Onioner's Interviews Thread

[Onioner]

Hey all, as some of you know I've been writing for Metal Assault for ten months or so now, and I've just started doing some interviews. Ever since Andrew Metalhead left for India, I've been doing the majority of concert reviews for Metal Assault, but now I'm finally giving interviews a shot. I'm starting out small with this first one, a local thrash band from Santa Rosa called Hatchet, but I'll be doing some bigger bands in the coming months. Check it out! If you like it, cool, if not, I'd love to know how I'd be able to improve the interview. That also goes for when and if I put up audio and video interviews in this thread.

This interview was tough because Hatchet have released only one album so far, and they've mainly been performing as an opening act for local concerts, so coming up with questions about the band and their material was a bit tricky. All four members also wanted to be a part of the interview, so that also made it tough to keep everyone involved. They're all really smart and pragmatic guys, and it doesn't really come out in the transcribed interview, but they're also a ton of fun to hang out with. Enjoy, and I look forward to your feedback guys! :)

http://metalassault.com/Interviews/2012/07/15/in-depth-interview-with-hatchet/

P.S., if this should go in another section of the site, the mods are free to move the thread.

[MPF]

Will be checking this out soon! Glad to finally see a thread from you on this!

[Onioner]

Here's an interview I did with a death/thrash band from San Jose, Speed. Now you can all hear my awkward fucking voice haha.

http://metalassault.com/Interviews/2012/08/22/speed-discuss-origins-influences-and-future-plans-audio/

I know I said this is in the other post, but I should be doing some pretty cool interviews in the fall, so hopefully those end up happening! I should also be interviewing Vektor when they drop by SF in a couple weeks.

[Spiner202]

Great interview with Hatchet. I've only had the chance to do one interview, so I know how hard coming up with questions is, but you did an awesome job. It's interesting to hear about the thrash resurgence because it seems like it was relatively short lived. I remember back in 2009 and 2010, thrash albums were coming out left and right, but now that seems to have slowed a little bit.

Hatchet are a great band, but much like Invection, they're another California thrash band that seems to have lost a bit of momentum in the last couple of years. I'm still interested in hearing something new from them though.

[Onioner]

Great interview with Hatchet. I've only had the chance to do one interview, so I know how hard coming up with questions is, but you did an awesome job. It's interesting to hear about the thrash resurgence because it seems like it was relatively short lived. I remember back in 2009 and 2010, thrash albums were coming out left and right, but now that seems to have slowed a little bit.

Hatchet are a great band, but much like Invection, they're another California thrash band that seems to have lost a bit of momentum in the last couple of years. I'm still interested in hearing something new from them though.

Thank you for the compliment! You're right, the thrash resurgence really was a pretty short thing. I remember in high school, shows with really killer bills used to happen every weekend and now the shows that do happen are all over the place in terms of the music represented and have crappy turnouts.

Hatchet really are a damn good band, and they're always a treat to see live. It really is sad though that the peak of success that a thrash band can reach these days is the level of Warbringer or Municipal Waste, and from what I know those guys barely pay their bills. Hopefully now that Orchid signed with Nuclear Blast more labels will be looking for Bay Area bands to sign. There are some amazingly talented acts here, but I feel like no label wants to even check them out.

Speaking of local shows with weird bills and bad turnouts, here's my review of the show that Speed played on.
http://metalassault.com/gig_reviews/2012/08/12/bay-area-youth-show-their-skills-in-walnut-creek-bay-area-reviewer-scarred-for-life/

[Spiner202]

Thank you for the compliment! You're right, the thrash resurgence really was a pretty short thing. I remember in high school, shows with really killer bills used to happen every weekend and now the shows that do happen are all over the place in terms of the music represented and have crappy turnouts.

I'm pretty jealous that you were right in the heart of it. In Toronto we pretty much only have Fatality (who are awesome, but not enough for tons of thrash shows).

Hatchet really are a damn good band, and they're always a treat to see live. It really is sad though that the peak of success that a thrash band can reach these days is the level of Warbringer or Municipal Waste, and from what I know those guys barely pay their bills. Hopefully now that Orchid signed with Nuclear Blast more labels will be looking for Bay Area bands to sign. There are some amazingly talented acts here, but I feel like no label wants to even check them out.

