MORTAL DECAY
Interview with
Anthony Ipri by Jenn
Jenn- Are you an original member of Mortal Decay?
Anthony- Yes, I started the band in late 1991 with original vocalist John P.,
Guitarist John Hartman joined soon after so he is considered an original. We are
the only two left.
Jenn- What happen with your former singer Kelly?
Anthony- Kelly was out of work for a while and that made it hard for him to come
from NY to practice and without practice, you can’t progress. He’s a great
guy and did a lot for us, but we felt that letting him go was the thing to do.
Jenn- Who is singing for you now?
Anthony- We just finished about 15-20 shows with our original vocalist Johnny.
He was helping us out and it was something he wanted to do as well, but he is
attending school and has a band of his own and cannot be a permanent member and
do the extensive touring that we want. So right now we are trying out people and
nothing is set in stone yet.
Jenn- How was the Cleveland fest in May? Which bands did you catch. What did
you think?
Anthony- The Cleveland show was SICK!!! Excellent bands, great friends, Jack
Daniel’s, who could ask for more? Fetus played a great set, Internal Bleeding
(the new stuff rules), Vomit Remnants from Japan were awesome (the “Sickening
Erotic Fanaticism” tattoo on the one guys leg impressed me), Cryptospy as
usual were amazing, Cephalic Carnage were impressive… a lot of great music
that weekend.
Jenn- How many CD’s does Mortal Decay have out? Are they still available?
Anthony- We have out 1997 release “Sickening Erotic Fanaticism” available,
and July 29th at this years Milwaukee Metal Fest 99 we are releasing out demo CD
“A Gathering of Human Artifacts”, that has all three demos re-mixed and re-mastered
in order, 72 minutes long and 17n tracks. We are still working new stuff and
plan on recording and label shop soon.
Jenn- How long have you been playing drums?
Anthony- I‘ve been playing seriously for around 8 ½ years.
Jenn- What kind of set do you have?
Anthony- I play Tama drums, Zildjian cymbals, Vic Firth sticks, DW5000 bass
pedal, Pearl hardware ( I better get paid from those companies for that!!!!)
Jenn- Who are some of your influences?
Anthony- Neil Peart and Rush have been my biggest influence. I remember my older
brother playing me them when I was around 8 years old and ever since I’ve
worshipped them, especially the playing of Neil. Carther of The Dave Matthews
Band is another big influence, Dave Weckel of Chic Corea. I listen to so many
drummers for so many different reasons. These are three all around bands that I
enjoy.
Jenn- What bands are you listening to these days?
Anthony- The bands listed above, Dream Theatre/ Liquid Tension, Macabre/ Gordian
Knot, King Diamond/ Fate, Portishead, Immolation, Death, Voivod, Sarah
McLauchlan, Morbid Angel, Cynic… That list goes on as well.
Jenn- Who are some of your favorite bands you have played with?
Anthony- Doing shows with Deaden is always a lot of fun, Internal Bleeding are a
great bunch of guys and they’re almost as good as me reciting Jerky Boys
calls, Disfigured are a lot of fun, just to name a few.
Jenn- What is the furthest you have traveled to play a show?
Anthony- We’ve played Milwaukee, Iowa, Canada. They all seemed like it took
forever to get there. It’s a good thing we played shows on the way and back,
it makes it seem shorter.
Jenn- What you guys do for a living?
Anthony- We all have jobs, nothing worth mentioning but we have good paying jobs
that give us off for shows when we need it.
Jenn- What do you do in your spare time? Any hobbies besides drumming?
Anthony- I love to listen to and play jazz, a lot of basketball, work-out and
jog, go out and get drunk once in a while, read true crime books. I love to keep
busy.
Jenn- Anything else you want to add?
Anthony- Buy our “Sickening Erotic…” CD, as well as out “A Gathering of
Human Artifacts” CD. They are $15.00 dollars each, (postage included), and a
BIG thank you to you Jenn for the interview, I appreciate you thinking of us-
See you soon!!!!!!!
MORTAL DECAY
C/O ANTHONY
415 OAK STREET
AUDUBON, NJ 08106 USA