My Ruin Interview

Interview
Mick Murphy & Tairrie B.
My Ruin

Lineup:
Tairrie B. - Vocals
Mick Murphy - Guitar
Chris Lisee - Bass
Matt Lechevalier - Drummer

11/12/05
Interviewer: Sharita Lumpkin

"I don't know what the fuck I'm doing, I'm a rapper, but I want to try to scream."

The quote above is from My Ruin's Tairrie B. making the change from rapping protégé of Eazy E. and NWA to cult rockstar. She. has been through hell and back but now that things have calmed down for the outspoken and charismatic frontwoman, she is a much happier individual. She and guitarist/boyfriend Mick Murphy front one of the best kept secrets in the music world. Their latest release, The Brutal Language, is an album that talks about romance and death but also adds some humor with a track about actor Vince Vaughn. In this two part interview, Mick talks about the experience of being a "one man show", literally and the working relationship he has with Tairrie. In part two, Tairrie speaks on their project the LVRS, the website as well as insight into her rap past. Read on and enjoy!

Mick: It was cool. It’s kind off a blur to me because it was one of the last shows on the tour and I pulled something in my lower back a couple of days before so I was in pain. I kind of remember it being a cool show.

Sharita: Sorry to hear about your, glad to hear the show was good. How about the crowd reaction?

Mick: Good, there were many My Ruin fans there and for people that have not seen us before they seem to like us so it was cool.

Sharita: Awesome, I had read somewhere that a show was cancelled in Kansas because of a dress code could you tell me more about that?

Mick: Oh, that was on the first leg of the double shot of rock tour in Kansas City and our band and Bleed the Sky walked off a show because we got into it with the owner and promoter. They were enforcing this weird dress code where they were turning away people at the door for wearing sports jerseys. If they were wearing their pants too low, or they did not like the way they looked or whatever. I mean some of these people had driven a long way to see the show and this is a rock show, how could you turn away people who wanted to pay to come in and watch. That was the first thing that set us off and then they gave a couple of guys in Bleed The Sky a hard time about the way they were dressed and they’re playing a show there. Eventually we talked to them and they were being sketchy about paying us so we just packed up and left.

Mick: No, [people were able to see us] anywhere nearby. I mean, we came back through Kansas and played Manhattan Kansas a couple of times and those were both really cool.

Sharita: That's good. Now, was that the only cancellation on the tour or did everything else go smoothly?

Mick: That was the only night like that where we got into it with promoters and club owners. There were a couple of last minute cancellations like the last show in Wichita was cancelled because the club couldn't pass fire codes and they were expecting a really big show and the fire marshall shut it down. We found out like a day before.

Mick: So that was kind of a letdown but other than that, everything went pretty smooth.

Sharita: Ok, so how was the reaction here as opposed to England? I read that you guys are really big there.

Mick: Well yeah, we have a bigger profile over there you know. We headline tours with a tour bus, we play bigger arenas, and there is a lot more fans but we've built up our profile over here in America over the last two years. It started with being on Century Media and the exposure we got from that. Now, we've been promoting a new record, it's been reviewed all over, we've been getting some press, and we've been playing a lot of shows so, it seems to been a great reaction to the new album and the new direction and we plan on touring a lot more in America and overseas.

Sharita: Ok and are there any bands that you would like to take out on tour with you in the near and how was touring with Bleed the Sky?

Mick: Yeah, touring with Bleed the Sky was a lot of fun. We hung out with those guys, we had a blast with them and we missed them. Actually in the UK were taking out a band called G.U. Medicine, we love their album it's totally a great rock album an were excited about that. As far as anything else goes it just depends on what comes our way, you know. We just want to get out there and do it.

Sharita: Ok, so let's talk about the latest album, The Brutal Language. Was it a challenge for you playing guitar, drums, and bass with the other two members moving on?

Mick: Yeah, it was a challenge because I had never made an album that way before. I mean, I've done a lot of demos, songwriting, and stuff where I've played drums for a long time [with] bass and guitar. I even sang for one of my old bands. So, I've done a little bit of a lot of different things. You know, I felt that I could pull it off and it was definitely an anxious [time] but also I felt very excited, it was like a rebirth and it was like a chance to really do it from the ground up. I was really happy how it turned out even though it was under very chaotic circumstances and there was a lot of pain but I thought it was a lot of fun and exciting at the same time.

Sharita: Had to be, were there any other pitfalls that you guys ran into while recording the album?