I think the problem is that thrash just can't be as big as it used to be with death metal around. The people that love thrash really love it, but it seems like most metal fans only like some of the old stuff, and even then, most of them don't dig too deep in thrash. I guess it makes sense; there's more extreme stuff in death and black metal, and more melodic stuff in power metal. Personally though, I don't see any genre being more intense or better than thrash. It's just unfortunate that none of those bands can make any money at this point.

[Onioner]

Here's my interview with Fog of War. These guys are probably one of the most badass live thrash bands around, I was really happy to interview them after pretty much worshipping them in high school.

http://metalassault.com/Interviews/2012/08/29/in-depth-interview-with-fog-of-war/

In the next few days I should have my interview with Impaled uploaded. I had to do a lot of editing for clarity and all, so I'm just waiting on the okay from Ross Sewage before it goes up.

[brutal_descent]

In the next few days I should have my interview with Impaled uploaded. I had to do a lot of editing for clarity and all, so I'm just waiting on the okay from Ross Sewage before it goes up.

:fist: Looking forward to it!

[Onioner]

Alright, I know I said these were going to be up a while ago, but they're here now so deal with it!

Hopefully you guys will like this one- the Cormorant guys were a real joy to talk to. They're all very intelligent and nice guys who are really united in their vision and their goals for the band. There isn't a single member of the band who puts in a lesser amount of love and effort into the whole thing, and I think this interview really shows that.

http://metalassault.com/Interviews/2012/09/06/cormorant-talk-in-detail-about-dwellings-recording-process-artwork-future-plans/

This interview with Impaled was easily one of the funniest conversations I've ever had with anyone- Ross Sewage had a silly response prepared for literally any statement or question I could ask. Hopefully some lingering questions that a few of you guys have about the band have been answered by this interview, but more than that I hope that you all laugh a little when reading it- I was seriously fighting the urge to crack up so many times throughout the talk itself.

http://metalassault.com/Interviews/2012/09/06/a-light-hearted-conversation-with-impaled/

This band, Hemotoxin, are a really small death/thrash band out of the East Bay. Two days before Slaughter By The Water I got a call at like 11 PM from this band's guitarist asking for an interview. Instead of looking these guys up and making a decision like I should have, I impulsively said sure. That was honestly a mistake in retrospect- the band is way too young, and the kid I interviewed hasn't really expanded his thinking and planning to that larger scale yet. He's practical though, and I think he'll really learn a lot about being in a legit band and dealing with all the aspects of social media, recording and live performance very soon if he keeps up his go-getter attitude.

http://metalassault.com/Interviews/2012/09/06/hemotoxins-michael-chavez-discusses-beginnings-slaughter-by-the-water-future-goals/

Last up is one that I think you all will like at least a little bit, VEKTOR! This is an audio interview, so once again you all get to hear my glorious (by which I mean extremely awkward) voice. Some details about the next album are unveiled, and David talks a lot about where he gets inspiration for the sci-fi themes on the albums.

http://metalassault.com/Interviews/2012/09/06/vektor-frontman-discusses-current-tour-sci-fi-themes-next-album-audio/

I hope you all enjoy these, and feedback is more than welcome. I'm still super new to this, so any criticism you all have for me will help.

[treghet]

I loved the Impaled interview! Very funny and you also asked every question I was wondering about. :cool:

[Onioner]

I loved the Impaled interview! Very funny and you also asked every question I was wondering about. :cool:

But were those questions actually answered is the real question hahaha. I'm happy you liked them dude! :D

[brutal_descent]

I'm going to read the Impaled, Vektor, and Cormorant interviews in the next hour.

[treghet]

But were those questions actually answered is the real question hahaha. I'm happy you liked them dude! :D

For the most part, yes. They didn't give a definitive answer about playing Southern California, but the fact that they said they're thinking of doing shows outside the Bay Area gives me hope. Your questions also shed a lot of light on the status of the re-recording of The Dead Shall Dead Remain, which seemed to fall off the face of the planet after being announced.

