Dude, you're in Sweden right now! What's goin' on?
It's really cool, actually. I'm looking out the window and it's fuckin' snowing like a mofo! I like it cuz the vocal booth I'm doing my vocals in for the Dragonlord record has a window and it's so fucking cool to look out and see the water and the snow. But, the producer's not here goddammit! I'd like to sing some black metal right now!
So it sounds like you're staying busy.
Yeah, pretty good I guess. We're a little behind but we've got the drums and the guitars done. We're moving on to some atmospheric keyboards and bass.
Any idea on when that will be out?
We're looking at maybe a Fall release, maybe sooner.
There's just been some classic Testament footage released on DVD for the first time. How much participation did the band have with the Seen Between The Lines release?
We're definitely glad it's out there on the DVD format. It's something we wanted to do for a really long time. The whole VHS thing is kinda lame. There's some bonus Japanese footage on there that wasn't seen anywhere but Japan. It's cool because we didn't have it planned but we're doing a reunion tour. In May we're doing nine shows in Europe with Alex, Greg, and Louie. It came at a pretty cool time.
That's a big subject in itself. I'm stoked it's happening, but it's in Europe!
Well, Europe's got festivals and it's just a normal thing here. They're very organized with it. It's like going to Ozzfest but it's more laid back, not so controlled. They'll set up a tent out in the middle of the country and they'll have big stages. It's like going to the Renaissance Fair but with music. It's really cool. I really wish they had something like that in the states that wasn't as commercial as Ozzfest where half the bands are paying to be on it. The other half are kissing someone's ass to be on it! Over here they've got so many festivals that you could go see any cool band, really.
There are rumors flying that some killer established bands that have been around a while will be on Ozzfest this year. I've heard a reunited Testament is supposed to take part.
Hmm. I don't think so. Hmm. I've been stuck in the snow here and I just found out about an hour ago that you were going to call! I'm so lost in this music that I haven't really been keeping up with other things.
So, what happens if these nine reunion shows blow everyone away? What then?
Hopefully we're all blown away and we...I told Chuck when we were working on our new record that it's hard to get into it because we've gone through so many different members. We've had members where I've thought 'This is it!' and then someone leaves, we'll get a new member and I'll think, 'OK, this is it!' I'm at the point now, I haven't told Chuck, if we do another record I'd rather have the original lineup. Even if they just did the record and we did some festivals, that would be the way to go. That's just the way I'm feeling right now. I'm sure we can...we're actually getting ready to ...last Summer we worked with Metal Mike from Halford and he's amazing. He's really good. He would be cool to work with. I talked to Alex (Skolnick) before I left to come out here. I told him I though it was time for us to fucking get together and do a record. I didn't know what he was gonna say. He kinda went, 'Yeah, I think so!' He told me, 'I'm playing rock again!' I told him, 'Cool, man! I'm playing black metal! Let's put those two together and see what happens.' I think the original lineup is definitely the band.
If an Ozzfest situation presented itself...
Yeah, that's a very big thing to do. It would be different if we inquired about it and tried to buy into it. I wouldn't be into that. If they wanted Testament I would definitely be into that. That's just my opinion. Chuck doesn't really like to tour that much anymore. Again, it was Chuck's idea to put this reunion together! He just said..we had this long conversation and he said, (in a deep Chuck-type voice) 'I'm not touring anymore' and a week later he says 'We're going on tour.' Woah! Killer!
All nine shows are back-to-back, right?
Yeah. And we're supposed to come back over here in July. Hopefully this works out. I never thought we should all move into the same town and just focus on Testament. I don't think that would be the way to do it. Let's just meet up, get together for a couple of weeks and record something, and maybe book some big shows for a couple of weeks in the States and do Japan and Europe. It would be more special, too. It would be more fun for us rather than being on the road for two or three months. We don't really need to break ourselves anymore. We've got our cult following and we are who we are.
When will you start rehearsals for the May shows?
The middle of April. I'll be home in about three weeks, take a week off and then I'll get in there and start on the set.
What will the setlist be like?
