BFM:Hi! I'm Zoham! you're with Beer Friendly Music from Thailand, could you say something to our reader?
DxBxTxCx:Hi everybody out there! Nice to talk to you!!
BFM:From the beginning, could you tell me about the feeling of the latest gig you've been played?
DxBxTxCx:Ohh we are on tour at the moment, playing shows through Europe with Obituary! The last nights have been totally great! We were able to play in big venues, in front of big crowds and lots of people who haven't seen us yet and the response was just overwhelming! So we feel really lucky right now and can't wait for the other shows to come!
BFM:Did you ever get interviewed from the D.I.Y. Fan/blogzine like mine before?
DxBxTxCx:Yes we sometimes do interviews for D.I.Y. magazines or blogs! We are all music fans on our own and so we really appreciate D.I.Y fanzines! They are always really honest and close to the fans and don't need big commercial deals or anything like that which is great!
BFM:Now, could you tell the small scale of the band's Bio?
DxBxTxCx:We started as kids around 2006 and got to know each other in school. Since then we were playing shows and writing songs until our music got heavier and faster by time. We released our first demotape in 2010 which already got recognition by media and magazines. After we won the German Version of Wacken Metal Battle we recorded our first album. After the recording we got signed by Napalm Records who released our debut! After that we played lots of shows and we were touring a lot until we released Awake the riot, our second Album, in 2014. Since then we were doing headliner shows nearly each weekend in 2014 and did some festivals and now we are on the road with Obituary in Europe and talking to you! ;)
BFM:What came to the name of 'Dust Bolt'? It just a random name? I loved the way of using 8 letters to name the band (Like Megadeth, Overkill or Evil Dead)
DxBxTxCx:haha, yeah to be honest it was some kind of random name, but we liked the idea of having a name which has not a specific meaning yet. Our aim was to find a meaning by time and let everybody interpret their own thoughts on Dust Bolt. But we sometimes also say that it might be a mega man weapon!
BFM:How was the Thrash in Bavarian area back in around 2000's?
DxBxTxCx:How many people approximately attended to the show in your Local show? We can't really tell as far as we are still very young and born in the 90ies. So we can only tell something about the Thrash scene in Bavaria the last 5-7 years and they have been great! There are lots of great young bands coming out of our area that released great albums such as Toxic Waltz or Battlecreek!
BFM:How do you feel when you known the band got signed with the label like Napalm Records?
DxBxTxCx:It was a great feeling of course! Signing to a label doesn't mean you can relax, it's the opposite. YOu have to work even harder and go pout there and play shows! But having a good label such as Napalm Records really supports you in a great way! It opened the possibility to listen to our music to people on the whole planet and we are very thankful for that! Working with the Napalm guys is really great and easy, we really enjoy it!
BFM:How's the feedback for the debut and A.T.R.?
DxBxTxCx:the Feedback has been great! All the feedback from the fans and the magazines gave us real motivation! And coming to a place we haven't been before and having people there knowing your songs is a dream that came true for us!
BFM:As being a part of Beastival 2013, how did you feel about playing with the Teutonic 4 (Destruction, Kreator, Sodom and Tankard)?
DxBxTxCx:It was a great pleasure of course! The festival was full of Thrash maniacs and we loved to watch the shows of our four idols!
BFM:If you can pick up the bands to be the Next Teutonic 4 of German Thrash Metal, which one will you pick
DxBxTxCx:haha.. hmm let me think.. Battlecreek, Toxic Waltz, Dust Bolt and Mynded.
BFM:What is the Best and the Worst thing that ever happened on Dust Bolt's live shows?
DxBxTxCx:It's hard to think of a bad thing.. of course you have sometimes technical difficulties or something like that which can be really annoying but apart from that every show in our life has been great!
The best thing is to see the audience having fun and getting touched by the music you play.
BFM:Did the members have a full-time job or still studying?
DxBxTxCx:
Well, three of us are studying and our drummer has a full time job, but he has a great boss who is ok with him being away few more weeks in the year than usual. But we also do little jobs to pay our rents and stuff. It's sometimes hard to combine all these things and there isn't much free time left then, but we love what we do and are willing to work hard for our dream.
BFM:Is it difficult for being a touring band, like being away from you parents, Girlfriends or something else?
DxBxTxCx:Of course it's sometimes difficult, because you miss a lot of events such as birthdays, etc etc and it becomes harder and harder to find time for our friends and/or girlfriends. Only one of us has a relationship at the moment, but his girlfriend kind of got used to the fact that we are away quiet often. But it definitely has to be a very strong relationship, otherwise it wouldn't be possible. Having a musician as your boyfriend isn't always that easy haha ;)) But in general we absolutely love touring and visiting the world and new places and getting to know lots of great people!! There's no better thing!
BFM:How did you get into metal music back then, did you have parent of siblings being musician?
DxBxTxCx:It was different for each member I think, but I personally discovered metal music by myself! And then a friend gave me some Cds and stuff and I could't stop listening to it !
