Conversando con el Wizard of Gore-ball!! UUURRGGGG!!! EXCLUSIVAMENTE PARA HEADBANGERSPANAMA!! Con ustedes una de las eminencias ke forjó ese under caníbal monstrificante, supurando fluídos fétidos junto a trozos de carnes limosas para consumo zombie. Me refiero a STEVO --bass & vocals de IMPETIGO, grupazo venerado por su legado. Como pueden observar, Stevo ahora es el Wizard Of Baseball. Se la pasa más tiempo en los estadios refrescando el buche con Kentucky Cream pero hey, la vida sigue despues del splatter. Hace poco salió el cd de su nuevo proyecto TOMBSTONES, titulado Not For the Squeamish. Ahora pónganse cómodos, ke La conversa se fue a extra innings. HELLO STEVO! IT'S BEEN 20 YEARS SINCE I INTERVIEWED YOU FOR THE XEROXED dB NOISE. CAN YOU PLEASE BRIEF OUR DEAR READERSHIP ON WHAT'S UNCLE CREEPY UP TO? HOW LIFE’S TREATING YOU IN LOUISVILLE, KY?
It has been a long time, but I will never forget you. These days I am working a lot and continuing on my journey of devoting my best efforts to making family life and a career work first for me. Metal is fun, I love the old days of the underground, which will always be a part of me…but rather than split my fingernails on the old bass gutstrings, I prefer to focus on my family and my career…and BASEBALL. I am a fan of this game, at all levels and internationally as well, and where I used to write grim dialogues of the macabre, I watch and score baseball games and compile the statistics in my Chamber of Horror. My interest in baseball these days was inspired by my interest in Japanese culture…yes, from G.I.S.M. and Godzilla to the Cubs and the Royals! I’ve also been somewhat active lately with TOMBSTONES, our debut CD on RAZORBACK RECORDS is out, entitled “Not for the Squeamish.” TOMBSTONES is a collaboration between myself (vocals), Patrick Bruss (guitar/bass) and Wayne Grave Violator (drums)…we will be working on our 2nd album very soon! Louisville has been a great place to live for the past 12 years or so, but I will always have Chicago deep in my heart, and the older I get the more I want to return there to live the rest of my life.
THE CULT FOR IMPETIGO GOT FIERCER AFTER THE BAND WAS NO MORE. SO AFTER THE REUNION SHOW IN 2007 AND THE DEFILING THE STAGE DVD, HOW MANY TIMES ARE YOU APPROACHED TO REACH OUT FOR MARK, DAN AND SCOTT, BOOK A LENGTHY TOUR, RECORD A NEW ALBUM, CRACK THE CHARTS?
I’m told we get requests all the time, and some of the offers are pretty damn tempting…2 weeks in Japan all expenses paid, and I said “NO!” I can hardly believe this, but it’s true. Offers like that, I would turn myself inside out to do, but because of what I am doing now, it would be impossible. I could say ‘aww, we just can’t play well anymore’ but like some of you, I was very shocked at how well our reunion gig came out so I can’t think of it that way…at any rate, I’m not a big fan of ‘let’s do this again,’ as I am just so busy these days, plus I am about 6 hours away from “the rest of the band” and getting it together for another live show is expensive to start out. EVERY RE-RELEASE BRINGS A DIFFERENT ARTWORK THAN THE PREVIOUS, WHY? FOR "FACELESS" THE ONE AND ONLY IS THE BEHEADED NEWS CLIPPING. WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO PUBLISH AN ALBUM OF ALL YOUR ARTWORK?
Well, with a reissue you have the opportunity to do something different with just about every piece of the original product, except for the recording itself. We felt like it was a good idea to help the folks releasing the ‘new versions’ in making the new product something as different as possible, to promote a fan to want to buy something they may already have. It would be kinda kool to see a big ol’ book of my sick scrawlings, but it might be a technical challenge…I don’t have 99% of the original art pieces themselves, and for the most part, I don’t really know who does!! The “Decapitado en fin año” was one of my favorite covers, I wish we could have made a T-shirt…I think we were one of the first to globally recognize these supermarket tabloids as profound death metal art! TELL US ABOUT CONVULSIONS AND YOUR CHURCH OF MISERY. I REALLY EXPECT THE C.O.M. RELEASE COS THAT'S SOME GREAT DOOM THAT NEVER RIPPED OFF BLACK SABBATH.
