The Mistreaters

Hailing from Milwaukee (perhaps the beer capital of the world), The Mistreaters' blend of dirty punk and garage rock is as refreshing as it is inebriating. So it's not surprising the band got its start playing on New Year's Eve of 1998. Soon thereafter The Mistreaters spent a stint as the house band for the raucous Cactus Club, where they shared the stage with the likes of The Mooney Suzuki, Fireballs of Freedom, The Makers and Detroit's own The Dirtbombs. All the while, the band recorded for Big Neck Records, releasing a four-song single and a full-length album entitled Grab Them Cakes, as well as contributing tracks to a host of compilations before switching over to Estrus Records in 2001. So far the band has released one single on Estrus entitled "Personal Space Invader," and their latest, a full-length album entitled Playa Hated To The Fullest - recorded by The Dirtbombs' Jim Diamond at his studio Ghetto Recorders in Detroit - will be coming out June 3. Recoil spoke with Mistreaters bassist David John Henry Mistreater via phone the night before the band performed live in the studio of Milwaukee radio station WMSE 91.7-FM as part of that station's pledge drive.

Recoil: How did The Mistreaters first get started?
David John Henry Mistreater: Well, actually, three of the guys, Christian (Mistreater), the drummer, Kevin (aka Dusty Mistreater), the guitarist, and Chris (aka Christreater), the singer, they had like a joke band going. They went to school together in Madison and some of the guys that were in that band moved to California and they decided that they would ask me to play bass and kind of become a more serious band. It was kind of like a rap group, actually, that they had going. Then they decided to change directions and added me as the bass player.

R: What was your first impression of the band when you first got involved with them?
DJHM: I'd known them for a while. We'd actually been friends for a long time so we all kind of had the same tastes and kind of knew what we wanted to do so I guess generally I'd say I had a good impression of them.

R: What's it like being part of the Milwaukee music scene?
DJHM: It's good. Everyone's very supportive and people try to help each other out. There [are] a lot of really good bands here so generally I'd say it's pretty good.

R: I understand you guys played some early dates with The White Stripes way back when, what was that like?
DJHM: Yeah, actually Kevin our guitarist called them up after we got their first album and just sort of demanded that they come here and play with us. Every time they would come through Milwaukee and Madison we would play with them for a couple of years.

R: Who are some of the other bands that you like playing with?
DJHM: We always love playing with The Dirtbombs. The Baseball Furies from Chicago are friends of ours so it's fun playing with them. The Feast of Snakes from Dallas. Who else? I know I'm leaving out people here. I think those would be the [main ones], I better not forget any more.

R: How would you describe The Mistreaters' own live show?
DJHM: I would say it's explosive.

R: Anything more to add to that?
DJHM: Just explosive. Explosive seems to encompass how I feel towards our live show.

R: What are you excited about with the new album, Playa Hated To The Fullest, coming out on June 3?
DJHM: Just the fact that we've got a new album that we're happy with. It's going to be in stores so people can actually buy it if they wanted to.

R: What was it like working with Estrus Records and especially Jim Diamond?
DJHM: My dealings with Estrus Records are pretty limited. I met Dave Crider once and shook his hand and that's pretty much the extent. It seems like they've been pretty good to us. I'd have to say I'm all for Estrus Records. And Jim Diamond, he's a very easy man to work with.

R: How would you say recording this album has been different than previous records?
DJHM: It went very smooth as long as we kept Jim in diet soda and pork rinds. Everything just went like slicker than shit, I guess. It was real easy, we kind of set up and pounded it out, Jim worked his magic and we were done.

R: Are you looking forward to being able to go over to Europe this fall?
DJHM: This will probably be my only chance to go to Europe. So I'm looking forward to that for that reason alone. I think it will be fun to see how a European audience might be different than an American audience and things like that. Like I said mainly because it will be my only chance to go to Europe.

R: Are there any cities or places you plan on visiting?
DJHM: Well, of course, obviously Amsterdam because I've heard lots of interesting things about that city. But generally I'd just love to see all of it. You know I 'd love to see London, Paris, anywhere in Germany, etc. I'm just excited for the whole thing really.

R: Where do you see rock music heading in say the next five years?
DJHM: Well, I see that there's going to be a lot of hype bands from New York City getting a lot of attention for no reason and pretty much dragging it back into the gutter where it belongs.

June 2003