Dear Uncle Creepy
Friday, April 02, 2010
Interview with Stevo: DARKSIDE webzine January 2010
Hey SICKOS...while you're waiting for more chunks of vomit, I thought I'd post this interview I completed earlier this year...my good friends at DARKSIDE webzine (fantastic site with loads of info) reached out to me late last year and were patient enough to wait for my dinosaur-like response.
It's quite a massive interview, and since the majority of the website is in RUSSIAN, I thought I'd post my interview en masse so that the rest of us can read what I'm saying in ENGLISH.
1. Greetings, Stevo! Thanks that you’ve agreed to answer our questions. It is great to find a reason to speak about IMPETIGO again – after all, this band is one of the most charismatic examples of early grindcore style. Your material sounds powerful and solid and stands apart from noisy jokes, which were being released by most of your contemporaries. We apologize, if some of our questions you have already heard a thousand times before. We want to make maybe not too long, but profound interview. We’d like to ask you not to perceive this conversation too seriously – that’s not an interrogation. If you don’t like the question, forget about it. If you want to change a subject and start writing some free thoughts, go ahead! Are you ready (we’ll accept the only answer, «yes!»)?
I think I am ready, you knew I’d say YES…it warms my black heart just to know that 16 years after we disbanded, people still think about us in a way I could have never imagined.
2. The weather is fine in Moscow, as well as in Minsk. How do you do? By the way, it’s been a long time since the official IMPETIGO page and your own blog were updated…
I’m doing fine, but not very happy about the weather – as summer slips away, the air gets colder and the sunshine slowly disappears. Winter’s doom is imminent! Time for the vampires to rise and take control of the night! The official IMPETIGO page isn’t really owned by us, but by the folks at Brain-Dead zine. I haven’t been in contact with them in a while, maybe Mark has. Yes, I kinda let the “Lesions” blog sit dormant for a while, but I have a few posts ready to update the story I was telling and once my PC/internet capabilities see better days, I will certainly return to that forum.
3. I think, we should start from going back in history for those who are not involved in grind too much. For us, IMPETIGO ‘90 – it’s, first of all, mid-tempo music, impressive sound and lazy gore material. Whose idea was to «condense» the sound like that? Most of other bands just wanted to be faster and more aggressive. How did you find your own sound?
It’s hard to say; ‘grind’ was really in its infancy when we first started making our noise, and soon after our beginning, we began to adopt the ‘grinding’ sound of the day, of which you described very well in your question. The idea really goes to Mark for craftily exposing me to the ways and means of this sound, I enjoyed NAPALM DEATH and CARCASS early on but he really turned me into a freak over bands like this; so at first it was a ghastly hybrid of the thrash-core and early grind, and then our growing death metal influence permeated that essence, which resulted in our eventual death-grind formula. We felt like we were fast enough and aggressive enough, we wanted to be HEAVIER and I think that really made all of the difference.
4. Your second full-length album «Horror of the Zombies»… I have noticed that Russian listeners do not understand it at all, but they idolize «Ultimo Mondo Cannibale». In America, as we know, the situation is opposite. Why did your change your style from amazing gore-grind to less vigorous, but more adult death/grind?
As I said in the previous answer, it was all about a HEAVIER sound…I don’t think we really moved away from anything we had before, we just made it heavier and we became better at playing the material, more creative in writing, and a great deal of improvement in our execution, from performance to studio work. With the first album, there was no ‘cohesiveness,’ it was a miasma of early material and current material. When preparing for the second album, we had a chance to write a distinct suite of material, within a rather concise timeframe, and worked on it all within the course of a year, and always as a confined ‘group’ of songs. We took some of the ‘loose and random’ mayhem in our work up to and including 1990 and applied it in a different area in a very unique way. The mayhem is still there, but its pulse is stronger and more lethal by comparison.
5. After this album you did not find enough time to devote it to your group anymore, and you didn’t want IMPETIGO to become a job. What was after IMPETIGO’s split-up? We do not know anything about what happened with Mark, Dan and Scott. You in your turn have started a few side-projects. For example, CONVULSIONS. Please, tell us about it. The only information one can find in the Internet is that you were planning to release some promo material… but still no news or songs. When will we have a chance to listen to some fresh old-school stuff?
As most of you know, I was involved with CHURCH OF MISERY (later INSOMNIA) at the time of IMPETIGO’s demise. I also tried to start a band called ZOMBIE with COM guitarist Neil and MASTERFISTER drummer Chad that never really happened. I made some guest appearances with MASTERFISTER as a bass player, and also did guest vocals for a few bands recordings. Mark wasn’t in any bands, Scott played in a couple of local bands (notably, 13 FRIGHTENED GIRLS who released a few EPs) and Dan focused on his new project BADGER BOYS, having recorded some material that was never released. When INSOMNIA split up, I was completely done with music before my attempt to resurrect ZOMBIE a few years ago; ZOMBIE would eventually become CONVULSIONS, which was the name of a band I tried to start before SGT ROCK/IMPETIGO. The original concept of CONVULSIONS changed when Gregg (ex-LINCOLN LOVE LOG) and Tom (CARDIAC ARREST, SEVERED, ex-DOGOD) became members of the band, and to make a long story short: the next time the 3 of us can get together for the weekend, we will work out some stuff and try to record a few tracks. Nothing more than homage of the kind of stuff that got us into death metal, and nothing more. On the other hand, I am also embroiled in an active plot to return to death metal in a band called TOMBSTONES – this band started as BEWARE with me, Patrick Bruss (CRYPTICUS), Wayne (DECREPITAPH), and Kam Lee (MASSACRE). When Kam left to focus on BONE-GNAWR, we became TOMBSTONES and are slowly but surely working on our debut CD. Check out our myspace page: myspace.com/tombstonesdeath. There are some great advance tracks on there that are guaranteed to make your blood turn BLACK!!
6. And what about INSOMNIA? All right, we all know that IMPETIGO was inspired by horror movies. What was the inspiration behind playing doom metal? Desire to play mid-tempo, slow grind leads you to this style?
