This interview (and the other Mike did) was recorded and, hopefully, will be available as audio one day.
Mike Williams, lead singer for EyeHateGod, Arson Anthem, and Outlaw Order, is definitely a legend in the New Orleans music scene. Being involved for around 20 years, he’s seen and done a lot. This is actually the second half of an interview I did with him over the phone, the first half being for www.theiconocaste.org (not currently available) about civil liberties and hurricane Katrina. He was very cool about doing the interview and gave a lot for it, so please enjoy this, and check out his bands damnit! He also has a book out, and it is another glimpse of him. Also, you can check him out on myspace or www.southernnihilismfront.com, for more information.
Chaos Star Productions (C) - I know a lot of people are waiting to here form you about what's going on with EyeHateGod (EHG), Outlaw Order, and Arson Anthem. Has Katrina and jail put an end to any of this, or are you going full steam ahead?
Mike Williams (MW) - I don't know about full steam ahead. It depends on which band you're talking about. EHG, we've always had problems (laughter) before the hurricane. There were always the drug problems and things like that. So I guess the ‘cane didn't make that any worse, and everyone is still living here. But like I said, there's always stuff. Jimmy's off doing ‘Down’, so he's been doing that lately and they've been recording, so we haven't done anything with that. Our drummer, he got in to some trouble not that long ago, and he's trying to get into a rehab; they're trying to put him into a rehab or he's gotta serve time. Everybody’s just waiting for what to do with that band (EHG). And most of the members of that band (EHG) are in Outlaw Order (OO) too, so OO hasn’t really done much either. We put out the 7”, I dunno, c.d., which is like, all we did. EHG has done many shows since the hurricane, in New Orleans (N.O.), a bunch of times.
C - Where are you guys playing? Is the ‘Dixie Tavern’ back up?
MW - Well, that place is gone now. There’s a place called ‘The Howling Wolf’ and there’s a bunch of clubs, that’s what’s thriving down here. There’s the whole music scene - blues and jazz and just music in general. A lot of people left town and a lot of people came back. There’s a lot of new clubs and things, so, EHG, we’ve played a lot since the hurricane, just in N.O. And that’s one thing I didn’t mention before. I’m, as a stipulation of the judge ‘terminating’ my probation in Orleans, not allowed into the Parish, at all.
C - What part of N.O. does that exactly include?
MW - Mainly the city. Right now, I live on the north shore, which is a different parish; this is St. Tammany’s Parish. There’s a bunch of clubs over here too. So, I can’t play in the city.
C - That’s just part of the rules?
MW - Yeah. (The judge) He was like ‘If you agree to stay out…’ and I said I’d agree, ya know. I’m sure there’s gonna be situations where I’m gonna have to go there, ya know. I guess that they just don’t want me going over there and screwing up again, or going to buy drugs, which is what, obviously, they mean. As far as talking about EHG, most of the shows we played have been in N.O., but now we’re gonna have to go to the little suburbs, like Monterey, and over here in Cubbington, so we’re gonna have to stick to stuff like that.
C - Any word on Arson Anthem (AA)?
MW - Yeah, the album is finished, it’s mastered and all that. I’m not sure exactly when it’s gonna be out. Phil (Anselmo) has been out in L.A. too, with the ‘Down’ record, trying to mix that so, it’ll be out, I’m just not sure exactly when. Hopefully, this year, the AA will be out.
C - I definitely think a lot of fans are looking forward to that.
MW - Yeah, that’s good; I’m hoping we can do some shows with that. We played one show, but with Hank (Williams III) and Phil both in the band, it’s hard to get together and do anything with that, but we’re gonna try.
Talking about EHG again, there was something about a show in Texas, where they were gonna ‘roast’ us. We had to cancel. We had, like, four shows in Texas, and we were gonna play at the ‘Chaos in Texas’ (Chris - it’s supposed to rhyme with Chaos - Tayahs), but we had to cancel that because I was in jail, so, I’m sorry to people that wanted to go.
C - I’m sure that most of the fans have pretty much heard (about what you’ve been going through), so I’m sure they’ll be understanding, but make sure you guys come to Jersey, because we haven’t had too many good shows out here lately.
MW - I can’t even remember when the last time we played there was. I’m not even sure what city we played in was, but I know we’ve played there before.
C - We’ve got the ‘Sounds of the Underground’ show with a few good bands on the bill, but other than that, I think Jersey has been missed a few times.
MW - There have been times when we were up there and we’ve toured tons of times in that area, but I think we have skipped it before. I don’t know why. It’s not really up to us; it’s always up to the booking agent or whatever.
C - Jersey doesn’t have a huge selection of good clubs to come to. There’s a few, but I think that definitely has something to do with it. As far as (other) projects, how has your book been doing?
MW - It’s doing fine. I just wrote to my publisher and I have to call him. I haven’t talked to him since I’ve been out, but I think the book has sold out (of its first pressing). Now they have the option to reprint it or whatever. I have another one written, it has to be put together and the artwork needs to be added and all that. I’m actually trying to find a publisher for the second one.
C- You think the first publisher is gonna pick up on it?
MW - I’m not sure that I want them too. They’re cool guys and all, and I know it’s just an underground thing, but they tried to push it more to the metal magazines and stuff like that, but I tried to get it to the literary crowd. That’s what I wanted to do. I sent them a list of magazines that we should’ve put ads in, and they kinda ignored my list a little bit. I’m sure the EHG fans want to read it. I want everybody to read it too. So I don’t know if I’m gonna do it with them (again), I’ll just have to talk to them and see. I was thinking about putting it out myself, I’m not sure ya know.
