Transcript of an interview I recorded with DAVID WHITE of HEATHEN - 20200803. Full article here. MAL-
Just one quick question if I can about back in the day. What's your best memory of the early days? DAVID- Well, you know, I think just being you know, young and free, you know, it was just a simpler time. When you're young you don't have the responsibilities and with HEATHEN, we used to get together like, you know, four or five days a week and rehearse in the early days just trying to get things going and we worked our ass off and you know, we were able to get a record deal within a year. Once we got the demo going and got it out there. We didn't even shop it. We just got into the tape trading ordeal. So people were getting our demo all over the world and then we had a few labels come at us and then we began. MAL- You only had a reasonably short hiatus, you know eight years or so, but had the music scene changed much in that time? Did you ever like come back together and think oh shit, we're doing it this way now? Was there ever that situation? DAVID- Actually the whole metal thing is just, it's grown. When we first put the band back together and started working towards writing stuff for 'The Evolution Of Chaos', it was really building and opening up and new bands were coming out and and some of the old bands were coming out with new records, even better than before and so I don't know if it's changed so much. I'm sure it has in certain aspects but everybody's been staying busy doing something. So we've been just sort of riding the wave that's happening and then we just haven't been off that wave really. Even though HEATHEN has been a little bit on hiatus, Lee and Kragen were doing EXODUS duty. So they were touring and Jason Viebrooks who's no longer with us jumped on the whole EXHORDER thing. So he was doing it and I was doing a couple local projects. So I just think that things were steady and it's a good market now except for with the pandemic. MAL- Yeah. Yeah. We'll get to that in a moment. Now you're just about to come out with your first album in like ten years, so clearly you're not a band that rushes things. Now, I'm not judging here, but why so long? DAVID- Well, I was just talking about that. I mean it really had to do with opportunities that were coming EXODUS's way and because Lee's doing double duty, you know with HEATHEN and then EXODUS when Gary had to go in and take over for Jeff Hanneman. They asked Kragen to come in and and help out in Gary's absence and he's like the guy that could do it, you know, he's such a great guitar player. So they didn't really miss a beat. I mean it's, you know, definitely different without Gary but that train, you know kept going and it was at the expense of HEATHEN which was very frustrating for me, but it also gave me just you know family time, you know that kind of stuff. So I appreciate it. I like being busy, but I also like not being busy, you know, but that's a really that is what took so long is that just we just sort of had to wait till things slowed down for EXODUS. MAL- Has there ever been a time when you've toured together and he's been able to play with both bands on the same night? DAVID- Yeah. Absolutely. We did the Thrash Classic tour with them. We shared a bus with them and SEPULTURA and then we did a tour with them in the summer and I believe it was three tours that we did with them, but it might have been two it seems like it was three but we get along very well because we've known each other forever. MAL- Has he ever started playing the wrong song on stage? DAVID- Hahaha. No. That would be funny. You know what? We've always done is try to you know in the bigger tours like with the Thrash Classic, you know, we had it was SEPULTURA and EXODUS where it was like a co-headlining tour and then we brought DESTRUCTION on and also MORTAL SIN. I believe was yeah MORTAL SIN was on that and they opened the tour and then us and then DESTRUCTION and then, you know EXODUS kind of thing and that way Lee had a chance to sort of decompress after playing a set with us and then you know, so he's not doing back-to-back. He never came out and started playing 'Bonded By Blood' or anything like that. That'd be funny. MAL- It would be funny. Let's talk about the new HEATHEN album, just about to come out. With the current situation, how did this affect the recording of this album, or was it wrapped up and then just had to mix it during the lockdown? What's the deal? DAVID- We had it wrapped up in, all the recording was done before the end of the year and then the mixing was done probably somewhere in February, I believe, so it was all wrapped up. It was all wrapped up and we had already, you know, had booked 10 weeks, you know, actually 11 weeks of touring that was going to start in the spring and then March came and and Gary had actually rejoined with EXODUS because SLAYER's farewell tour was over. So they did the Bay Area Strikes Back tour with TESTAMENT, TESTAMENT and DEATH ANGEL and EXODUS and they went to Europe in the beginning of the year. And then this covid-19 was hitting Europe and of course, you know China and South Korea and it was just beginning over here in the States and those guys had to cancel a couple shows and then they came back and I think 10 people on that tour tested positive for the virus and Will Carroll ended up in the ICU for quite some time and was even on a ventilator in an induced coma. They got out of there by the skin of their teeth and and that's when things kind of that dark cloud came over everything. Our record was actually slated to be released in June, June 19th I believe, and then but actually the factory was affected where they make the records and CDs so it got postponed. I mean it bought us some time, you know to where we could stretch it out and you know, September will be the release date, but even at September, we don't know when things will be better to where we can actually get out and and promote the record live. MAL- With talking to people like myself what has risen to the top of favorite tracks from people. I'll give you my two cents and that's 'A Fine Red Mist' and 'Blood To Be Let'. DAVID- Yeah, that's one of my favorites right there, 'Blood To Be Let' is one of my favorites I think in the beginning I was kind of like, you know, and as we laid down the recording and the different layers of it it was like wow this one's going to be really really good. I wanted to put that song out first. That was my vote and I had an idea for like a cool crazy video for that, you know and Kragen's like 'well the label really wants