More or less, it was my life-long obsession with BLACK SABBATH that was the primary key in developing what started as CHURCH OF MISERY, then INSOMNIA. In the late 80s/early 90s when 4 of my favorite bands were CANDLEMASS, ST.VITUS, AUTOPSY and PENTAGRAM/DEATHROW, and also inspired by newer bands such as CATHEDRAL, COUNT RAVEN, SOLITUDE AETURNUS, PAUL CHAIN, etc, I formed the band with my long-time friend Neil Hardesty as a side-project…we were just going to record one demo tape and be done with it, as we had no hopes of finding a drummer or other band members, and I was very busy with IMPETIGO as the main focus of my musickal life. When we met Brett Fugate, who booked the infamous IMPETIGO show at the Italian-American hall in Peoria, he was the drummer for local death/thrash band COMA, who were very unique and very good. Brett was a big IMPETIGO fan, and while we were working out the details for the IMPETIGO show Brett and I talked about CHURCH OF MISERY and he was very much into the same material we were working on, and wanted to join the band. Since I had studio time already booked, and no time to get him acquainted with the 2 songs we had worked out, Neil and I recorded all the instruments (I played guitar, drums, and bass in addition to growling) for the demo and introduced Brett as our full-time drummer with the release of the demo. Almost immediately we started playing a few shows locally (mostly in the Peoria area), as nobody knew somebody from IMPETIGO was in the band so that band’s reputation never came up! CHURCH OF MISERY was really still ‘side-band status’ until IMPETIGO split up, at which point I focused on C.O.M. A few months later, we scrapped most of our early material, changed the name of the band to INSOMNIA and moved away from the ‘death/doom’ style to the ‘traditional doom’ style. This was fun, and some of the best stuff I’ve written outside of IMPETIGO, but my failure as a vocalist and as a bandleader resulted in our only studio work as C.O.M. (the demo plus unreleased LP), and the only INSOMNIA material ever recorded was live shows. Again, regardless of what you may have heard back then, it was my fault and my fault alone that INSOMNIA dissolved. I said some things about my relationship with Brett and Neil that weren’t true – they were better glue in that group than I was, and were both the best thing EVER about that band. I let them down and I will never fully get over that.
7. What has changed in your life after such a famous project as IMPETIGO split-up? What were you feelings during the first months after that?
My feelings at first were filled with regret – I was unsure if we’d made the right move, considering the newest material (only a few songs) we had been working on and some of our ‘future concepts’ that Mark and I were developing. That regret was negated by the almost immediately-realized scope of our legacy a few years later with the MORBID reissues and the surprisingly growing level of our popularity, even after disbanding. When Razorback did the “Wizards of Gore” tribute album, that was when I fully realized the importance of us splitting up when we did. It’s hard to explain, but as I’ve said time and time again, it was the right thing to do at precisely the right time. All the way up to “HOTZ,” the world truly got the very best of what we had to offer.
8. Great! Now we should pass to present time. Fifteen years after the split-up IMPETIGO prepares a present for fans and makes a comeback only for one show. This performance was unexpected thing for us. How did the idea to make that show come to you? Was it something unusual to rehearse again after long silence period? And what can you say about the guests on that show?
What a lot of folks don’t know is that we had pondered a mini-reunion to do a one-shot EP nearly 5 years ago or so. Mark and I had discussed our unrealized material (a loosely concept-oriented suite about Asian Horror Films) and felt like maybe returning to that for a recording session and subsequent release. It didn’t take long before we realized that with me being in Kentucky and the rest in Illinois how difficult this would have been to achieve – add to that our personal lives and financial burdens and it was very ‘undoable’ in more ways than one. Fast forward to the fall of 2006, when Mark contacted me with a proposal to reunite to play the upcoming CIM 2007 festival in Urbana, Illinois. He had been talking with the organizer Matt Bishop a few times about this from a ‘what if’ standpoint, and this time around the way he presented it appealed to me – especially when I realized that 2007 would have been the 20th anniversary of our inception as a band, and the event itself would take place almost precisely on the date of our very first live appearance. So, the stars seemed to be in alignment, he worked on enlisting the cooperation of the rest of the band, and we committed to this. It was my stipulation that the reunion would be a ‘one time only’ affair. Matt was behind the event 100% and was fantastic to work with. It was unusual getting back together for the first time – I had to travel several hours to practice, which we did as a group 3 or 4 times (the rest of the guys did get together a few times on their own, without me). Most of the lyrics came back to me, but I did need to use lyric sheets as prompts during rehearsal – I had them available at the show itself, but I didn’t use them. Revisiting playing the songs wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be; it’s true I hadn’t even touched the material since we disbanded (or much of ANY material, really – you may as well consider me ‘out of practice’ completely) but everything came right back to me very quickly, as though it had only been 15 days and not 15 years. What was also very different is the amount of friends and fiends who joined us for practice; when we were together years ago, practice was always CLOSED and I never allowed other to watch us work out. This time around, it was a very comfortable experience, still efficient, and during breaks we shared a lot of stories and caught up with each other after so many years of silence. The guest appearances live was pretty much worked out very early during our planning: we knew Kam would be at the show, and Matt (of course) being the show’s organizer we couldn’t resist giving him a shot to scream with us (when he was in LIVIDITY, they covered “Bloody Pit…”). Guest vocals on ‘Defiling the Grave” was a regular event for us when we played in the 90s; we had a friend helping out on the album recording session, and usually live someone would join us (most memorable was Jeff from VITAL REMAINS, he owned the stage when he appeared with us in Milwaukee!!) and I think Rob (our guest for this song in the reunion) did it with us in the 90s at least once. I was also chuffed when Dave K of LIVIDITY jumped up and did a stage-dive – great pal, longtime friend and fan of the group, it was great!!!
9. For how long haven’t you been on stage? Many musicians admit that it’s an amazing feeling – to know that all these people are here only for you, to be in the focus of attention. Maybe you were nervous and used some mantra while preparing for the show?
I hadn’t been on stage (per se) since the final IMPETIGO live appearance at the Milwaukee Metal Fest in 1993. That was a very rough show and under the circumstances, we should have played better but didn’t. As I recall, I ended the show by throwing my bass into the air and screaming “KILL! KILL!” for whatever reason…being on stage again was truly exhilarating, it was our first show EVER where we had stage monitors that actually worked (Matt’s crew at CIM had better sound equipment, design, and setup than even Jack Koshick’s legendary Milwaukee Metal Fest(s), this is the TRUTH) and the crowd was completely engaged in the performance. I think on the DVD release of the performance you will see how being so happy resulted in my being distracted from time to time – on the other hand, you’ll probably never notice. It was our ‘dream’ stage set-up, more or less an accomplishment we never realized during out existence – props, soundbytes in between songs, proper equipment, etc. I wasn’t as nervous as you’d think; as Ron Salden says I’m a ‘born entertainer’ and I’m not really agreeing with him but such a performance (including the ranting ad-libs I generate to introduce songs) and all that goes with it really comes natural to me. Never had ‘stage fright,’ ever. I am usually more concerned about accidentally swallowing rubber worms! Many were disappointed that I wasn’t able to vomit freely during the final song (something I did regularly during our shows) – for the record, I did try but I think I was too ‘distracted’ by all the fun I was having!!
