Altsounds recently caught up with the Moonshine Bandits for an interview. Some of the things that were discussed in this interview were, their new song “Full Throttle”, the
Mud Digger Compilation Series, The Mighty Death Pop Tour, their new album “Cali Country” and more. You can read the full interview and listen to their new song “Full Throttle” below.

From Altsounds:

Moonshine Bandits recently released their 2-disc CD/DVD set, “Whiskey & Women: Deluxe Shiner Edition“. The album includes the Moonshine Bandits collaborations with Colt Ford, Danny Boone from REHAB, the Kottonmouth Kings and hick-hop heavyweight Big Smo. The release also contains an exclusive DVD that contains the music videos for “Get Loose”, “For The Outlawz”, “My Kind of Country”, “Super Goggles”, “Shine With Me”, and the brand new video for “Dive Bar Beauty Queen”. So fans would rightly assume that they are likely not to hear any new tracks by Moonshine Bandits this year right? Wrong! We are lucky enough to not only be able to showcase the brand new Moonshine Bandits song, “Full Throttle” which is featured on the Mud Digger compilation seriesbut we also got to sit down and chat with the Moonshine Bandits lads about the new track and the process involved with making it. Listen to the track above as you read what the Moonshine Bandits boys have to say about it all.

AltSounds: How did the song “Full Throttle” come about and what inspired the track?

Moonshine Bandits: Living your life “Full Throttle” with no regrets and living for the moment because you never know when it’s your time to go was our them when writing. We were inspired to write this song by our surroundings, people we’ve grew up with or people we’ve met on the road. Not only mud boggers from all over the US can relate to this song, but so can farm boys or dairy boys, blue collar workers, or anyone, girl or guy that likes to raise a little hell and have a good time.

A lot of the references we write about come from our experiences on the road. We actually wanted to keep this song for our new album we are working on, but felt it was a perfect fit for the Mud Digger Project and so far the feedback has been nothing but awesome! “Full Throttle” is a good taste of what we got brewing with our new music.

AltSounds: What was it like working with big hitters PhiveStar Productions on this track? What was the process behind making the song like?

Moonshine Bandits: It was badass working with Phivestarr. We’ve always been fans of the work Phivestarr has done with Brantley, Colt and the Lacs so were amped up to have the chance to work with them. We told them up front that we wanted to keep our West Coast vibe with anything we record over there, and they understood that and the rest was history. We flew out to Nashville, jumped in their studio, and the vibe was perfect. IT seemed so natural working over there. They really made us feel at home, cooked a kick ass dinner and we just celebrated the music session. We’ve worked a lot in their studio in Nashville, and we are very proud of the new music we’ve created with them that will be coming out. It’s a great experience working with Phivestarr and all the talent that they surround themselves with. It is a very creative environment. We’ve became great friends, Jared from Phivestarr just recently brought his family by Tex’s house in Cali and hung out in the pool for a while. The first thing Jared and his wife said was “Wow, there’s tons of fields, cattle, and farming in Central California.” It was really awesome to show him the area and what Cali Country is and where we are from because most everyone has a misconception that Cali is only beaches and Hollywood, but that’s not the case. We are from Central California, the biggest agricultural area in the United States.

AltSounds: “Full Throttle” is featured on the Mud Digger compilation series and you’ve played a number of mud bogging festivals. Can you give us some insight into mud bogging for people that don’t know what it is and what happens at these festivals?

Moonshine Bandits: Texas was the first State to really introduce us to the Mud Culture experience. There are mud bogs in Central California at off-road parks like Lagrange, plus Southern Cali has the pismo dune parties, but Mud Bog events in Texas are a little more intense. BBQ, Bikini Contests, Jars of moonshine being passed everywhere, rowdy concerts, nonstop partying, camping, RV’s, tons of off-road vehicles blaring music are all part of a mud bog party. So naturally, our music is a perfect fit. The first time we flew out to Texas to headline a Mud Bog Event, it was one of the best times we ever had. The crowd was insane and the response to our music was nothing but positive. We have tons of Shiners that live the Mud Bog life and they always come out to support us at any event we do and the hospitality is amazing. Shiner Nation is getting bigger and bigger every time we go out and rock a mud bog. We just got back from Crosby Texas where we co-headlined an event with our buddy Big Smo and it was a kickass time at Down South Offroad Park. The owners are really good to us. We must have tried 20 different types of moonshine.

