Humans are tribal creatures, it’s true. Those days of yore when our ancestors were so leery of outsiders, risking all to keep their tribe safe may be long behind us but those instincts live on in our programing.  And today when most of the world doesn’t have to be so concerned about lions or pillagers sneaking up in the tall grass, those instincts have expressed themselves in other trifling ways. Take American football, for instance. Imagine loving ‘your’ team so much that you absolutely despise the team from the state just above, below, or aside from the state your team hails from. (And let’s also note that it’s very possible a player or two from ‘your’ team might even now play on that team in which you hate.)

This kind of behavior has also expressed itself in music. Not in the music itself but in the realm of music fandom. And it’s particularly hard on vocalists. We all know lovers of music who have ascribed themselves exclusively Team Bon Scott or Team Brian Johnson, or David Lee Roth versus “Van Hagar.” And sadly, these imagined rivalries often dominate over what’s most important – – – the music.

Music isn’t just fun it’s magical – music is freedom, it is healing, it’s lifesaving. The music should be the focal point of any music lover while enjoying the songs they love. And it’s important to have stated this because none of the following is in any way to slam current Anthrax vocalist Joey Belladonna. But, like many bands having been around more than four decades, Anthrax has had their share of line-up changes, and there are Anthrax fans who prefer either John Bush to Joey Belladonna or vice versa. But really, it’s difficult to even compare John Bush to Joey Belladonna as the singers have very different vocal styles.

That being said, those who prefer John Bush as the vocalist of Anthrax surely miss seeing songs of the Bush-era performed live. However, for three very special dates in December of this year, John Bush will be belting out some of his Anthrax catalog live. for one show in Los Angeles, one in the Chicago-area (St. Charles), and one more in New York City.

Despite having talked about doing this sort of show many times over the years, the time has come! Bush’s band, Category 7, will back him up for these special shows. Category 7 consists of Phil Demmel (ex-Machine Head, Vio-Lence), Mike Orlando (ex-Adrenaline Mob), Jason Bittner (Shadows Fall, ex-Overkill) and Joey Vera (Armored Saint, Fates Warning).

I recently caught up with John to discuss how this idea has finally come to fruition…

So many of Bush’s fans were thrilled to hear the announcement of these shows! How exactly did the planets align to make this a reality?

“Well there’s no time like the present,: stated Bush, “[I just turned] 62 years old, I feel great but I ain’t no spring chicken. There was a little free time in December so I pulled the trigger. Should be fun.”

I think for a lot of music lovers it was the song “Only” that really brought Anthrax to the forefront. Even with such an impressive repertoire of albums and material with Armored Saint, I know a lot of people feel that your songs with Anthrax during those years were really special. Do you feel that way as well when reflecting about that material?

 “I really believe there are a lot of killer songs throughout those four records. The band worked super hard during that time writing, recording, doing press, and of course touring. Not to mention dealing with record label woes and the big changes from the 80’s to the 90’s.”

Bush continued: “The glory years of Anthrax will always be associated with the 80’s, however; like you said there were many people who discovered the band in the 90’s. Hopefully, this little nostalgic trip makes some people happy.”

I think the only ‘complaint’ that I’ve heard about these shows is that it’s only three. I read that the geographical placement was important since there are only three, and that’s very cool. But do you think there will be more added at some point?

“Well, we’re starting with this. Who knows what the future holds.”

And are there perhaps any plans to video record these shows and perhaps put them out on DVD for purchase for the fans who can’t make it to these shows?

“You know I haven’t thought about that yet honestly,” stated Bush in earnest, “Does anyone buy DVD’s anymore?”

“But yes, it would be cool to film it for fans who aren’t close to the three cities.”

Although there’s not quite the cache of material to choose from for these shows as opposed to writing up a set list for an Armored Saint tour, is it still difficult at all to decide on some of the songs to perform? I’m sure some are no-brainers, choosing the fan favorites, but were there any that were harder decisions?

“I’m still singing to a lot of these songs and seeing if any deep tracks jump out at me before I finalize a set list. Obvious ones are easy. I would like each show to be a little different from one another but that being said, I don’t want to bite off more than I could chew. Plus, there’s also the band to consider. A lot of lyrics are coming back to me, but I also sang these songs many times. This is new territory for the C7 guys. That being said they’re amazing musicians and I have no doubts.”

Speaking of Category 7, it’s really cool that you have fellow Armored Saint band mate Joey [Vera] joining you for these shows as well since he has his own bit of Anthrax history as well. And all the guys you’ve brought together for this are wonderful. Even though I’m sure that there’s comfort in performing with the musicians you play with regularly, is there also an excitement for playing in new formations with other guys too?

“Joey’s my bro, and as you said he played in Anthrax for a brief time. I think the whole thing is exciting. Hopefully the fans will be pumped.”

Trust us, John, fans are pumped!

By Melanie Falina

Those of us who have been around the block, perhaps even a few times, have very fond memories of the bands we supported in our youth. We were young – but legally adult, single – mostly, and usually broke. For most of us adulthood was hitting hard, but what we had were the bars and clubs (and sometimes dank garages, skeezy practice spaces, and the occasional forest preserve) where we could rock out with friends and feel free once again. They were magical years, but what we didn’t know then was that in a short time real life was going to hit even harder.

Some of our friends from that era are still in our lives, although most in different capacities, and a few of our favorite bands from then are still around too, however, sadly, still trying to do at 40 or 50 what didn’t quite work at 20. But then sometimes a phoenix does truly rise from the ashes. Sometimes a band that we loved long ago who went silent, somehow resurrects, but in the best way possible. Not as a halfhearted reboot of their younger selves but having evolved as not only musicians but souls.

For music lovers who followed the Chicago doom metal band Avernus, the band’s leave of absence for nearly three decades what a hard pill to swallow. Having left behind a string of much-loved demos and one full-length release in the 90’s, life got in the way as it’s wont to do. But now regrouped, revitalized, and signed to M-Theory Audio, Avernus is back to fill that void left so long ago.

We caught up with Avernus drummer and co-founder, Rick Yifrach, to talk about their new album, Grievances, and making magic again, on stage and in the studio, after 27 years.

Pointing out that 27 years is a long time just sounds a bit cliché, but man, 27 years is a long time! Despite those years filled with the rest of life – professions, families, and so on, Avernus was able to do what Bryan Adams in “Summer of 69” couldn’t – come together again and pick up where they had left off. During that sabbatical just how often did the ghost of Avernus-past whisper out from the darkness?

“It is something that never left us,” explained Yifrach, “Rather we struggled to find a way reinvent ourselves after releasing our [debut full-length] album Of the Fallen in 1997.”

“Bands in our death/doom genre, few as they were in the early 90’s, all seemed to experiment with a newer sound that was forthcoming, and we felt that it was just a natural evolution and went with it as well. It was not the right way for us in hindsight. I joke sometimes that it took 27 years between albums because everything ‘doom’ is just slow, but the truth is that it took a set of circumstances including Covid for us to get serious about doing something serious again. We’re happy we did. So, we are back, and we are grateful. Take that, Bryan Adams!”