to put out 'The Blight' and they think that's a good thrasher' and so I was like, 'Okay, okay, but you should listen to me what I think is strong' but everybody, you know, there's five of us and we all have to agree and then the label has their ideas on how things should go too and and we do care about what they think and we've gotten a great response to 'The Blight', 'Red Mist', It's playing in the background on a little sort of trailer thing that Kragen and I did which gives everybody a little taste of it and then next actually next Friday, another song will drop it's going to be in the title track is 'Empire Of The Blind' that video and song will drop next Friday, have a another lyric video coming out. Yeah, and it's pretty cool. It's a sneak peek of it in that in the first album trailer. There's a you know, where it's like a crushed kind of city, everything's in red and it's very much like the album cover, but that's the vision in this lyric video that will be coming out. MAL- It's (album) coming out in September now, where to from here? DAVID- Ha, well really, this is one of those types of things like with what's going on in the world with this pandemic really just looking forward to Friday and and seeing how it with the reaction is to the next song and then preparing for the record to drop which will have a another surprise with the release of the record and then from there I don't know because it just, everything is so uncertain. You know, we definitely are already making plans for next summer for a tour and you know festivals and things like that. But you know, that's all depends on whether or not we can clean this up. MAL- One last question. What's the funniest thing that's happened on tour? DAVID- Well, I can tell you a funny thing, this is years ago and it wasn't a tour but it was a festival that we played and we played Wacken in 2002 I believe and this is when Yaz was alive, our bass player. Mike Jastremski, and we played, had a great show, but the way they booked us and everything with the flights, we had to catch an early flight the very next day and like the flight was at seven in the morning so we had to get back to the hotel and we had a shuttle call at 4:00 in the morning. So everybody's like we're trying to get back and I'm trying to convince Lee, like we had all go together and he's like /I'm not going, you know UDO's playing last and I don't want to miss the show. I don't want to miss it'. And I'm like, I'm like you got we're all leaving. We're all going, you know, and I was pretty pissed because it's like, you know, I want to see UDO too but like we got a we got a shuttle call at four in the morning. So anyway, he's like 'I'll take a cab'. So we all left went back to the hotel. And of course nobody really slept and and then the guy shows up at 4:00 and Lee's still not there and then he pulls up as everybody has their stuff out, Lee pulls up and he's like, 'oh it was great UDO played all ACCEPT, they opened up with 'Fast As A Shark' and I was like 'fuck you', you know, and so we go to the airport and Yaz, he was a pretty heavy partier and drinker and he looked like death warmed over at the airport and he was like laying all over the couches and everything, and we could hear mumblings around the staff. Like these guys are drunk and we were with EXODUS too they because they played the festival and so we're like, uh-oh, you know this we could hear the rumblings. They're not going to let us fly because we're looking bad so, you know, I went up to the Yaz like 'Dude, you need to go like wash up, clean up, you know go comb your hair wash your face whatever, you know, you look like shit' and he's like, 'oh fuck you'. Okay, you know so he goes away and I'm sitting with some of the EXODUS guys and here comes this guy in a suit and he looks at us and he's like, 'Hey guys like yeah. I don't think I'm going to let you fly in my airplane today' and we're like 'what?', he's like 'You guys have been drinking we can't have you guys...', we're like 'No. No, we've been we were at a festival. Everybody's been here since you know five o'clock in the morning we drove here, you know, we're okay' and you know, we had him pretty convinced and then Yaz comes out and he walks up and he had wet his hair back and walked up the to the guy and got right up into the guy's face and said 'Am I the man in question?' And the guy just looked at him. He's like, 'Yes you are' and you know, of course he reeked of alcohol and he's like 'we got it. He's fine. He hasn't drink since last night. You know, what blah', he's like, 'well, you got to get this guy some coffee man, you know get him something to eat'. And so so I took him to get something and me and him got in a big argument and we get on the plane and they banned him from drinking, and he was sitting next to Lee across from me and he was pouting over there in the seat and he's like 'party's over party's over' and Lee's like, 'no it's not' and he ordered, you know, the little vodkas and he gave them to Yaz and Yaz got a big smile and right at that same time. I didn't know what was going on. I just looked over and he looked at me and he waved those bottles in my face like 'fuck you'. And I was like, yeah, I want to kill him right now. Anyway, that's my story. MAL- Excellent. For a minute. I thought he was going to throw up on the guy in the suit. DAVID- It was funny because you know, of course I'm pissed and because you know, we got in a big argument and then we flew and then actually we got to New York and they had actually, in Germany, they kept his passport and his ID he didn't even realize it so he got stuck at customs in New York and I remember walking out and I look back at him and I was like, 'fuck you. You asshole. Good luck. I hope they keep you here', you know, but they let him go and then we're flying back and as we're flying back, I realize you know, I'm like I am super pissed and I realized it's like I actually, his car is at Lee's and I drove with him, so he's driving me home. So just sit in the car with him the whole way, you know, but we actually it was good because on the way back we just laughed about the whole thing. He was a fucking crazy man, that guy. MAL- All right, hey Dave. I reckon we should wrap it up. DAVID- All right. MAL- David. Thanks so much for talking to me. Best of luck with your new album 'Empire Of The Blind' coming out September 18. Thanks for chatting to me. Have a great day. DAVID- All right. Thank you, you as well. Comments are closed.
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AuthorMetalhead who hates bad parking. |