Pretty long but as usual it has some funny ass shit in it. Buy their new stuff they have coming out. It's killer.
PC Deathsquad
Interview by Kirby Unrest
Give me the lowdown on PCDS, who all is involved, when/where you started and what member is most likely to loosen or eliminate the Japanese stranglehold on competitive hot dog consumption?
PCDS is a Thrash Entertainment Juggurnaut (spelling? sorry Ezec) comprised of myself JLJ on Vocals, Jonny Nevada on drums, Danno Thrashteenez, Thrash Legend Anthony Guzman on guitar and Jesse Skelarot Jensen busting sick leads and providing the talent portion of our band.
We started like all new bands nowadays...on the internet. Me and Nevada were trading n00dz back and forth and decided we should put together a sick ass Thrash Band that had the speed value of Pitboss 2000 with the comedy aspect of Nevada's band Bombthreat. 10 songs and 2 clean HIV tests later the band was officially formed in Hagerstown Maryland and reigned there until Nevada became tired of rednecks and the bad weather and move his happy ass to California.
In my dreams I would imagine I would crush Kobyiashi but that fool is beyond sick, 53 dogs in 12 minutes...I had a brautwurst and a plate of nachos on the 4th of July and I was ready to hurl like a teenage girl trying to fit into her prom dress. Jesse is part Japanese, he may have a chance if indeed the success in competitive eating is race based or maybe Danno just because hes squirly and always down to ill shit. Guzman can only win competitive beer drinking contests and Nevada is too busy making homemade Gwar costumes in his home office (not at all kidding here folks).
I know you've had a few line up changes. How have these events thrown a wrench in your thrash onslaught?
One you thing you have to know about being in a band is that like anything, times and people change. No one is ever on time to practice, no one ever has money and our band pretty much spends practice playing half Metallica and Slayer tunes while waiting for the final member to show. Usually its me because Im a prima donna and as the singer/awesome front man I can do what I want. So far we have lost a drummer and a bassist but were crazy fortunate to have Nevada move from guitar to drums and Danno who actually filmed our DVD took over for Justin who had to leave for personal reasons. CTP our hype man wigger moved to New York to do comedy and his edge exploded when he was hanging with the SF Giants and his cousin who is a reliever for them and JayZ offered him a glass of Cristal...Truuue story. If youre going to edgebreak...go out big!
So, right now you have "Downsized" out, which features your latest stuff and the out of print album, "Shit Talking and Mayhem." When are you planning to record the follow up and what is the tentative release date? I heard you will be working with Vic DiCara (108, Beyond) at Static Void Again.
We actually hit the studio with Vic June 24th and 25th and were able to knock out 8 tracks. His recording skills have greatly increased and I think our musical abilities have improved somewhat so it was good progression as far as our music goes. You can hear the difference from Shit Talking and Mayhem to Downsized to this latest round of songs that we have kind of abandoned some of the more hardcore parts for a combination of east coast, bay area and German Thrash. Vic aside from his knowledge of music, recording, bands, styles etc is the consumate professional and knows how to mold songs and improve bands and gives great insight and ideas. We are kind of an oddball collection of dudes and we have our own language, lingo, slogans, inside jokes and within two days you wouldve thought he was a member of the band.
The songs we recorded are going to be released in a split 7" PC Deathsquad/Take Offense "The battle of Chula Vista in the Defense of Ignorance", The PC Deathsquad/ VPR split 7" in the Conformist Records Covers series, 1 song on Hatecore Records/Ruktion Records USA Vs England Comp and the remainder will be released as a Free EP to give out to locals here in SD. You can hear two songs at www.myspace.com/pcdeathsquadthrash we have "RAGEONOMICS" and "ITS A RAGER".
How do you feel you guys have changed since the original material? PCDS is definitely pretty much straight up thrash, but you also got different elements from hardcore, punk and metal working there way in. Was that something you had intended or just came out when you starting playing?
Alot of that has to do with the writing in the band, originally it was Nevada and Justin writing the music and it was definitely more of a hardcore vibe, when they moved out here I got into the writing mix and my style is more Crossover but all my riffs are real upbeat and happy sounding. Guzman added more of a punk feel mixed with Megadeth and Jesse now is writing stuff that sometimes we have trouble playing. Itll probably get to the point where Jesse will show up with full songs, we will tweak them a bit, arrange some riffs and have new material. I think our hardcore roots will show through because the songs are all about 1:30 in length and it normally follows the verse chorus verse chorus breakdown theme but with the dive bombs solos, sick riffage we are starting to see some kids into us who are straight up metal and thats kind of awesome because thats what crossover is all about.
PCDS also has a DVD out, "Some Kind Of Asshole." Did you intend do produce a DVD or was there just that much footage of shows and whatnot to work with? Who was responsible for putting the DVD together? Any chance of another one hitting the streets anytime soon?
