If anyone wants to read the Metal Edge feature:
What fuels a band to keep churning out mini-masterpiece after mini-masterpiece only to find minimal success? Well for Nevermore the fuel has also been a love of the rock n roll party, a love for the art of creating music they can be proud of, and even more driving is their love for the fans.
With the release of Nevermores sixth full length release, This Godless Endeavor, vocalist Warrel Dane, bassist Jim Sheppard, guitarist Jeff Loomis, drummer Van Williams, and the newest edition, guitarist Steve Smyth (formerly of Testament) have yet again challenged the intelligence of their audience with cryptic lyrics questioning religion vs. science, and with their shredderrific guitar licks and bombastic machine-like drums. Challenging their audience isnt the only challenge ahead for Nevermore. Last year frontman and party leader, Warrel Dane, was hospitalized for nearly a month with the medical advice of Give up drinking or die. How will the social dynamic of their rock n roll life be changed? Well, Metal Edge sits down for a heart to heart with the always sarcastic and mildly amusing Dane to siphon through all of Nevermores challenges for 2005.
Metal Edge: What was the main difference between This Godless Endeavor and your last record, Enemies of Reality?
WD: Steve Smyth wrote three songs so that changed things a little bit, but he fit in so well with our writing style that no one can tell which ones they are unless they listen very closely. He fit seamlessly.
ME: It doesnt sound like there are any real intentional singles on this record. It sounds more like a soundtrack.
WD: Its a record. There are no real singles thats why it was so hard to pick one for the video.
ME: So then how did you finally choose Final Product as the song for the video?
WD: After being tormented for days trying to force the decision. Century Media thought that it was the most commercially viable one in their eyes, so thats why they picked it.
ME: Would you have chosen something different?
WD: Ya, I would have picked the first song, Born. Just because I think its such a violent change from what people are going to expect when they put in our record.
ME: So do you think people have a preconceived notion of what Nevermore is?
WD: I dont think they expect to hear the music that is the first track actually. Because its brutal fucking death metal from the very beginning and thats something we havent really done. And something I had fun experimenting with doing
Unclean vocals on this record. Ive never done that before so I have a new found respect for people who do that cause its not easy.
ME: Is there be anything on the new record that will be a challenge to play live?
WD: Yes. Weve been working on it actually because Steve is singing now too. Steve is actually singing as well and at some point were going to work in three part harmonies stuff probably because on one song off the new record, Bittersweet Feast theres so much vocals going on in the chorus that we have to have one of them singing it and Steve sings it pretty good. Were pretty lucky that we have two guys that play guitar very well and that can actually kind of sing.
ME: Id like to hear them try to sing the female vocals from Dreaming Neon Black.
WD: One of the coolest things was when we were playing in Milan and Christina from Lacuna Coil came out and sang that song with us. It was really cool. I wish somebody would have recorded it. They freaked out when she walked out on stage, being that theyre from Milan and suddenly very popular.
ME: Mr. Doom and gloom sounds excited with all of the buzz that is starting to happen.
WD: Im not as cranky as I used to be. Im a lot happier now.
ME: Ive noticed. Does that have anything to do with not drinking?
WD: Probably. You know they tell me to try and avoid these kinds of questions when Im doing interviews.
ME: Well as an interviewer/friend I guess I have the upper hand in your dirty little secrets. Many of your fans are really young and in the past youve glamorized the fun of getting drunk and being the life of the party.
WD: I used to do that. Ya.
ME: Do you feel any sort of social responsibility or regret that you so popularized getting fucked up to such young kids, in light of what happened to you?
WD: Hey I had fun. I had fun, I drank more than my share of booze and Im done. Ive got to save some for the younger kids now. But all I can say is that if I would have known how much better that I would feel once I quit drinking I would have done it a long time ago, but you know, you have to learn the hard way sometimes.
ME: So what got you to quit drinking?
WD: I quit drinking purely for health reasons. Thats all Im going to say. Im tired of talking about it actually.
ME: I can understand that, but as a friend I worried a lot about you when you were in the hospital, but when everyone else was feeling sorry for you I was mad at you. My feeling was how could you have done this to yourself?
WD: Thats exactly where I was too. But it wasnt just drinking. I drank too much and everybody knows that, but it accelerated the onset of type 2 diabetes in me. I had symptoms of type 2 diabetes for awhile and I kept telling my doctor and he pretty much didnt catch on to what was going on. So going on a huge drinking binge right as thats hitting you doesnt really have a good outcome.
ME: Im very proud and amazed at how well youve maintained your sobriety, especially considering for the better part of the last 15-20 years you were drinking close to every day. Do you miss anything about drinking?