BFM:Which thrash musicians inspired you?
DxBxTxCx:Mille Petrozza, Sepultura, CHuck Schuldiner (thouh it's Death Metal)
BFM:Did your Parent have any opinion about playing Thrash Music and touring?
DxBxTxCx:They always supported us!! The first time of the band they even had to drive us to the gigs because no one of us did have a driving license because we were just too young haha
BFM:Name the 5 best albums that you loved most!
DxBxTxCx:hard to name 5, there are maaaany more
Demolition Hammer - Epidemic of Violence
Death - INdividual thought patterns
Kreator - Extreme Aggression
Black Sabbath - any album
Led Zeppelin - any album
BFM:As we are Beer Friendly Music Group. so I have to ask which is the most delicious beer you have tasted?
DxBxTxCx:Ohhh, we are from Bavaria which is kind of the hometown of beer haha. My favorite is Tegernseer or Ayinger. So Bavarian beer!
BFM:We're almost done. did you have any plans to bring Dust Bolt to play in South East Asian area and Thailand?
DxBxTxCx:We haven't got any concrete plans yet but we would love to do it! And we will see what the future brings! We hope to be able to play there as soon as possible!!
BFM:Last and not least, Give some strong words for those who about to Thrash (And those did it half-assedly)
DxBxTxCx:Keep thrashin, support young bands, go to live shows, join the riot and have a good time with your friends! Take care of each other!
BFM:Hi! I'm Zoham! you're with Beer Friendly Music from Thailand, could you say something to our readers?
Ricky: Hi Rezetbangers, heavy greetz to all of you in Thailand!
BFM:From the beginning, could you tell me about the feeling of the latest gig Rezet have been played?
Ricky: Sure, our latest gig was our 10th anniversary concert on December 13th. That was one of the best shows we've ever head, I believe. The house was packed with about 400 attending people that went totally crazy. Yes, it surely was one of our best nights ever, but also the one with the highes production costs, haha!
BFM:Did you ever get interviewed from the D.I.Y. Fan/blogzine like mine before?
Ricky: We get interviewed from everywhere. But I think you're probably one of the first from Thailand! Feel welcomed!
Thorben: Great to see that people like us from all over the world!
BFM:Now, could you tell us a bit of the band's history?
Ricky: Thorben and me started playing the guitar together in school when we were about 12 years old or so. That was in 2002/2003. When we discovered Metallica's "Master Of Puppets" it was over. We knew what we wanted exactly to do. Since then we've put a lot of work in Rezet, released many demos in the early days and two full length albums. We toured a lot of European countries and are going to release our third album in early/mid 2015!
BFM:What came to the name of 'Rezet'? Is it came from german spelling of the word 'Reset' or something behind that word?
Ricky: Rezet is just the english word "reset" with a z instead of an s. The German word is completely different. The meaning behind the band's name is that we wanted to "reset" everything Metal stood for in times of crappy pop-metal during the beginning of the 21st century.
BFM:How many people approximately attended to the shows in your Local area?
Ricky: That's different as with any underground Metal band. It can range from 50 to - as mentioned before - 400 or even more people. We don't mind.
BFM:I saw Ricky & Thorben playing with Lemmy of Violent Force. How did you contacted him in the first place?
Ricky: Jorgen of "Hellion Records" and "Headbangers Open Air" made this possible. He saw us covering "Dead City" several times and we even played it once with original Violent Force guitarist "Stachel". It was always Jorgen's dream to have Violent Force at the "Heabangers Open Air" so he told Lemmy that he'd have a great back-up band for him, which was us, Rezet.
BFM:How's the feedback since H.G.W.T. to Civic Nightmares?
Ricky: The feeback is mostly overwhelming, whether it's about our records or our live shows, so I think we've done everything right. Just wait for our next album, people will freak out, I promise!
Thorben: And this time we'll have a real caretaking label and not a bunch of dickheads trying to betray us!
BFM:If you can pick up the bands to be the Next Teutonic 4 of German Thrash Metal, which one will you pick?
Ricky: I don't know, and I don't respect those lists really.
BFM:What is the best and the worst thing that ever happened on Rezet's live shows?
Ricky: Girls throwing strings at us wasn't that bad. Playing Wacken Open Air, the Headbangers Open Air, several other festivals and European cities, that's always cool! I think there isn't one 100% perfect show. There's always something "bad" happening...
Thorben: I don't remember a really bad gig. Like Ricky said, there's always something like a broken string. Never mind, keep on playing, rock 'n' roll!
BFM:Did the members have a full-time job or still studying?
Ricky: We still have to work/study beside the band but hope that this will change with our next album!
BFM:Is it difficult for being a touring band, like being away from your parents, girlfriends or something else?
Ricky: It's the best thing you can get a free mind. To me there's nothing better than being in another place everyday! We've never toured that long to miss someone... our tours are usually just about 2 weeks long.