Management keeps calling me up and asking what the set is. It's always been me first. I'll write out a list and Chuck will maybe change a couple of songs and Alex will throw 'em right back in. We're definitely be doing a lot of the older stuff. I don't think we'll be playing anything from Gathering and Low, maybe. We'll see. I definitely want to do some stuff that we haven't done in a while, like "The Ballad." That's a really cool song to do live, the way it builds up. Maybe some crazy stuff we've never played before like "Seven Days Of May" off of Souls Of Black.
It keeps sounding more and more like I need to book a flight to Europe in May!
You might wanna look into that. I mean Anthrax is doing something with Belladonna again and that's pretty cool. They even got Dan Spitz. Joey, Frankie, and everybody. That to me is Anthrax. I like John Bush's voice a lot but I actually like him better with Armored Saint. Anthrax Among The Living and Spreading The Disease are killer. You can't really replace a singer. Some bands get lucky, like Van Halen, but they went in a totally different direction.
Yeah, they tried it again with Gary Cherone and it totally bombed!
Yeah! Then you've got bands like Black Sabbath who had Dio. That was cool. To me, if Chuck didn't want to do it anymore I would not get anybody else. Chuck's such a big part of Testament. Well, unless Dio wanted to sing with me. I've got the Dio riffs, shit! I'll hook him up. I'll show him how he's supposed to do it! (laughs)
How long will your set be for the reunion gigs?
Anywhere from 50 to 60 minutes, maybe a little more. If we do some headlining shows, maybe an hour and a half. Solid Testament. The last time we played together we could not play "Over The Wall," we just couldn't thrash anymore. Maybe because of Louie, his playing kinda went downhill. I talked to him recently and he's been playing again. He's excited to play that stuff again. Metallica went through that phase. Lars could not fucking play their old shit. I saw 'em about a year ago and they played their first four records. Lars just tore it up, so maybe sometimes you just go through a rut. I'm excited to play our heavy shit again like "Over The Wall," "Alone In The Dark," "Burnt Offerings," and "New Order." With the original lineup that's going to be killer.
You've gotta be pretty fired up just going into the rehearsals.
Yeah, it's gonna be a lot of fun.
We just talked about the new DVD and I noticed there are a few "bootleg" DVDs on the Testament website. Are those from the band's archives?
Yeah, it's our personal stuff. We've got stuff from every show. We'll go, 'Remember the Country Club in '89?' That's the next one that's coming out, the Country Club in LA. That's a killer show. I just edited that before I left. What's cool about the bootlegs is we don't just get the tape and burn it onto DVD. We sit down and spend some money with an editing company and mark the edits and try to make a pretty cool menu. The Tilburg show that's up now has a slideshow and a loop of a girl screaming 'Testament!' It's cool but it gets a little annoying. If you fall asleep you'll wake up to a girl screaming 'Testament!' over and over. It's like, 'Alright, already!' It's cool for the fans. It's not retail material, but neither was the Blair Witch project. Those DVDs are our Blair Witch, bitch! (laughs)
Where do you think metal is best received? Would it be Europe because of the opportunities you have there?
Yeah, for our kind of music. Definitely. Look at the bands that we've influenced and they do really good here. Bands like Soilwork, Arch Enemy, In Flames, Meshuggah...the kind of bands that took off where we left off. They took it and made it really killer and more polished. A lot of the American bands, I think we've always been more of a European style band as far as our influences. Mercyful Fate, Thin Lizzy, Maiden, Sabbath. Those are all European bands. To answer your question, it's definitely Europe. There are at least 20 big festivals in the Summer that are equal to Ozzfest. Shit, the US only has one. Another reason that it's so easy out here is because the US has so many different types of people. There's a lot of security issues in America. Like the Sweden Rock Festival in Sweden is all Swedes. Maybe some Germans come over. They're like, 'We're all Swedish and we're all cool with each other.' (laughs) In the US there are all kinds of people. Does that make sense?
Perfect sense, totally. What would you like to say to your fans?
Thanks for all the support over these years. Metal forever! We're gonna be putting stuff out. Sorry we're taking so long but it will totally be worth the wait. We'll be thrashing titans!
Cool, man. Thanks for taking the time for this. Now you can go do whatever I took you away from.
