| News | | Guitar World Column | | Interviews | | Pictures | | Album Reviews | | Gig Reviews | | Release Dates | | History | | Articles | | Setlists | | Upcoming | | Contact |
By Aniruddh "Andrew" Bansal
August 14th 2010, San Manuel Amphitheatre, San Bernardino CA
August 14th 2010, San Manuel Amphitheatre, San Bernardino CA
Andrew: You're playing quite an early show here at Ozzfest today, hitting the stage at 3.20. How are you feeling? Done with your pre-show preparation?
Rob: I feel alright and just waiting to go on. I didn't even start my preparation yet. It starts two minutes before we go on (laughs).
Andrew: Would you call this a warm up to the long headline tour that you're starting on Monday?
Rob: Yeah, it's a cool way to start it off. Then it'll be back to the clubs and grind. We'll also go overseas which is cool. So we have a long seven weeks ahead and I'm looking forward to it. It should be fun!
Andrew: You're playing this show because you're replacing the band Kingdom Of Sorrow who couldn't make it. That must be great for the Exodus fans, getting to see you again in the LA area for the fourth time this year.
Rob: I guess so! For the Exodus fans it is pretty cool for sure.
Andrew: You played the new songs [off of Exhibit B: The Human condition] in the three club shows you did in California in June and also in shows after that. Are you used to playing them by now?
Rob: Yeah, we played them on there and we went to Europe for a month. We played them out there too. They are going over well, so we're just going to keep playing them. We are playing three today along with two old ones.
Andrew: Which of those new songs you think are working out best in terms of the crowd reaction, songs that you think would stay in the set even after you come out with the next album?
Rob: Good Riddance is really a show killer, man. It's the last song of the set and it's just brutal when we play it live. It's fun opening with Ballad, coming out of the gate and just fucking killing it, right into Beyond The Pale. Those two songs go back to back and we don't let up for a good 15 minutes, just pounding it. That's what the kids want and that's what we do, just give them what they want.
Andrew: I was talking to Gary at the Key Club show and he talked about Ozzfest, saying that Exodus would never play a show at the main stage with people sitting down. Would you agree that Exodus are always meant to play like this, on the 2nd stage in front of a general admission crowd?
Rob: Yeah, we played seated places. We did a couple on the Kreator tour [last year] and it's just awful man. It's not awful, but it really just takes the energy out of the band and takes the energy out of the crowd. It's just an uncomfortable situation. I'd rather be playing at a club with 200 people than playing to 3000 that are sitting. There is no comparison. It's the way it is. I can't explain it to you unless you've actually been on stage and done it. The vibe is just different. We are just a violent, fun band that expects the crowd to move. I've never played Ozzfest so I don't know how they react here, but we'll see today!
Andrew: I think you played an all-seated venue on the Megadeth tour this year and Testament pulled off an epic troll by playing 'Into The Pit'.
Rob: Yeah, we played 'Toxic Waltz' too and it was just as fucking lame (laughs).
Andrew: How much do you know about the other bands here on the 2nd stage?
Rob: I like Kataklysm. Goatwhore are one of my favourites and they are awesome. They are great guys too and we've toured with them. I love to see Zakk shred it up. I've never heard Drowning Pool and I don't know any of their songs. I've seen Skeletonwitch in New York City. I went down and caught them with Soilent Green.
Andrew: You guys did a video for the song 'Downfall'. How was that experience?
Rob: It's a video dude. It's always lame (laughs). I'm just being honest. It's not that much fun. I'm thinking may be next time somebody would just show up and shoot us live and let's keep it that way. Anyway, I love John and he's great. He did a killer job and it was a cool experience, but I'm kind of over it. There is no use for a video anymore. It seems kind of mundane and retarded.
Andrew: Well I'm glad that you're honest with it because people would normally say, 'Oh yeah it was great!'
Rob: I'm trying to be more honest today (laughs).
Andrew: How was that European tour you just did?
Rob: It was awesome man. My dream was always to play with Slayer and I got to go on before them and looking over stage left there was the entire band Slayer watching us play. It was awesome and a really cool feeling. I can't really express in words what it was, but it just meant so much that even if my career ended the next day, I would have been fine with it.