So how exactly did everything start to happen again?

“It was a set of circumstances culminating in a window of opportunity that allowed us to pursue the task of writing and recording an entire album. We never gave up on wanting to do something, a full album, but as things go in life, sometimes it just doesn’t work out until it does.”

“A perfect alignment of desire, timing and circumstance I would say were the main catalysts,” added Yifrach.

Yet seemingly different people now with a slew of life experiences to boot, just how difficult was it to sync back up with one another and create?

“The desire and need to create is something that never leaves you. We are at our best working as a team [and] having all our original members made things easier. For most of us, I think that it was a matter of getting back into playing our instruments again, shaking off the oxidation that develops when out of practice. Once we did that it all fell into place naturally, we rediscovered the sound we needed and wanted for this. I could write a dissertation on all the calamities and follies that happened along the way, but there’s just too much and I wouldn’t know where to begin. It was a long and arduous path, but there was a light at the end of the tunnel. And unlike our previous album, the light wasn’t that of an oncoming train!”

Regarding that ‘sound’ Avernus wanted for these songs, what elements did they need to bring on board to achieve that?

“The writing for the album came together in a rather unorthodox manner for us, but it ended up working out. We had bits and pieces of songs that we wrote over some years, but it wasn’t until Covid hit that Jimmy took the initiative to stitch together an album made up of all the songs and bits and pieces we had in our back pockets. We were able to record an album in four studios in about a year’s time that sounded like a completed piece of work.”

Musicians always talk about a point where they truly feel they’re creating magic, so to speak, when exactly did that happen for Yifrach?

“That’s a good question. We were doing pre-production for the song ‘Nemesis,’ and I decided to send a copy of it to my cousin because I knew he would be dead honest with me – he always is, and I was curious what the reaction would be. About half an hour later he called me with an overwhelming positive response, and he listened to it three times! We [also]shared two or three songs with friends and fellow musicians with open and strong opinions on everything. Of course, I think we all feel good when receiving positive feedback, but we were also looking for a second set of ears on guitar tones and how the drums were placed in the mix, things like that. The reaction was great. It’s a good feeling. You know when you truly have something good or not by gauging the reaction of others. There is a certain genuine response you get that is difficult to explain when someone outside the band has that positive reaction to it. That’s the magic for me.”

Once combing forces with a label again was that even more confirmation that everything was all happening as it should, despite the hiatus?

“Having a label supporting you, willing to put the money, the time, and all the other things involved into your record is a good feeling. It legitimizes you to an extent. You might think you have a good album, but it’s when someone is willing to put their support behind you that you feel the relief of knowing, hey, maybe we really do have something here. There is definitely confirmation in that, especially when it’s someone like Marco Barbieri, a legend in the world of metal.”

And probably the culmination of new release celebrations came during Avernus’ 2025 performance at Milwaukee Metal Fest playing alongside bands like Down, Black Label Society, Death Angel, Gwar, Arch Enemy, and many, many more fellow heavy hitters.
Avernus guitarist Erik Kikke chimed in on their long-founded history with this music festival:

“Milwaukee Metal Fest has always been a very significant and important festival for us for a few different reasons. It was where Rick Yfrach and Rick Mccoy first met in 1992, and it was also the very first Milwaukee Metal Fest that I had ever attended. And we were lucky enough to be able to play it in 1995, 1996, 1997, and in 2000.”

“It was exciting to see MMF was back,” Kikki continues, “We were truly fortunate to be invited back in 2025…Feeling full circle!”

Whether you’ve followed Avernus down this long and winding road or have just hopped on board, now that Avernus is back you’re in for one hell of a ride. Be sure to check out Avernus’ website and sign up for their mailing list, and to follow them on all the social media platforms to be in the know of what they’ve got in store for us next!

AVERNUS online:

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Checking in with John Bush of Armored Saint on their upcoming tours, the 40th anniversary of  Delirious Nomad, and heading into the studio to work on the band’s ninth studio album

by Melanie P. Falina

If anyone tried to write a short paragraph about who Armored Saint is and what they’ve done in their four-decade-plus history – well, they’d fail. There’s no way to encompass a band like Armored Saint, and not only because of their longevity. With ample, top-notch rocking songs in their arsenal to choose from, and always rolling out stellar, heavy-hitting live performances tour after tour – these guys are simply still at the top of their game and hard to summarize.

If anyone tried to write a short paragraph about who Armored Saint is and what they’ve done in their four-decade-plus history – well, they’d fail. There’s no way to encompass a band like Armored Saint, and not only because of their longevity. With ample, top-notch rocking songs in their arsenal to choose from, and always rolling out stellar, heavy-hitting live performances tour after tour – these guys are simply still at the top of their game and hard to summarize . Having just killed it at both the Bangers Open Air festival in São Paulo, Brazil and at the Sonic Temple Festival in Columbus, Ohio, now the guys are headed into the studio to continue working on their ninth studio album aiming for a spring 2026 release

We asked Armored Saint crooner, John Bush, if there was anything that he could share with fans yet about the forthcoming album:

“Some song titles are ‘Hit a Moonshot,’ ‘Bottom Feeder,’ ‘Buckeye,’ a song I wrote about my daughter leaving for college, and  ‘Not on Your Life,’ to name a few.” 

Bush then added, “It’s sounding great and continuing with the evolution of our songwriting. Classic Saint but feeling like 2026.”   

And regarding classic Armored Saint, this year marks the 40th anniversary of the band’s second studio album, Delirious Nomad. What kind of thought has Bush given to that release and how he views it now, 40 years later? 

“Delirious… was a rebellious response to things that happened with March of the Saint. Don’t get me wrong, we love March… but we were ready for more risk-taking regarding songwriting.” 

Bush goes on to say: “Some of the songs on  Delirious…  were old tunes we had from being a local band – ‘You’re Never Alone,’ ‘The Laugh,’ ‘Released’ – but the songs we wrote for the record got more experimental. We also yearned for better production that more resembled us live. [Producer] Max Norman did a great job, although at times we overdid it on takes of basic tracks. Regardless, Delirious Nomad is a fan favorite and a record that stands the test of time for Saint.”

And in further celebration of this album’s milestone anniversary, Dean Guitars will release a special Delirious Nomad wrapped guitar signed by the band. Pre-orders are coming soon!

Following their time in the studio this year, Armored Saint will be ready to hit the road again. At the end of September, the band will join W.A.S.P. for a trio of UK shows, and then in October will head out with guitarist Michael Schenker.

With the powerful cache of material that’s available to these guys after all these years now, does Bush find it at all stressful to decide which songs to include and which not to, or is it empowering to have so many options? 

“You gotta play the hits!” laughed Bush, “But always throw in some deep tracks and keep people on their toes.”

“I love to mix up the set even though it pisses the guys off sometimes,” Bush elaborated, “We will have nine records soon enough. You can’t just play the same songs all the time. Fans don’t want it. They are looking at Setlist FM, and so am I.” 

So after all these years and life changes along with way, what does Bush look forward to when going back out on the road?