Of course, the Vektor interview was great too. I didn't really have any burning questions about them, but David gives some really elaborate answers. And props to mentioning Release from Agony. It is my all-time favorite thrash album. :D

[Onioner]

And props to mentioning Release from Agony. It is my all-time favorite thrash album. :D

Fuck yeah dude! That record is one the most dark and evil thrash albums ever released, I think it's insanely underrated. Sodom kinda had the the straightforward brutality, and Kreator were kinda giving up their German-ness for a more American sound but Destruction just had this really creepy yet progressive thing going that was just awesome. The dual solo in Release from Agony has to be one of the most creepy and unnerving guitar solos I've ever heard.

[treghet]

Yesss, I love that solo! I wish they would play more songs from it live, but I'm happy I at least got to hear the title track.

[Onioner]

Yesss, I love that solo! I wish they would play more songs from it live, but I'm happy I at least got to hear the title track.

Ah, that was on the 2011 tour right? I fell really sick when they came around that time, and I got screwed by the Whisky and/or Destruction's management for the last tour. Considering how horribly this past tour went for the band, I don't think Destruction will be returning to the States any time soon, meaning I'm probably not going to see them for a long time. :(

[treghet]

Ah, that sucks man. :( Yeah, I have a feeling they won't be back for a while. They said they're not coming back at all, but Schmier is probably just overreacting. I'd be pissed too after what happened though.

Also, check out this set (http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/destruction/2007/galaxy-theatre-santa-ana-ca-33d63031.html) from their 2007 tour. :drool: I wish I was there, but at that time I hadn't even heard of them.

[Onioner]

Alright, here's an interview I did with Hell Fire, a classic/traditional metal band from San Francisco. These guys are probably my favorite young group coming out of the bay right now, every member is just awesome at what they do and they're all the sweetest guys you could ever meet. Their bassist is also Cliff Burton's Mexican doppelganger haha. Gary Holt is almost always at their shows and is pretty close with Tony, Hell Fire's guitarist. Aesop Dekker also recently plugged the band in his blog, Mark Osegueda wore a Hell Fire shirt in Sacramento and is having the band open for Death Angel in Oakland next month. I really think these dudes are gonna be successful in the coming years. Check out some of their live videos on YouTube (like the one embedded in the interview), their EP on Facebook doesn't do them justice one bit. Even those videos aren't a perfect indicator of their awesomeness since they just had a ridiculous new guitarist join the band.

http://metalassault.com/Interviews/2012/09/17/hell-fire-discuss-debut-album-new-lineup-bay-area-audiences/

[MPF]

I don't say it enough, awesome stuff man. i will definitely be checking this one out when I wake up later today.

[Onioner]

I don't say it enough, awesome stuff man. i will definitely be checking this one out when I wake up later today.

Says the guy who's set to interview Lamb of God when they do their headlining tour! But seriously though, thanks so much dude. I can't wait to see the stuff you've got up your sleeve with all the fall tours coming up, I think we're both gonna be super busy in the next two months haha.

This is my last interview with a smaller band from the bay for a good while now that I'm returning to LA next week. We have so many good bands up here that I feel like not nearly enough people know about. There isn't really a national metal press outlet in the bay, so I'm happy I at least got to give these bands some notice on a larger scale though I'm sure a lot of people got sick of these interviews haha.

[Onioner]

I'm on my phone so I can't make the usual full post, but if you go to Kreator's facebook page my interview with Sami should be at the top. I'll post a link and whatnot tomorrow, but in the mean time enjoy!

Edit: looks like it made blabbermouth. Neat! Again, I'll post the links n things tomorrow.

[Onioner]

Okay, here's my interview with Sami from Kreator. Dude was so nice to me and my friend despite us both being so young, and had a really humble yet informative response for all of my questions. Mille Petrozza does literally every Kreator interview, so I prepared two pages of really good questions to ask him. We get to the tour bus and the tour manager tells me that I'm interviewing Sami. Kreator are my favorite thrash band ever (and Sami is my favorite thrash guitarist), so it was easy for me to come up with the questions (everything I said was completely improvised, not a word was prepared in advance), but I was still freaking out all the way up until the interview. Afterwards my friend couldn't open the door out of the bus, so Ventor helped us. I geeked out and introduced myself to him, said his drumming was awesome then scurried out. I don't normally get all fanboy-ish, but meeting a musician that's genuinely inspired me always makes me like that haha. Anyway, enjoy! It's a video interview so now you all get to see my ugly mug in addition to hearing my weird fucking voice. As always, criticism is welcome and appreciated.

http://metalassault.com/Interviews/2012/09/29/kreator-guitarist-discusses-making-of-new-album-fan-loyalty-lineup-video/

[MPF]

Congrats man! You guys deserve the coverage on Blabbermouth (Despite the people who comment there). Its a great interview as well.

