MEAN MISTREATER

I discovered MEAN MISTREATER drinking some wine and surfing the internet while getting ready to head over to “2 Minutes To Tulsa” fest, night one, at The Vanguard back in March. Needless to say, I was pleased I came across this band. I took a quick peek at the band’s Facebook page and started deep diving their music. It was just that quick I became a fan. 

The band's latest record is “Razor Wire” which you can stream and download at Bandcamp. MEAN MISTREATER is Janiece Gonzalez - Vocals, Alex Wein – Guitar, Quinten Lawson - Guitar, Joaquin Ridgell - Drums, and Jon Gibson - Bass. All songs were written by MEAN MISTREATER and recorded and mixed by Greg Wilkinson at Earhammer Studios. Razor Wire was mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side Music.

WORMWOOD CHRONICLES: Introduce yourself, please.

QUINTEN LAWSON: My name is Quinten Lawson and I play lead guitar in MEAN MISTREATER.

WC: Do you remember what got you into metal? Was it a record you bought or a show you saw?

QL: My dad was a rocker and a biker/gearhead, so his influence played a massive role in getting me into metal. I spent a lot of summers in his garage while he turned wrenches on his 1969 Plymouth Road Runner, and I distinctly remember him always playing JUDAS PRIEST, VAN HALEN, and IRON MAIDEN. Subsequently, the first album I got was IRON MAIDEN’s ‘Somewhere In Time’ around the age of 5 or 6 and that's what really sparked my love for heavy metal.

WC: What about the idea of wanting to either start a band or join a band, how did that come about? 

QL: I started playing guitar at 6 years old. I’ve always been enamored with playing music, so from a young age I decided I wanted to be a performer. I started performing live around 11 years old and by the time I was 17 I had already played the Whisky A Go Go. With every show, I wanted to perform more and more. I honestly wanted to be like my heroes. It wasn’t until I started MEAN MISTREATER with Janiece (Gonzalez – Vocals) and Alex (Wein – Guitar) that I found my home though!

WC: Which leads into this question…how did MEAN MISTREATER start and tell me about the name of the band itself. Who came up with it and are you referencing GRAND FUNK RAILROAD?

QL: Truth be told, MEAN MISTREATER really started for me when WAR CLOUD released the “Chain Gang” EP September 25th of 2020. I was already a WAR CLOUD fan, but when I heard their cover of ROCK GODDESS’s “Satisfied Then Crucified”, I was hooked. I remember driving through the desert in CA and I told my (at the time) girlfriend that if I could snag that guitarist and that singer, I would have my dream band. 

Subsequently, when I was on tour playing with SABER on the Allied Forces Tour, we played with WAR CLOUD in San Antonio and that’s when I first met Alex and Janiece. We hit it off, they tore the house down, then two days later we all went to “Hell’s Heroes Fest” and all hung out again after we all played. I learned that they had just gotten married, and we all became buds then and there. 

Fast Forward to August 2022, I moved back to Austin, TX from LA and I ran into both Janiece and Alex again at a WAR CLOUD show at the Lost Well. My buddy Blaine ran up to me and said “hey man, you gotta come with me right now. There’s these two rad rocker cats that are looking for a lead guitarist for a new band and I told them about you.” and it was Janiece and Alex. It's all history from there. The name ‘MEAN MISTREATER’ comes from the GRAND FUNK RAILROAD/MUDDY WATERS song. We’re all really big fans of the blues. Janiece had actually come up with the name years before we ever met when she still lived in SF. We all thought it was a powerful name and that it embodied what we wanted the band to be. 

WC: Where does the heart of MEAN MISTREATER’s influences lie? 70’s hard rock or 80’s metal / power metal? Cite a few days if you can, please.

QL: MEAN MISTREATER is an aggressive blend of both 70s and 80s influences, but we also now have new influences from both Jon and Joaquin. Janiece is the soul behind the entire band, and she has extensive knowledge in heavy 70s and psych, but don't get me wrong. The woman's a fuckin’ rocker through and through. She’ll be at the front of any metal show headbanging with a fist in the air. Alex is the literal definition of “The Rocker” and in many ways he’s my other half musically. As a whole, we’re music lovers and we all have diverse music tastes. 

 WC: When I look at your social media (and listen to your music) it feels like the MEAN MISTREATER camp is one gigantic party all the time? Is it sex, drugs, and rock N roll 24/7?

QL: We are all obsessively dedicated to our craft, both musically and as individuals in our respective professional fields…but… I’ll put it like this. We’re a hardworking blue collar rock N roll band. Those who work hard often like to play even harder. 

 WC: How’s the tour going, or has it concluded? Tell me about it and you’ve gotta have a few cool stories to share as well regarding bands you played with, venues, fans you hung out with, etc.

QL: We actually just got back from tour! It was honestly a riot! I’d say some of the coolest moments were at “Legions of Metal” in Chicago. We got to play with a bunch of our buds, and who doesn’t love seeing familiar faces? 

For me it was running into Amy from SÖLICITOR, who’s always been one of the raddest people in the entire scene. I also have to mention my buddy and big bro Brandon from NIGHT COBRA. Anytime we run into each other, it’s always a party. One of my highlights was watching NIGHT COBRA perform a cover of RANDY’s ‘Beast In The Night’ from above the stage in the crow's nest. “Legions…” is very similar to “Hell’s Heroes” in the sense that you run into all your buddies, and ya cut loose. You always end up making some wild memories, and there was definitely a few made at Reggies that night. 

WC: When I listen to your debut record ‘Razor Wire,’ I hear power metal meets speed with a punky MÖTORHEAD vibe about it. Whether you’re writing music or playing live, what bands are you channeling that feed into MEAN MISTREATER creatively, contributing to your sound? Who’s influenced you?

QL: So, I can really only speak for myself on this one, as we all have our own individual influences. When it comes to performing and writing, there’s one band in particular I credit as my greatest influence/inspiration: A certain raw meat slinging, blood drinking, sawblade codpiece wearing, leather clad band of maniacal hedonists who hail from Southern California. Specifically, their guitarist, a six-foot five blonde mad man named Chris Holmes. I don’t think I even need to mention the band name. All I can say is all four members had wild anti-social personalities back in the day. (I think all true metalheads can figure this one  out!--Dr. M) 

WC: Speaking of ‘Razor Wire,’ it just got picked up by Dying Victims Productions for a reissue. How did that happen, did they contact you or vice versa?

QL: When we released the debut, we reached out to a few different labels. Dying Victims Productions was the one that not only stood out to us the most, but they really shared our vision and what we embody as a whole.

WC: We’re coming up on summer shortly. What does MEAN MISTREATER have planned not just for the summer but the rest of 2024? Maybe an EP until your second full length record drops?

QL: We have a few Texas dates coming up soon, a small run with HAUNT and SAVAGE MASTER, a festival in San Antonio, then we have a West Coast tour in the fall. On top of that, we definitely have an ace up our sleeve we’re excited to drop, but y’all will just have to wait and see what it is.

MEAN MISTREATER