BraveWords caught up with legendary Flotsam And Jetsam singer Eric “A.K.” Knutson on the recent 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise and on the day of his 60th birthday, we wanted to run an excerpt from the chat that will run in the coming days. Aside from promoting their new album, I Am The Weapon, the band has been focusing their live shows around their first two classic albums, Doomsday For The Deceiver and No Place For Disgrace, but that may change the treasured vocalist says.
“It’s going to be our last time doing the old stuff for a while,” A.K. says. “We didn’t wanna do it, but promoters are paying extra so…”.
BraveWords: How do those band conversations go when you’re discussing setlists, and quibbling. You’re not being forced to play this stuff, right?
A.K. Knutson: “Steve (Conley) is kind of taking control over manning stuff, and it’s working out really good for us. A few festivals ago we really didn’t wanna do it. We were in the middle of writing and somebody said they wanted us to go to Wacken. Steve’s like, ‘No, we’re not gonna do it’. And they said, ‘Well here’s the offer – it pays for flights, it pays for everything, and you get to go to Wacken’. And he’s like, ‘No, not if we’re not going to be making any money, no’. He said the price is (whatever he told them) and they came back a day later and said, ‘Ok’. So, I guess we’re going! So then the next festival, the same thing. He’s like, ‘They offered us what? No, the price is twice that’. And then they were like, ‘Ok’. Ok, I guess we’ll go then.”
BraveWords: That must be the same thing that happened with Summer Breeze Brazil last April, because that was kind of out of the blue too, right?
A.K. Knutson: “Same thing. We didn’t really wanna do it – we were in the middle of other stuff, and we gave them a ridiculous price and they said, ‘Great, but we want a special set. We want an old school set’. They did the same thing with the boat. We gave them a price higher than they wanted to pay, and they said, ‘All right, but you’re doing a special set’. And we were like, ‘Great. Cool’. It’s not that special. We do the old stuff all the time, you know?”
BraveWords: Does it get tiring?
A.K. Knutson: “The old stuff’s getting tiring. It’s really hard for me to do. I mean I was 18, 19 years old when I sang that stuff in the studio. I’m 60 now. It’s not easy. I really can’t do the screams very well. I gotta eat the microphone to get them to come out, you know? I can still sing everything the same, it’s just a lot more work now. It used to be so easy. I could be drunk and high and partied out and still sing great. Now I have to take care of myself. I have to try really hard.”
Stay tuned for the full feature in the coming days.
The post FLOTSAM AND JETSAM Singer A.K. – “The Old Stuff’s Getting Tiring And It’s Hard For Me To Do; I Mean I Was 18, 19 Years Old When I Sang That Stuff In The Studio” appeared first on BraveWords - Where Music Lives.
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“It’s going to be our last time doing the old stuff for a while,” A.K. says. “We didn’t wanna do it, but promoters are paying extra so…”.
BraveWords: How do those band conversations go when you’re discussing setlists, and quibbling. You’re not being forced to play this stuff, right?
A.K. Knutson: “Steve (Conley) is kind of taking control over manning stuff, and it’s working out really good for us. A few festivals ago we really didn’t wanna do it. We were in the middle of writing and somebody said they wanted us to go to Wacken. Steve’s like, ‘No, we’re not gonna do it’. And they said, ‘Well here’s the offer – it pays for flights, it pays for everything, and you get to go to Wacken’. And he’s like, ‘No, not if we’re not going to be making any money, no’. He said the price is (whatever he told them) and they came back a day later and said, ‘Ok’. So, I guess we’re going! So then the next festival, the same thing. He’s like, ‘They offered us what? No, the price is twice that’. And then they were like, ‘Ok’. Ok, I guess we’ll go then.”
BraveWords: That must be the same thing that happened with Summer Breeze Brazil last April, because that was kind of out of the blue too, right?
A.K. Knutson: “Same thing. We didn’t really wanna do it – we were in the middle of other stuff, and we gave them a ridiculous price and they said, ‘Great, but we want a special set. We want an old school set’. They did the same thing with the boat. We gave them a price higher than they wanted to pay, and they said, ‘All right, but you’re doing a special set’. And we were like, ‘Great. Cool’. It’s not that special. We do the old stuff all the time, you know?”
BraveWords: Does it get tiring?
A.K. Knutson: “The old stuff’s getting tiring. It’s really hard for me to do. I mean I was 18, 19 years old when I sang that stuff in the studio. I’m 60 now. It’s not easy. I really can’t do the screams very well. I gotta eat the microphone to get them to come out, you know? I can still sing everything the same, it’s just a lot more work now. It used to be so easy. I could be drunk and high and partied out and still sing great. Now I have to take care of myself. I have to try really hard.”
Stay tuned for the full feature in the coming days.
The post FLOTSAM AND JETSAM Singer A.K. – “The Old Stuff’s Getting Tiring And It’s Hard For Me To Do; I Mean I Was 18, 19 Years Old When I Sang That Stuff In The Studio” appeared first on BraveWords - Where Music Lives.
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