“Playing killer shows in front of appreciative fans,” replied Bush in earnest. And their fans wouldn’t have it any other way. Check out Armored Saint’s upcoming tour dates listed below, and stay tuned to the band’s website, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for all updates on what these guys are up to.

Armored Saint on tour:

w/ W.A.S.P.:

• 9/26/2025 Newcastle O2 City Hall – Newcastle, GB
• 9/27/2025 O2 Victoria Warehouse – Manchester, GB
• 9/28/2025 Eventim Apollo Hammersmith – London, GB

w/ Michael Schenker:

• 10/02/2025 Canyon Club – Agora Hills, CA
• 10/03/2025 Saban Theater – Los Angeles, CA
• 10/04/2025 The Grove – Anaheim, CA
• 10/05/2025 Great American Music Hall – San Francisco, CA
• 10/07/2025 Marquee Theater – Tempe, AZ
• 10/08/2025 National Hispanic Cultural Center – Albuquerque, NM
• 10/10/2025 Trees – Dallas, TX
• 10/11/2025 Tobin Center – San Antonio, TX
• 10/12/2025 White Oak Music Hall – Houston, TX
• 10/14/2025 Rockhouse – El Paso, TX ^                                
• 10/16/2025 Count’s Vamp’d – Las Vegas, NV ^
• 10/17/2025 The Glass House – Pomona, CA ^    

** Festival Date

• ARMORED SAINT Headlining Date

Following a blistering triad of EP releases spanning nearly a decade, the idiom ‘leave them wanting more’ comes to mind, but Scour is about to satisfy that craving.

The extreme metal assemblage featuring Philip H. Anselmo (Pantera, Down), Derek Engemann (Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals), John Jarvis (Nest, Agoraphobic Nosebleed), Mark Kloeppel (Misery Index), and Adam Jarvis (Pig Destroyer, Misery Index, Lock Up) is merging metal and the macabre like never before.

Ready to come ripping into the atmosphere on February 21 via Housecore Records (and Nuclear Blast in Europe) Scour’s first full-length, Gold, solidifies the nightmares lying in wait with speed, aggression, and a diabolical vigor.

Guitarist Mark Kloeppel explains the influence of literature’s horror genre on the making of this album: “Philip has always been a scholar of horror literature and strange fiction. While the tough persona may not lend itself to images of a person reading and studying books for hours on end, nonetheless, that is the reality.”

Gold’s predecessors, the 2016 EP The Grey, 2017’s The Red EP, and 2020’s The Black EP laid the groundwork for this highly anticipated forthcoming release.

“In releases past,” Kloeppel continues, “the lyrical approach was more of a tapestry of abstract phrases linked together to invoke the kind of existential tormented feelings one gets from horror fiction. While that approach is still present on Gold, it has evolved to include vivid depictions of scenes and scenarios. Similar to horror and strange fiction, those painted scapes are used to extrapolate emotion as opposed to just the direct communication of the phrases themselves.”

On Gold, Scour’s aural fusion of black metal, grindcore, punk, and thrash influences help weave an experience of terror that surpasses that of a book or movie.

“I wouldn’t necessarily call the songs stories, but some songs like ‘Invoke’ and ‘Infusorium’ do have distinctive plot-like succession of scenes,” added Kloeppel.

An official video for the forthcoming album’s first single, “Infusorium,” was released this past November, and has now been followed by a video for Scour’s latest single, “Blades” – both of which are effortlessly incinerating the eyes, ears, and minds of extreme music lovers.

As the release date of Gold creeps closer, Scour bassist John Jarvis explained what exactly was unique about the creation this album: “On Gold, I believe we pushed each other to be the best we could, faster and heavier than before.”

“It’s hard to compare to my other projects because it’s so different,” Jarvis continued, “but I learned a lot during the tracking of Phil’s vocals. At one point he was layering some vocals I asked him where he learned that, and he said ‘Ozzy.’ Good enough for me!”

Jarvis then noted: “I’d say it’s the most intense album I’ve been a part of!”

Of the thirteen tracks on Gold, Jarvis commented that “Invoke” is his favorite: “[A]lways a reaction from anyone I’ve played it for. A song that forces you to head-bang with a catchy sing- along!”

And regarding which song Kloeppel is most looking forward to playing live he explained: “We have played ‘Infusorium’ once live already and I loved performing that and its solo in front of people. It’s got a good combination of varying parts. With the amount of sheer speed we do, that one gives a good head- banging change of pace.”

Fortunately, the release of Gold is just the beginning of this deliciously dreadful journey. Despite a steady touring schedule for Anselmo with Pantera, Scour will perform at this year’s Milwaukee Metal Fest in May sharing the stage with the likes of Black Label Society, Gwar, Down, Arch Enemy, and many others, as well as promising more for this era of Scour to come soon. Click here for information and tickets for Milwaukee Metal Fest.

Gold, which features a guest solo by Gary Holt of Slayer and Exodus, will be available on CD, LP, limited edition cassette (in the U.S.), and digital formats, and is guaranteed to melt your face off. Click here for pre-orders.

Written in an easy conversational tone, Bello’s memoir, Fathers, Brothers, and Sons: Surviving Anguish, Abandonment, and Anthrax, allows any reader to feel as if they are the friend who’s sitting down with him to catch up on life, only better. This isn’t a cache of rock and roll bragging rights about things like platinum records, globe trotting concert tours, and gold-plated Ferraris. Although, Anthrax has certainly racked up a slew of stellar accomplishments over their 40-year career and it would be well within Bello’s right if he did want to highlight those achievements. But instead Bello speaks candidly and with utter honesty about every aspect of his life including the grief he’s endured having been abandoned by his father as a young man and coping with the unsolved murder of his brother, as well as facing his own character flaws and how he still struggles with some of them to this day. And – well, feelings. It’s unfortunate how many stereotypes exist in the world regarding men not being able to express their feelings – – – let alone a ‘metal guy’ showing any sort of a ‘softer’ side! But Bello is as multifaceted as anyone – and he owns it.

And yes, of course there are plenty of Anthrax stories and insights throughout the pages of this book, how could there not be? But at the heart of this personal account is – as the title implies – Frank Bello the father, the brother, the son, and the man, and all of the real things both good and bad that he’s been though in his life. The real person – not a personification of the ultimate rock star, but someone that every one of us can relate to.

Despite all of 2020’s unprecedented fear, disappointment, and uncertainty due to the pandemic, there has been some good to come out of this dismal year as well: new music. And one album in particular offering solace to music lovers is the new Golden Robot Records release from L.A. Guns featuring Steve Riley and Kelly Nickels entitled Renegades.

Now, there is a bit of a fuss happening regarding former members of the original L.A. Guns having formed two different versions of the band while both using the same name. This has happened with other notable bands in recent past including Queensryche, Great White, Ratt, Yes, and others. And what seems to always happen is a number of fans will tend to pick sides choosing one group over the other and consequently bashing the other to no end. Having written for the band KISS for several years, I’d encountered a similar sort of vexation about Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley hiring Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer to replace original members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss for current albums and tours.