I wanted to put the DVD together to give people a glimpse of what the band is really about and what that breaks down to is just pretty much crap talking on each other. We dont take much seriously and we definitely dont take ourselves seriously and our sole goal as a band is to entertain. We wanted to show some live footage, a brief history, comedy sets from me and CTP and I really can think of no other reason why a band puts out a DVD other than ego. Not so much in the "I think Im so great" ego but more in the "I can make a better band DVD than so and so" Way before the internet sometimes the only glimpse into the inner workings of a band or the fun of touring or live shows was watching the VHS tapes bands would put out. Anthrax had behind the scenes stuff on Oedivnikcufecin and I thought that was awesome, it made them into normal people, dudes you would want to hang out with , I guess I want people who are into us but will never get to meet us or see us play a good idea of what morons we are.
The DVD was self shot, self edited, self released. Danno did all the grunt work and used up a bazillion gigs on his harddrive and me and Nevada ate pizza and sat behind him and told him our stupid ideas. I think between the 3 of us we put like 270 hours into it. Im not sure if we will do another full DVD but we will always try to release atleast 2 videos a year for kids to watch on the internet and be entertained by. I dont have any delusions of grandeur and its not like they will ever see the light of day on MTV2 but if I can put a smile on someones face and entertain them thats why we do it.
Speaking of videos, your one for "Fuck Metallica" has definitely reached outside the confines of just thrash and hardcore kids. I'm sure being on YouTube and other free video sites, folks searching for Metallica have either becoming really enraged or like a reasonable and logical individual with a sense of humor, laughed their ass off. Have you got any hatemail about it from Metallica fans and/or the band themselves? They seem to go after everyone these days, so why not a small thrash band from San Diego?
Wow actually the only negative things we get are from Metallica Fans who got into the band after The Black Album...this makes them posers and invalidates their opinions. I would probably have a coronary if I got a cease and desist letter from Metallica just because it would validate the effort that we made in making the song and the video.
PCDS loves Metallica but only until 1988, there is even a split in the band because some of them like And Justice where as some of us say the band died with Cliff. I think any kind of negative publicity would only serve to fuel the band and would bring more negative attention to the truth...which in my opinion is the following: Cliff Burton came upon a scene that involved two of his bandmates engaged in some odd sexual activity. Of course not the one who looks like the Cowardly Lion shaved with a cheese grater...but more so the guy with the lisp and Rhea Pearlman's haircut and the Tennis player who never shuts up. Completely pissed that his thrash band was now moving more towards Accept and less towards Diamond Head he put his foot down. They had a band meeting said things were cool and a day later...bammo the bus falls on him and no one else is injured. Band finds his tab book with like 5 good songs and spreads the riffs over And Justice and then having run out of solid thrash..sold their souls to the devil and released a slew of garbage selling their "Metal" to the VH1 fueled masses. Fact, the ghost of Cliff Burton suppressed all bass tracks on And Justice for All.
Whose house was the "Fuck Metallica" video done at anyways? Looks like a pretty nice neighborhood. Did anyone call the cops?
Our boy Vince told his mom his friends were going to shoot a small movie about a Christian kid who has a party in his backyard. I had to pay like $80 to get them to leave the house and go to brunch and a movie. We rolled in all of our friends, filmed for two hours, played live, kids went off we shot off fireworks threw shit in the pool and then cleaned up afterwards....except for 1 Mickeys Big Mouth Bottle cap which his Mom found immediately after coming home and he got in trouble. But it was awesome, no cops, no fights, no injuries, no damage, the only time it was weird is when we were filming running down the street.
Are you going to be shooting any other videos?
July 14th we will be filming in San Diego for the song "Hella Sick". Its kind of a batman meets DRI theme...ok that made no sense.
Do you ever plan to tour outside of San Diego/Southern California or maybe do some fests?
If we go anywhere itll be to Europe but thats pretty much it. I really dont want to drive all our gear around and miss work for the chance of making $50 playing a show when in reality if the 5 of us miss work, pay for gas and go we end up losing about $1000 a day that we are on the road. I guess if it made financial sense to do it, I would be into it, but at 35 years old I care more my place to live, cars, bills and fiancee than traveling to play out (God that was madd poserish) Im not really a fan of fests, I think Lollapalooza and Warped Tour kind of soured me on it, I never thought sitting around all day somewhere waiting to play was any fun. Sure I could see other bands but all the bands I want to see are all in their 40s and 50s or retired. Im fat and jaded its a sad fact.
There definitely has been some serious thrash revival going on; so to help set the youngbloods straight, why don't you go ahead and give a list of mandatory records kids need to pick up before they even start cutting the sleeves of their jean jacket:
Ok lets be honest these kids are going to download these records on soulseek not buy them. But for their downloading pleasure I would say download the following bands catalogues Sodom, Kreator, Razor, Vio-lence, Testament, Forbidden, Exodus, Overkill, Nuclear Assault, Voivod, DRI, Carnivore and Agnostic Fronts "Cause for Alarm". Once you have those down you can get into Attitude Adjustment, Exhorder, Xentrix, Sentinel Beast and Terrorizer. Now when it comes to vests, get blue denim because thats Thrash...Black vests are for Crusties and people who dont shower...which is redundant.