Yeah, I'm gonna go wake up my keyboard player and get him to fucking play this part right! (laughs)
It's really cool, actually. I'm looking out the window and it's fuckin' snowing like a mofo! I like it cuz the vocal booth I'm doing my vocals in for the Dragonlord record has a window and it's so fucking cool to look out and see the water and the snow. But, the producer's not here goddammit! I'd like to sing some black metal right now!
So it sounds like you're staying busy.
Yeah, pretty good I guess. We're a little behind but we've got the drums and the guitars done. We're moving on to some atmospheric keyboards and bass.
Any idea on when that will be out?
We're looking at maybe a Fall release, maybe sooner.
There's just been some classic Testament footage released on DVD for the first time. How much participation did the band have with the Seen Between The Lines release?
We're definitely glad it's out there on the DVD format. It's something we wanted to do for a really long time. The whole VHS thing is kinda lame. There's some bonus Japanese footage on there that wasn't seen anywhere but Japan. It's cool because we didn't have it planned but we're doing a reunion tour. In May we're doing nine shows in Europe with Alex, Greg, and Louie. It came at a pretty cool time.
That's a big subject in itself. I'm stoked it's happening, but it's in Europe!
Well, Europe's got festivals and it's just a normal thing here. They're very organized with it. It's like going to Ozzfest but it's more laid back, not so controlled. They'll set up a tent out in the middle of the country and they'll have big stages. It's like going to the Renaissance Fair but with music. It's really cool. I really wish they had something like that in the states that wasn't as commercial as Ozzfest where half the bands are paying to be on it. The other half are kissing someone's ass to be on it! Over here they've got so many festivals that you could go see any cool band, really.
There are rumors flying that some killer established bands that have been around a while will be on Ozzfest this year. I've heard a reunited Testament is supposed to take part.
Hmm. I don't think so. Hmm. I've been stuck in the snow here and I just found out about an hour ago that you were going to call! I'm so lost in this music that I haven't really been keeping up with other things.
So, what happens if these nine reunion shows blow everyone away? What then?
Hopefully we're all blown away and we...I told Chuck when we were working on our new record that it's hard to get into it because we've gone through so many different members. We've had members where I've thought 'This is it!' and then someone leaves, we'll get a new member and I'll think, 'OK, this is it!' I'm at the point now, I haven't told Chuck, if we do another record I'd rather have the original lineup. Even if they just did the record and we did some festivals, that would be the way to go. That's just the way I'm feeling right now. I'm sure we can...we're actually getting ready to ...last Summer we worked with Metal Mike from Halford and he's amazing. He's really good. He would be cool to work with. I talked to Alex (Skolnick) before I left to come out here. I told him I though it was time for us to fucking get together and do a record. I didn't know what he was gonna say. He kinda went, 'Yeah, I think so!' He told me, 'I'm playing rock again!' I told him, 'Cool, man! I'm playing black metal! Let's put those two together and see what happens.' I think the original lineup is definitely the band.
If an Ozzfest situation presented itself...
Yeah, that's a very big thing to do. It would be different if we inquired about it and tried to buy into it. I wouldn't be into that. If they wanted Testament I would definitely be into that. That's just my opinion. Chuck doesn't really like to tour that much anymore. Again, it was Chuck's idea to put this reunion together! He just said..we had this long conversation and he said, (in a deep Chuck-type voice) 'I'm not touring anymore' and a week later he says 'We're going on tour.' Woah! Killer!
All nine shows are back-to-back, right?
Yeah. And we're supposed to come back over here in July. Hopefully this works out. I never thought we should all move into the same town and just focus on Testament. I don't think that would be the way to do it. Let's just meet up, get together for a couple of weeks and record something, and maybe book some big shows for a couple of weeks in the States and do Japan and Europe. It would be more special, too. It would be more fun for us rather than being on the road for two or three months. We don't really need to break ourselves anymore. We've got our cult following and we are who we are.
When will you start rehearsals for the May shows?
The middle of April. I'll be home in about three weeks, take a week off and then I'll get in there and start on the set.
What will the setlist be like?
