I knew my 100th music interview was approaching, and I was pleased to see that it was with Kyle Baltus of 36 Crazyfists.
It has been an incredible journey for me. From my very first interview with Trey of Dying Fetus (with TCOR Radio,) to now, I’ve had experiences that I could have only dreamed of.
I’ve met incredible musicians that I respect, and been so terrified and nervous for an interview that I nearly threw up. I’ve done flawless organic interviews, and some absolutely terrible ones. I’ve elicited information that was never shared before, been told it was the best interview they’d ever done, and those two things makes me very proud. What goes hand in hand with that, however, is the fact that I’ve also had some that were extremely awkward and awful. I remember having to physically sit on my hands as I interviewed Trey of Dying Fetus that first time, because my hands were flailing about due to nerves, and I could tell that he was distracted by it. I’ve walked out of an interview when the person gave me one word answers and clearly didn’t want to be there (Chris of Six Feet Under). I’ve made a mistake as to the person’s position in the band (Orion of Behemoth), I’ve lost a file from one of the best interviews I’ve ever done (Max Cavalera), and I’ve been so mesmerized by one’s beauty (Ola of Grave) that I actually forgot what I was doing and just gazed at him, unable to speak.
I feel humbled, honored, so lucky, and amazed at what I get to do. I take great pride in loving music, seeing music, keeping up on new music, and in being intrigued by the people who make it. I approach each interview from scratch, never having “stock” questions, and I enjoy the research and writing portion of the process as much as the actual interview. Be it a local band, or a national or international band, the musicians that make the music we love are fascinating. I love writing to try to properly communicate their stories of inspiration, magic that happens as they perform their music, hearing their stories of success and failure, learning about them as human beings, and hearing about their families and lives away from music.
I have a goal to interview every local band here in town, and I hope to take a big bite out of it in 2018.
In alphabetical order, I’ve conducted an interview with either the band, or a member of the band listed belowt, culminating in interview #100 with Kyle Baltus of 36 Crazyfists.
- 36 Crazyfists
- A Flock of Seagulls
- A Killer’s Confession
- Aeges
- All That Remains
- Amerakin Overdose x 2
- American Bastard
- American Roulette
- Appetite for Deception
- As Blood Runs Black
- As I Lay Dying
- Asietas
- Attika 7 (Evan Seinfeld of Biohazard)
- Behemotht
- Blistered Earth
- Blood Oath
- Blood Red Throne
- Born of Osiris
- Boudica
- Buck Cherry
- Cast Down
- Ceremonial Castings
- Chevelle
- Chronological Injustice
- Code Red Riot
- Corrosion of Conformity
- Damage Overdose
- Dark Funeral
- Dark Tranquillity
- Dead Animal Assembly Plant
- Deen/Kyle Castronovo
- Deicide
- Dilana
- Disgorge
- Dope
- Dorothy
- Dying Fetus x2
- Earth to Ashes
- Entoxikutioner
- Five Finger Death Punch
- Fozzy x 2
- Gigan
- Grave x2
- Gypsy (Tour Manager) x 2
- Hinder
- In Solitude
- Islander
- Jason Fellman (Stone In Love/J-Fell Presents)
- Jennifer Batten (Michael Jackson)
- Josh Todd (formerly of Buck Cherry)
- Junglerot
- KoRn
- Krisiun
- Last 10 Seconds of Life
- Like a Storm
- Lit by Suffering
- Lita Ford
- Max Cavalera
- Mayhem
- Mushroomhead
- Non Point
- Obituary
- Oceano
- On Enemy Soil
- Opeth
- Origin
- Otherwise
- Pathology
- Radke
- Ralph Santolla x 2
- Revocation x 4
- Road to Jerusalem x 2
- Sawthis
- Separation of Sanity
- September Mourning x 2
- Six Feet Under
- Svart Crown
- Tetrark
- The Agonist
- The Black Dahlia Murder
- The Dillinger Escape Plan
- Three Inches of Blood
- Toxic Zombie
- Upon a Burning Body
- Valium Nob
- Van Brando/Sylint
- White Chapel
- Wild Bore Cannery
- Witchburn