[Onioner]

Congrats man! You guys deserve the coverage on Blabbermouth (Despite the people who comment there). Its a great interview as well.

Thank you dude! I was hoping to get some mean comments on blabbermouth, but I had no such luck haha.

[MPF]

Thank you dude! I was hoping to get some mean comments on blabbermouth, but I had no such luck haha.

No problem man.

Every time I get one up on Blabbermouth (11 times now) I always secretly hope for that, saying something like I suck or something. The only bad ones I have gotten so far was the quality of the video in my Devin Townsend interview, from just a couple people. Other then that its usually people posting their opinions about the band and probably never even checking out the interviews. :lol:

[Onioner]

And the whoring resumes! This is an interview with Henry Montoya from Witchaven. At the Ghoul show last Friday I got to chat with Henry for the first time in a while (him, me and Lerby had one of those extremely deep and thoughtful 4 AM conversations at a friend's place over the summer haha). I mentioned that it would be cool to do an interview sometime soon, and Henry said "fuck it, we can do it right now!" So we went to a backstage area and did the completely improvised interview. The audio is hilarious, my friend is laughing the entire time and Ross Sewage makes an appearance! It was a little too casual though, so a transcription with some edits was necessary. Henry was pretty drunk, but he was really well spoken and gave some really well thought out answers to my questions. I think Witchaven fans will have a lot to like with this one!

http://metalassault.com/Interviews/2012/10/16/in-depth-interview-with-witchaven-frontman-henry-montoya/

Next one up is Death Angel on Friday, I'm really excited for that one. It's always great to hang with bay area musicians for a little bit, after living there for a few years, hanging at shows and working at Trakworx Studio I've ended up with mutual friends and acquaintances with a lot of the old thrash dudes and the John Cobbett gang haha.

[Onioner]

I didn't realize how bored I would be during breaks between classes without this site, glad to see it back!

Here's my interview with Ted Aguilar from Death Angel. Ted was so amazingly nice and chill to me and my friend who filmed the interview. We also live relatively close to each other back home, so it was cool to talk about the bay for a little. I also told him about how I met Andrew Metalhead at a DA show in SF- Andrew's done three interviews with Ted and the two are buds. I kind of derped a couple of times during the interview, most noticeably in the very first question, but otherwise I think the interview turned out well! Mark Osegueda was also really happy to see my Hell Fire shirt, and I talked to Will Carroll for a bit about Hammers of Misfortune (dude's their new permanent drummer, Chewy Marzolo's out again). Anyway, enjoy and criticism is welcome as always.

http://metalassault.com/Interviews/2012/10/21/death-angel-guitarist-talks-about-the-ultra-violence-us-tour-video/

This ended up on blabbermouth as well, but it showed up at like 2 AM on a Sunday morning so I don't think a lot of people saw it haha.

[Onioner]

Here's my interview with Marc "Mad Dog Duce" Deleon from the Mentors. This was probably the most over the top and ridiculous conversation I've ever had with a musician. Dude just kept going on, I wouldn't even have to ask a question- I could just say a short phrase and he would talk for minutes as a response! If you guys don't know the Mentors already, they're basically the most awesome band in the world. They wear black hoods onstage, their drummer sings and their songs are the most vulgar and offensive I have ever heard.

http://metalassault.com/Interviews/2012/11/06/in-depth-interview-with-the-mentors-drummervocalist-mad-dog-duce/

My next interview is with Craig Locicero from Forbidden. He's playing wih his side project SpiralArms, so it'll be an interesting chat to be sure.

[Onioner]

Here's my interview with Craig Locicero from Forbidden. Craig was a very laidback and cool dude to talk to, and talking about home with him before and after the interview was really fun. He also made sure that my friend who filmed the interview had her ticket taken care of, which was super nice of him to do. The band he played with on this night, SpiralArms, is fricken awesome. They're heavy blues rock with B3 organ like Beale Street/Robot Hive-era Clutch, and they are just an incredible live band. Anyway, enjoy!

http://metalassault.com/Interviews/2012/11/10/craig-locicero-discusses-spiralarms-video/

Edit: Looks this one made blabbermouth too, sweet!

