Jon Donais of Living Wreckage New Single “Righteous Side Of Sanity” - PipemanRadio Interview

0:04 Hi, you have done to censure fore Wow, crazy young. Your show just was his. Sean say you lost me? Sorry, it's the pipe Man here on the Adventure's Pipe Man W four c Y Radio, fresh back from Welcome to Rockville in Daytona, Florida. As you can tell, I lost my voice. But no rest for the Wicked because we're back with a killer band that we need to interview that was not at Rockville. But I'm gonna tell Danny Wimber in this interview that he needs to put them on Rockville next year. Yeah, so let's welcome to the show.

1:02 John from Living Wreckage, how are you? I'm great? How about you? Oh, phenomenal? Except I can't speak at all, and that's kind of hard. It's kind of hard when you're a radio person to not be able to speak, you know. But time, so that's all that can. I always have a good time at the festivals. Like, here's my viewpoint about music. If you're a musician or have any part of music and you're not having a good time, it's the wrong industry of being because most everything else besides the fun of being at the show or playing the show, pretty much is not fun. Yeah, it's the traveling sucks, and but the show is what makes it, makes it all worth it. But those Danny Webber festivals, I've done a handful of those with Anthrax Chats Fall, and they're they're awesome.

1:55 Right, it's a fun time and they're only getting bigger and better. Yeah. I hope some Dayling Wreckage gets to do it because I just love doing those. Yeah. And you know what, I love hearing that because I've been doing the festival, the festivals since the very beginning. I do all of them, and I always ask artists at the festival, how does Danny treat you as an artist? Because you know, you as an artist, know that there's you know, some festivals you're not treated so great as those festivals. You know you have sandy can and maybe not the best catering backstage, and maybe it's not that comfortable. But Danny Weber's fest they're always comfortable and it's all good.

2:42 And it makes it easy too when you have somebody running it like a well oiled machine like Danny Dad's because nothing's worse than stressing out on loading and sound checked before you gotta do a gig. It's his people all care they care about the fans and they care about the bands, and it's. It's for great and to me that's so important. Yeah, And I think that it's stuff like that that makes me being a musician saying, hey, this is a good day. Yeah. And it's cool because it's not all the same type. Of band either, even though it's mainly rooted in rock and metal, but there's so many diverse acts and it's it's a little something for everybody. As a perfect example, we got code redded, well three days in a row, but one of the days we got code redded, which is the evacuation, Waka Flaka was performing and he jumped out into a crowd and started a mosh pit where the last people you would think would start a mosh pit, and there it was.

3:43 Yep, it's good time, man. Yeah, I think what That's also what happens with the Danny Wimmer festivals like Europe. It's brought together multiple genres and exposed people to multiple genres. Because I'll tell you what that crowd for Walker Floka was one of the biggest crowds at the festival. And that's not a metal head. No thing. That's a good thing is because It exposes people to something they probably wouldn't go out on their own. To check out. Mm hmm, but exactly, and they're like, oh, wow, I do like this, you know this is correct, or maybe I've never heard of this band or what's this? And then that's the greatest is when you discover something that they like, because finding new new music rules exactly.

4:29 You know. That's why I think festivals are about myself anyway, Like the people that complain, oh, my favorite band, the only one that was going to see got cut or whatever. If you're going there to see one band good at their concert, yeah. You know. To me, the festivals where I find my new favorite bands, yeah. You gotta. You gotta at least want to have it see a handful of dancing if you're gonna go to that. Exactly. So tell me how Living Wreckage came about. Salut Wreckage was born in the all of twenty nineteen, but timing, Yeah, so this is how went down. So Interactions finished up third tour cycle. So I knew I was gonna have some time off. I didn't know I was gonna have that.

5:14 Much time off. So as we know, this shit hit the fan for a couple of years. Yeah, well I had a lot of times. So I got to put together a band. We wrote a record. That record, the first record, Debut, came out September twenty twenty one. Now we're working on the second record. We're six songs mix and mastered, and we're going back in August to finish the rest of it and then hopefully we're hoping in an early twenty twenty seven release. Nice and I have to focus on something with the records now. First of all, I've said for a while, if you're gonna take a positive of that whole lockdown of live music during COVID, then what it is it gaves artists the chance to jump off that hamster wheel and get creative again.