BFM:Which metal guitarists inspired you?
Ricky: Dave Mustaine and Chris Poland, the early Megadeth - lineup in general, so amazing! Besides that of course all the other great thrashers like Exodus, Slayer and so on. But also a lot of 70's Rock like Hendrix, Purple, Zeppelin etc.
BFM:Did your parents have any opinion about playing Thrash Music and touring?
Ricky: I think they like and respect what we do. My mum just thinks that I'd live under the bridge at some point if I don't start learning a "real job", haha!
Thorben: Our parents are very proud of us and have always been supporting us 100%. Since I'm an IT-technician who finished his apprenticeship, my parents don't worry about my future... yet!
BFM:Before the show. Do you have any exercise and warm-up your body?
Ricky: We stopped partying like madmen before the shows and even in general. No more drugs and only a few beers here and there. You see, we usually didn't have some gymnastics or sports as warm-ups, haha! I just try to relax and stay backstage as long as I can before a show. I love the fans but need time for myself before the shows, like inner meditation if you want. Like half an hour before the show I start playing some of our songs to warm up my fingers, that's it!
Thorben: In my opinion it always depends on the venue where we are playing. Like Ricky said, the days of drinking oceans of alcohol before the gigs are over. If there are cool bands playing that day, I, or rather we, like to watch them play of course, but we always need time for ourselves. Warming up before the show is really important, we play unplugged backstage together, mostly.
BFM:This Question has nothing todo with the rest but where is the nicest place for visiting in Schleswig Area? I ask because I'm not familiar with this name haha.
Ricky: It's really boring in the North of Germany although I love the landscape of the sea, that's definetaly something worth visiting where we live, the sea. Just come visiting us in Schleswig and we'll show you around...
BFM:Name the 5 best albums that you loved most!
Ricky: That's too hard to choose, sorry! There's so much Metal, punk and rock music and even some blues and jazz and classical music I love.
Thorben: Same here, it's too hard to decide. As Ricky said, we're not only focussing on thrash metal, but also on punk, rock, jazz, blues, other types of metal in general and everything that sounds good and is handmade with love.
BFM:As we are Beer Friendly Music Group. so I have to ask which is the most delicious beer you have tasted?
Ricky: I like Heineken and Veltins the most. Astra is a good option as well.
Thorben: I'm with Ricky but I like many German beers. Heineken, Astra, Veltins and Krombacher are my favorites.
BFM:How's the Progress of the 3rd Album? What can we expect from it?
Ricky: The production is almost done, we've spent half a year on it to get the perfect album. You guys will be blown away, trust me. It combines everything Metal should be! It's hard, fast, melodic, sometimes slow but still pounding, amazing guitar solos, great hooks... I can't wait to hold the final pressing in my hands!
BFM:We're almost done. Did you have any plans to bring Rezet to play in South East Asian area and Thailand?
Ricky: Yes, we were actually supposed to play in Singapore in 2013 but it didn't work for some reason...
BFM:Last and but least, give some strong words for those who about to Thrash (And those did it half-assedly)
Ricky: Thailand Rezetbangers! Stay tuned for upcoming Rezet news! Our new album will be out soon and we've planned a (almost) worldwide tour! Metal on!
BFM:Ciao! How about the touring after released the Debut last year?
Vender: Hi everybody, here’s Game Over! Touring goes very well and we are very happy because the album received a lot of great reviews all around the world hitting the “Top 10 Albums of the year” in many magazines and webzines and, sincerely, we did not expected it!!! We played in a lot of shows here in Italy with great names of the Italian and international Heavy Metal scene as for example Vicious Rumors, Warbringer, Raw Power, Master, Death Mechanism, etc. We also played around Europe in a tour with our friends Asgard. This summer we will play at the Headbangers Open Air in Germany and more shows are going to be confirmed also outside Italy for this year, so… stay tuned!
BFM:Can you tell me about the band's releases that came out before this Debut?
Ziro: We recorded a zero-budget-3-tracks demo at the beginning of 2009 in fact we’ve been “guinea pigs” for a friend who bought a recording set and he wanted to test it on us!!! Then, few months later, we recorded other songs that have been part of our EP called “Heavy Damage” that, fortunately, received good reviews all around the world! In 2011 someone believed that we released two Split-Albums with two Italian bands but this is not the truth. Or better, we should have release these two splits but they never came out because we entered the studio to record “For Humanity” that was, clearly, our priority.
BFM:How about the Experience in working "For Humanity" did it have any seriousness on recording session?