But here’s my take on the name controversy – I absolutely do not care about any legal or personal drama happening between band members. I don’t care who my favorite musicians marry, or what they eat for breakfast, what their political affiliations are, or what kind of battles they’re waging upon one another.

As a fan of music I want to hear their music. As a fan of music I want to hear new music. And as a fan of music I want to focus upon and enjoy said music without having the unnecessary distraction of joining rock star versions of Team Edward/Team Jacob.

So now that that’s out of the way let’s talk about Renegades…

The early L.A. Guns vibe conjures up visions of girls and motorcycles, booze, grit, the open road, all that went along with the early days of sleaze rock and 1980’s Sunset Strip mayhem and debauchery. Steve Riley and Kelly Nickels alongside Scott Griffin and Kurt Frohlich have tapped into that essence while creating ten solid and modern rocking tunes.

A lot of creativity can seem magical at times. There are always the stories that artists like to tell about how inspiration struck them like a lightning bolt, and of course that does happen. But there is also something to be said for seasoned musicians coming together, knowing how to tap into and wield that creative force to craft quality work. Renegades is a strong, snappy, and genuinely hard rocking release from song-one to song-ten.

Highlights include the title cut, “Renegades” which exudes a catchy, high energy feel that is almost impossible to listen to without daydreaming of riding Harleys through the desert. “Don’t Wanna Know” – teeming with a raw, heavy groove. “Witchcraft” and “Lost Boys” – both simply great rockers, and the acoustic, “Would” with an almost a gentle, folksy sound.

But easily tied for first place would be the album’s first release, “Crawl” and the song “All That You Are.” Both strong, infectious tunes that are aurally satisfying on a level that only those who love and breathe the need for music can truly understand.

When the world can get back to normal, I look forward to seeing this version of L.A. Guns live as every cut on this album is simply perfect for the stage.

Interview by Melanie Falina

Ohio-based atl-metal masters, Mushroomhead, are in the midst of a pretty awesome 2018 – and they’re amping up for an even bigger 2019.

Having just released a brand new DVD, Volume III, and currently on the road with The Summer of Screams tour, UnRated caught up with Mushroomhead founder and drummer, Steve “Skinny” Felton to talk about the writing of their forthcoming album, the creative process, and their tour coming to The Forge in Joliet this Saturday, September 15.

Melanie Falina: You guys are on tour and have a whole lot of stuff going on – but one of the most exciting things right now is your new DVD, Volume III! It’s amazing with tons of new footage and it’s very cinematic looking too. How’s it feel now for you that it’s finally out there?

Steve “Skinny” Felton: I am glad that it finally got turned in and proofed and done, you know, how many edits, how many times you’re so close and then you end up working on it for another month or whatever [laughs]. Deadlines definitely help. But yes, very, very proud of this one. It’s our third DVD and it’s quite different than the others, and like you were saying and other people have said it’s very cinematic. It plays out more like a movie or an album than your typical band DVD release. Bands will have a video and then show some behind-the-scenes antics, and then back to a video. We really tried to incorporate a lot of the live element and bringing slow motion pieces together of live footage and doing some remix audio to tie all the videos together. So the first 38-40 minutes play more like a film or a record, but I’m really proud of it, it came out great.

Melanie Falina: And I’m sure you can use the knowledge you gain with each release to build on and get even better going forward too.

Skinny: Absolutely. Every day you sit down and work on that kind of stuff, it’s a learning curve. And when you get done with it you think, ‘If only I would have…’ but you don’t know that until you get done with your initial objective. I look back and go, ‘I could have done that differently,’ but I wouldn’t have known that then if I did stick it out and finish stuff. And that’s part of the problem too because we have our own studio where we do a lot of the video editing and audio editing as well so it’s kind of a blessing and a curse, you can keep tweaking it until you get it right but is it ever going to be right? [laughs]

Melanie Falina: And I read that you’re actually building a new studio right now.

Skinny: Yeah, we just moved in early spring to another location which is an old transmission shop actually. And we got about half of it done before we set off on this tour, so when we come back we’re going to knock out a few more walls and start tracking some drums because we’re very busy writing the new album. We got some work in before we left, and we’ve been recording a lot of new ideas and just messing around with things on the bus. But we’re really excited to get back home and write a new record in a brand new place.

Melanie Falina: When is the anticipated release date for the new album?

Skinny: Well, if everything can happen the way we’re seeing it, it’ll be out late-March or early-April. Brand new Mushroomhead – album number eight – it’s crazy! Here we are, 25 years later, making the eighth one. But I’m really looking forward to this one. We’ve been doing this awhile and we’ve got some really solid ideas right now. You know, we find that the good albums just write themselves, so if everything goes right I think this is going to be a really smooth album. We’re going to home for a month, and then go back out for two weeks at the end of October to celebrate 25 years, and with our annual Halloween party that we do in Cleveland. This year it’s October 27th, the last Saturday of October. And then after that, we’re back in the studio, and if everything works out right we’ll be done by Thanksgiving. Then it’ll go on to mastering, do a new video, and get a couple of months pre-push as far as lead time, but yeah, in a perfect world that’s my next schedule. [laughs] And over to Europe is the definitely the next step, we’re going to focus on that pretty hard in 2019.

Melanie Falina: You had mentioned that the new album is kind of writing itself, and that’s something I experience too with my poetry. There are times when it just seems to flow out of nowhere, but then – for myself anyway – there are times when that inspiration just isn’t talking to me. Do you have that same issue?

Skinny: Oh absolutely, we say that all the time – we’ll be working on a song and it’ll be three, four hours later and walk into the other room and go, ‘It ain’t talking to me!’ Or, ‘I’m not hearing anything yet, it’s not telling me what to do.’ You [tell yourself] it’ll come, but after six or eight hours it doesn’t. It’s not the easiest to just walk in every day and just be creative, but we are fortunate enough to have our own studio so when the inspiration does happen – or strikes – we can get right on it, record it and capture it, and that’s a huge win for us. And that’s helping now as far as the time factor when, like you said, it just flows out of you. But we’re pretty open-minded too, we’ve been doing this a long time, so we can find inspiration pretty much anywhere. Like the other night, it was right after a show and we were standing outside the bus talking and I was drinking a beer, and the light pole in the club parking lot had this weird buzz to it and would flicker, and it was doing it in a loop. [laughs] And I instantly said, ‘Man, we should record that and put it in a loop and make a drum pattern from it.’ And we didn’t do that but it’s as simple as that sometimes, I was inspired by the sound of this fucked up lamp post. But that’s not something you’re going to look for like, ‘I’m going to go listen for weird sounds.’ [laughs] It doesn’t happen that way. We’re still just open-minded and willing to try stuff and still experiment. I know we’ve found Mushroomhead has sounds and styles, but is there one particular sound? I don’t think so, and I tend to like that. We write more like normal life – you’re not mad all the time, you’re not sad all the time. So you don’t just get one emotion out of Mushroomhead you get a full circle, plus there’s eight of us so there are a lot of different moods and personalities to capture.

