As they say, "Second time's a charm".......Here we have PART II of my interview with Detroit's Heavy Metal Horror Show, HALLOWEEN. LOTS and LOTS of things are being planned in the HALLOWEEN camp, and MANY things have already occured since this interview, so read on and induldge in one of Heavy Metal's most spectacular bands. Halloween.....the story continues..........
Interview by Anthony
1. Has Halloween ever made any videos for their songs from back in the day? Are there any plans to make some, or even a DVD of a live performance? I noticed a link to a new “Video” posted in your guest book, for the song “Victims of the Night”. Please tell us a little about this? Was the band made aware that this video was being made? Do you approve of it? What are your thoughts on this?
We did make several videos over the years some professionally done and some that we shot on camcorder. There were several cable shows that filmed entire concerts, five actual videos, and tons of behind the scenes stuff. Most of which we are still
2. What are the differences you see between the fans here in America and the fans in Europe?
Well, that is a tough question... Our fans have been awesome, no matter where they have been from. They have always remained loyal and excited for us, and seem to genuinely be into what we are all about. In general what we have seen through our friends in other bands and going to Germany recently, is that, fans in Europe seem to be more loyal to their favorite bands forever, where as in the states, fans seem to be motivated mainly by what is forced on them by the commercial media. If a band has a run of bad luck and disappears from the radar screen for any amount of time, it is really hard to get fans to come back, because they have either moved on to something else or "grown out of what they used to like", we have had some of that, but we have been very lucky to have most of our fans stick with us (most of our fans already know what kind of luck we have had, they went through it with us!).
3. Please tell us about your experiences in Germany, at Keep It True. How did the band manage to play this event? What songs did you perform? Did you use your unique stage show?
4. How did Halloween gain such an international cult following without being signed to a record label?
That is a good question, that I'm not sure we know the answer to. I guess just luck. Other parts of the world seem to like hard rock and metal, and we had a few distributors that put our stuff in a couple of the right places. I hope at least part of it is that people can see that we love what we do, and maybe that makes it a little more real for them.
And we must love it, to still be doing it, after all this time, and all the troubles we have survived. We are lucky to have great fans all over the world !
5. Looking at each album respectively (including the early demos), Halloween’s line-up has changed quite a number of times. (many guitarists, a few drummers and bass players) Why? Do you still keep in touch with past members of the band? How did today’s line up of Halloween come together? Have you ever considered adding a second guitarist?
As with any business or partnership or relationship, from time to time things happen that cause change. There were many times that we could have just pulled the plug and walked away, in fact on 2 occasions we did walk away with the intent of possibly not continuing. Once in 1993, the "classic" line up had reformed for a 6 month period and then decided to pursue different ventures once October was over. George and myself went on to play with Abandon for 3 1/2 years. The Second time in 2002, after being insulted by our home town industry people, (mainly a few venues which I will not name). On top of the fact that one of us only wanted to stay together once a year to play at Halloween time. I decided that that wasn't good enough and I pulled the plug (nobody complained from the inside). I figured we were done! Then the following spring one of our long time associates approached me about doing a new band. At the time I was still sour on the idea of playing again, especially starting over. But I got talked into checking it out and I brought Donny along. Naturally we played Halloween songs to warm up and it felt good. As time went on John the bass player at the time started to realize that there were still Halloween fans out there. And we decided to just say fuck it and do the thing under the Halloween name. So there we were with a 4th major lineup change thus the (4.0) on the Tricks, Treats and other Tales From the Crypt CD. Back tracking a bit here is the summary... Brian Thomas, George Neal, Rick Craig and Bill Whyte from 83-89 (then again for 6 months in 1993) and from 1997-1998. It was Brian/George/Billy Gray(guitar)/Tommy Stewart(drums) from 89-90, then Brian/George/Donny Allen/Tim Wright(guitar)(91 only)/Billy Adams(drums)91-93 then Brian/George/Donny/Bill Whyte 98-02 then Brian/Donny/Tommy Vendetta(guitar)/John Guarascio(bass)/Jason Rossvanes(drums)03-04 and finally Brian/George/Donny/Rob brug(drums)04-present Plus we are currently in the process of re-adding Billy Gray(guitar) so yes we have considered a 2nd guitar. Big family tree huh? It all just happened the way it happened you just keep rolling with the punches. There were also a few other guys that were in and out of the band during that time but just briefly. Including Tim Franquist(bass), Kevin Clifford(bass), Vern Lee WarrenIII(guitar), Kenny Hill(guitar), Chris Huff(bass), John Avedisian(bass), Mark Scott(drums), Johnny Pyro(drums), and Scott Schuster(keyboards). Wow I'm exhausted!! We do keep in touch when we can, and I think we are all still friends. Sometimes you don't know when people are pissed at you or not. Feathers get ruffled sometimes but I think underneath it all we are still all brothers. Scott is no longer with us... RIP
6. The first time I heard “Exit Sandman” was when it was first posted on your site….it was great!! For anyone who does not know what I’m referring to, please tell us a little about the song and if you plan on including it on your next studio album.
