The duo of Clinton Jacob (guitar, vocals) and Danny Sein (drums), collectively known as mr. phylzzz, have always been ones to flout convention. From their earliest days, right up to their new album Fear the Lord, out now on Amphetamine Reptile, they have always played by their own rules. That’s how you get the attention of AmRep head honcho Tom Hazelmyer and become one of only two active bands on this legendary label. (The other band is The Melvins. That’s great company to keep.)
In addition, Jacob is now a member of Gatta Morta, the new supergroup featuring Buzz Osbourne (The Melvins) JD Pinkus (Butthole Surfers), and Coady Willis (Big Business), who just released their debut EP, Burn Witch Burn, on Amphetamine Reptile.
With Fear the Lord having already been unleashed on the world, we thought this would be the perfect time to have a little chat with Jacob and Sein on all things mr. phylzzz.
Warning!! Reading this article might lead you to have a new favorite band.
What are your songwriting processes for mr.phylzzz?
Clinton Jacob (CJ): Whatever feels good or makes me laugh is what I go for. It has to be fun to play because I’m most likely going to be playing it every night. Ideas are open ended; they can come from a drum idea or a guitar idea and a lot of the time some weird thing I mouthed out on voice memos and didn’t have a guitar in hand at the time. I don’t have really any rules when it comes to songwriting, other than being open to anything and everything. I don’t believe in genres or sticking to one style. I’d love to do a bluegrass album one day. Maybe that will be the next album.
Danny Sein (DS): Most songs come from a riff/melody whether it’s guitar or drums or a voice memo. Nothing super mysterious about it, to be honest. A lot of it is just figuring out a riff one of us brought and shaping the outline of a song together. Then once we have a basic outline we block out more specific moments and parts where vocals could go and refine, refine, refine.
Every song has a slightly different approach and different needs, and we are both very open with each other’s ideas. We like to hear ideas out fully before we decide and find the best version of the song because I think songs can have different lives. Sometimes Clinton comes in with an intro and a verse and then we go from there, like with “Rodeo Clown,” “Emma Draws a Dog,” and “Plea.” Sometimes the song is nearly there but doesn’t feel quite right, and we add or change one thing, and then the entire thing gets set off like a bomb!
It’s very fun and I love working with Clinton because nothing’s off the table, and there’s no ego. Whatever we both like that makes us excited or laugh at, we move forward with. It’s incredibly collaborative because we fully trust each other.
Sonically, what are you trying to say with Fear the Lord?
CJ: I think there’s this power to the unknown, the king in the castle who you only heard of but never have seen. The fear of power and how to move in between it softly and sometimes chaotically.
What do the lyrics address?
CJ: The lyrics again address power, rumination, guilt, dogs, and the overall of living in that in-between of what if and what could have been.
How would you say Fear the Lord is different from previous mr.phylzzz’s recordings?
CJ: It has some elements that feel familiar, but for the most part is a big departure with operatic vocals, piano, acoustic guitar, odd percussion. It’s bending into a completely different direction and that’s how phylzzz has always been, ever changing, no holds, do what feels good at that time. Genres are dumb to me. Why stay fenced in when I can run on the highway?
DS: The most familiar feeling with phylzzz is that you never feel safe. We like to keep things interesting for ourselves. The album starts in a way that is the complete opposite of the last album, Fat Chance. Here’s a list of things on this album that are different from the last: operatic vocals with, like, 40 tracks, piano, falsetto, acoustic guitar, autotune, backward drums, whispering, bass sub drops, congas, slammed metal church chairs, myself playing bass on “Plea,” pitched vocals panned and read from a random book on a shelf, and even from a playing perspective this record I played most songs to a click track in the studio which I had never done before! I feel very proud of this album, and we fully did everything we wanted to do.
How did you get signed to AmRep?
CJ: When phylzzz started, it was meant to be this side project to try and get kicked out of places. Fake jazz band turned noise at the shows. I love making videos, so I was constantly posting videos online. From what I gather, Tom had been watching the band for some time, and then one day he emailed me asking me if I had physicals. I believe I responded with, “we don’t do physicals” thinking it was one of my friends pranking me or something. Turns out it was not a prank and really him! He added us to a Dope Guns and Fucking in the Streets comp, and it was off to the races after that!
What’s it like being one of the only active bands on the AmRep roster along with The Melvins?
CJ: Incredible. Tom is not only an incredible artist but knows his shit when it comes to running a label. We have always been taken care of and I fully trust him. He doesn’t tell me how to make the music, and the same goes for (us); I don’t tell him how to make the art, and every single time I love what he does.