What covers does PCDS perform on record or live?
On the record we did Army by Raw Power, Metal Thrashing Mad by Anthrax and SPG by The Exploited. Live we have down Cromags, Black Flag, The Misfits, The Ramones and currently we are discussing a DRI cover.
Far as I've seen, the goal of PCDS is to have fun, without politics, regrets or excuses, a motto and mission I'm sure a lot of kids can get behind. Would you agree?
Its for kids who are not looking for a movement but are looking for an escape. Life sucks, work sucks, school sucks, your girl sucks, etc etc but those few times a month you can hang with your friends, act the fool, stagedive, circlepit and act ignorant allow them to chill and have some fun. They get to participate, its not just listening or viewing on the net, they are as vital as the bands themselves. I think alot of my jaded visions of things is that I dont share in the scene aspect of things or the stance for things or against things I just want to have fun. Eat what you want, drink what you want, smoke what you want, love and hate whoever, I dont care. I only hate fashionxcore kids and anyone who puts fashion above substance or looks above integrity but that would be my only real topic I like to talk about. Its easy though, you point em out, you call em posers, kids look they realize they laugh and we rage and the fashionxcore kids go out and practice moshing in the parking lot, taking myspace photos with brass knuckles and having online crews with bloodsplattered logos and sick merch.
Quite a few are most of you personally due to your involvement with OLC and Pitboss 2000, both of which were also known as "hardcore entertainment." With PCDS, it seems the only entertainment aspect is still there, but nowhere near the controversy level as with the aforementioned bands. I mean, I'm sure there are fruitcakes out there who will get offended by anything you say/do, but overall, I can't say I haven't seen any email petitions circulating around this time, because we all know there is nothing that defines direct action more than getting an email out there with lots of emoticons and bold fonts to express true outrage. Any thoughts?
Awesome question! I cant agree more, nowadays the only bold font emails are from the people in my office who are angry about something. I think I have a long enough track record to know that people who hate me will always hate me and people who like me will always like me. Some people are haters and Ive never met em but the opposite is true, people think Im chill and have never met me. All I can do is just hang out and do my thing. I have an odd sense of humor and I like to follow the treat others as you like to be treated rule. I can take any kind of ribbing, jokes, slams etc so I like to dish out as well. PCDS is like minded in this as well, we hate on each other so hard sometimes I think people will quit the band but we end up just laughing. My pet peeve would be I hate when people spread lies or what they heard that can get a bit old but oh well without the haters I would just be some guy with a job playing softball. In fact anyone who hates me should be kicking themselves because they created this band, they created PB2K, they created OLC's "American Justice". If you want to kill someone who craves attention...ignore them, it always works. PCDS is here to thrash, hate posers and carry the crossover banner.
As a longtime edgeman, what are your feelings on the current state of straight edge?
Its terrible. Kids take things too far. Do I wish smoking cigarettes will kill people? no Do I want to kill my local drug dealer? no I just know that drinking and drugs just arent for me. I cant really function on them and Ive proven in the past Im not a responsible adult when Im intoxicated. I have no off button. For food, tattoos, talking shit, thrash, you name it. As I get older I stop caring about the edge as a movement, I try to focus more on my friends who are still edge. Sometimes we drift apart we still have that commonality. We live in different parts of the world, have different schedules, friends, interests etc I have edge friends who hate the way I think about straight edge but I just dont have the time to babysit the edge anymore. It will continue to devolve into a joke and someday kids will walk through the Smithsonian and look at a display of kids with X's on their hands and say "there was a time when kids were pretty angry about stupid shit".
I remember seeing you in Through It All and Point Of Recognition when you definitely seemed to be strongly ground in the "Born Again Christian" set, albeit with the usual JLJ framework and tendencies. Do you still consider yourself to be Christian and if not, what changed for you?
In the sense that I believe Jesus died for the sins of mankind and that the power of prayer and faith can work miracles in peoples lives. Yes Ive seen it work and have a strong faith. Again like straight edge sometimes people can misuse their religious beliefs as well. There are great ways to share without condemning and I think music in general is big enough for every type of belief set. There are always those kids who hate religion and then the kids who only like music about religion, there has to be a middle ground. I look at music as entertainment and I think bands can be entertaining while sharing Satanism or Christianity, Hedonism or Purity, its really in how they present it. Everyones truth is out there and when they find it, theyll stop looking.
Being a native Californian, how have things been going now that you are back down south? Has SD treated PCDS well?