Game Over: For sure. During the recording sessions everyone tried to do them best. Fortunately Simone Mularoni, the guy who recorded, mixed and mastered our debut, is very expert and professional in this sector, he catched what sound we were looking for and he extrapolated the best from everyone of ourselves. Clearly, there have been also funny moments during the recording session days. For example, we were in a house rented in San Marino near where we recorded the album. During the evening the owner entered the house and he saw a real terrible scene… Sanso was combing Ziro’s hair!!! Then Ziro urged the poor owner to open the door of the bathroom… a voice that was coming out from the bathroom was saying “come in, come in!” … he did it… he opened the door… yeah, the situation was very frightening… then, when the door was opened, he saw Reno completely naked under the shower making love with the near sink!!! Ahahahahah! It was a comic situation! We laughed until we cried!! But not the poor owner…
BFM:Which brand of Instruments that Each members are used and endorsed?
Game Over: Reno uses an Ltd and Rickenbaker 4003 bass, a Peavey amplifier and his fingers;
Ziro uses an american Jackson RR5 and an Ibanez RG series guitar with a Peavey 5150 guitar head, Wah-Wah “Cry Baby” guitar effect;
Sanso uses a LTD and a Washburn guitar;
Vender uses Tama Rockstar drums and Paiste Cymbals. But anybody has an endorsement contract with a Brand.
BFM:Did the band members have another Band or Project up to GAME OVER?
Ziro: Yeah, Reno plays also in a great Heavy/Speed Metal band called Asgard, they are the pride of New Italian Heavy Metal! Vender played in many other bands of his region as for example Violence Spread (Thrash Metal). Sanso played in another Italian thrash band for few months (Sacrificator) and Ziro in some local bands. Actually Ziro and Sanso plays in an Hardcore Punk project for fun.
BFM:Who did the artwork on this Material? ,I think was raw ,straight-forward for Thrash!
Ziro: I drawed the artwork after we had the idea. Then we gave the proof to a friend who re-drawed it and coloured it because I suck! We take the chance to thank this friend!
BFM:What's the main lyric theme of this album?
Ziro: have two main lyrical themes: stupid and serious. For example, in Another Dose Of Thrash or Tupa Tupa Or Die we speak about what’s being metalheads, to make party and other bullshits like these. Evil Clutch is about the best-worst Italian Horror film of the whole cinema history and then there’s the serious current. In Bleeding Green we tell on the environmental devastation and exploitation, War Of Nations tells about the control of the masses by the media and Abyss of a Needle is the story of a drug addicted.
BFM:What is the reason that you've Named the band "GAME OVER"? have you got this name from VDO Games or something else?
Ziro: Strike, man! Ahahahah! Yeah, our name reflects our passion for vintage videogames, but it reflects also our devotion for the first album of one of the greatest Thrash bands of the world, a masterpiece!
BFM:Who did the solo in this Album? ,I heard many solos in "Mountains Of Madness"
Ziro: Solos are played by both guitarists but in mountains of Madness there is a guest. The third solo is played by Simone Mularoni.
BFM:In your childhood ,who is your Idols that made you come to listen and play metal?
Game Over:
Ziro: A lot of bands! Thanks to my father's rock albums I discovered many Hard Rock, Heavy Metal and Punk bands. So my first idols were Led zeppelin, Sex Pistols, Ramones, Stranglers, Black Sabbath, Motorhead, Dire Straits, Jimi Hendrix, Luciano Ligabue (an Italian songwriter). Then I discovered by myself many other bands -Heavy Metal and not- who became my idols… but EDDIE VAN HALEN is the best guitarist of all time in my opinion!
Vender: Obviously we are inspired by all the main metal bands in the world. Metallica, Megadeth and so on are masters for everybody. Personally Dave Lombardo, Charlie Benante and Mike Portnoy taught me how to play drums but I think that everybody takes something from every good musician.
BFM:Did your Parent have any opinion about playing Thrash Music and touring?
Game Over:
Vender: Personally my parents don’t like Metal and they don’t like that I’m a drummer of a thrash metal band. So last year, when I joined to Game Over, I killed them after I turned in a werewolf. Now they can’t tell me nothing!
Ziro: At the beginning of this “adventure” my parents were a bit “studded” because in my family no one ever played in a band, especially in an Heavy Metal band that plays the blasphemic and satanic music of hell! … Ahahaha! Said that, they understood that playing in Game Over is one of the coolest things in the world and it’s an opportunity to visit places of the world playing our music… but it's also a chance to impregnate as many girls as I can and spread my breed. That's the real reason I play in Game Over and it's the same for the other guys
BFM:Where is your most favorite show that you have played on GAME OVER
Vender: I think that a good show depends by the city where we play. We love to play and we played in many cities in the North of Italy. But probably our favourite event was the European tour with our friends Asgard!
BFM:Can you Introduction me the great Italian metal bands that you met on the tour? (not just Thrash bands)
Vender: Italy has a lot of great bands. This last years some italian metal bands began to play around theEurope and this is great because there are a lot of killer bands here. I can name Asgard, Final Fright, Ruler, Walpurgis Night, National Suicide, Sign of the Jackal, Endovein, and a lot of bands of the “My Graveyard Productions” family.
BFM:Before the show. Do you have any exercise and warm-up your body?
