Feature / Music
A389 Recordings VIII Anniverary Bash

Words: Gregg Harrington • January 30, 2012

A389 Recordings VIII Anniverary Bash
A389 Recordings VIII Anniverary Bash

 

PULLING TEETH

Mike Riley, vocals

 I'm sure everyone will be asking why Pulling Teeth is calling it a day, but in my eyes the statement you guys made is pretty clear. With that said, are you guys excited to play Baltimore one last time as part of the A389 showcase?

Pulling Teeth (Reid Haithcock www.bummercity.com) - 300 pxl.jpgOf course. I couldn't think of a better way to go out than to play with a bunch of amazing bands and friends in our hometown. It'll be bittersweet, for sure, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

With the release of Funerary, it seemed that Pulling Teeth’s overall sound reached a very well-crafted and mature level, especially in your lyrics. How do you guys think it turned out? 

Thanks a lot. I'm not sure we could do any better. It's certainly a culmination of years of playing together and getting comfortable with where we wanted to go musically from the very beginning. I think PD/PI was a good stepping stone to getting us there, but Funerary is where it all gelled and worked as a complete album.

Will that be the final Pulling Teeth release the world will see, or are there any plans for a posthumous release?

That will be the last release of new music. There is talk of a live EP and maybe another cassette version of Funerary for Southeast Asia, but I'm not sure if those will definitely happen.

Since Dom is putting the showcase together and I'm sure he's excited to see all the bands playing, who are the rest of you most excited to see?

Mike: Eyehategod, Weekend Nachos, Pick Your Side, Full of Hell
Alex: Integrity, Weekend Nachos, Triac, Full of Hell
Chris: Triac
Mitch: Hatewaves

What can we expect from the final Pulling Teeth set?

As much as we'd love to play a set of every song and every cover we've ever played, we're getting up there in age and just don't have the energy for that. It'll be 30-40 minutes of our best songs with a lot of ooey-gooey heartfelt thank-yous peppered in between, and hopefully a lot of people leaving with smiles on their faces.

What will the rest of 2012 see for all of you?

That's when the world ends, right? I didn't see the movie so I'm not sure if it's unavoidable or not.

If we're all still alive these things will be accomplished: Finishing college, more babies, more records from A389, Firestarter, and Toxic Pop. Alex is heading to Tupelo to play drums for Seraphim. Chris will have new music from Pala and Invitational. Hatewaves are also working on new songs. Mitch and I have talked about starting something, but as of yet we have not actually gotten together for it. Mitch also has a couple of other projects in the works that may or may not see the light of day. Charm City Art Space's 10 year anniversary!

---

Photography:  Reid Haithcock, http://bummercity.com

Skip to page View as a single page

A389 Recordings VIII Anniverary Bash
A389 Recordings VIII Anniverary Bash

Pages in this feature

  1. Opening page
  2. Triac
  3. Weekend Nachos
  4. Full of Hell
  5. Young and in the Way
  6. Low Places
  7. Homewrecker
  8. Gehenna
  9. Pulling Teeth

Related features

Unseemlier

One Question Interviews • June 27, 2025

Mike Assatly (Unseemlier - guitar/vocals) SPB: Do you have a preferred model of van for touring? Assatly: Chevy G-20 Gladiator! It was my first van, I got it from my uncle with 115,000 on it. He got rid of it for a new van because it was "old" and would … Read more

Dollar Store

One Question Interviews • June 26, 2025

Dave Slaverave (Dollar Store - bass) SPB: This band hits a lot of styles, all kind of overlapping at the same time. How hard was it to find “your sound” when bringing these influences together? Slaverave: Not very hard at all actually. We're all old-ass adults who've soaked in a … Read more

Golden Shitters

One Question Interviews • June 25, 2025

Matt (Golden Shitters) How nervous were you the first time you played a show? My first show was around 2002. I was 15 years old and it was a basement house party in my hometown of Welland, Ontario. I’d just proved myself to my high school buddies by singing The … Read more

Arms Aloft

Interviews • June 23, 2025

Remember Election Day 2024? Maybe you shouldn't. Maybe you've blocked it out. That's fair, but there was one pleasant surprise that day: a new EP from Wisconsin's Arms Aloft. It took a while to claw out of the darkness in November, then Year End 2024 coverage took over the Scene … Read more

Small Steps

One Question Interviews • June 12, 2025

Jeremiah (Small Steps - guitar/vocals) SPB: What song has the best use of whistling? Jeremiah: I feel like the easy answer would be the Bobby McFerrin song "Don't Worry Be Happy". Which is catchy as all get out, but we prefer the road less traveled here in Small Steps. For … Read more

More from this section

Caterwaul 2025

Music • May 13, 2025

Each year in late May, the 4-day party and noise-rock festival Caterwaul takes over multiple venues in Minneapolis. It’s a stacked lineup this year, to put it mildly, with each night’s headliners FACS, Young Widows, Naw, Pissed Jeans, and Uniform -- and that’s leaving a ton of other great bands … Read more

Guest List: Steven Fairweather (Gob) – The Gateway And The Getaway

Music / The Set List • May 13, 2025

Steven Fairweather is a Canadian musician, radio show host, and comic book writer. He is best known as the bassist of the punk band Gob and the founder of Stranger Radio, an independent online radio station. -- Before the internet, before streaming, before Shazam could tell you what was playing … Read more

2024: A Year In Review

Music / Year End 2024 • January 13, 2025

It's a new year – hooray. And things are off to a fine start, too. If the thought of corrupt governments, AI domination, unmoderated social networks and endless war is causing you to retreat into the past, we don't blame you. In fact, we encourage it! Our writers have summed … Read more