"Most people would just call me a Satanist but I don’t really consider myself one because to me it has negative connotations to it..."

Society1's front man Matt “The Lord” Zane may be one of metal's most controversial individuals in years. Like Satyricon’s Satyr, his views about religion may be negative but unlike Satyr, he still finds some things that interest him. A former porno star, director for the series of documentaries called Backstage Pass, not to mention he self produced his own spoken word record Words As Carriers. Zane is a very busy man with very little free time. He does however have time to lead one of metal's most underrated bands in Society 1 and perform some unbelievable stunts of suspension for all enjoy and marvel.

Join me as I delve into the head of one of music’s most outspoken and charismatic front men as he discusses everything from his views on religion, the comparisons to Manson, as well run-ins with the law. Fellow interviewer, Karma E. dove deep into her endless bag of questions for this interview. We asked questions we felt only Matt "The Lord" Zane could answer.

Sharita: First all thanks for dong the interview Matt.

Matt: No problem, thank you.

Sharita: First off, how many lineup changes did you go through before getting the present lineup that is in Society1?

Matt: Hmm, I’ve lost track, like a long time ago. I think we’ve had one, two, four drummers before Kirk, three bass players before Dirt. Sin moved over to guitar [from keyboards] after the first record. I’ve always been the singer, contortionist, performance artist; it’s been quite a few changes but I think the lineup that we have now is the one I feel most comfortable. Musically and theatrically, there’s the balance that I’ve been looking for the whole time. We’ll see if everybody lasts after the record. Cause, I’ll tell ya’, everybody thinks they want to be in a rock band then they get into Society1, then they tour a lot, maybe too much, then their mind and body breaks down. The, they’re just reduced to a drooling buffoon after that.

Sharita: (Laughs) That is many changes but glad to see you found the right one. So, I read that Kirk was a medical school student before joining the band, how did you find him?

Matt: Our last drummer Preston Nash was in a few bands like Dope and Primer 55, but he couldn’t tour with us anymore because again, he wanted to be in a band but after trying he had a family to take care of and none of us are billionaires. So he actually said to me, “I would prefer if I could choose my replacement, I’d feel more comfortable with that.” We felt that it was the least that we could do since he was on the last record and toured Europe with us. So, he actually knew Kirk and suggested we meet him. Basically, we met Kirk at our listening party for the last record, which doubled as my birthday party, it was like “Nice to meet you, be at rehearsal in three weeks.” That’s how it happened, we didn’t go through any drummers or anything like that. However, to my surprise, when I walked into rehearsal that day, I saw those seven- foot cymbals up in the air that he has and I was like, “do you really play like that or are you just putting me on?” He’s an interesting guy and an extremely talented individual obviously he was in med school a couple of years so, he was almost a doctor.

Sharita: That’s great, he seems like a good fit for the band. The bio says that you had to make sure that the individuals in Society1 were of a certain mindset, could you please elaborate?

Matt: Well, when we went to try people out, I guess, a lot of band try guys out musically first to see if they fit. Well, we kind of do the opposite. We sit them down and show them a lot of things that we’ve done and a lot of the press and explain to them what it means to be in this band; they’re gonna be hated in some towns and loved in others. We’re gonna tour relentlessly and it’s gonna be difficult financially. We don’t have any platinum records even though we have tremendous amounts of press, one of the biggest misconceptions about being in a band. Then, we ask them about their morals, their ethical standards for life, and their hygiene as well, what they can deal with because it’s all a big part of being in Society1. We had a big issue with one of the last drummers that we had. He had a problem with a lot of the things that I was saying because he was a practicing Buddhist.

Sharita: Oh, wow.

Matt: Buddhism to me is interesting but I don’t necessarily abide to that philosophy. I respect it but I wasn’t going to try to change what I’m about or what the idea of the band is about for his beliefs. I mean, I remember when we were sitting over lunch one day and he said, “Are you thinking about what to call the next record?” I go, “yeah, the sounds that ends creation.” He goes, “how about the sound that begins creation?” That was the confrontation that we had over certain things, it wasn’t gonna work. So we had to make sure that the people that came in that they knew what we were about, this is what I do, yes my tattoos are real, yes they mean something, are you ok with this, are you gonna have moral issues with this.  To elaborate, when Alistair was in the band, his family used to warn him of a curse or the negative energies that would surround the band that would happen, like when the drummer broke his ankle, and this or that would happen and his family would say, “Don’t you think that these are signs from a higher power or God that you shouldn’t be meddling with these type of things or being involved with this individual.” So there are many mental things to be prepared for.  

Sharita: Sounds interesting, so tell me how you found Sin, how did the two of you get together?

Matt: It was at a gay club actually.

Sharita: Really?

Matt: No, I’m joking.

Sharita: (Laughs) I was about to believe you.

Karma: I know. (Laughs)

Matt: No, many would wish. (Chuckles) Sin was in LA and so was I but he grew up there. A long, long time ago, like thirty years ago…no. (Laughs) Back in the early nineties when nu-metal coming up in the scene and there was all those bands like Deftones and Korn, and Rage just got signed, all those guys before things started coming we both had bands. He was in a band called Electricode and we used to actually play gigs together so we knew each other from the scene. You know, back in those days in Hollywood everybody pretty much knew everybody there was a serious scene back then, you know? We saw all those bands come up from, Static X, System Of A Down, Coal Chamber, Korn, and Deftones, every one of those guys. It was just one of those things and when we needed a keyboard player he just came out to audition and immediately I knew that he had tremendous rhythm. So that was it he was in the band and I didn’t even know that he could play guitar at the time.