Vender: Yeah, of course. We usually unite our naked bodies and sing together “Macho Man” of Village people. I know that Ziro does footing all around the Live Club, than he eats 6 eggs and finally he makes stretching exercises. Than we are ready to play! No serious we can’t tell you what we do before the show or I have to kill you!
BFM:How about the Metal Scene on Italty since 2000 'til now?
Ziro: we were born in 2008, so about the italian thrash metal scene of the early years of 21st century we can’t tell you too much. But we can say that around 2005 the scene took life with bands such as National Suicide, Warmonger, Insane, and many others. Now the scene is still alive with and I think it could rival with the other European scenes, but the Italian one needs more aggregation. In fact here in Italy there’s a scene in Turin, there is a scene inMilan, there is a scene in Genoa, in Padua, in Venice and in other Italian regions and cities with a lot of heavy metal fans. But there isn’t a “National Scene”. So our scene isn’t compact. Yeah, sometimes someone of the Milan’s scene goes to a concert in Venice, but these are rare cases. But don’t misunderstand me, we play in Italy since 4 years and this scene is our family… but it’s getting tight and we feel the needing to play outside our nation
BFM:Your 5 Best fucking Metal albums of all time
Ziro: These are mine: Rust In Peace, 1984, Ride the Lightning, Heaven and Hell, Operation Mindcrime and Empire (they are both awesome, I cannot choose!)… and, obviously, Game Over!!!
BFM:As we are Beer Friendly Music Group So I have to ask this question ,What's the best delicious Beer in Italy?
Vender: Brirra Moretti is the best Italian beer, there’s no doubts. But there’s a lot of other beers as Nastro Azzurro, Forst, Kiefer, Peroni and many more underground beers! So you can choose what you prefer!
BFM:Almost done ,and this is from my own mind ,What is the nice places for visiting in Italy?
Game Over: Oh our drummer works in an hotel in Alba di Canazei near Trento so if you like the mountains (of madness) you can go there. Special price for every reader of Beer Friendly Music! There aren’t better places to visit inItaly so come on people the phone is already hot! But also the most famous Italian city Rome is beautiful, and our homecity Ferrara, a 1300-years old beautiful medieval city!
BFM:Now This is the last question, give some shouts,introduce some touring info ,promote your Album.
Vender: So, we are preparing the shows for this year. As I told before this summer we will play at the Headbangers Open Air in Germany. We will play also at Sun Valley Metal fest in june and more shows will be announced soon. We are also finishing to write the songs for the new album and we think that we will enter in studio this summer. It will be killer!! Anyway just take a look to our Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/#!/GameOverThrashMetal) for more details and infos about our shows and everything else. Thank you very much to everybody and we hope to see you on the road, upon the stage headbanging with us!!!
Stay tuned guys, and keep on thrashin’!!!
BFM:Hi Cederick! ,I want you to greeting our fans and readers of this interview here.
Ced: Hello everybody!
BFM:How's feel after the Rocka Rolla's first rehearsal?
Ced: If we're talking about the first rehearsal as a "full band" it was a big relief for me to see that this can actually work out for real, at last!
BFM:How's the feedback from the media on various albums of your bands?
Ced: It's generally quite good and that's cool. I do however tend to think some reviews are overrating the two first albums, especially the first one. They are fun and quite good but I know we have so much more to offer than just being some other "retro band" like the rest of the recent bands. We will have the influences from the 80s but try to evolve our sound a lot more so we don't sound like another Riot or Judas Priest copy band.
BFM:Is it difficult to record every instruments by yourself?
Ced: Sometimes, since I don't practice drums regularly. Guitar is easy for me, but I wanna live in a house so I can practice and record everything at home and not having to go to rehearsal room to do that. It's not a big deal but I wanna record as much as I can and cannot do that with this situation haha.
BFM:Which Programs, Guitar & Bass Brand? and the Drums are programmed or actually Acoustic Drums?
Ced: Drums are real for sure! I do some "light trigging" tho. I always record real drums but have about 50% triggers on kicks and snare, sometimes toms. Sometimes no triggers at all, it depends on the sound I'm after. I only have one guitar at the moment and it's a custom ordered Warmoth guitar, which I only use for solos. I have another guitar I have borrowed from my dad that is perfect for rhythm recording, it's an old modded Fender Musicmaster with a humbucker in the bridge. I'm going to order a new Warmoth build as soon as I can so he can get his guitar back hahaha! My bass is an Ibanez Roadbass which is quite rare.
BFM:If someone asks you what the difference between the Blazon Stone, Mortyr Rocka Rollas. How can you explain to them?
Ced: Well Rocka Rollas is my main band, that's for sure. Blazon Stone is a 90s Running Wild worship project and nothing more than that really.
BFM:How did you discovered Heavy Metal?
Ced: Well, I think it may have been when I was 10 and watched MTV and they played Iron Maidens video to the song Out Of The Silent Planet, and then I actually got the Brave New World CD for christmas that year and it's STILL my favorite album! I still listen to it a lot, almost 14 years later. That album will follow me to the grave for sure!
