In an interview at the recent Guitar Summit guitar show in Mannheim, Germany, Mastodon guitarist Bill Kelliher opened up about the band’s financial struggles ever since COVID hit. He explained:
“Without going into too much detail, the price of everything, the price of gas goes up. And that trickles down to us as a band. When we go out on tour, we have to come up with half a million dollars just to support the tour, like of our own money that’s supposedly saved, which I don’t have that much money — we don’t have any money saved.”
Bill added that during the pandemic he stayed home and his wife was the bread winner. The rocker shared how difficult that period was by saying:
“Every time we do a tour, we spend all the money — we give, ‘Hey, here’s your paycheck.’ Because we were home for two years from COVID, and try not working for two years. It’s difficult. Luckily, my wife works; she’s got a very good job. So it’s been very difficult.”
Bill also explained to MetalSucks’ Quarantinecast that since they haven’t been touring all year, the band was eligible to collect unemployment through the corporate unemployment taxes they’ve paid over the years.
The guitarist added that besides the pandemic, their manager also passed away. He also pointed out that it’s been tough to get back on their feet. He expressed:
“Our manager passed away a few years ago, and that kind of put us in this crazy tailspin, because he was our everything. And COVID happens, and the way the world is going right now, it’s not the easiest thing to get out there and just start touring and trying to make money.”
When asked if the bans was planning to get back into the studio to get new material rolling, the guitarist replied:
“The answer to your question is yeah, next year we are going to write a new record, and I’ve already started writing and I’m very excited about it. It’s a nice time. It’s just — I guess what I’m getting at is, like, it’s already time to write a new record and take time off when my wife’s, like, ‘You need to get out there and work. You guys haven’t worked in the past three years.'”
You can read Bill Kelliher’s interview at the Guitar Summit here.
