About a year ago we introduced you to Houston, Texas-based Hardcore Punks Mind Mine with their release Evolution of Insanity. Mind Mine have kept super busy since then with releases and live shows, so we were due to catch up and we did just that in this featured interview with Jeff Perales and David Klotz.
Check out Mind Mine’s 4-song EP Weak Words Won’t Hurt that arrived in December 2024 on Bandcamp and read on for our interview below.
CF: For those who have never heard your music before, can you summarize it in 3 words?
Jeff: Loud. Angular. Intense.
David: Punishingly loud intensity.
CF: If you had to pick just 1 band that would make the most sense sonically for you to tour alongside, who would that be?
Jeff: Coalesce
David: Ditto. Coalesce for sure, or maybe Botch or Converge. Someone who operates outside of standard genre expectations.
CF: You’re a duo, with Jeff handling the guitars and vocals and David keeping the beat moving. How did you first connect and what would you say is the glue of Mind Mine?
Jeff: Our original drummer was never a permanent member of the band. He was just helping us out to get the band some shows and exposure. I had dropped off some of our music in Austin at several record shops and left them in the area where people put flyers, buttons and other free stuff. Little did I know that my friend, Bucky, had picked some up when he was visiting Austin. Some of that stuff made its way to David. I ended up texting David on Bucky’s suggestion because I was trying to get my cassette label off the ground, Do It For Chico! Records. He had informed me that David ran Breakup Sandwich Records, which also happens to specialize in tapes. One thing led to another. I texted David that my drummer was leaving the band and I received the fastest reply ever. “I’m your new drummer.” The rest is history. The glue is brutal honesty and mad respect for each other. In regards to the duo aspect, we listed ourselves online as a duo due to line-up changes, however we have a new bassist named Josh. He was in a movie with Liam Neeson once. He’s also been on TV shows, commercials and some other movies. You can call us a power trio.
David: We connected via our mutual friend, Bucky Thuerwachter (Hands Up Houston infamy) who introduced me to Mind Mine’s music. I was a fan of the band before I joined them as the drummer. This is a major factor in how and why it works so well. I have always trusted Jeff’s vision for the band, so aside from playing drums in the band, my goal is to offer support and help execute the vision both visually with graphic design and also conceptually by helping “edit” ideas to produce the best possible output we can as a unit.
CF: Based in Houston you experience a pretty different lifestyle than us up here in Canada, what’s one thing you’d want us to know before heading down there for a Mind Mine show?
Jeff: You can find pretty awesome food anywhere in the city. Most of the shows we play have food vendors actually. This is the real Flavortown, USA. Houston is unique. I find myself spoiled with the scene here. The bills are usually eclectic. You can expect to find a very diverse audience. I know lots of people talk about their scenes like that, but ours is real. You can randomly go to a show in Houston with love for Godflesh, Neil Young, Black Flag and Sepultura and can get all those itches scratched in one night at one venue. It’s pretty awesome. That’s why we love playing and going to shows. They aren’t one dimensional. Dynamic is the way to describe them.
David: Houston is a cool and weird scene. There are lots of unique factions within the overall music scene that operate parallel to one another, and often, they will collab and overlap one another depending on the show. The key is just keep an open mind, expect uniqueness, and have a good time. Authenticity matters. We know what bullshit smells like, and we generally don’t abide. Also, you can literally spin in a circle, point, and you’ll hit an awesome taco, pho, thai, bbq, or burger spot…the food is LEGIT.
CF: What type of protective gear should we wear to a Mind Mine show? Are we talking helmets and elbow pads or full tactical gear?
Jeff: I think a safe bet is to get inside one of those big bubbles that Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips has when he goes in the crowd. If you can’t do that, a Gundam suit would be pretty sick.
David: We recommend a full medieval suit of armor, but if yours is at the cleaners, your normal show attire should be fine. We don’t encourage violence of any kind at our shows, so as long as everyone gets a chance to dance, that’s all we want.
CF: How can fans expect to feel after a Mind Mine live show?