Mick: No, not really. It's always pitfalls and uphill battles on every level while trying to be an underground metal band and do it yourself, you know.

Mick: There's challenges everyday. That's just part of it. You know it's just about how dedicated you are and how much you get out of the good times.

Sharita: Understood. I read that you said that The Brutal Language is better than the Horror of Beauty, why is that?

Mick: Well, I'm proud of the Horror of Beauty and there's songs on there that I think are really good. I just think that's it's kind of a scattered album, it was recorded in four different sessions over a two year period so it's not really a concentrated era of the band. It's more like a two year span of evolution and I think this record is a focused album that is now and really shows what we've evolved into. My friend Nick Raskulinecz mixed at Studio 606, which is Dave Grohl’s new studio so it was mixed on the best equipment, and he really brought the sound to life and made it a fat, thick, pro sounding album. So, I just think it sounds better and it's more focused.

Sharita: Cool, since you are very satisfied with The Brutal Language, do you have any favorite tracks on this album?

Mick: It changes from day to day but personally, my favorites are “The Devil Walks” and “Cold Hands, Warm Heart”, but I like them all, I like every song on the album.

Sharita: Great. I listened to a few of the tracks, I’m very impressed. I have to ask you about the “Vince Vaughn” song, are you and Tairrie B. big fans of his? Tarrie B. of My Ruin Promo Shot

Mick: Yeah, we are big Vince Vaughn fans and we just wanted to do something with some humor. It's like, we're not a goth band like a lot of people think, we don't like to sit around and take ourselves too seriously, we like to party and have fun; we're a rock band. So we wanted to do something that was kind of tongue in cheek. Actually, Tairrie is here and she's more than happy to elaborate about lyrics and stuff. However, basically, it was something we did because we wanted to do a fun rock song.

Sharita: Oh great I'd like to ask her some thing, thank you for letting me know that. Well, I have a few more questions for you first Mick.

Sharita: I read somewhere that you've been playing the guitar for twenty-two years, are you self-taught or did you have lessons?

Mick: Well, I'm not a very good student when it comes to guitar because I've always had my own ideas and my own way of doing it. When I was a kid, my older brother who was nine years older than me taught me the basics of blues and some early KISS and Mötley Crüe songs. After a few months of that, I just basically went on and started teaching myself for the most part, just practicing, obsessing about music, and listening to lots of metal and rock. I also went to college for almost two years and majored in jazz music so I learned a thing or two there as well. Pretty much it comes from me I've never really taken a lot of lessons or been a big fan of taking lessons.

Sharita: Ok, well that goes into my next question, do you think being self-taught is better than having lessons?

Mick: It works both ways and it depends on your personality. You know what I mean. Some people like to have kind of a guideline or somebody to lay it out for them and show them the road. That's great because I know schooled musicians that are incredible but I also know people who can take lessons forever and not get any good and there is people that can teach themselves and there's people that can't. So, it just depends on the person I think.

Sharita: Well said. So, a question that I can ask you as well as Tairrie is about being in a personal relationship as well as being in a band together, do you think that's a challenge?

Mick: You know, for the most part I think it's a blessing because we get to share our music so we understand where we're both are coming from. There's not some competition between girlfriend and music it's all together. Sometimes it is a challenge because the business and the band takes over and sometimes we have to step back and say, "Hey we got a relationship here too and we have to spend some time together and not talk about business." For the most part, I love it, it's been a great five and a half years.

Sharita: Awesome Mick, thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions and I look forward to meeting you some day.

Sharita: I'm Sharita from FourteenG it's really great that I'm getting the chance to talk to you thanks for jumping on.

Sharita: First of all, I read that you pretty much do everything for My Ruin, the publicity and the merchandise, etc. Do you also do the website as well because it's awesome.

Tairrie: Yes. I have a guy that programs it for me and puts it up. He's really great and he's been working with us for the past few years. Started as a fan of the band, he's more of the computer side of things and I'm more of the artistic side so together we get it done. Our website is not a big fancy, schmancy website it's kind of a little old school but I like it and I'm happy with it.

Tairrie: Thank you. I love that you say that because we have people that go, "What's wrong with your website it's not new like everybody elses with all the flashes." I'm like well you know what, sorry. (Chuckles)

Sharita: It's nice though. I love all the old pictures and stuff and it's not that busy either so, I really like it.

