RON LEVINE
A few weeks ago,we posted an interview with John Mortimer of the immortal HOLOCAUST. He has been with the band since they formed in Scotland in the late-70s. But how about an interview with another member of the band...a newer member. Like we said a few weeks ago...YOU CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH HOLOCAUST...and Ron,the bands new drummer,was kind enough to answer the questions that were presented to him. Read on...this is a great one.
Interview by - Erik Chrupalyk.
U.F.-I ASKED RON TO TELL ME A BIT ABOUT HIS JOINING OF THE N.W.O.B.H.M. LEGENDS, HOLOCAUST, AND THIS IS WHAT HE HAD TO SAY
Ron-I play drums for Holocaust, and ended up joining the (band) in an accidental sort of way. I had put up my Holocaust web page, simply as a tribute page,
after making contact with John Mortimer through Neat Records. I conducted several email interviews with him, and happened to make an offhand comment
during one of them that I was a drummer (although I hadn't played regularly for several years).
A few months later, in February 2001, I received an email from John stating that the band would be coming to the US in April to play the Metal Meltdown III festival. It seems that neither the drummer nor the bassist could make the trip, and fill-ins would be necessary. John offered me the drumming slot, which was really the shock of my life. I mean, this is the kind of thing you sit around daydreaming about, and then come back to reality a few minutes later. This time, it WAS reality! I warned him that my chops
might not be up to his standards (since I hadn't played for so long), but he reassured me that it was enthusiasm and understanding of what Holocaust
is about that was important. With that, I jumped on the chance.
By the time John and lead guitarist John McCullim arrived in the US in late March, bassist Bryan Bartley from Seattle had been recruited permanently because the previous bassist left. Once they all arrived in Boston, I found out that the situation with their drummer was much rockier than I had realized, and a split was inevitable. We rehearsed like madmen for our
shows in New Jersey. After laying waste to Asbury Park and Randolph, we came back to Boston to record our three-track demo for the forthcoming Primal CD. I had literally just finished laying my drum tracks when they offered me the full-time drumming slot. So the whole thing was quite unexpected, and if you had told me a year ago what would be going on in my life right now, I'd have called you a damn liar!
U.F.-NOW TO START THE INTERVIEW....I CAN IMAGINE HOW STOKED YOU MUST HAVE BEEN,I'D HAVE BEEN TOO MAN! I KNOW THAT JOHN AND JOHN LIVE IN ENGLAND, BRYAN LIVES
IN SEATTLE, AND YOU LIVE IN BOSTON, SO IS IT HARD FOR YOU GUYS TO KEEP UP WITH THE BAND, CONSIDERING YOU ALL LIVE SO FAR FROM EACH OTHER?
Ron-It hasn't been bad. We communicate via email daily and also have weekly voice conferences over the Internet. In fact, we've been doing quite a bit of pre-production on the drums for Primal. I've been recording various takes of songs on tape when I practice and then converting them to mp3 to send to John and Bryan for feedback. Thanks to the 'net, I don't think we've been hindered by distance at all, except for being able to practice together of course!
U.F.-WHERE HAS BEEN YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO PLAY SO FAR? HAVE YOU PLAYED EUROPE YET?
Ron-No, we've only had the two gigs we did in Jersey in April, and we'll be concentrating our efforts on the US. The Metal Meltdown festival was a blast. It was great to be onstage again after a seven year break. I think it went great for our first show with this lineup and I really enjoyed meeting with the fans (of which I'm one myself!) afterwards.
U.F.-WHAT BANDS WERE YOU IN PRIOR TO JOINING HOLOCAUST?
Ron-I was in a couple of unknown Boston area bands in the late 80s and early 90s, no one that you would have heard of.
U.F.-WHO ARE YOUR INFLUENCES AS A DRUMMER?
Ron-To name just a few: Steve Williams from Budgie, Nicko McBrain, Neil Peart,
Harvey Mason (fusion/jazz drummer), Dave Lombardo, Steve Cowen (previous
Holocaust drummer), Lars Ulrich, Nick Menza, Ian Paice, Phil Rudd.
U.F.-WILL HOLOCAUST PARTICIPATE IN ANY N.W.O.B.H.M. REUNION TOURS? I REMEMBER A YEAR OR TWO AGO, A FEW OF THEM HAPPENED, WITH SAMSON, PRAYING MANTIS, AND A
FEW OTHERS.
Ron-It is possible, but not likely. We're not writing off the NWOBHM part of our past, but we're not trying to re-live it either. Holocaust's music has been far removed from that style for a long time (although some of the basic elements are still there).
U.F.-WERE YOU AT ALL FAMILIAR WITH 'UNSTOPPABLE FORCE' BEFORE I ASKED TO INTERVIEW YOU? IF SO, DID YOU LIKE THE SITE?
Ron-I can't recall offhand whether I had seen the site before, but I check it regularly now. It's definitely one of the bigger metal sites/zines out there and that's great to see!
U.F.-DO YOU GUYS PLAN ON USING ANY STAGE PROPS, OR ANYTHING THEATRICAL?
Well, John McCullim's pretty theatrical. Seriously, though, we haven't discussed it. I don't think it will be necessary, we can destroy venues on our own!
U.F.-DID IT TAKE YOU LONG TO GET USED TO DRUMMING AGAIN, OR DID IT SEEM NATURAL? LISTENING TO THE "PRIMAL" DEMO, I REALLY COULDN'T EVEN TELL YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED IN YEARS. EVERYTHING SOUNDED FINE TO ME
Ron-Thanks! Surprisingly, I didn't lose too much even though I wasn't playing for about seven years. Of course, it's not like I was ever Dennis Chambers, either!
