Interview with

Neil Turbin…the first thrash metal vocalist. From his days with ANTHRAX to his own band TURBIN, Neil has certainly made a name for himself in the metal industry. Interviewing Mr. Turbin came as an honor and shock, as I had learned that Neil has been following Unstoppable Force for a few years. Life after his well know ANTHRAX days has been good; a life I knew nothing of. Where to begin?? Having no knowledge of Mr. Turbin’s post-ANTHRAX work, I did a little research, and tried my best to ask some intelligent questions for this interview. Thanks to the use of the NEIL TURBIN website, I was able to conjure some interesting questions about an interesting life. Read on, and learn all about the life and work of Neil Turbin.

Interview by Anthony

1. Hi Neil. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity to interview you. It’s good to see you’re still kicking ass!! Tell me a little about your very first band, THE NEWRACE. Life must have been great back then, to play in a metal band at such a young age. Was CBGB’s always such a dive (LOL…great place, though)? Did this band release any material? What other bands were you in before joining ANTHRAX?

2. ANTHRAX was your first big metal band. How did you become their vocalist? How did you find yourself becoming a metal vocalist? What are your influences?

3. What led to your departure from ANTHRAX? Do you still keep in contact them?

Anthony….first off, thanks to you for doing your homework and asking interesting and intelligent questions. I did audition for a band at fourteen…The Frankie Carr band. My first band was Newrace. The name Newrace came from the star contrast of the band member’s races. The band was pretty multicultural. My first gig with the Newrace was for five hundred people at a New Year’s party in Jackson Heights, Queens New York. The band was called Iron Cross at that time, and we then evolved into The Newrace. The bass player had taken off the Iron part, so it was Cross, then it became The Newrace. The Newrace was my idea; I just wanted to get rid of that Cross name. So much for names of first bands.

You might have even been confused as a White Metal band.

[Laughs] Exactly…that was way before they were distinguishing different types of metal. It was Heavy Metal….it wasn’t really categorized. That was my first real gig & CBGB's was my first venue. Yes…CBGB’s was a shit hole back then. Do NOT use the bathroom, but it was still THE CBGB's.

I just assumed that and never went near it (the bathroom).

It was pretty nasty back then. It’s actually a cool place. I like CBGB’s. It was one of the original clubs I used to hang out in when I was coming up in New York, along with Max’s Kansas City and Great Gildersleeves. Those were really cool clubs to go to since they were part of the NY underground scene. In fact, I played with Anthrax at Great Gildersleeves twice. Back in those days (early 80's) when you used to drive over the Williamsburg Bridge and come up on 3rd Ave. right by CBGB’s, the bums would always come up to your car and try to charge you a buck to…

To wash your windows!

Spit on your windshield....cleaning your windshield with a dirty rag. The NEWRACE had a few demo tapes; the first was a three song demo that got us booked at places like Kansas City and Great Gildersleeves. The second was an eight track demo of two songs, when the band was in a different era. We were together for a total of three years, and the first demo was nice and raw. It had a heavy guitar sound….we were a heavy rock band.

How old were you at the time?

I was fifteen when I started off in the Newrace. We even filmed a video at the sight of the Twin Towers back in the 1980’s. That was a lot of fun back then just to play music and have people actually appreciate it or tell you that you should change. It was cool to have people appreciate your music and give you their ideas on how you should change. Bands before Anthrax were Iron Cross, The Newrace, Amra…, (which was named after a comic book lion). The band (Amra) was something that took place when I put an ad out in Good Times Magazine. I had gotten an answer from the guitar player and joined up with him for a few months. A few months were a long time back in those days. That didn’t pan out. Scott from Anthrax had actually called me for that same ad a month later when the ad came out. I was in Amra during that time, so he was a month too late. I told him I wasn’t available because I was dedicated to Amra. After Amra, I joined a band called Destroyer. In that process, I called Scott back and said I’d be interested in checking out his material if he was still interested. After Amra, I was in Destroyer with a guitar player from a popular local band from Jamaca Queens called Rust. We started off playing covers. We used to go see Twisted Sister in Queens. Destroyer was basically rehearsing right across the street from Beggers Opera, in Jamaca Queens where Twisted Sister would play on a regular basis.

Did you guys cover any Kiss, because of the name Destroyer?

It wasn’t about Kiss. I think Twisted Sister back then had a song called "Destroyer". It definately wasn't about Kiss. We did played a Kiss cover song or two.

So it was like “We’re a metal band called “Destroyer”

DESTROYER! It wasn’t so much to worship Kiss. I liked a lot of bands at that point. Kiss was a band I liked; it wasn’t a favorite of all time. I liked Kiss a lot when I was younger. They had fire and blood and catchy songs. I was amazed. I was more into ACDC and Thin Lizzy…I liked the artists that lived what they believed in and stood for. Bon Scott, Phil Lynott, and Jimi Hendrix all lived it….they didn’t have to pretend. It wasn’t like they got up on stage and all of a sudden they were putting on a show like they were different people. That's who they really were. Bon Scott lived life for the party. That was his personality. That led to his unfortunate demise in the prime of his career. He was a wild, free spirit. You have to appreciate the essence of the creativity in that element. The element of that originality really is what really inspires me. To me, that’s what the originality of being an artist is all about. Everything else is color by numbers. It’s people like that who have the purity of what they’re about and they’re able to understand and express it really well. Think of Jim Morrison. Looking back at an artist like Bon Scott is just amazing. The lyrics he wrote and the songs he sung and the delivery….the whole thing. If I’m going to say who I admire, I’ll say that guy was just incredible. It’s kind of remarkable that the band was able to carry on and get a replacement an be even more successfull after. It just goes to show that no one is irreplaceable. Even Bon Scott, Randy Rhoads….it’s kind of sad. They get replacements for anyone these days, so don't get too attatched to your favorite band, or don't get too comfortable being in it. It’s something I learned with Anthrax. They can replace anyone. They can replace Halford, Bruce Dickinson, Ozzy, Dio, Ritchie Blackmore, David Lee Roth, …they can certainly replace Neil Turbin, but it won't be the same. Once you replace any of these folks, it will be a different era. That’s just what happened.

So it was just a matter of personal differences between you and the band?

Yeah…..the building was on fire, and it was filled with smoke; let’s put it that way. I wasn’t just jumping off. I’m not a quitter, and I wasn’t bailing out on it. Things got to the point where it just got ugly. It wasn’t just the band. The band surrounded themselves with these types of people that they called the road crew, but I have no idea where they found them.

Probably the same guys who try to wash your windows for a dollar in New York.

No….I think that would be an upgrade. Some of these guys were unreal…just unprofessional. You expect people that can lift equipment and aren’t going to complain the whole time & be somewhat into the band and behind the band. These were people’s buddies…their croanies. Later on, there were more professional and cooler roadies, like John Tempesta. I was there to play music and create some art….to be artistically creative and to be part of something. I’m a team player. You tell me I’m on the team, but you’re not including me. When you exclude people, you get animosity. We were young back then, and there was a lot going on there, and there was a lot to deal with as well. A lot of pressure financially since there was never any pay. Royalties eventually came, and believe me…it was nothing to write home about. This was well after the album came it. It was too soon to get royalties at that point. Especially being on an independent label, their accounting department wasn’t writing the check all too fast. Aside from that, we did a tour, we had some merchandise….the band was making money, but when it came to getting a meal on the road, it was pretty bare bones. We weren’t treated very well. There was barely a hotel room….MOTEL room, I should say. Living out of a van. I’ve read some things where people said Neil couldn’t cut it live, and some other nonsense like that. I’m sitting in a van for two and a half weeks and I’ve got people harassing me for two and a half weeks. If you’re a human being and you’re not able to get sleep, what happens?

You get fucked up.

Well, yeah. You get run down. That’s what we were doing on the West Coast. We were traveling in a van. If you’re with your good friends, and everyone’s cool with each other then it’s like family…..live and let live. It wasn’t like that at all. It was the opposite of that. It was just a bunch of high maintenance people trying to live on the road together that just didn’t belong together. If I was the only one that didn’t belong, then so be it, if that’s the way it is. I’m totally someone that’s a team player. I work with people and I tolerate people. Decisions were made, and it was basically a tough situation. Promoting the band, proper representation of the band, and consideration of others was non existent. There would be farting contests, etc.. This wasn’t my doing….this was the kind of stuff that went on, and there was no peace. It was no suprise that women were scarce in the audience, as it was a male dominated audience because of the music back then. I think the women got into the heavier music like it over time, like the real thrash stuff. As far as the departure from Anthrax, we were on the cutting edge of things. Metallica had their thing, and Anthrax had it’s own thing. There was a point where the guys in Anthrax, who loved Iron Maiden, had similar musical pieces to Iron Maiden. Then the same thing happened with Metallica. After I left the band, they had some other trends that they seemed to have gotten caught up in. I was never a trend following person. I like listening to material and things that inspire me. People want to say that you’re not allowed to like Punk Rock or Classical Music or Death Metal or Neo Classical….well, fuck that. I’ll listen to whatever the fuck I want, and if you don’t like it, then put your fucking walkman on.

4. I love the songs you wrote while in ANTHRAX, especially “Metal Thrashing Mad”, “Deathrider” and “Subjugator”. What draws a creative influence for you when writing lyrics? Were the lyrics written first, or does the music get written first?

First, I’d like to say thanks…those were some of my favorite songs too. You’ve got to do what works for you. There is no school that tells you how to write songs. If there is, then it’s fucked up….everybody is different. It’s like saying to someone “Here’s what’s for dinner”. Maybe you like Chinese, Mexican, Italian, or you like them all and you don’t want to have the same thing twice. Who’s to say how you write songs? I think some people have a great way of composing music, and they’re very structured about it. Others have a way that they’re so disorganized and it just kind of falls into place and works. Sometime the mistakes in the song are the parts that stand out the best in the song that MAKE the song. Some strange component or some strange note that’s part of a riff or melody. As far as having contrasting point/counter point melodies….all these things, I’ve had exposure to and I think you grow as a writer. You learn and you try different things. I was fortunate enough to have that opportunity through different bands to have an understanding of writing. So, when I came into Anthrax, I was already a writer; I had experience in other bands writing lyrics and music and having….experience. In Anthrax, they didn’t accept me writing the music because everyone had to know their role. Even though I wrote the riffs for “Death From Above”…I wrote half the riffs…I wasn’t given any credit for that. The first riff after the intro, where the vocals are over….that’s my riff. Dan Spitz got credit for that.

That’s not very fair.