Sharita: That’s awesome. So, on the DVD Exit Through Fear, it shows you taking the heads of hecklers and shoving them in your crotch, and they almost arrested you. Do you still do that or did you stop because of that threat?

Matt: Well, it really depends what kind of mood I’m in that night but we do have to be careful to be honest with you because the felony charge that came down on me in Denver was scary for something so stupid but the police officer actually had a very sound mind.  He goes, “the girl I felt was upset and it wasn’t anything really that wrong so I calmed her down.” And he did, thankfully.  As far as them almost arresting me in Milwaukee, that was just for nudity. However, I don’t really think about that kind of stuff when I’m on stage, it’s not about that. To me, it’s about what happens, happens, you know. It’s not a conscious decision to stop it or begin it. Some people get upset sometimes when they see shows and I don’t do that stuff but you know were not a band that does everything the same thing each night. Some nights my ass will come out, some night’s people will get head-humped, and some night’s people will fight, it all really depends.

Sharita: Well, the show was tame tonight. What was it like working with Wade Norton for The Sound that Ends Creation?

Matt: Stressful.

Sharita: Could you elaborate on that?

Matt: Wade is a genius and I don’t mean that by saying like oh wow, he’s actually a genius. Like the guys IQ is like off the charts. He is the guy that when Beck needed a new studio, he called him to build it for him. I mean that’s who this guy is. When people have a problem at Energy studios, they call Wade to come in and help. I mean, he knows more than anybody the guy is just a monster.

So anyways, you have a budget when you record a record and Wade makes sure that you’re gonna get a record that sounds good enough to be played on the radio, within the budget and time frame that you have, that’s what he does. So without him we probably wouldn’t have these records but I’m a guy that likes to go in there and kick off my boots and start doing really weird shit and really try going for stuff. So we butt heads a lot, you know I’m always trying to do more and push more and he’s trying to say, “hey if you were Linkin Park or Velvet Revolver, we can sit here and we can open up a Grand Canyon. Where you could pluck strings, stand on your head with a ukulele, and do whatever you want to do but man we have to get this record done here. We’re on a time schedule.” (Laughs) So, in that sense, it is somewhat stressful and he hates me by the end of every record. We’ve done a couple of records together now and he despises me and can’t wait to get rid of me by the end of every record. Then a couple of months pass and he calls me up and he goes, “ are you ready to do the next record yet?” (Hysterical laughter in the room)

I just talked to him yesterday for the first time since we finished The Sound That Ends Creation and he finally said after four or five months, “hey when you get back to LA, lets do lunch.” But, it took like five months, you know?

Sharita: So, he’s ready to get back into it, huh.

Matt: Yeah, he is all ready to go, we’ll get it together once we get back and it will be a fight till the bloody end once again, for the next record. Honestly, I mean, without him Society1 wouldn’t have records that sound as good as they do and they wouldn’t be up the standards of radio records so, thankfully for him that happens.

Sharita: That is a very interesting relationship you have. So, what are the differences in songwriting between all three records, Exit Through Fear, The Sound That Ends Creation, and Slacker Jesus?

Matt: Basically, when we went to write The Sound That Ends Creation, it was like Sin, I sat in a room, and I said, “how do you want to bring this record? He said, “well the first record, people said we we’re Korn and Marilyn Manson, and the second record they said we we’re Marilyn Manson, so how about for this record we just write whatever the fuck we want? And there will be no rules, boundaries, or limits, nothing we’ll just do whatever the fuck we feel like.” That was kind of how we went about and wrote this record, we wrote like thirty songs for it and a lot of the kind of abstract songs didn’t make it and the label really hated them and stuff, but nevertheless it became a really effective record. So it was just kind of like, “hey what do you want to do, what do you feel?” Anything we felt, there was no limitations. We did not want to be stuck in the confines of many of our contemporaries.

You know, I could choose a dozen bands that tried to change their style that had to go back for sales, or would not be let out of what they were previously doing. So we don’t want to be one of those bands, lets nip this in the bud early and just really confuse people with this one and go out there and do it. I remember when we did it man, the label actually released a lot of that stuff and we started going out live and still, a lot of fans look at us like, this is a little different. We don’t really care; we just go forth and do it. I think the new record has opened a lot of doors, whereas if we would’ve kept the Exit Through Fear [sound], that would’ve been it we would’ve been thought of as Ministry clones or Marilyn Manson clones but now you can’t say that with this record. If Marilyn Manson tried to sing this record, he’d give himself a hernia you know what I mean. (Laughs) 

Karma: Since you have written thirty songs for this record, are you planning to release any of them.

Matt: On the website there’s a couple of un-released tracks on the jukebox, as far the other tracks one is released on the menu of the DVD that comes in a bonus track and the other ones, I don’t think we’re ever gonna release them or not to tell you the truth. But as far as the others, I would like to like to release those on the next record. Now that we’ve opened that doorway, I feel there’s a place for them to fit.

Sharita: Cool, about the comparisons to Marilyn Manson, does that irritate you at all or are you comfortable with that? 

Matt: You know, the irritating part about the comparisons to Marilyn Manson is that you look at my career and what I’ve done in my career there’s so many things not only that he hasn’t done but also that no one else has done in history. We could talk and I may sound egotistical but there has never been a man to come out of pornography and be successful in music it’s never happened I’m the first one. Marilyn Manson was journalist, right there we have something different.