6:09 Yeah me, I think that's what happened. There was nothing to do but that, and right, I mean I got super down during that time because I didn't know be a musician. You couldn't have you couldn't have a worse profession. Because the last people they want back to do anything. So we were the last ones to get back out there. And there was a point where I was like, is this ever going to be a thing again? You know, it's very It was very scary. But that being said, I was playing guitar every day because one thing that could help me keep my mind off things. And I wrote a lot of risks for Living Records and a lot of risks for Shadows Wall. Nice. Nice.

6:49 And so now you have the second album you're working on. What I really think too is you know, you kind of had to rush the debut album, and this one you're able to take your time, be creative and polish it absolutely. Because the first one, when we went in to record that we were only planning on doing five songs, maybe an EP. We're gonna have EP or show it to some some labels see if there was interest, and we were moving so fast that we were like, all right, let's just record the record because we're here, let's do it. So it was kind of cool to do it that way.

7:29 But this one is a lot more laid back. We're we're recording and now we're taking some time away, get to live with the songs a little bit changing and we don't want and we're gonna go back yet for another session late summer, do it over again, live with it for a little bit, and release it in twenty twenty seven. Nice and that's one of the good things about having our producer Zeus. We all live near each other, so we can whenever we're open, we can just be like, all right, hey. Manny, why don't you want to do this now? And it's not a schedule. We have to do it from this state to this day and that's it. You know, it's kind of it's real. Laid back, and that makes it so much more fun.

8:10 Yeah, because there's no all right, we're in the studio, we have three weeks, like no messing around, let's go go, and then you're thinking how we're going to finish this at some point. You know, I've been in those situations like we have how many Like. We're not going to fucking get it done by then? Right, Exactly, It's very cool to have this laid back. It's the same way because Shattle's Fall is doing the record with Zoos too, So that's a good thing about one of the major perks of having a kick ass producer that lives. Exactly, and so what made you think to do Living Wreckage instead of like writing more music for Shadows Fall or anything else that you were doing. So Shadows Falls heavier, that's more thrash death metal oriented and.

8:55 I I grew up on the. Classic metal like I I love the hair metal, like I love bon Jovi's. I don't know, I don't even like that term. It's just it was like the commercial eighties medal, you know, but on TV that's what made me want to play Rat bon Jovi, skidro the guys who are in the main rotation of MTV. And then of course I got a little bit older and I got into stuff like Priest Maiden and then the Big Four eventually death metal. But with Living Wreckage, I wanted to have a more melodic hard rock metal band. So that's where we're more towards that end in Shatle's Falls and more towards the extreme metal end. Uh. But yeah, I think Living Wreckage rides a fence of like thrash and some Marina Rocks. So I think we can go out with with some thrash metal bands, like melodic thrash band like Testament. I think we can make it work, or we.

9:52 Can go out with some more you could probably do with Megadeath too, yeah. Like something that and I think then I think we can go with maybe. More of a rock right Radio type stuff like Volby just yeah, I think we can play with both crowds and kind of fitted somewhere in there. Was listening to a song right just side of Sandy, the first single, and it's funny you're saying what you are because the exact vibe I got within thirty seconds. It was like if fistful of Metal the album were combined with power metal. Yeah the song.

10:33 So when I wrote the music to that, I was saying that I was listening to a lot of Maiden Priests and Rat at the time. I to see it too. But there's some trash metals sprinkled in there. You know. It definitely had kind of I'm an old school thrash meow ed. I was at Slayer, Metallica's first show ever, so you know, and funny story that I say about the power metal thing that first Metallica gig. Mustain gets off the stage and he starts talking to me. I'm like thirteen, I think, and he hands me this business card, like everybody asked me nowadays, he still have it. No, I was thirteen. I was like, what the fuck is this and throw.

11:14 It away, but right but it said Metallica power Metal. Dave mustain because there was no thrash name. Yeah yeah, nobody named it yet, yeah exactly. So it's like, it's kind of funny to think of Metallica being considered power metal. Yeah, but then I listen to this song and I can see it because that's what I heard was power thrash. I like that, So I would say what Living Wreckage is is it's like eighties, nineties, early two thousand's metal hard rock mixed altogether. But it's the thing is all the vocals are mostly melodic. There's some screams in there, but we wanted to make sure or when we started the band, we were gonna get them alodic singer.

12:06 And you know what that that is something funny enough that I have the big four that would describe Belladonna. Yeah, which is funny because when I was a kid, they were the first ones that I got into out of that genre because of Joey's voice, because I was more into the pop metal I guess right, So the other bands are a little bit too scary for me, but Joey's vocals that caught my attention. I was like, all right, the big melodies they Answers had the big melodies still even though the guitars were trashy and stuff, there's big vocal hooks and you know, Joey's that good of a singer. He can go do the national anthem, you know. No, No, he's a singer.