That’s not the way it is. Guitar players show up to rehearsal, and it’s their guitar. I’m a vocalist, and you’re a guitar player….and that’s fine. I’m not trying to be a guitar player or a bass player; I don’t need to be a drummer….this is what I do. It was a situation where the feeling was that this is MY instrument….don’t touch MY instrument. People started getting shitty about their precious instrument or materialism. There was a time where we’d try different things and jam around…..it got better than that at times; more so, people didn’t share their instrument at that point in Anthrax. I know later on down the road, different guys would play different things. Scott would play the drums a lot of times. People didn’t want you touching their instruments; that’s what it came down to. It had to do with personality conflicts as well. People can be nice if they want to and they don’t have to be nice if they don’t want to. I didn’t have the money to have a big guitar rig, and it’s not like I was going to take my ax down to rehearsal because it’s not like I was going to get to play it anyway. I write stuff on my own. The way it turned out was Scott would write these riffs and I would write these lyrics, and I had nothing to do with the band when I was writing it. I’d try it out once I had written it and bring it down to rehearsal. I wrote all the melodies and all the lyrics to that first album, except for the covers and whatever songs weren’t my songs. Seven songs on that first album that I had written were all done in my own world; my own element, influenced by things that were near and dear to me that I drew the influences and inspiration from. That’s how that first album was written. It was difficult to write; trying to write on that level…trying to accomplish something better. Striving for perfection….striving the be the best you can be. I had written before, but this was something more…reaching to that level. I was trying to push it all the way, to a place that I don’t know that I’ve ever been before that point in terms of song writing. I knew that what I did was in great things when I brought that to rehearsal. I came in there, and we did “Deathrider”. I knew the influences I had from Greek Mythology and writing about that type of empowerment. It was relating to Greek Mythological characters, but it was incorporating that into a powerful exchange of identifying your existence. It’s like tying in the Gods of Greek Mythology into your existence and trying to capture that through the power of the words in the song. It was like a feeling of trying to talk about the power part of it, and just the feeling of having that power and combining that with the music. I think that was something that struck a vein…combining the power of the lyrics with the power of music and the power of what the feelings and the vibes were. I thought that was extremely powerful. I don’t think that was something that was ever recreated ever again. I know Anthrax had many songs after that, but that particular song, to me, was pretty powerful in that respect. I thought that Metallica had some fast tunes, and I think that’s how Scott Rosenfeld and Danny Liker came up with that riff one day. They were high school buddies, and they would write together. That was kind of the thing they did. There was a certain way that we would write in Anthrax, and I think that we were locked into doing that & I think it was very restrictive. I know they write a lot differently now-a-days, but it was very difficult to write songs in that band. It took a lot of time; it wasn’t something that happened overnight. When I left the band, there were three songs we had written for the new album, and I thought they were really good songs. It was just a bad marriage at that point and a worse divorce. What’s interesting is they ended up using those songs in the next two albums. They even named their EP after a song I wrote, “Armed And Dangerous”. It was guitar playing without any idea at all; without any melody. It was totally my idea, as far as that goes. Did I write fifty percent of that? Yeah…if you consider guitar riffs without any kind of singing or any type of lyrics or music. I brought an element to that band that made those songs what they were. Of course, like I said with Bon Scott, it’s amazing how you can replace people. If you don’t like this guy, then get rid of him and get someone else. If you don’t like that one, get rid of him and get someone else. That’s fine…you can do those types of things. There’s certain people that bring something to the party….they bring something to the table and there are certain values they bring. These are things that you learn…trial by fire. I have no regrets. I’m glad that I was part of Anthrax for the time I was there. That was the hardest part of that’s band’s career: getting the plan off the ground and into the air for the first time. Once you’ve been up there, you know what it feels like. You know you’ve done it before, so you know you can do it again. When you’ve never been there, and you’re chartering new territory….that’s an experience. I think it was an experience for all of us, at that point. Just living through some of the moments…I recalled being in the studio with the band. “Metal Thrashing Mad” was actually where the title just flows really well. I was listening to this song from Accept, called “Flash Rocking’ Man”, and I just thought, wow…that really flows. I needed something that’s kind of like that, but not like that…I’m not trying to be “Flash Rocking Man”….something that really flows. That’s how I came up with “Metal Thrashing Mad”. From that song title, that’s where Thrash Metal came from. Once they took that, and the media got a hold of it, it started terming things metal thrashing bands and thrashing metal bands and thrash metal bands. Suddenly, whah la!!! Whah fucking la…it became a new entry in Webster’s Dictionary. I guess they couldn’t call it “Deathrider” or “Subjugator”, so they called it thrash metal. “Metal Thrashing Mad” has always been the enthusiast with racing. It’s just that feeling of pushing the envelope…just totally exceeding way past pushing the envelope. I think that’s a certain feeling, especially in the age of aggression, when you’re in your late teens or early twenties. You’re just at that point where you’re fired up. I think that’s the song that represents that. I think Anthrax still plays that song, if I’m not mistaken. I guess I wrote a good song, if people are still listening to it, and I wrote it twenty years ago…in my room. So, do people really know that’s where it came from? I doubt it, so now you know…you heard it here. “Deathrider”, I mentioned before, was inspired by Greek Mythology; it’s something I studied in school, and I used the impacting ideas from Greek Mythology books to give me the inspiration. In terms of using the description of the emphasis of the power and impact of the song, I think it adds to the way the song hits you, with those types of lyrics, which are very strong…very authentic. Subjugator was something that was also very personal to me…these are all very personal songs to me; all my songs are very personal. Threatcon Delta is a very personal song…it’s about my family, about influences you would probably not expect right off the bat, especially from a metal album. Subjugator is actually a domination type of song. It’s about the dominate and submissive type of role; it’s a strange place from where I got the idea for that one…I don’t know if we can talk about it now, but we can talk about it later. Actually, it came from an S & M book…[Laughs] When I was very young, I found this book…that’s where the idea for that came from. It’s kind of like the first time a kid reads Playboy…you’re like ‘WOW…look at that’. This was like ‘This ain’t Playboy’. [Laughs] This was like pretty radical stuff at the age that I was seeing that. I was thinking ‘WOW…look at that. Look at those ropes. Look at what’s going on here’. I think that it’s the impact of something like that, I thought that was awesome to be able to write about that and have that. People thought I was talking about beating someone up, or something…bashing and thrashing and all that, but that’s the way the music sounds, and that kind of characterizes the music. Really, the underlying intelligence behind the song is that dominate type of energy, and that’s what I locked into when I was writing that song. When I think about that song, that’s what the energy of a song is to me. I don’t think that’s what Anthrax had in mind, but hey…what are you going to do?

What about the song, off your new album, “Blue Screen of Death”? That’s one of my favorites.

Thanks…”Blue Screen of Death”, that particular song was a title that I had for a long time. I guess it’s not a big secret what that is…you know, the blue screen situation. I think that in the information age, and the computer age, it’s like we’re tied to our computers; it’s a part of our body. It’s like the cell phone is your left had and a PC is your right hand, and your heart is the modem, or something. We’re tied into this thing, and you can’t get away from it; it’s part of you. It’s like if you’re tied to this computer, and that idea was if your life was you were a computer; a computer was actually a person, because it has all this intelligence. What if it became a person, or a person became a computer…it’s that relationship of information, and it’s so bizarre in the sense where how can a person be a computer; how can a computer be a person? Well, with the technology that’s out there, you’d be surprised. They’ve got replacement parts for a lot of stuff out there. It’s really scary, if you want to know the truth. Just in terms of how the song is concerned, it’s just that relationship and how your life relates to the technology. …If your life came crashing like a hard-drive, if your reflexes happen like it does in the word of computers, it’s just to me something that’s fascinating. I think it’s something that does happen, when they incorporate the technology…when the technology enters the human life cycle, I think it becomes something that’s a lot more hardcore. We become so dependent on these computers, and they cause us problems all the time. We’re forever trying to deal with them, so part of me said the frustration and the unknown that’s out there…we rely on computers, and they provide us with all types of information & the technology that we rely on, I think it’s an interesting thing. It’s very intriguing to me…the “Blue Screen of Death” in my head, controlling me…that’s where that came from.

I wanted to ask you…you logo kind of looks like the New York Yankees or Mets logo. Was this done intentionally?

It looks like to Mets logo. It’s not NY…it’s NT. It looks similar…they’ve got NY…I don’t have NY; my name isn’t Neil Young. If it was, maybe my logo might look like that. [laughs] But actually, it’s got a cross in the middle of it…a T. I thought my logo looked more like Black Sabbath’s logo. It depends on what you want to focus on…the N or the T. As long as the US Trademark and Patent Office agrees with me, then I’m okay.

5. Opening for METALLICA & RAVEN must have been something else! Do you have any fond memories from this tour?

We had opened for Metallica numerous times…four, but not for Raven, before the first tour. Metallica’s only appearance on the tour was at Roseland. There were many memorable moments. The one that stands out the most was when Anthrax went on stage before Metallica, at Roseland. Anthrax was so primed from the first tour, we annihilated them that night. …Just my opinion, and those in attendance that night, including Richie Statts from the Plasmatics, who told me that…made me think that. Ironically, it was the night Metallica got signed, and it was also my last show with Anthrax, as fate would have it. As I said, we opened for Metallica before, and they were pretty tough, but Anthrax was so on fire that night. They should have signed Anthrax that night (Electra Records), because that whole place went nuts. It was just nuts. We had a better performance than we ever had the whole tour…that was it. That was the moment of glory. What I'm trying to say is that Metallica did their normal, usual great show, and Anthrax was just so fired up with all this energy. Metallica had been doing it for a while, and they just kind of blew into town, and did their thing. It’s like they knew they were going to get the award at the pedestal when they got up to accept their award…it was one of those things. They didn’t have to put on a good show; they already proved themselves, so they were just going up there, putting on their show, getting signed, and the rest is history. That was the big prize they got at that time...to be signed to a major label. I’m not so excited about getting signed to a major label myself; personally, I could care less. I’m just glad to put out product and have an opportunity to play my music, and that’s all I care about. That’s what makes me happy. Sure, it would be nice to have and do all those things that people fantasize about, but really I didn’t get into it for all those things. I just got into it to create…creating music is something important to me, and being able to express myself in that way and to actually turn it into something very meaningful and very impacting for other people and to actually walk away from it and be able to say ‘Hey, this is pretty cool’. I think that’s really the thing.

6. Here’s where my ignorant ass thought you were done; that’s it. No more Neil. Yet, that wasn’t the case at all. How did Jack Starr contact you to audition for his band?

7. How did you find yourself auditioning for RIOT? (that’s right everyone, RIOT!!) Auditioning for one of your favorite bands must have been surreal, kind of like the way Ripper felt auditioning for PRIEST.