Melanie Falina: You guys are on tour right now but also doing signings in full costume and with your masks. Is that ever something that’s kind of daunting, or do you still really enjoy it every time you put the mask on?

Skinny: You know, we all still really enjoy it. I think the only time when it really becomes bothersome is when we’re under really hectic schedules and say the wardrobe doesn’t have a chance to air out or dry. Putting on wet wardrobe that next day is always a kicker and sometimes it just stinks. [laughs] I think that’s the biggest problem and the biggest challenge that we find out there is keeping our wardrobe clean, but after so many years of the mask and the makeup you get used to it and it becomes part of the character, it’s part of getting ready before you go onstage – you get the wardrobe on, you get the makeup on, and by the time you put that mask on you’re ready to rock. The pre-game ritual gets you in the mindset.

Melanie Falina: So how is The Summer of Screams Tour going? Are you having fun with all these guys?

Skinny: Oh, absolutely! It’s a great tour, and it’s fun because some of these guys we’ve been out with before – Unsaid Fate, The Browning, and Psychostick – so it’s like a high school reunion basically. It’s a lot of fun and antics, and everyone’s just on the same page and everyone’s really happy to be here. And it’s been a smooth running tour, everyone’s just been really easy going and it’s off to a great start. I hope that The Summer of Screams Tour turns into something annual and that they continue to do.

Melanie Falina: Changing gears a bit here, but what would you say is the most important lesson that you’ve learned so far in life?

Skinny: In life – I think, be happy with what you have. Absolutely. Don’t take anything for granted. If you’re blessed in any way, take a second to take a step back and look at your life, I bet it’s not that bad. I have two teenage boys, they’re 17 and 19, and I say to them, ‘If that’s the worst thing that happened to you today, you’re doing ok.’ [laughs] It’s very important to keep your head straight, especially in the entertainment world, your head can get spun off really fast and it’s a whirlwind of a lifestyle for sure. But if you can be happy with what you have – it’s very challenging – don’t get me wrong – but I think that’s one of the most important things ever. Take a step back and be thankful, it could be a lot worst, I promise you.

Melanie Falina: And yeah, speaking of that, musicians are always surrounded by people telling you how great you are – so how do you stay grounded like that?

Skinny: Well, or how bad we are. If you’re on the Internet then it’s how bad we are. [laughs] If you’re face to face they love you, behind a keyboard they hate you. And sometimes it’s crazy because it’s that same person.

Melanie Falina: So how do you emotionally balance out those different kinds of reactions?

Skinny: You know, I say it to the band, and a lot of artists – they say the bigger the band the more it’s going to get ripped. At the end of the day, I don’t really create art or music for everyone else’s opinion, I create it because I’m trying to express myself as an artist. And whether people like it or hate it, it doesn’t matter, I’m going to make stuff. I like to create, I’m very much addicted to the creation of all of it – entirely – the craft of writing, recording, mask-making, blah blah blah. But it’s not as easy as everyone thinks. As an artist, if you can just be happy with what you do, I think that is the key. And then if there are people who end up liking your music and maybe become fans of your stuff, then that’s a humongous bonus. I didn’t start this to be in the biggest band in the world, I didn’t start this so everyone would like me. As an artist, I needed to express myself and create, and this is what came out. But if you’re true to yourself then it doesn’t matter what anyone else says. I think it was Andy Warhol who said it, “Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.”

Melanie Falina: Is there anything else that you’d like to mention?

Skinny: Just that I can’t thank the fans enough. We’ve got an amazing underground following, and I don’t care if you’ve been here for 25 minutes or 25 years, thank you! We would not be us without you – flat-out. The fans are the reason we got bigger and more popular, we were just making art [laughs] and people ended up liking it. So, I just can’t thank them enough.

MUSHROOMHEAD WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE

Mushroomhead will be playing The Forge in Joliet on Saturday, September 15 for The Summer of Screams Tour with Powerman 5000, The Browning, Kissing Candice, and Unsaid Fate. Click here for tickets.

Living The Life with Poison’s Rikki Rockett

Interview by Melanie Falina

When glam rockers Poison exploded onto the music scene with their debut release, Look What the Cat Dragged In, they made music fun. Like, really fun. The kind of fun that lead the charge in 80’s rock and metal that was glamorous and carefree. Of course, there were other androgynous looking bands on the rise as well, but Poison made true of their “Nothing But A Good Time” anthem for their following – and without fear of getting knifed by fellow music fans – or in some cases, the band themselves.

Thirty-five years later, albeit minus the massive makeup, hairspray, and brightly colored spandex, Poison is still bringing that good time to the table – and it’s a saving grace for fans of 80s music looking for that feel-good vibe from their formative years, as well as the younger generations of music lovers alike.

Melanie Falina of UnRated Magazine recently got the chance to talk to Poison drummer Rikki Rockett, and Rikki shared some insights on being one-fourth of a ‘band of brothers’ for three and a half decades now, to being both a dad and a cancer survivor, and how he’d love to do a reality TV show…

Check it out!

Melanie Falina: Do you still bring your scooter along with you on tour so that you could ride through the cities that you visit?

Rikki Rockett: Yeah, I do, and now I have a trailer so I can actually bring my motorcycle. But before I had a small-frame that I’d have to put in the bay of the bus and I’d have to drain the gas out every night which was a pain.  

Melanie Falina: You’re a few weeks into your “Nothing But A Good Time” summer tour with Cheap Trick and Pop Evil now. Last summer, Poison toured with Def Leppard and Tesla, but for this tour you guys are headlining which is awesome to have you guys on stage for a bit longer.

Rikki Rockett: Yes, I agree – we get to spread our wings a bit.

Melanie Falina: Are there any Poison songs that you guys can squeeze in now as the headliner that you’re enjoying playing again, or are there any older songs that you would like to work into the set-list?

Rikki Rockett: You know, someone requested “Love On The Rocks” last night right in front of Bret and I, and I said ‘Yeah, I want to do it,’ and Bret was like, ‘Oh, who doesn’t?’ And I’m like, ‘No, he doesn’t.’ [laughs] We try to change things up, but you know, the set time isn’t that much longer really because there are three bands – even though we’re the headliner.

Melanie Falina: Are there any older songs that maybe you haven’t done live in forever that you’d really like to?

Rikki Rockett: I really wish we had an A and a B set, you know – honestly, I do. That’s what I would love to be able to do. There are a ton of songs that I would love to play live. I love our hits, don’t get me wrong, and I love the response that we get when we play them. But I do think that doing some deep tracks would be fun, I would actually love to do a ‘no hits’ tour, you know what I mean? Seriously! That would be kind of cool. I love all our songs but I do feel like we have this huge body of work that we’re not using, but that’s just how it is.

Melanie Falina: Poison started 35 years ago – back when you were all basically kids – did you ever think for a second that three and a half decades later you’d still be playing in this band?