C - Is the second book gonna be a continuation of the first or will there be new stuff in it?
MW - It’s got new stuff, but it’s still got the poetry and lyrics. Just some short, little abstract stories in it. It’s pretty much like the first, but it’s all newer.
C - I’m assuming that everything since Katrina has had a lot of influence.
MW - Yeah, totally. I mean, I wouldn’t come out and write a story about a hurricane, ya know. I mean, I was miserable before the hurricane. It’s gonna be the same type of stuff, but I’m sure there’s a different slant that people might pick up on. It’s still negative, disturbing stuff.
C - Hey man, it gives people something to look forward to.
MW - I wanna do a lot more of that. I’m trying to submit stories to certain magazines and things like that.
C - You’ve contributed to some music magazines before, so that might help your chances of reaching new audiences.
MW - Yeah, it could.
C - Do you have any other projects right now, or is it just the bands and the books?
MW - That’s pretty much it really.
C - (All) that definitely takes up a lot of time.
MW - There’s this guy, Louie, who is a friend of mine, and I think he played in this band ‘The Oblivions’ and he was in the band ‘Bad Times’ and it’s this one-man band type of thing. We’re trying to start this old, low-fi punk band. Just something to pass the time. If we do get that together, I’m sure we’ll put out a record together too.
C - I’m sure people would be pretty eager to hear anything new.
MW - Right, if it were up to me, I’d keep going to the studio and getting everybody together if I could, but it’s a matter of getting all these people together. Everybody down here is in other bands.
C - it’s like a big metal family. I was talking to my friend last night about some of your previous bands, ‘Crawlspace’ and ‘Suffocation by filth (SbF)’. Is there any word on anything by them?
MW - No. Crawlspace ended up recording one song, I think, for some compilation. We never got to actually do an album or anything. That turned out to be Superjoint (Ritual); the guitar player and drummer ended up in that band, that’s kinda where that went. And Suffocation by filth, we tried to get back together a few years before the hurricane, 2001 or 2002, and it just wasn’t gonna happen. That’s another band that never recorded anything, and I wish we had. I had like 25 years of music lost to hurricane. I would’ve put out a demo, rehearsal, or something, just to put it out. I don’t think that there’s anything that exist by that band (SbF).
C - I guess the hurricane to more than people even conceive of. Like you said, you lost twenty-five years of music.
MW - Yeah, I can’t even sit and think about it sometimes because it’s overwhelming. You see that everybody lost that. It’s a lot of history that’s gone.
C - Do you think anyone in the music scene down there is gonna get together and put out a compilation or something similar about the hurricane to raise money?
MW - I know that tributes and things like that are going on with other types of music, but as far as punk rock or metal I haven’t really heard of anything going on. I would gladly be a part of it if it happened. I’m sure it’s going on. The scene down here has always been kinda separate with the different little ‘clicks’ in music, and there are so many different musicians here that it’s hard to even know what is going on. That’s probably going on somewhere with this (metal, punk) type of music.
C - That’d be nice to see and it’d be a nice way to raise some money. Like you said, there’s a lot of different musicians down there.
MW - That would definitely be cool.
C - Ok, let’s see here. A couple people have asked me, just over the years, how do you come up with your vocal and lyrical style?
MW - (Laughs) I guess it started with being really drunk and not remembering anything. Honestly, I took a lot from Buzz of the Melvins. He actually says the same thing; his lyrics are just really abstract, the older stuff, it’s all pretty abstract. And then I’ll usually learn a song after we record it (laughs), like after we go into the studio. A lot of the songs/albums are the first vocal take. If we had been doing it live, with the timing and the patterns, I would keep the same thing, but not always the same words, so I call it ‘speaking in tongues’ or something. I do say the same things in a lot of songs, but some of it is just more abstract. I don’t think that what I’m saying is that important (laughs), that’s why I have the book. So people can read that. Its two separate things.
C - Yeah, ‘cuz if you hear EHG on the radio or a c.d., you can almost tell immediately that it’s you. A lot of that has to do with you on vocals.
MW - Yeah, that’s what a lot of people have said. There’s a lot of bands that are doing that style now.
C - Do you think that it’ll become a trend or just a few bands here and there, maybe?
MW - I don’t know. There are bands all over the world that have started playing like that, which is, to me, that’s great. There’s this band from Japan called ‘Green Machine’ that sounds exactly like us. I mean, I’m sure they don’t to fans, and they don’t sound EXACTLY like us. There are bands from all over the world (doing this). There’s this band ‘Rabies Caste’ from Israel, they’ve got the same thing going on; the groovy ‘Sabbath’ thing going on with screaming vocals.
C - That might become good for you guys if it becomes somewhat of a scene.
MW - It’s definitely a scene. There are for this type of (music). I hate the term; they call it ‘sludge’ or something. It’s a stupid label, but I guess people have to call things something.
C - What would you label EHG?
MW - I just say that we’re a blues, rock ‘n’ roll band. To me, it’s from the blues, our music. It’s just a modern distorted view of it, through drugs and alcohol, I guess. This is what I’d call it. I don’t like putting labels on it.
C - Like you said, people have to call it something.
MW - Yeah, speed metal, death metal, and black metal. It’s everything. I mean, I use those terms myself, you have to if you’re gonna talk music with someone. I don’t like putting them (labels) on certain things.