Tairrie: Basically, we got done recording our album and we got to the point in our life when we we're like, "Well we don't have a deal right now. Should we go looking for a label or what do we do here?" We talked about having our own label for a long time. We didn't really know what all went into that because we're obviously not in a position to sign any other bands or do that kind of thing. It was just funny and it kind of came out of nowhere, our attorney called us one day and said, "We have a company that's interested in putting out a record with you guys, offering your own imprint and this is how it would go." We were like ok, this sounds crazy. Instead of certain things that you get with a label, you get these things another way with an imprint and money goes here and there but you control the money and it's just like being on a label only we know where all of our money goes. It's completely different in the way that we're in control and I really like that because the people are more or less working for you, what you want to do.

So far it's been great, you never know, in two months it could be horrible, I dunno. (Laughs) I really like what's been going on and so far it's only for the states. {What's] kind of funny is in the UK where the band is much larger and we were looking for a distribution deal over there, trying to do our imprint there {as well], an old friend of mine, who actually used to be an old enemy of mine. I called him an arch nemesis because he used to be the editor of Metal Hammer UK. He's now one of the editors of Rock Sound and he has his own label imprint called Undergroove. There's a lot of bands that we really like on this label and I happened to send him a copy of the record. He said, "I love it, who's putting it out over here?" I said, "No one, yet." He said, "Well why don't I do it and this is how we'll do the deal if you want to do it" We're like, "How funny, this guy used to be my full on enemy and we just made friends with him like two years ago."

Tairrie: Yeah, It's kind of a cool story and after everything we went through he ended up putting out a My Ruin record. (Smiles) So it's kind of cool.

Tairrie: As we are not going to Europe until June...now...our agent's mother was killed in a car crash and we had to stop booking the Euro dates...only the UK ones. So we're getting ready to tour in January/February. It will be the first time touring the UK for Chris & Matt our new bass player & drummer so we are all really excited about that.

Sharita: That's really awesome I'm glad that you guys are squared away label wise. Now, you talked a little about how with the Rovena imprint, you have control of the money, etc. Do you think that's the wave of the future for artist to do it that way instead of signing with a label?

Tairrie: I do. I mean, for an independent band like My Ruin, you're not going to see us on MTV and you're not going to hear My Ruin on commercial radio. It's kind of the way of the Black Flag, Greg Gin way. He did his whole thing himself too, you know. We're very much like that, a do-it-yourself band and I think you can't always rely on these major labels to sign you. A lot of indies now are expecting you to have this, that, or the other you know. We're not a pop rock band. Sometimes you have to do it yourself, you have to get out there and tour and work it. We're definitely that band that wants to be on the road working and we have a lot of records in us and we've already put a lot of records out. We want to become an underground cult band; I like it that way though. It's kind of cool.

Sharita: That's great. Hopefully you guys will achieve a lot of success with that. So, let's talk about the new album The Brutal Language and your lyrical content. I read on your site in an article that this album is more romantic, about love and death. Can you expound on that further?

Tairrie: Well, Mick and I do this side project called The LVRS. You can actually check it out on our website. With the LVRS, I actually do the spoken word and he puts soundscape, kind of soundtrack music to it. It's really cool, it kind of evolved a couple of years ago we were playing around one night and started recording some stuff. We made our first record called the Murder of Miss Hollywood based loosely on the infamous Black Dahlia Murder in the 1940's in Los Angeles. The second record is called The Secret Life of Lola Burns, based loosely on the suicide of Virginia Woolf. The funny thing is we're putting out something over Valentine's Day in the UK, it's kind of a double record, bring songs from each plus two new tracks we decided to only add two when we mastered it and we're calling it Death Has Become Her. It will be encompassing both records with a full package and everything.

However, we were recording our last record right before we started My Ruin. I was in the headspace talking a lot about death and romance. LVRS is Love, Violence, Religion, Sex, and Death. Those are the themes that I kind of touch on. So, my headspace was a little more inward, a little more dark and moody. When it came time to do the My Ruin record and write it, and I think lyrically I was still in a place where I was with the LVRS. So instead of coming out with what everybody thought was going to be a screaming, attacking, confrontational, and angry record that they're used to, it became more of a metaphorical inward kind of record. Then when everything went down in the band and our former players quit during the making of it, I had already started laying vocal tracks. It was really strange because I felt very uninspired. When I first went in there, I had a lot of trouble feeling what I was doing because I think I was still kind of trapped in doing the LVRS record and I just wasn't feeling it with the people we were working with at all and then when everything happened, it happened in a flash, overnight. Then, Mick went back in; he erased them from everything and re-recorded everything which kind of gave me a new fire. I changed lyrics, I rewrote some things, and all of a sudden, my songs just came to life. They took on a whole new meaning and suddenly had a life and I went in and just easily laid them; it was really weird. I think it was meant to happen, it was definitely meant to happen because I was totally lacking inspiration when I first went in, I wasn't feeling it.