I was in touch with Dave McClain and Don Stavarn. They were playing with Mark Reale, who was out in San Antonio. He was living out there; he was a cool guy. He’s an interesting guy; he always runs the marathon every year and is totally in shape. He started playing guitar, and strives to be heavier and faster. He was always like a blues bass type of metal guitar player. He was always a very innovative guitar player. I always loved his playing. I would have loved to have the opportunity to play with Mark, because that was absolutely one of my favorite bands, Riot. I liked Guy Sperenza, Rhett Forester, and all their material. I especially liked the material from Fire Down Under, as well as Restless Breed, Riot Live EP, Born In America, and I like Riot after that. To me, Riot was the band that it was during those years. Two different bands, but it’s amazing how we talk about how a singer gets replaced. It happens to every band, practically. It happens to so many bands. Look at Riot, for example…who would have ever thought, after Fire Down Under, I think I’m not alone in saying this, I was waiting for Guy Sperenza to sing on the next Riot album. I was fucking pissed when I found out that there was no more Guy Sperenza. The music business is pretty tough, and whatever happened, it sure pulled him out of the music business. He was gone out of that business, and he wasn’t going to be found. I think he had his own termite business, or something like that. I even talked with Mark Reale about that, how they might get Guy back or they might do something. I think if he had come back for one more album, it would have been fantastic. Even later on would have been cool. He didn’t do it, but he was great. He evolved to that record, and I know people that went to the recording sessions at that time. To me, I’m just blown away by it, still. It was an inspired moment of amazing performances. That’s what it’s about…capturing that essence of performance. Riot was a band that I really listened to when I was a kid, coming up in New York, and I loved Riot. The mistake I made was I ended up singing on Rhett’s material instead of singing on Guy’s material. My voice, at that point, and the kind of singer that I was, I could handle all the metal stuff. I wasn’t much of a soulful singer at that point. At this point, I could sing every Stevie Wonder lick upside down and back. I can sing all that type of soulful type of singing style; all the blues licks. At that point, back in 1984 or beginning of 1985, I just didn’t have all the soulful stuff like Rhett Forester did. I wasn’t listening to Paul Rodgers and those kinds of singers every day. I was listening to Dio and Halford and people like that; it’s a different kind of style. I ended up tracking over Restless Breed on the actual tracks of the album; I have a recording of this. I think I did a decent job, but if I did it today…right now, I’d tear the fucker right up! I wasn’t prepared…if I had a Fire Down Under song, it would have been great; it would have been fine because those songs I know in my sleep and I can sing them well. It’s a different style than what Rhett was singing. When Rhett would sing “Swords and Tequila”, it sounded like “Saws and I’ll Kill ‘Ya”…he had this accent, southern kind of thing going. He was from Atlanta, and it just sounded kind of funny with his accent on that lyric. When singers sing certain lyrics, you feel like saying “Don’t do that…it makes me cringe”.

A lot of European Power Metal bands have that going on, where their accent just shines through and…

…And destroys it. [laughs] It was really cool to have the honor of going in there with Rod Goldfinger Weed (??), as they call him, and I met with Steve Lobes at their studio; Green Street Studios. It was Riot’s studio. I’ve always looked on the back of the album and saw Green Street Studios and thought “Where’s that”. Then, I was thinking, fuck…I’m IN Green Street Studios. The other problem I had was it was cold as a bitch out there…cold as a witches tit in an iron bra. I was drinking…I was offered something to drink: hot chocolate or coffee. They didn’t have hot chocolate, but they had coffee. So, I’m drinking all this coffee, and by the time I go to sing the vocals, I was shaking. I didn’t drink coffee back then; I drank so much coffee, I was shaky. I was speeding on the coffee. Then, I had to cut the vocals on that. No matter what I did, at that point I just wasn’t at the level of vocal prowess that I am today. It sounds strange, maybe, in an interview but that’s the reality. I’d blow their doors off…I’d blow their minds, if we could rewind the moment, but it doesn’t work like that.

Would you ever consider redoing it (the recording), and just putting it out for fun?

I sang over the master track…I don’t think there’s really a point of that. Rhett did it upright in the first place. If I ever had the chance to work with someone like Mark, who is busy working with his band & Tony Harnel AND I don’t even know where he is…probably on the East Cost somewhere, I’m always open to opportunities. I got a call from Jack Starr not too long ago, actually. He asked me to sing a track on his album, and I said sure…if you pay me. Pay me the minimum, but you have to pay me…I don’t work for free. I don’t think that’s unreasonable. He wanted me to sing a track or two, or whatever. This is not just me saying “Pay Me”, this is me saying, “Jack…you’ve already got me into this shit one time before. I went to France, and had to make my own way for three months.” See what I’m saying? People want to talk the talk…I say walk the talk. He wanted me to do something…great. You want me to give my services for free…what’s in it for me, Jack, because I’ve already helped you out before. I was his security blanket before because Rhett was in the band, we both went over to France, and he didn’t need another singer. He already had Rhett, but he was unhappy with him and wanted to fire him, or wanted to do something. Rhett was his own person…he didn’t take shit from anyone, and Jack was trying to run the show. Everyone can have their own idea. Jack wasn’t a bad guy…Carol was in the band and so was Gary Bardinero, and I was hanging out with all those guys and I had a blast. I didn’t like having to sleep in the room with the roadies from The Rods, who wouldn’t stop snoring. I said FUCK THIS. If you can’t take this guy, why don’t you sleep with him, in your room. I don’t want this fucking guy. [makes snoring noise] FUCK…I’m gonna go nuts if he doesn’t shut up. [laughs] This fucking guy just sounded like he was going to swallow the fucking roof.

Jeez…first, you’ve got a roommate that doesn’t speak any English, and then you’ve got a bunkmate who snores really loud.

Oh man…that was some shit. How did I handle that? Those were the good old days…at least we’re here to tell the story. I remember all the stuff pretty vividly. Back in France, in those days, in Europe, you had the punks and the metal heads of the headbangers. The punks hated the metal people…

They still do.

And the metal people hated the punks. They would beat the shit out of each other. I find it interesting that that whole mentality is from a log time ago. The punks and the rockers back in the UK and Europe, and also in America, you had rock verses disco. There was disco sucks. Then rap came, and to then have rock and rap get together and all these interface marriages of music…crossbreeding of music. I think it’s great, and I think I made a point before, that the ability for people to say, “I’d like to have Chinese Food tonight, Italian Food tomorrow, Tai Food on Thursday, and Mexican Food on Friday, and then I’ll have American Food on Saturday”. I think it’s great to have that type of culture available to you, at your fingertips. I think that’s awesome, and I think we need to keep that type of culture. It’s kind of like the Mom and Pop stores versus the Strip Malls. Once everything becomes a Wal-Mart or a Target, I hate that. It’s great for those big companies, but I hate it when a town looses its identity. You take away these nice little places that give a place its character & give it its personality, then put in its place a bunch of Seven 11’s and Gas Stations; you turn it into a generic town. That’s true for towns that are brand new now, like in the middle of California. They’re building…all of a sudden, the homes go up, the mall goes in, and stores go in and it looks like everywhere else. If you go somewhere that has character, like back on the East Coast that still have these Mom and Pop stores, it’s tough to keep things going that way. I love that…that’s what I love about the East Coast; I think that’s awesome. It kills me when I see these strip malls for days…it annoys me. I travel a lot and I see a lot of strip malls…it makes me ill. I think that in music, it’s the same thing. It really is. When you’ve got Rock ‘N Roll, and you’ve got Rap, let’s face it: the Soul Music was the Funk, and that was cool. You had Parliament Funkadellic, The Mother Ship Connection, Parliament and all this Funk stuff; Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gay, and all these cool Funk people….that was cool. That was a cultural evolution of Soul Music that was going through a new experience that would be Funk. It wasn’t just Soul anymore; it wasn’t just laid back parlor stuff like tape dancing stuff. It was “Now, we’re funky”. That was some cool shit. That was like Rock ‘N Roll for the Black…for the brothers. That’s cool, because I love that music. I had a friend, when I was in High School or Junior High School, who liked the Funkadellic; the Mother Ship Connection. I liked the Rock ‘N Roll; Judas Priest and whoever. He totally loved his Rock ‘N Roll…his Funk Rock, and I liked my Metal Rock. We connected, and it was really cool. I must have been twelve or thirteen and we would play each other’s records & hang out. That was cool…I liked it when music was like that. That was the good old days. The Funk people weren’t trying to be the Metal people, and the Metal people weren’t trying to be the Funk people. Deep Purple wasn’t trying to sound like Parliament. People ran out of original ideas, and they started trying to turn one style into another. I guess anything goes in music, and that’s the unfortunate part. Then, they started mixing Mexican food with Chinese food…musically. I like Mexican food, and I like Chinese food, but don’t mix a fucking burrito with sweet & sour chicken. That’s not supposed to get stuff together.

General Tso is turning in his grave.

Yeah…don’t take General Tso’s Chicken and stick it in some flan. Keep that shit separate, the way it’s supposed to be. That’s just my opinion, and we all have opinions. As son as Rap and Rock got mixed together…I don’t know what Aerosmith and Run DMC were thinking, but at least they were thinking it all the way to the bank. It was cool…everyone liked it, but I never thought a metal band would go and do something like that. I would never have done that…NEVER. I don’t care HOW MUCH money they would have put on the table. It’s just not something that interests me. There’s some cool Rap…the one raper that I thought had some good sound was that DMX guy. I don’t like all the material…maybe one song. Biggie Smalls had some cool Cross Over material. That’s how they get you hooked in…they get you with one good song, then they have all this other stuff. I’m not trying to criticize the music form…I’m just saying Rap should be Rap, and once you start getting all these offshoots of it & white people that think they’re black people, that’s a little strange to me. It’s kind of like when you start talking like you have a Japanese accent, and you’re actually a white guy from Queens, New York. That’s really strange to me. It’s like you’re trying to fish for an identity, because you don’t think your identity is cool enough being who you really are, and you have to be someone else. I just find that really weird, don’t you?

Yes…I see a lot of that around here.

I just don’t go for that…that’s totally phony; it’s not genuine. “Yo man…what’s up man”. It’s kind of like Marky Mark…when did Marky Mark become Mark Walburg? When he came up, he was “Yo, yo man…what’s up, yo”, and all this kind of shit, and all of a sudden he’s more refined because now he’s an actor in Hollywood.

I didn’t know he was an actor now.

