Interview By Meghan Killimade
Owen: I listen to tons of music from all genres so my influences are all over the place, but my biggest drumming influences include Philthy Animal, Dave Lombardo, Gene Hoglan, Bill Ward, and John Bonham. For the bands that inspire me, it's mostly bands like Sepultura, Dark Angel, Motörhead, Black Sabbath, and Venom. Venom is my favorite. I'm also inspired by some of the smaller bands in the current thrash scene like Void, Phantom, Nemesis, and Stress Angel.
Liam: My biggest influences on my bass playing include Cliff Burton, Steve Harris, John Paul Jones, Dave Ellefson, and Geezer Butler. For bands, I listen to Metallica, Pantera, The Misfits, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, and Van Halen.
Looch: As both a rhythm guitarist and aspiring lead guitarist, I have a variety of inspirations. I try to emulate similar sounds to Alex Scolnick(Testament), Andy Larocque(King Diamond), Tim Calvert(Forbidden), and Jason Becker in both my rhythm guitar playing and soloing. Some bands I listen to are Sanctuary, Testament, Overkill, forbidden, Exodus, and Megadeth. I'm sure there are more but those are my main inspirations
Gunnar: I’ll listen to anything heavy and fast, I’m into old school thrash and some hardcore punk. I’ll put on bands like Exodus , Slayer, Black Flag, Minor Threat, and Sepultura to get inspired to play.
Where have you guys been playing more recently and where are some places you'd like to play in the future?
Up until now, we've played at the bi-monthy “Youth On the Mic” held by The Knickerbocker Cafe in Westerly, RI. We have an upcoming show at The German Club in Mystic, CT on May 4th, and we're playing alongside bands Admisssion Fee, Purple Tide, and Corvus.
Owen: In the future I'd love to travel out of the country, possibly to Europe. Doing some festivals or just our own shows there would be sick.
Tell us about Lobotomist - who are the members & instrumentation and how & when did you all get together?
Lobotomist is a 4 piece thrash metal band from the Connecticut / Rhode Island area. We all met through mutual friends, and we first started talking to each other in early August of 2023. Our first time jamming together was in September, and since then we try to meet up once a week to practice. Lobotomist is comprised of Owen McCarvill on drums, Liam Young on bass guitar, Gunnar Hofmann on lead guitar, and Lucio “Looch” Coleecchi on rhythm guitar and vocals.
How would you describe your sound as well as your set/performance to someone that isn't familiar?
We describe our sound as our own take on thrash metal and heavy metal while taking influences from outside the genre. We take inspiration from genres such as punk, 70s Rock ‘N’ Roll, and classical music. Our set brings the power and intensity of our original music as well as the energy and excitement of the songs we cover.
Owen: I listen to tons of music from all genres so my influences are all over the place, but my biggest drumming influences include Philthy Animal, Dave Lombardo, Gene Hoglan, Bill Ward, and John Bonham. For the bands that inspire me, it's mostly bands like Sepultura, Dark Angel, Motörhead, Black Sabbath, and Venom. Venom is my favorite. I'm also inspired by some of the smaller bands in the current thrash scene like Void, Phantom, Nemesis, and Stress Angel.
Liam: My biggest influences on my bass playing include Cliff Burton, Steve Harris, John Paul Jones, Dave Ellefson, and Geezer Butler. For bands, I listen to Metallica, Pantera, The Misfits, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, and Van Halen.
Looch: As both a rhythm guitarist and aspiring lead guitarist, I have a variety of inspirations. I try to emulate similar sounds to Alex Scolnick(Testament), Andy Larocque(King Diamond), Tim Calvert(Forbidden), and Jason Becker in both my rhythm guitar playing and soloing. Some bands I listen to are Sanctuary, Testament, Overkill, forbidden, Exodus, and Megadeth. I'm sure there are more but those are my main inspirations
Gunnar: I’ll listen to anything heavy and fast, I’m into old school thrash and some hardcore punk. I’ll put on bands like Exodus , Slayer, Black Flag, Minor Threat, and Sepultura to get inspired to play.
Up until now, we've played at the bi-monthy “Youth On the Mic” held by The Knickerbocker Cafe in Westerly, RI. We have an upcoming show at The German Club in Mystic, CT on May 4th, and we're playing alongside bands Admisssion Fee, Purple Tide, and Corvus.
Owen: In the future I'd love to travel out of the country, possibly to Europe. Doing some festivals or just our own shows there would be sick.
Liam: I would love to play some venues in our area, Cherry Street Station, The Cellar On Treadwell, The Palladium Upstairs - as the crowds at those shows are awesome! I would love to do a show in NYC with our buddies in the band Wolfenstein at some point. I would also love to travel the east coast, doing shows all around with bands we meet through the internet.
Looch: A dream Venue? I'm not too sure, but the House Of Blues in Boston was a fantastic venue. I saw Overkill there in September I'm pretty sure. General admission, 2 feet from the stage, what more can you want?