12:54 Singer exactly like he goes and does his journey thing. And yeah, that's but I definitely wanted when we were star Dispadma. I want a singer singer, like a guy who would be able to do the national anthem. But you know, he's a rock singer, has some balls, you know. And what's cool about your music is I find nowadays with the heavier extreme music, there is no real diversity to it. Like if you take a lot. Of them that have no blending of genres and going yeah, micro genre, they all sound the same, like they're using a formula to make metal music. It could be hard. It's like to me a lot when I'm listening to a lot of the newer stuff, it's hard for me to say who's who because.

13:42 I can't and I was never like that. And I also like bands. It's my favorite stuff. Is like when you hear the chorus the second time, you. Got it right now. The songs there so I like try to go for that. Like if you if you can remember, remember the chorus after the second time you did something right there you go. I love it And like, okay, so you I remember back in the eighties, you know, people used to say, oh, that stuff sounds the same, and I used to argue with them because it didn't. Yeah. Now I'm like, I'm that group to. All those singers in the eighties, Like, uh, you could tell who they were as soon as they start singing, Like any of the any of the Big Four, you know right away which.

14:24 Band it is, as soon as exactly I talked about that all the. Time, or even all the commercially eighties bands, you know, Axel, Rose, bon Jovi, Sebastian Bach, they all. You know who they are as soon as they start singing. Well, that's like when you take some of those bands and play a different singer, it's not that band in my opinion. Like you take Motley Crue, okay, when they had Karabe, you know he's good, but he's not Motley Crue, Like Vince Neil is the sound of Motley Crue, even with a bad voice. It's the it's harder the singer because that's what you get used to, that's the hardest person to change it.

15:05 And to me, sometimes some bands pull it off, but. I don't know, I don't know, that's that's. A very very few do though. Like, yeah, we've been unpopular opinion. But you know, Armored Saints one of my favorite bands. I love John Bush. I'm not into him being Anthrax as singer like to me and like I heard Neil originally, but to me, most of the time that was just one album. It was Joey and that was the sound of an Throst. Yeah, when you get. Used to something, it's it's hard to to change your way of thinking. Uh, what one band that I that I love both and I can't decide. I go back and forth.

15:49 Well, kill Switch, no, Van Halen. Oh see, I'm a total David Lee Roth. I love both, and it just depends what mood I'm like. I like sometimes I like that more polished. Well, I like Sammy Hagar as a musician, as a vocalist, but you know. I all like like like I'm from. The beginning of Van Halen and like David Lee Roth, he was just such a Yeah, I. Know, I know he's one, but and then I also love davely Roth, Eat Him and Smile. I thought that was an unbelievable record because that holds a certain place for me because my first two tapes when I was a kid was Christmas at eighty six, I Got Slippery when Wet and I got Eat Him and Smile in my first Moon Box. So that was it. That was like when this all started. Then, I you know, I had tonal vision.

16:49 If I want to play in a band, that's and so that's what started it for you. Then that's what led us to today. Yeah, that that was it. So what led me today and literally today is I was from Jersey and nineteen eighty my dad came up to me and said, pack your bags were moving to California in three days. Whoa. And then shortly after I'm there, I went to my first club show ever at the Roxy on the Sunset Strip. It was Motley Crue before they ever had an album. They weren't even glam yet. They were like horror punk.

17:29 So you went straight into Hollywood. Oh one hundred percent. Man. I was on that whole eighty Sunset Strip scene. Where the truth Where were you in Jersey before that? I grew up in North Jersey Montclair, liw falls roseland I've lived all over Jersey. I actually went back to go to college. That was my choice. But no, you you. Saw the sunset at the height of. At all. Yeah, I mean I wish I could have a time machine as Oh. My god, it was insane. Like a lot of bands you're mentioning, you know, it's like Rat. I remember I used there was one gig it was Armored Saint and Rat, and like I was friends with Armored saintan It's like, do you want to hang backstage or go see the Rat shop?

18:20 Like fuck, I'm not going to see Rat, but I did. Like one of the first times I ever had sex was to Sweet Cheater. Awesome. I remember it all too well too, because my dad came home and decided that was the night he was gonna give you a lecture for smoking. But yet I had some chick in the bedroom and he didn't know while I was listening to a Rat. And then like those parties, man, like I was at the party when you know, Vince left with Razzle, which that kind of sucked. But those parties were like unbelievable, Like are you just to hang out with Mick Mohr's at the mall. Mick Marrs and Chris Holmes of Lost.