That’s the same Marky Mark…Mark Walburg. He started acting, and stopped putting on his Emenem type of attitude. I just don’t get it. So, there’s a lot of music out there that people are buying by the truckload, and I just don’t understand it. I think it all comes down to this: your parents and their parents hated their music, and the parents before them hated the music before them. My parents didn’t understand my music, and now we’re at that age where we could be parents & we’re looking at the kids today saying okay…I don’t understand your music. I guess that’s just the way it goes. When I was coming up and I was listening to music, at least the music was very technical; it wasn’t easy to play and it was high caliber musicianship. Now a days, it seems as though a lot more gets by. It’s like we’re going around in a big loop. Some of the big hit songs in the Seventies were bad…there was some real cheesy shit out there. It got by, these one-hit wonders. I think what we caused is that sensationalism with the reality TV shows and real life nonsense. They ran out of ideas, so now they have to go show someone sitting in their living room on TV. It’s like you’re looking into a mirror at yourself on TV, like looking into someone’s life. It’s the same thing with the music. They’ve already gone through all this stuff, and they can’t be original anymore. They have to get the best looking teenage person and it can only be the best looking person; they can’t have any flaws. They have to be able to sing like Whitney Houston or something. To me, that’s not what it’s about. It’s not about doing that to people, and trying to make everyone look like the cover of Cosmopolitan. That’s the wrong thing for young people to be exposed to…trying to be perfect, and if everyone is not perfect like that, you should just cut their fucking throat. Then, there will be three people left that are perfect. Give me a fucking break. It's the flaws that make the music. Bands like The Rolling Stones…if they didn’t have flaws in their music, then there wouldn’t be anything on tape. What makes that band is they have that natural momentum going on, and they make some mistakes. They’re not really mistakes…that’s just what the Stones are: it just happens that way; it just fits.

8. What are your thoughts on the metal scene today?

The metal scene today…I think it’s great there are so many metal bands out there; so many types of metal bands & so many to pick and choose from. When I was out there, there was a lot less. When I first got out there, there was a lot less to choose from. Basically, us and Metallica, were the real metal bands. Other bands were heavy, like Motorhead and Venom…there was plenty of them out there. You could almost buy everyone’s album, and have it on one shelf. There’s a lot of bands…Hawaii, Ratt…so many here and there and everywhere. There were so many different bands then, and now there’s so many more. Now, you’re not breaking any ground being in a metal band. It’s not like you’re an innovator. It was nice to be part of that evolution, and to be on the cutting edge of it; to be a band that was carving the path…blazing the trail & pioneering the music and the pathway for everyone else to come down. At this point, I don’t have anything to prove. I just want out get out there, sing the best I can, and play heavy music. I enjoy playing it real heavy…that works for me. That’s what I feel like doing. If I just do it for the four or five guys in the band, and a few people want to come down, then that’s cool. If a few more want to come down and fill the place, that’s cool too. I think the metal scene is still a tough business if you’re not Metallica. It’s a lot better if you have a name that has pull & you can get into these nice places to play, or be in a positive money situation. It’s nice to make money off of what you love to do. For most metal bands, it’s a struggle, and it’s tough just to get a product out there. To me, I think that’s the first step…if you have product out there or if you’ve had product out there, that’s a great first step. Now a days, getting a CD out is no big deal, but getting something very professionally done and well recorded with all the caliber of players you need is a challenge. Just pressing a CD at home, recording something on your computer, printing some labels, and doing it all home can result in a nice package. This is not all about everything. It’s about the packaging, the music, what the songs are…there’s so much more to it than burning something in your bedroom. I could have done that, but I didn’t. I put together something that was painstaking to do, but I made sure I did it the way I needed to do it. I learned from the time before with Anthrax that it wasn’t good to spend ninety or one hundred ninety hours on everything else and ten hours on the vocals…that’s not the way to do an album. I made sure we did it the right way. Would I do it the same way if I did it all over again? …No Way! I learned some things through the process that I would have done differently. The best thing to do is have a band that’s very well rehearsed and go in there and lay it down, like Van Halen did on their early album. The band sounds great on record, and that’s the way it should be….have a great, tight band & have the songs dialed in. There are other factors that play into it. You have to have a group of people that are working together for a period of time, and we know that’s the hard thing to keep together. Then, you have to have a body of work you keep churning out. Those are factors, and there are different types of bands…there are bands, artists, and different types of things that fall into that category. In today’s market, you have these artists that the music and entertainment companies build around that one person. They turn that into the artist. That’s what they do today…that’s not what I’m about. I’m just putting out music that I want to put out, and that’s what I love to do. My friends helped me out. As far as the metal scene, I think it’s great I have the opportunity to put something out because people still like metal music. That in itself is a good thing, and having the internet is a very positive thing to be able to put your music out there so it can reach people & so people can access the information. There’s some issues with people grabbing the music off the internet and it’s kind of like if they didn’t want guns out there, they shouldn’t have made them available to everyone. If they didn’t want it out there to be downloaded, they should have done it in the first place with protection software or encoded software so you couldn’t download it in the first place. That’s not the way they delivered that, to the Internet. That could have been done; they could have spent a little more time before they took the software, or whoever put it out there. There are some issues with that, and I think it’s all high-level trial type stuff.

Motorhead is still going. Can you fucking believe that!? I was looking at Ace of Spades on a video monitor, and Motorhead is still doing it…it’s unbelievable. Lemmy is cool people…real polite, good guy, good player and a total professional. They are a very consistent band…very reliable. They’re like the Sears Die Hard Battery from hell…the fucking battery just won’t ever die. It just keeps fucking going forever, and that’s what Motorhead is. They just blow me away like that. They’re loud, they sound good, have good sound, and Lemmy is great. He’s not meant to be a Mariah Carrie type singer, but he sounds like Lemmy…and he always sounds like Lemmy. He’s so reliable and so awesome lie that. It’s part of their sound. It sounds like the guy has a sore throat, but that’s the way he sings, and it fits the music somehow & it just works. That’s the beauty of it…it just works. That’s what I’m talking about when I mention the mistakes…the flaws of what’s naturally there just flows and blends together. It’s like you’re not supposed to mix this particular thing and that particular thing, yet somehow it just works. That is the beauty of capturing different elements and bringing them together. I think it’s good when you have a band, and you’re able to capture those special moments. For example: a band like Motorhead that knows how to capture those special moments and capture that energy. They’ve had a stable line-up. I’d love to have a band like Motorhead. That’s my idea of what a good, heavy band should be…solid playing like that as far as the rhythm section is concerned and the vocals. I see it just getting heavier. I love the Halford band…of course, Judas Priest is back together. I’m going to be looking out for Metal Mike and Bobby J (Riot/Halford)…unbelievable players. I can’t wait to hear Pain Museum and what they’ve got. I love that kind of music because I’ve been listening to it forever, and I used to share a rehearsal room with Racer X. I’m used to hearing stuff like that…I’m used to hearing chops that are unbelievable. I used to share a room with Scott Travis.

9. Speaking of PRIEST, how did you feel about Ripper being in the band? Did you like their post-Halford material?

You know, to me, I always liked the originals. It’s kind of like Ray’s Pizza in New York. A lot of people try to copy it, but I just like Halford. Ripper is a great singer…he’s a really talented singer, but he’s singing Halford type stuff. To me, it’s like Bruce Dickinson’s songs being sung by someone that isn’t Bruce Dickinson. It’s kind of the way it sounds when someone sings songs that I wrote. If you’ve got Halford singing my song, I’ve got no issue with that. If it isn’t someone that’s Halford…to me, Ripper sounds great. He certainly has range and is a talented singer. He should be doing something that’s more for himself. I think this thing he’s got going with Iced Earth is a great thing. I think that’s better for him as a vocalist than Priest is. For him to be in Priest, and to be successful with Priest, I think that says it all right there. In terms of the songs themselves, I think you have to be in something that gives you your identity. He made it successful and he made it work, and he was successful with that. Halford with Priest was a whole other element. It’s very hard to recapture that. Ripper had some very big shoes to fill. Who’s going to replace Ronnie James Dio in Dio??

No one….no one!

So, Bruce Dickinson is going to replace Ronnie James Dio, or Geoff Tate will, but you know what…they’re NOT Dio. They’re better off doing their own thing and having their own identity and not trying to emulate the way how the previous vocalist would sing. I think that’s the thing about Ripper. He’s stepping into a situation where he did great. He did what he needed to do. He took it as far as it was supposed to go, playing the Rob Halford character. That’s what it became, and that’s what it was in the first place. There was nowhere else for him to go with it, and I think Priest needed to recapture their glory days and get Halford back, just like Van Halen needs to get David Lee Roth back. I think Sammy Hagar did a great job. I personally liked Sammy with Montrose. I didn’t really get off on the Van Halen material with him, but the guy is incredible. Sammy’s got it. Roth is sounding great these days, and I think it’s a shame Halen doesn’t do that. What we’re looking at is the band with its best elements. There were some elements that I felt with Anthrax that apparently other people didn’t feel. I’m not worried about that. I care about what I can do today, and what I do with my music. That doesn’t bother me at all. The fact that they’re playing any of my songs: Metal Thrashing Mad, Gung Ho…I guess I wasn’t such a bad writer after all if I wrote those songs, and they’re still playing them. They can play a lot of other songs…they’re got a lot of other material to pick from, so if they’re still playing my songs, it’s cool for me. I’m just glad to pick myself up and put myself out there. It’s what I love to do. It’s like they say: “you can keep the boy out of Brooklyn, but you can’t keep Brooklyn out of the boy”. That’s where I’m from. That’s what music is to me. I love to be out there, and if anyone shows up…who cares. I don’t think anyone’s different from the next guy. We’re all in this together, and that’s the way it should be. I like hanging out in places that are like that…we have down to earth people in the neighborhood and there’s nothing wrong with that. I don’t like people that cop the rock-star attitude. There’s not enough time in life for that kind of bull shit. I meet people who have a name…I hung out with Glenn Hughes & I’m hanging out with Keith Emerson and theses guys are like “Hey…..can you help me out here. Can you program my phone?” I’m thinking, isn’t this the guy that invented the moog(?) or something. He’s got all these keyboards, and doing brain cell surgery and asking how to program a number in a phone. So, Glenn, Keith and I were hanging out…we’re in the car together in Glenn’s Mustang. This was a number of years back, around ’97, driving up the hill coming from a restaurant. It’s cool…he was unpretentious, nice guy, and very genuine. He’s successful…he’s got houses in other countries and things like that. He wasn’t a dick…he was just cool. He was like this English Harley Davidson dude…an English biker dude. …..And Lemmy was his roadie before he was in Hawkwind. Those guys were cool…it was a genuine thing. Then, you have one of these guys from the newer generations of rock bands, from LA, and they’ve got these attitude problems. Give me a break! People are weird like that…they start thinking they’re important or they’re related to the President like they need special treatment. I just don’t understand the people that are shitty to the fans. This last guy that interviewed me told me about someone he interviewed that was an asshole, and it’s someone I know. That just blows me away that people would even be disrespectful or stuck up towards the media or towards the fans. The reality is interviews are interesting if you don’t say stupid shit….you have to think this stuff through. It’s a lot faster for me to talk to you rather than for me to type it out.

10. You relocated to from New York to California. Which do you like better? Is there a better metal scene in CA? Are the audiences any different?