C - Do you think bands are strictly a product of their environment, or could EHG have come from anywhere else? You say that there are these bands that sound like you, but they’re obviously not EHG.
MW - I think now that a certain sound has evolved from it, obviously you can come from anywhere. The question is if we hadn’t sounded like this, would someone else have? I don’t really know. I mean, we think that we’re a product of our environment. We think that N.O. has EVERYTHING to do with the way we sound. We take pride in that and the fact that if we were from somewhere else, I don’t think we would’ve sounded like this. I don’t know, now that the sound is out there, other people are doing it so…
C - Do you think it would’ve just taken a bit longer then?
MW - Yeah, certain things just evolve naturally, ya know. It’s a matter of listening to different types of music; if you have a ‘Lynyrd Skynyrd’ album and a ‘Black Flag (BF)’ album, you’re gonna end up sounding like EHG eventually.
C - Well, you’ve mentioned the Melvins, Skynyrd and Sabbath, what are some of the other influences in EHG, musical or non-musical?
MW - Well, non-musically was daily life, and that’s a lot of bands. Lyrics about what they’re thinking, what’s on their mind. But musically, there’s so much stuff. In the beginning, it was ‘Celtic Frost’ and ‘Laughing Hyenas’. Of course there was BF, Sabbath, the Melvins, but then Joey, our drummer, he listens to ‘Throbbing Gristle’ and ‘Merzbow’, and Jimmy is a big country fanatic - David Allen Coe and Merle Haggard. But we ALL like that stuff, just certain people in the band really like it more. I’ve always been into the old punk rock scene, and Brian’s an old death metal guy, ya know, it’s just a mixture of all that.
C - Is there any new music that you guys think might have had a little influence on you?
MW - Probably not influence on the band, but I’m always trying to find to new music. I mainly listen to old stuff, but if something new comes out that I really like… the latest thing is this band ‘Witchcraft’ from Sweden that I really like a lot. There’s always tons of bands that I’ll read about. I’m just a fan, ya know. I love hearing new bands. I’m always trying to get new tapes or anything from anyone who sounds like they’d be good, if I read a review or something like that.
C - I’m a fan of metal. If a band is cool to their fans, do you think it matters, regardless of whether or not you sell out shows? A lot of newer or bigger bands seem to have lost touch with that (their fans).
MW - I totally think so. I’m probably the one that does it the most (from EHG), but if people e-mail me or write me a letter, I’ll always write back. If we play a show and people wanna talk, I’ll talk. I love to talk to people, especially if they’re into what I do, because then I’m interested to find out why, ya know, why they like this. So, yeah, I think that matters a lot. We’re (EHG) just down to earth people, and I think that’s definitely had an effect on our fans, and the type of fans we have.
C - When I contacted you, I didn’t expect to hear back from you that quickly, and the fact that you were so cool with doing the interview was definitely a surprise because of this (‘anti-fan’ trend). After talking about it with co-workers and people who don’t or wouldn’t listen to EHG, they still want to check out the interview because they think ‘This guy sounds real cool’ or ‘It seems like this guy has a lot to say’. My friends and I have been to a band’s c.d. signings or other events, and we know the bands have a lot to deal with, but it seems like some of these bands don’t even want to be there.
MW - I’m sure people have bad days, and I’m sure that some of these bands have to do that stuff everyday, and I’m sure some of them don’t want to be there. But you should always be cool to the people that buy your records. To me that’s a given fact, and it shouldn’t be any other way. It’s laughable to me, these bands that get an attitude after putting out one c.d. It’s so funny; it’s just so stupid to me.
C - I guess a lot of the time, those types of bands fade away anyway.
MW - Yeah, they do, because nobody cares about them. And if I were to meet somebody and if I was an asshole to them, that’s gonna get around and people are gonna know that and say ‘Hey, that guy’s a dick. I tried to talk to him at a show and he was a complete asshole’.
C - I remember one time my friends and I saw Pantera and Phil wanted to talk to the fans, but I guess his security kept pushing him on the bus, and he said ‘I’ll be out in a minute guys’. So we’re all waiting and they wouldn’t let anybody near the bus. I don’t they let Phil back out. That probably wasn’t Phil’s fault, but you could just see so many kids standing there heart-broken.
MW - Yeah, he (Phil) is real down to earth. I’m sure he’s had his little ‘rock-star’ moments where he did that or didn’t want to talk to people or whatever, but he’s usually pretty open about that.
C - With all the Pantera ‘drama’ aside, everybody has always considered Pantera a down to earth band.
MW - There’s a lot of bands from everywhere like that, but I think being from the South has a lot to do with that too. Down here, you walk down the street and say ‘Hey, what’s up?’ to strangers. In New York City, that doesn’t really happen (laughs).
C - It doesn’t really happen in this whole area. I’m in central Jersey by Trenton and Camden, and that really doesn’t happen so much.
MW - It’s not like everyone is super friendly down here, or anything like that, but it’s just that ‘Southern’ thing that’s been around forever.
C - Good ‘ol Southern hospitality.
MW - Yeah, Southern Hospitality.
C - Well, I don’t know if you feel like talking about this, but do you have anything to say about what happened with Dime bag (Dimebag Darrell, legendary guitarist for Pantera, New Found Power, Rebel meets Rebel, and legendary all-around nice guy and prankster)?
MW - It was horrible. The thing going on between Vinnie (Vinnie Paul, Dime’s brother and drummer for the same bands) and Phil (Anselmo) just seems ridiculous.
C - a lot of fans don’t want it.