We did that as a novelty, and a way to get out our frustrations over 911. I am from Jersey and I grew up going to the WTC, in fact the first day that the observation deck on the south tower was opened to the public my friends and I skipped school and were among the first regular people to go to the top. I used to go to the city just to watch them being built. So I was devastated when that were attacked. So the manager at the strip club where I worked as a DJ, knew that I was in the band and he was trying to get me to cheer up, so he started rewriting the Metallica song lyrics to try to make me laugh. Then he and I decided to write the lyrics for real and the band would release it as a novelty for the radio and stuff here in Detroit. We went in the studio and cut the whole thing in one day and the day we finished mixing it ended up being the first day of the war.(complete coincidence !). We intended to sell them at shows and forward the money to families of victims. But it never got on the radio and we ended up not playing any shows that year. Everybody seemed to be in some kind of funk over what had happened, so we only sold about a dozen of them. I played the shit out of it at the strip club, but most people were staring at titties and didn't even notice that it wasn't Metallica, or even what the words were. Oh well...I always wondered if Metallica ever heard it? I don't think it will ever be released, unless it ends up on some kind of box set or B-sides thing. Now that there is no more Taliban, it's kinda dated, ya know? It was funny shit though!!
7. Speaking of your next album, how are things working out right now with the new material? Is there an album title yet? What can you tell us about Halloween’s plans for the next studio release?
The new CD is called HORROR FIRE... it is finished and hopefully by the time you read this it will be available. we are in the final stages, ie...liner notes, final art and manufacturing. The working title of the CD was Fire Still Burns (which is one of the songs), but we decided on Horror Fire after a Major Chemical fire and a giant warehouse fire here in Detroit, plus we liked the idea of including "Horror" in the title. We didn't want to use a name that could be seen as a reference to the fact that "hey, we're still here". That's not all the song (Fire Still Burns) is about. That song is about a never ending love for making music and continuing to have it in your blood, no matter what the obstacles. And though some people think we have been gone for years we have been here all along! (2 little breaks). We are also in the process of recording a 7 song EP called "Wake up Screaming" 666 to be released on June 6th 2006 (06-06-06 “666”). Horror Fire tracks are...
And The Wake Up Screaming /666 EP tracks are...
Wake Up Screaming
So after a long silence we will have 2 releases only 1 month apart. Hopefully this will be a sign of things to come...
8. [Jokingly] STOP CHANGING YOUR WEBSITE’S URL!!! ……LOL. Seriously, the URL went from HalloweenLives.com to HalloweenTheBand.com to HalloweenTheBand.us. What’s been going on as far as that is concerned?
Every time we thought we were settled into a permanent web home something would come up and shoot us in the face usually money troubles. We also had to go with a new server to be able to host a bigger site. We are in the process of obtaining the old web address' so that our fans who haven't found us yet will be able to. Right now you can find us at www.halloweentheband.us and www.halloweentheband.net also on myspace/halloween1031, which has a link from our website. There is also tons of stuff about the early days at www.motorcityrock.com. In the future we hope to also have halloweentheband.com and halloweenlives.com, back. We will keep you posted.
9. What are your current tour plans (if any)? Have you ever considered returning to The Classic Metalfest, or perhaps an appearance here in New Jersey? I would LOVE to see the band live.