Let's skip ahead a few years, I’m the first person ever to suspend and sing songs and combine performance art with music. He used to cut himself with a knife in the chest. Nobody has ever done what I’ve done. People have done what he has done before. I don’t believe in the use of drugs, I practice yoga I have been for nine years. The way that I feel that we approach music, I feel my voice sounds very different. It has gotten so crazy to the point that when went on the tour I slipped on a pair of blue jeans, because why? Who wears blue jeans in metal?

Sharita: Right.

Matt: Nobody. So I said I’m gonna do it, lets ask them who the fuck I am now? So I feel not only have I done so many things that are different from Marilyn Manson I’m not gonna say they’re better or worse, but they’re different than everybody. Everything that lets say for example he has done in the past, they been traced back to specific arts. Things that I have done you can’t trace back to people. I am the first guy that did it; nobody ever had done a suspension. We just did one in England four days ago, twenty-five thousand people the largest attendance suspension in history. The longest sung set in the history of suspension in rock. Nobody can say that they done that, I did it. You know what I mean, that’s it. So, to me it’s a little frustrating because I don’t think people are really taking in the whole view of what the band is about and what we do. So be it for the time being, I think eventually hopefully people will have to start taking notice and saying that it’s different. I mean if you really watch the show especially on this tour we’re doing so many outlandish things that people haven’t done in years just because we want to see what people say. I don’t know if you watched the show tonight but I was doing split kicks and shit up in the air.

Sharita: We noticed. (Laughs)

Matt: People haven’t done that shit since David Lee Roth in 1984 you know what I mean? Kids don’t know what the fuck I’m doing up there but you don’t see Manson do that or Korn do that, they’d hurt themselves. The point is look at everything we do deliberately to be so different and yet people are still trying to put us into that category.

Karma: Somebody else does that.

Matt: Who is that?

Karma:  Andy Dörner from Caliban.

Matt: Who?

Karma: Caliban's lead singer. 

Matt: Who is that?

Karma: He does like the whole leg kick thing.

Matt: What label is he on?

Karma: Abacus Records.

Matt: Hey Dirt, you ever heard of them, you know about all that obscure music. (Dirt is in the room sitting on the couch)

Dirt: No, I haven’t.

Karma: He does a high leg kick up in the air as well.

Sharita: We just saw them on tour with God Forbid.

Matt: Well so there you go there’s another guy kickin’ butt, if you have to add everything I do together I’m sure he doesn’t even come close. Tell him to put four or six hooks in his back and go suspend, then come talk to me. (Sarcastic smile) (Hysterical laughter in the room once again)

Sharita: Well, lets talk about the suspension are you ever afraid what’s going to happen to your body later in life after you’re done performing?

Matt: Oh yeah, I’m petrified. I mean look the suspension I just did I was…forget about afterwards. Part of the show, I was suspended one hundred feet in the air.

Sharita: How long?

Matt: The whole show was thirty-five minutes, but that one song was five minutes in the air for “Slacker Jesus.” I swung fifty feet above the crowd you know. When I got off the hooks the whole left side of my body was numb.

Sharita: Wow.

Matt: My back is still healing. There were air bubbles going up into my neck because of the amount of air that got into my body from being suspended. Of course it’s a frightening thing, if the skin should rip you could pull the hooks right out, there’s a ton of things that could happen. Every time I do it, it’s a tremendous strain on the body and you know I’m no spring chicken anymore. I’m definitely getting up there as far as rock and roll goes; I’m just in tremendous shape. (Grins) (Laughter fills the room) So, I think about this every year, “can we do this another year?” Every time I do it for the next six months afterwards I say that I’m never doing it again. This last suspension was tough on the body plus I have a pinch nerve in my neck right now so it was even more difficult. I’m sitting here trying to finish this tour until August 1st with a back that’s not connected to my backside right now and a pinched nerve in my neck and we still get up there and do what you saw.

I don’t know I wonder how long we’re gonna be able to go. I mean every year something bigger happens. It started three years ago with a video with fifty people and all the press there, and then it went to a seven hundred person live show in LA. Then it went to twenty-five thousand people at Download, who the fuck knows what’s gonna happen next year?   
Main stage, headlining slot at Download in front of fifty or sixty thousand people, how are you going to turn that down?

Sharita: Right.

Matt: We made history that day nobody can ever take that away from us. Is it worth a little suffering and the possibility of permanently damaging yourself for rock and roll yeah why not? We talked about this the other day as we were driving up to a show. If I had to relive a day in my life that would be the day, I would do it.  Not many people can say they have ever done something like that that nobody has ever done and made history doing so. I mean you could do something weird like try to swallow a bottle, you know and maybe no ones ever done that but to me that was my defining moment in life because not a lot of people can say things like that so I think it’s worth it.

Sharita: Awesome, so on the DVD The Sound That Ends Creation, you talk about your beliefs in God and religion. Would you consider yourself a Satanist, Atheist, or Agnostic?

Matt: Most people would just call me a Satanist but I don’t really consider myself one because to me it has negative connotations to it and Satanists usually align themselves with the image of the devil which is cool. [However], I’m also very fascinated with Christian mythology. I am one of those types of people that have Gnostic beliefs as far as Jesus is concerned. I think he was possibly a practitioner of the left hand path, which is a larger philosophical arena in which Satanism fits. People do not necessarily realize that especially within western culture.  So, out of those options that you gave me obviously it would be a Satanist, but when I call myself a Satanist I would not necessarily think. People don’t realize the tattoos on my back have a hidden meaning and you can see it if you outline them and it would take some time to figure it all out.

