice that they’ll keep a verse – it will be the catchiest riff ever – then the chorus will be the same riff, just bigger. Then they’ll do a breakdown with a variation of the same riff. You don’t need to write 5 billion riffs to make a song.
Besides Soundgarden, what other bands or musicians have inspired you?
There’s a band that a lot of people know about, but most of them don’t. They’re called the Refused. Incredible band. You know what inspires me about the Refused? The freedom. They don’t sound like anybody else. They recorded their own music. They didn’t use any big-time producers. Their album sounds so different. For instance, right now there are some of these bands out there – God bless, they’re great bands and all – but they all have the same sound, the same kick-drum sound. They all have the scream-y verses and this big chorus. It’s always the same shit. When I first heard Refused, it made me go, “Wow, freedom, man.” It really inspired me and the rest of my band to do a lot of what we’re doing.
Talk a bit about the label you co-founded, Gridiron Records. Was it born through that frustration of hearing the cookie-cutter bands getting signed on major labels?
I met Kyle Turley. He plays in the NFL. He was playing for The Saints back when I was in a band called Soulfly. Kyle came to the show and he came up on my tour bus, and we met. He was a huge Snot fan. We became friends and every time I came through wherever he was playing football, he would always show up. We just came became pals. Then when I left Soulfly, I was producing demos and a couple records out here in Los Angeles. Kyle was out here doing some movies and TV shows for sports, and he would come hang out in the studio. He was like, “Why don’t you start a label, bro?” I was like, “Kyle, believe me, I want to do it, but I don’t know the first thing about being a label owner.” Actually, I probably do know a lot more than I thought I did at the time. I was noticing that these labels are looking for one flavor. I’m like, “Screw this!” I call Kyle and say, “Hey man, do you still want to do that label?” And he’s like, “I’ve been waiting for this phone call. Let’s do it.”
When you started the label up, did you already have bands in mind that you wanted to sign?
There was one band. This is the proof of all proofs that I’m looking for something different. This band is called The Hairbrain Scheme. If you go to the Gridiron site on MySpace, the Hairbrain Scheme will be there. This band is completely different – they don’t even have a guitar player in the band! It’s all keyboard. The bass player plays distortioned-out bass to where it sounds like guitar. Then the drummer is like a death metal drummer, but he also plays like Stewart Copeland from The Police. The singer, he reminds me of Sting meets Phil Collins. He’s crazy, man! Super-talented. They play this song I like with a little bit of Devo meets…God, man, it’s hard to explain. Really different, really good, and that’s why I signed them. They’re so fucking talented, but they’ll never get a deal because they’re not the flavor of the week. But you know what? I honestly believe if we put enough behind this band and get them out there, people are gonna see through all the bullshit to see how great they are and fall in love with them.
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| "We wrote about 35 songs and only 13 of them made the record." |
After the initial intimidation, how hard was it to get the label up and running?
When I said that, that was do to insecurity. I know what I’m doing. I did a lot of records on my own. I did the Strait Up record for Lynn Strait (Snot vocalist who died in a car accident in 1998). I did my own live record for Snot. I saw how they launched the Soulfly records and I kept my eye on everything. It comes down to getting the right marketing, getting on the road. Tour, tour, tour, and first and foremost, write killer songs. I knew what I was doing. I was just scared to take on the task and I didn’t want let anybody down.
You mentioned vocalist Lynn Strait. After his passing, did you and the rest of Snot know immediately that the band couldn’t go on without him?
Lynn was not just the singer of my band. He was my best friend. He was my bro. He was my brother. When Lynn passed away, I didn’t even think about the band. I didn’t think about nothing. I thought about how Lynn is not gonna come home. We were roommates. All of the sudden I’m not gonna have my bro coming through the door. I’m thinking about the chicks he was chasing after all night! He was a chick magnet, that guy! That was my boy. He was my friend. And of course, we had a band called Snot, which we were doing really good at the time, but it wasn’t even a question if we were gonna continue. Without him, without any of us, Snot wasn’t Snot. We definitely looked at each other and hugged and just kind of went our own ways. Even though the label was asking to. You heard things like, “AC/DC did it. Blah, blah, blah.” We were like, “Well, we don’t want to do it. We just want our friend back.”
