Did someone say psych-rock? - An interview with MOUSE


Oh a hot wind’s blowing and it outsmarted Tom… MOUSE! A Local two piece from Durban - Chris and Damon have been tearing the scene into bite sized pieces with their tornado of psychedelic shrapnel… it’s beautiful really. Once again, we have questions and they have answers.
How, why and when did MOUSE start?

Damon (guitar) posted an advert in his local classifieds where Chris (drums), responded, sparking a friendship. A two-piece band evolved under an undisclosed name *Saving Science* which recorded several songs in Hate City (JHB). From here MOUSE was born… As I’m sure you’ve already thought to yourself - the old saying “As quiet as a mouse” didn’t apply to them for very long.
What do you do aside from playing in MOUSE?

Chris explained that he is infatuated with nature and enjoys gardening and being outdoors in general. Finding this out, a light bulb instantly went off in my head, linking the tranquility of their music with the chaos which will all make sense with my next phrase - Damon runs a studio (Red Saint Records) in… You guessed it - Durban.
Name three albums that inspired your sound, in no particular order?

Songs For The Deaf -   Queens Of The Stone Age
Origin Of Symmetry -   Muse
Float Along - Fill Your Lungs -   King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard
Some great tunes indeed, links below.
Warning! This one's nerd shit!

Tell us about your typical setup? Is the tone in the gear or in the hands?

Damon plays a baby blue baritone Reverend, blasted through a metric kak-ton of pedals that were not even going to get into. One interesting thing to note is the dual-amp setup Damon runs through. A line-splitter that runs to both a bass and a guitar amp, making their two piece sound like a full psychedelic orchestra. This accompanied by Chris’s minimalist three-piece drum setup makes the near perfect combination for a band like no other with sounds you didn’t even know could be made. I swear they have a synth player hiding round back. I’m keeping the technicalities to a minimum, but let us know in the comments if you’d like to read more about it!
Any gig horror stories that we’d like to hear about?

I could see in their eyes their urge to laugh - they kept it brief but Railways Cafe almost meant the death of Damon and an Endless Daze endeavor containing a chipped tooth, a broken string and a big old box of technical difficulties. Welcome to South Africa! There’s a lesson to be learnt here, no matter the shit storm, there’s always a rainbow - but you can only see it once you just say “Fuck it” and rise above. When I started this interview I did not expect a philosophical awakening… I guess that’s why I love this job so much.
On the other end, tell us about some of your favorite shows?

An obvious answer would be meeting almighty John Dwyer from “Thee Oh Sees”. If you haven’t heard of them, crawl out from under your rock and listen to some tunes! Another one that came to their minds was their second show at The Winston (Durban) which was allegedly just a crazy vibe - considering their shows I’ve been lucky enough to catch - that must have been pretty wild. They also went on to tell me a bit about their Reunion Island Tour (An island near Mauritius), a few years back, which was surprising to say the least. 

How would you say that the Durban scene differs from the Gauteng scene?

All they could mention was how their home turf scene had a lot less pressure sitting on it - which ultimately resulted in some out-of-the box thinking, guess that’s how we got MOUSE and Black Math. God bless Durban.
Any upcoming news you’d think we’d want to know about?

They stated a new album tour would be going down… New album you say? Yes oh yes oh yes. Reverse; Universe. That as well as a possible MOUSE comic book - where can I get a copy?
Any specific venues that you just love so much you need to plug right now?

Railways Cafe (Home), Thrashers Skatepark (Before… you know…), The Irish, The Winston, Green Camp, Evol and Mercury Live. I guess we could have seen that coming because they’re all the coolest venues that I know of anyway.
Where, if anywhere, do you see MOUSE heading towards?

“The Jungle and Outer Space” - nothing more needs to be said about that.
The floor is yours! Tell us some stuff!

“Meth is a bad one” true
“Trust your gut” true
“Minecraft is great” by far the most true
Ladies and germs, MOUSE. 

Heres a drawing of a MOUSE, courtesy of Chris




Heres some links to their media pages and music 

Their sound is extremely unique but still holds on to that trippy-Durban_psych-rock vibe that we’ve come to know and love. From the high yet spacey vocals to the crushingly powerful drums to the insanity of fuzzitiude - truly a gem in the local and international music scene. MOUSE, we’re stoked that you’re a thing and we look forward to seeing what crazy new ear candy you’ll be bringing to the table.
Cheers!

Luke Beckwith
xx Photos courtesy of MOUSE's Instagram page xx

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