Photo ©Slow Corpse
If anyone embodies the energy and soul given off by indie-rock band Slow Corpse, it would be a woodworking handyman and pot loving guitar shredder. The group was created in the finest basements of Ashland, Oregon by Rogue Valley native Mitchell Winters and Seattle homeboy Brenton Clarke. The group not only plays shows for the loyal and supportive community of Ashland, but thanks to streaming services like Spotify and signing with independent record label Tender Loving Empire in 2017, Slow Corpse’s music has since expanded across the nation to major U.S. cities like Portland, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, and New York City.
Despite the woes of the COVID-19 pandemic, Winters and Clarke have managed to create their most ambitious project yet; Bite Your Tongue. The recently released album is 37 minutes long with 14 tracks. The duo has also released three new music videos for their singles “Wasted”, “Okay”, and “In My Head”. All of which are available on their YouTube channel. The videos feature a mix of scenery that could have come from a fever dream. Winters and Clarke dance, hold a chicken, and give an inflatable alien a hard shoulder check to the ground. When planning their music videos, Slow Corpse keeps it fun and easy. “We’ll go on Amazon and try to find a silly little outfit. Then we’ll dance like silly little boys after drinking a box of wine,” said Clarke. Their third video is a trippy animated video done by Surreal Entertainment. Overall, the videos have gained a lot of attention and even attract comments all the way from Russia.
With quarantine in place, Winters and Clarke have found it difficult to connect with their fans. “Not playing shows is tough. We miss touring and we developed a really nice community of people that we really only see playing music. I miss all of those people,” said Clarke. On the plus side, quarantine has allowed Slow Corpse to focus and hunker down on writing music. Clarke acknowledged that he doesn’t really like going outside anyways because they’re “kinda vampirey” according to Winters.
Despite the absence of live shows, Slow Corpse has still managed to grow and connect directly with fans through streaming services and social media. About a week before the release of Slow Corpse’s second studio album, their single “Wasted” made it onto Spotify’s curated “Fresh Finds” playlist which boasts nearly 750,000 followers. “Getting on that playlist has been a pretty big boost,” said Winters, “our main focus right now is social media and getting on these playlists.” The band has a heavy social media presence and fans can stay updated on their music and shenanigans which include Clarke eating a week old hotdog and Winters cosplaying Logan from the X-Men series.
Over the past few years, Slow Corpse has made a real name for themselves and it’s with local support that they are able to maintain their flow of music. Check out their Facebook page for more information! “Bite Your Tongue” is available now on all streaming services.