I moved out and relocated from New York to California about nine months after leaving Anthrax. I had done this because I have been out to California a number of times, but only once with Anthrax. The reason I moved out here is because there’s a lot of opportunity. There’s a lot more of a metal scene here than in New York…it’s more up and coming. The scene, for many years on the East Coast, or the tri-state area, was mostly made up of cover bands back in those days. Original bands were out there trying to play shows, and the circuit was limited for metal. There were places you could play. Getting a caliber of musicians together all in one area wasn’t that easy…LA was just better place for me to be because of those factors. When I came out here, there were a lot more bands, opportunities, and players. It was a personal preference to be out here for that particular reason; I knew some people in the business out here. New York seems like ******** to a certain extent, because it was Anthrax’s town. They were the band there, and Megaforce Records was right there with them. I just didn’t find it to be suitable for pursuing that kind of music. Also, at the time when I left Anthrax, my intention wasn’t to retrace my steps. I wasn’t going to go out there and live off of past glories. I wasn’t going to put together an Anthrax cover band and go play Anthrax songs, or put together a band that sounded like Anthrax. What was the point? Why would I do that? Why am I going to eat Italian food every night for a week? I’ve already done it, and I did it for years with Anthrax. I felt at that time that popular music & the direction of music….you have to always think ‘Hey…I love to do what I love to do. It would be nice to get paid too’. I wasn’t accustomed to getting paid because that wasn’t something that was happening while I was in Anthrax. I’m not talking about royalties…I’m talking about merchandising and shows. I never saw money from Anthrax for merchandising or shows. I didn’t see an opportunity…I knew how to start from the ground floor up. When I left Anthrax, I was asked by Jack Starr to join his band, but he actually had a singer: Rhett Forester. I was asked by the promoter to come over to France for the Breaking Sound Festival in September 1984. We were there for three months. After I came back from that, I drove a cab in New York to make enough money to facilitate a move out to California. That was the best thing I could put together, at that time, which made sense. It made sense for me to be out in California; the weather is really good. Without a question, you don’t have to shovel snow during the winter, you don’t have as many hard months of bad weather, and there are a lot of differences there. It was a better type of situation for me. It was something I did, and it stuck because I am still here in California. I did what I was compelled to do at that point. I’m a risk-taker, and that’s what I did. It was a big move to separate myself from my family and friends and put myself out in a place & go from ground floor. With respect to the opportunities in California, I went on many auditions and the idea wasn’t whether I got the audition or not. It’s experience; it’s like going on job interviews. How much better of an interview are you going to give if you go on lots of interviews? You’re going to be kick-ass because you’re going to learn. You’re going to learn from the mistakes you’ve made, learn from different points of view, and learn to deal with people that are different than what you are accustomed to. I think that was a good part of the benefit. What I learned was that people like Vinnie Vincent, Tommy Aldredge, Bill Ward, and all the people I played with ALL knew what they wanted. They wanted someone that was going to do what they wanted. They all also had ten years on me. I’m twenty-one, and it was a different thing. It was like a job. There were expectations there, as it was a very established thing. They were established musicians. If you wanted to be on their battleship, then you better be a damn good sailor when they needed you. To me, I wanted to be the captain and have more control over what I was doing.

And that’s why you have your own band now…

That’s why I had it then. Now…I’m a team player. Let’s not mistake that. I’m definitely a team player. The key to understand is that I’m not looking to be fucking Brittany Spears or some kind of superstar. My goal is to get my music to demonstrate my dynamic abilities in both song writing and performance ability as a vocalist. If you’re going to work for someone else, you work for THAT person. You either work for yourself or for someone else…that’s the way it goes. I was in a band in 1986. I was working with a guitar player out in LA: Kunie. We did a record together, and of course there were other people I was working with to a lesser extent. That was something that the opportunity arose for. There was a certain opportunity to do something as a band, but then Kunie’s solo album fell into my lap with more possibilities and potential. I wanted to be part of something; I wasn’t looking to have my own thing. There was a natural progression for me to have my own name. I had established myself to a point when I was in Anthrax, so why shouldn’t I have a band under my name? The reality was that I came to the revelation that it’s okay to play what you really want to play versus something that you’re pigeonholed into doing. I enjoyed Vinnie Vincent’s material at the time. It was something that I felt was up my alley; the Driver thing with Rudy and Tommy…they left to join White Snake. Kurt played on my album….he’s a phenomenal guitarist. We were in Paramount Studios and did an album for a Japanese label, but it never fell through because the record company backed out of it. I’m just really happy that I was finally able to put an album together and get it out there as a product. People don’t really realize how hard it is. People who do it realize; it’s a lot of work to try to get there if you’re not there. To try to get out there and put out a product is difficult, especially with all these other bands trying to do the same thing. It’s not like I just left Anthrax. It’s something that I pulled together by the bootstraps. I had all my friends help me out; put people’s names on the album. This is about all the people that have helped and supported me. Jeff Scott Soto sang with Kurt James when he was in Driver with Rudy and Tommy. It was kind of cool to have Jeff on there with Kurt because we’re all the same; we’re all part of the same environment. It was the same thing with Paul Monroe from XYZ. I was playing with Bobby Piper and we loved playing back then. It was exciting to have him on my album, not to mention other players. When I played with Kunie, I had half of Quiet Riot back me up. There was also Shawn McNabb…these guys may not have been thrash metal or fit in those particular bands, but they had chops; they could play thrash…they could play anything.

11. You worked with Claude Schnell for over three years. What kind of work did you do? What was your experience like? For anyone who may not know (including myself), please tell us a little about Claude. Who is he?

Good question Anthony. I appreciate your hard work, because you have some very well researched questions. It’s much appreciated. Claude was a keyboard player for Dio for eight years. He played on the tour after Holy Diver, he played on Last in Line up through Lock Up The Wolves. He lasted a long time. Those familiar with the Dio camp know it’s a great band to be part of and a great band to be around. It’s not an easier job than any other job in the music world, as far as being in a band…it’s Dio’s world. That’s all I’m going to say. I very much admire Dio’s vocal abilities…it’s just a great band…..

Let me ask you something….Did you happen to catch Dio touring with Iron Maiden and Motorhead?

I did…I saw them in Long Beech. I was most impressed with Dio’s performance because his voice was very strong. I saw him in France when I was over there in ’85 and he blew me away then. He’s very strong, powerful, and consistent. He does what he does better than anyone else. Claude was a big part of that band. He was there with Dio during their best years. The work I did with him was very different from other work I’ve done; it was very broadway-esque. It was somewhat like Elton John meets Queen; Bohemian Rhapsody meets Meatloaf in terms of song structure. It was non-repetitive type of vocals and melodies. It was very much classically influenced…almost neoclassical; very demanding vocals. It was something that worked well with my voice because I’m that kind of singer who has that type of range to meet that musical requirement. It was also something that made me better as a singer.

It made you better as a singer?

Yes…you can always grow as an artist. Working with the piano was something very different. I’ve always worked with guitar players, and here I am working with purely piano playing. We really didn’t have the band together; it was just Claude and I for a long time….we worked really hard. It was me being a part of his project, really. When he gets it out there, you should get it because it’s really good stuff. Not that heavy metal people are going to go up there, running after Elton John material…..it’s not Elton John material. It’s very theatrical, the musicianship is good, and the vocals are intense. It’s pretty beneficial to be part of that kind of project. If you look at a band like Rising Force…Yngwie Malmstein’s band, it is like a vocal exercise. It really puts your vocal’s abilities to the maximum. I think that’s something that as a musician, will broaden your horizons. You can never stop learning things. Claude was definitely someone who brought a lot to the table musically. It was a challenging experience and opportunity. Look at Sebastian Bach singing on Broadway. I was singing the kind of music that was showcasing my voice and would be something that would be more of a Broadway type production. Maybe more Rock than that…a little more Rock than Jesus Christ Superstar. It was very much in that same realm. I thought I was cool….after Sebastian Bach did that, it just sounded pretty cool. It gives you more tools in your tool box…..now, I’ve got a power-saw…..what can I tell you?! It’s a lot of soft singing, a lot of hard singing, not repeating the same melody…very cool stuff. It’s not something that someone who listens to Metallica and Megadeth everyday is going to go out and buy.

12. It is at this point in your career that you formed the band TURBIN. How did this all come together, and what material did you release? Where can it be purchased? How does it compare with your previous work? Has your vocal style changed any? 13. You’ve also managed to audition a little more for some other bands, including Vinnie Vincent Invasion, Black Sabbath, Warrior, and some back-up vocals for Bill Ward. Would you mind elaborating on this?

I didn’t audition for Black Sabbath…I met with Jeff Nickels, at his hotel room. We talked about it. They were looking for that Seventh Star thing. Then, I jammed with Bill Ward at his house in San Pidro. He was coming out with that Ward One thing…that’s what the album would end up being. He had this other singer that was a friend of his. He was looking for something that was different from what I was doing. It was like softer material. It was Bill Ward’s solo album…a real nice guy. He’s totally cool, it was really great meeting him. He was totally polite and burnt out on Sabbath, drugs, or whatever he was doing. He was a real family guy and we were in the den or basement of his house. He had a little studio there, and that was it…we were there in Bill Ward’s basement. That was kind of interesting. I jammed with Bill Ward in his basement. I played with the guys in Ozzy’s band, and I played with the guys in Black Sabbath. [laughs] I think I jammed with Don Costa…the thing that blew me away was Don was the guy saying to me, “Yeah Neil…YOU’RE cool”. I was thinking, YOU’RE Don Costa….YOU’RE the one who’s fucking cool. You were Ozzy’s bass player, and you’re using a cheese grater on your knuckles…I used to read about you in Kerrang Magazine. He’s smoking a cigar, and I just thought he was totally cool. It’s weird what the media will do…they come up with some type of thing: Don took a cheese Grater, grates his face and turns to wood. Just stupid shit like that for stage goof and it makes them big media, which is only turned into something else. I would read Kerrang Magazine and believe it. You read that shit, and then you start believing what they print. That’s what part of the whole mystique was: you bought a Led Zeppelin record and you saw all these naked blonde people with this orange background. They’re walking on these stones or whatever the hell it was, and you think WOW…what the fuck is this? You see this mystic of a band, you look at the album cover, and it was cool. Then MTV came out and changed everything. All the music had to have a visual…there was no more mystique. It was like Sesame Street…you had the sing along song with the video, or the bouncing ball. I hated that shit. I think video changed the whole face of what music in the environment. I think it’s great to have that as a tool, but it makes it very noticeably harder for bands that don’t have that. It’s like you HAVE to have a video now and all I want to do is shoot some live footage. All I’ve got to do is do some shows, shoot some footage, and there you have it. That’s the game plan for that, and I’ve got people that are video centric people. In fact my webmaster, who designed my site, is a film producer; he does independent films. He’s in a film festival…he’s a very talented kid. I also have another friend of mine who also does video production, for Cable TV. I know a few people.

