PUBLISHED ONJanuary 08, 2021 10:00 AMByTrini Ng
UnXpected is an original AsiaOne series where we speak to people with unconventional interests to find out what keeps them going despite the sometimes negative perceptions of others
Don't let the name and genre of music fool you, metal band Mucus Mortuary is not satanic, and the members don't do drugs nor are they always drunk. These are just common assumptions that people make of them.
The band is made up of five people – Jaarvis Ali, Vinod Dass, Lyon Chua, Aldrich Jai Kishen and Kamaldev Puri – who all love playing music that is "slightly heavier than normal". "Ultimately, the agenda of the band is to just have fun," lead vocalist Jaarvis quipped.
The band was formed by 29-year-old Jaarvis and guitarist Vinod, 28, on Oct 30, 2015, after a chalet party at a country club.
And if you're wondering how the name came about, it was partly due to a previous band member who suddenly sneezed. The duo shared: "Then (we were like) eh mucus! Then we thought, what's the most metal name that we could come up with? Mortuary."
When it comes to the metal music that they love, the band shares that many people think it promotes violence and involves a lot of screaming – only the latter is true though.
"People disregard and ostracise subcultures because they don't understand," drummer Jai, 26, said. "I grew up a very angry kid, and so listening to metal music allows you to realise that there are people out there in other parts of the world that are going through the same things."
Contrary to popular belief, the metal community is close-knit and are like one big family.
"I think people need to stop thinking that metal music is like a religion, it's actually not. Just because a band is anti-Christian or a Satanist band, it doesn't mean that the people who support them follow their ways [and are satanic]," 30-year-old guitarist Lyon emphasised.
Watch the video to find out why Mucus Mortuary chooses to play metal music and how the members tackle misconceptions people have of their passion.