Page 24 - ION Indie Magazine_JanFeb 2019

Sheldon Snow: I am speaking with Jj Tyson, Michael Mundy, and Andy Patzer from the band Black Water

Greed out of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I have to start with this, when I think of Lancaster, PA, I think of
Amish country. I really don't think of it as being really a hard rock hotbed. This is the question I have for
you because I got to thinking about this. I saw a documentary on Lancaster once and I know that at a
certain age, the teenagers can go out and find their way in the world and that when they come back, they
come back. Is that's how you guys got started? [laughter]

Black Water Greed (Michael): I can't quite remember, no comment. There may be some of that in our
background. I will say this -- I've played in front of a lot of young Amish people. I’ve done that in the past. I'm
actually in York, Pennsylvania, although I know a little bit about the Lancaster scene, but not that much.
[laughter] You’re going to have to come up and pull the buggies out front though.

SS: I want to thank your Executive Producer, my good friend David Mobley, so much for setting this up.
You guys all came from different backgrounds. I've noticed with bands is that the bass players and the
drummers they always need to be the brunt of all the music jokes. [laughter] I would say that 80 percent
of the contact that I've had with bands have been either drummers or bass players. Is it just because you
guys are so much behind the scenes and this is the only way you can get yourself out there?

BWG (Jj): I think it's more because they form the stability of the band as far as the group in the pocket when
you're playing and that's what they also do when you're not actually playing music. Because you know, I'm
not going to take a shot at the singer here, but sometimes, singers tend to be prima donnas. I'm not saying
we have a problem here. Guitar players tend to be more about themselves. And the drummers always show
up late. (laughter).

SS: I want to talk about you guys individually. Let’s start with you, Andy, because you guys have been in
this business for a while. How long ago did you form Black Water Greed?

BWG (Andy): Well I actually joined Black Water Greed after they had already started the project, but I was
friends with Jj, I have known Jj probably since 1993. I met Jj just playing around. You get to know the
musicians in the circuit. We kind of knew each other and when they started this project, I got invited. I was
very happy to be welcomed into this project. I’m excited to be here!

SS: Well, the question I'm asking is…how long has this project going?

BWG: About 6 years. We have been working on this CD for 6 years. You can call us perfectionists. We’ve been
really busy. We all have lives outside of the music business. We're a bunch of working stiffs that are fueled
by the passion of music, you know.

SS: What was your background before joining Black Water Greed?

BWG (Andy): I have been playing guitar longer than I like to admit. I have just been in a lot of different bands,
a lot of cover bands, couple of regional bands. Some of the bands I've been in before had garnered some
label interest back in the 90s and I really hadn't pursued much of the original scene through the 2000s just
because the music was changing so much, and I wasn't really sure what direction it would go. But I would
stay true to myself as far as my writing and on that stage. I'm actually playing in another local cover band as
well as this project here. That's just something to go out and fill the nights and have some fun.

SS: Michael, what about you?