10. Why this truly historical event wasn’t released on DVD? I believe that it would have made a nuclear explosion effect for every die-hard IMPETIGO fan. Or maybe you want to depict some details, a few episodes from this show right now?
Actually it is coming out on DVD very, very soon! Also on the DVD will be some of our ‘kvlt’ early videos and live shows. The DVD is being released by our friends at DEATHGASM, it went to press a few weeks ago and should be out in February 2010. Keep your eyes peeled for news on this release – in the meantime you can hear it on CD courtesy of Epitomite Productions!
11. To be honest, I still can’t understand, what do you find in albums of Massacre or Master, what is their zest (maybe, I’m just not of that generation?). Please, give your opinion about this old-school material. It will be interesting to talk about your musical preferences. Which bands do you prefer, and which do not. Just a small digression.
I think maybe in part it is generational, and maybe not. As it is for all music, it is always a ‘personal experience’ that gauges your tastes. For me, it started off in actually being friends with these folks during the time in which they were making the music. We all started making our own noise because we were dissatisfied with what was available for us to buy back then; that’s the true origin of the underground. From the very beginning, I would get a crappy quality cassette of a MASSACRE demo and I knew I was in for something special. Personally, it’s the attitude behind the music in most cases that gives it the flavor that appeals to me. I also appreciate the structure of the sounds, as I was part of the ‘group’ that was making and enjoying this music as it evolved from an attempt to create what kind of sound ‘we’ like to a bona-fide document of the true underground sound. As for what I’m listening to now, it’s pretty much the same as what I enjoyed back then, plus a generous helping of Japanese music (of ANY kind). For me, the best thing is that it’s got to be HEAVY. We consider metal to be HEAVY, but this applies to punk, new wave, rock, and even pop sometimes. Early on, besides the masters (MASSACRE, MASTER, SLAUGHTER, DEATH, REPULSION, CELTIC FROST, VOIVOD, etc) I also enjoyed stuff like SEPTIC DEATH, JIM JONES & THE KOOL AIDE KIDS, CASBAH, etc. As grindcore emerged, bands like MORTICIAN, CARCASS, NAPALM DEATH, and BLOOD were among my favorites. Way too many to mention, I always stop somewhere on these listings and after I respond, it never fails…I think “oh krap I didn’t mention those guys”!!!
12. When listening to these bands, do you feel the same as when you’ve heard those bands for the first time? I just get some albums, from which I started to listen to extreme music, and after all this time I have only one question: «Where is their former magic?!!»
Nowadays, nostalgia plays a part but still I hear MASTER and their 86 demo and that same feeling arises…the notes and their depth shoot straight to my nervous system (as they did when I first heard it) and I hear the same chords of death that I liked to hear back then and that helped form my own musical identity. For me, the magic is STILL THERE, and that’s what is beautiful about it. Again, it’s all about ‘personal experience’ and the things that go through your mind…listening to MACABRE’s “Grim Reality” EP still evokes memories of seeing them on the street outside of a VOIVOD concert, selling their records; and of the damage I caused in my bedroom when I listened to it for the first time.
13. Tell me, what have you listened to the last time (last minute, last day)? Or maybe you prefer live shows? Btw, recently one of us had a good luck to visit CARCASS concert. What do you think about their present activity and have you seen them live after their re-union?
I just listened to an old radio broadcast of THE VANDALS from 1983 on KPFK – their singer was named “Stevo” also. I also listened to “RRROOOAAARRR!!!” by VOIVOD in the car with the kids last night, they had no idea what was going on!!!!! Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of MARILLION and JUDAS PRIEST, no real connection, but I just thought of it and felt like it was bizarre enough to mention. Also, I always enjoy a healthy dose of ONMYOUZA and MACABRE, not a week doesn’t go by where I haven’t listened to at least one of their albums. MERCYFUL FATE used to be my ‘favorite’ metal band, but when I first heard ONMYOUZA about 8 years ago, they took their place – highly recommended band, so fantastic!!! The last live show I saw was QUEENSRYCHE last week, one of my favorite bands EVER. A friend of mine here has known the band since 1982, and introduced me to them several years ago – it’s always a treat to see them when they are in the area and then get to spend some ‘quality time’ with them backstage after the show and catch up with what they are up to now…very nice folks, good friends, and the best thing about them is still, after all these years, if it’s not important, they don’t waste time on it. I’ve always loved CARCASS (well…except for “BlackStar,” that was disappointing to me) but I haven’t seen or heard anything of them since those days. Bill was a good friend of ours, I enjoy his side-projects since CARCASS ended but I doubt they will play around here.
14. How did the guys from GRUESOME STUFF RELISH get you for guest appearance on their album? What can you say about possibility of guest appearance in any other project in future?
I’ve been a huge fan of the band since I heard their stuff on RAZORBACK years ago…a lot of people praise them as CARCASS worship, but I consider them to be much more than that, and I think their new material really justifies that. They are true ‘original grind underground worship’ really, and I’ve been in touch with them a few times over the years. Anyway, I was experimenting with ‘extra vocals’ recording them at home on my PC, and Pablo contacted me about the possibility of doing some vocals for their upcoming album. I was difficult for me to work out technically at first, but it turned out to be simpler on my end than I originally thought. The end result turned out EXCELLENT (it sounds like I was really there!) and this event led up to not only more ‘guest appearances’ but also to my involvement with BEWARE and, subsequently, TOMBSTONES! I appear on the new BONE GNAWR CD (Kam Lee and Rogga’s band), and also the new FONDLECORPSE CD “Creaturegore”! I haven’t heard the BONE GNAWR yet, but “Feast of Flesh” sounds great, and “Creaturegore” is one of the best albums released this year! Sly is a damn GENIUS and I just love their stuff!!!
15. I think you had some offers to record new material in studio after your one-show reunion? Impetigo – it’s just history now, or you had some temptation to answer “Yes, we shall do it!”