Tairrie: You've gotta find it somewhere and you never know where inspiration's gonna come from. You can't just make it come to you and it has to come naturally and this kind of came naturally.

Sharita: That's wonderful that you found your inspiration, So, what are your favorite tracks on the album?

Tairrie: My favorite tracks? I love “Silverlake”, it's a very personal song for me. Mick already mentioned, “Devil Walks”. Everyday it changes. It's weird when you're on tour and you play certain songs and it just changes everyday with what you feel. I love “Vince Vaughn” because it's my love song to Mick. It's silliness but I think it's really cool because I'm a huge Vince Vaughn fan.

Tairrie: Only his good movies. Claypigeons, Swingers, and Made (that was the main inspiration for the song). (Laughs) I think he's really funny and a lot of people don't know this but Mick is like Rich Little. He's a total impressionist and can imitate everything. So, he'll joke around the house and we went through a phase while we we're writing the record where we were watching a lot of Vince Vaughn movies and Mick began imitating Vince Vaughn to me and it's driving me crazy, it's hilarious, and I'm loving it, so he wrote the music. I was like, "You know what, I’m gonna do a funny song." I just started writing it.

Tairrie: Tongue in cheek song to Mick with his, (Changes voice) "Well I know you're the money honey..." you know, I’m kind of flirting with him in it. So it's not for Vince Vaughn, it's actually to Mick. (Laughs) It was fun; I had to do something on the record that wasn't so serious, a little more lighthearted and tongue in cheek.

Sharita: Cool, I had to ask about that because I was like Vince Vaughn. I have to ask about that.

Sharita: Cool. Let me ask you about your transition from rapper to rocker since I have you on the phone. Was there a lot of backlash when you made that change?

Tairrie: Well, it was a really natural progression to be honest with you. I had a record out, I mean in the late 1980's. I was very much into when my fellow schoolmates were going to punk rock concerts in the Valley, and going to see Black Flag and all these bands. I had done some of that and seen it and for some reason at the time, it wasn't really something that caught my heart, you know? It wasn't something I connected with. I got sent some mix tapes from New York City and I was like, "Rap, holy shit what is this, this is amazing." I was a poet and was like, "Wow, this is really cool, I can talk really fast, and this something I really connect with." It's weird that I never connected with the punk rock thing but at that time but I started getting heavily into breakdancing, heavily into graffiti art, and my friends were all DJ's. I went downtown to the clubs, like the Radio, where like Ice-T and The Glove was DJ and MC. I was the only white girl, there was my friend, and everyone called us the Gandy Girls, our little breakdance troop you know it was like... (Laughs) I was really into it. It was something that nobody around me understood. Everyone thought I was crazy, they were like, "Why are you dressing in Fila and Adidas with the crazy hair cut and gold chains?" I mean, I was like full on and this was back in the early eighties. I think it kind of freaked everyone out but it was the only thing I felt comfortable with; I just really related to it.

This is back in the day with KRS-one and Eric B. & Rakim, EPMD and all that. When I discovered NWA and I was like, "Holy shit this is so scary." Straight Outta Compton is the scariest record ever made, but it's amazing. (Laughs) For a little white girl coming from the Valley goin', "I'm into NWA...", it was a bit strange you know, what the fuck do I know about this? Ironically enough I ended up meeting Eazy & NWA's manager Jerry Heller at a concert one night backstage with two friends of mine that were in the business and I was introduced as a rapper. He was like, "You're a rapper? You're blond, you’re white, what?" I said "Yeah". He asked if I had any songs and I had recorded a couple with Quincy Jones’ son QDIII (Quincy D). We had taken the music to the classic Jimi Hendrix song “Foxy Lady” and I did a rap to it. It was really cool. (Laughs) I was very into Teena Marie back then. She was one of my heroes and the first white female rapper in my opinion (remember "Square Biz"?). Anyway, Jerry said, “If you're really a rapper, show up at this studio and play your shit for Eazy and the guys, I manage NWA”. I didn't think he was for real but my friends convinced me to go...just not go alone. I went alone. I felt like I needed to go in there alone because if I'm gonna really do this, I gotta walk through that door like I got balls of steel and I can't be like some hooker chick or protégé. So I drove out to Gardenia, California by Torrance, knocked on the studio door, and sure enough Ice Cube, Dre, The D.O.C, Eazy, all of them were in there.