Looch: A dream Venue? I'm not too sure, but the House Of Blues in Boston was a fantastic venue. I saw Overkill there in September I'm pretty sure. General admission, 2 feet from the stage, what more can you want?
Gunnar: I’d definitely like to play some big arenas in my future. I would like to sell out Madison square garden or like the palladium someday. I don’t want to just be playing for a crowd that’s boring and not into it so smaller clubs are definitely good for the moshers too.
Tell us about the songwriting process! Do you write as a collective or do certain members do the majority of the writing and then bring it to the rest of the band?
It really depends on the song, each one comes about in a unique way, but most of the time, one band member will approach the rest of the band with a piece of music, whether that be one riff or a fully fleshed out song. From there, we give criticism and feedback and build the song from there.
Favorite cover song to play?
Owen: I loved playing Fight Fire With Fire by Metallica with the band, as it has a little break where it's just me playing on the drums. A song I'd like to cover in the future would be Bloodlust by Venom. That's my favorite Venom song.
Liam: My favorite song is also Fight Fire With Fire by Metallica. I love playing this song because it has a very prominent bass line as well as me getting to play the intro on my own, and everyone loves a good bass solo! One song I’d love to cover would be Postmortem by Slayer.
Looch: Favorite cover song to play? I feel that there are multiple layers to this question. Favorite song we have covered and turned into metal? 'Paint it Black'. It's our only one as of now. Favorite song from another band to cover in general? 'Blackened'. The rhythm guitar work is top notch, vocal melody is on point, drums are outstanding, and a delicious solo from Kirk.
Gunnar: Piranha. Gary holts riffage on Piranha and that record is absolutely crushing for the time. It’s a great song to mosh to and people like that
You just walked into the Telegraph or the Mystic Disc to flip through some vinyl - what section are you heading to first and what are you hoping to find?
Owen: I'm heading straight to the metal section to find some records I don't have yet. Definitely some Megadeth, preferably Rust in Peace or Peace Sells. Some records I've always wanted have been Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd, and Grace by Jeff Buckley.
Liam: Personally, I’d look for some vintage AC/DC, Boston, or Led Zeppelin. As well as some metal bands like Exodus, Overkill, or Kreator. I’d also look for some local bands music, as the band and myself love supporting other local acts.
Looch: For me, I am going straight to the metal section. I mean, I'm a metalhead, right? I'm always hoping to find an original copy of Megadeth's 'Killing is my Business...' album. And maybe some obscure cassettes and CDs. For example, a very obscure band called Sanctus released one 6 track EP and you can only listen to it on YouTube so getting that EP in real life would be tubular.
Are there are there any local bands that inspire you or that you're digging these days?
Yes plenty! Our favorites for youth bands include Admission Fee, Purple Tide, Corvus, Fractured Reality, Locust, Midnite Madness, Valium. For non youth bands, Stress Angel, Hero and The Horror, Casting Shadows, Pure Chaos, Johnnie G and the Royalties, Devils Hopyard, Afghan Haze, 6five6, and All Sinners.
What's up next for the band? Any new music to release or gigs to announce?
Oh totally! We are currently working on a bunch of new songs to release on our upcoming EP. We will be playing these songs at our show at a The German Club in Mystic CT on May 4th. This show is going to be one to remember, make sure you are there! We also have lots of other concerts in the works, so make sure to follow our social media to stay updated!
Anything else we missed or wish we asked?
Owen: I would like to give a special thanks to all of our friends and family who have supported us from the start, and also all the people and bands we have met and become friends with through the band.
Liam: We would love to thank the parents of each member of Lobotomist for allowing us to meet up every week. Also, a cool piece of information about us is that we were first called Lacerator for a good 2 months, before we realized there was another band already called Lacerator. Whoops!
Tell us about the songwriting process! Do you write as a collective or do certain members do the majority of the writing and then bring it to the rest of the band?
It really depends on the song, each one comes about in a unique way, but most of the time, one band member will approach the rest of the band with a piece of music, whether that be one riff or a fully fleshed out song. From there, we give criticism and feedback and build the song from there.
Favorite cover song to play?
Owen: I loved playing Fight Fire With Fire by Metallica with the band, as it has a little break where it's just me playing on the drums. A song I'd like to cover in the future would be Bloodlust by Venom. That's my favorite Venom song.
Liam: My favorite song is also Fight Fire With Fire by Metallica. I love playing this song because it has a very prominent bass line as well as me getting to play the intro on my own, and everyone loves a good bass solo! One song I’d love to cover would be Postmortem by Slayer.
Looch: Favorite cover song to play? I feel that there are multiple layers to this question. Favorite song we have covered and turned into metal? 'Paint it Black'. It's our only one as of now. Favorite song from another band to cover in general? 'Blackened'. The rhythm guitar work is top notch, vocal melody is on point, drums are outstanding, and a delicious solo from Kirk.
