Richmond - The band Mensrea is a metal powerhouse with an incredible attitude.  I was invited into their traveling tour van that they use to save money on hotel rooms.  As I started the interview I noticed a body at the back of the van.  Under normal circumstances this might strike a chord of concern, but with the lead guitarist for the notorious GWAR, I expect the unexpected.

33: I might not have planned on this question, but why is there a body in the back of the van?
Cory Smoot: That’s Mark, our singer.  He just had surgery and is recovering.  He had some gnarly surgery done to his throat three days ago, removing an abscess from his tonsil.  They put a needle in his throat and sucked the puss out of there.  That didn’t get it all, so three days later they had to make an incision.  He couldn’t talk when he went there but came back and did a show.  He is a champ - didn’t miss a show.

33: Holy hell, he is a trooper.  How is he bringing it?
Nate Krishna: He just keeps on going and is doing a great job.

33: So do you guys live in this van? 
NK: The van has the same amenities as a fine hotel room - DVD player, PS3.
David Gibson: They have a Betamax and a laser disc player, so they can live in the van that they christened Falkor after the dog in The NeverEnding Story.
CS: Every time they got in trouble in The Never Ending Story, the dog (little did they know he is actually a luck dragon) would come save them in the movie, much like our van swooping in during the midst of a crazy show when we need to be whisked away at the speed of light.  Falkor comes and saves us and he swoops us up from the reality of the road.

33: I am glad you did not go with Kit, because that would have just been a little sad with the Hasselhoff being involved.
CS: We figured if we ever went on tour with Atreyu it would work out well [makes a joke sound].

33: I know you guys are from different bands - is this more of a side project or a main project?
CS: We were in Mensrea long before that.
NK: That’s kinda how Cory got discovered - from work we did with a band called Misguided.  Then later on, once Cory got into GWAR he kinda brought us in.
CS: Mensrea would seem like a side project because we are so busy with GWAR, but we push Mensrea when we have time off.
NK: GWAR has toured every year for thirteen years in a row, so now they can step back and work on some other business like music writing, which opens up six to eight months of time for Mensrea to stay busy.  Sometimes we are on suspended animation, but it is good.  Dave Brockie is a busy guy as well; he gets commissioned to do art pieces all the time.  He is an inspiration, even going back to when we were just fans, and now we are getting to work with him.  Dave Brockie himself is just a figment of imagination, the ultimate artist.  Everything he does works around his art and music.

33: When was your last album, and when do you have plans for anything new?
CS: Three years ago, and we just started talking and having some drafts out.  Hopefully within the year we will have something out, but we do not want to rush that.
NK: We never really stop writing, we just do other things at the same time.  Everybody had songs, and literally we just went in and learned each other’s songs and worked out the arrangements.
DG: While Gibby sits at the engineering table for 14 hours a day [laughter].
NK: While I keep fucking up my parts!

33: Does everyone participate in writing the songs?
CS: The cool part about Mensrea, each one of us plays guitar and drums.  That’s one of the things I love about Mensrea.  We are open-minded enough that Gibby can come up with a riff, and we will draft a song where I start out playing drums or guitar, and then we all pitch in and put our creative spin on it.  That’s been one of the keys to our success thus far.  We have a band of five people who all write with a lot of bands...that’s a big part of our diversity.  Everyone has their hand in the cookie jar.
NK: It is like democracy, and everything gets tied up in Congress, but at the same time we have been together for so long, and we respect each other, so we keep feelings out of it.  Everyone brings their children to the table, and you might hate to see it get left on the curb when the rest of the family drives down the road, but at the same time one day that kid's going to grow up and be a great song.  There are always riffs that never make it to songs.
DG: Having access to a studio is great, too.  We get to do all the preproduction and pass stuff around and do things over and over until we are happy.

33: So tell me a little bit about Richmond.  We have some great bands coming out of there!
NK: If you want to find trouble you can find it, but if you want to find other stuff there is a lot of cool stuff, too - art, history, music.  Some of the bands out of Richmond are awesome.  We saw bands last night - Municipal Waste, Lamb of God - and then we played with a group that grew out of a bunch of Richmond bands, Cannibus Corpse.  When we have a Richmond show all the Richmond dudes come out, and it’s a really cool, special time.  It seems metal is on the downtrend some places, but we come home, and it is as awesome as it can ever be.

33: So how pissed are you at gas prices having to travel around?
NK: It’s been shitty.  It has taken a chunk out of the funds, but we have had it harder before.
CS: One time we used a buddy’s company gas card just to stay on the road...it was like a six-week tour.
NK: But that guy saved our asses.

33: What do you consider yourself genre-wise?
DG: I think putting a label on it is kinda redundant at this point.  We just play what we like.  We all listen to a lot of stuff. 
NK: We are on Facebook now - official Mensrea page.

33: Yes, I like you.  I can say I officially like you Facebook-style.
NK: Awesome, we like you, too.
DG: Come out and see us, and smoke our weed with us.

From a humble start in Richmond, Mensrea has toured across the country and back with such legends as GWAR and Mobile Death Camp.  Their perseverance has paid off, as their fanbase grows with every show.  It is no wonder - they are tight and truly work as one organism.  They have a Virginia Beacher that is willing to make the Richmond pilgrimage for some hard-hitting metal.

MySpace.com/Mensrea

By Photojournalist: Kerri Killion

Kerri Killion has lived in the Hampton Roads area for the majority of her life.  Her curiosity and creativity always had her viewing the world through different eyes.  She was immediately drawn to the artistic side of life.  An artist and writer, Kerri found herself interested in photography at a young age.  Soon viewing the world through her camera became second nature.  In 2007, she started Inner Vision Artistry as a way to show her photography to the world.

Her love for music including punk, metal, psychobilly, and hardcore naturally led her to an interest in band photography.  This journey has now led her to Magazine33.

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