MW - Of course not. They don’t want to see the band that they love fighting like that, or whatever. Phil, I don’t think really understands it. Things were said, and that’s going back to the media. Things get screwed up; somebody says something and they (the media) don’t print the whole thing. I don’t even really know what happened between them (Vinnie and Phil), but it does suck for the fans.
C - Were you close with dime at all?
MW - Oh, yeah. We’d stay at his house, and we’d play in Dallas (Texas) all the time. He’d come meet us before the show, as soon as we drove into town, and we’d go to his house and barbeque. He had this crazy living room. He was a big ‘Kiss’ fan, and in his living room, he had this big entertainment system, and he’d go into the kitchen to flip a switch. The lights (on the system) would move and dry ice smoke would come up around it all, like a Kiss show. It was great. He was just real fun and cool
C - Vinnie released the one Dimebag DVD, ‘That‘s the fun I have’.
MW - I haven’t seen that yet.
C - it’s pretty good. Some of the footage you can see in the Pantera DVD’s, but this was much more focused on Dime. It’s pretty funny.
MW - Oh, he was hilarious man. He was constantly (up to something). That tour we did with them (Pantera), you’d see this guy walking around and sweeping, wearing a janitor’s outfit, you see him doing something bizarre, and you’re like ‘What is this guy doing?’, only to realize later that it was Dime goofing off, dressed up like a janitor! And for no reason at the time. That (Dime’s murder) was just really sad, and really sucks.
C - Definitely. On the videos, you can see early, early Dime just rocking out in some (guitar) contests and even before Pantera had a singer.
MW - Oh, really, it’s got stuff like that?
C - Oh, god. Some of the quality is sketchy, but you see Dime just wailing out. There’s a cover, with Pantera (before a vocalist) doing (Metallica’s) ‘Seek and destroy’, and Dime is singing. It’s crazy stuff. Vinnie did a really good job showing all sides of Dime.
MW - That’s cool, man. I’d like to see that.
C - You definitely see that Dime was committed since day one.
MW - He was one of those people who set out to be a rock star. He knew that when he was a kid, that that was what he was going to do. That’s why it sucks even worse, and the way that he died and all that, that dude (that shot Dime) was sick.
C - It was a tragedy left and right. Not to cut that short, but getting to your time in jail, were there any inmates trying to give you ideas for music, or trying to teach you useful things for the road?
MW - No, and especially in N.O., I wouldn’t even tell them I was in a band or anything. When I was in there, I’d keep to myself, but that’s Orleans. Up in Morgan City (MC), Louisiana, it’s more country and there were some, kinda backwoods, guys in there that were just nicer and funnier.
I was getting a ton of mail in MC, so the inmates knew something was up. I ended up telling them that I was a roadie for a band, and they were just like ‘You’re lying’. Jimmy and Gary would always come to visit me, and the inmates were always like ‘Man, Guns ‘n’ Roses come to visit!’ (Chris - at this point, I almost fall out of my chair laughing). ‘Man, that’s Guns ‘n’ Roses!’ They’d ask me about them, or they’d say ‘Mike’s one of them ‘headbangers’’ and then they’d start singing (Billy Ray Cyrus’s) ‘Achy-Breaky Heart’. Just funny shit like that.
C - So they didn’t really know?
MW - No, and that’s something they really wouldn’t have known, even if I told them the whole story. That’s something, in jail, that if you tell somebody, like ‘Oh yeah, we toured Japan’, they’re not gonna believe you anyway, they’re gonna ask what you’re doing in jail? Are you rich? They figure if you toured the/a country, then you must be rich.
C - And that’s obviously not how it is.
MW - No, not at all, not at all.
C - Do you think you guys are bigger over seas? A lot of bands have that happen to them.
MW - I don’t really know, but I’d say yeah. I don’t know where we are more popular, but when we play England or Germany, they are big, huge shows, and the crowds over there are way more receptive sometimes. They’re there to hear the band, usually. They’re not there just to hang out. But we have a lot of friends in Europe.
C - That’s definitely cool.
MW - Yeah, there are a lot of cool people in England. We’ve got a lot of friends there, that’s why I love to play there. It is one of my favorite places to go. Japan was great. It was cool. We only did about four shows there, but it was great.
C - A lot of bands will say that they love America, but getting overseas helps to revive the spirit.
MW - Oh, yeah. If you touring there in a van, it’s definitely hard, or you start getting homesick, or the food isn’t that great, and we’d wake up hung-over and depressed, but by the time that the show started, everybody’s in a great mood, just ready to play. I could meet one person, and this is in America too, and if that person’s into the band, that’d get my spirits up.
C - Definitely cool. Well, is there anything else you wanna say about music at all, or EHG’s future or your future in music?
MW - I’m always gonna do something, always gonna play with somebody. I wish that we would do, play more live things right now, but it’s just the way things have worked out. It’ll happen sooner or later. Like I said earlier, they’re setting up some kind of shows with EHG to ‘roast’ us or something. And 2008 is twenty years that EHG has been together.
C - I guess you guys are gonna do something big for that.
MW - Yeah, well we have to. I’m trying to get everybody psyched up and that’s gotta be an excuse to do something. If it were up to me, we would tour constantly. That’s how we make money, that’s what I would like to do for work, but it doesn’t always work out that way. We are definitely gonna do something soon.
C - I think that an EHG 20th anniversary thing would be very badass.
MW - I would love to just go everywhere and tour everywhere.
C- That’s pretty much all I’ve got to ask. You’ve shed light on a lot; I mean a lot of things.