14. According to your website, http://www.neilturbin.com, you also formed another band after TURBIN and recorded an unreleased album for Japan. What was this album called? Could you describe it a little?

That was Kurt James’ band. We had a couple names we were toying with. This band included Kurt James on guitar, Scott from Atomic Funk on Drums, and the bass player from Atomic Funk. With Kurt, we had Alan Holsworth producing the album…we were in Paramont Studios. We did eleven tracks, or something close to that, and basically the business people behind it had pulled out. It was Kurt James’ deal. The people pulled out…they didn’t follow it through and see it to the end. It was the guitar company…Erenam Guitars. They were backing the album, and for whatever reason, decided they weren’t going to back it through…after everything had been recorded except for the vocals. I did some scratch tracks; I never really recorded any vocals. Kurt still has the master tapes…we never really followed through on that. That was too bad. It’s another one of those projects where you work hard, work on it for a year, and it just never happens. I can’t tell you how many bands I’ve been through that this has happened. This is why I wouldn’t let it happen again; why I had to do things the way I did. I got people in the studio working on MY material. I don’t need to have an arm-wrestling over whose material we’re going to do, whose going to get credit on what song, and all this crap. I had a vision, I needed to fulfill that vision and see it through from beginning to end…I have that within me to be able to do that. It takes a certain type of person to see that thing through, and you have to be more of a leader, and not a follower. Part of the problem, Anthony, is you have too many chiefs and not enough Indians. Everyone in Anthrax, when I was in the band, experienced too many chiefs and not enough Indians. When I left, I guess they got more Indians.

15. Tell us a little about the album you wrote with LOUDNESS guitarist Kuni Takeuchi. What ever happened with is album? Did you receive credit for writing it?

Funny you should ask. I was introduced by Lucy Forbes to a photographer, Kecko Ginger Suzuki, for the Japanese magazine Burnn. Ginger introduced me to Kunie, and a number of other interesting people. Kunie and I hit it off in the beginning, but then we became roommates. In retrospect, that was a bad move. I wrote the songs with Kunie for his album. But it wasn’t until after that I moved out into my own place, California, that I refined these songs & wrote English lyrics for Kunie, which he asked me to do. We had songs before the album, which is what I’m basically saying. He asked me to do this because his English wasn’t very good; his idea was to turn it into an album of all-star players with many singers and musicians, featuring Kunie. He didn’t tell me this until the rhythm tracks were all recorded. I thought it was a band. It was told to me that this was going to be a band, and all of a sudden, it became Kunie. People might say, ‘Look at you…you’re a hypocrite. You’re putting out your album’…not exactly the same thing. This was something that was under a false pretense. Until all the rhythm tracks were all recorded, that’s how I ended up writing all the lyrics and vocals at that point. It was under a different pretense; I only ended up singing on one track on the album. He actually had John Crudell, who recently passed away, sing on a number of my songs and also Cal Swan, who was formally with Tyton and Lion. Cal was good people; he was a very talented singer, and he sang on one of my tracks as well. Just to give you an example of the relationship, Kunie had also copies…recorded tapes I had. We were sharing a place, and he had lifted a song from a demo audition tape of mine for Kerry Sheraft’s band. Kerry was the guitar player for Billie Squire…”Loneliest Night”, and all those other songs. Anyway, Kerry’s band had Mark Boals singing…Mark used to sing with Yngwie. He sang on the song “Memories of You”, which Kunie then records it on his second album with Jeff Scott Soto. The album that I did was on Pollydore Japan; they sold a bunch for a few years. It paid me a lot more than Anthrax royalties…let’s put it that way. After it came out, that was that…now it’s done. Now, it’s an eBay’s collector’s item going for one hundred to two hundred dollars. I wrote the songs there, and I’m very proud of the songs I wrote…they’re really great songs. The difference of what my album is versus what Kunie’s album is – Kunie was trying to be like “Kunie”…like Dio. What I’m trying to be is not like that at all. I just call up a bunch of my friends and said hey….I can’t keep five people happy in a room; you guys help me out. They had to give me the brow rate; I had to pay them & we had to work out what we had to work out. I did it the Ozzy way…I tried it the Ozzy way for a change; just bring in people, pay them, and don’t have five people that are unhappy who are trying to get their own way. That’s really what a band is…it’s very hard to get everyone to push the cart in the same direction. That’s part of the challenge of being in a band; I’ve had my own band a number of times. It’s not that anyone’s such a bad person, it’s just that it’s pretty hard to get cooperation & a unified effort in the same direction. That’s the hard part. Usually, when you have a business situation, where money is paying the band and you have someone that is guiding that process, then you have a good situation. But, you know how artists are…they’re very fickle in the sense that they want their way. It’s not really run, necessarily, like a business, and unfortunately, that’s the way you have to run a band. That’s totally the antithesis of having…art, of creating art. Artistic creativity is all about being free spirited, and running a business & being in a controlled environment like that is so against that concept. It’s kind of that combination. It takes the right people to work in that combination, and you have to be in the right stage of the game. I think things would have been different for me in certain situations had I been a different age in a different situation; different experiences…where you are and what station in life you’re at when you get into that situation. I was really young when I was in Anthrax. There was a lot of things I was going through for the first time and I think if the communication is good between people, you can work things out or you can adapt well. Like I said, in that situation, I would stay as long as I could until the room got too smoky & fire started spreading ‘till you couldn’t stand it any longer & you had to jump out the window. That’s pretty much my mentality…I’ll hold onto the last minute, that last possible moment. With the Kunie situation, it was just totally not a conducive situation. First of all, it’s hard to communicate with someone who doesn’t really speak the language well in the first place. Once things started going in this direction, that was the end of that. There was some potential there, but it just didn’t pan out. I ended up on one song, and I had the guys from Quiet Riot backing me up, so that was cool. I have Kevin Duprose singing backups for me. He’s selling ten millions albums or six million albums, and here I am singing on Kunie’s album with Kevin backing me up. [Laughs] I never quit understood that, but I guess there’s some reason in the big scheme of things…it was weird. I’m watching “Cum On Feel the Noise”, on MTV back in New York with Anthrax, and you know about the Randy Rhodes stuff. I’m out there; I’ve got Frankie Vanallie and Chuck Riat and having Kevin sing backup…it was kind of interesting. I think I’ve played with everyone in Quiet Riot except for the guitar player. I’ve got Shawn McNabb, who was in Quiet Riot, and Paul Shertino…never played with Carlos and never played with Randy. I did see Randy Rhodes when I was at the Nassau Coliseum, so that was cool. That was a while back.

16. Tell us about the band WRECKING CREW. Was there an OVERKILL influence based upon this band?

No. Overkill is a great metal band. The name Wrecking Crew came from the lyric in the song “Wrecking Ball”, back in 1990. I have a shirt from the 1986 New York Giants…this talks about their defense: the big blue wrecking crew. Wrecking Crew was the band that had Bobby Piper, myself, different versions of other people in the band that had played with us over time. This would include Chuck Write, but he wasn’t in the band…he just played on the demos with us. Actually, Joe Christafonelli, who wrote the song “Wanted Man” for Ratt, played bass for the band for a while. We really wanted to get Paul Monroe, who played drums for XYZ. Bobby used to play guitar for XYZ…he wrote the song “Souvenirs”. We were really interested in Paul Monroe, but Paul wasn’t available, and XYZ had a good run; they were out there doing their thing, touring. So, it’s kind of odd making offers to someone whose in a fully blown band that’s on the road and has product out. But, we had some pretty cool material, and Wrecking Ball was a representation of that. We did such a good job with the demo on that when I was working with James Christian from House of Lore, we were supposed to get together a Japanese deal and James was trying to work that out for us. He liked my performance on the song, and what I did on the song so well, he wanted to change it around and use it for his band, House of Lore. That’s what happened there. I just kept it in the format that it was, in it’s original form, and I just think it’s one of those down and dirty type of songs. It stuck…it just had to be part of the album. It’s been a part of MY career, even though people may be familiar with me from Anthrax, this is, to me what I perceive that Wrecking Ball is part of what I’M about. The other songs, which are considered to be bonus tracks on the album, are “Dolly Dagger” and “Touch Too Much”. “Dolly Dagger” was a song that was supposed to be released as a single off the final Hendrix studio album. Unfortunately, Hendrix died untimely, and they did not release that song as a single. That was the intention of that song. It was actually a really great song that Hendrix wrote that had potential and was an evolution in his career. To me, it was a song that was always intriguing to me; it always stood out. It had soul, but it was heavy, and it had a full guitar riff going on in it. What I did to it was it definitely needed the double kick bass drum treatment and vocal uplifting. I was able to lift the vocal in that song and give it more punch; that to me was something that I was excited to be able to bring forward. That was a song I used to play with the Finnish guitar player Petri Nauha. We played together in 1993, and we used to write two songs every weekend; we didn’t have a name for the band…we were calling it Turbulence at the time. It was a name to write on demo tape; it wasn’t like we were a band. It was basically Petri, myself, and a keyboard that was a drum-machine and a bass. We tracked about thirty songs; we’d get together every weekend for a year. Of course, some weekends we’d have to finish out the songs we worked on last weekend, but it was pretty much two songs a weekend, and we ended up with thirty songs that we recorded. “Dolly Dagger” was one of the ones that we did, and I wanted to redo that, because I thought that was very cool what we did with that. That was one of the bonus tracks; the other bonus track was “Touch Too Much”. “Touch Too Much” was a song that, when I was in high school, it was…I don’t know, for some reason I just liked that song a whole lot. I liked the whole Highway to Hell album from ACDC, but that song in particular just had this energy that was awesome. And it was somewhat different than the other ACDC songs from that album, I thought, and maybe a departure for them somewhat. The reason that these are bonus tracks is I was contracted to do ten songs, and I can remember back to a show…the first time that Anthrax headlined a show, which was Lamour in February of ’84. What had happened was we ran out of songs. We played all the songs from Fist Full of Metal, and I think it was Mike or Tony Parente (owner of Lamour) who says ‘Hey…got any more?’ Scott turned around and says ‘No’…then we were looking at each other saying ‘No…we’re all out’. It was kind of a suck and fucked up situation because I mentioned to you how difficult the writing process was in Anthrax…it was a very painstaking process. We did write some after that show, I can tell you that! “Armed And Dangerous”, “Gung Ho”, and “Raise Hell” were the next to come, but there was a lot of pain getting there. At that point, they had hit me with this hardcore punk influence that they wanted to play, and I wanted to…I saw us playing in arenas; I wanted to be an arena type of band…a band that’s going to play large type of places, not CBGB’s. I saw hardcore punk bands playing CBGB’s and clubs in New York that are scummy. But arena bands…you had bands like Poison and Motley Crue…it was probably before Poison’s time at that point, but you had bands like Motley Crue starting out and they had a certain look about them. Ratt was getting attention. I was pissed off about that because to me, the way I perceive that, I saw it as the fucking executives in Los Angeles…all they do is put their fucking toes in the sand. They go onto the Sunset Strip, and it’s just the local bands that are playing out. Let them get on a plan and come to New York. How many bands were signed from Los Angeles? …You had Black and Blue, Ratt, you had all these bands that were signed…Motley Crue, WASP…one after the other. How many bands did they sign from New York? They signed Twisted Sister, and that’s just because they’ve been putting out records for years anyway. They’ve been doing things on their own, and they had their own following for years. Twisted Sister didn’t need anybody’s help…they did it all on their own anyway. They went and got a deal over in the UK…Music for Nations or someone like that. Those guys had their shit together…they were like Kiss. They were going to happen no matter what. They had the momentum. Anthrax, on the other hand, we had to bust our ass to get anywhere. It was great when people started coming to our shows. There’s plenty of shows that we did at Great Gliders Place(???), where we were lucky if there were more people there than the people that worked there. We did shows with Metallica, where there were very few people who showed up. It was us AND Metallica…Anthrax and Metallica, not just one or the other. And we did shows just under Anthrax where there was hardly anyone there. So, we paid some hard dues, but I think that’s part of it. You’ve gotta pay those dues. I don’t have a problem with that for my career doing my own thing. I know what that’s about and the difference is I know what I provide is an inspiring moment...an aspired moment. So, I get up there and I like to play music that I like to play. I like to play stuff that I like to hear; I like great vocalists. I’m not ashamed to say I like listening to John Sikes…he’s a great vocalist. The guy’s fantastic…he’s got tone for days. Gary Moore…I guess I’m predigest; I like Thin Lizzy…bias. I like other types of people like Paul Rodgers…he’s a great vocalist. Besides the people like that, Rhett Forester was someone that was a good friend of mine, and a great vocalist. I was very impressed with what Rhett was able to do. I saw him when I was over in France and he had ten thousand people in the palm of his hand; the guy was just incredible. It was just an incredible point in his life as far as the reaching of his vocal ability. His bold-fullness, his inspiration; he was just so powerful in that respect, and that’s something that I learned from Rhett. He was truly someone who had paid his dues, being in all kinds of bands and he ended up in Riot. This is after Riot…I was over there with him, with Carol Kennedy, and Jack Starr who asked me to join his band a week after I left Anthrax. Seven days to the day on a Friday, I’m sitting there and trying to get my passport in order so I can get onto the plan because we’re leaving to go to France; the promoter just wanted me over there. It was a weird experience, and I stayed there for three months. It was a good thing for me to do, it was a good experience to have, and it was cool; I went over there and hung out with Metallica and Venom. Those guys in Venom were totally cool; it seems like they’re all evil and stuff, but they’re the coolest fucking guys and really nice people. The guys from Metallica I was friends with, so no problem to hang out with them. Cliff was always a brother; Lars was cool, James was cool, but I was buddies with Cliff; Kurt was friendly back then. Really, Cliff was the guy I had the most friendship with; I really felt bad and hurt when he had passed away. That was really unfortunate when we lost Cliff, but everybody knows about that. He was good people. When these types of things happen, it makes you wonder, ‘What was the purpose of that? Why did that need to happen?’. He was a young guy who was really talented. What would Metallica’s music have sounded like if Cliff didn’t get taken from us?

