BLOOD FEAST were one of the best thrash bands that came out of the United States in the mid-late 80's. However,due to a label that did nothing for them and only a few releases,this band faded into semi-obscurity. At the first ever March Metal Meltdown in Asbury Park N.J.,they rose from the ashes and put on an excellent set of thrash metal for those who saw them. Now...with a new "Odds and Ends" record coming out,I e-mailed drummer Kevin Kuzma about the bands past and the possible future for BLOOD FEAST. Read,Learn,and enjoy-Chris O'Brien
U.F.:When did you start the band BLOOD LUST with Lou Starita? What was the goal of the band? What bands primarily influenced BLOOD LUST at the time?
K.K.:I think we started the band back in 84-85. We were into heavy music that really no one else at the time was listening to or playing in our town. We wanted to start a band & just play & make music we liked. We were listening to bands like RAVEN,ANVIL,VENOM,TANK,RIOT,CELTIC FROST/HELLHAMMER,VOIVOD,SLAYER,SODOM,KREATOR,POSSESSED and DESTRUCTION.These are the bands that I feel really helped Blood Feast get its sound & style!! The other bands I listed were bands that Lou & I were listening to before forming Blood Feast.. To many to mention all of them!!
U.F.:How long was it before Gary(Markovich-Vocals),Adam
(Tranquilli-Guitar),and Mike(Basden-Guitar) were recruited to join the band? How was the live reaction to the band then? What bands did you open for when
you started?
K.K.:Louis & I played in a few bands before forming Blood Feast. It was a few years before the rest of the band got together. Playing live was Blood Feast at it's BEST!! We always received a great reaction from the crowd! I remember the first real show we played was at L'Amour opening up for NUCLEAR ASSAULT. From there we went on to open for POSSESSED,KREATOR,MEGADETH,KING DIAMOND,TESTAMENT also. Too many others to remember. We toured with DEATH,DEATH ANGEL & SACRIFICE.
U.F.:How many copies of the "Suicidal Mission" demo were sold? When the demo was sent out to record companies,how many of them responded to the band?
K.K.:I would say we sold a few hundred demo tapes worldwide. I really can't remember a number!! Almost all the labels we sent our demo out to we received a reply from.
U.F.:Why did you sign to New Renaissance Records? What was the deal you had with them? Looking back on the way the label was run,do you think you should have held out for a better offer from a better label?
K.K.:Well I think at the time we looked at New Renaissance like this,they were a new label & had very few bands. We kind of liked that because we figured that if they did not have ALOT of bands to cater to that we would be less likely to get lost in the shuffle of other acts. This was true for a while I think. Besides Blood Feast they only had a few other bands signed for full album deals. In the long run I think what happened was that we were getting bigger then the label & they could not provide us with the support we needed to do things like tour support & things like that. We really missed out on alot of great opportunites because of them not giving us the support we needed!! Looking back now I think we should have waited for a better deal.
U.F.:What prompted you to change the bands name to BLOOD FEAST? Was the name changed before or after you signed to New Renaissance?
K.K.:We had to change the name after we got signed because there was a band on Metal Blade called Blood Lust that already had a release out.
U.F.:The bands first non-compilation release was the "Kill for Pleasure" album.Who payed for the recording of the album? Were they(New Rennaisance) pleased with the album when they recieved it? Why the horrible cover art (like most other bands on the label) to sell such a great album?
K.K.:We payed for the Kill For Pleasure release! They really had no choice but to like it because they put nothing into it!! The cover was done by Drew Elliott who was working for New Renaissance at the time as an artist. The cover idea was from a dream Louis had one night. He pitched the idea to the rest of the band & than to Drew & that's how we got our cover.
U.F.:How do you know you were the best selling artists on the label at the time? How many copies of the album were sold? How hard was it to get royalty checks out of the label (alot of bands said they were screwed by the label).
K.K.:Well from the time that Kill for Pleasure was released we were told by the people at New Renaissance that we were selling GREAT! Only AT WAR was out selling us at the time. But in about a month or so we were told by them again that we were their top selling act to date!! AT WAR and us were the only bands on that label that were doing any kind of touring, so that only made sense that we were selling better than anybody else.
At first it very hard getting money from the label. It Never got any better!! We did get some money from them but it went right into things we needed for touring. I always here stories about bands getting ripped off!! I think that it's all part of the business now! If you are playing Death Metal I don't think your making any real money. You play it because you love it!! Maybe a few bands can make a living off it but not many!!
U.F.:Who did you guys tour with at the time? Was the label good at putting you guys on the road? Was there good promotion for the album done by the label? Who did you guys tour with to promote the album?
