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If You're an Emo Kid, You Shouldn't Be Reading This Anyway By Ellen Gager |
The wisdom of Exodus' Gary Holt EDITOR'S NOTE: This interview was conducted live and has been edited for content and length. MWE: Why Exodus? GH: Why not? (Laughs) That's a hard question, I don't know the answer to that. We do what we do and we do it well, ya know? I've been doin' it a long time, it's all I know how to do...so why not? MWE: How did you guys come up with the name? GH: That goes all the way back to the high school band room, and that's something that Tom and Kirk Hammitt had come up with. Something that just sounded like a good metal band name. Mass movement of people, ya know. MWE: What has your experience with Full Blown Chaos been like on this tour?
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| GH: It's amazing, they're a great band and they're such great guys, so we've been having a really good time. Everybody's a little worn out 'cuz we had too much fun last night. We played this place called the Pearl Room in Mokina, Illinois, which is like...it's one of those clubs you don't want to get used to it, it's too nice. You have your own private Green Room with pool tables, big screen TV, leather sofas and your private bar, and your own bartender, not to mention your dressing rooms. It's just amazing. So after the show we just sat at the bar and closed the place. We were counting the days, we love that place. MWE: How often do you get to hit that? GH: This is the second time I'd ever been there. It's memorable. MWE: Does everybody treat you so well or is it just once in a blue moon? GH: Well, you know, we had a great show the night before in Nashville, but we basically played a toilet. I mean the club was smaller than the Green Room where we were last night, so you just don't want to get used to it, because you're just settin' yourself up for a fall. MWE: You guys have assembled quite a lineup of accomplished musicians over the years that have come and gone, and come and gone. How is the band dynamic now?
MWE: Do you think it's all the personal motivation behind it that keeps everybody working on the same page? GH: Yah, absolutely, everybody is motivated now and it's not like myself and Jack and Rob like dragging two people along. It's five guys all going in the same direction. MWE: What is your opinion of the bands over the years who have tried to emulate your style. Do you find it annoying, flattering? GH: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. So, I mean, there's influence and then there's blatant plagiarism, and I don't see too much plagiarism. And most of the band nowadays are...there's a lot of modern bands out there who are like really good friends of mine, and they openly profess their undying love and whatever we might have done to help them create what they're doing. They took the influences and added their own touch to it, and that's great. MWE:
That brings me to the next question, how do you feel about today's
current GH: I think it's really good. I mean, it's better in the United States than it used to be, but it still struggles, you know? Europe and Japan and other points around the globe still remain our bread and butter. It's getting better. The whole Nu Metal thing died and I was so glad about that, but now we have all these Emo kids who weigh like 105 pounds and wear girls' pants that won't even stay on there, 'cuz they have no ass to hold their pants up, they left their ass in the other pants. And they got their hair covering half their face, and the crooked hat, and I'm starting to miss Nu Metal, to tell ya the truth. I mean, they have taken all the testosterone out of Heavy Metal, these guys. Stop whining and crying....Emo. The only emotion that's supposed to be in this music is anger and rage, not sissy complaints. I just don't get it. I look at those kinds and I'm like, "Lift some weights, eat a hamburger, go do something." MWE: And quit taking your sister's jeans. GH: Yah, exactly, my 13-year-old daughter could kick all their asses. MWE: Where do you pull your angst, and rage, and everything that you put into your stage show from? GH: Usually, predominantly from the audience. It's a give and take, they give something to me--and the harder they rock, the harder I rock. Occasionally we get...you can't win 'em all, and some shows are really slim and you have to go up there and it's like, "Oh goodness, there's 50 people here, how am I gonna get through this show?" I'd rather just have a glass of wine and go to bed, you know? But then sometimes that happens and by the time we go out there, the people are so into it that it turns into a good show. We'd go out on the stage, hacking the setlist up, like, "I'm not gonna beat myself up and play an hour and 45 minutes." Especially when a day off is something I really don't know what it is anymore. But then we go out and we start puttin' songs back in because they're really giving it everything they got. And I never like to cheat anybody, 'cuz whether 500 people or 50 people show up, they all paid the same ticket price.
GH: Absolutely. We did the independent thing and that was always great, and we were like big fish in a small pond. Then we went to the major label and where it's just all about dollars and cents, and that sucked. And now we're back on a Metal label that understands the music, and not just looking at your past record sales. MWE: What do you guys have in the works, do you have any new songs recorded? Are you planning any huge new tours? GH: We've got some...we're going to Europe for a couple weeks in June, and we're working on some stuff. We might be going to Taiwan in August, and then we're going some more U.S. stuff I can't really mention right now, because I'm sworn to secrecy-that's in September, October. And then we'll go to Europe again and hopefully start recording around next February. MWE; Where's your preferred location to record? GH: It depends. I've had some great times recording abroad, but that just costs more to get there nowadays. I mean, we did Force of Habit in London, and rented a flat, and shipped all of our gear over there Air Cargo. And that album cost us (laughs) our retirement fund. So, we stay at home now. MWE: Is there anything else you'd like to add? Anything you want to say to those people who have stuck with you through 20-some years? GH: Thanks! I appreciate it.
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GH:
Without taking anything away from the guys that I did play with
in this band for +20 years, this lineup feels like we've all been
together for 20 years. We actually spend more offstage time together
than we did towards the end with the other guys, we have a really
great time and they're just a joy to play with. And they're all
committed. Everybody, like Tom, our original drummer, he had mental
issues and he suffered from severe anxiety attacks and he just
couldn't do this anymore And Rick had his own personal problems,
and it was always like pulling teeth getting him to get to rehearsal.
So, you know, everything's easier now. 
MWE:
What about all of your record label changes? Are you guys satisfied
with your current record label?