BFM:Have a Parent on the Background?
Ced: None of my parents are really into metal.
BFM:Can you give a name of swedish fine Beer?
Ced: Acually I quitted alcohol drinking a long time ago, and back then I didn't care what brand it was as long as I got drunk as fuck. Haha!
BFM:Ok! My Question's up now, is your turn to make shout,
promote your bands and so on!
Ced: Well thanks for the interview! Right now I'm off to mix some drums for the upcoming split EP with Rocka Rollas and Blazon Stone, haha! It's going to be a hell of a record. Totally awesome from start to finish!
BFM:Hi Julz! would you like to greeting to our readers.
Julz: Hello all! Thanks for reading my interview and hopefully you have a tasty alcoholic beverage in your hands as you do!
BFM:How was the show in 2010s decade, Is it different from 2000s? (Thrash is Back era)
Julz: Well it depends on how you look at it. If you mean from a fan perspective I think yes the shows are better attended and overall there is a more 'proud to be metal' vibe around. I remember going to see bands like Megadeth and Slayer in the early 2000's and I think those bands still had about the same amount of attendance and didn't have much to worry about being at their caliber. Bands even a step down below that I think it is a notable difference in better crowds now though.
BFM:After the album release of "Awaiting Evil" you band looks to be silenced back then. could you tell me what is happen in between 2009 - 2011, And what are you doing at that time?
Julz: Hatchet has gone through a few major transformations in terms of members. The time between 2009 - 2011 we actually were quite busy but just not in terms of an album or much advertised publicity. We actually did 2 US tours in that time on a smaller scale and booking our shows for that. Once mid 2011 hit we finally had a solid and proper lineup and that's when things started to really take shape again and an album and more started to become a reality again.
BFM:As I can remember, you have got another Bassist in Band, Right?
Julz: Since Dawn of the End was released yes we lost the bass player that recorded and toured with us after that. Currently we have a friend filling in for us and that may become permanent. We just have to see how it works mutually after these 2 current tours we are on.
BFM:How about the Experience in working "Dawn of the End"? I think the sounds in that album is very similiar to "Awaiting Evil".
Julz: Well I hope you mean in the good ways not the latter. Haha. Yes there are similarities but you are actually one of the few people to not tell me that it sounds completely different. In my opinion everything about Dawn of The End crushes Awaiting Evil. The recording experience was way better and I think the bands musicians are way better as well. It did take much longer than I wanted to get the album done and out but that was due to lineup changes and then the waiting you have to do once it's recorded and then goes to the label for all that they have to do.
BFM:Is it difficult to work with the new Line-up? Because you are the Only one original member of the Band.
Julz: Actually no, as I mentioned earlier the musicians we have now are much better, more creative and much more dedicated to the band than any members before. It is very difficult to be a touring musician these days and I give much credit to these guys I have with me now. It takes a lot of work and little pay off in the end.
BFM:At that time, you are the sole lead guitar, but now you shared it with Clark Webb, how was it feel?
Julz: The feeling is great! Having 2 guitars that solo and can share harmony leads is great! It opens up a whole other playing field to work with. Currently we are in the early stages of writing our third album and he has been contributing a lot of material which is great and a load off of me! I love it!
BFM:What is the Concept of "Dawn of the End"?
Julz: No specific concept. Basically kind of an 'end of the world feel'. I always like dark and catastrophic themes for metal. I feel that is the mental image of metal and that's just basically where I went with it. In the song Dawn of the End it basically paints that picture. Like the end of all things mankind. You can hear it in the lyrics. All mankind who did not fear will all die, troops lining the streets to kill all human kind. METAL!
BFM:Which is your favorite songs?
Julz: I'd have to say the title track is probably my favorite because it is the first song that has a slower feel and more of a Megadeth kind of vibe. I have never written anything like that before and I really like it. It leaves a lot of room to just rock out, especially live. Vanishing Point is probably my second favorite.
BFM:What is the Best & Worst things that happen on you Live show?
Julz: Best thing is when we open to a crowd who really has not heard us much before and we totally win them over. At the beginning they're standing with their arms crossed. The. They start nodding, the. Head banging and then full on pitting or just going nuts! We had a lot of that happen last year on our Soilwork tour.
Worst thing is doing something onstage and it messes you up or you trip onstage or do something stupid when you don't intend it. A couple examples would be head banding next to Clark and my hair gets caught in his guitar headstock. Being so drenched in sweat and not having time to wipe it off and it gets in my eyes mouth etc. also when I'm going nuts and head banging and i come up to the mic to sing and a big chunk of hair gets sucked into my mouth. That is probably the worst.
BFM:When did you get into Metal Music?
