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Some of you may be familiar with the name Glen Matlock (if you’re not, look him up - he’s kind of a big deal), but we’d love to introduce you to his son, Sam Matlock, an up & coming icon in his own right and half of electro-punk duo Wargasm. Joined by Milkie Way (otherwise known as Rachel Hastings) these two are certainly doing things their own way and they don’t give a sh*t about what people have to say about it. Things have moved pretty fast for these guys, and they don’t show any sign of slowing down yet. Everything these two touch seems to turn to gold and their ‘we don’t give a f*ck’ attitude’ feels like they're bringing punk back.

They’ve just finished up their tour supporting Poppy, and we were lucky enough to get them over to HQ right before the Birmingham show to get them on a bike (or 2) and see what their thoughts were. The full entourage brought an air of optimism and excitement with them as they walked through our front door; we could see they were itching to get bums on motorcycle seats. Naturally, we obliged. We rolled out our classic Fat Sabbath - a perfect introduction to Mutt Motorcycles. After a blast around the carpark, taking to the motorcycle life like ducks to water, we manage to coax them off the bikes for a quick chat about  Corey Taylor impressions, The Mist (but with lube) & what 2024 has to offer for the duo.

You've had your own headline show every year for the past three years; Is there anything in the works coming up that we should be excited about?

Sam: We've been touring with a lot of people, it's been amazing. We've been on the road with Limp Bizkit three times; UK, Europe, North America. Went on the road with fucking Corey Taylor, which was amazing. I mean, that was amazing to me, especially because as an angry, shouty, little guy, I just used to spend so much time in my room when I was younger trying to do my best Corey Taylor impression. So when he goes, ‘I'm gonna give you some tips to warm up backstage.’ You're like, ‘alright, cool!’ You know what, I was as nervous doing that as I was getting on that bike!

So we’re [Mutt] comparable to Corey Taylor, is what you’re really saying?

Milkie: Absolutely…

S: We've got quite a lot of stuff coming out. We just dropped the album at the end of last year. Yeah. So I think we're gonna sit for a little bit. Maybe there's some features here and there. We've already headlined some shows in like two nights in Japan this year.

That's an epic way to start the year…

S: It was quite a weird way to start the year! Just getting flown out to Tokyo with your team being like, it's actually just your venue for the night.

You [Milkie Way] know a lot about Tokyo, don’t you? Weren’t you modelling over there a few years ago?

M: I used to live in Tokyo back in 2018 for a little bit and it was great to be back

S: You’ve done so much work in Japan that they recognise you for your work now

M: There's a big bike and vintage car culture in Japan, it's fucking crazy.

S: You do see some nice little things riding round. When they do something over there, they fucking do it; there’s such a huge obsession over there with Americana. If you’re trying to do some shopping over there it is -

M: Oh the vintage shopping is all -

S: it’s all imported, which is, you know, pretty strange when you're a Westerner, and you want Japanese stuff and they're like ‘We’ve got all this western stuff!’

And then you come back here & it’s like “fine, I'll go to Superdry!”

So you’ve supported some real heavy hitters in the alternative music scene - is there anyone that you would love to support/tour with, dead or alive?

M: I mean, can I say about something we were meant to do? The Clash of Babymetal…

S: There was talks of doing some stuff with The Prodigy and their recent songs. Yeah, The Prodigy is like our holy grail of a live show, of like a cultural impact, like sonically obviously. The amount of times a week I get through The Prodigy discography is insane. So yeah, doing something with them would be amazing whether that means going on the road, you know. We had commitments with Babymetal who we really enjoy - there was potential for something to work out and maybe that will happen again. We're playing some festivals that they’re headlining so maybe we’ll get to connect there.
It’s one of those things that,  collaborating with your ideas, it seems like everyone's got that list in their head but I think when you do your own project, you kind of do just focus on your own

You’re playing with Poppy in Birmingham tonight; what do you think of a Brummie crowd? A lot of people tell us we’re a great crowd but we want the truth - what’s your experience?

M: Fucking feral

S: Our fans seem to see it as some sort of challenge of what sweaty kind of activities can they accomplish in the mosh pit. Some good, some bad, but they're never hurtful when there's just-

M: The amount of people who’re like  “Oh, I broke my ribs tonight, had an awesome time, can’t wait for the next one!”

S: I’ve broken a rib at a Wargasm show! We played this venue a couple of years ago - sold out - and it was mental because like, the stage got so sweaty. I hope it didn't look like we weren't enjoying ourselves; it's just that you literally couldn't move.

M: It was the wettest stage.

S: If you took one step it was like, it was like…

M: It was like The Mist!

S: But with lube…

So the best way to describe a Wargasm show is like The Mist but with lube?

S: Yeah! It kind of ended like The Mist as well…

M: I don’t remember what happened…

(With that, I thought it was time to move on to Mutt!)

This is your first time at HQ; had you even heard of us before?

M: I saw the message, and I immediately thought ‘yes, that's definitely something I want to do.’ And then I hit up Rob from The Prodigy because I know that he rode bikes and he was like, “oh, yeah, you'll love it.” But they're great! He knows Benny [our co-founder] and the motorcycle scene is all pretty close knit. Yeah, I put it on my instagram story - we know the girls that work at Parliament and they loved it. Yeah, they all ride and everything, so they're all stoked that we're here.

That’s so cool - what were your first impressions? Did you have a good time on the bikes? I know you said it was pretty nerve-wracking but…

M: I didn’t wanna get off…

S: It was intimidating, but like Les [part of the Mutt workshop crew] says, it’s really good fun

Has it encouraged you to get your CBT?

M: Absolutely! Definitely gonna happen… Sorry mum!

S: There's definitely times in the past when we’ve flirted with bikes, in music videos and content and things. You always get the people that are like  “But you don’t ride!" Like, dude, I'm on a tour bus or a van all the time, and I live in a city with great public transport; I have no reason to do it. Just give me a bit of time, and when the stars align - I think you guys have just ripped off that band-aid. Now we're both kind of sitting & plotting, like ‘hmmm, can I afford that bike?’

M: Very tempting…

Is there anything else you want to promote while we’re here?

M: You’ve actually caught us on a quiet time. This time last year we were on tour for  nine months of the year pretty much, and after this tour with Poppy we're taking it easy for a little bit. Hopefully go into the studio and start writing the next album.

S: Yeah, there's a bunch of bits - what about Download festival?

M: Yeah, we’re playing Download Festival, Saturday, mainstage

S: We’re doing some shows in Europe with Billy Talent but they’re all sold out. We’ve got a massive European thing coming up

M: We’re doing Bearded Theory

S: I think there will be a European headline show because we haven’t done one of those yet, probably North American headlines. We’re either gonna go huge or intimate in the UK this year. No middle ground, either commit or go like, full-on fucking dive.

M: So if you’d like to see us in a dive bar near you *laughter* Yeah, if you live in a b-town, let us know!

You heard them folks, get those b-town requests in. And after this little taster of the two-wheeled life, who knows, maybe they’ll be riding into a town near you. 

Bike featured: Sabbath 125cc - Matt Black

Photographed by Hope Small (@SmallPhotographs_)