San Diego is an awesome place to live. So many different cultures and things to do and food and neighborhoods, from the madd rich to the way sketchy. The only downside is that its so damn expensive, sometimes I consider moving to Alabama or Georgia and the $1300 a month I pay for a 2 bedroom apartment would get me a 5 bedroom house with a pool and land but then again you are living with rednecks so thats the trade off. PCDS has managed to do well because we have alot of friends of the band. We like to hang out with kids away from shows and with that when we play its basically to our friends. The new kids who come out get to hang out and we meet them and the group just grows and grows. We know they are there to have fun and we love to have fun and thats the common thread, kids as young as 13 have seen us we have guys in their 40s come watch us. Its an odd mix but its so great to watch everyone hang out and act ignorant.
Are you doing stand up at the Comedy Store in La Jolla anymore?
Thank God no, my only dudes who got me into there to get stagetime moved to New York and the new managers were running things a bit different. Right about that same time, PCDS started to pick up so my itch to perform is taken care of and Im not really missing anything. I do miss seeing famous guys work stuff out and try new shit and bomb and learn from them, thats the downside from being out of the game.
So, I read in your bio that you saw Queensyrche on the Empire tour twice. Be honest; was it more due to the raging hard-on you got when that bassline from "Jet City Woman" hits or the way that "Silent Lucidity" made your inner child cry out in anguish?
I dont know where you managed to find it, but please mail my diary back to my house please. Queensryche actually ended their set with Silent Lucidity and it was a real buzzkill. Going from ragers like Queen of the Ryche to The eyes of a stranger to ending with a ballad, its like KISS ending with Beth, what a waste. I have a tribal tattoo on my leg, in 93 when I got it, I just liked the shape of it and lets be honest in 93 if you were metal you got tribal tattoos, looking back its very close to the Queensryche logo, Ive been called out on it from time to time and I always deny but I think its time to come out of the Ryche closet and admit my love of all things Geoff Tate.
How goes the Kiss collection? Any new, great finds?
I wish, all my money is going to pay for this wedding. I thought to myself, some friends, some relatives, some food, some drinks, hangout, say I do, head out for the honeymoon no problem. Meanwhile that shit is costing HELLA MONEY and I have zero funds right for the KISS collection, I know though that I can go to Spencers and buy that shit at 75% off so thats the only upside of not having something right away. Im going to reward myself with a Paul Stanley Portrait tattoo I think thatll be my KISS purchase for 2006.
Your reign of terror on messageboards worldwide is noteworthy. Anything you'd like to say to any particular parties out there, especially now that you have a much larger forum with which to do so?
I have some statements to make.
Straight edge really is about Golf.
Milk was a bad choice.
The guys in Nothing Personal went on to form Victim and Iron Boots, no bands will be better than these 3 bands.
Controversial statements, statements to elicit drama, beef, E B33f , to make gentlemen in large groups to become enraged. At 35 years old I really only hate posers. In fact everyone should hate posers. During the thrash heyday we hated the Glam rockers, funny how now in round 2 of Thrash we hate the fashionxcore kids. Wearing makeup, prancing around on stage, gender bending, vogueing etc SHUT IT DOWN Youre not David Bowie, youre not ironic, youre not fooling anyone, your scene will crumble from underneath you and youll crawl back with your mothball ridden cammo shorts and hoodie and we will tell you to fuck yourself. Once you go fruitcake , there is no going back.
Best rumor you've ever heard about yourself?
Some kid said the following "Dude you live in San Diego?, I heard you moved to Idaho and opened up a golf course and tattoo parlor" Just knowing that when Im not around people would have so little to do that my name or my existence or anything about me would come up in conversation is really weird. There is so much on television to even have time to worry about me doing anything. They should watch Sebastian Bach sell the band name SAVAGE ANIMAL to his bandmates on VH1...on repeat...Ive done it its quality.
Favorite joke to tell to everyone currently?
I have my 4 favorite sicko stories which one involves smelling a toilet seat after a girls soccer tournament and beating off in a public restroom, the other is a stripper flinging a piece of poo on my lip and me getting a hard on, beating off in my buddies bathroom with a pair of his girls used pantyhose tied around my head and going down on a fat girl so fat I couldnt see her face while I was doing it. Introduce yourself sometime Ill tell em.
Recommended reading/viewing/etc?
Metal: A Headbangers Journey!!!!!!!!!!! Awesome DVD about metal. For reading I would say Rule 1 Investing. Its about making money in the stock market. You can read my rants at www.pcdeathsquad.com if you like ignorant politically incorrect stuff.
Last words/shout outs?
By far in my career these are the best questions Ive ever fielded and a vacation from the other interviews I end up doing which are typical Euro interview questions where I have to give comments about high kick mosh styles, Rick Ta Lifes Merch Table, why I hate vegans and my thoughts of Sportswear. Thank you for this opportunity to rant about shit and if kids have time add us on myspace at www.myspace.com/pcdeathsquadthrash or at www.pcdeathsquad.com . LISTEN TO DRI !!!!!!!!!! Oh yeah if youre a label who needs a loud mouth ignorant thrash band who refuses to tour hit us up!!
