Some of us recognize Jeff Tuttle as a recent guitarist with the Dillinger Escape Plan, where he tore ears and brain matter from 2007 until 2012. Jeff has also been active as a filmmaker (see his new-ish video for a new Child Bite song here) as he continues his musical pursuits in Old Gods and Malo Konjche. He has launched a killer website that unifies his work in multiple media, which you can check out here: http://malokonjcheindustries.com/
Tuttle’s colorful rock entity Malo Konjche released a new 4-song EP this month, called Eudaimonia, the lead/title track of which you can check out right here at the Deciblog. Nothing on the record gets too metal, but it’s all based on loud, noisy rock textured with keyboard accents and a punk edge. Eudaimonia is a lot of fun to listen to, and at a bite-sized 13 minutes you can spin it a few times back-to-back in less time than it would take you to listen to half of one of our revered doom albums. And find out what Jeff himself thinks of all of this by reading our interview with him (below the music player).
Enjoy!
Can you talk a little about how you first got involved in the various things you create (film, music, etc.)?
I can’t say for sure how I started down the artistic path. I suppose it’s all very metaphysical and those kinds of things just “spoke to me.” In a very pragmatic sense, I’m drawn toward the challenge of imagining something and actualizing it. If I have tune in my head, I love figuring out how to arrange it. If I envision a monster, I love figuring out the best way to film it. But in a deeper and more encompassing sense, I especially love the therapeutic outlet these mediums provide. Jeff Buckley and Cameron Crowe make excellent clinicians.
How do you go about making contacts for the professional film work you’ve done?
I strongly believe that good things happen to those who make them happen. Moreover, if you surround yourself with likeminded people and work to make something you believe in, you will continue meeting likeminded people. Making contacts is as easy as that. If you try, you may result in failure. But not trying at all only has one outcome. You are the only one stopping you. PMA, man. Get with it.
How would you characterize the time in your life that you were in the Dillinger Escape Plan?
My time in Dillinger was one of the most amazing rides I’ve ever embarked upon. I did so many things I never thought I do, I went to places I never thought I’d see and met so many people I idolized (and continue to idolize) as a kid. In the end, it was clear that it wouldn’t be the creative outlet I wanted it to be, but nonetheless a time I will never forget… mostly because my bones still hurt.
Would you say that, right now, you’re more focused on music or filmmaking?
I’d say I’m more focused on being creative and productive, in any fashion. I feel like studying film and filmmaking has drastically impacted me as a musician and lyricist. It’s been a whole new well of inspiration for me to draw from. And likewise, the deeper I dig into the depths of music, the more I see how these two mediums are connected. Making music videos has been the ultimate combination of my two favorite things in this world. What more could you ask for, besides pizza?
What impulse drives Malo Konjche’s music?
I feel there’s a musical void that lay somewhere between over-produced radio bullshit and under-produced garage rock. Where’s the happy medium? Where’s the huge radio rock with the DIY ethic? When you listen to the classics, most all of them not only lived in this void, they fucking reveled in it. Malo Konjche has a goal: to revel alongside the music we grew up with on a prime piece of real estate in that empty span of nothing.
