Mars Attacks Podcast Episode 20 – In This Moment & Heaven Below

During this episode we bring you two interviews, one with Chris Howorth from In This Moment, and another with Patrick Kennison from Heaven Below. During Chris’ portion we discuss the making of In This Moment’s latest album Star Crossed Wasteland, what it has been like to tour with the likes of Ozzy, Dave Mustaine, being part of Talking Metal on Fuse, and his feelings towards Maria Brink’s involvement with such things as the Hottest Chicks In Metal, and what affect, if any, it has on the band. During Patrick’s interview portion we discuss his former band Union Underground, what it was like to put Heaven Below together, working with Ben Moody, and some misconceptions people may have about artists whose songs are frequently used on TV.

During the episode you’ll hear the following songs in this order:

Heaven Below – Heartbreaker
Union Underground – Across The Nation
Heaven Below – When Daylight Dies
In This Moment – The Gun Show
In This Moment – Just Drive
In This Moment – The Great Divide

Topics discussed include:

Warped Tour, Mayhem Fest, Blondie, Nine Inch Nails, Prince, Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Zombie, Chimera, Stone Sour, Union Underground, Heaven Below, Dave Mustaine, Megadeth, Schecter Hellraiser, EMG Pick Up, Krank Amps, Dunlop Pedals, In This Moment, The Dream, Star Crossed Wasteland, Chris Howorth, Kyle Kontiel, Jesse Landry, Trent Reznor, Hottest Chicks In Metal, Maria Brink, Talking Metal On Fuse, Blake Bunzel, Ernie Ball, Pantera, Iron Maiden, Slayer, Lacuna Coil, Blondie, Disturbed, Lincoln Park, Drowning Pool, Static-X, Ozzy Osbourne, Countdown To Devil, Reworking The Devil, White Stripes, Cher, Peavy, B.C. Rich, Coal Chamber, Korn, Marshall, VHT Pitbull, TC Electronics G-Force, Lexicon MPX2, Ozzfest, Marilyn Manson, WWE, Ben Moody, Motorhead, Bob Dylan, Chris Isaak


Mars Attacks Podcast 19 – Overkill & Bonded By Blood

During this episode we speak to Blitz from Overkill and Jose from Bonded By Blood. The original intent was to release this episode sometime back in July, but with all of the circumstances revolving around my life it made things difficult to do so. For those of you that don’t know my wife had been pregnant, and was bed ridden for most of two months. Unfortunately she had a miscarriage a little after this interview was conducted, and life was pretty much put on hold. A little after this happened my company had to make some difficult decision to help the company stay a float, and anyone that had unemployment benefits was let go. And you guessed it I was given the pick slip at the time. With all of this said, things could be worse and as my brother always says, no matter how bad things are, there is always someone that’s worse off than you are. Luckily, things are looking good for the future, so I can’t really complain.

Blitz & Me!

In any event, the interview with Blitz was done back in January before Ironbound, Overkill’s latest album came out. Among the items discussed during this interview are Ironbound, and subsequent tour, the early days of Megaforce Records, the “Big Four”, his 30 year musical partnership with DD Verni, Randy Blythe of Lamb Of God, Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater, the NY Steel Benefit Show, the project he did with Dan Lorenzo called The Cursed, Hail! and his involvement in Turtlehead!

During Jose’s segment we discuss how the band was started, comparisons to other bands, some of the festivals they were about to play when the interview was conducted, and the recording of their latest album Exiled To Earth

Items discussed during both interviews include:

Korn, Iron Maiden, Angelwitch, Raulph Patland, Cannibal Corpse, Twisted Sister, Brutal Assault Festival, Bloodstock Open Air, Suffocation, Thrash Assault Forum, Exodus, Exiled To Earth, Feed The Beast, Alex Lee, Jerry Garcia, Overkill, Forbidden, Big 4, Suffocation, Bobby Blitz, Overkill, Ironbound, DD Verni, Immortalis, Dave Linsk, New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, Iron Maiden, Feel The Fire, Killers, Punk Rock, Warbringer, Hardcore, Pop, Green And Black Army, Exodus, NY Steel, In Union We Stand, 9/11, Sid Falk, Sebastian Marino, Merritt Gant, Rob Cannavino, Bobby Gustafson, Tim Mallare, Rat Skates, Joe Comeau, Megaforce, Metallica, Anthrax, Testament, Alex Parialas, Terry Date, Chris Tsangarides, Judas Priest, Ozzy Osbourne, Anvil, Colin Richardson, Pete Townsend, Peter Tagtgren, Death Angel, Megadeth, Slayer, Kreator, Destruction, Randy Blythe, Lamb Of God, Gigantour, Dave Mustaine, Willie Adler, Chris Adler, Jamey Jasta, Dan Lorenzo, Hades, Non-Fiction, The Cursed, Black Sabbath, Turtlehead, John Ostronomy, Fuse, Motorhead, Mike Portnoy, Frank Bello, Hail!, Tim “Ripper” Owens, Andreas Kisser, Dave Ellefson

