Roll of the Dice is a short interview format with a variable amount of questions. A Pair of dice is rolled and the total, between 2 and 12, is the amount of questions we can ask. All questions are given to the interviewee(s) at once, and no follow-ups are allowed. The interview may be lightly edited for content and clarity.
Canadian alt-rockers Ancient Teeth may not be on your radar just yet, but they definitely should be. The project of Adrian Mottram and featuring musicians formerly of Beams, Actors and Moneen. is preparing to release Deathbed on 7 February (preorder). Mottram shared some time with us to discuss the formation of Ancient Teeth, what’s next and what music is affecting him today.
Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. Can you tell us a little about Ancient Teeth, how it all came to be and where we may have seen everyone before?
Ancient Teeth naturally evolved out of Sights & Sounds and seas as an outlet for me to keep creating. Shortly after I left Sights my wife and I went through a series of very intense and life changing events witch quickly led to the first Ancient Teeth record being created. Chris (seas/Moneen) and Mike (BEAMS) were in Toronto at the time and learned the songs. We tracked it at Union Sound over two days. Jahmeel (ACTORS) was on tour at the time with so he layered in his bass parts shortly after. Right now we are firming up as a band, taking all the time it needs to ferment properly to be just that. In my mind Ancient Teeth is a creative outlet for me to be able to process my ideas. So far, I have three albums of material and counting
Congrats in advance on the release of the new album Death Bed. What was the process like in fleshing out that record and bringing it to life?
Thank you. It was very therapeutic and cathartic. I had always been a guitarist and never the lead singer so this was an amazing opportunity to refine my singer/songwriter side. The songs came out very quickly as I was going through a lot. By the end of the writing process everything was coming out so fast I booked the studio time and we were recording a few weeks later. The pandemic certainly set things back but being somebody who contemplates the meaning of things deeply the opportunity to get this out now is coming to life in a way that never could have happened pre-pandemic, with stronger focus and wider support than intended.
What album or band or significant singles made you go “Yeah, this is what I want to do” Not just an influence but who or what was the catalyst?
Hmm what a challenging question. I will preface by stating this response from me will probably change after I send this in so I will respond from what rises first to my mind.
1993 era Nirvana,Green Day, Weezer: There was something about the way they all delivered their own personalities and attitude that resonated with me deeply. I come from a long lineage of live performers so I think I saw what those bands were doing and then applied it to my life and said “that’s what I’m gonna do”
The world has been going through some shit over the last few years. What effect, if any, have the cultural and political landscapes of the last few years had on your music?
Well right after we finished tracking DEATHBED the pandemic hit. Chris and I just kept writing. And we wrote a second record about our experiences as well as things we witnessed during the 2020 dismantling of the world as we knew it. That record is called Humanizer and it’s going to come out sometime in 2023 I believe. On a personal note I have learned to listen and be more aware of my surroundings. Perhaps taking a few deep breath’s before reacting.
One of our obligatory questions in these interviews also tends to be the one I have found most important on a personal level. Who are some bands on your radar that TGEFM readers may not know about, but you think they should know about?
Skeletress – this is a side project of a side project from Chris Hughes (Moneen) he set out to make a record all by himself and it’s is absolutely unobstructed by external influence. He wrote it,engineered it, mixed it and then put out it out himself. It’s absolutely beautiful.
Pillars of a Twisted City does the same thing they just released an album called Sentinel and that record along with their first album is the same thing. Direct ideas out into the world. His records are so raw and display so much truth. I find this to be something so inspiring to me. I’ve been trying to approach him as a producer for several years. I’m hoping I can work with him in the future.
Not to put the cart before the horse, but what’s next for Ancient Teeth after the release of DEATHBED?
I’m going to try and book as many shows as I can as a full band or solo acoustic. We have been talking about doing a Ancient Teeth / seas solo run of shows. We have our second record “Humanizer” coming out sometime in 2023 and I would like to record our third record ASAP since all the material is written and ready to go.
Thank you so much for your interest 🐙—
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed’s musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he’s self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/