I've been practicing a lot for the Primal sessions, which are only about 10 days away from the time I'm writing this. As far as my chops and timekeeping go, I'm definitely playing better now than I was in '93 or '94. I'm also trying to remember to have, y'know, FUN this time...I often forgot about that part of it last time around.
U.F.-ARE YOU USING DOUBLE BASS DRUMS WHEN YOU PLAY LIVE?
Ron-A single kick drum, but with double pedals. I got a Yamaha Recording Custom kit and threw some Aquarian heads on it, and it sounds like a monster! There's quite a bit of double-kick on Primal. It never was my
strong point when I was playing before, so I've been working on that more than anything now that the Primal sessions are looming over me.
U.F.-IN WHAT DIRECTION DO YOU SEE HOLOCAUST HEADING IN?
Ron-That's tough to say. All of the new material was written by John Mortimer before the rest of us came on board, so Primal is his brainchild. It's much more straightforward than the last few Holocaust CDs have been; less progressive and more in-your-face. The CD following Primal will be more of a group effort. I think the only safe answer is to say that every
Holocaust CD has sounded different, and that won't be changing!
U.F.-ARE YOU IN TOUCH WITH TODAY'S HEAVY METAL SCENE AT ALL? (AND NO I'M NOT REFERING TO "NU-METAL")
Ron-Just a little, really. I mostly listen to older stuff, and lately have been seeking out more 70s-era prog type stuff like Atomic Rooster and King
Crimson. I listen to some newer stuff, like black metal bands like Emperor and Darkthrone. I still listen to the older bands that are still around,
though, like Slayer and Megadeth.
U.F.-GROWING UP IN THE 80'S, DID YOU HATE SEEING ALL THE OTHER KIDS CALLING THEMSELVES METALHEADS, ONLY LISTENING TO BON JOVI, POISON, WHITESNAKE, AND
RATT? A LOT OF OLDER METALHEADS TELL ME IT'S JUST AS BAD AS THE MALLRATS THESE DAYS WHO CALL THEMSELVES METALHEADS CAUSE THEY LIKE LINKIN PARK, AND
PAPA ROACH.
Ron-Haha! Up until the 11th grade, I WAS one of those kids! When I was in 9th and 10th grade, I was listening from everything to Poison (I'm not
kidding!) to Slayer. It wasn't until 11th grade when I suddenly couldn't stand the "poseur" metal anymore. These days, it's harder to think of bands like that as "metal," but back then, I think they qualified. Cripes, I still have a jeans jacket somewhere with a Cinderella patch on it...d'oh!
U.F.-WHAT LABEL IS "PRIMAL" GONNA BE ON?
Ron-At this point, we're still deciding what direction we want to take on that.
U.F.-ARE THERE ANY UN-RELEASED TRACKS THE BAND TENDS TO RELEASE SOON?
Ron-Unfortunately not. There is a surprising lack of unreleased Holocaust stuff, which is one of the first things I asked John about when we first got in touch with each other (before either of us had any idea that we'd be bandmates). There are a couple of rare tracks that popped up on Japanese issues of Covenant and Spirits Fly, but nothing totally unreleased. We are hoping that The Sound of Souls, the earth-shattering EP from 1989, will be remastered and reissued at some point. It has been out of print for years and really needs to be heard by a wider audience! A truly unique release, and one of the best metal releases ever.
U.F.-WHAT IS THE BAND'S PERFORMANCE LIKE, IN A LIVE SETTING?
Ron-Monstrous! That's one of the reasons why we're not too interested in the NWOBHM festival-type shows; in order to get the real experience, you've got to see a full Holocaust show, with new and old material alike. The old stuff is great, but the new stuff is really much heavier and blistering.
U.F.-WELL THANKS RON, FOR DOING THIS INTERVIEW, I CONGRAT YOU ON JOINING THE BAND,I'VE ALWAYS ENJOYED YOUR WRITING (FOR THE N.W.O.B.H.M. PAGE), NOW I CAN ENJOY YOUR MUSIC! ANY LAST WORDS FOR THE FANS?
Ron-Thanks! Glad you like the page. It started out a little over four years ago as a simple fan site (I mean, the site was simple, not the fan!), and sure as hell never thought it would lead to something like this!
We love to hear from our fans; check out our page at http://www.holocaustmetal.com, where you can drop us a line directly and also sign up for our mailing list. We post the latest news and our schedule regularly and we have various items for sale as well. Thanks to you and your partners for your coverage on Unstoppable Force, keep up the great work!
DISCOGRAPHY
Heavy Metal Mania 7" (1980)
Heavy Metal Mania 12" (1980)
Smokin' Valves 7" (1980)
Smokin' Valves 12" (1980)
The Nightcomers LP (1981)
Live 7" (1982)
Live Video (1982)
Comin' Through 12" (1982)
Live: Hot Curry and Wine LP (1983)
No Man's Land LP (1984)
The Sound of Souls LP (1989)
The Sound of Souls CD (1989)
Hypnosis of Birds CD (1992)
Heavy Metal Mania CD (1993)
Spirits Fly CD (1996)
Covenant CD (1997)
The Nightcomers CD (2000)
Live: Hot Curry and Wine CD (2000)
The Courage To Be CD (2000)
Friday the 13th demo CD (2001)
Primal (demo) - Features Ron
LINKS