[energymetal14]

Here's my interview with Marc "Mad Dog Duce" Deleon from the Mentors. This was probably the most over the top and ridiculous conversation I've ever had with a musician. Dude just kept going on, I wouldn't even have to ask a question- I could just say a short phrase and he would talk for minutes as a response! If you guys don't know the Mentors already, they're basically the most awesome band in the world. They wear black hoods onstage, their drummer sings and their songs are the most vulgar and offensive I have ever heard.

http://metalassault.com/Interviews/2012/11/06/in-depth-interview-with-the-mentors-drummervocalist-mad-dog-duce/

My next interview is with Craig Locicero from Forbidden. He's playing wih his side project SpiralArms, so it'll be an interesting chat to be sure.

This is insane! That part about the Browntooth Grin was so fucked up :lol:

[Onioner]

So I got a couple more interviews for you all, here's my chat with Barney from Napalm Death. I had no idea dude was so soft-spoken and chill, especially since he is such a screwball onstage. He was also super polite to me and my friend, constantly thanking us for the interview before and after. I kinda derped a little when I needed to look at my questions, but other than that I think it was a good talk!

http://metalassault.com/Interviews/2012/11/17/napalm-deaths-mark-barney-greenway-talks-touring-utilitarian-more-video/

I should have my Exhumed interview up sometime later tonight.

[Onioner]

And here is my talk with Matt Harvey from Exhumed. Matt actually grew up super close to where I went to high school around San Jose, so hearing him talk about how that area once had a little goregrind scene was super cool. It was a total mindfuck hearing how some of these quaint suburban towns with nothing but Asian Supermarkets and houses used to have tiny shows. He was also just a super laidback and chill guy, his burp in the middle of the video was epic as hell. People kept walking through the shot, including Chris Kontos from Attitude Adjustment who was at least fun about it by pretending to ninja his way through. Everyone else who walked through didn't even pretend to care or be sorry. Still a really fun interview though, and I'm beyond psyched for the next Exhumed record.

http://metalassault.com/Interviews/2012/11/17/in-depth-interview-with-exhumed-mainman-matt-harvey-video/

[MPF]

Once again, great interviews. Both Barney and Matt Harvey were awesome to me during their interviews with them this year. I'm glad to see the same in yours!

[Onioner]

Once again, great interviews. Both Barney and Matt Harvey were awesome to me during their interviews with them this year. I'm glad to see the same in yours!

Thank you dude! I actually used your Barney interview as a reference so he wouldn't have to answer the same questions again so thanks for the help haha.

[MPF]

Thank you dude! I actually used your Barney interview as a reference so he wouldn't have to answer the same questions again so thanks for the help hana.

Glad I could be of service! :lol:

[Onioner]

This Queensryche interview already made the rounds on facebook and blabbermouth, but I guess I can post it here for posterity's sake. The guys were all really chill and funny, Scott, Parker and I all talked Call of Duty before the interview began haha. We only got like 10 minutes to talk when I thought we had 15, so that's why the interview ends so abruptly. I had a ton of questions prepared and I only got to ask about 5 or 6 of them. Our camera's memory card also totally died in the middle of the interview so we lost all the footage. Still a cool chat though, I'm so psyched for when I can do part 2 of this interview!

http://metalassault.com/Interviews/2012/11/26/in-depth-interview-with-queensryche/

[Onioner]

Alright, here's my interview with Reed Mullin from Corrosion of Conformity. I was actually scheduled to talk to Mike Dean, but he was held up at the hotel when we were supposed to have our interview. Reed was very fun to talk to though, he was just really engaged and cheery throughout our chat. My voice probably sounds weird because I was freezing my ass off in the venue, Reed was fine because he had a big coat haha. Dunno if any new info came out of this interview, but I think it's a neat talk regardless. Anyway, enjoy! This is probably my last interview for a good while, but hopefully once the tail end of winter rolls around I'll have some cool stuff.

http://metalassault.com/Interviews/2012/12/20/corrosion-of-conformitys-reed-mullin-talks-about-new-releases/#more-1572

[Onioner]

