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Feature: Mobile Deathcamp
Toledo band rises with onslaught of metal annihilation
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Written By Mike Durian  
Published: November 9, 2010
Mobile Deathcamp is a three-piece thrash metal band from Toledo. If you're a fan of GWAR
you probably know that Todd Evans (lead singer/guitarist) used to be bassist "Beefcake The
Mighty" in GWAR. He has since traded in his costume to be Mobile Deathcamp (MDC)'s
mighty frontman.

Even though the band has only been around since 2008, MDC is no stranger to the metal
scene. I recently got a chance to catch up with Evans in Indianapolis, Ind. to discuss his band,
touring and what the future holds for Mobile Deathcamp.

OOTB: How is it touring with your ex-bandmates in GWAR now?
Todd: It's fun man! It's almost the same except I don't get to sleep in a cool bunk. I do a lot of
driving instead of a lot of sleeping.

OOTB: So the guys in GWAR are your buddies?
Todd: Hell yeah! We get along really good. And hell, they recorded their second album without
me so they are already two albums down and a few tours down. It's cool for me because they
are playing stuff I don't even know or ever played. So now I watch them and I'm a fan again.

OOTB: Back in the day you were in a band called Lazy American Workers in which you
played guitar and sang, how is Mobile Deathcamp different from what you did then?
Todd: Mobile Deathcamp is more metal. As where Lazy American Workers started off with
Lazy Mike singing. It was way more poppy. Then when Mike left to do Plan B, the bassist and I
stepped up and started singing more. I was pushing it to be a more aggressive speed punk
thing. He was trying to keep it overly poppy and so there was a little battle like that. It's cool  
'cause I'd much rather play guitar and obviously that's why I did it.

OOTB: How was making the transition from playing bass in GWAR to doing guitar and
vocals in MDC?
Todd: Easy! I only played bass for them. So I only really played bass for six years. And before
that I played guitar for 17 years. I played guitar while I was in GWAR to keep my chops up. I
really never played bass. GWAR asked me to do it. But I'm a guitar player anyways so I was
happier going back to guitar. I feel more comfortable on guitar.

OOTB: What made you want to start your own band?
Todd: I'm more of a fan of speed metal and the old thrash stuff. While GWAR is like punky,
metalish thrash they were kind of hardlining about keeping the metal. When they were writing
they didn't want to go the speed metal route. And I figured I'm not getting any younger. If I
wanted to try with my own band I wanted to do it now while the getting is good.

OOTB: Has it been hard starting from the bottom up?
Todd: Yeah, its like starting all over again. The good thing is having the GWAR creds. People
immediately are going to listen. It's going to open a door and get a foot and leg in the door right
away. We've already been around the country a few times on our own and by playing the
GWAR card we get decent guarantees where we go. It's just the three of us stripped down
with in your face metal!

OOTB: Are you trying to bring back the old thrash sound? 'Cause not a lot of bands
are out there doing that.
Todd: There are some bands doing the thrash metal thing. Municipal Waste who are
awesome. There are also bands like Warbringer, Exmortis and Vindicator but they all stop at
like the 90's thrash like Testament and Overkill. Where we go back to where we started like
'84 / '85. We're even playing a few songs I wrote back in '85. But it's that old thrash stuff that
I really dig!

OOTB: How has using the DIY mentality worked out for MDC?
Todd: I like it but I don't like it. I'm sick to death of booking shows myself. But at the same time
we've had a run in with some pretty awkward booking agents. Some agents don't work right,
while others do. This GWAR tour is going to be 70 dates, like 26,000 miles. It's definitely going
to establish us. It's a high profile tour for us. We're playing a lot of cool places and a lot of
important venues.

OOTB: You guys recently signed to Sacrifice Records. What does the label plan on
doing for MDC?
Todd: Their initial plan was to get us to record. And then they saw we had an existing album,
Black Swamp Rising. They asked us how many copies we had. So we told them like 1500
copies and thats not even a spit in the ocean in what a label can do to get them distributed, get
them into record stores and push them overseas. So they were like, 'we're gonna take what
you have.' Its cheaper and everything looked good about it. So we just decided to go that route.
They want us to push the record for at least six months. And then we're going to jump in and
record again. And we're ready--we got songs ready to go!

OOTB: So the label is gonna re-release your album, is it the same album you released
in 2008?
Todd: It is, it's the same record. I mean there is some different artwork on it and some of the
songs are juiced on the board a little more. People are asking us to put out new stuff, and we
are but unfortunately we're broke. And the label wants us to do this. We're just doing what the
label wants.

OOTB: How has it been headlining shows in GWAR to opening shows in Mobile
Deathcamp? Do you prefer one to the other?
Todd: It's always cool to play in front of the giant crowds. I mean not giant but up to 3,000 to
4,000 in GWAR. The more people you play in front of the better. And then the way people react
to you and then you get off more on that. We never hold back!

OOTB: You always seem to have references to your hometown of Toledo, Ohio. You
must be pretty proud of where you're from?
Todd: Hell yeah man, the Glass City! We dig it! It's cleaning up, it's coming back. We got a
couple new stadiums, new hockey arena, it's that home feeling. It has all the amenities of a
giant city without the traffic. We like it there. It's not where you're from, it's where you go as far
as the music is concerned.

OOTB: Any immediate future plans for Mobile Deathcamp after this GWAR tour?
Todd: Yeah, as soon as this tour ends Dec. 6 we stay out with Infernaeon until Dec. 18. Then
we meet back up with GWAR on Dec. 26 in New York City. We go home the day before New
Years and then we're home for a week. And then we leave Jan. 7 with Blood of the Prophets,
another Toledo band. Then we're wide open for February, but we're hoping to jump on another
tour. The record is going to be out in a couple of weeks distributed and we just want to push,
push, push until ts time to record again. We just want to do everything and anything to push
the record.

You can catch Mobile Deathcamp on tour now with GWAR, The Casualties and Infernaeon.
Publicity photo by Fritz Roberson
Out Of The Blue  ootb646.com
Album cover for Mobile Deathcamp's  
Black Swamp Rising (Sacrifice Records).
Band Members

Todd Evans
(vocals, guitar)

Scott MacEachern
(drums)

Boe Skadeland
(bass)
Publicity photo by Fritz Roberson