PC Deathsquad
Interview by Kirby Unrest
Give me the lowdown on PCDS, who all is involved, when/where you started and what member is most likely to loosen or eliminate the Japanese stranglehold on competitive hot dog consumption?
PCDS is a Thrash Entertainment Juggurnaut (spelling? sorry Ezec) comprised of myself JLJ on Vocals, Jonny Nevada on drums, Danno Thrashteenez, Thrash Legend Anthony Guzman on guitar and Jesse Skelarot Jensen busting sick leads and providing the talent portion of our band.
We started like all new bands nowadays...on the internet. Me and Nevada were trading n00dz back and forth and decided we should put together a sick ass Thrash Band that had the speed value of Pitboss 2000 with the comedy aspect of Nevada's band Bombthreat. 10 songs and 2 clean HIV tests later the band was officially formed in Hagerstown Maryland and reigned there until Nevada became tired of rednecks and the bad weather and move his happy ass to California.
In my dreams I would imagine I would crush Kobyiashi but that fool is beyond sick, 53 dogs in 12 minutes...I had a brautwurst and a plate of nachos on the 4th of July and I was ready to hurl like a teenage girl trying to fit into her prom dress. Jesse is part Japanese, he may have a chance if indeed the success in competitive eating is race based or maybe Danno just because hes squirly and always down to ill shit. Guzman can only win competitive beer drinking contests and Nevada is too busy making homemade Gwar costumes in his home office (not at all kidding here folks).
I know you've had a few line up changes. How have these events thrown a wrench in your thrash onslaught?
One you thing you have to know about being in a band is that like anything, times and people change. No one is ever on time to practice, no one ever has money and our band pretty much spends practice playing half Metallica and Slayer tunes while waiting for the final member to show. Usually its me because Im a prima donna and as the singer/awesome front man I can do what I want. So far we have lost a drummer and a bassist but were crazy fortunate to have Nevada move from guitar to drums and Danno who actually filmed our DVD took over for Justin who had to leave for personal reasons. CTP our hype man wigger moved to New York to do comedy and his edge exploded when he was hanging with the SF Giants and his cousin who is a reliever for them and JayZ offered him a glass of Cristal...Truuue story. If youre going to edgebreak...go out big!
So, right now you have "Downsized" out, which features your latest stuff and the out of print album, "Shit Talking and Mayhem." When are you planning to record the follow up and what is the tentative release date? I heard you will be working with Vic DiCara (108, Beyond) at Static Void Again.
We actually hit the studio with Vic June 24th and 25th and were able to knock out 8 tracks. His recording skills have greatly increased and I think our musical abilities have improved somewhat so it was good progression as far as our music goes. You can hear the difference from Shit Talking and Mayhem to Downsized to this latest round of songs that we have kind of abandoned some of the more hardcore parts for a combination of east coast, bay area and German Thrash. Vic aside from his knowledge of music, recording, bands, styles etc is the consumate professional and knows how to mold songs and improve bands and gives great insight and ideas. We are kind of an oddball collection of dudes and we have our own language, lingo, slogans, inside jokes and within two days you wouldve thought he was a member of the band.
The songs we recorded are going to be released in a split 7" PC Deathsquad/Take Offense "The battle of Chula Vista in the Defense of Ignorance", The PC Deathsquad/ VPR split 7" in the Conformist Records Covers series, 1 song on Hatecore Records/Ruktion Records USA Vs England Comp and the remainder will be released as a Free EP to give out to locals here in SD. You can hear two songs at www.myspace.com/pcdeathsquadthrash we have "RAGEONOMICS" and "ITS A RAGER".
How do you feel you guys have changed since the original material? PCDS is definitely pretty much straight up thrash, but you also got different elements from hardcore, punk and metal working there way in. Was that something you had intended or just came out when you starting playing?
Alot of that has to do with the writing in the band, originally it was Nevada and Justin writing the music and it was definitely more of a hardcore vibe, when they moved out here I got into the writing mix and my style is more Crossover but all my riffs are real upbeat and happy sounding. Guzman added more of a punk feel mixed with Megadeth and Jesse now is writing stuff that sometimes we have trouble playing. Itll probably get to the point where Jesse will show up with full songs, we will tweak them a bit, arrange some riffs and have new material. I think our hardcore roots will show through because the songs are all about 1:30 in length and it normally follows the verse chorus verse chorus breakdown theme but with the dive bombs solos, sick riffage we are starting to see some kids into us who are straight up metal and thats kind of awesome because thats what crossover is all about.
PCDS also has a DVD out, "Some Kind Of Asshole." Did you intend do produce a DVD or was there just that much footage of shows and whatnot to work with? Who was responsible for putting the DVD together? Any chance of another one hitting the streets anytime soon?