WD: Absolutely not. Ive been sober long enough to realize how silly everyone acts when theyre loaded.
ME: Nothing? You dont miss being the life of the party.
WD: No because Ive been there, Ive done that. Ive experienced it and I know its time for that part of my life to be over. So Im okay with it completely. The only time I miss it is when Im around my friends who Im used to drinking with. If Im around strangers then its fine. I can hang out with a bunch of people I dont know and watch them get loaded and I have no urge to drink. But if Im with my really close friends and theyre all getting drunk thats when it really hits me hard and I have to get away from the situation because I really want to take a drink then.
ME: Has it changed the dynamic of the band having you not drinking?
WD: Well it means that Im not around if theyre drinking. Ill be hiding in my bunk writing music.
ME: More like hiding in your bunk jerking off.
WD: (laughing) To the porn youre gonna give me later.
ME: Exactly. Im glad my Vivid video buddy can hook you up with some entertainment. (note: I slipped a gay porn in the package just to see if hed notice)
WD: (Laughs) You know what, jerking off on a tour bus can be a very uncomfortable thing
you know, wait til you get to a hotel, because thats just gross. It is gross.
ME: So back to the record. Have you ever considered writing a pop-metal/rock song just to sell out, get radio play, and maybe some more exposure?
WD: Wouldnt we have done that on this record if wed really wanted to? If you let money motivate your art, then youre losing the point of being an artist. And our motivation aint money cause we aint making a whole lot. Im motivated by everything. Come on, heavy metal is supposed to be pissed off.
ME: I know Dave Mustaine from Megadeth produced your first record with your 80s band Sanctuary, but did that really have anything to do with you getting onto the Gigantour or was it more the help of his band?
WD: Well we knew Jimmy (MacDonough) from Iced Earth from years back touring with them and the Drover brothers weve met many times at shows and they were all pretty instrumental in getting us onto the tour. So were pretty grateful to them for that. Its a big opportunity for us and were gonna kick ass.
ME: On Gigantour youve got videographer Mike Rivoira out with you filming stuff for an upcoming Nevermore DVD. What all will the DVD include?
WD: Well Mike is doing a Jazz documentary right now too and he had this idea of doing more of a kind of documentary style DVD of us with live performance stuff and other stuff. We have archived bootleg stuff of us back in 1995 playing shows with Death on our first tour for the first Nevermore record and were just going to go through all of this stuff and find all of the best parts and just throw in as much stuff as we can in even if it might sound crappy. We just want to make it pretty special. Anyway, hes making a Jazz documentary right now and he said one day when he was just sitting down and talking with Jim and I it hit him that theres a parallel between underground metal and underground Jazz. How both were at once embraced by the American public, then abandoned, yet they survived through performance and sales in Europe, Asia and South America. And I never really got the correlation, but its absolutely true if you think about it. So well see what happens. This DVD thing is still developing and you never know what it might turn into at this point. Its just gonna be a bitchin DVD.
ME: Are there any band DVDs, like the Pantera DVDs that youd like to emulate?
WD: No. Those are legendary but thats not us, thats Pantera. Those are CLASSIC, especially the zit popping scene. Oh that is just gross. Its just disgusting. How do you get a zit that big on your ass? That stuff that came out of it looked like custard it was disgusting.
ME: Have you seen the Lamb of God DVD with the total brawl with the singer and guitarist, where it ends in a black eye? Has Nevermore had any squabbles that have ever gotten blown out of proportion?
WD: Nothing thats ever gotten physical like that. Well we had a waffle house incident once where Jeff was kind of loaded and was messing around with Vans food and Van didnt like it so he just picked him up and threw him into a booth right in front of a state trooper. They made up later, but the cops came and suddenly theyre like (in a hillbilly accent) You all from Seattle? Do you know Alice In Chains and Nirvana? Ya, of course we do. (sarcastically) We just started talking to them about Alice In Chains and Nirvana. So after that they didnt really pay attention to what had happened and let us go since we were from Seattle and they thought we were cool. They just saw that these guys had too much to drink and it was an innocent fight. It wasnt really a fight, but it was really funny. I wish we would have got it on tape. They made up in like ten minutes. Everyone gets weird when they drink. Im just glad I dont get weird anymore. Actually, the strange thing is that since I dont drink anymore I just got weirder. Im a little more anti-social. Im not as comfortable around large groups of people. Drinking definitely made me more gregarious obviously cause its a social drug. It does make you more social. The reason I was the life of the party and always the last one to go home was because I was a drunk, but I still enjoyed hanging out and being the life of the party. But those days are gone. At least I can remember them
most of them. Its coming back slowly.