Not really…I’m sure RAZORBACK would have loved to do a release of new material from us, but Billy also understands the ‘one time only’ stipulation of our reunion. We’ve had several offers from others to play shows worldwide, and yes the temptation certainly does take me by the throat (Germany, Czech Republic, Japan, etc)…I really don’t know how I could say “no” but I really have to – my life just isn’t set up for anything like that!!
16. I guess you must have listened to «Tribute To Boneyard». How do you like it? As for me, the idea is pretty good but non-stop listening to 33 versions of one song was a bit hard to bear (even if it’s Boneyard).
I do have it, and yes I think it’s great!! It always goes to show, the basic approach is the best! It’s out most ‘infamous’ song and it took me no longer to write it than the length of the song itself – the words and music burst upon me while I was driving somewhere (quite a bit of this era’s material began in my mind while driving, isn’t that bizarre?) and I jotted everything down on scrap paper I kept in my truck. As most of you know, it’s our most-covered song and even before this CD came out, we had an internal compilation of nearly 40 minutes of “Boneyard” cover versions by other bands. It’s easier for me to listen to 33 versions by others than it is for me to sit through one of our own albums, but the first listen was the best.
17. Back to your favorite bands. As we know, IMPETIGO and BLOOD were big friends. Your Moscow interviewer is crazy about BLOOD. Do you know something about present BLOOD? What do you think about their albums (I think, «Dysangelium» is brilliant)? Are you still friends?
A few years ago Eisen reached out to me, but I was having communication issues and never responded (hey bro, you STILL rule!)…Eisen was one of my greatest friends and a TRUE BROTHER, we had a very intense friendship. I’m glad to know they are still active; for many of us who were involved in the underground during that time, BLOOD were really one of the TRUE death metal D.I.Y. bands, they were ‘kvlt’ before ‘kvlt’ was ‘kvlt’ and all of us were usually watching their next move. Their early demos were true fashion self-promo projects, no expensive studio or production: “here’s who we are, here’s what we sound like, here’s how we do it – if you can’t listen through the limitations of this tape and tell anything about us, then you aren’t listening with your heart.” I still consider “Impulse to Destroy” one of the most important albums EVER. With that session, they defined what brutal grinding death metal was all about, and it was a massive influence of mine.
18. All IMPETIGO artwork became real gore classics. Do you still enjoy drawing such sick pictures? If I create my own grindcore band, can I expect getting one of your images for cover art? Hehe.
I officially gave up artwork a long time ago; there was always a ‘curse’ with art pieces I did for other bands…and really, even for IMPETIGO art there were always curse-like challenges (consider our original artwork for “Ultimo” and all of its craziness and you will see what I mean). I returned from retirement only briefly to submit a rather poor ‘sketch’ for LINCOLN LOVE LOG – and for the record, this is the only time my artwork for another band wasn’t jinxed somehow. It was fun to draw again, but my life is so much different now and it was difficult for me to produce this art in a timely manner. I’d like to say ‘sure, I’ll help you out’ but really it will take me 2 years, ha ha!! I still sketch once in a while, but I’m not happy with what I come up with.
19. Please, tell me, what has inspired you to create any of your songs? Have some unusual story about it?
There’s a lot of this kind of info in the liner notes for the RAZORBACK reissues; one of the most popular stories about the inspiration for our songs revolves around “The Revenge of the Scabby Man” and its real-life inspiration, an old friend of mine named Joey (who was the lead singer of my old band DEAD TRENDIES). He collected his phlegm in a glass under his bed. “I Work For The Streetcleaner” was inspired by the couple in the movie Nekromantik; “Boneyard” was inspired by Henry Lee Lucas and John Wayne Gacy; “Staph Terrorist” was primarily inspired by a real event when I was in high school, where a fellow who worked at Hardee’s had wiped his ass with hamburger buns and served them to a group of summer stock actors. For the most part, I would take a true-life or film-inspired topic and always try to personalize it, and/or extend the concept beyond what it really is. For example, the basic principle of “Staph Terrorist” begins with grotesque tales of food tampering, but what’s really going on is its expose of the hate war raged by some twisted folks who walk among us, completely undetected and invisible – we feel safe, they are always out there, striking when it’s least expected.
20. A little simple and naïve question: your favorite IMPETIGO album, song and lyrics?
Easily, hands down “Horror of the Zombies” is my favorite album. My personal favorite song is either “Staph Terrorist” or “Defiling The Grave.” My favorite lyrics are those for “I Work For The Streetcleaner,” I think.
21. Your lyrics are full of splatter, violence, zombies etc. and usually these topics are hardly accepted by normal people. Can you imagine lyrics, which even you will consider outrageous and disgraceful?
I sure can. I despise Facist and Nazi propaganda material. Most horror/occult/etc types of lyrics are truly in jest, with no harm intended. Even the most obscene gore or satanic material is always tongue-in-cheek; Nazis are real and Facism is real and I have no tolerance for it, out of respect for those whose lives are affected by this type of hatred. However, I cross this line occasionally with ‘true crime’ material – one could argue with me that this kind of subject matter is also ‘real’ and it is – and the victims are ‘real’ as well, so in that respect I am a hypocrite, just like most of us.
22. Do your kids like what their dad was making 20 years ago? Or you don’t allow them to hear this horrifying musick?
They have no idea; they know I was in a band and some of my family members have ‘accidentally’ found out some of my music, lyrics and artwork…fortunately, with no ill effects. I suppose when they are old enough, they will know more but right now I have 2 girls and I don’t think it would be nice to show them the cover for “Buio Omega.”
23. Once I read in one interview of yours, that you collect beer-related t-shirts. Probably we can find for you something in Russia or Belarus…
Yes, I collect beer anything. And if you have a baseball team, I would love to own a ball cap.
24. In the end, please, give an answer, which you wanted to give for a long time, then we will think up a question for it in our turn :)
Ah, now you stump Stevo the great!! Here is the answer, I can’t wait to see what you’ve come up with:
“It only matters if your heart is 200% invested in what you are doing, for the greater good, and not for what personal or monetary gain you will receive. What you do today will seal your reputation 20 years from now, and into eternity. The only gain that matters is FRIENDSHIP and RESPECT, everything else is trivial and will never last. Loyalty NEVER dies!”