DS: Fucking awesome! It’s a punk rock handshake where Tom keeps his word and doesn’t oversell and under-deliver. We have a better deal with him than we would with any other traditional label, and he truly believes in the band and supports us in so many ways. He is very wise, business savvy, and an absolutely amazing artist in his own right. Having his art as a cover for our art is genuinely the greatest honor to me. I love that I never know what it’s going to be. But because we trust him, we know it’ll fit perfectly, and it always does.
I’ve been a fan of AmRep for a long time, from when my buddy Allen showed me the “Dope Guns and Fucking in the Streets” comp when I was 20, five years before I was in the band. After the fact, phylzzz was featured on the same comp in 2019. Still always pinching myself that I get to work with him.
What is Tom Hazelmyer really like?
CJ: I’ve known Tom now for a little over 10 years. I’d trust him with anything. A great friend to have in the music world. He’s a straight shooter, no bullshit guy, and in this business, that’s what you want. I don’t want my hand held. I want to be told exactly what’s about to happen, and he does that very well. He’s very funny and extremely smart and knows every single great steak spot there is. I think he has a dedicated booth at Carsons. Turf and Turf with a large side of Coleslaw. Not that tiny, small cup they give you at the dentist. He needs a boat of slaw. Crab cake to start if they got ’em.
DS: I’m getting to know Tom more over the years, and I find him to be an enigma. He is also very kind and genuine under his tough exterior. He has qualities that most people don’t have at one time. He’s a successful businessman, and he’s a prolific artist. Those two things don’t go hand in hand very often. He also loves steak, burgers, guns, music, art, alcohol, and the Sex Pistols. We talk about Michigan when we see each other because he grew up in Grand Rapids for a chunk of years, so we shoot street names and brick and mortars at each other. We’ve been record shopping at Vertigo together which was surreal because that’s my favorite record store in the world, and Tom is such an inspiring man to me.
How does stand-up comedy influence your music?
CJ: I worked at a comedy club for a while, and it fully changed my perspective on performing and writing, the way comedians grind things down and cut the fat, the persistence in crafting a bomb at first to a five-minute routine. It’s truly an art and really opened my eyes to writing every day, be it good or bad, just keep writing. I have a huge respect for the craft. Andy Kaufman is a huge influence on me, and I try to mix that into every show. I mean, playing crazy music and then talking like a unconfident toddler seems great to me!
What made you decide to wear cheap suits when playing live? Why do you continue to wear them? Would you ever change that up?
CJ: I wanted it to be the opposite of what we sounded like. These weird, ill-fitted, odd-colored suits made sense to me and even more so after meeting Doug Stanhope at the comedy club I worked at. I loved that he was completely opposite and truly the punk of the comedy scene. Rolling in with his group that all looked like they came out of a chapter of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was great. These weird ’60s / ’70s suits, Bingo with a neon boa, it was awesome! I also think Doug is just an insanely good writer; he has a swagger no one else has, an “I’m gonna do what I want” yet always still super kind. I left the comedy world with zero comedy skills, but I did get great fashion inspiration from the most flamboyant non-gay gay man. Thanks Doug! Sorry I let Bingo do acid. That’s my bad.
DS: phylzzz is the first band I’ve been in where I’m not just wearing a band shirt. Clinton thinks of the small things and those eventually add up to be a larger-than-life persona. Even since I’ve joined the band this part of phylzzz and our on-stage performance, outfits, and banter has refined and expanded. We also have done more fashion forward “Mugler” outfits when we added a bassist Abby Hart for a tour. She had the idea of doing a ’90’s leather and sleek black kinda loo,k and we took it and ran with it, which was really fun.
Band shirts are lazy and not interesting in my opinion. I feel as if when you perform onstage, something should separate that from a drunken rehearsal, and stage wear is an underrated thing for bands in my opinion. You don’t have to be a big artist to start giving a shit. Looks and outfits are part of performance, and that’s the first impression the audience gets of you when you are playing to a new crowd.
Clinton, how will being in Gatta Morta affect mr. phylzzz?
CJ: It won’t affect phylzzz at all. Buzz is not stopping Melvins anytime soon so it’s super easy to schedule around. I want to stay busy. This is my job now! I set my life up to be a full-time musician. I don’t have a degree to fall back on. I never wanted that safety net. So I need both bands to work. When I’m done touring with Gatta I’ll go out with phylzzz. When I’m done touring with phylzzz I’ll go out with Gatta. If neither of those are touring, I’ll be recording or writing with one or both or writing/producing with other bands. I love making music so to me it doesn’t feel like work at all. I’m just getting paid to do it now.
Fear the Lord is out now. Get it here.
Photos courtesy of Madison Walters