Okay guys, here's an interview I did with Away from Voivod. It was a phone interview- I accidentally knocked off my voice recorder from my desk when we started talking and I had to ask him to wait while I searched for the recorder. It was extremely embarrassing haha. Our talk was really fun though, for the first time in an interview I actually geeked out pretty hard. Normally I don't because a lot of musicians that I interview tend to be friends of friends and other folks I know, or I just happen to not be a hardcore superfan of the bigger bands I've interviewed like Queensryche and Napalm Death. Voivod are one of my favorite bands, so getting to talk with Away was just too cool. The evidence of my Voivod nerdiness can be seen in how a chunk of the interview is devoted to The Outer Limits, which I'm convinced is an insanely underrated classic haha. I think there's some new info in this talk, so at least I'm happy with that. Anyway, enjoy!

http://metalassault.com/Interviews/2013/01/25/voivod-drummer-talks-about-making-of-new-album-target-earth

[Onioner]

I guess this one's a little old now, but here's my interview with Joseph from Pallbearer. Apparently the dude from Profound Lore forgot to inform him of our interview, but Joseph was still cool about it and we wasted about 15 minutes just looking for a place to do the interview. Very nice guy overall. We only had until Royal Thunder went on before the venue became too loud to talk with each other, so that's why the interview is so short. Otherwise it was a fun chat.

http://metalassault.com/Interviews/2013/02/11/interview-with-pallbearer-bassist-jason-rowland/

That's it for interviews for a good while for me, school's really ramping up from here on out. I should have a couple really cool ones in late March though.

[MPF]

As always, I'm really digging your interviews. i gotta catch up with a few of them, but i like them a lot.

Very understandable that school has gotta come first, but you've been kicking ass since you started, and you'll be back to kicking ass when you get back into it.

[Onioner]

As always, I'm really digging your interviews. i gotta catch up with a few of them, but i like them a lot.

Very understandable that school has gotta come first, but you've been kicking ass since you started, and you'll be back to kicking ass when you get back into it.

Thanks so much dude! Yeah, school's kind of beating me to a pulp these days, but I basically dug my own grave by deciding to major in engineering at a public school in California. I'm hoping to do interviews with Clutch and the Metal Alliance bands, but we'll see how that all goes haha. Andrew Metalhead's coming back to LA pretty soon, so you should be seeing a lot more interviews from him in due time.

[MPF]

Thanks so much dude! Yeah, school's kind of beating me to a pulp these days, but I basically dug my own grave by deciding to major in engineering at a public school in California. I'm hoping to do interviews with Clutch and the Metal Alliance bands, but we'll see how that all goes haha. Andrew Metalhead's coming back to LA pretty soon, so you should be seeing a lot more interviews from him in due time.

He's moving back? That would be fantastic!

But I mean it man, I'm glad to see someone besides me post interviews here, and I'm glad that you do such a great job of it.

[Onioner]

Well I didn't expect to be doing another interview so soon, but the timing was perfect and there was no way I could turn this one down. Yes friends, I got to interview the drummer for the greatest band in the world- Jean-Paul Gaster from Clutch. When I called and asked how long he could chat for and he said "You know I don't really have anything else going on, I can talk for a while!" I got so excited, you fools have no idea. Anyway, JP was a lot of fun to talk to, and I think I was able to reign in my fanboyness at least a little bit.


http://metalassault.com/Interviews/2013/03/07/interview-with-clutch-drummer-jean-paul-gaster/

Also when I received his phone number all I heard was:

I GOT YOUR NUMBER
I STEAL YOUR THUNDER
I GOT YOUR MOTHER'S MAIDEN NAME TATTOOED ON MY ARM

[300%_Density]

Well I didn't expect to be doing another interview so soon, but the timing was perfect and there was no way I could turn this one down. Yes friends, I got to interview the drummer for the greatest band in the world- Jean-Paul Gaster from Clutch. When I called and asked how long he could chat for and he said "You know I don't really have anything else going on, I can talk for a while!" I got so excited, you fools have no idea. Anyway, JP was a lot of fun to talk to, and I think I was able to reign in my fanboyness at least a little bit.


http://metalassault.com/Interviews/2013/03/07/interview-with-clutch-drummer-jean-paul-gaster/