Obviously Lynn had an effect on a large number of people.
Lynn effected a lot of people, especially the women!
It sounds like there are quite a few stories that could be told about Lynn!
No argument. You remember when we got arrested at the Ozzfest? Limp Bizkit had a toilet on top of their stage, a 13-foot-high toilet. Lynn came out with this toilet in front of 22,000 people buck naked and got a blow job! Yeah. That was the kind of rock star that Lynn was. He was the real deal. And the best part? He got arrested and they took him to the jail, and he told them he was Dave Mustaine! “Yeah, what’s your name?” He goes, “Dave Mustaine.” So they took the police report like that and they found out he lied later, and he got in more trouble.
I heard you weren’t really able to do a lot of the songwriting in Soulfly. Is that correct?
Very, very correct. Soulfly, first of all, I’ll say it because I want them to know. Soulfly was the greatest time of my life. They took me around the world like 15 times. I got to play with Max Cavalera, one of my heroes for 6 years. These guys treated me like family, so I owe them a big thank-you. I love Cavalera with all my heart. There’s no animosity. A lot of people have this misconception that it was an ugly break-up and all this – it was not. I did 2 records with them. I asked them nicely and gracefully to take off and do my own thing because I was also doing some of my own music. They hugged me and I left and we’re still friends. I called them on the holidays and wished them the best. When I did leave, it was shocking because one minute I was a full-blown somewhat a rock star.
When you were in Soulfly, had you already begun to write songs for future projects?
Nope. When I was in Soulfly, my heart was 100 percent in Soulfly. When it came time to sign that contract for the third record, I just didn’t do it. I took a little bit of time off. I had another band called Abloom. We were jamming together, but it didn’t work out. The chemistry just wasn’t right. We’re still good friends. That was the last project and then I started this one, Invitro. This one just clicked.
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| "You don't need to write 5 billion riffs to make a song." |
What equipment are you using these days?
I just found an amp I love so much. Krank amps, it’s the company that Dimebag helped kind of get out there and popular and known. They’re endorsing me now, Krank amps. They’re just awesome. They’re just really awesome to work. The tone of the Krank amps is exactly what I’m looking for. It’s not all metal, metal, metal. It’s a really rich tone. It’s got 2 channels – actually 3 with the clean channel.
As far as guitars go, I’ve been playing ESP guitars for about 11 years, but I also just bought a Gibson guitar, which I really like a lot.
Is the current New Revolution tour the first time the band has done a bit coast-to-coast tour?
This is our first national tour. Honestly, we’ve only played a handful of shows, about 20 shows. So yes, this is a big deal for us. I got a call this morning from another band, which I don’t want to mention yet. One of my favorite bands on the planet called today and asked if we’d like to do 60 shows. This was literally like 15 minutes before you called!
Can we have a hint?
I don’t know. Let’s just say my old guitar player from Snot is in the band now. They’re my best friends from back in the day, so we might have a tour coming up. (Doling is likely referring to Sevendust)
Would that tour be later in the year?
No, it’s gonna be right after the New Revolution tour or at the very end. We might have to drop off the New Revolution Tour to do this one if it comes.
How different is the chemistry onstage with Invitro than when you were in Soulfly?
Completely different. It reminds me more of Snot to tell you the truth. In Snot we had this freedom thing. You never knew what was going to happen. With Soulfly, you know you’re gonna go to see Max scream and put his hands in the air. There’s gonna be a drum solo going on and you know what’s gonna happen. With this band, you never know. Our bass player dives through the drum set. It’s pretty intense.
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