Thanks for the opportunity for the interview, and for your extreme patience. Check out TOMBSTONES at: http://www.myspace.com/tombstonesdeath, and be on the lookout for our debut album “Not For The Squeamish” out this year on RAZORBACK RECORDS!!
It's quite a massive interview, and since the majority of the website is in RUSSIAN, I thought I'd post my interview en masse so that the rest of us can read what I'm saying in ENGLISH.
1. Greetings, Stevo! Thanks that you’ve agreed to answer our questions. It is great to find a reason to speak about IMPETIGO again – after all, this band is one of the most charismatic examples of early grindcore style. Your material sounds powerful and solid and stands apart from noisy jokes, which were being released by most of your contemporaries. We apologize, if some of our questions you have already heard a thousand times before. We want to make maybe not too long, but profound interview. We’d like to ask you not to perceive this conversation too seriously – that’s not an interrogation. If you don’t like the question, forget about it. If you want to change a subject and start writing some free thoughts, go ahead! Are you ready (we’ll accept the only answer, «yes!»)?
I think I am ready, you knew I’d say YES…it warms my black heart just to know that 16 years after we disbanded, people still think about us in a way I could have never imagined.
2. The weather is fine in Moscow, as well as in Minsk. How do you do? By the way, it’s been a long time since the official IMPETIGO page and your own blog were updated…
I’m doing fine, but not very happy about the weather – as summer slips away, the air gets colder and the sunshine slowly disappears. Winter’s doom is imminent! Time for the vampires to rise and take control of the night! The official IMPETIGO page isn’t really owned by us, but by the folks at Brain-Dead zine. I haven’t been in contact with them in a while, maybe Mark has. Yes, I kinda let the “Lesions” blog sit dormant for a while, but I have a few posts ready to update the story I was telling and once my PC/internet capabilities see better days, I will certainly return to that forum.
3. I think, we should start from going back in history for those who are not involved in grind too much. For us, IMPETIGO ‘90 – it’s, first of all, mid-tempo music, impressive sound and lazy gore material. Whose idea was to «condense» the sound like that? Most of other bands just wanted to be faster and more aggressive. How did you find your own sound?
It’s hard to say; ‘grind’ was really in its infancy when we first started making our noise, and soon after our beginning, we began to adopt the ‘grinding’ sound of the day, of which you described very well in your question. The idea really goes to Mark for craftily exposing me to the ways and means of this sound, I enjoyed NAPALM DEATH and CARCASS early on but he really turned me into a freak over bands like this; so at first it was a ghastly hybrid of the thrash-core and early grind, and then our growing death metal influence permeated that essence, which resulted in our eventual death-grind formula. We felt like we were fast enough and aggressive enough, we wanted to be HEAVIER and I think that really made all of the difference.
4. Your second full-length album «Horror of the Zombies»… I have noticed that Russian listeners do not understand it at all, but they idolize «Ultimo Mondo Cannibale». In America, as we know, the situation is opposite. Why did your change your style from amazing gore-grind to less vigorous, but more adult death/grind?
As I said in the previous answer, it was all about a HEAVIER sound…I don’t think we really moved away from anything we had before, we just made it heavier and we became better at playing the material, more creative in writing, and a great deal of improvement in our execution, from performance to studio work. With the first album, there was no ‘cohesiveness,’ it was a miasma of early material and current material. When preparing for the second album, we had a chance to write a distinct suite of material, within a rather concise timeframe, and worked on it all within the course of a year, and always as a confined ‘group’ of songs. We took some of the ‘loose and random’ mayhem in our work up to and including 1990 and applied it in a different area in a very unique way. The mayhem is still there, but its pulse is stronger and more lethal by comparison.
5. After this album you did not find enough time to devote it to your group anymore, and you didn’t want IMPETIGO to become a job. What was after IMPETIGO’s split-up? We do not know anything about what happened with Mark, Dan and Scott. You in your turn have started a few side-projects. For example, CONVULSIONS. Please, tell us about it. The only information one can find in the Internet is that you were planning to release some promo material… but still no news or songs. When will we have a chance to listen to some fresh old-school stuff?
As most of you know, I was involved with CHURCH OF MISERY (later INSOMNIA) at the time of IMPETIGO’s demise. I also tried to start a band called ZOMBIE with COM guitarist Neil and MASTERFISTER drummer Chad that never really happened. I made some guest appearances with MASTERFISTER as a bass player, and also did guest vocals for a few bands recordings. Mark wasn’t in any bands, Scott played in a couple of local bands (notably, 13 FRIGHTENED GIRLS who released a few EPs) and Dan focused on his new project BADGER BOYS, having recorded some material that was never released. When INSOMNIA split up, I was completely done with music before my attempt to resurrect ZOMBIE a few years ago; ZOMBIE would eventually become CONVULSIONS, which was the name of a band I tried to start before SGT ROCK/IMPETIGO. The original concept of CONVULSIONS changed when Gregg (ex-LINCOLN LOVE LOG) and Tom (CARDIAC ARREST, SEVERED, ex-DOGOD) became members of the band, and to make a long story short: the next time the 3 of us can get together for the weekend, we will work out some stuff and try to record a few tracks. Nothing more than homage of the kind of stuff that got us into death metal, and nothing more. On the other hand, I am also embroiled in an active plot to return to death metal in a band called TOMBSTONES – this band started as BEWARE with me, Patrick Bruss (CRYPTICUS), Wayne (DECREPITAPH), and Kam Lee (MASSACRE). When Kam left to focus on BONE-GNAWR, we became TOMBSTONES and are slowly but surely working on our debut CD. Check out our myspace page: myspace.com/tombstonesdeath. There are some great advance tracks on there that are guaranteed to make your blood turn BLACK!!
6. And what about INSOMNIA? All right, we all know that IMPETIGO was inspired by horror movies. What was the inspiration behind playing doom metal? Desire to play mid-tempo, slow grind leads you to this style?