Julz: Probably when I was around 9 or 10. I remember buying the Black Album from Metallica and I really liked it. I thought that was as heavy as it gets. Then I remember being dragged to a thrift store with my grandparents a couple years later. I was looking a bin of old cassette tapes. I saw one labeled Metallica so I bought it. It ended up being Master of Puppets. The opening song Battery came on and that was the fist thrash metal song I heard. I was hooked from there on. Then came Slayer, Megadeth etc....
BFM:Who is your Heroes in Thrash Metal?
Julz: I'd probably have to say Testament. They are probably my favorite in Thrash and they are from the Bay Area as we'll so it's kind of a cool thing. They have a lot of influence on my writing style and Alex Scholnick is just amazing!
BFM:List your 5 best albums of all time.
Julz: I'd probably take another 5 months to get you this answer so I will just list 5 albums that were critical to me in my development in metal.
-Metallica- Master of Puppets
-Slayer- Reign in Blood
-Testament- The Legacy
-Arch Enemy- Stigmata
-Skid Row- Slave to the Grind
BFM:As we are Beer Friendly Music Group So I have to ask this question ,What's the best delicious Beer in Bay Area?
Julz: Wowwwww that would be another question that I can spend all day answering. We'll for me I like Great White from Lost Coast Brewery. It's not really in the Bay Area but close.
BFM:Okay! this is our last question, is there any chance to play in South East Asia?
Julz: Yes there is a chance. We just secured a USA booking agency for us so hopefully the rest of the world is next....!
Thanks for the interview. Cheers and Beers to all!
-Julz
HATCHET
BFM:Hi miki! how's the thrash scene in japan?
Miki:Thanks my friend Zoham for making this my interview happen! It’s really my pleasure to tell story of my organizing fest TRUE THRASH FEST and Japanese thrash scene through here! Btw,It’s ok for readers that I’m not a musician/band member!?…lol
There is still strong wave about thrash metal scene in Japan. Lots of thrash metal fans are enjoying to listen from big name bands to obscure young thrashers in Globe. At my store ROCK STAKK RECORDS,THRASH METAL releases is always being good/best seller! And some good young generation Japanese thrash metal bands are born and acting well in underground scene. Of course,myself is big fan of thrash metal since this ‘magic’ words were born! There was a tons of great thrash metal bands in Japan through ‘80s and I often went to local thrash metal gigs. Several bands like UNITED,OUTRAGE,JURASSIC JADE etc. are still quite Big in our scene. Also if you want to check Japanese underground bands,plz check my label! It’s just independent small label but I’m releasing Japanese great thrash metal albums I’m releasing! It’s RIVERGE and IMPALER JPN. Check them and bleeding from your ear!!!
BFM:What pushes you to feel like this set up. The first year you started it?
Miki:Well…it’s start was around 2008. I can’t remember well exact date/location but at the after show party of local thrash metal gig,me and several members of local thrash metal bands hanged out together and just made conversation about our dream. One of it was organizing one of best underground thrash metal festival in my country. It’s no one did before. You know,in my country,there is totally no underground scene supporting agency/organizing company. All of them are just into making money bands and only interested in BIG names. I mean I don’t hate these ‘money miser company’ act. They are professional and they should keep their life/make profit through their job. Otherwise,I have main job(owning metal store/independent label) and I can do it only by my passion for heavy metal. So,I really wanted to try to show our guts and personal energy and see what’s happen in Japanese metal scene. Fest will be only in OSAKA city(my homeground). This is one of most priority matter for organizing this thrash metal fest. I mean…this kind of metal fest in JP is held only at capital Tokyo. Audience and music fans from another area always have to pay their long way trip/staying cost to be there. So,We local side metal fans wants to say ‘come on! It’s your turn!!’ to music fans from capital. They should experience same thing like as local fans. You know what I mean!?!?:-) …and as far as I know,TTF is one and only festival that main organizer is always doing Stage dive-running inside mosh pit...uh!?!?:-)
1st TTF(TRUE THRASH FEST) 2009 was held on FEB.2009. I’d not experienced any this kind concert organizing till then and there was tons and tons of problems were happen when we were preparing details.
BFM:In the first event. How many are the audience?
Miki:All previous TTF were 2 days fest and booking same venue but day 1 and day 2 of 1st TTF 2009 were held at different venue on each day. 2-days total was just less than 550 I guess…
When preparing by audience qty,best was 2011. Since 2010,TTF is held at same venue. Max is around 350 per day I’ve heard from venue staff. Unfortunately,any previous TTF was not sold out. I wanna see ‘sold out’ sign in someday future fest…
BFM: to Finding to avenue and to get the permittion to made the gig"
Miki:About 1st TTF,I really had no idea how I can book venue. But co-organizer of FEST(It’s members of RIVERGE) made me advice and helped me a lot. We made a kind of promotion documents of fest and went and asked to venue by venue inside my city. About 2009,our act was bit slow and only could book one night at expected venue. So we need to look for venue of day 2nd. It was tough:-) Since next 2nd TTF,we can use another good venue calls ESAKA-MUSE. I’d like to say my appreciation to all staffs of ESAKA MUSE for their big help. I want to tell,current using venue ESAKA MUSE is bit north part of downtown but really comfortable location. Thousands of restraunts,large shopping mole,subway station and hotel are there within 5 min. waking!
