{"id":18716,"date":"2013-10-28T07:30:50","date_gmt":"2013-10-27T20:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=18716"},"modified":"2013-10-27T18:34:26","modified_gmt":"2013-10-27T07:34:26","slug":"chuck-billy-of-testament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2013\/10\/chuck-billy-of-testament\/","title":{"rendered":"Chuck Billy of Testament"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n<\/a>\u201c\u2026 it was time to capture that and just showing where Testament is today in our career. I see a new fan base of new metal heads out there and I thought it would be more appropriate to where we are today, more of the style we\u2019re writing today. So it just made sense that it was time to do it now.\u201d<\/p>\n

From release: Testament are about to reach another highlight in their 25 year career. Filming an entire live show in front of a truly frantic audience for the their new DVD, \u2018Dark Roots Of Thrash\u2019 was produced by Get Hammered Productions, directed by Tommy Jones and mixed by Juan Urteaga.\u00a0 A total of 19 live tracks, the video clip for \u2018Native Blood\u2019 and additional Backstage Footage make \u2018Dark Roots Of Thrash\u2019 an incomparable experience for every true Thrash fan.\u00a0 Countless cams onstage, in the center of the moshpit and moving high above the audience on trusses, you will become part of the show while watching.<\/p>\n

Chuck gave us some insight into the bands new live DVD \/ CD \u2018Dark Roots of Thrash\u2019 and its creation, as well as their upcoming Australian return for Soundwave, and just who would be the Big 5, 6, 7 and 8\u2026
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

You’re heading back to Australia on the massive Soundwave bill, a few years since your last visit, and first time on Soundwave, what have you heard about the festival from peers?<\/strong>
\nWell the first time we ever went to Australia at that time we\u2019d only ever heard about the Big Day Out, and friends over the years have been going and they tell us no you don\u2019t want to do that you want to do soundwave, that one\u2019s more rockin\u2019, more different acts, so we\u2019ve been trying to get on it for a few years now and it just hasn\u2019t happened and we finally got a break this year and it\u2019s going to happen, so we\u2019re really looking forward to it.<\/p>\n

What can people expect should they come and watch your set?<\/strong>
\nWell we haven\u2019t found out how long of a show we get to play, so I don\u2019t know what kind of set we\u2019re going to do for the show, but I can imagine as we haven\u2019t been there for the \u2018Dark Roots of Earth\u2019 album so we\u2019ll probably play four or five tracks off that for sure, so we\u2019ll see. We\u2019re just excited as we\u2019ve only played in a few of the clubs there whenever we come over, so it would be nice to get to a broader audience.<\/p>\n

The bill as I just mentioned is huge, is there anyone you’re excited to be sharing the tour with?<\/strong>
\nI haven\u2019t really looked at the full bill, but I know Green Day, and I\u2019m really pumped to perform with them or see them live as I haven\u2019t seen them yet, so I think that will be a fun one.<\/p>\n

What about side shows, can we maybe expect any while you\u2019re here?<\/strong>
\nYeah we\u2019re actually doing two side shows, I don\u2019t know where yet and with who *laughs* but we are doing two, so that\u2019s going to be good.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a little while since you\u2019ve been back here, what do you remember most about your last tour?<\/strong>
\nJust the people we always look forward to, we always relate to the people of Australia because we\u2019re from California and everybody\u2019s kind of laid back, and it\u2019s the same, everybody was just mellow and laid back and having a good time, and just everyone was real friendly and the fans, it was great to see. Like I said we just played some clubs, so everybody that we had to see really dug us down there and showed us a good time while we were there. A couple of times before that m and my wife came and I brought a couple of buddies and we stayed out on Bondi beach for a couple of weeks after the tour and went up to the harbour and stayed there for a few days so just spent some extra time off touring, so that was kind of cool.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re also here to talk about your new \u2018Dark Roots of Thrash\u2019 live DVD \/ CD that is about to be released, why was now the right time to release this?<\/strong>
\nWell the last DVD we did was \u2018Live in London\u2019 and that one had the original line-up, the reunion, and when we did that re-union show the guys at the end really wanted to play songs off the record they performed on, so a lot of the show was early stuff, so over the last few years we started playing more off of \u2018The Gathering\u2019 and of course \u2018Formation\u2019 and \u2018Dark Roots of Earth\u2019, and we\u2019ve been playing a lot of the current stuff over the last couple of years, so it was time to capture that and just showing where Testament is today in our career. I see a new fan base of new metal heads out there and I thought it would be more appropriate to where we are today, more of the style we\u2019re writing today. So it just made sense that it was time to do it now.<\/p>\n