Sharita: I read about the meanings on the website, very interesting. So now a boring question, what was some of the kinds of music you listened to growing up?

Matt: Everything! I listened to so many things. The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Janice Joplin, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa. Really progressive bands Mahavishnu Orchestra, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, old Van Halen, Primus, Jane’s Addiction, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, I mean the list goes on and on I’m just a lover of a lot modern music. There are many things that I do not like.

Karma: What don’t you like?

Matt: I don’t like country music at all just because I think it’s silly and I don’t like a lot of pop music because it just doesn’t seem very genuine to me, but that’s the main complaint. Unbelievably there are many types of metal I don’t like.

Karma: Like?

Matt: I’m not gonna mention any specific bands, I’m not gonna mention any names.

Karma: What is it you do not like about it?

Matt: I think it is just as guilty as some of the pop music of not really having anything behind it or any real feeling or meaning embedded into the sound. I like a lot of metal that many people don’t even consider good like I love Overkill, King Diamond and old Anthrax and those bands I like more than old Metallica.

Sharita: Ok great. You also spoke about the band being around longer than anyone else did, do you feel that you are closer to immortality because of the suspension?

Matt: I really do, there are many beliefs on how we become immortal and one of the most basic is the fact that you exist within people’s memories over the course of time. I mean, I think they told Achilles that he would become immortal through the last battle, the Battle of Troy because of what he accomplished there and in a sense, and he did become immortal through that. I think that’s one step in the right direction and obviously doing something that’s never been done before and creating a benchmark or a standard is a good first step towards it. When they look back for years now, that’s mine. There might be people that do it after me but you know probably night but I’m sure there will be somebody that will eventually try it and probably fail at it too. (Grin)      

Sharita: Very true, so are you still doing the label, InZane Records?

Matt: No.

Sharita: Why not?

Matt: I thought it would be a great idea to have your own label at the time. I started it mainly to get my band off the ground and a couple of other bands that I liked. But I quickly realized that having my own label and being as popular as I was at the time when “Slacker Jesus” was out I was on VH1, MTV like two hundred times over the course of the year and on Spin and Rolling Stone and I thought, “I could sell twenty or thirty thousand records with being all that.” You realize that you can’t if your distributor doesn’t believe in you and our distributor had a serious issue with the fact that I was in porn cause women ran a lot of the going’s on at the label so they made the record bomb.

I invested a lot of my money into it and lost obviously most of it actually all of it, not all of my money a lot of it was taken by the IRS but that’s a whole nother’ story. (Laughter fills the room) But you know it was like, it didn’t seen worthwhile to keep it going because it’s too hard.  I got December signed to Earache, Earache signed us, and any other band just went on to do other things. The only record on Earache that I haven’t been able to re-release is my spoken word record. I’m trying to get Earache to release that so people can get it.

Sharita: Ok, hopefully they will and you’re all done with the InZane Records even for he movies?

Matt: Yeah the movies I moved over to a different distributor because I had a lot of loud times with Backstage Pass, they are being distributed, the other records have been sold I just need to get Slacker Jesus and Words As Carriers on another label so that people can have it available. I think you can still get it through them I just wish it were more widely distributed. Inzane records really isn’t dead I really don’t have time for it anymore besides I don’t wanna be a business guy. I mean I been fighting the fact that I’m a performer for years by doing all these business ventures because I’m good at it. Life is so short, I just want to rock out, travel the world, and do things that nobody has ever done before. [I want to] have as many women as possible and all that good stuff because that’s all that men really want. (Karma and I chuckle)   No, it’s true. If you ask a man the best memories of his life, for the most part, he will tell you his best sexual experiences but some of them only thought of that. They won’t tell you their wedding, or this or that. They will tell you about the best sexual experience they had, that is what men talk about. So I’ve accepted this and I just…

Karma: I think that’s what women talk about too.

Matt: Really, you really think so?  

Karma: Oh yeah, I do.

Matt: Really? Hmmm, interesting. (Raises an eyebrow and grins) Now, I have one thing to think about besides sexual experiences, my suspension so now I’m better than the average man or be slightly more evolved but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to have as many women as possible. Yeah I can speak on behalf of the entire band, we can’t help ourselves.

Sharita: Ok, speaking of interesting experiences, they sent a press release about your latest version of Backstage Pass and it involves something with Brandon from Incubus, you want to give the readers a sneak peek into that?

Matt: Sure, but if I tell you that story nobody’s gonna want to buy the tape.

Karma: No, well still buy it.

Matt: Everybody more curious about the Brandon Boyd story and it’s funny because he will not deny this, he might now but we have known each other for years and he told and hinted to other people about it. When I heard that he was hinting at it to people I finally came out and told the story.  

Karma: Okay.

Matt: So I don’t really want to. I will tell you about somebody else on the tape if you want.

Sharita: Ok, fair enough.

Matt: There was a funny interview with Twiggy Ramirez because he’s a nice guy and I kept making fun of him because I knew a bunch of girls that slept with him but so did I. So I was like, “hey do you know so and so?” He was like, “Yeah how did you know?” I go “I slept with her and I heard you got a big dick.” So he was getting all flush and nervous and stuff it was really, funny because when you think Twiggy Ramirez, Marilyn Manson, this really, disgusting, and freaky guy but he’s a sweet gentleman and a really nice guy. He was blushing and getting all weird about the fact that I was like, “ah you know I know about this girl and that girl.” It was great.