Also when I received his phone number all I heard was:

I GOT YOUR NUMBER
I STEAL YOUR THUNDER
I GOT YOUR MOTHER'S MAIDEN NAME TATTOOED ON MY ARM

I loved this interview. Great great information on there. I was quite excited when JP was talking about "maybe" doing that Evening With Clutch shows again. I kick my own ass for not knowing Clutch back in '04 when they did a show an hour away from me. Still got the bootleg but just not the same. :bouville:

[Onioner]

I loved this interview. Great great information on there. I was quite excited when JP was talking about "maybe" doing that Evening With Clutch shows again. I kick my own ass for not knowing Clutch back in '04 when they did a show an hour away from me. Still got the bootleg but just not the same. :bouville:

Thanks so much! That interview is what happens when you give a rabid Clutch fan basically unlimited access to pick JP's brain haha. I was probably 11 or 12 when they did the Evening With shows. Those were back in my Jpop days... :eyes:

And I dunno who stickied this, but thanks for the love guys! I honestly don't know how often I'll be doing more interviews, but I'll do my best for the coming months.

[300%_Density]

Thanks so much! That interview is what happens when you give a rabid Clutch fan basically unlimited access to pick JP's brain haha. I was probably 11 or 12 when they did the Evening With shows. Those were back in my Jpop days... :eyes:

And I dunno who stickied this, but thanks for the love guys! I honestly don't know how often I'll be doing more interviews, but I'll do my best for the coming months.

JP always struck me as the most personable out of everybody based on seeing the Live At the 9:30 Club where he went on some 15 minute diatribe talking about drums (pretty sure I got a contact high just listening to him). If it weren't for YouTube I don't think I'd believe Tim or Dan have ever actually spoken any words. I was like 20 or 21 for those shows. I just have no excuse. Other than I suck.

[Onioner]

JP always struck me as the most personable out of everybody based on seeing the Live At the 9:30 Club where he went on some 15 minute diatribe talking about drums (pretty sure I got a contact high just listening to him). If it weren't for YouTube I don't think I'd believe Tim or Dan have ever actually spoken any words. I was like 20 or 21 for those shows. I just have no excuse. Other than I suck.

Andrew Metalhead did an interview with Tim at the same time as my JP interview actually. Tim was apparently very quiet and didn't have a whole lot to say, which made it pretty tough on Andrew's end. I don't think I've ever seen a word spoken from Dan, and I would imagine Neil would lay off interviews to save his voice. Andrew did get to interview him a few years back though, so you never know. I would probably derp so hard if I got to talk to Neil. I mean, the guy is basically God.

[300%_Density]

Andrew Metalhead did an interview with Tim at the same time as my JP interview actually. Tim was apparently very quiet and didn't have a whole lot to say, which made it pretty tough on Andrew's end. I don't think I've ever seen a word spoken from Dan, and I would imagine Neil would lay off interviews to save his voice. Andrew did get to interview him a few years back though, so you never know. I would probably derp so hard if I got to talk to Neil. I mean, the guy is basically God.

I'm going strictly off perception, but Neil strikes me as not talking a whole lot. If you lined up guys in bands usually its easy to figure out who the lead singer is, but to me Neil doesn't strike me as a "typical" lead man. Obviously on stage he is one of the best, but off he's not as most frontmen usually are. Of course I could just be totally off as well. Just the impression that I get.

[Onioner]

Alrighty, this is a little late, but here's my interview with Joe and Martyn from Orange Goblin. Both of them were very fun and jolly, and just a delight to chat with. They also kept offering me beer haha. Definitely a super fun talk!

http://metalassault.com/Interviews/2013/03/28/orange-goblin-bassist-guitarist-talk-north-american-tour-new-live-album/

Next up is my interview with Holy Grail that I did earlier tonight.

[Onioner]

And as promised, here is my interview with Eli and Alex from Holy Grail. Both guys were really humble and nice, the total opposite of "rock stars" or whatever. They asked if I could wait a minute so that everyone who wanted photos and stuff signed would be taken care of, so of course I had to oblige them. We then went to a Starbucks across the street and for once I got to have a very calm and laidback in-person interview, definitely a really nice change of pace instead of being rushed in a loud or crowded environment. This was also a really fun interview for me after having followed them since their EP came out in like 09 or whatever.

http://metalassault.com/Interviews/2013/04/02/in-depth-interview-with-holy-grail-guitarists-eli-santana-alex-lee/

Next up is Sami from Ensiferum who I chatted with earlier tonight.