How hard was it to put the set together for the show you recorded, was it a no brainer or was there some extra thought put into it?<\/strong>
\nWell that show specifically had some extra thought as we were on tour and we were playing fourteen songs or so, something like that and that show we definitely wanted to make it special so we added more of the classic stuff, so we put like \u2018Alone in the Dark\u2019 and \u2018Over the Wall\u2019 and \u2018Trial by Fire\u2019 and \u2018Disciples of the Watch\u2019 and we put in extra songs that we weren\u2019t playing on the tour. Those are songs that we\u2019ve been playing for quite a while so it wasn\u2019t like it was going to take a lot of time to put them in the set and not be tight on them.<\/p>\n

From everything I\u2019ve seen so far and read about it, it seems like there were at least 4,000 cameras used for the shoot, well not really, but did you set out to do anything differently for this release?<\/strong>
\nYeah, actually, the last recording we didn\u2019t have that many camera and the angles got a little boring so we decided we didn\u2019t want that to happen, so let\u2019s get about fourteen camera angles and do that so it makes it exciting, especially if you\u2019ve got a show that\u2019s going to be for an hour and forty five minutes, you want the fans watching it to stay motivated and interested in what they\u2019re watching. So the more angles we had, the better we had editing we could edit it. It came out really good, and this release every band member had a say on the editing, like didn\u2019t like the angles, liked the angles, everybody had their own comment, we just put everybody\u2019s feedback into it and it came out the end result was awesome, everyone was very pleased with it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u2018Dark Roots of Earth\u2019 has been out for over a year now, have you had time to start writing new material?<\/strong>
\nNot yet, starting January is when we\u2019re going to kick it into writing mode for the first four months of next year, we\u2019re going to go in the studios, write it and record it and hopefully have a record out by early summer. That\u2019s what we\u2019re shooting for.<\/p>\n

What inspires you these days?<\/strong>
\nFor me, just my musical life, like I said earlier, I\u2019m just seeing this whole new resurgence of a new generation of metal heads you know, they\u2019re getting younger and younger coming to shows and it\u2019s kind of exciting as you think these kids weren\u2019t even born when we made our first record *laughs* and at the show I see just because of games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero that these kids are getting into metal and it just gets you fired up and there\u2019s so many good bands and upcoming bands playing great metal, I think it\u2019s just a really good time now for metal and it keeps me motivated and fired up. We\u2019ve wrote for so many years now but I can\u2019t wait to write again and come up with something new for what we do. I think we\u2019ve always kept our records sounding fresh but they never copy each other you know? I think we\u2019ve got the juices flowing right now, so we want to capture that and grab the ball while we can and keep running.<\/p>\n

Touring wise it seems you\u2019ve been nonstop since the album was released and now you\u2019re headed out with Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage and Huntress for a run, how large are you expecting those shows to be?<\/strong>
\nThey\u2019re going to be good, I think they\u2019re going to be anywhere from three thousand to eight thousand a night, and Lamb of God and Killswitch they\u2019ve got a younger audience that I think is a good opportunity for Testament to get in front of some new fans that don\u2019t know about us really or know about us and have never seen us live yet. We\u2019re actually looking forward to it a lot as we\u2019ve known the Lamb of God guys for a long time and always talked about touring together and it\u2019s finally come true. *laughs* It\u2019s going to be the last tour we do until we do the new record, so it\u2019s like going out on a good note, you know?<\/p>\n

