Interviews : “It was still very early in the process of us actually being a band” – An Interview With Milla (Black Rheno)

Milla is bloke with the big voice at the centre of Sydney sludge monsters Black Rheno, who are currently on tour across Australia. The band released the EP, Let’s Start a Cult in 2016, affording them the opportunity to play on bills with King Parrot, who they share a connection via the hilarious opening sequences of the video accompanying the cut, “No Time For Numbnuts”.

“That was really fun. We shot that video down just outside of Melbourne. We played Canberra the night before, we had to meet the videographer/director and also, Youngy, the guy that plays the hippy, he plays in the band King Parrot”.

The shoot was the product of a late-night of gigging and an early morning start… usually a vicious assault in the senses for the working musician.

“By the time we got back from the gig and packed up, we then had to drive and meet those guys super early in the morning. We went to a backpacker’s and just closed our eyes for an hour, woke up, and off we went… we were playing that night in Melbourne as well. So, it was, ‘Meet as early as we possibly can during the day and just go and film a bunch of stuff and we will just see what happens,’ kind of thing. Full credit to Dan from Farmwalker Productions, he is just one of those people that comes up with ideas on the spot and they are just super funny. We just sort of put it together as we went, ad-libbed it all. Yes, just shot it during the day and that was it. Then he hooked up a dude to do all the claymation stuff which I think is awesome, I love that stuff, it sort of reminds me a little of early Primus video clips and things like that.”

Many of the cuts getting an airing across the ‘Final Cult’ tour originate from the EP Let’s Start a Cult. For those yet to hear the band and possessing keen audio-visualisation skills, imagine Kyuss crossing Eyehategod in a bare-knuckle fight with Neil Fallon, the vocalist and guitarist from Clutch offering commentary.

“We wrote those songs pretty quickly, like within a matter of a few months. We started gigging two months after we got together and went, ‘Cool, this is a band.’ We started playing shows and those songs were basically in there, added a couple more, but six months later we figured, ‘Okay, cool. Let’s record an EP.’ So, it was not like we had been sitting on them for ages or anything like that, they were still super fresh. It was still very early in the process of us actually being a band.”

It turns out the process for recruiting musicians was a little less demanding than it is for so many collectives seeking a band or band member via the various web-based applications in market. Milla is the owner and manager of a rehearsal space in Sydney’s Northern beaches affording him the opportunity to communicate regularly with a variety of very capable musicians.

“I could hear him (guitarist- Mariano Palomares) playing riffs through the wall, he hired one of the rooms and he was jamming with another dude and I asked if they needed a singer, they did need one so I asked if could audition. Sort of the same thing (with our drummer) Dougy. He came in the studio one day, he had just moved to Sydney as well from up the coast. I heard his drums, and thought, ’Oh, this dude rips’. We all just sort of came together and formed the band and now two and a bit year’s on, we are a band of brothers united together as one.”

Catch the band on their remaining tour dates across Australia.

March 16^th Factory Floor – Sydney NSW
March 23^rd Enigma Bar – Adelaide SA
March 24^th The Boston – Perth WA
March 30^th Club 54 – Launceston TAZ
March 31^st Brisbane Hotel – Hobart TAZ

For more information, head to – www.facebook.com/blackrheno

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