More or less, it was my life-long obsession with BLACK SABBATH that was the primary key in developing what started as CHURCH OF MISERY, then INSOMNIA. In the late 80s/early 90s when 4 of my favorite bands were CANDLEMASS, ST.VITUS, AUTOPSY and PENTAGRAM/DEATHROW, and also inspired by newer bands such as CATHEDRAL, COUNT RAVEN, SOLITUDE AETURNUS, PAUL CHAIN, etc, I formed the band with my long-time friend Neil Hardesty as a side-project…we were just going to record one demo tape and be done with it, as we had no hopes of finding a drummer or other band members, and I was very busy with IMPETIGO as the main focus of my musickal life. When we met Brett Fugate, who booked the infamous IMPETIGO show at the Italian-American hall in Peoria, he was the drummer for local death/thrash band COMA, who were very unique and very good. Brett was a big IMPETIGO fan, and while we were working out the details for the IMPETIGO show Brett and I talked about CHURCH OF MISERY and he was very much into the same material we were working on, and wanted to join the band. Since I had studio time already booked, and no time to get him acquainted with the 2 songs we had worked out, Neil and I recorded all the instruments (I played guitar, drums, and bass in addition to growling) for the demo and introduced Brett as our full-time drummer with the release of the demo. Almost immediately we started playing a few shows locally (mostly in the Peoria area), as nobody knew somebody from IMPETIGO was in the band so that band’s reputation never came up! CHURCH OF MISERY was really still ‘side-band status’ until IMPETIGO split up, at which point I focused on C.O.M. A few months later, we scrapped most of our early material, changed the name of the band to INSOMNIA and moved away from the ‘death/doom’ style to the ‘traditional doom’ style. This was fun, and some of the best stuff I’ve written outside of IMPETIGO, but my failure as a vocalist and as a bandleader resulted in our only studio work as C.O.M. (the demo plus unreleased LP), and the only INSOMNIA material ever recorded was live shows. Again, regardless of what you may have heard back then, it was my fault and my fault alone that INSOMNIA dissolved. I said some things about my relationship with Brett and Neil that weren’t true – they were better glue in that group than I was, and were both the best thing EVER about that band. I let them down and I will never fully get over that.
7. What has changed in your life after such a famous project as IMPETIGO split-up? What were you feelings during the first months after that?
My feelings at first were filled with regret – I was unsure if we’d made the right move, considering the newest material (only a few songs) we had been working on and some of our ‘future concepts’ that Mark and I were developing. That regret was negated by the almost immediately-realized scope of our legacy a few years later with the MORBID reissues and the surprisingly growing level of our popularity, even after disbanding. When Razorback did the “Wizards of Gore” tribute album, that was when I fully realized the importance of us splitting up when we did. It’s hard to explain, but as I’ve said time and time again, it was the right thing to do at precisely the right time. All the way up to “HOTZ,” the world truly got the very best of what we had to offer.
8. Great! Now we should pass to present time. Fifteen years after the split-up IMPETIGO prepares a present for fans and makes a comeback only for one show. This performance was unexpected thing for us. How did the idea to make that show come to you? Was it something unusual to rehearse again after long silence period? And what can you say about the guests on that show?
What a lot of folks don’t know is that we had pondered a mini-reunion to do a one-shot EP nearly 5 years ago or so. Mark and I had discussed our unrealized material (a loosely concept-oriented suite about Asian Horror Films) and felt like maybe returning to that for a recording session and subsequent release. It didn’t take long before we realized that with me being in Kentucky and the rest in Illinois how difficult this would have been to achieve – add to that our personal lives and financial burdens and it was very ‘undoable’ in more ways than one. Fast forward to the fall of 2006, when Mark contacted me with a proposal to reunite to play the upcoming CIM 2007 festival in Urbana, Illinois. He had been talking with the organizer Matt Bishop a few times about this from a ‘what if’ standpoint, and this time around the way he presented it appealed to me – especially when I realized that 2007 would have been the 20th anniversary of our inception as a band, and the event itself would take place almost precisely on the date of our very first live appearance. So, the stars seemed to be in alignment, he worked on enlisting the cooperation of the rest of the band, and we committed to this. It was my stipulation that the reunion would be a ‘one time only’ affair. Matt was behind the event 100% and was fantastic to work with. It was unusual getting back together for the first time – I had to travel several hours to practice, which we did as a group 3 or 4 times (the rest of the guys did get together a few times on their own, without me). Most of the lyrics came back to me, but I did need to use lyric sheets as prompts during rehearsal – I had them available at the show itself, but I didn’t use them. Revisiting playing the songs wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be; it’s true I hadn’t even touched the material since we disbanded (or much of ANY material, really – you may as well consider me ‘out of practice’ completely) but everything came right back to me very quickly, as though it had only been 15 days and not 15 years. What was also very different is the amount of friends and fiends who joined us for practice; when we were together years ago, practice was always CLOSED and I never allowed other to watch us work out. This time around, it was a very comfortable experience, still efficient, and during breaks we shared a lot of stories and caught up with each other after so many years of silence. The guest appearances live was pretty much worked out very early during our planning: we knew Kam would be at the show, and Matt (of course) being the show’s organizer we couldn’t resist giving him a shot to scream with us (when he was in LIVIDITY, they covered “Bloody Pit…”). Guest vocals on ‘Defiling the Grave” was a regular event for us when we played in the 90s; we had a friend helping out on the album recording session, and usually live someone would join us (most memorable was Jeff from VITAL REMAINS, he owned the stage when he appeared with us in Milwaukee!!) and I think Rob (our guest for this song in the reunion) did it with us in the 90s at least once. I was also chuffed when Dave K of LIVIDITY jumped up and did a stage-dive – great pal, longtime friend and fan of the group, it was great!!!
9. For how long haven’t you been on stage? Many musicians admit that it’s an amazing feeling – to know that all these people are here only for you, to be in the focus of attention. Maybe you were nervous and used some mantra while preparing for the show?
I hadn’t been on stage (per se) since the final IMPETIGO live appearance at the Milwaukee Metal Fest in 1993. That was a very rough show and under the circumstances, we should have played better but didn’t. As I recall, I ended the show by throwing my bass into the air and screaming “KILL! KILL!” for whatever reason…being on stage again was truly exhilarating, it was our first show EVER where we had stage monitors that actually worked (Matt’s crew at CIM had better sound equipment, design, and setup than even Jack Koshick’s legendary Milwaukee Metal Fest(s), this is the TRUTH) and the crowd was completely engaged in the performance. I think on the DVD release of the performance you will see how being so happy resulted in my being distracted from time to time – on the other hand, you’ll probably never notice. It was our ‘dream’ stage set-up, more or less an accomplishment we never realized during out existence – props, soundbytes in between songs, proper equipment, etc. I wasn’t as nervous as you’d think; as Ron Salden says I’m a ‘born entertainer’ and I’m not really agreeing with him but such a performance (including the ranting ad-libs I generate to introduce songs) and all that goes with it really comes natural to me. Never had ‘stage fright,’ ever. I am usually more concerned about accidentally swallowing rubber worms! Many were disappointed that I wasn’t able to vomit freely during the final song (something I did regularly during our shows) – for the record, I did try but I think I was too ‘distracted’ by all the fun I was having!!