So is Australia somewhat of a holiday tour for you is it?<\/strong>
\nYeah actually we\u2019re going to be writing and recording like I said and Soundwave is just going to be a break in the process. Get out of the studio, play a few shows, have some fun, come back home and get right in the studio so it\u2019s going to be perfect timing for that. It might be a little chilly here in California in January so it\u2019ll be nice to get away and get a little sunshine and come back fired up and get right back in the studio.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s jump back to 1987, what\u2019s been the biggest noticeable evolution of Testament you\u2019ve seen take place?<\/strong>
\nWell I just think The Gathering record we did in \u201897 I think that record to me really is where Testament found a new sound and style which to me was still kind of current sounding, I think that\u2019s where we kind of found the extreme metal with the black metal blast beats in there and even a more melodic sound and it just seemed to all fit and I really enjoyed listening and writing that style. So I think that was definitely a turning point for us around \u201897, or \u201899 when we did The Gathering.<\/p>\n

Where do you see the Thrash scene these days compared to that of the late 80\u2019s?<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s definitely grown, our scene here today was different then to what it is now, back then in the Bay area there was a lot of clubs, I mean a lot, you could go see an early show and another one and see a late show, and I think its evolved and everywhere around the world I see that there are so many metal bands, before that you could count the Thrash bands on two hands in the 80\u2019s now there\u2019s bands in every country playing Thrash style music and its even spawned off the speed metal, black metal, grunge metal *laughs* there\u2019s so many different metal categories now, it\u2019s great I think.<\/p>\n

The of course something like The Big 4 throws it back in prominence\u2026<\/strong>
\nYeah for sure\u2026<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve heard a lot of people say that if there was a Big 5 that it should\u2019ve been you guys\u2026<\/strong>
\nI agree\u2026<\/p>\n

Maybe one day there can be a Big 4-2 and you can have your own\u2026<\/strong>
\nYeah, we\u2019ll have the Big 5, 6, 7 and 8, that\u2019s the next round of them. *laughs*<\/p>\n

Well on that, who would you have along on the bill along with you?<\/strong>
\nProbably have to say Exodus, maybe Overkill and probably, it\u2019s a tough one\u2026 maybe Death Angel?<\/p>\n

With a new album coming next year, do you have plans then in 2014 to go straight back out on the road?<\/strong>
\nNo we\u2019ll go back out as soon as there\u2019s a record, our agent will be gung-ho \u201cda na na na charge\u201d and right away, throwing us right back out there. I hope this will get us to broader audiences in Australia and some promoters bring us back over for some smaller shows instead of having to wait for the big festivals.<\/p>\n

Lastly, do you have a message for your Australian fans?<\/strong>
\nJust that we\u2019re really excited, I think since we\u2019ve been there we\u2019ve put out two great records, so we\u2019re just looking forward to playing some of the new music for everybody.<\/p>\n

Essential information<\/strong><\/h2>\n

From: <\/strong>Bay Area, CA – United States<\/p>\n

Band members:<\/strong>\u00a0 Chuck Billy – vocals, Eric Peterson – rhythm & lead guitars\/back-up vocals, Alex Skolnick – lead & rhythm guitars, Greg Christian \u2013 bass, Gene Hoglan – drums<\/p>\n

Latest Release:<\/strong> Dark Roots of Thrash \u2013 Live DVD \/ CD (Nuclear Blast)<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong> \u00a0www.testamentlegions.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Catch Testament at SOUNDWAVE FESTIVAL 2014\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

SATURDAY 22 FEBRUARY – BRISBANE, RNA SHOWGROUNDS
\nSUNDAY 23 FEBRUARY – SYDNEY, OLYMPIC PARK
\nFRIDAY 28 FEBRUARY – MELBOURNE, FLEMINGTON RACECOURSE
\nSATURDAY 1 MARCH – ADELAIDE, BONYTHON PARK
\nMONDAY 3 MARCH – PERTH, CLAREMONT SHOWGROUNDS<\/p>\n

 
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