Tairrie: I walked right in with my little tape in my hand. I dunno who the fuck I thought I was... (Chuckles) I said Jerry had sent me here and he was in the other room at the time. He introduced me to everybody and they all just kind of looked at me and I was like, "Oh boy here we go." Eazy put my tape on, listened to it, and they all sat there looking at me and he handed my tape back and he goes, "Cool, thanks." So I said ..." thanks for your time", and I started to walk out and that's when he said, "You want a record deal?" This is exactly how it happened. I was like, "Are you kidding me?" He goes, "Needs some work but I think we can work with you definitely, you got the look, and I've never seen a white girl [do this]."

At that time there was Everlast, The Beastie Boys and I think 3rd Bass was about to come out. There were no white girls doing it and next thing I know, it all started snowballing from there. I ended up going in the studio and my first record, it's funny enough, Everlast, Schoolly D, Eazy E, MC Ren, The DOC and Dr. Dre' are on it. Dre' was gonna produce it but we got into a huge fight in the studio and I basically walked out. I probably would've been the female Eminem had I let him produce it seeing what he did with him but....it wasn't the way I wanted to do things. It's just ironic how things happen but I was never really meant to do that I don't think. It was a stepping-stone in my life, it was something I needed to go through to make me a stronger person to enter the metal world, I really believe that because I went through hell of shit. I got was also physically assaulted by Dr. Dre at the Grammy Awards.

Sharita: I read about that, I kind of didn't want to ask you about that because I didn't know if it was a sore spot for you to speak about.

Tairrie: I had crazy shit happen to me and it was like, crazy shit. It was a crazy life. I was paid off not to file charges, I was paid off not to do this and that. A lot of things happened. You know, it's a story someday for a book, you know what I mean?

Tairrie: It definitely is a story for a book; I went through a hell of a lot of shit. Basically, toward the end of it I recorded my second album, I worked with Salt of Salt and Pepa, and Julio G. and The Baker Boys. I worked with a lot of people and I finished the album by working with this band on Geffen records at the time called Sugartooth and we came in and we did a rap version of "Running With The Devil" by Van Halen and I called it "Rhyming With The Devil"; it was my first rap/rock kind of thing. Then I went to this thing called Foundations Forum in LA and I saw Ice-T and Body Count and I knew Ice-T from the rap world. Here he was with this rock band and I'm like, "Holy shit, now that is what I need to be doing." That is what set everything in motion was seeing Ice-T and it made me think, " I gotta find a band." So, everyone told me I was crazy, I took my tapes from the studio and I basically hid them, I told Eazy that I wasn't gonna give him the tapes, I didn't want him to release the record. They didn't understand what I wanted to do with a rock band, they thought I was crazy, they refused to let me off the label so I was held under contract, couldn't do anything, I was like, "Fuck you!" Got mad at everybody, took my shit, hid it, they couldn't get to it so they couldn't release it, so I went and formed Manhole.

I told the others guys, " I've never been in a rock band before, I don't know what the fuck I'm doing, I'm a rapper, but I want to try to scream. I want to try to do this, be more confrontational with the lyrics and talk about things that really matter to me like women's rights, abortion, rape, abuse, and domestic violence, things that I'm really concerned about in my life.” I started working all these places like, Pro-Choice activist centers and Rock for choice, I mean I really got heavily involved and this was like in 1992 or 1993. Then in 1995, I got a phone call from Eazy E. out of blue, after a couple of years of not speaking to him. He told me to meet him at a mall, it was strange. He said, "I need to give you something and I want to talk to you." So I went and he gave me my contract, he told me he wanted me to have a life, he gave me some money that he owed me, he was super cool with me. I didn't know what any of this was about, it was almost like he was making amends with me for some reason and I didn't know why. He told me he always respected me because I never back down from anybody, I always said my own peace of mind, and he wished me luck with Manhole. Five days later, I'm driving on the freeway and I hear a letter being read on The Beat, saying he has AIDS and he's dying. It was like, "What?" Then it all made sense to me that he was making amends with everyone he had wronged before he died.

Tairrie: I thought that was unbelievable. It was heartbreaking but It was just wow. So, I suddenly had a life, could go on, and I cut my first record. Ross Robinson who produces, Korn and Slipknot he did the first Manhole record and...