AltSounds: Moonshine Bandits are finishing up a new studio album now, what direction is the music headed and what can we expect to hear from it?

Moonshine Bandits: We are constantly evolving with our music. Our general content has and will always be based on our experiences, Lifestyle, people we’ve met on the road, and our surroundings. This is the first album we’ve ever had the chance to work with producers in a studio together with no outside distractions. Ty Weathers has always handled the bulk of our production, but this time around we were able to work with Ty plus an entire Production Team. We were all flown out to Phivestarr Studios in Nashville to create and work on music together as a team. My dad always told me “No man is an island, surround yourself with successful people, and you will be successful”. We had a winning team work on this album. Top notch producers, guitar players, bass players all came in to collaborate as a team with the same common goal of making one badass album. We are very fortunate to have musicians like Ty Weathers, Phivestarr, Hano, Mike Hartnett, Shannon Houchins, DJ Chopstiqs, Derek Stephens, Jeremy Penick and many more contribute to this album. It’s nothing but a win win situation for us, we are very thankful. We were able to come out of our comfort zone and try new things with our song writing. We are never afraid of going against the grain when we write songs. We are very proud of this album. It contains all of our styles from everything we have done musically up until this point. We were able to get a lot of our buddies on this album as well, the Lacs, Colt, Big B, Rehab all jumped on songs. Plus we got newcomers Sarah Ross and Charlie Farley. We can’t let out all the secrets, but we are very confident that this album will be loved by all Shiners and create an even wider fan base which means a much bigger Shiner Family. Shiner Nation will be proud of this album, there’s no doubt in our minds. Bottom line is, this album is about our style of music, it’s about where we are from and it will give the World a backstage pass to what we call “Cali Country”.

AltSounds: Moonshine Bandits performed at this year’s Country Music Awards Festival, what was that experience like and what was the reaction to MSB mixing together country and hip-hop?

Moonshine Bandits: Shocking. I don’t think they knew what hit him. We rushed the stage full throttle high energy and didn’t hold back. There’s over 500 bands there, but I can guarantee that there was nothing like us. We pride ourselves in being different and going against the norm, we’ve done that our entire career. If you don’t like us, so be it, we aren’t changing. We gave them everything we had, some people were confused, some people were shocked, some people immediately started dancing and the party was on! Overall it was a badass experience and the feedback was positive. We were thankful to have the opportunity and hope to be invited back.

AltSounds: You just finished a tour opening for Insane Clown Posse as direct support. What that that tour for you guys like and any crazy moments on the road playing for Juggalos every night? How did they react to the Moonshine Bandits and your country influences?

Moonshine Bandits: At first we wondered how the Insane Clown Posse fans and Juggalos would accept us, but after the first three shows, the response was amazing. We were just stoked that Insane Clown Posse chose us to be their main support out of all the bands in the World. It’s undeniable that Insane Clown Posse has the most dedicated and loyal fan base in the world, and we felt that if our music can touch their fans, then we can touch any type of music lover. Juggalos are music lovers, they want to see a kickass Live Show and they want to see the artist go all out, so that’s what we would do every night. We tried to give them their hard earned money’s worth every single night. Insane Clown Posse’s entire Tour staff was nothing but professional and very hospitable to us. The Tour itself was crazy, I think the entire staff thought we were nuts because they saw all the Jager and ‘shine in our Green Room backstage before every show. That’s 49 days on the road, and about 3 days sober. All the Tour staff and crew would come by our dressing room before the shows and see us partying our asses off and blaring Johnny Cash. We even got them to sing a little country before our shows. We signed every ladies body part you can think of on this show, sharpie should be sponsoring us! It was awesome seeing crowd surfers and stage divers so the energy was ridiculous. It was a huge party every single night. At one point, Violent J (lead singer of Insane Clown Posse) approached us after a show and told us “I popped your CD in and didn’t know what to think about it, it’s like nothing I’ve ever heard, then I listened to it over and over and it became infectious, plus your stage show is fun and amazing”. It really felt good to hear that from a guy who has traveled the world and been extremely successful in this industry. We can’t thank them enough for taking us on the road.

AltSounds: Any lasting words you want to leave with us?

Moonshine Bandits: Our new album “Cali Country” will be a game changer for us. We make Raise Hell Good Time Music so get your ass to a Moonshine Bandits Show!

[youtube width=”560″ height=”344″]http://youtu.be/UqbACy1SBuU[/youtube]

Websites:

• moonshinebandits.com
• hangout.altsounds.com