10. Why this truly historical event wasn’t released on DVD? I believe that it would have made a nuclear explosion effect for every die-hard IMPETIGO fan. Or maybe you want to depict some details, a few episodes from this show right now?
Actually it is coming out on DVD very, very soon! Also on the DVD will be some of our ‘kvlt’ early videos and live shows. The DVD is being released by our friends at DEATHGASM, it went to press a few weeks ago and should be out in February 2010. Keep your eyes peeled for news on this release – in the meantime you can hear it on CD courtesy of Epitomite Productions!
11. To be honest, I still can’t understand, what do you find in albums of Massacre or Master, what is their zest (maybe, I’m just not of that generation?). Please, give your opinion about this old-school material. It will be interesting to talk about your musical preferences. Which bands do you prefer, and which do not. Just a small digression.
I think maybe in part it is generational, and maybe not. As it is for all music, it is always a ‘personal experience’ that gauges your tastes. For me, it started off in actually being friends with these folks during the time in which they were making the music. We all started making our own noise because we were dissatisfied with what was available for us to buy back then; that’s the true origin of the underground. From the very beginning, I would get a crappy quality cassette of a MASSACRE demo and I knew I was in for something special. Personally, it’s the attitude behind the music in most cases that gives it the flavor that appeals to me. I also appreciate the structure of the sounds, as I was part of the ‘group’ that was making and enjoying this music as it evolved from an attempt to create what kind of sound ‘we’ like to a bona-fide document of the true underground sound. As for what I’m listening to now, it’s pretty much the same as what I enjoyed back then, plus a generous helping of Japanese music (of ANY kind). For me, the best thing is that it’s got to be HEAVY. We consider metal to be HEAVY, but this applies to punk, new wave, rock, and even pop sometimes. Early on, besides the masters (MASSACRE, MASTER, SLAUGHTER, DEATH, REPULSION, CELTIC FROST, VOIVOD, etc) I also enjoyed stuff like SEPTIC DEATH, JIM JONES & THE KOOL AIDE KIDS, CASBAH, etc. As grindcore emerged, bands like MORTICIAN, CARCASS, NAPALM DEATH, and BLOOD were among my favorites. Way too many to mention, I always stop somewhere on these listings and after I respond, it never fails…I think “oh krap I didn’t mention those guys”!!!
12. When listening to these bands, do you feel the same as when you’ve heard those bands for the first time? I just get some albums, from which I started to listen to extreme music, and after all this time I have only one question: «Where is their former magic?!!»
Nowadays, nostalgia plays a part but still I hear MASTER and their 86 demo and that same feeling arises…the notes and their depth shoot straight to my nervous system (as they did when I first heard it) and I hear the same chords of death that I liked to hear back then and that helped form my own musical identity. For me, the magic is STILL THERE, and that’s what is beautiful about it. Again, it’s all about ‘personal experience’ and the things that go through your mind…listening to MACABRE’s “Grim Reality” EP still evokes memories of seeing them on the street outside of a VOIVOD concert, selling their records; and of the damage I caused in my bedroom when I listened to it for the first time.
13. Tell me, what have you listened to the last time (last minute, last day)? Or maybe you prefer live shows? Btw, recently one of us had a good luck to visit CARCASS concert. What do you think about their present activity and have you seen them live after their re-union?
I just listened to an old radio broadcast of THE VANDALS from 1983 on KPFK – their singer was named “Stevo” also. I also listened to “RRROOOAAARRR!!!” by VOIVOD in the car with the kids last night, they had no idea what was going on!!!!! Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of MARILLION and JUDAS PRIEST, no real connection, but I just thought of it and felt like it was bizarre enough to mention. Also, I always enjoy a healthy dose of ONMYOUZA and MACABRE, not a week doesn’t go by where I haven’t listened to at least one of their albums. MERCYFUL FATE used to be my ‘favorite’ metal band, but when I first heard ONMYOUZA about 8 years ago, they took their place – highly recommended band, so fantastic!!! The last live show I saw was QUEENSRYCHE last week, one of my favorite bands EVER. A friend of mine here has known the band since 1982, and introduced me to them several years ago – it’s always a treat to see them when they are in the area and then get to spend some ‘quality time’ with them backstage after the show and catch up with what they are up to now…very nice folks, good friends, and the best thing about them is still, after all these years, if it’s not important, they don’t waste time on it. I’ve always loved CARCASS (well…except for “BlackStar,” that was disappointing to me) but I haven’t seen or heard anything of them since those days. Bill was a good friend of ours, I enjoy his side-projects since CARCASS ended but I doubt they will play around here.
14. How did the guys from GRUESOME STUFF RELISH get you for guest appearance on their album? What can you say about possibility of guest appearance in any other project in future?
I’ve been a huge fan of the band since I heard their stuff on RAZORBACK years ago…a lot of people praise them as CARCASS worship, but I consider them to be much more than that, and I think their new material really justifies that. They are true ‘original grind underground worship’ really, and I’ve been in touch with them a few times over the years. Anyway, I was experimenting with ‘extra vocals’ recording them at home on my PC, and Pablo contacted me about the possibility of doing some vocals for their upcoming album. I was difficult for me to work out technically at first, but it turned out to be simpler on my end than I originally thought. The end result turned out EXCELLENT (it sounds like I was really there!) and this event led up to not only more ‘guest appearances’ but also to my involvement with BEWARE and, subsequently, TOMBSTONES! I appear on the new BONE GNAWR CD (Kam Lee and Rogga’s band), and also the new FONDLECORPSE CD “Creaturegore”! I haven’t heard the BONE GNAWR yet, but “Feast of Flesh” sounds great, and “Creaturegore” is one of the best albums released this year! Sly is a damn GENIUS and I just love their stuff!!!
15. I think you had some offers to record new material in studio after your one-show reunion? Impetigo – it’s just history now, or you had some temptation to answer “Yes, we shall do it!”