Sharita: Ok, I look forward to seeing it now. Are you going to continue doing the Backstage Pass, since you have already done the third one?

Matt: Yeah, I mean maybe. I just did it because it seemed like a fun thing to do at the time. I was in the studio doing a record and there is shit that goes on when you have down time. There was all these rock stars coming through the studio and I thought, “Gotta pass the time somehow, lets shoot a movie.” That’s how it happened. So if I have some more time some time I’ll do it again, and if I don’t…

Sharita: Are the musicians friends of yours or you just decided to film them?

Matt: No, not really I had met Twiggy that day and he was doing some shit in the studio and I was like, “hey dude what’s up?” He’s like, “nice to meet you.” So, I’m like hanging out and shootin the shit with him I’m like, “hey listen I want to do this interview tomorrow. He’s like, “yeah.”

I met Ben Moody, he was in the studio with Kelly Clarkson at the time, I hung out with Kelly Clarkson, and she’s cool. Funny story we shot a pilot for the show while Kelly Clarkson was in the studio and it had a scene with me and Kelly Clarkson in it but it doesn’t look like it’s gonna be released.

Sharita: Oh wow.

Matt: I don’t blame her, because I’m sitting in a seat and I look at her and I said, “Do you know who I am?” She said, “No.” and I said, “I wouldn’t expect you to, you’re ruining your career right now.”

Sharita: (Laughs) Ok.

Matt: Very nice girl, I voted for her on American Idol I loved her, I love that shit you know? I was anxious to meet her because…no I don’t want to get into it.

Sharita: Might as well tell the fans Matt!

Matt: I was gonna say that she has a really nice ass on that American Idol you know. (Hysterical laughter again) I wanted to see her in person and sure enough, she was playing pool when I walked in to meet her bending over the table, I was like, “man she’s got a pretty fat ass for a white chick, looking good.” (Karma walks back into the room)

Sharita: Look at what you walked into.

Karma: Obviously something VERY funny! (Chuckles)

Matt: I told her, “If you need anything while you’re in the studio like a message or something, I’ll hook you up.” (Hysterical Laughter) She never took me up on it but I thought I’d give it a shot. I just ties back into that be with as many women as possible before you die or your dick doesn’t work one of the two. Cause it happens after thirty, your testosterone level drops down, you know what I mean, you didn’t know that did ya? Well, sleep with a guy that’s thirty then sleep with one that’s eighteen you’ll see a big difference. The guy that’s eighteen will shoot his load in a second but…

Karma: Someone recently told me that by taking elevated doses of zinc that you can shoot forever.

Matt: It doesn’t matter if you can shoot forever it still does not raise your testosterone levels.

Karma: True.

Matt: Trust me, it’s a physiological fact. Thirty years old, forty percent drop in your testosterone. Know all about it. Know all these things. Younger guys are the way to go, don’t get them too young because they will shoot too fast.

Karma: Gotta get them in the middle.

Matt: Gotta get them right in the middle.

Karma: Like about twenty-five or so.

Matt: I figure twenty-three or twenty-four I was really going for it at that age. Slowed down a little in my older age but I’m still doin’ it, I can still do it.

Karma: There ya’ go.

Matt: No worries there.

Sharita: Getting back to the music, let’s talk about your lyrics, what are they based on? Is it your beliefs, disgust in the world?

Matt: It really depends on what lyrics you are talking about. I have written a spoken word record that was forty-eight minutes of speaking, that hasn’t been done in a long time since Henry Rollins did it. I done three Society1 records, so there’s a lot lyrics there that talk about many things. If you want me to be more specific I have written about everything from sexual conquests to disgust to power to self-gratification to nihilistic behavior to death to life to love I mean everything, everything’s open.

I’m a human just like everybody else I feel the spectrum of emotions, so I will write about everything. Sometimes I have themes, sometimes I go through periods where I write about one specific thing, I mean they’re about anything and everything. I don’t really have any views on what I write. Shit on this new song we just wrote a song about love, but it’s the way that I perceive love. “I love her because she’s dead, yet cold dreams of love fill my head. Stiff and motionless, quiet loving bliss touch you skin and feel and see just what love reveals.” I mean it’s just me equating sex to love to small orgasms to the small death to the large death, drawing the parallels between the two. You know searching for the ones you love, finding and choosing from above. A whole vampire thing thrown in there, it’s the way that I think and live. I mean it’s all together I’m in a very interesting world over here, you know.

Sharita: Understood. So, about the pact that you have on the website of people giving their souls to you and signing in blood, have you actually got any of those back?

Matt: Oh yeah, I have tons of them.

Sharita: Really? (Chuckles)

Matt: Hell yeah, I’m telling you I have a whole filing cabinet back in LA. I’m not kidding, seriously. Oh yeah, totally. I plan to practice demonology later in my life and I want to make sure I have a lot of back-up souls so if I happen to get in trouble with one of the demons I can give them a soul every time I fuck up to save myself. (Hysterical laughter follows)

Sharita: Alrighty then, sounds interesting. Karma has some questions for you now, thanks for answering my questions.

Karma: Since you go by the name of "The Lord", do you catch a lot of hell from that?