CONVULSIONS was a re-birth of an idea I had to form a little teen death metal combo after IMPETIGO split up. The original idea was a trio named ZOMBIE that was going to be me, Neil Hardesty (also in CHURCH OF MISERY), and Chad Merritt (drummer for MASTERFISTER at the time). Unfortunately, that never happened. Many years later, I was
reconnected with my old friend Greg Mattingly (ex-FORSAKEN, SON OF DOG) here in Louisville and he was receptive to re-opening the ZOMBIE case file. We never got 100% serious about it, but in lieu of finding a drummer here, and considering technological advances at the time that weren’t feasible back in the early 90s, it came to pass that Maniac Neil (BLOOD FREAK) agreed to play the drums. A few months came by and I not only lost contact with Greg, but Neil got too busy with personal issues so I thought it made sense to re-arrange everything to include Gregg Metzger (LINCOLN LOVE LOG) and Tom Knizner (CARDIAC ARREST) and that’s where things stand now…gas is very expensive, I started a new job, and we really haven’t had the chance to get together. In my mind and my black heart, I still feel that the ‘band’ is alive, as one day the 3 of us will be able to occupy the same geographical space (we don’t want to record and swap files via the internet, we want to be in the same room…this is now crucial to the concept) and record something brief yet sickening; along the lines of MASTER, REPULSION, AUTOPSY, MASSACRE…you get the idea. Now CHURCH OF MISERY is a different story. We were CHURCH OF MISERY before the Japanese act, which is fine…I don’t ever claim property, per se (remember, I was raised an ANARCHIST) and they did just fine on their own, without any confusion. COM began while IMPETIGO was still in existence in 1992 and continued after IMPETIGO split up, as a “sticky dark doom metal” band primarily influenced by WINTER and CANDLEMASS/NEMESIS among others. Neil Hardesty (guitar) and I (guitar/vocals) were the founding members and recorded our debut demo “Sorrows of the Moon” with just the two of us (I played bass and drums). The demo was mildly successful, and upon its initial release we talked to Brett Fugate, who played in a band called COMA and set up the infamous IMPETIGO gig at the Italian-American hall a couple of years before…Brett ended up joining the band, and we also picked up a bass player in our good friend Tom Kirk who I’d known since he was a little kid. With this lineup, we played a fun show with hundreds of candles, no other lighting, at a skatepark in Peoria (released as “Live by Candlelight” live demo). Through our ‘doom metal network’ Olli from the new label Tales of Sadness records asked us to record an album for his label, which he gave us $300US to do, and we did at Wooden Nickel studios in Dunlap, IL with the worldrenowned Don Rosser. This recording “Minstrel of Mourning” was our definitive opus, 5 or so tracks at just over 60 minutes in length. We sent Olli a copy of the DAT and never heard from him again; one US label was also interested in releasing as a double-LP until they realized it wasn’t an IMPETIGO record and sent all of our stuff back. By that time, CHURCH OF MISERY had run its course, Tom left the band somehow (I really don’t remember what happened!) and we
decided to chase a more ‘traditional’ doom approach and changed our name to INSOMNIA with all new material. Long story short, we went through several lineup changes, played several successful live shows (including opening up for ACE FREHLEY a week or so before KISS announced their reunion) but never ever spent any time in the studio. We released a live demo “Time Wounds All Heels,” still the only official document of our work, before the lineup re-disintegrated back to the core lineup of Brett, Neil, and myself (switching to bass and vocals). We spent our last days as a trio, which was fantastic, and re-introducing some of the COM songs in our set list with new titles and lyrics…the old material returned sounded remarkably as it were INSOMNIA material, further perpetuating the reality of one band = one sound…nothing had changed but for the lyrics. Sadly, I was beginning to focus on my return to completing my education and my starting a family…I was very confused and upset over personal issues, and I disbanded INSOMNIA, wrongly stating that I was unable to work with Neil and Brett, when in reality the disability was all mine. Fortunately, I’ve cleared the air and apologized to both, so that spectre is no longer in the back of my mind…but the fact remains, to this day, “Minstrel of Mourning” has never seen a release, only a few advance tapes were ever distributed to friends. A few labels expressed interest over the years but I was not able to get the package together; about 6 months ago my good friend Billy Nocera starting discussing the ‘lost’ COM album and agreed to release it on RAZORBACK RECORDS…currently I am in the process of mastering the original DAT (yes, we made 2 copies!) and adding the “Sorrows of the Moon” demo to the package. I hope to have all the material together and in Billy’s hands before the end of October. The release will be credited as CHURCH OF MISERY (USA), which is appropriate. YOUR SCABBY BASS TONE NOW IS REVERED AS INFLUENTIAL TO GOREGRIND AND DEATH METAL AS JEFF WALKER'S, BUT WHAT'S YOUR TAKE ON THIS TREND AMONG METAL BASS PLAYERS, THAT THEY MUST BE ULTRATECHNICAL NUTS IN ORDER TO BE "RECOGNIZED"?