Andrew: One thing that I wonder about albums releasing these days is, how do you judge your own albums after their release? You cannot judge by sales figures anymore that are not even relevant.
Rob: The numbers are the numbers and it is what it is. If an album is good, it's good. How can you say that an album is bad or good? Everybody have their own personal tastes. It's just like food. People sometimes just like stuff. I try not to get caught up in it. I do once in a while let it bother me. But at the end of the day when I hit my head on my pillow, I know that I've done my best to let the spirit of Exodus live on. There are people out there. I've read stuff like, 'Oh, it's sacrilege'. To these people I would say, you know what? Go fuck yourself. What the fuck have you ever done? We're just trying to live our lives here. So I don't really take into account what the record sales say. At the end of the day when we listen back to the album, we're proud of what we've done. It wasn't like we should have done this or done that instead. Everyone has their own opinion on it afterward. Anyone who's a fucking armchair quarterback goes, oh I would have done this or that, and they should have done this. You're not in the fucking room, you're not fucking there, you are not part of this. We're doing what we do. I'm not trying to be angry about it. The reality of the situation is, we're not going to be listening to people that are telling us the album's too long and there's too much music. Like, really? I remember enjoying double albums. I remember when there was so much fucking music. People who are bashing this album as too long, all I'd say is go fuck yourself. We worked our asses off to give you a bunch of shit and if you don't like it, who the fuck told you to sit and listen to it all at once? It's a fucking album, it's just songs. I don't know, I didn't mean to be so angry about it but sometimes it pisses me off. People just take their own personal agenda and life and bring it into judging and criticising other people's shit. I guess it sounds like it bothers me but the truth is it really doesn't, because I'm going to continue to do what I do. I'm still the singer of Exodus. We're still going to write the songs that we write and play the way we play. We can't make everybody happy all the time. Unfortunately Paul is dead and he cannot do this anymore. I myself regret that. I would give up this spot for Paul. I don't really care because I had a good life before I joined Exodus.
Andrew: Well I agree. I hear that stuff too and as a fan it frustrates me, so I can understand your frustration.
Rob: Right, exactly!
Andrew: You're playing Japan soon with Overkill. That's a really killer combination and you must be looking forward to that!
Rob: Yeah man, we've toured with them before and it's always fun. So I'm looking forward to it. It should be really good.
Andrew: Have your gotten a chance to listen to their new album 'Ironbound'?
Rob: Yeah I heard it even before it came out, even before all of you guys did (laughs).
Andrew: In general, have you had a chance to catch up with new music this year or have you been too busy with your own stuff?
Rob: Yeah I've been busy with my own stuff and I've pretty much been listening to Pink Floyd for the last year. So, Pink Floyd and Miles Davis. I'm just being honest because that's all I've been doing. I've been writing my own music and working on comic books and all that. So I've been kind of busy in my own world.
Andrew: What are you doing with those comic books these days?
Rob: I'm working on part 2. It's already in the works and I'm actually looking into part 3 at this point. I'm just going to continue on the path with that. I'm just taking it step by step. I haven't worked on it in a while, just really busy doing all this shit and some live stuff going on, but I'm working it out.
Andrew: On this headline tour you are doing 24 shows. That doesn't cover every territory. So will there be a second leg of US dates?
Rob: I assume so, yeah.
Andrew: You tour day in, day out and have been doing it successfully for so many years. What would you advice to younger bands on how to do a gruelling but successful tour?
Rob: Get in the van and go. That's the only way to do it, to grind it out. There are no shortcuts. The only shortcuts are the Backstreet Boys and 98 Degrees when it's something that's manufactured, like Evanescence or those type of bands, just corporate entities put together for a specific design of 'we want to market this'. If you're a band and doing your own thing, you really have to just pound it out, grind it out and play. That's it.
Catch Exodus live on their 'March Of Brutality' tour:
|
|
Check out Exodus' official website.
Looking for the best cable deals? Check out Cox Phoenix!