MW - That’s cool man, I’m glad I could do it.
Mike Williams, lead singer for EyeHateGod, Arson Anthem, and Outlaw Order, is definitely a legend in the New Orleans music scene. Being involved for around 20 years, he’s seen and done a lot. This is actually the second half of an interview I did with him over the phone, the first half being for www.theiconocaste.org (not currently available) about civil liberties and hurricane Katrina. He was very cool about doing the interview and gave a lot for it, so please enjoy this, and check out his bands damnit! He also has a book out, and it is another glimpse of him. Also, you can check him out on myspace or www.southernnihilismfront.com, for more information.
Chaos Star Productions (C) - I know a lot of people are waiting to here form you about what's going on with EyeHateGod (EHG), Outlaw Order, and Arson Anthem. Has Katrina and jail put an end to any of this, or are you going full steam ahead?
Mike Williams (MW) - I don't know about full steam ahead. It depends on which band you're talking about. EHG, we've always had problems (laughter) before the hurricane. There were always the drug problems and things like that. So I guess the ‘cane didn't make that any worse, and everyone is still living here. But like I said, there's always stuff. Jimmy's off doing ‘Down’, so he's been doing that lately and they've been recording, so we haven't done anything with that. Our drummer, he got in to some trouble not that long ago, and he's trying to get into a rehab; they're trying to put him into a rehab or he's gotta serve time. Everybody’s just waiting for what to do with that band (EHG). And most of the members of that band (EHG) are in Outlaw Order (OO) too, so OO hasn’t really done much either. We put out the 7”, I dunno, c.d., which is like, all we did. EHG has done many shows since the hurricane, in New Orleans (N.O.), a bunch of times.
C - Where are you guys playing? Is the ‘Dixie Tavern’ back up?
MW - Well, that place is gone now. There’s a place called ‘The Howling Wolf’ and there’s a bunch of clubs, that’s what’s thriving down here. There’s the whole music scene - blues and jazz and just music in general. A lot of people left town and a lot of people came back. There’s a lot of new clubs and things, so, EHG, we’ve played a lot since the hurricane, just in N.O. And that’s one thing I didn’t mention before. I’m, as a stipulation of the judge ‘terminating’ my probation in Orleans, not allowed into the Parish, at all.
C - What part of N.O. does that exactly include?
MW - Mainly the city. Right now, I live on the north shore, which is a different parish; this is St. Tammany’s Parish. There’s a bunch of clubs over here too. So, I can’t play in the city.
C - That’s just part of the rules?
MW - Yeah. (The judge) He was like ‘If you agree to stay out…’ and I said I’d agree, ya know. I’m sure there’s gonna be situations where I’m gonna have to go there, ya know. I guess that they just don’t want me going over there and screwing up again, or going to buy drugs, which is what, obviously, they mean. As far as talking about EHG, most of the shows we played have been in N.O., but now we’re gonna have to go to the little suburbs, like Monterey, and over here in Cubbington, so we’re gonna have to stick to stuff like that.
C - Any word on Arson Anthem (AA)?
MW - Yeah, the album is finished, it’s mastered and all that. I’m not sure exactly when it’s gonna be out. Phil (Anselmo) has been out in L.A. too, with the ‘Down’ record, trying to mix that so, it’ll be out, I’m just not sure exactly when. Hopefully, this year, the AA will be out.
C - I definitely think a lot of fans are looking forward to that.
MW - Yeah, that’s good; I’m hoping we can do some shows with that. We played one show, but with Hank (Williams III) and Phil both in the band, it’s hard to get together and do anything with that, but we’re gonna try.
Talking about EHG again, there was something about a show in Texas, where they were gonna ‘roast’ us. We had to cancel. We had, like, four shows in Texas, and we were gonna play at the ‘Chaos in Texas’ (Chris - it’s supposed to rhyme with Chaos - Tayahs), but we had to cancel that because I was in jail, so, I’m sorry to people that wanted to go.
C - I’m sure that most of the fans have pretty much heard (about what you’ve been going through), so I’m sure they’ll be understanding, but make sure you guys come to Jersey, because we haven’t had too many good shows out here lately.
MW - I can’t even remember when the last time we played there was. I’m not even sure what city we played in was, but I know we’ve played there before.
C - We’ve got the ‘Sounds of the Underground’ show with a few good bands on the bill, but other than that, I think Jersey has been missed a few times.
MW - There have been times when we were up there and we’ve toured tons of times in that area, but I think we have skipped it before. I don’t know why. It’s not really up to us; it’s always up to the booking agent or whatever.
C - Jersey doesn’t have a huge selection of good clubs to come to. There’s a few, but I think that definitely has something to do with it. As far as (other) projects, how has your book been doing?
MW - It’s doing fine. I just wrote to my publisher and I have to call him. I haven’t talked to him since I’ve been out, but I think the book has sold out (of its first pressing). Now they have the option to reprint it or whatever. I have another one written, it has to be put together and the artwork needs to be added and all that. I’m actually trying to find a publisher for the second one.
C- You think the first publisher is gonna pick up on it?
MW - I’m not sure that I want them too. They’re cool guys and all, and I know it’s just an underground thing, but they tried to push it more to the metal magazines and stuff like that, but I tried to get it to the literary crowd. That’s what I wanted to do. I sent them a list of magazines that we should’ve put ads in, and they kinda ignored my list a little bit. I’m sure the EHG fans want to read it. I want everybody to read it too. So I don’t know if I’m gonna do it with them (again), I’ll just have to talk to them and see. I was thinking about putting it out myself, I’m not sure ya know.