Rikki Rockett: No, I didn’t, honestly. I dreamed it but didn’t know that it would actually happen. You hear, ‘living the dream,’ but honestly it’s true. It is a lot different than I envisioned it but it’s still fantastic. It’s still life – it has its ups and downs exactly the way anyone else has things in their life, but it’s just magnified in a different way. I want to write a book and I want to explain this to people [laughs]. People have said, ‘Aren’t you guys like brothers?’ and ‘Why aren’t you guys in the same bus?’ and things like that, but let me tell you something – I love my sister but I don’t want to live with her. I don’t have any brothers, I have a sister, but if I did have brothers I wouldn’t want to live with them either. So honestly, this band is a band of brothers but in some ways it’s actually more stressful because there’s more on the line. If you have a brother or sister there’s nothing expected of you – you share something at Thanksgiving and you’re done with it. [laughs] There’s not a responsibility. But the band –  it’s like this child that we all have to share custody of, and we all have our own way of doing it at times. So this is why there are many divorces in bands. [laughs] Proverbially.

Melanie Falina: What are the best things about touring right now at this point in time, and what are the worst things?

Rikki Rockett: I think it’s all together better, for me. At 20 years we got our own buses to travel in, and that’s not to be snide but it’s nice to have your own space. I’ve got a trailer with a motorcycle out with me, I’ve got tools so I can work on it, my cameras – I’m kind of a camera buff, and I’m never bored on the road. When you’re all cramped on a bus – road crew, band, everybody – you’ve got to respect each other’s space, it’s just a lot more stressful. If you leave a bag in the middle of the hallway somebody is mad about it or whatever. It’s prison-like, you know what I mean? You understand why someone gets shanked over a ham sandwich. [laugh] On the bus there are these things – who stole someone’s DVD or whatever – all these little things because huge things.

Melanie Falina: You’ve already had an interesting life – in addition to music, you’re a dad, you’re a black belt, you’re a cancer survivor – I can go on and on. So what would you say is the most important lesson you’ve learned thus far in life?

Rikki Rockett: Wow, that’s kind of tough because there’s a yin and a yang there. I think that my kids have been a blessing because they’ve taught me a lot, especially having a girl. You know, the boy is such a reflexion of me, but the girl – I want to teach her how to be treated, how she’ll put up with things – that’s an important thing.  Somebody posted this thing the other day that said, ‘As for my girls, I’m going to teach them to think that they can breathe fire.’ And I want to do that with my kids, without spoiling them. Then on the flipside, I had the cancer thing that taught me a whole other lesson. After the cancer thing a lot of people ask me if I want to stop and smell the roses more, but no. I’ve lost a little bit of time and I realize our time is limited. So I’m a whole lot less patient these days, if I meet somebody and they’re like, ‘Oh, bro, I’ll call you!’ and they don’t call me, that’s it – I’m done. I’m totally done with them. People don’t get second chances in my life because I know now, when I look back, how many people have burned me and wasted my time. And like the song, “Life Loves A Tragedy,” if you listen to that song, there’s a little bit of that truth in that.

Melanie Falina: I know that Poison is taking up the bulk of your time right now, but what’s going on with your other band, Devil City Angels?

Rikki Rockett: It’s funny that you mention that, we just did a Devil City Angels music video for a new single called “Testify.” We’ve got Joel Kosche from Collective Soul on guitar, and we’ve got a guy called Topher Nolan out of Nashville who was with John Corabi – Corabi went on to do The Dead Daisies so we grabbed Topher – not a big name, you know? But he’s kind of like Brandan [Gibbs] in that we’re lucky to have a guy who’s that talented and hasn’t been grabbed up by someone already. So that’s the band and I’m telling you, this new song is really, really cool. It’ll be out in the new few weeks, we’re moving pretty quickly with it. I’m super excited.

Melanie Falina: Ok, so now for a question you probably get asked all the time and are tired of having to answer – but do you foresee there ever being another Poison album with all-new material?

Rikki Rockett: You know what, I don’t have an announcement about that, but we have talked about new material quite a bit, and we’ve messed around with stuff. So would we do it? All I can say is I hope so because I think it would be fantastic.

Melanie Falina: Is there anything else in your life, musically or otherwise, that you would like to do?

Rikki Rockett: Well, I’m pretty into motorcycles and I have a blog that’s pretty much motorcentric, so I spend a lot of time with my YouTube channel doing that stuff from the perspective of being on a motorcycle – like what’s life like when you’re riding.  So I do a lot of that already and I have a really good idea for a reality TV show that I’m going to pitch after this tour is over and it has to do with motorcycles. So that’s what I’d like to do. And you know the motorcycle community is shrinking, actually, newer riders are not emerging as quickly as even five years ago – so I want to help with that. It’s kind of like trying to fix Global Warming [laughs], I’m going to do my part. Riding just takes you to a lot of places that you might not even have cared to go to, but then all of a sudden you’re like I’m glad I got here.

Melanie Falina: Is there anything you’d like to say directly to your fans?

Rikki Rockett: Yes. Honestly, the fans are the reason why we’re still here after all these years. People ask, ‘What is the secret to your longevity?’ Fans! We’re very lucky to have them, and I’m lucky to be in a band where fans have embraced us so well. If they hadn’t, we just wouldn’t be able to do it. I love them. And I know other groups and artists have talked about that but I feel like they just say it but I really mean it.

 

Rikki Rockett Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

Interview by Melanie Falina

There are two things that hard-core coffee lovers truly delight in – – – drinking coffee (that one is a no-brainer) – – – and talking about coffee. And one of the most passionate coffee enthusiasts of the metal world is without a doubt Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante.

A fan of the beverage since his toddler years, it’s really no surprise that Benante’s life-long love of coffee eventually lead to the creation and sale of his very own Benante’s Blend coffees. And much to the delight of the metalhead coffee lovers of the world, Benante also indulges in that secondary activity of talking about coffee, but with other coffee worshiping metal luminaries in what he calls his “Talking Coffee” video series. Already racking up super cool coffee chats with people like Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe, Megadeth’s David Ellefson, Slayer’s Tom Araya, and many others, it’s always a thrill to see who Benante will be talking coffee with next.

But UnRated Magazine recently caught up with Charlie Benante whilst in the midst of Anthrax’s KILLTHRAX tour with Killswitch Engage – – – only this time Charlie became the interviewee rather than the interviewer for a fun chat about all things coffee…

Melanie Falina: I’ve heard you use the expression “the art of coffee” before when you were talking about Dark Matter Coffee who you’ve partnered with recently. But explain what “the art of coffee” means to someone who might not be a hard-core coffee lover like yourself?

Charlie Benante: I think with any subject – take someone who’s an audiophile – they have to have the best quality of the music. You know, we spend so much time making records to sound good and we spend so much money to make these records sound good, and then at the end of the day someone’s listening to them on these little tiny pods and it’s kind of like, ‘No, no, that’s not how it was intended,’ but that’s how some people want to listen to them, and it’s the same thing with coffee. Awhile back someone turned me on to a French press and I fell in love with doing it that way. Then someone turned me on to the AeroPress, which extracts as much of the bean/coffee as possible so that’s another way of doing it. I remember years ago when I stumbled on to this thing at Starbucks, they have what’s called the Clover machine and that tastes so good because that uses the exact elements that I just talked about but it’s a machine that does it. So when I say “the art of coffee,” there are so many different ways people try to get the purest taste out of that bean.

