“Often times I’ll write something and I’ll think this has to have been written already,” says guitarist Mike “Gunface” McKenzie, of Massachusetts grindcore act The Red Chord.

“I’ll write something, and then I play it for the guys and I say, ‘Hey, does this sound like somebody else’s riff?’ because it sounds familiar to me, and they’re like, ‘Uh, no…’ and I’ll be like, ‘Are you sure? Then why do I feel like I already know this?’”

Anyone who is familiar with The Red Chord and the albums they’ve released since founded by vocalist Guy Kozowyk in 1999 know that McKenzie is not your typical guitarist. His unique playing style, off-the-chart rhythms and unpredictable arrangements are a huge part of the band’s sound, and he makes it look easy.

For McKenzie, the eccentricity of his guitar riffs is simply second nature.

“I feel like I’m not actually writing anything,” he explains. “I’m remembering or discovering a series of notes and rhythms that already exist, and I’m just bringing it into the world. I look at it like I didn’t write any of this stuff, I just realized that it exists in the universe.

He laughs, “That sounds a little crazy, but that’s kind of how I look at it these days because I feel every possible – now I’m getting real crazy – I feel like every possible progression, rhythmic and melodic, exist somewhere in the universe in the infinite universe. I’m just finding them and playing them for people.”

As a group, the band doesn’t have a set way of writing, according to McKenzie, although he has been the primary songwriter for the last two albums, including the most recent, Fed Through the Teeth Machine [Metal Blade, 2009], which was just released Oct. 27.

Not to say there’s a set way in how the songs come together. Bassist Greg Weeks also writes, and some things are jammed out by all four musicians

“There isn’t really a set way. Sometimes I go into things thinking that I want a song to sound a certain way, and sometimes it just happens naturally.”

And as interesting as his riffs get, the rest of the band doesn’t seem to mind.

“When we had a second guitar player, sometimes there’d be riffs that would be stylistically different for us, for the two guitar players, and that could be difficult, but generally we’re all pretty much on the same page. I mean, I’ll show them a demo and they’ll be really excited about it, but you know I don’t know… I think we think alike a lot on this stuff. I don’t think anybody has ever been like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe that!’ They’re usually just like, ‘Wow, I really like this.’”

The quartet recently wrapped up an 11-week tour with GWAR and Job For A Cowboy, introducing their latest album to new and old fans alike, and gaining new listeners along the way.

What was touring with the legendary GWAR like?

The GWAR dudes are really awesome. Everybody in the band is amazing; their crew is amazing. We toured with them a couple of times, in 2005 and 2006, and they’re some of the funnest guys to be on the road with. They’re really down-to-earth and nice guys, especially for a band that’s been doing it for 25 years, and they always make us feel really welcome on shows with them so it has been great. Plus, they’re GWAR.

You must have seen some crazy things touring with those guys.

Oh yeah. The backstage at GWAR shows is really amusing because there’s costumes and body parts and tanks of blood and dudes running around in thongs. It’s pretty ridiculous.

Sometimes more than you need to see, from the sounds of it.

Yeah, definitely. Naked dudes running around getting ready, putting on alien costumes… I guess it’s not the kind of thing you’d normally see, but it has become kind of normal for us.

You ever don on some latex yourself and get on stage?

Actually, in 2006, the last day of the Sounds of the Underground tour, Municipal Waste and us, we all ran on stage – it was shortly before Christmas – and they did a “Jingle Bell” version of one of their songs and we all ran on stage in our underwear and got sprayed by one of the blood cannons. We all got sprayed and lots of people got pantsed on stage. It was a good last day. Also, on my birthday in 2006, we were on the road with GWAR and a couple of guys came on stage and killed me at the end of our set. It was a pretty big honour to be killed by GWAR.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever seen going on in the pit from the stage?

There was a naked guy a while back who jumped on stage while we were playing. A couple of months ago there was a guy in a green suit just all green with a green mask. That was a little weird, but other other than that… It’s hard to remember. There’s been a lot of years of silly behaviour, so somewhere along the line there was probably some guy in a cow suit that I’m just not remembering. Usually people wearing weird costumes. That’s the most common bizarre pit thing. Or naked people.

Maybe it’s a climate thing, but we don’t seem to have a lot of naked or costume people up here at metal shows.

Well, you guys are missing out. Although… somebody from the pit grabbed a very delicate area of multiple members of my band in Regina, Sask. She had been grabbing at the crotches of the members of the band all night. I didn’t realize this and I walked up to the centre of the stage. Now, I don’t usually walk up to the centre of the stage to play a guitar solo, but I decided to do it this time. I was like, “I’m going to play this solo over there,” and I walk over and suddenly it was like the second mouth of the alien in “Aliens.” You know how they have that inner mouth that comes flying out and stabs people? It was like that. Her hand came flying out. It was painful. I fell backwards. And I screwed up the whole solo part and then kind of ran away. It was very unpleasant.

You can check out photos of The Red Chord in action in Alberta – alien free, except for, you know, GWAR – by visiting the January 2010 Pit Stop!