C - Is the second book gonna be a continuation of the first or will there be new stuff in it?
MW - It’s got new stuff, but it’s still got the poetry and lyrics. Just some short, little abstract stories in it. It’s pretty much like the first, but it’s all newer.
C - I’m assuming that everything since Katrina has had a lot of influence.
MW - Yeah, totally. I mean, I wouldn’t come out and write a story about a hurricane, ya know. I mean, I was miserable before the hurricane. It’s gonna be the same type of stuff, but I’m sure there’s a different slant that people might pick up on. It’s still negative, disturbing stuff.
C - Hey man, it gives people something to look forward to.
MW - I wanna do a lot more of that. I’m trying to submit stories to certain magazines and things like that.
C - You’ve contributed to some music magazines before, so that might help your chances of reaching new audiences.
MW - Yeah, it could.
C - Do you have any other projects right now, or is it just the bands and the books?
MW - That’s pretty much it really.
C - (All) that definitely takes up a lot of time.
MW - There’s this guy, Louie, who is a friend of mine, and I think he played in this band ‘The Oblivions’ and he was in the band ‘Bad Times’ and it’s this one-man band type of thing. We’re trying to start this old, low-fi punk band. Just something to pass the time. If we do get that together, I’m sure we’ll put out a record together too.
C - I’m sure people would be pretty eager to hear anything new.
MW - Right, if it were up to me, I’d keep going to the studio and getting everybody together if I could, but it’s a matter of getting all these people together. Everybody down here is in other bands.
C - it’s like a big metal family. I was talking to my friend last night about some of your previous bands, ‘Crawlspace’ and ‘Suffocation by filth (SbF)’. Is there any word on anything by them?
MW - No. Crawlspace ended up recording one song, I think, for some compilation. We never got to actually do an album or anything. That turned out to be Superjoint (Ritual); the guitar player and drummer ended up in that band, that’s kinda where that went. And Suffocation by filth, we tried to get back together a few years before the hurricane, 2001 or 2002, and it just wasn’t gonna happen. That’s another band that never recorded anything, and I wish we had. I had like 25 years of music lost to hurricane. I would’ve put out a demo, rehearsal, or something, just to put it out. I don’t think that there’s anything that exist by that band (SbF).
C - I guess the hurricane to more than people even conceive of. Like you said, you lost twenty-five years of music.
MW - Yeah, I can’t even sit and think about it sometimes because it’s overwhelming. You see that everybody lost that. It’s a lot of history that’s gone.
C - Do you think anyone in the music scene down there is gonna get together and put out a compilation or something similar about the hurricane to raise money?
MW - I know that tributes and things like that are going on with other types of music, but as far as punk rock or metal I haven’t really heard of anything going on. I would gladly be a part of it if it happened. I’m sure it’s going on. The scene down here has always been kinda separate with the different little ‘clicks’ in music, and there are so many different musicians here that it’s hard to even know what is going on. That’s probably going on somewhere with this (metal, punk) type of music.
C - That’d be nice to see and it’d be a nice way to raise some money. Like you said, there’s a lot of different musicians down there.
MW - That would definitely be cool.
C - Ok, let’s see here. A couple people have asked me, just over the years, how do you come up with your vocal and lyrical style?
MW - (Laughs) I guess it started with being really drunk and not remembering anything. Honestly, I took a lot from Buzz of the Melvins. He actually says the same thing; his lyrics are just really abstract, the older stuff, it’s all pretty abstract. And then I’ll usually learn a song after we record it (laughs), like after we go into the studio. A lot of the songs/albums are the first vocal take. If we had been doing it live, with the timing and the patterns, I would keep the same thing, but not always the same words, so I call it ‘speaking in tongues’ or something. I do say the same things in a lot of songs, but some of it is just more abstract. I don’t think that what I’m saying is that important (laughs), that’s why I have the book. So people can read that. Its two separate things.
C - Yeah, ‘cuz if you hear EHG on the radio or a c.d., you can almost tell immediately that it’s you. A lot of that has to do with you on vocals.
MW - Yeah, that’s what a lot of people have said. There’s a lot of bands that are doing that style now.
C - Do you think that it’ll become a trend or just a few bands here and there, maybe?
MW - I don’t know. There are bands all over the world that have started playing like that, which is, to me, that’s great. There’s this band from Japan called ‘Green Machine’ that sounds exactly like us. I mean, I’m sure they don’t to fans, and they don’t sound EXACTLY like us. There are bands from all over the world (doing this). There’s this band ‘Rabies Caste’ from Israel, they’ve got the same thing going on; the groovy ‘Sabbath’ thing going on with screaming vocals.
C - That might become good for you guys if it becomes somewhat of a scene.
MW - It’s definitely a scene. There are for this type of (music). I hate the term; they call it ‘sludge’ or something. It’s a stupid label, but I guess people have to call things something.
C - What would you label EHG?
MW - I just say that we’re a blues, rock ‘n’ roll band. To me, it’s from the blues, our music. It’s just a modern distorted view of it, through drugs and alcohol, I guess. This is what I’d call it. I don’t like putting labels on it.
C - Like you said, people have to call it something.
MW - Yeah, speed metal, death metal, and black metal. It’s everything. I mean, I use those terms myself, you have to if you’re gonna talk music with someone. I don’t like putting them (labels) on certain things.
C - Do you think bands are strictly a product of their environment, or could EHG have come from anywhere else? You say that there are these bands that sound like you, but they’re obviously not EHG.
