Ten Bloody Questions

This month: Hatebeak.
Hardcore/ death metallers with waldo, the parrot, as lead singer


Introduce yourselves please
I am Mark, also known as Matterhorn to some people. Blake is the other human component of Hatebeak, he drives a bus for a living. Waldo is an African Gray parrot, somewhere around 15 years old, and an incorrigible prima-donna.

That really is a bad bwoy scream.....why use a parrot? did you teach him?
I think he learned it by imitating death metal singers. We would often play music in the background way before we ever thought of doing a parrot-fronted band. I think the music struck a chord with Waldo, or at least the vocal delivery.

Does he have the best scream in the band?
Unquestionably. Blake & I sound like wounded guppies in comparison. He must have learned to shriek in the jungle.


How much training does Waldo put in? Is he easy to work with?
His training essentially consists of complaining for food and then complaining about the food. He does his best work on his own terms. Sometimes we have to leave the mic and recorder running for hours next to his cage to get a good take. I think he's got a lot of pent-up emotion to get out.


With the band, are you voicing your opinions the way you want?
We get a lot of freedom with the music, I think Waldo's pretty content just handling vocals. There are times that he's reacted negatively to some of the stuff we played back for him. Actually, Blake and Waldo didn't speak for almost a month over one particularly hotly contested guitar fill.


Are you making a massive stand against 'fashioncore'?
Absolutely. If hipsters were more inclined to stick feathers to their naked bodies and jump off of rooftops attempting to be more parrot-like, we might be more forgiving.


What bands inspired you?
We're into old Earache death metal bands like Carcass, Morbid Angel, At The Gates, etc, old Relapse bands like Suffocation & Incantation. The list could go on indefinitely. We basically like anything that is brutal and true to the ethics of metal. These kinds of bands are a rarity nowadays. We also like some weird traditional folk music from Western Maryland, but that's more of a nostalgic family thing. Blake is working on a jug-band side project right now. I'm listening to the Twisted Sister Christmas album right now.


With tunes like 'god of empty nest' and 'unlisted', do you see avian creatures to be the alpha survivors of our putrid earth?
I think of birds as the link between the thunder lizards and the hairless apes. Evolution should have stopped with archaeopteryx.


Whats the next release? anything more in the pipeline on relapse records? or are you sticking with reptilian? We've actually had a CD in the can for over a year now. Reptilian will put it out as soon as the artwork is finished. As far as future releases, we'll work with almost anybody that wants to work with us. That is, as long as they subscribe to the philosophy of true worldwide avian supremacy. Thanks from the three of us for the interview, infernal squawks go out from the Mighty Diabolical Flock of the Beak to Seun and Don't Panic too!

Right on, Brother.

Thank to seun at dont panic for setting me up!

www.myspace.com/beak666