First of all, I appreciate that but I have to respectfully submit that my original and ultimate inspiration for my bass sound is solely Scott Carlson of REPULSION…it was his setup that I emulated, piece by piece, even in double tracking the distortion pedal and clean bass sound on “Horror of the Zombies” (our recording engineer for “Ultimo” couldn’t understand what I was trying to do and refused to attempt it). That being said, I’m not fond of the ultra-technical approach, even when it occasionally works…I like the bass in this genre to be a complement to the drums, not as an additional guitar. It should be atonal at best, but have a bottom end that strikes the central nervous system in a clandestine manner.
NO MATTER ITS FLAWS, THE UNDERGROUND OF 1991 HAS BEEN REPLACED MOSTLY BY FLASHY "DISNEY METAL", YET DO YOU SEE ANYTHING WORTH SALVAGING?
As long as chumps like me are around…the underground of 1991 will NEVER die, even though I’m a different person, that world, that culture…it all still exists. As far as “Disney Metal,” I hate to sound like the hippies of old, but hey…if you weren’t there, I can’t see how you can appreciate what happened except from a very highlevel…and that’s fine. I respect the young folks who embrace what happened 20plus years ago, but when they think they understand…how could they? Unless you’ve sent back someone’s stamps a hundred times or purchased tape decks from garage sales just to keep up with your tape trading addiction…unless you bought an original copy of “Grim Reality” from MACABRE in the rain outside of the Cabaret Metro or played a 6th generation copy of “the unreleased MASTER LP for Combat Records” until it decomposed…unless you’ve spent $160 on your telephone bill for making calls to friends in Canada or had Jim Plotkin send you used candy wrappers and polaroids of Henry Veggian in the mail…unless you heard your band played on “The Metal Cage” or “Sweet Nightmares” through a cassette sent to you by the radio show hosts themselves…how could you understand? Do I see anything worth salvaging? YES…but I’m not sure what or how, I think as long as there are 5 or 6 of us with the attitude, it’s not really a point to salvage…it’s still THERE. The market, I have to be blunt, is something I just don’t fucking understand, except for this…I think the future is in downloads for those who want to explore, and product for those who want to collect…either way, it’s participation. File sharing today is the tape trading of yesterday, and I fully support it. However, if labels want to stay alive, they will have to adapt to the part of the market that is moving towards strictly downloading…offer exclusive content on a ‘pay what you want’ scale (or even with a subscription service, 5 users at $5 per month could defray most server costs) and rely on the product to offset the cost. The problem is there is just too much stuff out there…thousands of times more than there was in 1991. Because of the gross amount of material, making certain material available via download can lead to product for sale down the road. I think it makes sense. I would like to say that as long as there are bands like CARDIAC ARREST, PAGANIZER, ESTUARY, etc that the spirit of the underground is still strong!
WHAT'S ON YOUR PLAYLIST, PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE...