Not really…I’m sure RAZORBACK would have loved to do a release of new material from us, but Billy also understands the ‘one time only’ stipulation of our reunion. We’ve had several offers from others to play shows worldwide, and yes the temptation certainly does take me by the throat (Germany, Czech Republic, Japan, etc)…I really don’t know how I could say “no” but I really have to – my life just isn’t set up for anything like that!!
16. I guess you must have listened to «Tribute To Boneyard». How do you like it? As for me, the idea is pretty good but non-stop listening to 33 versions of one song was a bit hard to bear (even if it’s Boneyard).
I do have it, and yes I think it’s great!! It always goes to show, the basic approach is the best! It’s out most ‘infamous’ song and it took me no longer to write it than the length of the song itself – the words and music burst upon me while I was driving somewhere (quite a bit of this era’s material began in my mind while driving, isn’t that bizarre?) and I jotted everything down on scrap paper I kept in my truck. As most of you know, it’s our most-covered song and even before this CD came out, we had an internal compilation of nearly 40 minutes of “Boneyard” cover versions by other bands. It’s easier for me to listen to 33 versions by others than it is for me to sit through one of our own albums, but the first listen was the best.
17. Back to your favorite bands. As we know, IMPETIGO and BLOOD were big friends. Your Moscow interviewer is crazy about BLOOD. Do you know something about present BLOOD? What do you think about their albums (I think, «Dysangelium» is brilliant)? Are you still friends?
A few years ago Eisen reached out to me, but I was having communication issues and never responded (hey bro, you STILL rule!)…Eisen was one of my greatest friends and a TRUE BROTHER, we had a very intense friendship. I’m glad to know they are still active; for many of us who were involved in the underground during that time, BLOOD were really one of the TRUE death metal D.I.Y. bands, they were ‘kvlt’ before ‘kvlt’ was ‘kvlt’ and all of us were usually watching their next move. Their early demos were true fashion self-promo projects, no expensive studio or production: “here’s who we are, here’s what we sound like, here’s how we do it – if you can’t listen through the limitations of this tape and tell anything about us, then you aren’t listening with your heart.” I still consider “Impulse to Destroy” one of the most important albums EVER. With that session, they defined what brutal grinding death metal was all about, and it was a massive influence of mine.
18. All IMPETIGO artwork became real gore classics. Do you still enjoy drawing such sick pictures? If I create my own grindcore band, can I expect getting one of your images for cover art? Hehe.
I officially gave up artwork a long time ago; there was always a ‘curse’ with art pieces I did for other bands…and really, even for IMPETIGO art there were always curse-like challenges (consider our original artwork for “Ultimo” and all of its craziness and you will see what I mean). I returned from retirement only briefly to submit a rather poor ‘sketch’ for LINCOLN LOVE LOG – and for the record, this is the only time my artwork for another band wasn’t jinxed somehow. It was fun to draw again, but my life is so much different now and it was difficult for me to produce this art in a timely manner. I’d like to say ‘sure, I’ll help you out’ but really it will take me 2 years, ha ha!! I still sketch once in a while, but I’m not happy with what I come up with.
19. Please, tell me, what has inspired you to create any of your songs? Have some unusual story about it?
There’s a lot of this kind of info in the liner notes for the RAZORBACK reissues; one of the most popular stories about the inspiration for our songs revolves around “The Revenge of the Scabby Man” and its real-life inspiration, an old friend of mine named Joey (who was the lead singer of my old band DEAD TRENDIES). He collected his phlegm in a glass under his bed. “I Work For The Streetcleaner” was inspired by the couple in the movie Nekromantik; “Boneyard” was inspired by Henry Lee Lucas and John Wayne Gacy; “Staph Terrorist” was primarily inspired by a real event when I was in high school, where a fellow who worked at Hardee’s had wiped his ass with hamburger buns and served them to a group of summer stock actors. For the most part, I would take a true-life or film-inspired topic and always try to personalize it, and/or extend the concept beyond what it really is. For example, the basic principle of “Staph Terrorist” begins with grotesque tales of food tampering, but what’s really going on is its expose of the hate war raged by some twisted folks who walk among us, completely undetected and invisible – we feel safe, they are always out there, striking when it’s least expected.
20. A little simple and naïve question: your favorite IMPETIGO album, song and lyrics?
Easily, hands down “Horror of the Zombies” is my favorite album. My personal favorite song is either “Staph Terrorist” or “Defiling The Grave.” My favorite lyrics are those for “I Work For The Streetcleaner,” I think.
21. Your lyrics are full of splatter, violence, zombies etc. and usually these topics are hardly accepted by normal people. Can you imagine lyrics, which even you will consider outrageous and disgraceful?
I sure can. I despise Facist and Nazi propaganda material. Most horror/occult/etc types of lyrics are truly in jest, with no harm intended. Even the most obscene gore or satanic material is always tongue-in-cheek; Nazis are real and Facism is real and I have no tolerance for it, out of respect for those whose lives are affected by this type of hatred. However, I cross this line occasionally with ‘true crime’ material – one could argue with me that this kind of subject matter is also ‘real’ and it is – and the victims are ‘real’ as well, so in that respect I am a hypocrite, just like most of us.
22. Do your kids like what their dad was making 20 years ago? Or you don’t allow them to hear this horrifying musick?
They have no idea; they know I was in a band and some of my family members have ‘accidentally’ found out some of my music, lyrics and artwork…fortunately, with no ill effects. I suppose when they are old enough, they will know more but right now I have 2 girls and I don’t think it would be nice to show them the cover for “Buio Omega.”
23. Once I read in one interview of yours, that you collect beer-related t-shirts. Probably we can find for you something in Russia or Belarus…
Yes, I collect beer anything. And if you have a baseball team, I would love to own a ball cap.
24. In the end, please, give an answer, which you wanted to give for a long time, then we will think up a question for it in our turn :)
Ah, now you stump Stevo the great!! Here is the answer, I can’t wait to see what you’ve come up with:
“It only matters if your heart is 200% invested in what you are doing, for the greater good, and not for what personal or monetary gain you will receive. What you do today will seal your reputation 20 years from now, and into eternity. The only gain that matters is FRIENDSHIP and RESPECT, everything else is trivial and will never last. Loyalty NEVER dies!”
Thanks for the opportunity for the interview, and for your extreme patience. Check out TOMBSTONES at: http://www.myspace.com/tombstonesdeath, and be on the lookout for our debut album “Not For The Squeamish” out this year on RAZORBACK RECORDS!!
