I recently had the chance to get the lowdown about Mongrel and the bands brand new release "Reclamation." If you have not had a chance to hear Mongrel yet check out their banner on our menu page and check them out yourself.... The band rocks....

Thanks so much for the interview. Can you give us some background on Mongrel?

My pleasure, thanks for inviting me to do it! I started Mongrel back in 2003 with our original singer Matt Rowe with the concept that we wanted to form an aggressive rock band that brought in influences such as punk, metal, or of any genre as long as the songs were good. Over the years we've gotten the opportunity to open for some amazing bands including tours with FEAR, Blitzkid, Michale Graves, Trashlight Vision and The Independents as well as shows with the Misfits, Otep, Gwar, Korn, Sepultura, Prong, and a bunch of others ranging from punk, rock, and metal acts. When our singer Jessica Sierra joined the band in 2010 (after 7 years of being a male fronted band), we re-recorded some of our fan-favorite songs for an ep called "The New Breed of Old School" which was then followed up in 2011 by the Declamation ep (which featured our cover of the Misfits classic "Dig Up Her Bones") and then in late 2012 we put out the full length album Reclamation on the THC-Music label. The album was met with some stellar reviews and we've since picked up UK distro in February 2013 through the Vanity Music Group/Code7 Distribution.

Mongrel was formed in 2003.. Do you have all the original members currently in the band? If not, who is in the band and what do they do?

I'm the only original member of Mongrel actually. A number of people have come and gone over the years be it due to life circumstances, to pursue other musical projects, or personal issues. Here in 2013 Mongrel is: Adam Savage (guitar), Jessica Sierra (vocals), Mike "Hoagie" Hogan (drums), and Michael Ariza (bass).

Who are some of your influences?

For me they range from classic punk bands like the Dead Boys, Sex Pistols, Black Flag, Minor Threat, Misfits, Dead Kennedys to more modern punk bands such as Amen, The Bronx, Black President; to rock bands like Guns N' Roses, Pearl Jam, Trashlight Vision, The Who; to metal bands such as old Metallica, Crue, old Marilyn Manson, etc.

Would you describe your sound punk with metal overtones?

We get described in all sorts of different combinations... We're certainly not a straight up Spirit of '77 style of punk, but if you consider "punk" to be freedom to do what you want to express yourself and not a very narrow view of the genre, then yeah, we're a punk band in that sense. I typically think of us as an aggressive rock band with punk and metal influences but it's all perspective/opinions... I've had days where reviews would come in from a metal site saying we're a punk band, from a punk site saying we're a metal band, etc... as long as people give it a shot and decide for themselves if it's good or not, I'm not super hung up on a particular label.

You have a band new CD Out "Reclamation" was just released tell us about it?

Reclamation is a 12 track full length that runs the gamut of our influences. We've got some more straight up rock songs, some punk anthem/sing alongs, some more metal influenced tracks, even a bit of a dirgy number called "Zombies of War". We recorded it with Jim Foster (Nullset, POD, Damone, Thy Will Be Done, Graveyard BBQ) at Red13 Media a bit outside of Boston MA.

How have reviews been for Reclamation? Has the band been getting alot of airplay from your new release?

The reviews have been great, especially with the UK press and websites it seems. In the US it seems there's less big press options for our style of music but we've had people putting it up as an album of the year contender so we're certainly psyched about the response it's been getting. As for airplay, we've been doing well with it, lots of different internet stations have been showing us some love, we managed to get #6 most added on the CMJ charts and up to #43 on the CMJ charts following it's release and we're getting some love on Faction over at Sirius/XM as well !

Do you have any video's planned to coincide with any of the tracks from Reclamation?

We did an official video for the lead off track from the album called "Bored to Death" which got a really positive response (check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZiczkduf2E ), and we're looking into possibly doing another one or two for this album as well.

How can the readers buy Reclamation?

If you're a digital person, you can get Reclamation on iTunes, Amazon, etc. You can get physical copies of the album via http://mongrel.bandcamp.com , interpunk.com, cdbaby.com, Amazon.co.uk or through your brick and mortar music shops in the UK.

Tell us about your personal favorite shows that Mongrel has played?

Getting to play at CBGB's before they closed was amazing, our shows with the Misfits are always classics - just so much fun every single time, but really anytime we've got an audience where that connection is made, the crowd is singing along, feeding off our energy and we're feeding off theirs is always an amazing time.

Do you have any Internet addresses you would like to share with our readers?

Absolutely. You can find us at:
http://www.MongrelBand.com
http://www.myspace.com/Mongrel
http://www.facebook.com/MongrelOfficial
http://www.facebook.com/MongrelBand
http://www.twitter.com/MongrelBand
http://www.reverbnation.com/MongrelBand
http://www.youtube.com/adamMongrel
http://www.soundcloud.com/mongrelband
http://mongrel.bandcamp.com

Tell us what is in store for Mongrel in 2013?

We're still busy promoting and supporting Reclamation here especially with the recent distribution pick up in the UK but we've started writing towards the next release whenever it may be so it's definitely going to be a fun and exciting year especially with our recent addition of new bassist Michael Ariza who's been amazing so far - definitely a fun addition to the family and an excellent musician as well.

Any final words for Punk Globe readers?

Thanks for taking the time to read all this and please stop by and check out the tunes if you have a chance. Drop a line and let us know what you think, we do love hearing from people and will be sure to get back to you.