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WXAV bringing the best podcast to you. What would you say is your favorite part about being in a metal band? I've always loved heavy battles, so it's my favorite type of music. To get to play your favorite type of music, I guess, and still continuously into my late 50s playing that.
I'm very fortunate enough to play metal. Growing up and everything. I'm sure it was a lot different with the scene and everything. How would you say it was growing up?
Well, it was different because everybody did tape trading back in the 80s, mid 80s, early to mid 80s, there was no internet, there was no computers, so nobody could do that. So basically, you had to know people that be a part of something and show up every weekend or every week and see each other. That's how the scene was created by a scene because there was actually a scene of people there. It changed so much since then because the internet has changed and all that, the clubs are not the same.
But I think that that's what made the staple of the foundation for what we built back then and what we still do now. Another thing was how do you feel about labels? Because I know, like, I know that it's just a thrash band and everything. But how do you feel about labeling and music?
I know a lot of musicians feel very differently on this topic, so I'm curious. Sub-chaunters was as where thrash metal, we've always been thrash metal. It's a sub-chaunter of heavy metal. Like, death metal is, like, like, hair metal is, like, industrial metal is.
Anything else has got a sub-chaunter to it. So, I brought a billy and, you know, there's all kinds of different sub-chaunters of rock and roll, so it's just another, I find that we know we are. We're a thrash band. We've always been a thrash band and we'll always be a thrash band.
Right, no, that's cool. That's cool. So I know a lot of people feel really differently about labels. So it's always like to ask, like, hey, like, what's your opinion on it?
You guys have been in the business for quite a while. How would you say that your music has evolved over the years, especially, like, the stuff you're releasing now, compared to stuff you might have been releasing years ago? The musicianship is a million times better. I think the thing is a million times better.
And I think as we're getting older, which doesn't usually go for any other type of genre of music, but metal is our music's getting way more violent and way more brutal. That's used to be. I'm just being honest with you, to me, for son and ungrat is the most brutal yet. Yeah, no, I would have to agree with that.
I'd have to agree from all the stuff I've heard from you guys that it definitely got more intense, if that's a good term for it. Good word for it. Definitely got more intense. So another question kind of in the same ballpark.
How do you think that the music industry has evolved over the years? Devolved or devolved? The evolution of it? Oh, lucky we're very lucky to have a good label like that.
That gets what we do and every gets what every band does on their label. They know how to do it and working with us together because we had been around for so many years going from label to label. They just really didn't know from toward it to combat, combat to capital, you know, capital to nowhere. The nuclear blast has been our label since 2002.
So once you got a bit bent, they know what you're doing, it works out that way. We're fortunate. No, that's good. It's always good to have a steady, a safe and flow of things.
I mean, it's changed. You know, the labels don't put mirror of the bands because they don't selling records anymore. The whole idea when you put a band on tour was to get them to go see them live. And then the next day, man, they were so great tonight, you're going to go run out to the record store and buy that album.
Right. You do that anymore. You know, you pull your phone and some more on was out there with the phone up. You can see the song live right now.
There was never that mistake when I was a kid. You went and saw it down the green. You went to ACDC in 78 or 79. You went and bought the record the next day or you bought the album the day before and went and saw the band because of the album.
You know, it was all about the album as the catalyst. You know, all the album does now is give you something to go tour on. After the record gets released, everybody and their mother will pirate it and do what they can on it. There was never the case before.
Right. Go. Yeah. See when the remote came around on tour when I was a kid, you had to go see the remote.
There was no other way you could see that. You know, there was no video cameras in the crowd. There was no way you had to go to the show. That was a way.
That's I like that. Right. That way still. Yeah.
So how would so would when you say that compared to how it is now versus how it was done and everything, especially with the effects of COVID and the pandemic on the scene and everything when you say that almost did a complete kind of 180. Kind of. It just seems like there's always a new challenge. You know, there's always okay now.
I remember when concerts were eight and 12 bucks. Oh, yeah. What they are is because the musicians had to learn how to make money because they're not selling records anymore. Nobody is not from Armstrong or not an R.
Rock not any of that. Right. Look, the line made now probably sell anywhere from 60 to 100,000 copies, but then they'll go around the world and they'll sell out every stadium in the world. Right.
No merchandise in that. So basically the catalyst is it's just because it's not that you need to buy that people won't listen to it. They're just they'll find other forums to listen to it than just buying that when before they had to buy it. You know what I mean?
And I just think that's the sad part about it and no debt. And again, that's no disrespect. Nothing but respect iron. I mean, so look, we may only sell actually physically 100,000 copies, but we'll do 55,000 in one place.
You know what I mean? One night. What does that tell you right there? No, absolutely.
There's this and this guy and that guy is a million ways to listen to it. So it's not, it's, you know, it's not like it used to be the only way to listen to it was to go to fucking Tower Records or Calacy Records or the record factory and go pick it up the day it came out. You know what I mean? That was the only way to get it before.