I wanted to put the DVD together to give people a glimpse of what the band is really about and what that breaks down to is just pretty much crap talking on each other. We dont take much seriously and we definitely dont take ourselves seriously and our sole goal as a band is to entertain. We wanted to show some live footage, a brief history, comedy sets from me and CTP and I really can think of no other reason why a band puts out a DVD other than ego. Not so much in the "I think Im so great" ego but more in the "I can make a better band DVD than so and so" Way before the internet sometimes the only glimpse into the inner workings of a band or the fun of touring or live shows was watching the VHS tapes bands would put out. Anthrax had behind the scenes stuff on Oedivnikcufecin and I thought that was awesome, it made them into normal people, dudes you would want to hang out with , I guess I want people who are into us but will never get to meet us or see us play a good idea of what morons we are.
The DVD was self shot, self edited, self released. Danno did all the grunt work and used up a bazillion gigs on his harddrive and me and Nevada ate pizza and sat behind him and told him our stupid ideas. I think between the 3 of us we put like 270 hours into it. Im not sure if we will do another full DVD but we will always try to release atleast 2 videos a year for kids to watch on the internet and be entertained by. I dont have any delusions of grandeur and its not like they will ever see the light of day on MTV2 but if I can put a smile on someones face and entertain them thats why we do it.
Speaking of videos, your one for "Fuck Metallica" has definitely reached outside the confines of just thrash and hardcore kids. I'm sure being on YouTube and other free video sites, folks searching for Metallica have either becoming really enraged or like a reasonable and logical individual with a sense of humor, laughed their ass off. Have you got any hatemail about it from Metallica fans and/or the band themselves? They seem to go after everyone these days, so why not a small thrash band from San Diego?
Wow actually the only negative things we get are from Metallica Fans who got into the band after The Black Album...this makes them posers and invalidates their opinions. I would probably have a coronary if I got a cease and desist letter from Metallica just because it would validate the effort that we made in making the song and the video.
PCDS loves Metallica but only until 1988, there is even a split in the band because some of them like And Justice where as some of us say the band died with Cliff. I think any kind of negative publicity would only serve to fuel the band and would bring more negative attention to the truth...which in my opinion is the following: Cliff Burton came upon a scene that involved two of his bandmates engaged in some odd sexual activity. Of course not the one who looks like the Cowardly Lion shaved with a cheese grater...but more so the guy with the lisp and Rhea Pearlman's haircut and the Tennis player who never shuts up. Completely pissed that his thrash band was now moving more towards Accept and less towards Diamond Head he put his foot down. They had a band meeting said things were cool and a day later...bammo the bus falls on him and no one else is injured. Band finds his tab book with like 5 good songs and spreads the riffs over And Justice and then having run out of solid thrash..sold their souls to the devil and released a slew of garbage selling their "Metal" to the VH1 fueled masses. Fact, the ghost of Cliff Burton suppressed all bass tracks on And Justice for All.
Whose house was the "Fuck Metallica" video done at anyways? Looks like a pretty nice neighborhood. Did anyone call the cops?
Our boy Vince told his mom his friends were going to shoot a small movie about a Christian kid who has a party in his backyard. I had to pay like $80 to get them to leave the house and go to brunch and a movie. We rolled in all of our friends, filmed for two hours, played live, kids went off we shot off fireworks threw shit in the pool and then cleaned up afterwards....except for 1 Mickeys Big Mouth Bottle cap which his Mom found immediately after coming home and he got in trouble. But it was awesome, no cops, no fights, no injuries, no damage, the only time it was weird is when we were filming running down the street.
Are you going to be shooting any other videos?
July 14th we will be filming in San Diego for the song "Hella Sick". Its kind of a batman meets DRI theme...ok that made no sense.
Do you ever plan to tour outside of San Diego/Southern California or maybe do some fests?
If we go anywhere itll be to Europe but thats pretty much it. I really dont want to drive all our gear around and miss work for the chance of making $50 playing a show when in reality if the 5 of us miss work, pay for gas and go we end up losing about $1000 a day that we are on the road. I guess if it made financial sense to do it, I would be into it, but at 35 years old I care more my place to live, cars, bills and fiancee than traveling to play out (God that was madd poserish) Im not really a fan of fests, I think Lollapalooza and Warped Tour kind of soured me on it, I never thought sitting around all day somewhere waiting to play was any fun. Sure I could see other bands but all the bands I want to see are all in their 40s and 50s or retired. Im fat and jaded its a sad fact.
There definitely has been some serious thrash revival going on; so to help set the youngbloods straight, why don't you go ahead and give a list of mandatory records kids need to pick up before they even start cutting the sleeves of their jean jacket:
Ok lets be honest these kids are going to download these records on soulseek not buy them. But for their downloading pleasure I would say download the following bands catalogues Sodom, Kreator, Razor, Vio-lence, Testament, Forbidden, Exodus, Overkill, Nuclear Assault, Voivod, DRI, Carnivore and Agnostic Fronts "Cause for Alarm". Once you have those down you can get into Attitude Adjustment, Exhorder, Xentrix, Sentinel Beast and Terrorizer. Now when it comes to vests, get blue denim because thats Thrash...Black vests are for Crusties and people who dont shower...which is redundant.