Tairrie: Well, you know it feels like it was an overnight thing but I've been doing this for a really long time. It was a lot of work that went into it. I was doing this way before the Otep's, Kittie's, and Lacuna Coil’s, and all that business now. I've been doing this for years.

Sharita: That's true. Now are there any particular female singers that you pull inspiration from I know you mentioned you were a fan of Teena Marie earlier during your rap days, but what about now?

Tairrie: Well to be honest with you I pull a lot of inspiration from a lot of men. Henry Rollins and Nick Cave, those are two that I really feel inspired by especially Nick Cave. As far as women, PJ Harvey, I love her, she's amazing. I feel kin to her on many levels even though all I do is the screaming thing I feel that we write very similarly in what we talk about like relationships. I think from the past women like Joan Jett and Patti Smith obviously I think were very tough, strong women and very ballsy though. I dig both of them. I think Patti Smith is incredible. Today in the scene there aren't a lot of women that I really look at and feel she's kick ass or inspiring. I think Shirley Manson is awesome and she's a pop diva but I think that she's got some really great lyrics and she's a great performers. However, I don't really relate to the Gwen Stefani's or some of these other women out there.

Sharita: Nah, I would agree about Gwen Stefani, not really a big fan. Have you heard about the band Crisis and if so would you say she's a strong and inspirational performer?

Tairrie: Yeah I know about Crisis. Not really a fan, I've known her for years, she's been doing this a really long time and I give her a lot of respect for doing that but I'm not really a fan of her music, I can't really relate to it, sorry. No offense.

Tairrie: When I hear somebody doing the screaming stuff, for me I need to understand what their saying and I need to feel that the music has some sort of a groove and it's not just monotonous like [grrrrrr] violence the whole time. That's why I feel like a lot of the bands like Arch Enemy, you know she's a great front woman but I really can't relate to what she does cause it's just too much for me but we've all got our own tastes. I mean, I listen to Fu Manchu and Clutch so I'm kind of in a different headspace, you know what I mean? (Laughs) I'm not really a metal head full-on.

Tairrie: I think so we're more rock based than metal. When I think of metal I think of more of the craziness. (Laughs) That's ok too.

Sharita: Ok, well my last question is the same question I asked Mick about being in a band together and being in a relationship, is it difficult doing that or not?

Tairrie: Well, I dunno.. On one hand, you spend time with your boyfriend in your band, it makes it easy for you when you're on tour because you always have your lover with you, and they understand what you're going through, what you doing, and understand your business. You don't have to explain it to them because they live it with you daily. I've been the girlfriend of boys in bands where it been good and it's been bad. I've been the girl in the band and I've also been the girl in the band watching other girls do it. I think that sometimes it's hard to turn off the band and just simply be Tairrie and Mick and that's the part that sometimes makes me sad. Other people can go home, leave the band, and go out with their girlfriend. Our home is our headquarters. I kind of live, breathe, die My Ruin, and I feel like, "What are we gonna do " sometimes... (chuckles).

I have my outlet of doing my deconstructed custom made jewelry & clothing line "Blasphemous Girl Designs" which I started that so I could have a little something different that wasn't just My Ruin and we began recording "The LVRS" so it could be something that's not My Ruin. Mick has Neanderthal, which is his instrumental metal recordings that he does that's separate as well and really loved that. it is very guitar driven and music that although it is super heavy it's completely different that what we do in our band together. So we put our hands in a lot of different little things so it's not always My Ruin twenty four hours a day.... but it is. (Chuckles). Mick and I have been together almost 6 years now...and like any couple we have our highs and our lows but at the end of the day, he is my partner and I love and respect him dearly. I wouldn't continue the band without him at this point.

By the way...since we haven't really mentioned this...let me just end the interview by saying that we have two really great guys in the band right now. Chris Lisee our bass player who has been with us nearly a year now and Matt Lechevalier who has been with us for the last few months. Matt came in after our last U. S. tour. They are both incredibly talented musicians and very cool people. We have gotten to know Chris very well and we love him to death as a friend and a member of the band. Matt came in and has been nothing but awesome to work with and spend time with on a personal non band level. Mick and I feel blessed to have these guys with us at the moment and we hope the four of us have a wonderful year together as we begin 2006 and hit the UK for some evenings of Brutal Language.

Sharita: Tairrie thank you so much for for the interview Tairrie, it was a pleasure speaking to.

Thanks to Mick, Tairrie, and to Jensen from Adrenaline PR for making this great interview possible!