It would sound like the way it does now, I’ll tell you that much!

Yeah…if we want to be pissed off about something, THAT’s what we should be pissed off about. Cliff was a great guy too.

He would put the Metal back in Metal-lica.

He WOULD put the Metal back in Metal-lica, and what’s funny is the guy always reminded me of Lynard Skynard or Molly Hatchet or something; he had this red hair, the mustache and goatee…facial hair or whatever. He had his dark, blue jean denim Levi jacket and his bellbottoms.

Yeah…he was like the bass-playing heavy metal hippie.

Yeah…that’s exactly it. He had this vibe and he was so into it; he was so inspired. That’s what I’m talking about when I mentioned an inspired moment. He’d get up there and do this bass solo on one of the songs, and it was such an inspired moment. He was so into it, everyone else was into it, and it was just very cool. He was just that kind of guy all the time. He wasn’t putting on a show; he was living, being himself and just a down to earth kind of person. That’s what I appreciate about people like that. The best musicians are those kind of people; they’re down to earth, they’re able to reach inside, pull something out and give it to people on the outside. I had the opportunity when I was playing with Petri back in 1993 to meet BB King. I was on a tour bus hanging with BB, and the guy was the same way…just a real genuine person; just really down to earth, a real person…no bullshit. Really charming, really charismatic, intelligent, and a kind of person that makes you want to be around them. To me, that’s who I can work with. I like working with people, who are very ‘people type persons’, verses these great performers…these great artists that lock themselves in their room for twenty years so they can play guitar as fast as a speeding bullet, and they never deal with people because they’re locked in their room, practicing their guitar. To think…part of what’s wrong with that formula is you’ve got to be able to deal with people. People are what go to your show, and people are the ones who buy your album. To me, the musicianship is pretty damn important, but let not forget about the people part of it because that’s where, I think, the formula goes wrong. You just can’t forget about something that’s more important than the music. It’s the people…people are what inspire the music and people are what buy the music, so let's not forget about those folks. To me, these virtuoso type musicians lock themselves in a room and play violin, and they play piano, but what about interacting with people? That’s what I enjoy…being in that live mode where you’re able to have people heckling you, have people go into the room, and have people making noise. It’s kind of cool when you’ve got this other band that’s playing, and then I go and jam with this band, then all of a sudden, people become quiet and they turn around like ‘Who is this guy?’…I enjoy that kind of stuff because I don’t have my name up there on a banner or anything to let them know that I’m coming. But, once I’m there, they figure it out. I think that’s really what it’s all about – being able to deliver that. To me, that’s what I enjoy doing; I enjoy playing live and I enjoy making people feel good, giving them something to take away. That’s why I’m compelled to play live.

17. Have you been in any other bands I have not mentioned? If so, what are they, and tell us about them.

You probably don’t have enough server space or time for me to answer all that. Besides, I’ve gotta save something for next time. Okay…you didn’t mention KJB. Kurt James Band. When I auditioned for Driver, Rudy and Tommy’s band over in the San Fernando Valley, they had Kurt James playing guitar. A month later, Kurt and I were in a band and Rudy and Tommy were in White Snake. You know, Kurt is on my album now.

18. If you could tour with ANY band, which would it be (I think I know the answer to this one)?

I’d like to play right in between when The Rolling Stones headline and ACDC goes on….I’d like to be right in between those two. [Laughs]

I actually thought you would have said Riot.

No…Riot wouldn’t be playing anywhere big enough that I’d be interested in. I’d like the Stones to headline because it’s going to be a big place, and we’ll let ACDC open up and I’ll be in the middle. That would be great. I’d be playing Toronto in front of four hundred thousand people…that’d be okay. You can get those two on the bill, and I’ll play before them, after them, or while they’re setting up…I don’t care. That would be cool. Anything is possible. Guns N Roses opened for the Stones, and I think if anyone opens for the Stones, they’ve got a good gig.

19. I noticed you were involved in an NYFD fundraiser with Wesley Snipes. That fucking rules! Did you know anyone involved in the 9-11 incident? I just wanted to say that it’ s really cool for anyone to get involved that way.

I knew many people who were deeply and directly affected by the horrific tragedy. It’s by far, the worst single tragedy of our time. It’s heart breaking, disgusting, and angering. My heart goes out to those whose lives were senselessly lost, and the damage that this has caused humanity. I would do anything to help the New York Fire Department. This is a small thing; I wish I could have done more to help. I’m not in a position to change the world in big ways like that, but any little small thing I can do I’d be glad to do it at any time. As far as Wesley, he’s totally cool people. As far as people that I knew that were lost in that tragedy, I was in New York a week after 911. I was at my cousin’s wedding. The priest/minister who was marrying my cousin and his wife lost seven firefighters. These were seven people he had just married.

Can I ask you something? If you don’t want to talk about this, you don’t have to.

No…it’s fine. I’m saying, we’re right there, on Long Island, and he just lost seven people he had just married.

Mitch Perry, Andy Wallow, and myself all play at this place in Redondo Beach. I recently had a friend of mine (have something happen)…Roy Rawlins, who is an ex navy seal and a real good person; he’ll fix you up if you’re down. He was banging on the cabinets and having a lot of fun…making people drink and laugh. If I didn’t have any money for a drink, well, Roy would just get me one. He recently had a terrible accident. He’s a real brother that’s fallen, and they’re doing a tribute to Roy on October 11 at the Starboard Attitude in Redondo Beach…I’m going to try to be part of that any way I can. I think that, as far as tributes or benefits go, any of my friends that I can help out that need the help, I’d be there in a heartbeat. It’s something you’ve got to do…you’ve got to stick together and look out for one another; help each other out when someone needs your help. Poor Roy, he’s in bad shape. It’s hard to know the person unless you know him. It’s not like he’s a musician that has a name that you’ve heard of. Andy, Mitch, and myself know him really well. Shawn McNabb, Paul Shertino…all these guys know him and played there. When tragedy strikes home and it’s in your house, it’s pretty bad. When it’s close to your house and it’s the neighborhood bar…a person that’s really cool and close to you and everyone, it just really sucks.

20. Do you have any plans to tour the east coast? Europe?

I’ve got the best-laid plans of mice and men. It’s difficult to make tour plans without the proper funding to support the expenses of a tour. For many bands, it’s a money-loosing proposition. They try to recoup their money from merchandising, and…well; we just talked about that, didn’t we. To answer your question, I will get out there and play where I can that’s feasible. Just know this: I’m out there singing in L.A. every single week. I don’t do it for the money…something Gene Simmons would probably never say. I do it to keep the blade very sharpened. I do it because I love to do it, I love singing live, and interacting with people; it’s spontaneous and it’s a reward in itself. The studio is a pain in the ass…it’s work; it’s like taking a test in school and the only acceptable grade is an “A”. Anything less is unacceptable. If it’s not you’re “A” game, you hear it in the studio. When you go into the studio, bring your “A” game, and you’d better be prepared. I’ve got to say…do you like the way I change the subject?

About touring the East Coast…do you know about Jack Koshick’s Metalfest that he does every year? He has the Milliwalki Metalfest and he’s got the New Jersey Metalfest. Have you heard about those?

I didn’t know he had both of those, but yeah, I’ve heard of them.

Why haven’t you tried to play one of those shows?

I’ve been trying to get my album done…[Laughs]

Okay, so there’s a chance I might see you on one of those metalfests, for all we know.