Now it's all it's different. No, absolutely. It's everything's everything's different. You know, it's, you know, it's, you know, so how would you say social media impacted or the, like, introduction of social media impacted the music industry.
It made it made it, it made it more accessible for people to get to, uh, to their favorite bands. Definitely. There's a plus and minus to it. You know what I mean?
But then again, it took them a stick away from it. I think you know what I mean? It took them what was really going on behind the scene, but that's with everything. I mean, before I would like you like, you were in a concert man and you saw like, you know, I don't know.
Angus walking off a bus. One of the guys in Harris Smith, he looked over anyway. You'd be so pleased because it's such a rare thing. Now, and film themselves and put on their own Instagram for them doing shit like that.
There's no validity to it anymore. It's not special. You know what I mean? It's not like, wow, this is how cool was that.
I got to check this out. And then, you know, and this was so cool. And, and, and, and, and man, I just like to exclusive picture or whatever. Now it's like there's a camera on everybody's telephone.
That wasn't a case when I was, there wasn't a camera everywhere. You the product. The management's thematic with you with the little cubes that went off thing live. Were you one of those nerds?
I mean, honestly, bring them. They didn't. But now everybody's fun as a camera. So what's the greatest memory to get with anyone?
Is it a photo? So, you know, or a video? So there you go. You know, so, and it puts it in your hand.
So the mystique is gone. Yeah. No, I absolutely agree. I would definitely, I would go as far as to say like that sometimes people's entire concert experiences could be, are they almost determined on like, oh, did I get a good picture instead of like, was it a good show?
Did I live in a moment? Did I have a good time? It's like, we're getting good pictures from it. What can I post from this?
You know, I'm interested themselves with the band behind them like, you know, like, look, look around that. We don't get a lot of that because, you know, when we go to play, there's a mosque, there's people going crazy. Yeah. You know, there's a good chance it'll get knocked out of your hand.
I mean, it happens, but you know, but in our genre of metal, it's very, there's not 40 people in the front hole in the camera because there won't be able to the big, you know, which is kind of works in our favor. No, absolutely. So would you say like that that would be one of the cooler parts about being in a metal band is that when you do go to your shows, there always is that like energy there, no matter, you know, what's going on. Energy that's unlike shows in any other genre.
For the 36 years that I've been doing this, I've always said that trash metal is the best genre of music because the crowd is just as much a part of the show as the band is. Jasmine. No, I'm looking at it and going, Jesus Christ, look at these maniac killing each other. This weekend we played a full Terracell.
I don't know if you saw it. There was a Greek golf cart, Moshbit. No, I didn't hear about that. That's how did that happen?
Right now we had a golf cart, Moshbit during talks, walls. The visual is absolutely maniacal. That's awesome. That is really cool.
Not many bands I feel like can say that they've had that happen there. I've had a golf cart, Moshbit. It's the first. That's really cool.
So what would you say was one of your most memorable shows that you performed at? Most memorable. Dynamo in 88 was the first time I'd ever walked out and there was 30,000 people in front of me ever. So you've got to remember I joined X and it's an 86.
We'd always been crowding, you know, 3000, 4000, 4000, 5000. But that went always six out of my head. And then since then I've headlined in front of 110,000 before. So I've been very fortunate to play in front of big crowds and memorable crowds all over the all the access fans are great all over the world.
They're very loyal and they always bring it. That's awesome. Yeah, I definitely feel like metal fans in general like are it's a much more loyal fan base too because you know, they're kind of appeal to metal is that it is different. It's something that you don't get to, you know, it's not every band is totally different.
And every band has a different experience. And so I think fans like to be loyal to their band that they relate to. They're great. Absolutely.
Absolutely. So I have one last quick question for you. Sure. What does college radio mean to you?
College radio is what keeps well basically for metal. It's what how people get to listen to the music because without college radio. And this has been since the 80s. This this and punk genre of music would not get heard by anybody.
So that's what college radio means. No, I absolutely agree with you. That's you know, it's hard to get exposure to new stuff nowadays. And it's hard to you know, or it's overexposure.
You know, you get exposed to so many bands in a genre or so many. There's so much coming at you that I feel like sometimes you can get overwhelmed. But you know, you hear the song on the radio at the right time and it's like, oh, I was really cool. I might check them out, you know, right?
Exactly. Or like you were saying earlier with the shows, you go to a show and you know, you hear a band that you know, was maybe opening for another band and you're like, they're really cool. I want to check them out next to you know, so. What's great about me doing that since I got into metal, there's always a new band as well.
You heard these guys. They're pretty cool. So that's just that's the great thing about metal. Always something.
Always something new. Always something going on. Well, absolutely. We will be sure to check out more of the new Exodus music coming out.
And absolutely appreciate you calling in and doing this interview with me. Thank you so much. You're welcome, Holly. Be good.
See you soon. Have a nice day. You too. Thank you very much for listening to this WXAV 88.3 FM podcast.
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