[Onioner]

Alright, here's my interview with Sami from Ensiferum. So I haven't filmed an interview in a long time, so I forgot that I was supposed to record audio along with video (I did however remember to bring my audio recorder). This isn't in this written transcript, but right after the first question I realized I fucked up, brought out the recorder and asked the rest of the questions after apologizing for making such a stupid mistake. Sami then told a small anecdote about how he did a three hour long video interview for a documentary piece and the guy didn't have tape in his camera! He was super nice to me and my friend despite my colossal fuck up, and I think I got an enjoyable interview anyway. The audio turned out awful because of music blasting over our heads and the footage was dark, hence the transcript. It was a pain in the ass to type this one out haha. Well anyway, enjoy!

http://metalassault.com/Interviews/2013/04/06/ensiferum-bassist-sami-hinkka-discusses-paganfest-new-album-more/

[kalfitegrdan]

Great interview as always, man. :fist: Congrats on the sticky too.

[Onioner]

Great interview as always, man. :fist: Congrats on the sticky too.

Thanks dude! I got a real fun one in the morning, Ronny Munroe from Metal Church! I'm pretty stoked, Metal Church are one of my all time favorite bands, and I actually enjoy the new stuff with Ronny a good deal.

[Onioner]

And here is my monstrosity of an interview with Ronny Munroe from Metal Church. They're one of my favorite bands ever, so there was no way I wasn't going to royally grill Ronny with this interview haha. If it had been with Kurdt Vanderhoof the interview would have never ended! Anyway, I think there's some cool info in here for Metal Church fans. Enjoy!

http://metalassault.com/Interviews/2013/04/09/in-depth-interview-with-metal-church-frontman-ronny-munroe/

Well, looks like this one made blabbermouth too. Cool! Not digging all the 'we want Mike Howe' comments though. Dude may have been the best Metal Church singer (and one of the best American metal vocalists ever IMO) but he has no interest in coming back, and Ronny is doing such a good job. Ronny can sing the David Wayne songs way better than Mike Howe ever did as well.

And I got my first mean comment! I made it guys, I finally made it! :lol:

[Onioner]

This is my chat with Jon Leon, Jake Dreyer, Joseph Michael and Will Wallner from White Wizzard. I said this in another thread already but it deserves to be said again- these are some of the all around coolest and most friendly guys I have ever met. I haven't had the misfortune of interviewing a jerk yet, but most of the time my interaction with the artist effectively ends after the interview. Not these guys. After getting to know them and seeing how nice they treated me as not only a fan and a member of the press, but just as a person in general, I know that I really made a few friends after this show. Anyway, I think there's a bit of detailed insight into the lineup changes in this interview, and lots of cool info about the upcoming record. It'll kick your butts guys, I can damn near guarantee it after having been utterly floored by three out of its nine tracks.

http://metalassault.com/Interviews/2013/04/17/in-depth-interview-with-white-wizzard/

[Onioner]

Alright guys, this is might be my last interview for the forseeable future. This was with Eric Dow, the lead singer of an LA pagan metal band, Helsott. They opened up the Paganfest tour this year. The interview was delayed many times over the last month due to his sicknesses, but when we finally got to talk he was in good spirits. Anyway, Helsott was a cool band to see, and Eric seems to really know what he's doing, so I can imagine these guys becoming a regular touring act in no time.

http://metalassault.com/Interviews/2013/05/11/in-depth-interview-with-helsott-frontman-eric-dow/

Anyway, so Andrew Metalhead has returned and is wasting no time in tearing shit up around these parts, so my services aren't too necessary anymore. We both agreed that he deserves to take the vast majority of the interviews and gig writeups for a solid while, so my stuff for Metal Assault will probably be limited to album reviews, a phone interview here and there and providing coverage for the Bay Area metal scenes when I can. Not to mention, school is ramping up to new levels of insanity, and my career as an engineer is slowly beginning, so I'm getting less and less time to do this stuff. I hope you all enjoyed the content, and hopefully I'll be able to do something cool sooner rather than later.