St1tch - Rick Thomas
MILITIA - How did you come up with your stage name?
St1tch - It was given to me a few years back before I was in mushroomhead,
I used to work fulltime at local haunted houses, acting, makeup,
and designing, during the acting season id tend to hurt myself a
lot, got a few stitches here and there, someone called me Stitch
one day and that became my acting character name, and it just carried
over when I joined mushroomhead.
MILITIA - When did you join the band?
St1tch - jan. 2001
MILITIA - Did you replace someone, if so can you tell us why they were replaced?
St1tch - guitarist jj was removed from the band, and Bronson the current
samplist/guitar tech took his place leaving open a spot for sampler. I
was currently working for the band all the time and was in a few local
bands myself dj-ing/sampling/programing, so Skinny just asked me to
do it instead of hiring some stranger.
MILITIA - Where did you work before you became big enough to do the band full time?
St1tch - I was a screen printer (t-shirt printing) for 4 years prior to quiting
my day job, My profession in screen printing is actually what landed me
a job with mushroomhead in the first place 3 years before i was asked to
join the band. I was doing pretty much all their printing.
MILITIA - Who is your favorite band?
St1tch - wumpscut, & Velvet Acid Christ (2 very talented musicians that definately
do not get the credit they deserve) they have been a huge influence on
myself, and the music I create on my own.
MILITIA - Who is your biggest influence?
St1tch - Bryan Erickson (Brain Child of Velvet Acid Christ)
MILITIA - Who decides on the set list?
St1tch - For the most part Skinny, if we feel something should be changed we discuss
it but he pretty much has the final say so on the selections.
MILITIA - Is there anyway if we made a survey of a most wanted to hear live song
you would play it?
St1tch - Anything is possible, if the fans really want to hear something we are
not playing then yes by all means, the fans are what keeps us touring, so
we'd love to hear some feedback.
MILITIA - What happened to the "Song Break Me Down"?
St1tch - That was actually the original title to "Sun Doesnt Rise" we changed it
before the record was finished.
MILITIA - I once talked to Gravy and he said (216) was going to make another album,
do you know if any progress has been made toward this?
St1tch - I know they have been knocking out a few ideas, they have 3 or 4 songs recorded,
and will continue to do so throughout the summer. It is difficult to do side
bands with Mushroomhead being so fulltime, I have a hard time scheduling time
for myself with my other projects as well
MILITIA - What is your age?
St1tch - 24 years old,
MILITIA - What is your birthday?
St1tch - january 2nd 1980...do you want my social security # and mothers maiden name too? j/k
MILITIA - Also with your busy schedule, how is the DVD coming?
St1tch - honestly a little slow cause we are doing it all ourselves, plus we started
remodeling our studio, knocking out walls, changing the way things are set up,
so we can work more comfortably, it will be out soon, we are just trying
to make it as badass as possible.
MILITIA - Have you ever thought of making a live release cd?(Xeroxed and , These Filthy
Hands sound increadable live and slightly different)
St1tch - We might one day do a live cd, Im not really sure, we never really fully
discussed something like that. a lot of the old songs get upgrades sure, when
a song is played for 7 years like some of those old ones, some of the guys in
the band will change up a part or add something extra just to make it a little
more interesting, i know skinny will just go sick on some of that old material
live and throw in grinding blastbeats and fills that arent in the original song
but sound really fucking cool. sometimes live theres been times where i almost
stop what im doing, look at him and just say to myself "what an asshole" and
smile under my mask.
MILITIA - LMAO...Where is your favorite venue?
St1tch - As of recent the Scene Pavilion in cleveland, the show we did on may 14th of this
year is one of the most memorable shows to me lately.
MILITIA -Yes I was there and it was a great show and XFACE almost got your keyboard, lol.
Have you ever thought of putting out an album of the dance music you play at the
end of shows?
St1tch - That is all other dj's work, mainly over seas: Industrial Strength:
Tempertantrum(Oliver Chesler), Lenny Dee, Omar Santana, Delta 9: Skinny as well
as myself are big fans of Hardcore techno, back in the day of old shows he'd make
mix cds of his favorite dj's from europe and play it after the sets...we recently
dropped it cause before girls would get on stage and dance at the end of the show
to it, but lately we've noticed that not as many girls seem to get into it like
the gilrs did in the past, so we dropped it, only in cleveland do people in the
crowd get the techno after the set also.
MILITIA - What do you miss the most about home, since you are most always on the road?
St1tch - Mostly being able to get in my own car and drive to the nearest Chipotle.
MILITIA - Are there any big tour plans for the summer?
St1tch - We are just taking a break, theres a lot of tours happening this summer, ozzfest
and everything, so we are trying to finish up the dvd and have a break from the
road as well, looking to go back out this fall though.
MILITIA - Is there anything you would like to see out of your fans?
St1tch - Just their continued appreciation and support, music is in a weird point right now
and there is a lot of bad music out there that in my opinion just isnt good, heavy
music has definately taken a back seat, I really hope it comes back around. I have
noticed magazines have kinda forgotten about us which pisses me off, yet The Darkness
has an entire poster magazine out this month. Whats that about? There are so many
good bands out there, yet the media only wants you to know about 10. Is anyone else
but me sick of seeing the same bands in magazines over and over? Thank you to all
the fans that are still supporting and showing interest in this band, we love you all.
MILITIA - Well I totally agree, Radio and MTV suck. At least we have uranium everynight @ 8,
lol. I would like to thank Rick for his time and effort and Keep up the Good Fight!!