Melanie Falina: I’ve read that your mom used to put coffee in your bottle when you were really little, is that true?

Charlie Benante: That’s a true story, I’m not making that up. When I would sit at the table with her, sitting on her lap, I’d grab her coffee and take a sip, you know what I mean? I loved the taste of it and so she would put a little in my bottle. It’s funny, when my daughter was born I talked to her doctor about that, and they said that coffee is no problem for a kid, it actually helps them focus. And I thought that’s a good thing. [laughs]

Melanie Falina: You know how we all have certain tastes that we discover we really like as kids and we carry that fondness through our entire lives? Would you say that coffee is that primary taste for you?

Charlie Benante: Absolutely! It’s something that I never grew tired of, as a matter of fact it’s way stronger nowadays. I go to sleep thinking about the morning – about the coffee. Even today, I woke up on the bus as we were driving through Savannah, Georgia and I was just like, ‘Come on, man, are we there?’ We do have coffee on the bus but I didn’t want it, I wanted to get out into the city, wherever we were. Luckily for me, two blocks away from the hotel was this kind of ma and pop coffee roaster place that actually roasts the coffee there. So I just sat there and the smell was everywhere, it was one of those experiences that I talk about.

Melanie Falina: What is your morning ritual at home? Do you use a French press or automated drip, etc?

Charlie Benante: [Laughs] I have so many different ways of making coffee. Usually if it’s during the week and I’m taking my daughter to school, I get up early and I make her lunch and then I’m pretty much making a drip – – – unless I don’t have time to do it and I’ll just hit the Starbucks up the street. Usually on the weekends is when I have more time to do things and I’ll use the French press or the AeroPress. But at the end of the day it’s all about the experience.

Melanie Falina: Do you only drink it in the morning or do you have coffee all day long?

Charlie Benante: I don’t drink as much as I once did, I’ve kind of limited myself to the morning cup and then maybe in the afternoon I’ll have a cold brew or Americano or something. I’m trying to limit my coffee intake later in the day, it’ll make me wired at night because I don’t drink mild stuff, I drink ass-kicking stuff. [laughs]

Melanie Falina: You had mentioned waking up on the bus this morning but not wanting to make your morning cup there. What’s your set up on the bus?

Charlie Benante: We have everything. We have everything on the bus – we have a grinder, we have a Keurig machine, we have a regular coffee machine. The other night in Virginia Chris [Adler] from Lamb of God brought me a bag of beans from his local place. He said, ‘This is really good stuff…’ so I was really happy about that. [laughs]

Melanie Falina: You do video interviews – aptly named “Talking Coffee” – where you talk to other people in the music world who like coffee. In the video you did with Corey Taylor I kind of got the impression that he’s drawn a bit more to the kick of the caffeine than the taste of coffee. What’s that balance for you between the jolt and the taste?

Charlie Benante: I don’t even notice the kick anymore to be honest with you. I’ve become so immune to it that it doesn’t really affect me the way it did 15 or 20 years ago. And other people that I’ve spoken to, like Brent Hinds from Mastodon, like he was saying [his coffee experience] was all about him and his dad – that was their bond. We don’t drink alcohol with our parents when we’re younger but everyone has coffee in their house. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been places where they’re complete tea drinkers, and they’ll try to give me the argument about caffeine in coffee, but there’s more caffeine in the tea they’re drinking than there is in coffee. But this is the funny thing, back in the 90s when Starbucks hit the West Coast and I remember enjoying it there but it was nowhere near the East Coast or Midwest or anything. And once it started to make its way, I’d tell people, ‘Starbucks is such good coffee,’ and most people would just drink McDonald’s coffee or the local stuff so once it came around they’d say, ‘It’s gross and so bitter…’ and I thought, ‘Whatever, eventually you’ll get the hang of it.’ Sure enough, a few years later people drink Starbucks exclusively. And it’s also a part of the culture that happened in the 90s where people were going to coffee shops to meet up, to vent, to read, to do work, whatever, and now it’s a normal part of our everyday culture.

Melanie Falina: And that is what paved the way for all of the smaller, craft roasters that are around today as well.

Charlie Benante: Correct. Let’s face it, it spawned a whole other subculture and to me there’s nothing better. Like today, I went to a local coffee place and it’s nice to be able to experience America. This is the type of America that I encounter and like, not worried about anybody’s fucking race or politics or anything – everyone’s just having a cup of coffee. They could be black, white, red, brown, green – I don’t give a fuck.

Melanie Falina: So in regards to your own coffee, you have the partnership with Dark Matter coffee, and on your website you sell your Be All End All which is a dark roast and the Forever Metal medium roast. Any plans to add any additional roasts as well?

Charlie Benante: We did come up with another one which you can get in stores and online, it’s our Fernet Branca Blend collaboration. And I’ve been talking about doing another type of blend with the guys at Dark Matter. As soon as I get the time to go there we’ll sit down and do a taste test of this kind of thing and that, and then we’ll come up with something really cool again.

Melanie Falina: Between Anthrax and being a busy dad I’m sure it’s hard to concentrate on the coffee as much as you’d like to, but if time wasn’t an issue where would you like to take all this? Grocery store distribution or having your own cafe someday?

Charlie Benante: I would love to have my own place where people could come and just sit, drink coffee, do artwork, get up and do a song. [chuckles] You know, just come and hang.

Melanie Falina: Maybe like a heavy metal coffee joint?

Charlie Benante: Exactly! I think there’s room for it. But I think the best thing for me would be to incorporate everything that I love and everything that other people love and have a cool collaboration. I love branching out and doing some of the horror conventions and things like that because I get to meet people who are just as deeply into the stuff as I am. It’s always good to meet people at those and talk, I’ve made such great acquaintances at these types of things. And everyone has something genuine about them that you can learn from or they can learn something from you – you can bounce something off of them. You know we did this beer [Anthrax Wardance Pale Ale] and the distributor that brought it into Illinois, Gun Craft Beer, are just such cool people I was happy that they’re so passionate about it too and it really helped us. If you go to Kuma’s you can get it there and at Binny’s, making those connections is a really good thing.

Melanie Falina: For myself, now that I pay more attention to the kinds of beans that are in my coffee, I’ve discovered that I like a lot of the beans that come from Ethiopia and Kenya. Are there any specific places in the world that grow beans that you really like?

Charlie Benante: Yeah, Ethiopia is one of them – some of my coffee is blended with Ethiopian beans. I also love Costa Rica, Guatemala is another one. One day I went down to Dark Matter and we all did this coffee tasting and we tried all different types, and I gravitate more towards those beans.

Melanie Falina: So just for fun…if suddenly there was no coffee anywhere in the world, what would you drink?

Charlie Benante: Um – my mornings would definitely be strange. [laughs] I don’t know. I guess I would have to force myself to drink tea. I mean, I wouldn’t want to drink alcohol in the morning.