19:07 We used to go to the mall. Oh yeah, I could like that Decline of the Western civilization. Man, it's like home movies. I watched that thing so many times, and if if I still come across it, I'm gonna watch it. If it's on somewhere, I'm gonna sit down and watch their whole thing. It's like home movies to me. And then also the one uh uh Murder in the Front Row. That's total home movie. Yeah, yeah, the thrash metal one. Yeah, because you know, like I was really into Slayer Metallica when they first came out, yep, And I was kind of like not into the hairbands because there was a lot of gatekeeping back then. Yeah, I know I liked some of them, but you couldn't admit it.

19:49 You know, right. You know. I had that talk with some of the Exodus guys because we were on the last Anthrax tour was Megadath, Exodus and Anthrax, and we did Canada and we all went on the Anthrax crew boss. They were were throwing them back, having a good time, and we put on hair Metal and when Rat came on. Even Gary and Lee the Exodus Ark Clays were like, yeah, like we all like this stuff. Even we said we couldn't say it, but we all knew Rat was. Totally and funny story about that with Exodus and that whole thing. Like so when when Slayer went up to the Bay Area after Metallica, they used to wear an eyeliner to look evil. Yeah, so they went, Yeah, they went up there in Exous was like, yeah, take that ship off. That don't fly up here maybe in LA but not here, you know, and they're like, oh, it's for evil.

20:44 We don't give a fuck, take that ship off. Yeah. And then when Metallican Slayer left LA, me and my bro used to hitch to Bay Area to go to those shows up there that were absolutely insane. Yeah, that was another scene, man. So you got you were in two major scenes where everyone talks about and wish they could be. There, you know, right from the very beginning. Like, yeah, you saw that's insane because you saw the commercial side of it, you know, with Rat and Motley, and then you got to see the underground part. But then even those bands all became. Huge, and I remember sitting backstage teenager you know, and watching all these hairbands sign with record labels and listening and the record labels telling them, Okay, you're gonna dress like this, you're gonna do your music like this, and kind of turned me off the music. Like I left the music scene because of it, because like, fuck that.

21:43 I wouldn't want anybody telling me how to do music, you know. Yeah, it seems like if you were on a major label like then, you were getting told what to do. Totally. My belief is there is a place for the suits, you know, I'm all about that, but let them do their job and let the musicians. Do their job, like, yeah, they're not the ones that should say how a musician plays their music. That's my opinion. Yeah, I agree, that's why I've got you know, it's nice that that's some of the the smaller labels took over for rock and metal because they weren't like that totally big because the smaller labels were more fans. The indie labels were more fans than the suits. They understood the music and they were fans of the music, so they weren't gonna No one was gonna tell Slayer to write.

22:36 About it, you know, exactly and I talk about all the time and praise Brian. Slagel, Like even a few years ago, I walked up to him. I was like, man, you were a genius. He goes, that was just a record store clerk because he used to be a record store clerk at OZ Records and then he started Metal Blade and so all us teenagers used to go in there to get our albums. And he's the one that introduced me to much every band and every show that I went to. Yeah, rules, he's a great guy. Like he didn't plan it that way, but a brilliant way to market because we'd be a teenager, here, check out this album, and you'd buy it because he said check out this album or here Bam magazine, go to this show.

23:22 Yeah, or when labels, the underground labels, whether it's like Metal Blade, Century Media like all the like Nuclear Blast type labels, you would you would buy a band. You would take a shot at it just because the band was on that label. You're like, well the label the good, Yeah, must be blindly buy it. Oh yeah, Like I think about it too, Like today I think a lot of kids are probably missing out on what would be their favorite bands. Yeah, a hundred. I agree because I've had this experience. I used to so in high school, I would save up my lunch money.

24:04 I wouldn't eat lunch, so about the end of the week, i'd have enough money to buy a CD exactly. And then maybe it didn't hit me right away, but I'm like, you know what, I saved up all week for this. I'm gonna see if there's something there. So I just keep listening and listening, and eventually a lot of that shit became my favorite stuff, and it hit me right away. Pantera was like that. I was just a skid Row freak as a kid. They were opening up for skid Row. I'd never heard anything that heavy in my life. I was except Metallica was the heaviest thing I was listening to. I saw them and I was like, I don't know, man, I mean, the crowd's going crazy, and I'm like, h this is something different. So I was taking guitar lessons at the mall. I wouldn't pass the record. So I'm like, I'm gonna buy that Pantera cit because I just saw them and I had to spin in a few times. Now they're my favorite band.