We would love to go back to the classic metal fest, we haven't been asked back yet (there was a minor problem over money last time with our management and the promoter, but I'm sure that is easy to resolve) we would love to play it again. We are coming to NJ. and NY. this July We are playing at Ding Bats in Clifton NJ. July 21st and The Hook in Brooklyn NY. on July 22. Also on the show will be 2 of the great bands that played in Germany with us...Attacker & Elixr also Magus Beast and Midnight Angel. We are also trying to work it out for Eddie Jelley, from Long Island legends Salty Dog,(who was one of the writers of "What A Nice Place"), to come up and perform it with us at one of the shows. We are hoping that we will be able to do at least a big part of our stage show (depending on time, stage space and cost of transportation).
10. Halloween played at a benefit concert not too long ago (for Motor City Rock). Please tell us about this.
It was a show to help raise money and awareness for the site (www.motorcityrock.com), which is run by an avid Detroit rock fan. JP runs the site all by himself, and finances it alone, so we wanted to help keep it going. It is a great website, which chronicles the history of the Detroit rock and metal scene through the late 70's, the 80', and all the way up to the present. He has done an incredible amount of research and put together a great site. Check it out.
11. I have read that you are currently preparing to film a movie AND a Halloween DVD. Please tell us about your work on these two projects and when they will see a release.
The movie is tentatively called The Heavy Metal Horror Show and is about a deranged psychopath who sets out on a mission to destroy the band by murdering fans at shows, while making it look like the band is responsible, the killings are unnoticed at first, because everyone thinks it is just part of the show. The killer,(a one time fan), now hates the band because of frequent line up changes. It's a race against time for an unlikely hero, to try to foil the ultimate plan of a climactic and fiery final scene for the band and fans alike at the big Halloween night concert/party.
12. Halloween was nominated for The Detroit Music Awards. Congratulations. How did the band manage to get nominated, and which other bands were you up against? Did Halloween also perform at this award ceremony? What are your memories of this event?
13. I am sorry to hear about your back injury. What happened? How did this effect Halloween’s progress, and did you have to cancel any shows as a result of this injury?
I was working as a stage hand for the major concert venues here in Detroit, (Palace, Pine Knob, Freedom Hill, state Theatre, St. Andrews, Clutch Cargo etc.) I got hurt working a Rush concert right after we got back from Germany. The guy that I was lifting a lighting truss with, zigged when I zagged, and I ended up needing surgery. I worked every day for 2 weeks after the initial injury and that made it worse (you got to pay the bills, & I didn't know how bad it was). My back trouble derailed a bunch of plans and still continues to give me trouble, but I am MUCH better than I was, so I'm not complaining for now. We didn't have to cancel anything pre-surgery luckily, we didn't have much scheduled at the time. However the Damien reunion show in Toledo and the Music Awards Nominee Show were both just a few weeks before my surgery and would have been impossible to reschedule I was worried that we would have to cancel because the pain was so bad I could not stand up. During the time I was confined to a bed I would still sing along while laying down and it didn't hurt at all, so I made arrangements to have a painted grave scene made, to be positioned in front of the drum riser. If I could not stand I would have done the shows lying down. Awkward yes but the show must go on! Lucky for me I went to the pain clinic and got an epidural injection in my back which numbed me up pretty good. I had one the day before the Damien show, and one again the day before the Awards nominee Show. I was able to stand up for both, but looking at the video you could tell I was a mess. After surgery I didn't stay down for long I was back up probably before I should have been. My surgery did limit our opportunities, but we did manage to play a few shows, one with M.S.G. & Uli Jon Roth, shortly after that we played the MotorCityRock.com show, then finally was a show with Seven Witches. I basically did all I could just to get through those shows, my back needed time to heal. We only had to cancel one show that was scheduled with Seven Witches, which was in Allentown PA.
14. I recently stumbled upon some live recordings of the band from 1985. There are a LOT of songs I never head of, which are not on any of your first three releases (songs that come to mind are: “Bitten By Fear”, “Tonight I’m Yours”, “Rats and Rock Dogs”, etc.). Were these songs ever released? When were they recorded? Please tell me a bit about them.