Melanie Falina: Is there anything else you’d like to mention in regards to your Benante’s Blend coffee?

Charlie Benante: I’m just glad that people enjoy it, that’s the truth. And if they tell two people and they tell two people and it spreads. In this day and age when you have other people putting out coffee I’m happy to say that I was one of the pioneers way back doing it. And I didn’t just slap a sticker on it, I pretty much made the coffee from scratch, I picked the beans, I did so much taste-testing on it – so what you’re drinking is what I’m making.  

To learn more about Charlie Benante’s coffees (and other endeavors) head over to his official website by clicking here.

Interview by Melanie Falina

Coffee lovers have come a long way since the days of the larger-than-life tins of Folgers or Maxwell House found in most every American kitchen. Today, not only have the standards for ‘good coffee’ skyrocketed, but the passion for fresh-roasted coffee has come to rival even the wine aficionados and beer connoisseurs of the world. And should you be a coffee-swigging, horn-throwing fan of heavy metal, then the world got even more flavorful in 2016 with the formation of Ellefson Coffee Co. by Megadeth bassist David Ellefson.

In just two short years, what began as a web-based mail-order business, Ellefson Coffee Co. has since sold thousands of bags of its coffee, formed an array of retail partnerships, and put roasts like Roast In Peace, Kenya Thrash, Urban Legend, and Rock N’ Rose on the map in the coffee world. UnRated Magazine recently had the opportunity to talk to Ellefson about the beloved bean-based elixir, but also what it’s like to run a rock and roll coffee company.

Melanie Falina: How are you David?

David Ellefson: Good. How are you feeling?

Melanie Falina: Good – I’ve already had my coffee today so things are good. [laughs]

David Ellefson: Good job, me too. A couple cups in…

Melanie Falina: One of your own roasts or something else?

Photo: Anita Gongola

David Ellefson: Actually, today I’ve been sampling stuff, we’re always getting stuff from new roasters. The other day I was sampling their stuff against [Ellefson Coffee Co.’s] Rock N’ Rose against Starbucks, and so today I just opened a brand new bag of Starbucks’ Anniversary Blend. Sumatra is kind of the basis – kind of the base coffee of a lot of coffees. I don’t really drink McDonald’s and I’m not really a big fan of Dunkin’ Donuts so Starbucks has always been my baseline, and they sell a lot of coffee so I go back to ‘what is the world buying right now?’ It’s kind of like radio, whether they like it or not this is what they have to listen to, so that’s how I benchmark our coffee. A lot of roasters come to us and go, ‘ours is the best,’ but it’s not always about the best, it’s about whether people like it or not.

Photo: facebook.com/ellefsoncoffeeco

Melanie Falina: As you know, a lot of musicians have products now that they put their name on and sell – be it wine or scotch, beer, coffee, hot sauce – whatever, but your coffee business is almost a full-time gig on its own – it’s a really good thing that you drink so much coffee because I don’t think you sleep!

David Ellefson: [laughs] Yeah! It’s funny with coffee, I’ve always been a guy who’s started everything. All the bands – I’ve seldom done side-man work, I’ve enjoyed the ones that I’ve done but I’m a guy who when I see something I just set out to do it and I put it together myself. And I’ve been like that from my first bands, to my label [EMP Label Group], to the coffee company, and yeah, it sure would be a lot easier to just license my name out [laughs] and sit back and receive royalty checks. But at the same time, my nature and how I enter into certain things, I’m just that guy that likes to build it from the ground up. And that requires me to be hands-on with it – but when passion drives something it’s not really like you’re working at it, you’re just doing it because it’s who you are, it’s a part of you. And it’s kind of like that with bands, that’s why they call it ‘playing’ music instead of ‘working’ music [laughs], because you show up and you want to play.

Melanie Falina: That’s awesome that you have this whole other business that is as fun and rewarding to you as your music!

David Ellefson: I’m blessed to have great teams around me – there’s a team that came together with the label, there’s a team that came together around the coffee, and that’s what makes it work; as much as I’m the figure-head and I’m the famous guy – and that’s part of my role in the company – I also understand business. I’m certainly glad I went to college – there’s a part of me that always felt like everybody knew something I didn’t, so that’s why I went to college to make sure that I had it all buttoned up. And it’s funny how a lot of times, things I learned in college – 10, 12 years ago – are suddenly really coming to fruition now. It’s kind of like when you take a guitar lesson and you learn a pentatonic scale and you don’t really understand it until you learn a song and you’re like, ‘Oh my god, there’s that pentatonic scale! I use it all the time and I didn’t even know!’ Knowledge can be power, but knowledge without application is useless.

Photo: facebook.com/ellefsoncoffeeco

Melanie Falina: So what’s the next plan with your coffee – do you want to be in every grocery store, do you want to rival Starbucks, what’s the long-term plan for Ellefson Coffee Co.?

David Ellefson: Well, you know, even Starbucks got really popular because, as I understand, it started with just a couple of guys roasting coffee. And then another guy came along and he brought back the whole European coffee experience and wanted to build it out – again, team-built and a concept and a vision. So I think you just can’t have growth without substance, and to me the coffee company is no different than a rock band. You can’t just suddenly be on top 40 radio because you want to be – you have to earn your way there – you have to have something that’s of merit, you have to have something of substance, and it has to be believable.

Photo: facebook.com/ellefsoncoffeeco

David Ellefson (continued): To me, we’re a rock and roll coffee company – that’s what we do. And I think until we get really good at being that we can’t grow anywhere else, and that’s been our focus. We say that to each other all the time on the phone, ‘Hey man, we are a rock and roll coffee company,’ because I swear about every week someone walks in our door and says, ‘Hey, I can do this, you should do this, you should do that – why aren’t you in the grocery stores?’ They come in with these grandiose ideas and again, it’s just like a band, if someone walks in and says, ‘You guys should be on tour with U2,’ or ‘You guys should be huge! Why aren’t you playing the stadiums?’ And again, to the untrained, unknowing ear that’s all they know, but when you’ve been in the trenches like we have for the last couple of years with the coffee company we started right away with heavy metal, rock and roll coffee – that’s what we wanted to be and that’s what we are. And just like every great band – you build your fan-base and you stay true to who you are and that’s why people believe in you, they trust you and they come to rely on you because you’re not a sell-out and not just in it for the buck and as a cash-grab. And we’re not, believe me we’re not. [laughs] There’s a lot of work to starting a company from the ground up! So for us, Ellefson Coffee and all of our roasts we do, our cups, everything we do – it is being in a band. I work out of a tribe of misfits in the coffee company so to me Ellefson Coffee is just an extension of everything I do with music.

Melanie Falina: Is there anything else you’d like to add, or say directly to the coffee drinkers of the world?

David Ellefson: Just enjoy a cup of coffee! Hopefully it’ll be in an Ellefson Coffee cup. [laughs]

Related links:

• David Ellefson Official Website
• Ellefson Coffee Co.
• EMP Label Group
• Combat Records
• Megadeth