MW - I think now that a certain sound has evolved from it, obviously you can come from anywhere. The question is if we hadn’t sounded like this, would someone else have? I don’t really know. I mean, we think that we’re a product of our environment. We think that N.O. has EVERYTHING to do with the way we sound. We take pride in that and the fact that if we were from somewhere else, I don’t think we would’ve sounded like this. I don’t know, now that the sound is out there, other people are doing it so…
C - Do you think it would’ve just taken a bit longer then?
MW - Yeah, certain things just evolve naturally, ya know. It’s a matter of listening to different types of music; if you have a ‘Lynyrd Skynyrd’ album and a ‘Black Flag (BF)’ album, you’re gonna end up sounding like EHG eventually.
C - Well, you’ve mentioned the Melvins, Skynyrd and Sabbath, what are some of the other influences in EHG, musical or non-musical?
MW - Well, non-musically was daily life, and that’s a lot of bands. Lyrics about what they’re thinking, what’s on their mind. But musically, there’s so much stuff. In the beginning, it was ‘Celtic Frost’ and ‘Laughing Hyenas’. Of course there was BF, Sabbath, the Melvins, but then Joey, our drummer, he listens to ‘Throbbing Gristle’ and ‘Merzbow’, and Jimmy is a big country fanatic - David Allen Coe and Merle Haggard. But we ALL like that stuff, just certain people in the band really like it more. I’ve always been into the old punk rock scene, and Brian’s an old death metal guy, ya know, it’s just a mixture of all that.
C - Is there any new music that you guys think might have had a little influence on you?
MW - Probably not influence on the band, but I’m always trying to find to new music. I mainly listen to old stuff, but if something new comes out that I really like… the latest thing is this band ‘Witchcraft’ from Sweden that I really like a lot. There’s always tons of bands that I’ll read about. I’m just a fan, ya know. I love hearing new bands. I’m always trying to get new tapes or anything from anyone who sounds like they’d be good, if I read a review or something like that.
C - I’m a fan of metal. If a band is cool to their fans, do you think it matters, regardless of whether or not you sell out shows? A lot of newer or bigger bands seem to have lost touch with that (their fans).
MW - I totally think so. I’m probably the one that does it the most (from EHG), but if people e-mail me or write me a letter, I’ll always write back. If we play a show and people wanna talk, I’ll talk. I love to talk to people, especially if they’re into what I do, because then I’m interested to find out why, ya know, why they like this. So, yeah, I think that matters a lot. We’re (EHG) just down to earth people, and I think that’s definitely had an effect on our fans, and the type of fans we have.
C - When I contacted you, I didn’t expect to hear back from you that quickly, and the fact that you were so cool with doing the interview was definitely a surprise because of this (‘anti-fan’ trend). After talking about it with co-workers and people who don’t or wouldn’t listen to EHG, they still want to check out the interview because they think ‘This guy sounds real cool’ or ‘It seems like this guy has a lot to say’. My friends and I have been to a band’s c.d. signings or other events, and we know the bands have a lot to deal with, but it seems like some of these bands don’t even want to be there.
MW - I’m sure people have bad days, and I’m sure that some of these bands have to do that stuff everyday, and I’m sure some of them don’t want to be there. But you should always be cool to the people that buy your records. To me that’s a given fact, and it shouldn’t be any other way. It’s laughable to me, these bands that get an attitude after putting out one c.d. It’s so funny; it’s just so stupid to me.
C - I guess a lot of the time, those types of bands fade away anyway.
MW - Yeah, they do, because nobody cares about them. And if I were to meet somebody and if I was an asshole to them, that’s gonna get around and people are gonna know that and say ‘Hey, that guy’s a dick. I tried to talk to him at a show and he was a complete asshole’.
C - I remember one time my friends and I saw Pantera and Phil wanted to talk to the fans, but I guess his security kept pushing him on the bus, and he said ‘I’ll be out in a minute guys’. So we’re all waiting and they wouldn’t let anybody near the bus. I don’t they let Phil back out. That probably wasn’t Phil’s fault, but you could just see so many kids standing there heart-broken.
MW - Yeah, he (Phil) is real down to earth. I’m sure he’s had his little ‘rock-star’ moments where he did that or didn’t want to talk to people or whatever, but he’s usually pretty open about that.
C - With all the Pantera ‘drama’ aside, everybody has always considered Pantera a down to earth band.
MW - There’s a lot of bands from everywhere like that, but I think being from the South has a lot to do with that too. Down here, you walk down the street and say ‘Hey, what’s up?’ to strangers. In New York City, that doesn’t really happen (laughs).
C - It doesn’t really happen in this whole area. I’m in central Jersey by Trenton and Camden, and that really doesn’t happen so much.
MW - It’s not like everyone is super friendly down here, or anything like that, but it’s just that ‘Southern’ thing that’s been around forever.
C - Good ‘ol Southern hospitality.
MW - Yeah, Southern Hospitality.
C - Well, I don’t know if you feel like talking about this, but do you have anything to say about what happened with Dime bag (Dimebag Darrell, legendary guitarist for Pantera, New Found Power, Rebel meets Rebel, and legendary all-around nice guy and prankster)?
MW - It was horrible. The thing going on between Vinnie (Vinnie Paul, Dime’s brother and drummer for the same bands) and Phil (Anselmo) just seems ridiculous.
C - a lot of fans don’t want it.