K.K.:The only real tour we did was with DEATH ANGEL & SACRIFICE. We did a small tour with DEATH but because of transportion problems we had to end it sooner then expected. The promotion from the label was horrible!! The only support we received was from local music papers & radio stations that were promoting the shows we were playing.
U.F.:How come "Blood Lust" was a bonus track on the casette release only? How come it wasn't mentioned on the CD version when it was eventually released?
K.K.:This is a question for New Renaissance!!
U.F.:After "Kill for Pleasure",the "Face Fate" ep was released. Whose idea was it to release the ep? Why not just re-record "Vampire" and "R.I.P." for the ep considering that "Face Fate" was new and "Blood Lust" had been re-recorded?
K.K.:The EP was the labels idea. We signed a two album deal but because we were really selling great for them they wanted us to release something in between albums. So we signed a deal to record a EP for them. We really didn't have alot of songs written yet for the new album so we decided to use the song Face Fate. Because Blood Lust was only a bonus track on the cassette we thought it would be cool to put it out on this release re-recorded along with the other remixed songs. We had a budget to work with this time that New Renaissance gave us but because it was not that much it was not in the buget to re-record everything!
U.F.:The next album "Chopping Black Blues" was originally titled "The Last Remains". Why was the name changed? What mae Adam decide to leave the band? How did this affect the song-writing for the album?
K.K.:We changed the name of the album because when it was recorded the first time it was with Adam on it . After Adam left we wrote some new songs & decided to put them on the album instead of some of the other tracks that we first recorded. This album that became Chopping Block Blues was recorded about three different times!! Adam left the band due to some personal issues that started to affect him being in the band.
U.F.:Why does it say that "Chopping"...was released on Colossal Records? Wasn't Colossal just New Renaissance with a different distributor?
K.K.:Yes this is true. This is another question for New Renaissance.
U.F.:The band sounded alot different to me on "Chopping..."."Kill..."sounded like German thrash while "Chopping..." sounded more like the San Francisco Thrash sound. What changed in the bands song writing and Gary's approach to singing?
K.K.:I think it was just that. We were being influenced by that Bay area sound at the time. Alot of the bands we were listening to had that sound & it came through in our music.
U.F.:Who's idea was it to do the cover song "Hitler Painted Roses"?
K.K.:It was Mike's idea! What a song to pick!! I think it came out KILLER! One of my favorites on that album. It's just so not us, so not Metal!!
U.F.:How were the sales for "Chopping..." compared to the sales for "Kill.." and the ep? Was the promotion and touring for this album better or worse than it was for the first album?
K.K.:I know it was off to a great start & everyone at the label was excited about it!! I know it well but as far as giving numbers I really don't know!! The promotion was still horrible!!!
U.F.:What made the band break up the first time?
K.K.:Well Mike was the first to quit & then went Gary. It was really from frustration!! We needed some kind of support from our label to move on & do more touring & so on. Because they could not give us that support we could not go any futher on our own. Louis & I tried to keep the band going. We did get another singer & guitar player. We wrote a albums worth of songs & were about to sign a new deal with a company called Kraze Records. The label was from Canada. Just before signing the deal the label went under!!!!?????
U.F.:Why did the band re-unite for the first March Metal Meltdown? What were the other members doing musically before the reuinion? How did it feel to be onstage again,playing for older fans and gaining newer fans?
K.K.:Well I know the promoter of the show & he asked me if we would like to get back together & do it. I thought it would be KILLER & so did every body else! The went "Great!"! It really felt like it did when we were playing shows back in the day. None of us were doing anything musically before the gig. The fans that came to see us were GREAT!! I really could not beleive how many people were there to see us again!! Do you think we made any new fans??!!
U.F.:Can anyone expect truly new material from BLOOD FEAST in the future?
K.K.:I can't see that happening.
U.F.:What will be on the new CD "Remains" other than the tracks from the "Suicidal Mission" demo? Will Militia Records become a full-blown label,or is the label specially for this release? What kind of bands do you hope to sign to Militia Records?
K.K.:Well the CD will contain 11 tracks in all. Songs from the Suicidal Mission Demo,tracks from another demo session,tracks from the Last Remains & one Live track. Keep checking the web site for updates. My label Militia is really for this Blood Feast release. I don't know if it will become a full blown label as I really don't have the time for it. I guess I'll see what happens.
U.F.:Thats about it. Any final comments?
K.K.:As always thanks to all our fans for their years of support!!! Thanks to you for the interview & help spreading the word about Blood Feast!!!!
RAGE ON, Kevin Kuzma
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