The only recordings of those songs were from 4 live on the radio concerts that we did in 84/85/86. The quality (and probably the performances) on most of that stuff, leaves a lot to be desired. Some day I would like to record songs like those and put them out on new CDs. For example, 5 of the songs on Horror Fire are songs from back then but are now done now with the current lineup. And there is a song that probably be on Terrortory, called "Caught In The Webs" which is one of the first songs we ever wrote as a band in 1984. But the new amped up version of it sounds so good that we plan to include it on the next record. There are many songs like those you mentioned that fans are always asking us to do. There are so many we can't do them all. You can find some at JP's site (www.motorcityrock.com).
15. What exactly is going on with your rehearsal space? Why are you being forced out, and have you found a new rehearsal place yet?
"The Building" was also my home (apartment up above). We had to leave because the landlord did not have it up to code. The city did not know we were there (which I was unaware of), until we hosted our now
16. Why did you remake “Victims of the Night”? Which version do you like better? Which one will you perform live? Will you remake any other songs from your back catalogue?
"Victims" was redone for the video game. I updated the lyrics to match better what was going on in the game. I like them both, but I like the new version better because the sound quality is better. On the upcoming EP there will be NEW VERSIONS of Don't Metal With Evil, To Fight The Beast, and Evil Nation, (Just because). Don't Metal, and To Fight The Beast, both have updated lyrics (minor changes, I think). As a writer I am constantly trying to find better ways to say things and express myself. After years of these songs being in existence I some times feel that I could've said things in different ways, more objectively and less as if I were preaching to people, what to do with their lives. Years ago I felt I had to get a point across, now I just want to present things as an idea or an opinion. Let people make up there own minds, what a song is or isn't about or what it is trying to say.
17. Are there any plans to release a line of Halloween Merchandise again (shirts, stickers, etc)? If they’re already available, where can they be purchased?
We plan to do many new merchandise lines, but for right now, we just got it basically started selling merchandise on our website. As time progresses, so will our merchandise lines.
18. What are some of your favorite horror movies? How do you feel about some of the recent remakes of classic films (like Dawn of the Dead, Amityville Horror, House of Wax)?
19. Thank you for taking the time to answer all these questions. I just want to let you know that it was an honor to do this interview; I hope we covered everything. Do you have any last words or something you wish to add?
Thanks for taking the time and interest in us, and thank you for helping to spread the word about our continuing projects. We hope you get to see us out on the east coast. Come up and say hello. To all of your readers, we would like to thank you in advance for your support and for checking us out. Hope you like what you see!!
Brian Thomas - HALLOWEEN
DISCOGRAPHY
DON'T METAL WITH EVIL - (MCM Cassette, 1984)
DON'T METAL WITH EVIL - (MCM LP/CD, 1984)
TRICK OR TREAT - (MCM 7", 1984)
WLLZ - MOTOR CITY ROCKS III - (Starstream Cassette, LP, 1985)
VICTIMS OF THE NIGHT - (1986 CD/Cassette)
L'AMOUR ROCKS - (1987 LP)
VICIOUS DEMOS - (1990, Cassette)
NO ONE GETS OUT -
VICTIMS OF THE NIGHT -
1031 - (Central City Records Cassette, 1998)
TRICKS, TREATS, AND OTHER TALES FROM THE CRYPT -
HORROR FIRE - (TBA, spring 2006)
LINKS
WEBSITE
MYSPACE
PART II
waiting to release, when we have the funds to edit and properly produce them. We did a video for Trick Or Treat, What A Nice Place, Kings, She's A Teazer, and Victims Of The Night (most recently). We do plan to do a DVD in the near future tracking the bands history and featuring the videos. We hope the new CD will generate a little renewed interest in the band and make it feasible to start work on the video projects. We also plan to do a feature film that would involve the band in various roles of an actual horror movie with several concert scenes as well. This project was put on hold when I suffered my back injury and had to have surgery. But now, we will once again begin to focus on that undertaking as well. The "Victims" video was done last year by a student film maker, that we are friends with, he entered it in a competition for gamers. We recorded a brand new version of the song for him, with some new lyrics that went with the game he was using. We thought it turned out pretty cool, we were excited to see a video game put to our music.
