Suicidal Tendencies are 'nothing' in England, says Mike Muir

A picture of Mike Muir
Mike Muir (Image credit: Getty)

Suicidal Tendencies frontman Mike Muir says he regrets that the band haven’t built up a bigger fanbase in England.

The vocalist says the thrash heroes play small venues when they are in England and that they have, for whatever reason, never been able to attract young fans in the UK.

Muir tells Metal Hammer: “Honestly my biggest regret is that we’re nothing in England. There’s a lot of excitement everywhere, except in England as usual. But I think if we never do another English tour then I’ll regret that.

“I know that we haven’t because there isn’t any demand for it, but when people talk they talk very loudly. One of the big differences is that we’re able to play festivals in other countries and attract young people, people that don’t usually come to our shows – that’s our next generation.

“But when we do Download we’re on the smallest stage, and it’s all older people. I’m not going to discriminate about age, but it happens.”

Suicidal Tendencies release their new album World Gone Mad on September 30, with former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo making his recorded debut with the band.

Muir and Lombardo are joined in the lineup by guitarists Dean Pleasants and Jeff Pohan, as well as bassist Ra Diaz. And The singer believes the new lineup could finally be what brings the band a growing audience in England.

They play in London as part of next year’s Persistence Tour with Agnostic Front, Municipal Waste, Walls of Jericho, Down To Nothing, Burn and Mizery.

“I’d love to come back now, with the band we have now,” Muir says. “I’m very confident of where we are right now and I’m comfortable that we’ll do well in whatever the environment is.

“Ultimately what will happen is we’ll do a club tour and it’ll be half-empty. I joke about it, and you’re not supposed to say that. We’re coming back through London on the Persistence Tour, but I’m smart enough to know London isn’t England.”

Suicidal Tendencies are currently on the road with Megadeth.

Suicidal Tendencies tour dates

Sep 22: Las Vegas Joint, NV (with Megadeth)
Sep 27: Seattle WaMu Theater, WA (with Megadeth)
Sep 28: Eugene Matthew Knight Arena, OR (with Megadeth)
Sep 29: San Jose City National Civic, CA (with Megadeth)
Oct 01: Bloomfield 1st Bank Center, CO (with Megadeth)
Oct 03: Council Bluffs Mid American Complex, IA (with Megadeth)
Oct 04: St Pail Roy Wilkins Auditorium, MN (with Megadeth)
Oct 05: Chicago Sears Centre, IL (with Megadeth)
Oct 07: Moline iWireless Centre, IL (with Megadeth)
Oct 08: Milwaukee UWM Panther Arena, WI (with Megadeth)
Oct 09: Detroit Loe Louis Arena, MI (with Megadeth)
Oct 11: Bethlehem Sandes Event Center, PA (with Megadeth)
Oct 12: Worcester DCU Center, MA (with Megadeth)
Oct 13: Uncasville Mohegan Sun Arena, CT (with Megadeth)
Oct 14: Newark Prudential Center, NJ (with Megadeth)
Oct 16: Camden BB&T Pavilion, NJ (with Megadeth)
Jan 18: Berlin Astra Kulturhaus, Germany (with Agnostic Front)
Jan 19: Warsaw Progresja, Poland (with Agnostic Front)
Jan 20: Brno Sono, Czech Republic (with Agnostic Front)
Jan 21: Dresden Eventwerk, Germany (with Agnostic Front)
Jan 22: Torhout De Mast, Belgium (with Agnostic Front)
Jan 23: Hamburg Grose Freiheit, Germany (with Agnostic Front)
Jan 24: Wiesbaden Schlachthof, Germany (with Agnostic Front)
Jan 25: Munich Backstage Werk, Germany (with Agnostic Front)
Jan 26: Milano Live Club, Italy (with Agnostic Front)
Jan 27: Lausanne Les Docks, Switzerland (with Agnostic Front)
Jan 28: Oberhausen Turbinenhalle, Germany (with Agnostic Front)
Jan 29: London O2 Forum, UK (with Agnostic Front)

Suicidal Tendencies stream new track Clap Like Ozzy

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.