The following tracks are featured during the episode:

Bonded By Blood (off of Exiled To Earth) – 600 A.B. (After The Bomb), Genetic Encryption and Prototype – Death Machine

Overkill (off of Ironbound) – The Green and Black, Bring Me The Night, Give A Little


Mars Attacks Podcast Episode 17 – Filter’s Richard Patrick

During this episode of Mars Attacks we interview Richard Patrick from the band Filter. I have been a fan of his work starting with Nine Inch Nails, the aforementioned Filter, The Damning Well (which to date has only released the track Awakening on the Underworld soundtrack), and Army Of Anyone. Richard has consistently put out solid music, and has not disappointed with Filter’s new album The Trouble With Angels. Definitely a must have if you’re remotely a fan of the band.

Aside from the new album we briefly touch on the some of the bands mentioned above, playing for the troupes as part of Operation MySpace, the pressures he may or may not feel when writing an album, working with Bob Marlette, etc.


Mars Attacks Episode 12 – Dan Lorenzo & Misery

During this episode we have two interviews, one with Dan Lorenzo from Hades, The Cursed, and Non-Fiction. With Dan we discuss his entire musical career, covering all of the bands listed above, his solo work, and his involvement in Screaming Metal. We also discuss his love for basketball, various festivals, musical influences, etc.

The other interview included in this episode is conducted with brothers Joe and John from the band Misery. This interview with was conducted as a way to prepare for the release of their debut album. This interview goes over all of the basic information surrounding the band, touching on how the band got together, how they transitioned to be the band they are today, what is was like working with Joey Z, among other things. We’re planning on doing a follow up once the album has been released.

Tracks heard during this interview include:

Keep It Together – Dan Lorenzo
Save You – Misery
Take The Power Back – Misery
A Flower Without Sun – The Greatest Fear
In The Know – Non-Fiction
Absorbed – Hades
Evil In The Bag – The Cursed

Topics covered during both interviews include:

Misery, Visions Of Disorder, Metallica, Guns N Roses, Korn, Joey Z, Life Of Agony, Pantera, Super Metal Records, Method Of Groove Studios, System Two Studios, Metal Army America, Type O Negative, Devil Driver, Metallica, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Free Reign, Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth, Tony Iommi, Black Sabbath, Kiss, Aerosmith, Heaven & Hell, Dio, Steppin Out Magazine, Mark Strigl, TMetal.com, The Cursed, Tim McGillis, Big Blue Meanie, Non-Fiction, In The Know, Room Full Of Sinners, Overkill, Savatage, Pete Steele, Tom Coughlin, Hades, Bang Your Head Festival, Twisted Sister, Jimmy Shulmann, Scott LePage, Kevin Bolembach, Infernophonic, Keep It True, Alan Tecchio, Watchtower, Rick Colaluca, Ron Jarzombek, Doug Keyser, Zakk Wylde, Gary Howe, Dimbag Darrell, ZZ Top, Waken Festival, Metal Blade Records, JJ French, Lamour, Dave Mustain, Cassius King, Draw The Line, Talking Metal on Fuse, Screaming Metal, John Ostronomy, Ron Lipnicki, Metal Mike, Halford, Rob Dukes, Exodus, John Kosco, St. Caine, Drop Box, Steve Zing, Danzig, Mark Tornillo, T.T. Quick, Accept, Ace Frehley, Anomaly, C.C. Banana, Merciful Hate, Riot, Swords And Tequila, Judas Priest, Testament, Megadeth, Priest Feast, Cory Proctor, Mark Colombo, Scott Stapp, P.O.D., Don Jamison, Jim Florentine


Mars Attacks Podcast – Episode 6 – Joey Z, Dan Lornezo, Tribute to Pete Steele

This episode is a special joint release between Mars Attacks and Talking Metal. I touch upon this during the episode mentioning that it was put together as a tribute to Pete Steele. We deliberated at great length regarding this as it wasn’t the original intention. If you listen to Episode 306 of Talking Metal you will find part of the Mars Attacks live show I did with John and Mark last month while in the states. That episode contains an interview we conducted with Anthony Esposito from Ace Frehley, Lynch Mob fame. The next episode of Talking Metal, and Mars Attacks for that matter, was supposed to contain the first half of the live show. During this segment Mark and I interview Joey Z from Life of Agony, Stereomud, and Carnivore.