Jeff: They should definitely feel sweaty. They should feel like they got their money’s worth. We bring it all to the table: 4 guitar cabs. 2 bass cabs. Oversized drums and stacked distortion.
David: If we’ve done our job, your ears will be ringing. If you’ve done your job, you’ll be removing the pair of free earplugs we offer at our shows and wondering how it’s possible that something so intense and heavy could both knock you on your ass and simultaneously make you feel like you’re soaring through time and space.
CF: We first connected with you around this time last year with the release of Evolution of Insanity. Since then, you’ve released a 4-song EP called Weak Words Won’t Hurt. What was the driving factor that led to this EP?
Jeff: Much has transpired. At that time a year ago, I was still pretty fresh as the vocalist for the band. Since then, the world has continued to burn and spiral into some mess that is hard to comprehend most days. The world has bigger issues than most people’s petty drama. It’s days like these that I reflect and am thankful for my small circle.
David: This question has multiple answers – many would need to be redacted haha.
But to be more serious, I think this release was born out of us continuing to evolve and push the band into new territories. It’s the sound of change.
CF: It opens up with Not My War, a super intense heavy track that seems to work to absolve yourself of responsibility for someone else’s fight that you don’t agree with. Can we get into a bit more detail about what you’re tackling here?
Jeff: I could give you some vague answer, but I won’t. To simply put it, I’m tired of fighting other people’s battles, especially if they are self-manifested and brought about by ignorance. Too much for too long. No more for me. Some people just feel like the world is out to get them, when in fact it is them who has created their own nightmare. Everyone has stuff going on. Everyone is trying to live and make it through. That being said, if you are a good person and genuinely need someone on the frontlines with you, I will be there in the trenches knee deep in the mud and first one up the ladder to see if the coast is clear and be ready to confront whatever.
David: Jeff said it all.
CF: In Intrigue & Mystery you seem almost, and perhaps rightfully, pissed off that there are people who seem to be playing the victim instead of actually putting some sort of verifiable action together to improve their life circumstances or to stop diminishing others’. Why do you think people fall into those types of patterns and what would you advise they try to do instead?
David: I think in a lot of cases it’s easy to find blame in external places for problems of our own creation. We live in a very performative world, and much of our lives are spent in some form of voyeurism as it pertains to comparing ourselves to others and vice versa. This is a very deep topic, so that’s all I will say on the matter in the most general of terms. Best advice I can offer anyone for anything is: “Listen to the Ramones and eat some pizza.”
Jeff: You hit the nail on the head. I completely agree with David on this. However, I would say, “Listen to the Replacements and eat some street tacos.”
CF: How would you encourage someone who seems to be caught on the receiving end of this type of manipulative behaviour to break out of that cycle? Would you intervene at all, and if not, why not?
Jeff: Cut any and all extraneous individuals out of your life instantly. Ultimately it is up to you to break the cycle. Keep your circle small. Remember that there is power in saying “no.” If you want me to intervene, just know that you will not like or agree with everything I have to say, but just know that it will always be the truth. In some situations, I am a firm believer that some people just need to crash and burn and hit rock bottom before any change can be made. This is reserved for the ones that have dug themselves in so deep for so long because they ignored all the signs and turned away all help.
David: Stop that shit in its tracks. That kind of toxicity only leads to more negativity and ultimately ruins bonds between people. And yes, I can speak for both of us when I say we have intervened and even ended situations that were untenable for us in the long run.
CF: Everything up until this point does seem rather deliberately pointed to an individual or a specific institution, so we’ve gotta ask, who is the King of Sand?
Jeff: He is the one who wakes up late in the day from one of his numerous slumbers while the world continues to turn. From his castle made of the finest sand on the water’s edge, the king ignorantly looks upon the ocean of relentless honesty not realizing that every day the land between him and it diminishes at an increasing rate due to his own foolish actions. He doesn’t understand that you can’t fight the ocean. It is inevitable that one day all of his choices, especially the one that led him to live so close to the honest truth but ignoring it at every chance, will come back to haunt him. The salt will burn. He will drown in honesty. When all is said and done, no one will even remember that there was a castle or king to begin with. You can’t fight the ocean.