What covers does PCDS perform on record or live?
On the record we did Army by Raw Power, Metal Thrashing Mad by Anthrax and SPG by The Exploited. Live we have down Cromags, Black Flag, The Misfits, The Ramones and currently we are discussing a DRI cover.
Far as I've seen, the goal of PCDS is to have fun, without politics, regrets or excuses, a motto and mission I'm sure a lot of kids can get behind. Would you agree?
Its for kids who are not looking for a movement but are looking for an escape. Life sucks, work sucks, school sucks, your girl sucks, etc etc but those few times a month you can hang with your friends, act the fool, stagedive, circlepit and act ignorant allow them to chill and have some fun. They get to participate, its not just listening or viewing on the net, they are as vital as the bands themselves. I think alot of my jaded visions of things is that I dont share in the scene aspect of things or the stance for things or against things I just want to have fun. Eat what you want, drink what you want, smoke what you want, love and hate whoever, I dont care. I only hate fashionxcore kids and anyone who puts fashion above substance or looks above integrity but that would be my only real topic I like to talk about. Its easy though, you point em out, you call em posers, kids look they realize they laugh and we rage and the fashionxcore kids go out and practice moshing in the parking lot, taking myspace photos with brass knuckles and having online crews with bloodsplattered logos and sick merch.
Quite a few are most of you personally due to your involvement with OLC and Pitboss 2000, both of which were also known as "hardcore entertainment." With PCDS, it seems the only entertainment aspect is still there, but nowhere near the controversy level as with the aforementioned bands. I mean, I'm sure there are fruitcakes out there who will get offended by anything you say/do, but overall, I can't say I haven't seen any email petitions circulating around this time, because we all know there is nothing that defines direct action more than getting an email out there with lots of emoticons and bold fonts to express true outrage. Any thoughts?
Awesome question! I cant agree more, nowadays the only bold font emails are from the people in my office who are angry about something. I think I have a long enough track record to know that people who hate me will always hate me and people who like me will always like me. Some people are haters and Ive never met em but the opposite is true, people think Im chill and have never met me. All I can do is just hang out and do my thing. I have an odd sense of humor and I like to follow the treat others as you like to be treated rule. I can take any kind of ribbing, jokes, slams etc so I like to dish out as well. PCDS is like minded in this as well, we hate on each other so hard sometimes I think people will quit the band but we end up just laughing. My pet peeve would be I hate when people spread lies or what they heard that can get a bit old but oh well without the haters I would just be some guy with a job playing softball. In fact anyone who hates me should be kicking themselves because they created this band, they created PB2K, they created OLC's "American Justice". If you want to kill someone who craves attention...ignore them, it always works. PCDS is here to thrash, hate posers and carry the crossover banner.
As a longtime edgeman, what are your feelings on the current state of straight edge?
Its terrible. Kids take things too far. Do I wish smoking cigarettes will kill people? no Do I want to kill my local drug dealer? no I just know that drinking and drugs just arent for me. I cant really function on them and Ive proven in the past Im not a responsible adult when Im intoxicated. I have no off button. For food, tattoos, talking shit, thrash, you name it. As I get older I stop caring about the edge as a movement, I try to focus more on my friends who are still edge. Sometimes we drift apart we still have that commonality. We live in different parts of the world, have different schedules, friends, interests etc I have edge friends who hate the way I think about straight edge but I just dont have the time to babysit the edge anymore. It will continue to devolve into a joke and someday kids will walk through the Smithsonian and look at a display of kids with X's on their hands and say "there was a time when kids were pretty angry about stupid shit".
I remember seeing you in Through It All and Point Of Recognition when you definitely seemed to be strongly ground in the "Born Again Christian" set, albeit with the usual JLJ framework and tendencies. Do you still consider yourself to be Christian and if not, what changed for you?
In the sense that I believe Jesus died for the sins of mankind and that the power of prayer and faith can work miracles in peoples lives. Yes Ive seen it work and have a strong faith. Again like straight edge sometimes people can misuse their religious beliefs as well. There are great ways to share without condemning and I think music in general is big enough for every type of belief set. There are always those kids who hate religion and then the kids who only like music about religion, there has to be a middle ground. I look at music as entertainment and I think bands can be entertaining while sharing Satanism or Christianity, Hedonism or Purity, its really in how they present it. Everyones truth is out there and when they find it, theyll stop looking.
Being a native Californian, how have things been going now that you are back down south? Has SD treated PCDS well?
San Diego is an awesome place to live. So many different cultures and things to do and food and neighborhoods, from the madd rich to the way sketchy. The only downside is that its so damn expensive, sometimes I consider moving to Alabama or Georgia and the $1300 a month I pay for a 2 bedroom apartment would get me a 5 bedroom house with a pool and land but then again you are living with rednecks so thats the trade off. PCDS has managed to do well because we have alot of friends of the band. We like to hang out with kids away from shows and with that when we play its basically to our friends. The new kids who come out get to hang out and we meet them and the group just grows and grows. We know they are there to have fun and we love to have fun and thats the common thread, kids as young as 13 have seen us we have guys in their 40s come watch us. Its an odd mix but its so great to watch everyone hang out and act ignorant.
Are you doing stand up at the Comedy Store in La Jolla anymore?
Thank God no, my only dudes who got me into there to get stagetime moved to New York and the new managers were running things a bit different. Right about that same time, PCDS started to pick up so my itch to perform is taken care of and Im not really missing anything. I do miss seeing famous guys work stuff out and try new shit and bomb and learn from them, thats the downside from being out of the game.
So, I read in your bio that you saw Queensyrche on the Empire tour twice. Be honest; was it more due to the raging hard-on you got when that bassline from "Jet City Woman" hits or the way that "Silent Lucidity" made your inner child cry out in anguish?
I dont know where you managed to find it, but please mail my diary back to my house please. Queensryche actually ended their set with Silent Lucidity and it was a real buzzkill. Going from ragers like Queen of the Ryche to The eyes of a stranger to ending with a ballad, its like KISS ending with Beth, what a waste. I have a tribal tattoo on my leg, in 93 when I got it, I just liked the shape of it and lets be honest in 93 if you were metal you got tribal tattoos, looking back its very close to the Queensryche logo, Ive been called out on it from time to time and I always deny but I think its time to come out of the Ryche closet and admit my love of all things Geoff Tate.
How goes the Kiss collection? Any new, great finds?
I wish, all my money is going to pay for this wedding. I thought to myself, some friends, some relatives, some food, some drinks, hangout, say I do, head out for the honeymoon no problem. Meanwhile that shit is costing HELLA MONEY and I have zero funds right for the KISS collection, I know though that I can go to Spencers and buy that shit at 75% off so thats the only upside of not having something right away. Im going to reward myself with a Paul Stanley Portrait tattoo I think thatll be my KISS purchase for 2006.
Your reign of terror on messageboards worldwide is noteworthy. Anything you'd like to say to any particular parties out there, especially now that you have a much larger forum with which to do so?
I have some statements to make.
Straight edge really is about Golf.
Milk was a bad choice.
The guys in Nothing Personal went on to form Victim and Iron Boots, no bands will be better than these 3 bands.
Controversial statements, statements to elicit drama, beef, E B33f , to make gentlemen in large groups to become enraged. At 35 years old I really only hate posers. In fact everyone should hate posers. During the thrash heyday we hated the Glam rockers, funny how now in round 2 of Thrash we hate the fashionxcore kids. Wearing makeup, prancing around on stage, gender bending, vogueing etc SHUT IT DOWN Youre not David Bowie, youre not ironic, youre not fooling anyone, your scene will crumble from underneath you and youll crawl back with your mothball ridden cammo shorts and hoodie and we will tell you to fuck yourself. Once you go fruitcake , there is no going back.
Best rumor you've ever heard about yourself?
Some kid said the following "Dude you live in San Diego?, I heard you moved to Idaho and opened up a golf course and tattoo parlor" Just knowing that when Im not around people would have so little to do that my name or my existence or anything about me would come up in conversation is really weird. There is so much on television to even have time to worry about me doing anything. They should watch Sebastian Bach sell the band name SAVAGE ANIMAL to his bandmates on VH1...on repeat...Ive done it its quality.
Favorite joke to tell to everyone currently?
I have my 4 favorite sicko stories which one involves smelling a toilet seat after a girls soccer tournament and beating off in a public restroom, the other is a stripper flinging a piece of poo on my lip and me getting a hard on, beating off in my buddies bathroom with a pair of his girls used pantyhose tied around my head and going down on a fat girl so fat I couldnt see her face while I was doing it. Introduce yourself sometime Ill tell em.
Recommended reading/viewing/etc?
Metal: A Headbangers Journey!!!!!!!!!!! Awesome DVD about metal. For reading I would say Rule 1 Investing. Its about making money in the stock market. You can read my rants at www.pcdeathsquad.com if you like ignorant politically incorrect stuff.
Last words/shout outs?
By far in my career these are the best questions Ive ever fielded and a vacation from the other interviews I end up doing which are typical Euro interview questions where I have to give comments about high kick mosh styles, Rick Ta Lifes Merch Table, why I hate vegans and my thoughts of Sportswear. Thank you for this opportunity to rant about shit and if kids have time add us on myspace at www.myspace.com/pcdeathsquadthrash or at www.pcdeathsquad.com . LISTEN TO DRI !!!!!!!!!! Oh yeah if youre a label who needs a loud mouth ignorant thrash band who refuses to tour hit us up!!