Matt: I do and I don’t, I mean people are just like, “why should we are you our new savior, why are you the new messiah?” I mean, I think it’s a very [general term], lord means master and Jesus was a man and I said before he pulled up his robe and took dumps like anybody else, took pisses, probably had wet dreams you know I do all those things, I just did it a couple of minutes ago before the interview.

Karma: Did what? Had a wet dream?

Matt: No, I took a dump.

Sharita and Karma: Oh…(Laughter)   

Matt: My point is Jesus was a man of the flesh so why can’t I become a lord as well.

Sharita: Well put.

Matt: I do catch a lot of it. I get all these emails that are like, “you’re going to hell and how dare you take our Lords name in vain.” The way I think about it is, Jesus was a great man and a lot of kids have a problem identifying with him, a problem identifying with what he means and what he’s about. There is a loss of spirituality and hope in their life and that’s not good for the constitution of the self and for the mind, for the soul. I just think they need something to believe in and I think I can provide that where Jesus can’t anymore. So, I’m just kind of like their new Jesus.

Karma: How did the name “The Lord” come about?

Matt: Well the name started in journeys of fear with the Lord Nexus and Nexus is a connection between all things and lord means master. So, the name literally means when you interpret it, master of connection time linked between all things. I felt that the name was a measurable right within itself to bring me from pornographer to demigod, but now I’ve just shortened it and taken out Nexus because I feel the connection was made and because Nexus, many people don’t know what it means. They live in America and their English is not that good; they thought Nexus was a shampoo.    

Karma: That kind of goes into my next question, master, servant, or Dom.

Matt: What about it?

Karma: So, which one do you prefer?

Matt: You know I could be anything. I think I’m all roles in society, in life and in relationships and there is always submissives and dominants. Marquis De Sade and Anton La Vey, both believed in those and I have to agree with them in many of the cases. Which one do I prefer? I mean, because of the way that I am, dominant, and the way I taken control of my life, I’m obviously a Dom. So, I mean what would I prefer in terms of a partner. Yeah, probably a submissive, I’ve had Dom women before in bed and they can be fun you know but for the most part they’re just a big pain in the ass.

Karma: So, my next question for you is what do you say to people who believe those whom outwardly explore their fetishes to this degree need to seek psychiatric council.

Matt: Maybe they do, I dunno. There is obviously something I don’t think that’s very normal about a guy that a twenty-four seven servant for life you know. I mean, I can’t explain it, obviously something had to happen where he feels a need to be degraded and be a servant at all times. I mean, I think the dominance in this role exists within society and needs to exist but sometimes in some of he extreme cases where it’s about to be such an intense fetish is interesting and I don’t really know if I’m necessarily fit to judge whether they need psychiatric help or not to be completely honest with you. I know that people are like this, is it something that they feel the need to give themselves purpose within their life, you know we all need purpose so theirs just tends to be more extreme. It’s interesting; I have been through it all and done it all. [What’s really] interesting is that I never stayed in one situation for two long only because I had more experience and just moved on. It kind of transcended after the awareness was understood about it. So, for people to be stuck in it, I dunno. Is it really a choice or is it more compulsion. I mean I go both ways on it. I tend to think if it’s something that you want then do it.

Karma: All right, so to change gears what is your favorite Society1 song?

Matt: Oh, that’s so hard, I love all my music. I mean, off the first record, my favorite is probably “Slacker Jesus”, the spoken word record, that thing is like one of the most favorite things I have ever done. Exit Through Fear, “Everyone Dies” is my favorite on that one, which is really, really a special song to me.

Karma: Why was it special?

Matt: I wrote it about an ex-girlfriend of mine, the last girl I was actually in love with. Very interesting girl, we don’t talk anymore but when she was dating the boy from another band and she cheated on him with Marilyn Manson. The reason why I thought it was interesting is she told me it didn’t count because he was a rock star.

Karma: Interesting concept.

Matt: Yeah it was. That’s what the song is about; it’s about her feeling important or validated as an individual or human and morally being able to explain it, due to her reasoning. So, the lyric, there is definitely an emotional connection to it because of the relationship I had with her. That didn’t work out, so whatever but I still like the song. It’s funny because she hasn’t been in my life forever and I still sing the song, we do it every set, we always play it.

The new record? Man, there are a lot of them that I’m really into; I really enjoy the new record. “Lord”, it is just so about everything that I’m going through. (Reciting lyrics) “I am power, here’s my plan all of you will understand. Here’s the piece that broke the board, I am power, I’m your lord.” The end of the song just speaks to me, “I’m your master, I’m destruction I bring your fate, I am the balance the one who creates and can’t escape. Now listen to me violence is near, now listen to me the answer is clear. I am the answer.” I love, “I Love Her” a lot, I like a lot of what is on the new record. I really wrote I feel very in depth and interesting things that mean a lot. Very poetic at the same time, it has been six months and I love the lyrics on it. I mean, “raped and sodomized molested and fucked with it means your body gives up.” To me it says so much.

Karma: Yeah, it does. (Laughs)

Sharita: (Laughs) Yep.

Matt: It’s funny because I’ve had women come to me and tell me that that has been their life, literally. I didn’t write it for them but they interpret it as that.

Karma: See there you go, you are a savior.

Matt: Yeah, hey I get emails everyday about peoples lives I save through lyrics, so on, and so forth. Funny thing is, I feel like I’m just getting started. To me it’s just the beginning, I have so much more to say and do. I am so excited to write the next record, continue to tour and live. That’s what you get when you allow yourself to sleep with any woman that you want. See, cause that’s what kills men when they allow themselves to be monogamous.

