A little while ago, I posted an article that asked the musical question, “Where the Fuck Is Christian Mistress?” Well, thanks to my big mouth, that question was heard and someone pointed me in the direction of guitarist/co-songwriter Oscar Sparbel. I reached out to Oscar via Facebook and he replied pretty fast and expressed interest in talking to me.
I called Oscar at his home in Washington and was happy to hear first and foremost that Christian Mistress was still alive! THEY’RE ALIVE!!!! When I asked Oscar just where the hell Christian Mistress has been, he said, “We’ve been on hiatus for a while and we’re going to start moving forward again really soon. We just had a conflict of interest as some band members wanted to go into a different direction. In the band, as far as touring, some of us more gung-ho about where we wanted to be with the band and I think that it just impeded on a couple of the member’s personal lives. That was hard on them but we’re sorting that stuff out right now.”
“Sorting stuff out” sounded like an impending lineup change which made me a bit nervous. There is so much chemistry in that line up so I asked Oscar to elaborate a bit more on the “sorting stuff out” comment and he had this to say: “There’s going to be a small lineup change which blows because I’m friends with everybody in the band. They’re totally still my best friends but people have to live lives for themselves which is understandable. We’ve figured that stuff out and we’re probably going to start playing out again and being a band pretty soon.”
Lead singer Christine Davis is such a powerful and distinct vocalist so with the talk of this lineup change I just had to ask Oscar if Christine was still going to be a part of Christian Mistress. “Oh yeah totally. Me and Christine work really well together. I do a lot of the instrumentation and she does a lot of the lyrics so we’re definitely a songwriting team. It’s just us doing what we’re doing and people seem to like it and we love it.”
Hearing first hand from Oscar that Christian Mistress was going to be moving forward as a band was very exciting news for this diehard fan. There’s nothing worse than a band you love breaking up and disappearing without a trace. I feel confident after my conversation with Oscar that we haven’t seen the last of Christian Mistress. “I feel like we’re going to have tour for Possession some more. We told Relapse that we were going on hiatus for a little bit and we were totally clear about communicating that with them. They’ve been a really good label to us and have been really supportive. In the near future we’re going to start touring and maybe even within the year make a new record. That’s kind of our agenda right now so it’s all about the future here.”
I have been running this blog since 2009. AKA as the Great Southern Brainfart, Southeast of Heaven is my baby now and forever. I’ve had my ups and downs with bands over the years but they are all great experiences and memories. My Swedish friend Charlie said once, “Don is known for being one of the meanest bastards in American rock journalism.” It’s nice to be loved.
I also once took a shit in Anthrax’s dressing room toilet and didn’t flush.
A little while ago, I posted an article that asked the musical question, “Where the Fuck Is Christian Mistress?” Well, thanks to my big mouth, that question was heard and someone pointed me in the direction of guitarist/co-songwriter Oscar Sparbel. I reached out to Oscar via Facebook and he replied pretty fast and expressed interest in talking to me.