Well, not that the thing is behind us and we’re doing a little bit of promo…I don’t know if you know, but I’ve done some radio stations. I’ve been out to COMP FM, over in Las Vegas, KSUP over in Juno, Alaska, the BONE in San Francisco last week, the TIGER in Alabama last month, and a few others. Just where I can go and get out there. I tried to go to one in Florida, but I don’t think there even is a rock station out there. It doesn’t play anything that’s not Led Zeppelin.

Have you tried the ones around here? You’ve got Eddie Trunk’s Rock Show on 104.3 in New York, and Pirate Radio on 89.5, Seaton Hall University. Have you tried those?

I need someone to help me on the East Coast...that’s the whole thing.

All right…that’s where I come in.

Well, you’re awesome…thank you man!

Whatever I can do to help…that’s my mission.

I just want anyone to get to hear my music…not everyone, just anyone. [Laughs]

[Laughs] Just like I want anyone to look at my website.

I did two interviews so far, and both people that interviewed me actually liked the album; they both listened to it more than once…you told me this and the guy from Live For Metal.

21. You’ve been following Unstoppable Force for a while now. How did you find us? What do you think of its new look?

I’ve always been an Internet person. I know how to do things on the web, using search engines and spider engines to find what might be lurking out there. I came upon UF on one of my searches. The search found my name, and that’s how I found your site. I was looking for what people had to say about me, and I found it. You said some good things about me…hey, I wonder what the hell Neil is doing. They should have gotten some more music with Neil. That’s cool, because you’re twenty-five years old, and that’s the coolest thing of the while thing. You’re not my age…you’re from a different generation. You’re twenty-five, and I’m as old as the rest of the guys in Anthrax, and that’s where I come from. To me, I think it’s great that people like yourself are able to appreciate that kind of music that’s been laid out. I was listening to bands when I was coming up from the sixties and seventies. I was listening to Glenn Hughes, and I got to meet the guy and hang out with him. I think that’s pretty cool having that kind of opportunity to be able to be exposed to that kind of music. Not that that kind of music isn’t happening now, but certainly the first Metallica album isn’t coming out this week…it’s something that’s been out. The first Anthrax album has been out. There’s other bands like that, like Led Zeppelin. Of course, the radio pushes that kind of music all the time, but music the radio doesn’t push…there’s some many great bands and so much great music out there. It takes someone to navigate the Internet, or sift through the record store to find stuff. Not everything is in digital format. Some things are still on tape, or LPs. I have all kinds of types…VHS, 45’s, tapes, and all kinds of stuff which is still not available in the current digital format. Looking out there, on the internet and sifting through to identify what’s out there of interest, I thought Unstoppable Force was cool because it comes across as an underground metal type of site. It’s not a dark, dungeon type of site, trying to be gothic or whatever. It’s just here’s the bands and it’s got a real good feel to it. As far as the new look of the site, I think the site changed. I like the fact that you’ve got the logos of the bands, and it’s got that feel to it…that’s old school to me. That’s the way I see it as far as old school. You’ve got the logo of the band, you click on that logo, and it sends you to the band’s interview. It has a good feel to it, and that to me makes me feel good; I like to hang out on sites like that if I’m looking on the web. Some of these corporate-looking sites, that you know are run by record companies or big organizations, have grown to a miniature version of Rolling Stone. It doesn’t give you a warm and fuzzy feeling. Your site, to me, makes you feel like hey…this is cool.

Thank you very much.

I appreciate that, because you’re a fan of the music, and so am I. I’m just like you, Anthony. I love bands…I go up to artists and bands. I’m not so much interested in getting their autograph. I’m intrigued by certain artists that I like. I’ll be standing there with Thin Lizzy like hey…you guys are great, tripping out on what they do. I just appreciate the music, and I like being a fan of the music and supporting my friends that are in bands. There’s just some amazing players out there….some amazing performers. That’s what blows me away: these people that are great performers now. It doesn’t matter what kind of music…if they’re great, I can appreciate them, if they really shine. There should be more great metal artists out there, just playing a heavy sounding guitar and thunderingly heavy drums. That doesn’t do it. It’s when you’ve got emotional, moving type of music. Someone like Garry Moore….that guy is just very moving in the way he performs and plays. People like that are very inspiring to me. I like seeing those kind of bands on Unstoppable Force. I see Vyndykator, and all these local or regional bands that you’re giving an opportunity to have a voice…a place. That’s great! That’s what really makes it underground. I’m underground…I don’t have a major label behind me, and I’m just trying to get out there, as far as distribution. I think it’s a great that you’re doing for bands, to help them to get out there. With a guy like me with a big mouth, wearing down the parking meter, you’ve got to be ALL out of quarters by now…with ten parking tickets on you car. [laughs] I come from the old school where I like the bands like Saxon, Riot, Thin Lizzy and some Kiss. I’d find the albums that I liked, and I would wear them out. One time, I meet Brooke Shields when I was fifteen. I was with this friend of mine…he was a paparazzi…all over TV now. We were in New York, waiting at this restaurant with him to take pictures of people getting out of this limousine. I was fifteen, and we had just come from a Cheep Trick show at MSG. The people get out of the limousine. The first person to get out is Brooke Shields. I go up to her. This was when had this advertising Champaign for Calvin Klein. She would say ‘There’s nothing between me and my Calvin’. I’m standing right there, waiting by the door, and I’m looking at Brooke. I say to her ‘Brooke…what’s between you and you Calvin?’ Her mom gets out and says ME! [laughs] I didn’t know SHE was there…she totally messed my chance up!

Did you turn pale white?

Well, I had a white shirt on….[laughs] But, I was like, DAMN….Damn, lady…who are you! Fucking up my party here, I’m trying to hit on your daughter, and you’ve got this attitude problem. It was cool. Where’s Ted Nuggent when you need him? I don’t give interviews to just anyone…a simple philosophy or thought: people that show me a shitty attitude in the first place I don’t bother with. Why would I even want to talk with them? Second, if all they want to do is ask me Anthrax demo tape questions, then forget it. I offered up a lot of information…I hope this covers some areas of curiosity that may be of some interest to people. My whole goal here, Anthony, is not to provoke anyone and have them freak out that I’m talking all this stuff about them. That’s not my goal. I try to be as candid as I can be, and try to give some information. What’s interesting is all the bands I’ve played with out here in California. I jammed with a lot of people in a short time, and went on a lot of auditions. I played with this band Tygris, Lexx Diamond…I jammed with them and a few others over the years. I jammed with Rick Fox in Wrecking Crew and the band Turbin.
Metal should be this: you get on the stage, do your thing, get off the stage, and become a person again…don’t be an asshole. Some of these guys are just primidona. The Anthrax band tried to make it out like I was a primadona. When I was on the road with them in California and we were in the van together, they would keep me up every night. I couldn’t get any sleep, and it was killing me and my voice. These guys are farting the whole time, yelling the whole time…it’s like the way you feel now. You’re tired…let’s say I just kept you up forever. It’s like nonstop. You have to sing and be totally in shape. I had to have fans take me away from the show and let me go to their house so I can crash out on the floor for a few hours. That’s what I did in LA. This guy that telemarketed me on the phone became a friend of mine. I stayed at his house for a few hours. Then, I went to play the country club. It’s like great…he let me crash out. When we were in California, we were staying in someone’s living room in their apartment. That’s where the band had to stay…we didn’t have a hotel room. Oh yeah…I know this person, and we can go stay in their living room. That’s the kind of tour we had…we had no money, and stuff like that. That’s really what it was; it was a sacrifice.

It was the living room tour.

Yeah…so, I understand about trying to pull it together. If people are going to come to LA and play, they can come stay with me, or we can work it out. That’s cool. Once you have all these expectations of hotels, suites, catered events, limousines, and all this bull shit….that’s unnecessary. You can stay in the hotel room…it can be Holiday Inn Express; it doesn’t have to be elaborate and expensive. You can rent a car…it doesn’t need to be a Ferrari…it can be a Ford Escort or a full size or something. People just get so carried away with the psychology that you have to be this rock star with this life and all this crap. I think music is cool, and we should do what we can do to keep the metal alive. That’s what you’re doing. I’m gonna let you go now…good night.

22. Do you have any merchandise available, or a fan club? How would I go about finding your material or memorabilia (i.e.: Shirts, autographs, etc)? Is it available?

You want a shirt…I’ll take the one off my back man…here. I’ll have some made if someone wants one. What would you like to see on it? I have my idea…what’s yours?

Are you kidding?…You’re serious…cool!

I didn’t know I was that popular. If there’s a demand for it, cool…let’s get it made. I’m not out to make a shirt and try to push myself or push it on somebody. If someone likes it, then hey, we’ll do it

Makes me rethink my whole Unstoppable Force merchandise page.

If someone else is going to wear my shirt, then I might wear one too, but you ain’t gonna see me wearing it if no one else wants one.

I just released a line of merchandise through my website…

Oh really…cool.

I actually checked my account today, and someone actually ordered some stuff, which shocked the shit out of me.

That’s what I need…I need your merchandise, so I can be cool. You probably had to dump a whole bunch of money into it.

Actually, not really. I didn’t dump any money into it at all.

Then you’re a smart man…you’re a smart businessman. That’s what we like to hear.

23. Thank you Neil for this opportunity to interview you. I hope to see you on tour some time soon; I’ll make sure I introduce myself to you. Keep kicking ass!!! Any last words or something you’d like to add?

Maybe I should have called my album “Unstoppable Threatcon Delta Force”…Check it out, and let me know what you think. You can buy the album directly from my website, and I’ll sign it for you at no extra charge. You can also drop me a line on my message board at www.ultimatemetal.com, the NT message board. The official website is www.neilturbin.com and www.metalthrashingmad.com.

DISCOGRAPHY

ANTHRAX
1983 = Soldiers of Metal - Megaforce Records
1984 = Fistful of Metal - Megaforce Worldwide
1985 = Armed And Dangerous EP - Megaforce Worldwide
Neil Turbin wrote & sang all Lyrics and Melodies on select songs
1987 = Fistful of Anthrax - PolyStar Japan
Neil Turbin wrote & sang all Lyrics and Melodies on select songs
1987 = Spreading the Disease - Island Records
Neil Turbin wrote & sang all Lyrics and Melodies on select songs

KUNI
1986 = Masque - Pollydore Japan

DC TO DAYLIGHT
1997 = DC TO DAYLIGHT - Satori Records

ROBBIE LOCHNER
198? = Robbie Lochner

HELL COMES TO YOUR HOUSE
198? = Compilation Album

A TRIBUTE TO LIMP BIZKIT
2002 = Tribute Album - Cleopatra Records

NEIL TURBIN BAND
2003 = Threatcon Delta - M.F. Records / Metal Mayhem Music

LINKS