Sharita: (Laughs) Ok, interesting thought.

Karma: Oh kay, so if you could commission a band to do a Society1 cover, who would do it and which song would it be.

Matt: Aw, I think Trent Reznor could really fuck up our shit that would be really cool. Yeah, I’m really a huge fan of Reznor, he’s just an awesome fuckin’ musician, composer. I don’t know what I’d like to have him do...

Karma: I think he’d do a good job on "Hate."

Matt: Yeah "Hate", but somebody did a remix already. It’s on the website, it’s one of these guys over in Europe, I dunno. Maybe he could do “Me” off Exit Through Fear, or something like that, that would be really cool.

Karma: Here is a quick Speed Round of Questions for ya, what’s your mantra?

Matt: Oh, changes from day to day.

Karma: What is it today?

Matt: I think it’s basically specifics.

Karma: Evolution or creation?

Matt: Oh, of course evolution, I mean Jesus c’mon. I think creation is funny.

Karma: It’s a good story.

Matt: Yeah, it really is a good story though you know.

Karma: So what is your style of Seduction: (a) Playful and natural. (b) Allowing your inner child shine. (c) Witty. (d) Magnetic - drawing people in with your words. (e) Confident - zeroing and going for broke! (f) Sexy - In your face. (g) Mysterious and vague - Hard to pin down. (h) Mirroring - Taking cues from the person you're flirting with. (i) Coy – you reign supreme at playing hard to get.

Matt: You know to me this is what I think, maybe I’m wrong but personally I think every woman you meet knows whether she wants to fuck you or not within the first thirty seconds pretty much. You can notice that vibe, you know what I’m sayin? It’s kind of like you meet a girl and you can tell if she’s into you or no, then you don’t be a jackass. You just gotta do what you do. She’s into you as long as you’re not a complete dick wad so I really think it just depends on the girl. I mean she’s into talking about stuff…

Karma: What makes you go for them?

Matt: It’s if I have a physical attraction to them first, just like anybody.

Karma: What kind of women do you like?

Matt: I like all types of women. People automatically think because of the way I look that I’m into paled skin goth chicks and there is nothing further from the truth. My last girlfriend was fuckin Asian, black and she was a professional fighter, and she has arms as big as I do. I’ve dated white, Asian, black, Mexican, everything. I don’t like redheads that much though. Yeah and I don’t like the pale, pasty, gothic, shit. I like ethnic girls more than normal white girls. I think that all women and I know this is gonna sound silly but, personally for me, because I’ve slept with so many people like every woman has something about her that you could get off on and you could get into. People don’t understand that because they have such a want for specific types of women because they’ve never had enough of that woman to get sick of it. I mean, when I was growing up, maybe it was blond haired girls with blue eyes but you fuck a hundred of those and the next thing you know, you want the antithesis of that. Then I go through a phase where you only sleep with Afro-American women for a year and I did that, it’s the total truth. That was a tough one because racial barriers in this country suck and not a lot of people cross social culture lines. Then after that, it might have been Mexican chicks; you know what I’m saying.

You find something about every woman. In the end, I think it’s all about balance and what you haven’t had in a while. I can tell you this, I discovered I don’t like redheads and I don’t like really, really thin chicks, not into it. Not like these guys who like these scrawny, skinny fuckin’ chicks. It’s like, what the fuck are you gonna grab on to? It’s like bone and shit. I know I’m like really thin and I’m bone myself but doesn’t mean I wanna grab a bone. You know what I’m sayin’? I’m serious. (Hysterical laughter) I’m just being honest, I like women with something there. I know that was a very vague answer and a little ambiguous.

Karma: No, not at all.

Matt: You know it’s the truth, I mean you will see me with so many different types of girls.

Karma: When is your birthday?

Matt: October 7th.

Karma: That’s a little interesting actually that you’re a Libra. So, what is the last dream that you could recall.

Matt: Man, I dream every night. I don’t remember last night because I was exhausted. My dream…I had a really weird dream a couple of weeks ago about being in love with Gwen Stefani and we went out in the past, not for real in the dream. I would love to go out with Gwen because she has a big fat ass. I don’t really care about the tits that much, tits are nice but…(Hysterical laughter)

Karma: So you’re an ass man. (Laughs)

Matt: Totally an ass guy, love the ass. That does not mean I like anal sex. I’ll do it, I’ve done it, I just it yesterday but I just like the ass, you know what I’m saying. Anyways, where was I?

Sharita: The dream…(laughs)

Matt: Oh yeah, the dream about Gwen Stefani. The dream was about her not having this tremendous love for each other in the past but something happened where we broke up and she was getting married and moving on with this other guy. We were talking about how great the love was but the reason the dream stood out in my mind is not just because we were in deep conversation but also I fell deeply in the dream. I actually felt that we were in love, it was actually something that happened and it wasn’t because I had had it with Gwen it’s because I’d had it with somebody before. What I got from the dream was the fact that someday again I’ll have to open myself up and allow myself to commit and somebody obtain that rather than just hop from woman, to woman, to woman.     
 
Karma: Do you want children?

Matt: No, it’s funny because I talk to my mother sometimes when she does talk to me and she’s not too embarrassed about what I’ve done. (Hysterical laughter) I told her when I was fifteen, “I don’t want kids.” She goes, “Oh you’ll change your mind when you get older.” Seventeen, “I don’t want kids."  Twenty, “I don’t want kids.”