MW - Of course not. They don’t want to see the band that they love fighting like that, or whatever. Phil, I don’t think really understands it. Things were said, and that’s going back to the media. Things get screwed up; somebody says something and they (the media) don’t print the whole thing. I don’t even really know what happened between them (Vinnie and Phil), but it does suck for the fans.
C - Were you close with dime at all?
MW - Oh, yeah. We’d stay at his house, and we’d play in Dallas (Texas) all the time. He’d come meet us before the show, as soon as we drove into town, and we’d go to his house and barbeque. He had this crazy living room. He was a big ‘Kiss’ fan, and in his living room, he had this big entertainment system, and he’d go into the kitchen to flip a switch. The lights (on the system) would move and dry ice smoke would come up around it all, like a Kiss show. It was great. He was just real fun and cool
C - Vinnie released the one Dimebag DVD, ‘That‘s the fun I have’.
MW - I haven’t seen that yet.
C - it’s pretty good. Some of the footage you can see in the Pantera DVD’s, but this was much more focused on Dime. It’s pretty funny.
MW - Oh, he was hilarious man. He was constantly (up to something). That tour we did with them (Pantera), you’d see this guy walking around and sweeping, wearing a janitor’s outfit, you see him doing something bizarre, and you’re like ‘What is this guy doing?’, only to realize later that it was Dime goofing off, dressed up like a janitor! And for no reason at the time. That (Dime’s murder) was just really sad, and really sucks.
C - Definitely. On the videos, you can see early, early Dime just rocking out in some (guitar) contests and even before Pantera had a singer.
MW - Oh, really, it’s got stuff like that?
C - Oh, god. Some of the quality is sketchy, but you see Dime just wailing out. There’s a cover, with Pantera (before a vocalist) doing (Metallica’s) ‘Seek and destroy’, and Dime is singing. It’s crazy stuff. Vinnie did a really good job showing all sides of Dime.
MW - That’s cool, man. I’d like to see that.
C - You definitely see that Dime was committed since day one.
MW - He was one of those people who set out to be a rock star. He knew that when he was a kid, that that was what he was going to do. That’s why it sucks even worse, and the way that he died and all that, that dude (that shot Dime) was sick.
C - It was a tragedy left and right. Not to cut that short, but getting to your time in jail, were there any inmates trying to give you ideas for music, or trying to teach you useful things for the road?
MW - No, and especially in N.O., I wouldn’t even tell them I was in a band or anything. When I was in there, I’d keep to myself, but that’s Orleans. Up in Morgan City (MC), Louisiana, it’s more country and there were some, kinda backwoods, guys in there that were just nicer and funnier.
I was getting a ton of mail in MC, so the inmates knew something was up. I ended up telling them that I was a roadie for a band, and they were just like ‘You’re lying’. Jimmy and Gary would always come to visit me, and the inmates were always like ‘Man, Guns ‘n’ Roses come to visit!’ (Chris - at this point, I almost fall out of my chair laughing). ‘Man, that’s Guns ‘n’ Roses!’ They’d ask me about them, or they’d say ‘Mike’s one of them ‘headbangers’’ and then they’d start singing (Billy Ray Cyrus’s) ‘Achy-Breaky Heart’. Just funny shit like that.
C - So they didn’t really know?
MW - No, and that’s something they really wouldn’t have known, even if I told them the whole story. That’s something, in jail, that if you tell somebody, like ‘Oh yeah, we toured Japan’, they’re not gonna believe you anyway, they’re gonna ask what you’re doing in jail? Are you rich? They figure if you toured the/a country, then you must be rich.
C - And that’s obviously not how it is.
MW - No, not at all, not at all.
C - Do you think you guys are bigger over seas? A lot of bands have that happen to them.
MW - I don’t really know, but I’d say yeah. I don’t know where we are more popular, but when we play England or Germany, they are big, huge shows, and the crowds over there are way more receptive sometimes. They’re there to hear the band, usually. They’re not there just to hang out. But we have a lot of friends in Europe.
C - That’s definitely cool.
MW - Yeah, there are a lot of cool people in England. We’ve got a lot of friends there, that’s why I love to play there. It is one of my favorite places to go. Japan was great. It was cool. We only did about four shows there, but it was great.
C - A lot of bands will say that they love America, but getting overseas helps to revive the spirit.
MW - Oh, yeah. If you touring there in a van, it’s definitely hard, or you start getting homesick, or the food isn’t that great, and we’d wake up hung-over and depressed, but by the time that the show started, everybody’s in a great mood, just ready to play. I could meet one person, and this is in America too, and if that person’s into the band, that’d get my spirits up.
C - Definitely cool. Well, is there anything else you wanna say about music at all, or EHG’s future or your future in music?
MW - I’m always gonna do something, always gonna play with somebody. I wish that we would do, play more live things right now, but it’s just the way things have worked out. It’ll happen sooner or later. Like I said earlier, they’re setting up some kind of shows with EHG to ‘roast’ us or something. And 2008 is twenty years that EHG has been together.
C - I guess you guys are gonna do something big for that.
MW - Yeah, well we have to. I’m trying to get everybody psyched up and that’s gotta be an excuse to do something. If it were up to me, we would tour constantly. That’s how we make money, that’s what I would like to do for work, but it doesn’t always work out that way. We are definitely gonna do something soon.
C - I think that an EHG 20th anniversary thing would be very badass.
MW - I would love to just go everywhere and tour everywhere.
C- That’s pretty much all I’ve got to ask. You’ve shed light on a lot; I mean a lot of things.
MW - That’s cool man, I’m glad I could do it.