Joey was nice enough to come down to the studio, and sit in with us. He came in early, and sat on the couch while Mark, John and I did our opening monologue if you will. During the podcast you’ll hear me reference a few songs, one by Warrior Soul, and another by Slash. We spoke to Joey off mic while these songs where playing, immediately he started talking about Pete Steele. He mentioned what an honor it was to be asked to play with Carnivore, and he also spoke about how funny, and quick witted Pete was. He said Pete could come up with things right on the spot, and could roll with the punches during any given situation. I mentioned this during the Dan Lorenzo segment. He also started talking about what good man Pete was, which seems to be a common theme with all of the comments that are being posted on the web. Unfortunately this was off mic, and we had so many things to talk about (we spoke almost twice as long as we originally intended), we never really got into Pete or Carnivore on mic, except for a quick mention by Joey. Due to this, I have included part of his previous interview where he talks exclusively about Carnivore.

Joey is a great guy, who will always have an open door on any of my shows. I a big fan of his music, and have come to learn what a genuine, and nice person he truly is. He was the first person I turned to when I heard the rumor of Pete’s passing. He spoke so genuinely about Pete; it was hard not to think of him when I started reading the posts on the web. During the episode I read an excerpt of the response he sent me.

The reason I included Dan was because I read his comments on Blabbermouth.net. I reached out to a bunch of different people from the NY/NJ music scene to see if anyone might be interested in providing me with a statement regarding Pete. People treat death in different manners, I know for a lot of people this has to be a difficult situation. As a result, it would be foolish for me to be upset over people not wanting to partake. Maybe the situation is difficult for them, other are on tour, and couldn’t come on with such short notice, etc. In any event, Dan immediately came forward to share stories, and help celebrate the memory of Pete.

There are no ulterior motives here, like so many others out there we just want to celebrate the life of Pete Steele. By putting this episode together, I feel that we are doing our part to pay homage to the man, and his music. I’m sure some will say that we’re doing this to ride the publicity surrounding his untimely death, but it can’t be farther from the truth. Mark and I spoke at great lengths yesterday deliberating over whether we should release this episode now, or wait a few months. I personally think that we’re doing the right thing by releasing the interview in the format we have chosen. As a fan, I don’t want someone’s memory or music to ever die. I truly believe that both Joey and Dan have helped us to do this by sharing their thoughts, and experience with Pete.

Over the course of the next few weeks/months we’ll start to hear about Pete, hopefully all good things, but I’m sure some bad will come out as well. All I can say is remember him for what he meant to you, and don’t let others sway your judgment.

I’ll close this in the same fashion that I closed the podcast, long live the memory and music of Pete Steele.


Podcast Episode 2 – Life Of Agony’s Joey Z

The second Mars Attacks Podcast contains an interview I conducted with Joey Z from Life of Agony Back in November 09.

Items discussed during this interview are the shows being done in commemoration of the band’s 20th anniversary, the live album that will follow in 2010, Keith Caputo’s original departure from L.O.A., River Runs Red, Ugly, Soul Searching Sun, Broken Valley, Whitefeld Crane, Steromud, Eric Rodgers use of the Steromud name, Peter Steel, Carnivore, Type of Negative, Josh Silver, Metallica, Andreas Kisser, Sepultura, Road Runner Records, Ill Niño, Dave Chavarri (confused him for Joe Nuñez during the interview, sorry), Megadeth, Dave Mustaine, Seak N Destroy, Isolated Fear, Misfits, Devil’s Whorehouse, Schecter Solo 6, Gibson Les Paul, Jimm Archie, Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier, Peavey, Seymour Duncan, Boss Kelli, Pink Floyd, Road Runner United, Misery, Coery Lowery, Stuck Mojo, Perfect Self, Sony, Epic Records, Sick of it All, Anthrax, The Greatest Fear, Sworn Enemy, Incubus, System Of A Down, Korn, Snot, Ozzfest, Seven Dust, Soulfly, Tool, Ozzy Osbourne, Motorhead, Super Metal Records, System 2 Studios, Randy Rhoads, Kirk Hammett, David Gilmour, Tony Iommi, Method of Groove Studios, his production work, and the possibility of recording new material with Life of Agony.