Mastodon's Troy Sanders Talks Supergroup Side Project Gone Is Gone: Interview

When we were introduced to Gone Is Gone back in April, our jaws dropped. The don't-call-it-a-supergroup features Mastodon co-frontman/bassist Troy Sanders backed by Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, drummer Tony Hajjar of the recently reunited At the Drive-In and accomplished multi-instrumentalist and film composer Mike Zarin. Ahead of Gone Is Gone's July 8 self-titled EP, Sanders spoke with Fuse about adding another project to his plate, being the sole frontman of a band for the first time, and that bonkers Mastodon video "Asleep in the Deep," a.k.a. the Lord of the Rings of kitty acid trips.

Fuse: I read that you guys started working together in 2012. Was it really that long ago?
Troy Sanders: That is true. Our synth player, Mike Zarin, he composes music for film. He started collaborating with our drummer, Tony Hajjar, as Tony was on some downtime from At the Drive-In, they were not a band at the time. So the two of them were composing movie trailer music. Unintentionally it led to the idea of adding another multi-instrumentalist, and guitars included. They reached out to their friend Troy Van Leeuwen, who is extremely talented. That opened their soundscapes further than expected. Apparently over time my name came up several times, and when Troy Van Leeuwen called me one afternoon to see if I'd be interested in a project he was involved in, that was calling for vocals, I jumped at the opportunity immediately to fly to Los Angeles and lend my voice to some of their preexisting music. They thought that I was the guy—we befriended one another, first and foremost, that's the most important thing—and they felt my voice was what the music called for. From that moment, over time, we just made it work. We felt that if you're gonna make something like this work, the dedication has to surpass everything.