Management keeps calling me up and asking what the set is. It's always been me first. I'll write out a list and Chuck will maybe change a couple of songs and Alex will throw 'em right back in. We're definitely be doing a lot of the older stuff. I don't think we'll be playing anything from Gathering and Low, maybe. We'll see. I definitely want to do some stuff that we haven't done in a while, like "The Ballad." That's a really cool song to do live, the way it builds up. Maybe some crazy stuff we've never played before like "Seven Days Of May" off of Souls Of Black.
It keeps sounding more and more like I need to book a flight to Europe in May!
You might wanna look into that. I mean Anthrax is doing something with Belladonna again and that's pretty cool. They even got Dan Spitz. Joey, Frankie, and everybody. That to me is Anthrax. I like John Bush's voice a lot but I actually like him better with Armored Saint. Anthrax Among The Living and Spreading The Disease are killer. You can't really replace a singer. Some bands get lucky, like Van Halen, but they went in a totally different direction.
Yeah, they tried it again with Gary Cherone and it totally bombed!
Yeah! Then you've got bands like Black Sabbath who had Dio. That was cool. To me, if Chuck didn't want to do it anymore I would not get anybody else. Chuck's such a big part of Testament. Well, unless Dio wanted to sing with me. I've got the Dio riffs, shit! I'll hook him up. I'll show him how he's supposed to do it! (laughs)
How long will your set be for the reunion gigs?
Anywhere from 50 to 60 minutes, maybe a little more. If we do some headlining shows, maybe an hour and a half. Solid Testament. The last time we played together we could not play "Over The Wall," we just couldn't thrash anymore. Maybe because of Louie, his playing kinda went downhill. I talked to him recently and he's been playing again. He's excited to play that stuff again. Metallica went through that phase. Lars could not fucking play their old shit. I saw 'em about a year ago and they played their first four records. Lars just tore it up, so maybe sometimes you just go through a rut. I'm excited to play our heavy shit again like "Over The Wall," "Alone In The Dark," "Burnt Offerings," and "New Order." With the original lineup that's going to be killer.
You've gotta be pretty fired up just going into the rehearsals.
Yeah, it's gonna be a lot of fun.
We just talked about the new DVD and I noticed there are a few "bootleg" DVDs on the Testament website. Are those from the band's archives?
Yeah, it's our personal stuff. We've got stuff from every show. We'll go, 'Remember the Country Club in '89?' That's the next one that's coming out, the Country Club in LA. That's a killer show. I just edited that before I left. What's cool about the bootlegs is we don't just get the tape and burn it onto DVD. We sit down and spend some money with an editing company and mark the edits and try to make a pretty cool menu. The Tilburg show that's up now has a slideshow and a loop of a girl screaming 'Testament!' It's cool but it gets a little annoying. If you fall asleep you'll wake up to a girl screaming 'Testament!' over and over. It's like, 'Alright, already!' It's cool for the fans. It's not retail material, but neither was the Blair Witch project. Those DVDs are our Blair Witch, bitch! (laughs)
Where do you think metal is best received? Would it be Europe because of the opportunities you have there?
Yeah, for our kind of music. Definitely. Look at the bands that we've influenced and they do really good here. Bands like Soilwork, Arch Enemy, In Flames, Meshuggah...the kind of bands that took off where we left off. They took it and made it really killer and more polished. A lot of the American bands, I think we've always been more of a European style band as far as our influences. Mercyful Fate, Thin Lizzy, Maiden, Sabbath. Those are all European bands. To answer your question, it's definitely Europe. There are at least 20 big festivals in the Summer that are equal to Ozzfest. Shit, the US only has one. Another reason that it's so easy out here is because the US has so many different types of people. There's a lot of security issues in America. Like the Sweden Rock Festival in Sweden is all Swedes. Maybe some Germans come over. They're like, 'We're all Swedish and we're all cool with each other.' (laughs) In the US there are all kinds of people. Does that make sense?
Perfect sense, totally. What would you like to say to your fans?
Thanks for all the support over these years. Metal forever! We're gonna be putting stuff out. Sorry we're taking so long but it will totally be worth the wait. We'll be thrashing titans!
Cool, man. Thanks for taking the time for this. Now you can go do whatever I took you away from.
Yeah, I'm gonna go wake up my keyboard player and get him to fucking play this part right! (laughs)