Keep It True was great! It was a blast to finally get to Germany after all these years. Our guitarist, Donny Allen was born and raised in Heidelberg which was only about a 40 minute drive from where we played, so he had a lot of family there.
It was incredible to play in another country and have people know your songs and sing along (sometimes better than myself), we were real nervous since it was our first time, and we were playing on someone else's band gear. You never know how that is going to turn out...We couldn't take our gear or stage show, so the organizers of the show built a similar set up to some of what we normally use but it's not the same...ya know? We really want to go back with our show and stay over there for a while and play several countries. Maybe this new CD will see that happen. The fans were great and we made a lot of new friends. It all happened so fast we were invited by Oliver and Tarek, (who put the show on each time) and we said; "hell yeah", which is exactly the same as we would say again.
l Am...
Wake Up Screaming
Halloween Night
The Crush
Exist
Candles
The Seer
The End And The Beginning
Nobody's Home/Rage
Ways Of Man
Head Against A Wall
Coming To Life
Sin
Go To Hell
Fire Still Burns
The Battle
Fighting Words
H.F.B.D.T.Y.
Go To Hell
Evil Nation(new version)
Don't Metal With Evil(new Version)
To Fight The Beast(new version)
Hell(new song)
Angel Of Evil(new song)
The DVD which does not have a name yet,(maybe "1031 A Number Of Gory Details" or D'Tales), is going to be in the vein of Mystery Science Theater 3000, it will have George and Myself narrating in the foreground while we show places we have lived, played, fucked, fought or whatever. We plan to fill it with funny road stories and home stories too. Live concert footage, goofing around, interviews with people we have crossed paths with, hopefully including past members and other bands around town and around the world. It will take a while to compile all the footage. It will also include a home movie we made back in 1984 which is funny as hell (at least we think so) it's really campy and stupid, but funny. Of course it will include the videos too.
We also have plans to do a CD of material geared for kids and teens, to introduce ourselves to the children of our long time fans. In addition I have written a spoken word CD of scary stories which will feature keyboards by George and contributions both musically and spoken by all of the band members.
We are currently trying to work out time schedules for these projects, as well as touring, and work on the next CD which will be called Terrortory. We plan to go right in to the recording of the next CD so there is no 5 year wait this time. (plus we are still working day jobs, so time is rare for us to get together on a regular basis) (Hopefully that will change when Horror Fire is released.)
In 2005 we were nominated for an award I think it was Best Hard Rock/Metal. We were up against 4 really good bands including our friends, Broadzilla (who won). We didn't think we would win, those things are pretty political (and we aren't, at least not politically correct). But we went and had a good time schmoozing with everyone and ate like pigs for free and drank a lot. We did an interview for a TV show which we still haven't seen (maybe we were too drunk), and we had fun, which is the best thing to have. We were happy, just to be nominated...
infamous "FAN JAM". My surgery was in the middle of September and there was no way I would be able to play a show for Halloween night or any night that season (2004). So we invited the first 25 people to respond to a notice on the band web site, to a rehearsal on Devil's Night(October 30) at our building. About 50 people actually showed up in fact more than that, just not all at the same time. We played for 4 hours, in a "storytellers" type setting. Songs we had never played in front of any one before, ex. old, old classics, cover songs, new songs, ghost stories, kid songs, and eventually the police showed up. Now, the city knew about us and the war began. The City used the code violations and my landlord's lack of compliance to shut off the water, and condemn the building, so we had to move in February of 2005. We are now in Ypsilanti Mi. about 30 minutes west of Detroit (Near Ann Arbor). We now have our own recording facility so I guess it all worked out for the best.
I love Horror Movies... all and any (more scare, less slash, is better for me, but I love them all) too many to name. Bram Stoker's Dracula, The Amityville Horror,(original), the Omen, The Exorcist, House of 1,000 Corpses, Happy Birthday To Me, Saw (both), it goes on and on. I don't mind the remakes, but I usually like the original better. Sometimes the technology makes the new versions interesting too.
(MCM Cassette, 1990) & (MCM CD, 1991 & 2001)
(Hellion CD, 1998) & (Molten Metal CD, 2001)
(MCM CD, 2003)