Discovered by Slipknot‘s M. Shawn Crahan in 2006, Lincoln, Neb.’s Dirtfedd has maintained a loyal Midwest following while gradually gaining more fans across the country. But the band’s biggest exposure came during this summer’s Mayhem Festival, headlined by Slipknot and featuring Dirtfedd on a smaller side stage during the day. The band, which complements its hardcore metal with keyboards and effects that provide a somewhat industrial/black metal feel, didn’t seem to mind getting down and dirty with the fans all summer, performing with more energy than some of the main stage acts. This Friday, Dirtfedd continues that mayhem with a performance at Iowa’s Knotfest alongside carnival rides and bands like Prong, the Urge, Serj Tankian, Machine Head, Lamb of God, Deftones and, of course, Slipknot. Dirtfedd will follow that up with a few more shows in Omaha and Lincoln before finishing up its new EP. Wrestling with Pop Culture recently caught up with bassist Scott Root and guitarist Eric Marshall, who had this to say.
A lot of people weren’t very familiar with Dirtfedd going into this year’s Mayhem Festival, myself included. I understand you released an album a few years ago, but what have you been working on recently?
Root: We have an album called The American Nightmare that was released in 2009 and produced by Shawn Crahan from Slipknot. We’re hoping to go back in the studio with Shawn because we have a lot of music written. We’d like to put out a five or six-song EP in early 2013, maybe spring.
How was the first album released? Was that an independent release or were you signed to a record label?
Marshall: Our first album came out on eOne Music, which used to be Koch Records, and it was just a one-album deal.
When you played the Mayhem Fest, you played the Sumerian Records Stage, which was basically a large tent. And your merch stand was the most punk rock/homemade-looking one there. Is that part of the band’s aesthetic or was it just done out of necessity?
Marshall: We came out with a small tent and realized we were the only band on the whole tour that didn’t have our name plastered all over our tent. So we went out and bought some spray paint and stencils and put our name on it.
I’ve heard more than once that this year’s Mayhem Festival was one of the most successful ones yet. How has that translated for Dirtfedd? Have you seen an influx of new fans or more traffic to your website or anything like that?
Root: It’s been awesome. Every single day there was a line of people that wanted to talk to us and ask us about our band and our music, and maybe pick up a T-shirt. These were all brand-new fresh faces for us, so we just played for as many people as we could, talked to as many people as we could and just tried to make it grow and get ourselves out there a little more.
Have you done any national tours previously or was Mayhem your first time?
Marshall: This is definitely our first fully national tour. We’ve done small stints here and there with DevilDriver and a small tour with Dope, which was our first official tour. And we did a few radio festivals with Slipknot and Korn a few years ago. But this was definitely the first full national tour we’ve done, and by far the biggest.
A lot of the bands you’ve shared the stage with have worked with WWE or otherwise professed their affinities for professional wrestling. Is that something Dirtfedd has ever done and, if not, would you be interested in providing entrance music or theme songs for wrestling?
Marshall: I think it would be awesome. I definitely wouldn’t be opposed to it.
Root: We’re always looking to try new things. Whatever we can do to get ourselves out there.
Marshall: Wrestling is one of the more extreme forms of entertainment and heavy metal and punk rock are the more extreme forms of music. So it’s kind of cool when those two things mesh together like that. We’ve had an amateur MMA fighter use our music. We have a song called “Trained to Kill” and one dude used it for his entrance music. That’s the only fighter I know of to use our music.