BFM:Up from as the organizer. Have you got the opportunity to play in your own band?
Miki:Well…I played a guitar long time before and formed my own band then…mostly we played cover of famous/obscure thrash metal band at that time like CASBAH,OUTRAGE,SACRED REICH,ANTHRAX,MEGADETH,MELIAH RAGE,SACRED REICH,S.O.D. and some HxCx like G.B.H….It’s over 20 years before and now I can’t play any guitar because I’m really busy for my main job. But,I can till funny story about this. On summer of 2011,my label band RIVERGE organized one local gig calls’Cross breed device beat-ROCK STAKK 5th ANNIV. GIG’ and I appeared that stage with help members! I played cover songs of RIVERGE/N.ASSAULT/S.O.D. then. One of my friend posted that performance to youtube…really shame primitive player I was but much fun time I could spend!
BFM:What adverse events have happened in the show?
Miki:Well…how I can say…!?!? Like I’ve got bit serious injury on my shoulder by miss-dive??:-) There was several small problem was happened but mostly it’s really run smoothly. TTF is really D.I.Y. organizing and all staffs except venue staffs are our personal friends and band members. For example,my personal friend audiences of fest helped to bring band’s gears from Hotel to venue. Also some audience with international band members went to karaoke together as ater show partyJ In this point,I can say my fest TTF is most ‘warm & friendly’ thrash metal concert in Globe. As I just wrote there was small problems…it’s like small fighting,behindness of time schedule etc. but I could reach most important purpose 100% from each fest. It’s…I just wanna see all relating peoples Happy face. I mean players,all staffs,all audience and even if venue area’s people like hotel staffs…I don’t wanna any money from fest. In fact,I lost not small amount of budget from all previous fest but I don’t care!
BFM:Describe the feeling on the Violator, Warpath, Remains, Aggression and Fueled by Fire.
Miki:YEAH! But AGGRESSION(SPA?) is not appearing to my fest!...hehe…I always can remember well about each bands!...VIOLATOR(BRA) is really killer pure thrash act. Both stage/floor was insane crazy when they played! Also I remember well Poney(singer of band)’s speech from stage(MC). It was much impressed. They are not only player of thrash metal but also music fans as same as all of ‘US’! They wanted to buy Nike sneaker and we went Nike store togetherJ Really nice guys. One of my nickname ‘Miki-Mosh’ is given by them!! WARPATH is young band. It looked they were bit nervous on stage but they kicked audience’s ass well with their crunchy-tight thrash metal sound. Unfortunately,line-up change is happened after appearing my fest but I’m still contacting with them well!...AGGRESSION…maybe you mean ASSASSIN??? They also appeared on 2010. They are really legend band since 1980’s,you know!?!? They played TTF as headliner of 2010 and setlist was so killer! Most of famous classic tunes and cover of Japanese hard core legend OUTO! Robert from band can speak Japanese and he did most of MC as Japanese! It was so fun. FUELED BY FIRE was 2011. I’ve met with him at 2009 TTF & Zurich 2010 before coming over my fest. Their playing was really aggressive and fast/tight! I think FBF is one of best young generation thrasher! Between their staying in Japan,me and band went to NARA(one of oldest city in my country) for sightseeing. That was really cold/snowing date. And we all were caught really baddest traffic jam on return way…but now it’s really fun memory.
BFM:The Asahi beer brewery in Japan, then what good is it?
Miki:Ehehe…you sometimes can enjoy to drink Asahi beer??? It should be on Friday!?|m| They are really famous beer brewery in Japan. But my favorite is KIRIN. I’m Japanese but I don’t like Sake so much
Usually I’m taking BEERS from KIRIN and also a kind of UMESYU(pram liquor).
BFM:Now the band will play next year, it does not it?
Miki:You mean TTF 2013!?!?...Hmm…it’s top secret!!! Yeah. Now I’m working so hard to prepare details/fix whole line up to TTF 2013. It’s 5th anniv. Of fest and I’m always thinking it should be best fest ever through TTF history…Line up of both international/domestic bands should be really KILLER!!lol
BFM:Thanks for taking the time to answer it to me. I like everything in Japan! What would I like to read people?
Miki:Thanks again for giving me this opportunity. I was surprised to see your first contact mail…it’s really my honor. As you know,current music market situation in globe is really tough…my country is same. Sometimes I can hear from my globe friends that METAL is very big in Japan…of course scene is existing well but not so big anymore. Who could suppose this bad situation? We all music fans should not KILL our scene/market by ourself! Btw,plz visit my web/physical store if you have a time/get a chance to come my city Osaka! www.rockstakk.com Thanks again everything and Kanpai(cheers)!!!