Gunnar: Piranha. Gary holts riffage on Piranha and that record is absolutely crushing for the time. It’s a great song to mosh to and people like that
You just walked into the Telegraph or the Mystic Disc to flip through some vinyl - what section are you heading to first and what are you hoping to find?
Owen: I'm heading straight to the metal section to find some records I don't have yet. Definitely some Megadeth, preferably Rust in Peace or Peace Sells. Some records I've always wanted have been Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd, and Grace by Jeff Buckley.
Liam: Personally, I’d look for some vintage AC/DC, Boston, or Led Zeppelin. As well as some metal bands like Exodus, Overkill, or Kreator. I’d also look for some local bands music, as the band and myself love supporting other local acts.
Looch: For me, I am going straight to the metal section. I mean, I'm a metalhead, right? I'm always hoping to find an original copy of Megadeth's 'Killing is my Business...' album. And maybe some obscure cassettes and CDs. For example, a very obscure band called Sanctus released one 6 track EP and you can only listen to it on YouTube so getting that EP in real life would be tubular.
Gunnar: I’d head straight to the Punk records. I’ve always been a fan of hardcore punk and I love the speed and the aggression they play with. I’d look for some early Bad Brains records or ep’s. Definitely would try to find some original Keith Morris or Ron Reyes Black Flag ep’s too. You’d also definitely find me in some classic stuff like Pink Floyd or UFO
What are some things you think this area needs?
Owen: I think this area needs more representation of metal bands. For example, when we do the open mics at the Knickerbocker, we're almost always the only metal band playing there. No hate to the people playing other genres -they're amazing, but I'd love to see more metal around here.
Liam: I think this area needs more venues for teenage bands to play at. There are very limited places for us to play until we are 18 or 21, so some more awesome, metal centered, all ages venues would be amazing.
Looch: This area needs more metalheads, not more bands. You can have all the bands you want but if there aren't any people to go to shows or listen to music and support the music scene, what's the point? Too much supply than demand.
Gunnar: This area needs more die-hards! People like the music but they're not into how we are and there are a lot of posers around the scene. This area also needs more venues. We need more venues that promote the heavy side of music and are into it like we are.
Favorite band hang out?
Typically, we hang out at Liam’s house for practice. We love going on walks to talk about music, band business, and other nonsense. We also love going to concert’s together, it definitely inspires us to make music and it strengthen our brotherhood as bandmates.
Owen: I think this area needs more representation of metal bands. For example, when we do the open mics at the Knickerbocker, we're almost always the only metal band playing there. No hate to the people playing other genres -they're amazing, but I'd love to see more metal around here.
Liam: I think this area needs more venues for teenage bands to play at. There are very limited places for us to play until we are 18 or 21, so some more awesome, metal centered, all ages venues would be amazing.
Looch: This area needs more metalheads, not more bands. You can have all the bands you want but if there aren't any people to go to shows or listen to music and support the music scene, what's the point? Too much supply than demand.
Gunnar: This area needs more die-hards! People like the music but they're not into how we are and there are a lot of posers around the scene. This area also needs more venues. We need more venues that promote the heavy side of music and are into it like we are.
Favorite band hang out?
Typically, we hang out at Liam’s house for practice. We love going on walks to talk about music, band business, and other nonsense. We also love going to concert’s together, it definitely inspires us to make music and it strengthen our brotherhood as bandmates.
Any Struggles you guys are currently facing?
Currently things have been going pretty smoothly for the band, but some struggles we face are the drives -- none of us have our licenses yet so we cannon drive ourselves to and from band practice. Another issue we have is recording -- we had equipment to record demos awhile back, but ever since the equipment broke, we cannot record anymore. Luckily we got one recording complete before it all went under.
Are there are there any local bands that inspire you or that you're digging these days?
Yes plenty! Our favorites for youth bands include Admission Fee, Purple Tide, Corvus, Fractured Reality, Locust, Midnite Madness, Valium. For non youth bands, Stress Angel, Hero and The Horror, Casting Shadows, Pure Chaos, Johnnie G and the Royalties, Devils Hopyard, Afghan Haze, 6five6, and All Sinners.
What's up next for the band? Any new music to release or gigs to announce?
Oh totally! We are currently working on a bunch of new songs to release on our upcoming EP. We will be playing these songs at our show at a The German Club in Mystic CT on May 4th. This show is going to be one to remember, make sure you are there! We also have lots of other concerts in the works, so make sure to follow our social media to stay updated!
Anything else we missed or wish we asked?
Owen: I would like to give a special thanks to all of our friends and family who have supported us from the start, and also all the people and bands we have met and become friends with through the band.
Liam: We would love to thank the parents of each member of Lobotomist for allowing us to meet up every week. Also, a cool piece of information about us is that we were first called Lacerator for a good 2 months, before we realized there was another band already called Lacerator. Whoops!
Gunnar: I would just like to say thank you for the interview and it’s cool what you guys are doing. Don’t stop promoting bands, they’re just going to keep coming.
FOLLOW:
CATCH THE SHOW:
7pm / $10 / ALL AGES
WATCH: