Intervju - Eric Peterson, Testament
Testament har precis släppt videon " Seen between the lines" (91) på dvd och tillfört en del bonusmaterial. Dessutom är det flera konsertinspelningar i deras bootlegserie på gång. Vi fick höra att Eric Peterson befann sig i Göteborg och spelade in uppföljaren till Dragonlord´s debut. Vi ringde upp honom i Studio Fredman och pratade om lite allt möjligt. Bl a Sweden Rock och att det kanske finns en möjlighet att den spelningen släpps i bootlegserien.
How´s Gotheburg treating you?
EP: It´s cool! I´m having a good time!
How long have you been here?
EP: Eehh, are you in Gothenburg?
No, I´m in Stockholm.
EP: Ok! I´ve been here since the 18th (February).
Is the whole band there or is it just you?
EP: It´s just me and the drummer and he leaves tomorrow and then the guitar player comes out next week and the keyboard player and the bass player come out on the 11th.
So, it´s the new Dragonlord album you´re recording? Is it still the same title as I read on your website, "Black wings of destiny"?
EP: "Black wings of poop" (laughs). Yeah it is!
Is it pretty much done or...?
EP: We just finished the drums today and it fucking came out really good! The drums are just off the hook! We worked hard on this record, so it´s kind of our first record again. Usually first bands and their first record takes all the material from like when they started and it takes a couple of years to get a deal and it´s kind of the same scenario for us. We´ve all been busy with other things, Testament and Nevermore and stuff. The material is just really good and we´re really happy with it.
Do you know when it´s coming out?
EP: I´m thinking it´s gonna be out like late July or we might even wait til September. Because I don´t know if black metal, or I don´t even know if we´re called black metal, I don´t know if summer´s the right time for it. (laughs) It should be cold and painful!
Are gonna be touring with this album or...?
EP: Yeah, we´re planning on it! Last year it was more like a project and it came out a lot better than we all thought. We did about 18 shows in the Bay area and we did like 3 in Europe and we really didn´t tour with it, but we had a lot of fun, so we´re gonna take it a little bit more serious this time. But still have fun with it!
How come you ended up in Gothenburg?
EP: I wanted to work with Fredrik! The last record we worked with Daniel in Uppsala and we wanted to work with Fredrik this time. I´m a big fan of the stuff he´s done from all the way back with At The Gates to In Flames and a lot more of these polished productions, like his own band. And also, he works with this guy Patrik J Steen? who´s really up and coming and really really good and together those guys really even each other out. So it´s really cool and that was just like an added bonus that he had someone working with him. But I didn´t realise that he had such a big input in the sound.
Yeah, well that studio has become like a Mecca for Swedish metal and I guess, more and more stuff from abroad.
EP: It´s weird because...well not weird, but everything he´s put out sounds really good. I don´t think we´ve caught him at the end, I think we´ve caught him at his prime. He´s got his system down and he does things and he´s a fucking riot!
All those Swedish bands, is that stuff that you listen to or...
EP: I listen to the At The Gates records. It´s not like I listen to it every day, but I definitely listen to it when I´m going out to drink. I like the Arch Enemy stuff that his done, Spiritual Beggars... I listen to a lot of music! But for heavy metal from Swedish bands, I like his production the best.
So, what´s going on with Testament? I know you´re doing this kind of reunion thing in Europe with the classic line up. Is that it? You´re not gonna tour in the US?
EP: I don´t know! Chuck´s kind of picking and choosing of what he wants to do. So, I´m just going with the flow. This reunion thing came up faster than anyone had thought, but we had been talking about it during our reunion record and Chuck kind of pushed it to Dynamo. He´s friends with them, so the people from Dynamo told us about the Anthrax thing so this thing kind of got pushed quicker than we had thought. It´s gonna be cool, man! It´s kind of a pleasant surprise and it´s gonna be a lot of fun to get up there with those guys. Of course we´re gonna be doing more, well not more, but we´ll be doing the older Testament stuff. That should be a lot of fun!
We´re are you playing in Europe? Are you coming to Sweden?
EP: I´m not sure! It´s ten days in May and the main one that was put together was the Dynamo Festival and then some others have come in. We were just planning on doing the Dynamo and a couple of others and now we´ve got offers from everywhere. So we´re kind of going "whoa!". And recording wise I´ve actually been working on the Testament stuff before Dragonlord. There´s been so many hurdles with Testament, just beyond our control. Different drummers, being in and being out and the whole member changing and then Smyth quit to go to Nevermore. Just a lot of different things, kind of all making sense now, but at the time "God, why is this happening to us?". But right now we´re just...there was a lot of pressure on it and now we´re just like "it´ll happen when it happens!". I have seven or eight songs written and I´m just waiting for the right time to record them.
Are you gonna record that with the classic line up, with Alex and Greg and those guys?
EP: I don´t know! I know that I´ve got some good material and I know that at least half of it is killer. I mean, I like all of it, but Chuck´s always kind of picky about stuff. One day he´ll say it´s killer and the next day he says he hates it. I´m just like "ok, we´ll see what happens!".
Are you like the main writer or...?
EP: Yeah! It would be nice though...I would definitely love writing with Alex again. Me and Alex we´re kind of basically the birth of the sound of Testament. I have the kind of crunchy riffs and he has the Egyptian scales and the harmonies. Put those together and you have Testament! So, I don´t know if that´s where he´s at now. Probably not, since he´s more into jazz and all that stuff. I know I´ve matured a lot as a writer and I´m sure he´sd appreciate it.
So, I guess we just have to wait and see?
EP: Yeah, well there´s something defenitely gonna happen when I get back and start doing some pre production.
Will that happen this year or the next?
EP: I would say that we might record in the fall or we might even start recording when I get home in April. Who knows? I´ve told the press so many times that we´re doing it and two years later it´s like "no, we´re doing it!" (laughs)
That´s the way it is! But what about the dvd stuff that´s coming out? I just got the "Seen between the lines" dvd the other day. Why are you putting that one out again?
EP: Basically it was never released on dvd, so that´s the main reason for it. Plus it´s got some extra footage that was only released in Japan, which is kind of cool. And it´s been out of print for a while and a lot of people´s been asking about it, like where can you get it, and we kind of just said "you know what...". We really wanted to do another dvd or a newer one, but we thought this is already done and it´s killer. It defenitely captures Testament at the peak of the original line up. It´s more like a documentary with some funny videos and dated videos of that time. But it´s cool because with a vhs you have to sit there and rewind it to get to your part and with this...if you´re a Testament fan it´s something that you wanna get. It´s kind of like taking all the 8-tracks out and getting it all up to date.
What about the dvd bootlegs you´re putting out? I saw that there´s something from the Netherlands coming out.
EP: The Netherlands?
Yeah!
EP: Oh, the Tilburg show! Well, we´ve been doing that just for the fans and we film a lot of our shows. We have so much stuff in the closet so we just decided to put it out. And we´re doing a good job too and some of the qualities could be better, but it´s for the fans. It´s not our way...well, I guess it is in a way , our way of saying that we don´t have a record right now. But it´s still something we´s hare with you and we´re not asking too much money for it and it takes a lot of time to make it and edit it. It´s kind of put together as if it was professional, but it´s not! It´s not our best recordings, but it´s filmed by someone that is on stage with us and it´s picked out from like, the better of the tour or that era.
Well, there´s a lot of bands that should be doing that! The fans want that stuff!
EP: Exactly! We´re not busting down any charts or nothing, but it´s defenitely makes it worth our while and maybe pays a couple of bills. I can tell you right now, if bands like, any genre...if Dave Matthews did that or any band, I would fucking buy them!
KISS should do that! They just keep putting out these crappy compilations!
EP: Yeah! But not professional! We only sell our stuff for like a month and then it´s off. It´s kind of cool, because then it´s kind of special and you can´t get it again. Or maybe you can, but perhaps not!
It´s a cool idea!
EP: I started doing that with Dragonlord and that´s where the whole idea came out.
You´ve got any more dvd´s planned or...?
EP: Yeah, we´re gonna keep doing it and keep sell it and try to make it look cool. It´s not something we would like to go make a destribution deal with, because the average Joe would think it sucks...but I think for the fans, they know what they´re getting and it´s cool to go home and get some beers with your friends and watch it and trip on it.
Did you film the show at Sweden Rock?
EP: Yeah, actually I just edited it! The filming of it though was on stage and it´s kind of...it´s all filmed on my side and it´s a different angle. It´s not from the front, but it´s kind of cool though! But the guy that filmed it really didn´t capture the audience when they´re clapping and so. I remember going , watching the video, "why is he fucking filming the drummer drinking water, when the crowd is going hey, hey, hey and clapping at the same time?". And I was so pissed that I went "I´m not using this!". And everytime I do a lead he´s on the other guy and then he just gets me at the end and I don´t get to do that many leads. Get it right, man!
I was thinking...what were you up to before Legacy that later became Testament?
EP: That was my first band actually! I just kind of new... I was actually looking through my 8th grade year book and it has a list of everybody in the school and what they wanted to do, who your best friends are and so on. Mine´s so funny because it says "to be a rockstar!" (laughs) I was a big KISS and AC/DC fan so... I don´t know if I became a rockstar, but I defenitely got to be the music business.
And you grew up in the Bay area?
EP: Yeah!
What kind of music did you listen to back then? Besides KISS and AC/DC!
EP: Well, actually my first record was Montrose´s first record and I thought that was like acid rock, because it was so heavy. "Wow, what is this? It´s giving me a headache!". And then probably KISS Alive and then I became a big KISS fan and after KISS wore off, they were kind of bubblegummy, I went to Mahogany Rush and UFO and Scorpions...
But what turned you on to the heavier stuff? Thrash and so...because in the early 80´s you had the whole LA scene with glam and hairspray and make up going on.
EP: Well, we kind of had our own world in Berkeley and San Francisco. I don´t know. Just part of that time I guess. It all just hit. It was a very natural thing and it just kind of happened. Right place, right time! Maybe a day late and a dollar short, but it defenitely happened on time.
When did you start playing guitar?
EP: I started jumping around in front of the mirror in 8th grade. And I probably started playing guitar when I was in Legacy. Well, I had played, but I didn´t start taking it seriously until our first gig came up and I was throwing up backstage, because I was so fucking scared. I thought "I don´t wanna do this!" (laughs). "I can´t go up there...!" But I did it and after that it was killer!
Are you self taught or did you take lessons?
EP: I took two lessons from Joe Satriani. When Alex joined the band he was just like phenomenal. He was sixteen, runny nose and just fucking going off! And when I say runny nose I mean he was just like a little kid and he put his guitar on and he was like fucking Yngwie. We were like "holy shit, where did you learn that?". "Well, I took lessons from this guy, Joe Satriani...!". And at the time Joe Satriani didn´t really have his career because he was a music teacher. And I remember that at my last lesson he was showing me some stuff and he goes "This is gonna be your last lesson, because I´m gonna record a record!". And I just went "Wow, that´s cool!". "Yeah, it´s gonna be called Surfin´ with the alien!" And that one went down in history right there!
Did you learn a lot?
EP: Yeah, he taught me...we didn´t start from the beginning, but he showed me some scales and out of those scales I kind of marked my way in Testament. It´s still a big formula of what I do now, so hat´s off to him.
And you still find time to do Testament and Dragonlord at the same time?
EP: Yes and no! I really wouldn´t have done Dragonlord if we had toured a lot more and kept busy, but Chuck´s kind of wants to slow down a bit so...and I wanna stay in the business. I don´t know! I don´t just wanna do it as a hobby. I wanna be more serious about it, so this gives me room to vent on the more darker stuff that I wanna do. On "The gathering" I was really trying to push a lot of the black metal stuff in there and maybe got away with it on two songs, "Fall of Sipledome" and "Legions of the dead". Those are pretty dark songs! It´s got the..."Fall of Sipledome" has almost got that Emperor tone. When I told Lombardo what I wanted to do there he went "What? You want me to do what?" (laughs) "I´m like thirtyseven, I don´t know!". He hated me! He wouldn´t even take my phone calls after the record was done. No, but it´s weird. I was talking to John Allen and he played me some old stuff and we were like "Dude, did you ever think that when we´re close to forty, we´re gonna be playing heavier shit than this?" If someone had told me when I did like the Legacy "Hey man, when you´re forty you´re gonna be playing death metal and you´re gonna wear corpse paint to!". I´d go "Fuck off!". (laughs). But I love it! I´m totally into it!
How would you compare the 80´s when you started out and your first couple of albums, with today and all the new technology, internet and just a few major labels? Is it harder, easier or the same getting your stuff through?
EP: I think you kind of answered your own question there! It´s all that! It´s easier and it´s harder...there´s so many bands and so many labels and there´s so many ways you could do things. I don´t know! It was defenitely a fun time when we first started and it felt very special. At the beginning of thrash everybody really...I remember having interviews when we were backstage at certain festivals and a lot of the German press was like "Do you see a future in thrash? Do you think that this is just a trend?". And I was thinking that we were playing real music here and it isn´t like...rap, but rap had a future too...I don´t know! They just couldn´t conceive that it was Accept and Judas Priest played faster. I mean, that´s where all the influences came from...Mercyful Fate and Bathory. That´s the stuff I listened to back then.
Yeah, there´s a lot of stuff happening in Scandinavia, that´s for sure.
EP: Yeah, it´s kind of like the Bay area reborn. Back then we had Possessed, Slayer, Exodus, Metallica, Testament, Death Angel, Forbidden...it was one right after the other. Boom, boom, boom! What the fuck are you guys drinking over there? It´s in the water or something! Over here it´s all of a sudden Soilwork, In Flames, Arch Enemy and fuck, there´s a lot more! Nightrage, they´re pretty killer! It´s like, stop it! (laughs). Why don´t you guys mellow out! (laughs)
Well, it´s been really nice talking to you and I wish you the best with Dragonlord and the reunion tour with Testament! And looking forward to some new Testament stuff!
EP: Thank you and take care!
Testament har precis släppt videon " Seen between the lines" (91) på dvd och tillfört en del bonusmaterial. Dessutom är det flera konsertinspelningar i deras bootlegserie på gång. Vi fick höra att Eric Peterson befann sig i Göteborg och spelade in uppföljaren till Dragonlord´s debut. Vi ringde upp honom i Studio Fredman och pratade om lite allt möjligt. Bl a Sweden Rock och att det kanske finns en möjlighet att den spelningen släpps i bootlegserien.
How´s Gotheburg treating you?
EP: It´s cool! I´m having a good time!
How long have you been here?
EP: Eehh, are you in Gothenburg?
No, I´m in Stockholm.
EP: Ok! I´ve been here since the 18th (February).
Is the whole band there or is it just you?
EP: It´s just me and the drummer and he leaves tomorrow and then the guitar player comes out next week and the keyboard player and the bass player come out on the 11th.
So, it´s the new Dragonlord album you´re recording? Is it still the same title as I read on your website, "Black wings of destiny"?
EP: "Black wings of poop" (laughs). Yeah it is!
Is it pretty much done or...?
EP: We just finished the drums today and it fucking came out really good! The drums are just off the hook! We worked hard on this record, so it´s kind of our first record again. Usually first bands and their first record takes all the material from like when they started and it takes a couple of years to get a deal and it´s kind of the same scenario for us. We´ve all been busy with other things, Testament and Nevermore and stuff. The material is just really good and we´re really happy with it.
Do you know when it´s coming out?
EP: I´m thinking it´s gonna be out like late July or we might even wait til September. Because I don´t know if black metal, or I don´t even know if we´re called black metal, I don´t know if summer´s the right time for it. (laughs) It should be cold and painful!
Are gonna be touring with this album or...?
EP: Yeah, we´re planning on it! Last year it was more like a project and it came out a lot better than we all thought. We did about 18 shows in the Bay area and we did like 3 in Europe and we really didn´t tour with it, but we had a lot of fun, so we´re gonna take it a little bit more serious this time. But still have fun with it!
How come you ended up in Gothenburg?
EP: I wanted to work with Fredrik! The last record we worked with Daniel in Uppsala and we wanted to work with Fredrik this time. I´m a big fan of the stuff he´s done from all the way back with At The Gates to In Flames and a lot more of these polished productions, like his own band. And also, he works with this guy Patrik J Steen? who´s really up and coming and really really good and together those guys really even each other out. So it´s really cool and that was just like an added bonus that he had someone working with him. But I didn´t realise that he had such a big input in the sound.
Yeah, well that studio has become like a Mecca for Swedish metal and I guess, more and more stuff from abroad.
EP: It´s weird because...well not weird, but everything he´s put out sounds really good. I don´t think we´ve caught him at the end, I think we´ve caught him at his prime. He´s got his system down and he does things and he´s a fucking riot!
All those Swedish bands, is that stuff that you listen to or...
EP: I listen to the At The Gates records. It´s not like I listen to it every day, but I definitely listen to it when I´m going out to drink. I like the Arch Enemy stuff that his done, Spiritual Beggars... I listen to a lot of music! But for heavy metal from Swedish bands, I like his production the best.
So, what´s going on with Testament? I know you´re doing this kind of reunion thing in Europe with the classic line up. Is that it? You´re not gonna tour in the US?
EP: I don´t know! Chuck´s kind of picking and choosing of what he wants to do. So, I´m just going with the flow. This reunion thing came up faster than anyone had thought, but we had been talking about it during our reunion record and Chuck kind of pushed it to Dynamo. He´s friends with them, so the people from Dynamo told us about the Anthrax thing so this thing kind of got pushed quicker than we had thought. It´s gonna be cool, man! It´s kind of a pleasant surprise and it´s gonna be a lot of fun to get up there with those guys. Of course we´re gonna be doing more, well not more, but we´ll be doing the older Testament stuff. That should be a lot of fun!
We´re are you playing in Europe? Are you coming to Sweden?
EP: I´m not sure! It´s ten days in May and the main one that was put together was the Dynamo Festival and then some others have come in. We were just planning on doing the Dynamo and a couple of others and now we´ve got offers from everywhere. So we´re kind of going "whoa!". And recording wise I´ve actually been working on the Testament stuff before Dragonlord. There´s been so many hurdles with Testament, just beyond our control. Different drummers, being in and being out and the whole member changing and then Smyth quit to go to Nevermore. Just a lot of different things, kind of all making sense now, but at the time "God, why is this happening to us?". But right now we´re just...there was a lot of pressure on it and now we´re just like "it´ll happen when it happens!". I have seven or eight songs written and I´m just waiting for the right time to record them.
Are you gonna record that with the classic line up, with Alex and Greg and those guys?
EP: I don´t know! I know that I´ve got some good material and I know that at least half of it is killer. I mean, I like all of it, but Chuck´s always kind of picky about stuff. One day he´ll say it´s killer and the next day he says he hates it. I´m just like "ok, we´ll see what happens!".
Are you like the main writer or...?
EP: Yeah! It would be nice though...I would definitely love writing with Alex again. Me and Alex we´re kind of basically the birth of the sound of Testament. I have the kind of crunchy riffs and he has the Egyptian scales and the harmonies. Put those together and you have Testament! So, I don´t know if that´s where he´s at now. Probably not, since he´s more into jazz and all that stuff. I know I´ve matured a lot as a writer and I´m sure he´sd appreciate it.
So, I guess we just have to wait and see?
EP: Yeah, well there´s something defenitely gonna happen when I get back and start doing some pre production.
Will that happen this year or the next?
EP: I would say that we might record in the fall or we might even start recording when I get home in April. Who knows? I´ve told the press so many times that we´re doing it and two years later it´s like "no, we´re doing it!" (laughs)
That´s the way it is! But what about the dvd stuff that´s coming out? I just got the "Seen between the lines" dvd the other day. Why are you putting that one out again?
EP: Basically it was never released on dvd, so that´s the main reason for it. Plus it´s got some extra footage that was only released in Japan, which is kind of cool. And it´s been out of print for a while and a lot of people´s been asking about it, like where can you get it, and we kind of just said "you know what...". We really wanted to do another dvd or a newer one, but we thought this is already done and it´s killer. It defenitely captures Testament at the peak of the original line up. It´s more like a documentary with some funny videos and dated videos of that time. But it´s cool because with a vhs you have to sit there and rewind it to get to your part and with this...if you´re a Testament fan it´s something that you wanna get. It´s kind of like taking all the 8-tracks out and getting it all up to date.
What about the dvd bootlegs you´re putting out? I saw that there´s something from the Netherlands coming out.
EP: The Netherlands?
Yeah!
EP: Oh, the Tilburg show! Well, we´ve been doing that just for the fans and we film a lot of our shows. We have so much stuff in the closet so we just decided to put it out. And we´re doing a good job too and some of the qualities could be better, but it´s for the fans. It´s not our way...well, I guess it is in a way , our way of saying that we don´t have a record right now. But it´s still something we´s hare with you and we´re not asking too much money for it and it takes a lot of time to make it and edit it. It´s kind of put together as if it was professional, but it´s not! It´s not our best recordings, but it´s filmed by someone that is on stage with us and it´s picked out from like, the better of the tour or that era.
Well, there´s a lot of bands that should be doing that! The fans want that stuff!
EP: Exactly! We´re not busting down any charts or nothing, but it´s defenitely makes it worth our while and maybe pays a couple of bills. I can tell you right now, if bands like, any genre...if Dave Matthews did that or any band, I would fucking buy them!
KISS should do that! They just keep putting out these crappy compilations!
EP: Yeah! But not professional! We only sell our stuff for like a month and then it´s off. It´s kind of cool, because then it´s kind of special and you can´t get it again. Or maybe you can, but perhaps not!
It´s a cool idea!
EP: I started doing that with Dragonlord and that´s where the whole idea came out.
You´ve got any more dvd´s planned or...?
EP: Yeah, we´re gonna keep doing it and keep sell it and try to make it look cool. It´s not something we would like to go make a destribution deal with, because the average Joe would think it sucks...but I think for the fans, they know what they´re getting and it´s cool to go home and get some beers with your friends and watch it and trip on it.
Did you film the show at Sweden Rock?
EP: Yeah, actually I just edited it! The filming of it though was on stage and it´s kind of...it´s all filmed on my side and it´s a different angle. It´s not from the front, but it´s kind of cool though! But the guy that filmed it really didn´t capture the audience when they´re clapping and so. I remember going , watching the video, "why is he fucking filming the drummer drinking water, when the crowd is going hey, hey, hey and clapping at the same time?". And I was so pissed that I went "I´m not using this!". And everytime I do a lead he´s on the other guy and then he just gets me at the end and I don´t get to do that many leads. Get it right, man!
I was thinking...what were you up to before Legacy that later became Testament?
EP: That was my first band actually! I just kind of new... I was actually looking through my 8th grade year book and it has a list of everybody in the school and what they wanted to do, who your best friends are and so on. Mine´s so funny because it says "to be a rockstar!" (laughs) I was a big KISS and AC/DC fan so... I don´t know if I became a rockstar, but I defenitely got to be the music business.
And you grew up in the Bay area?
EP: Yeah!
What kind of music did you listen to back then? Besides KISS and AC/DC!
EP: Well, actually my first record was Montrose´s first record and I thought that was like acid rock, because it was so heavy. "Wow, what is this? It´s giving me a headache!". And then probably KISS Alive and then I became a big KISS fan and after KISS wore off, they were kind of bubblegummy, I went to Mahogany Rush and UFO and Scorpions...
But what turned you on to the heavier stuff? Thrash and so...because in the early 80´s you had the whole LA scene with glam and hairspray and make up going on.
EP: Well, we kind of had our own world in Berkeley and San Francisco. I don´t know. Just part of that time I guess. It all just hit. It was a very natural thing and it just kind of happened. Right place, right time! Maybe a day late and a dollar short, but it defenitely happened on time.
When did you start playing guitar?
EP: I started jumping around in front of the mirror in 8th grade. And I probably started playing guitar when I was in Legacy. Well, I had played, but I didn´t start taking it seriously until our first gig came up and I was throwing up backstage, because I was so fucking scared. I thought "I don´t wanna do this!" (laughs). "I can´t go up there...!" But I did it and after that it was killer!
Are you self taught or did you take lessons?
EP: I took two lessons from Joe Satriani. When Alex joined the band he was just like phenomenal. He was sixteen, runny nose and just fucking going off! And when I say runny nose I mean he was just like a little kid and he put his guitar on and he was like fucking Yngwie. We were like "holy shit, where did you learn that?". "Well, I took lessons from this guy, Joe Satriani...!". And at the time Joe Satriani didn´t really have his career because he was a music teacher. And I remember that at my last lesson he was showing me some stuff and he goes "This is gonna be your last lesson, because I´m gonna record a record!". And I just went "Wow, that´s cool!". "Yeah, it´s gonna be called Surfin´ with the alien!" And that one went down in history right there!
Did you learn a lot?
EP: Yeah, he taught me...we didn´t start from the beginning, but he showed me some scales and out of those scales I kind of marked my way in Testament. It´s still a big formula of what I do now, so hat´s off to him.
And you still find time to do Testament and Dragonlord at the same time?
EP: Yes and no! I really wouldn´t have done Dragonlord if we had toured a lot more and kept busy, but Chuck´s kind of wants to slow down a bit so...and I wanna stay in the business. I don´t know! I don´t just wanna do it as a hobby. I wanna be more serious about it, so this gives me room to vent on the more darker stuff that I wanna do. On "The gathering" I was really trying to push a lot of the black metal stuff in there and maybe got away with it on two songs, "Fall of Sipledome" and "Legions of the dead". Those are pretty dark songs! It´s got the..."Fall of Sipledome" has almost got that Emperor tone. When I told Lombardo what I wanted to do there he went "What? You want me to do what?" (laughs) "I´m like thirtyseven, I don´t know!". He hated me! He wouldn´t even take my phone calls after the record was done. No, but it´s weird. I was talking to John Allen and he played me some old stuff and we were like "Dude, did you ever think that when we´re close to forty, we´re gonna be playing heavier shit than this?" If someone had told me when I did like the Legacy "Hey man, when you´re forty you´re gonna be playing death metal and you´re gonna wear corpse paint to!". I´d go "Fuck off!". (laughs). But I love it! I´m totally into it!
How would you compare the 80´s when you started out and your first couple of albums, with today and all the new technology, internet and just a few major labels? Is it harder, easier or the same getting your stuff through?
EP: I think you kind of answered your own question there! It´s all that! It´s easier and it´s harder...there´s so many bands and so many labels and there´s so many ways you could do things. I don´t know! It was defenitely a fun time when we first started and it felt very special. At the beginning of thrash everybody really...I remember having interviews when we were backstage at certain festivals and a lot of the German press was like "Do you see a future in thrash? Do you think that this is just a trend?". And I was thinking that we were playing real music here and it isn´t like...rap, but rap had a future too...I don´t know! They just couldn´t conceive that it was Accept and Judas Priest played faster. I mean, that´s where all the influences came from...Mercyful Fate and Bathory. That´s the stuff I listened to back then.
Yeah, there´s a lot of stuff happening in Scandinavia, that´s for sure.
EP: Yeah, it´s kind of like the Bay area reborn. Back then we had Possessed, Slayer, Exodus, Metallica, Testament, Death Angel, Forbidden...it was one right after the other. Boom, boom, boom! What the fuck are you guys drinking over there? It´s in the water or something! Over here it´s all of a sudden Soilwork, In Flames, Arch Enemy and fuck, there´s a lot more! Nightrage, they´re pretty killer! It´s like, stop it! (laughs). Why don´t you guys mellow out! (laughs)
Well, it´s been really nice talking to you and I wish you the best with Dragonlord and the reunion tour with Testament! And looking forward to some new Testament stuff!
EP: Thank you and take care!
