Matt Taylor: A bunch of reasons actually, Mammal of Paradise is more of a new project for us than a name change. When we became a four piece with Craig Hendrix and started to record a new Aderbat record this past year, it felt like a new band. Our whole dynamic changed and not to mention our personal lives. It was then I first thought about making the album under a different moniker. Also, Brad, Todd and myself started Aderbat way back in 2003, so we have a long list of songs…too many really. Most I can’t remember or I just don’t feel excited about playing anymore. This gives us the opportunity to have a new set of music without feeling obligated to throw in the oldies. Its a new decade…new ideas.
MT: As a child in this industrial landscape, it’s a way of thinking, being and escaping. It’s romanticism, its emotion and intuition over rationalism. More importantly, it’s taken directly from a book by Lord Whimsy called The Affected Provincial’s Companion Vol. 1.
QDT: Did the new name come to you easily or was it a grueling process?
MT: Grueling. Making up band names can become an obsession. Drunk, high, early in the morning, I would make a list then scrap it, then do it again. I’ve got some for future projects that I’m going to start. Mammal of Paradise came early actually, but I thought we couldn’t use it until I wrote Mr. Whimsy for permission and he so eloquently said “Matthew–words are for everyone, wear it in good health”.
MT: I’m very excited for the new year. We have the Mammal of Paradise debut record presently being mixed by our friend Andrew Weiss and new songs to write. We have a couple up online now.
MT: Absolutely, I’ve got my own exotic paradise going on right now, somehow, it’s a mystery how I do it sometimes.
QDT: What is your favorite thing to get at the deli?
MT: Whatever I forgot to get at the grocery store…cream, cafe bustello.