Radical Mammal set to spread its message

Alex de Vos
After apologising for being an hour late for his interview with the Independent, Mammal frontman Ezekiel Ox launches into a brief description of the band’s latest project, a unique live album and DVD.
But it doesn’t take long for the intense, radical, left-wing musician to start pushing his personal political opinions.
Within a minute, Ox has laid on the table his stance on a range of government policies.
“We’re a very vocal band, willing to stand up for what’s right,” the former Geelong resident explains.
“I’m a member of Musicians Against Police Violence, which organises fundraising gigs for different causes. I’ve marched on the streets with the Indian students and I’ll be marching again this Saturday for the Northern Territory.
“I rally for peace, for famine – I try to get out there amongst it.”
Then he stops, pauses and apologises again.
“I often leave people breathless with my political opinions,” he admits.
In between picketing, protesting and fundraising, the Melbourne rock band has spent the year performing at sold-out festivals across the nation.
“We love live performances – it’s our job, it’s what we do for a living and we’re lucky because it’s a really fun job,” Ox says.
“Hopefully we’re winning some new fans and, from what we’ve seen, more and more people are starting to get tuned into Mammal.”
Mammal appeared on Melbourne’s music scene in 2006 but shot to fame following the release of its rock ballad, Smash the Pinata, in 2008.
The single appears on the bands debut studio album, The Majority.
Ox says the band has been working since the release on a new live album and a DVD featuring featuringd “fly-on-the-wall footage, different haircuts and different audiences”.
“It’s for all our underage fans who couldn’t come to see us live,” he explains.
“The live album sounds fantastic and the DVD is looking really good.”
Mamal plans to take its “intense and explosive” live show to the UK after the dual release in September.
“We’ve already got some support over there and are feeling confident taking our live show over,” Ox says.
“Some of our clips on Youtube have been seen by people in the UK and the response has been absolutely massive.
Mammal plays at Geelong’s National Hotel on July 18.