Funny you should present it that way, as what I’m listening to now is pretty much the same as what I would be listening to 20 years ago. Let’s peek at my Zune (I am proud to proclaim that I do not own any Apple product nor utilize their services): CASBAH “BOLD STATEMENT” / NAPALM DEATH “F.E.T.O.” MERRY “Gendai Stoic” (Japanese masters of ‘eroguro’) / MUCC “6” (see previous) KREATOR “PLEASURE TO KILL” / MACABRE “MURDER METAL” ENERGY VAMPIRES “DEMO” / MAIMED “DEMO” / GLAY “REVIEW” ESTUARY “THE CRAFT OF CONTRADICTION” CARDIAC ARREST “CADAVEROUS PRESENCE” / MASTER “UNRELEASED LP” / CRYPTICUS “THEY CALLED ME MAD” / WITCHSLAYER “DEMO” WARLORD “DELIVER US” EP / HYDE “666” (Japanese – singer for L’arc en Ciel) FRANK ZAPPA –ANYTHING / FONDLECORPSE ‘BLOOD AND POPCORN’ BLIZARO “CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD” / PLASMATICS ‘COUP D’ETAT’ CANDLEMASS “FROM THE 13TH SUN” /GASTUNK “EARLY SINGLES” CARCASS “SYMPHONIES OF SICKNESS” STEEL PANTHER “FEEL THE STEEL” (Asian Hooker!!!) OZ “FIRE IN THE BRAIN” / GODFLESH EP ROKY ERICKSON “I THINK OF DEMONS” / SATAN JOKERS “LES FILS DU METAL” / THE DAMNED “MACHINE GUN ETIQUETTE” ONMYOUZA “HYAKKI RYORHAN” (this is my favorite band of all time) QUEENSRYCHE “OPERATION: MINDCRIME” / HANOI ROCKS “BANGKOK SHOCKS” / RIOT ‘RESTLESS BREED’ SATARIEL “PHOBOS AND DEIMOS” (one of my fave albums right now) MASTERS HAMMER “RITUAL” / SEX MACHINEGUNS “MADE IN JAPAN” ULTRAVOX “SYSTEMS OF ROMANCE” DENIAL FIEND “THEY RISE!” JIM JONES AND THE KOOL AIDE KIDS “TRUST ME” LINCOLN LOVE LOG “Ill-NOIZE BBQ” I can’t wait to hear the new SKELETAL SPECTRE album …my fingers are bleeding, is that enough?
AS THE MASTER CURATOR OF ALL FILMS SPLATTER AND SLASHER, SHALL WE EXPECT ANOTHER DISAPPOINTMENT WITH THE REBOOT OF HALLOWEEN 3? ONLY RECENT REMAKE THAT WAS OK FOR ME WAS THAT OF "THE HILLS HAVE EYES".
As always, I am really STAYING AWAY from lots of newer films. I try sometimes, but I just don’t get it. Especially remakes. Whatever. There was nothing at all wrong with the original “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” why the HELL would someone want to remake it? Would SLAYER rerecord “Reign in Blood”? No, I don’t think so.
LET'S TRULY DEADEN THOSE PLOTS. IF YOU COULD INTRODUCE 3 CHARACTERS OF THE OLDEN GORE INTO THESE TEENY LAZY ROMANTYCK VAMPYRE WHOREWOLF FYLMS, WHO WOULD YOU PIT AGAINST WHOM?
Fuad Ramses versus the Nazi undead from “Shock Waves” would be a great matchup!!! SAY THE FIRST THING THAT COMES TO MIND: 1. "MEGA PYTHON VS GATOROID" why not
“Mega Python vs Grishnackt’s Cock?” 2. "HAPPY TREE FRIENDS" Mechelus, you are cracking me up! 3. "ZOMBIE STRIPPERS" Zombie Disco Dancers (from “City of the Walking Dead”) 4. "XTRO" They just don’t make ‘em like that anymore!! 5. JUDAS PRIEST WITHOUT K.K. …and what about Judas Priest without Rob Halford? 6. THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE CIPHER 666 TO METAL the contribution of Herschell Gordon Lewis to modern filmmaking is
more profound! 7. NEW RELEASES BY MACABRE AND AUTOPSY great great GREAT! Haven’t heard
yet, but will try or DIE!!! PLAY BALL! ON MARIANO RIVERA BREAKING TREVOR HOFFMAN’S RECORD.
I was surprised Hoffman retired when he did, I saw him pitch a few times. I think Rivera going the distance is no surprise though. He probably has 56 years left in his career!! AND FOR THE CLASSIC ENDING: EXTRA WORDS FOR READERS, ETC.
It’s always great to hear from old friends, but hearing from you again Mechelus was nothing less than fantastic…I still think JEFE DE LA MORGUE was amazing stuff and the best thing of all, is that you “GET IT”…you did then and you still do. STAY SICK and keep the underground alive!! GRIND TILL DEATH!! PAY TO DIE, YOU SICK MOTHER-FUCKERS!!!! (fotos cortesía de Mrs. Do Caixão) http://www.grindgore.net/impetigo
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