Karma: How old are you?

Matt: I’m not telling. All that I’m saying is every year that went by still no kid. Don’t want them. Maybe I’ll change my mind when I’m fifty. Right now, to me life is just so short, I was like eighteen yesterday, and now well all those years later. It’s just like, I don’t wanna pay any attention to anybody else right now, I wanna pay attention to me and my penis. There’s enough children out there anyways. (Laughter ensues)

Karma: If you could have any super power what would it be? And why?

Matt: To stop, fast forward or rewind time because if something did not work out quite the way that you wanted it to you could just rewind it and do it over. Yeah but, I am somewhat of a perfectionist when it comes to certain things. Stopping time would be fun just because you could like stop the girl you like and molest her a little bit. You know what I’m saying.

Karma: Oh kay. (Laughs)

Sharita: Wow…. (Laughs)

Matt: The best thing is when you’re on a plane that crashed, you can just rewind it to the point before you get on it and not get on the plane.

Karma: That’s true.

Matt: You know I would really like to talk to those people on plane crashes and see if they actually knew they would really crash because if someone said that to me I wouldn’t gave gotten on the plane. You can’t tell me that out of all those people that someone didn’t have good instincts. I mean, I dunno, maybe it’s just me. Hey, I think the same thing when I get on planes. My instincts tell me to take ten sleeping pills so I could sleep through my death.

Karma: Well speaking of death, burial or cremation?

Matt: Probably cremation, only because I don’t want to be held to any one spot.

Karma: Favorite color?

Matt: Green.

Karma: Dark, light or…

Matt: I like emerald green, kind of like that beer bottle over there. (Points to the bottle of Heineken on the table)  

Karma: Fabric?

Matt: I don’t like velvet that much, I like silk, but not if I sleep on the bottom sheet only on the top. If I had two silk sheets, I probably would spatter all over the place. I dated a girl that bought me new sheets and you could understand why. They’re both silk and I was just kind of like…but it’s cool because when you get a boner and the silk sheet is on it, soaking through the sheet is kind of a nice sensation. She was hot, she couldn’t suck dick to save her life but she had a nice ass.

Sharita: (Laughs hysterically)

Karma: (Laughs) Okay! Favorite sound?

Matt: Favorite sound, probably a chick moaning.

Karma: Favorite drink?

Matt: I like mango juice a lot.

Karma: Okay, what do you eat when you have the late night munchies?

Matt: It really depends on where I’m at in my life you know what I mean. Sometimes I go through these stints of junk food, and sometimes I’m not. Like right now I only eat junk food on Sundays, so.

Karma: Why is that?

Sharita: Yeah why? (Laughs)

Matt: Well, you know Gods day of rest, so it really depends. (Hysterical laughter)

Karma: When you’re not hanging about, what do you do in your spare time?

Matt: I stare at walls basically, waiting for the next interview. No…(Laughs) I love going to the movies, I love yoga and working out. I mean you can’t tell because I’m so thin but I love going to the gym. I love lifting weights; it’s one of my favorite things. I love good restaurants with Indian food and sushi.

Karma: What nicknames have your friends gave you off the fly aside from “The Lord?”

Matt: The band used to call me the warrior princess.

Sharita: Why is that?

Matt: I dunno, I never found out. I kept asking but they never told me.

Karma: You’ve seen the movie Being Jon Malkovich right.

Matt: Yes.

Karma: If you could be “John Malkovich” who would be on the receiving end of a love tryst?

Matt: After I was inside that person?

Karma: Yes.

Matt: I would be inside Brad Pitt and I would fuck everybody. (Hysterical laughter) because if you know if you’re Brad Pitt, you could fuck anybody! You know what I’m saying, you could get all the ass you want and there would be no work either.  Let me tell you something about chicks, when you’re a girl it’s kind of like this. It’s like if you’re a really hot fuckin dude you directly affect women’s physical drive and you could cut through all the bullshit ASAP and be bangin’ right away. None of that bullshit that normal guys like me has to go through. Don’t lie to me; don’t tell me if your dream guy came up to you, that you would make him jump through hoops because neither if you would.

Karma: I did, actually. (Laughs) and still didn’t fuck him. Believe it or not.

Sharita: Yeah, that’s right.

Karma: It just wasn’t the right situation.

Matt: Well, whatever. All I’m saying that the majority of the time, I know that I’ve had to work on girls for a month whereas hot guy models in LA have gotten them in the first night. Really upsets me, but when I’m finally into em’ I take it out on them.

Sharita: (Laughs) Ok, I guess that’s a way to get back at them.

Karma: (Laughs) Whom would you do of the same sex?

Matt: Who would I do of the same sex, probably a guy that looks like a chick. Maybe that dude from the Crying Game, he was kind of hot! (Laughter ensues) But the problem is that dudes have square asses.

Karma: Not all of them.

Matt: Dude, c’mon.

Karma: No…

Matt: Their hips are square, they might have an ass but their hips are square. When they bend over it doesn’t look right, when women bend over they got their shit going on like this…(Makes his hands in a shape of an hourglass) You know!

Karma: (Chuckles) Well thank you so much it really has been a pleasure.

Sharita: It has been hysterical and enjoyable, thank you.

Matt: No, thanks to the both of you.

Thanks to Curran from Earache and of course to Matt for being such a great interview.

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             of The Sound Of That Ends Creation

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