David: One thing is for sure, whoever the King of Sand is, they see themselves every time they look in the mirror.
CF: The last song on the EP is a cover of Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You”. What inspired you to cover this track & what’s your connection to Mazzy Star?
David: I have loved Mazzy Star since I first heard them in 1993. I suggested to Jeff that we do a cover of the song because it’s a beautiful song and would be awesome to put our spin on it. We did. It’s awesome.
Jeff: “Fade Into You” is such a beautiful song. Even though it is a quiet number, Hope Sandoval sings with such an intensity. It’s beautifully heavy. You can’t help but feel everything when that song is on. Therefore, I felt like it was a perfect song for us to cover. However, I wanted to try to show everyone how extreme raw emotion can be displayed with it. Everyone that covers this song usually keeps it chill. Not in our case.
CF: You’ve kept super busy since forming in 2022 with 20 releases under your belt since then and performing live. What’s your plan of attack for 2025?
Jeff: So far we have 2 split EPs, an EP and 2 full lengths in the works. We know it’s a lot, and there is plenty more. David helps me try to keep the release schedule palatable.
David: Lots of irons. Lots of fires. We like to keep it interesting around here.
CF: How does Mind Mine take care of their own mental health and well being when dealing with difficult situations?
Jeff: We approach every issue head-on. We are extremely blunt and have pretty thick skin. We keep our circle small. We do not entertain drama of any kind. “I am not defined by how you feel” is our mantra.
David: Jeff nailed it. We don’t fuck around.
CF: What would you say is the single most pressing issue affecting your ability to navigate forward in your lives or communities at this time and what are you doing or planning to do to improve the outcome?
Jeff: The algorithm. I hate it. Every day I spend a little time trying to find ways to make it work for us. The internet is a blessing and a curse. DIY ethos helps us stay afloat and get out there. David and I work very well together to further the vision of the band. We make time every day to discuss the band, its goals and how to approach and reach them. Lots of times we are forced to think outside the box. We are ok with that too. We love Brian Eno.
David: Reach/Impact. We literally do everything ourselves. Working full time jobs, parenting, etc. are all factors in addition to us making this band a success. We would love to play outside of our city, state or even region…it’s just a matter of getting our music heard in other markets. The industry is ever-changing, so we are chasing a moving target in terms of social media and streaming approaches. The only thing we can do to overcome the challenge is to just move right into it and face it head on.
CF: Flipping the script a bit, what’s the least hardcore music artist you both listen to? We want to know what Mind Mine is putting on to soothe them after a long week of screaming into the mic.
Jeff: Björk, Blonde Redhead, Brian Eno and Charli XCX are four that I listen to very heavily. All of them are masterful vocalists and otherworldly songwriters. Their song structures are interesting and definitely inspire me to do more.
David: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Orville Peck, Mazzy Star, Bauhaus and Matt Berry to name just a few. Kendrick Lamar has been a steady part of my listening habits since well before all this beef with Drake, and I do love me some west coast hip-hop.
CF: Can you turn our attention to a couple other local Texas bands that we should take a listen to?
Jeff: Municipal Bats / Loose Helmet / Quinn The Brain / Fuska / Nothing, Who Cares? / The Virulent / Committeemen. Also, I would like to shout out Alex at Zelma’s Window for always showcasing Houston bands, as well as bringing in fresh new sound to the scene by way of out of town bands that he has on his shows. That guy is super solid.
David: I’d be doing a disservice if I didn’t mention our homies in Municipal Bats and Loose Helmet (same as Jeff), but also definitely check out: Quinn the Brain, Toxic Origin, Fuska, Freeze Out, Evokation, Ganglion, and last but definitely not least Jumprope!
CF: Anything else you want us to know before we wrap up?
Jeff: I am not defined by how you feel!
Our immense thanks to Jeff and David of Mind Mine for taking the time to chat with us.
Follow Mind Mine on Bandcamp and get Weak Words Won’t Hurt for a cool $7USD if you’re so inclined.
Keep up with them on their social media channels.
Crooked Forest 