24:52 Well, it's funny you should say that because I had a similar experience when I bought Black and Black Back in Black. First of all, I was a Bond Scott fan anyway, but I didn't like that album when I first listened to it. But you know, you paid your good money that you worked your ast to get your your seven dollars or whatever, and and so you would listen it over and over again because you weren't to waste your money. Yeah, and then I loved it. And plus there wasn't seven hundred thousand records coming out that day like now, it's just like, well, if you don't you sometimes you don't even get through half the first song and you don't even give it a chance because. You're out, like what else can I get? And you can have it like that?

25:35 Well, I think of some of my favorite songs. Ever, if I were in this generation, I would never listen to the song because like like You Take Battery by Metallica, I would listen to the first ten seconds and like what the hell is this and then go to the next track. But then if you waited a few seconds, yeah, you know, thinking. About all those songs with those long inch that like yeah, in a half intro until the vocals coming that you would like people would have just been like next. Next, exactly, you know. And I think of too when you know one of my favorite songs, Fast as a Shark, that beginning, you know, and you know it's funny. So the former guitars Spits is a good friend. It's a good friend of mine, and he told me straight out, he goes. We all sat around when that song came out and we were like, oh my god. And they all the Big four all deem that the first thrash metal song ever.

26:47 I've heard them talk about that. Yeah. And I have a story too that's wild about that song. Because so I went to see Ausie with Randy Rhodes. Oh yeah. It was a New New Year's Eve, right before he died. And I lied to my dad, told him I was sleep at my friend's house. My friend lied to his parents say he was sleeping at my house. You know, you do that. And then we went to a show and then we got back at like I don't know, two in the Mornia or whatever, so we just I lived in Lake Lindero and Agora, where there was a hill in my backyard that went down to the lake. So we just went to the bomba hill by Lake, so if my dad woke up, he wouldn't see me. But we were still at my house. My next door neighbor comes out and I'm like, oh fuck, and she goes, hey, boys, were you just at the Aussie show because she saw us wearing his shirts and stuff. And we're just like, yeah, we thought we were busted. She goes, hold on, don't move famous last words that you think you're busted? I want to get my husband. Husband comes out, he invites us up to the house. He had a studio in his house wall to wall cassette tapes and turned out he was Ozzie's promoter.

28:00 Like, what are the chances? Holy shit? And he hands me this tape and he goes, listen to this band because they have uh they're not in this country yet, they'll be here in about six months and they're gonna be huge, and it was that restless and wild CD Oh wow. So I remember we listened to the first song, of course, Fast as Shark, and we were just like, holy shit, what the hell is that? Yeah, that's a great story. Right, you know, that's the eighties. There's lots of great stories.

28:42 You know. If you remember them all. That's a whole other story because of all the debauchery, no doubt. So tell everybody how they can reach out to you on socials, on the web, get the album, check check everything out. Yeah, Living Records and myself, I'm on Facebook and Instagram the new single. I would say, if you like classic metal thrash and check out Living Recags new single right just side of Sanity, and help us spread the word. We need to help. Well, I'm glad to spread the word because that everybody's got to listen to that song is badass. Also, I'm a gamer, so I really love that the single is to be featured on sound System So that's really freaking cool.

29:35 That's why we put out a single right now. I mean because we put it out ourselves, a standalone single because the sound System game, there's already people demo in the game on YouTube. Nice, so the song was out there. I'm like, we better get the real version out there because the game and one has all the like ping bang bang bing you know, all over it. I'm like, oh, that's I don't I don't want people to think that's the song. Like, so we kind of rush and put out the single just so people can hear it, and plus we're excited to get some kind of new music out there, so let people know we're still working. Totally well, I love it, and I also have the utmost respect for any musician that can change gears to working in multiple bands and multiple genres. That's a true musician.

30:22 Riff Nice, I love it. That's that's how to do it. That shows that you absolutely are a musician, that you love it. I'm a lifer there. It is. Well, thanks a lot for giving us some more great music, and thanks for being on the Adventures of pipe Man. Thank you man. I hope your voice feels better. Yeah, I got another interview after this. It will feel better, just in time maybe to go to download in a couple of weeks or actually to a Milwaukee metal fest too. Okay, Yeah, I leave for Europe Monday with anthwer Action. We're doing all the festivals out there, so nice. Yes, I normally do Hell Festive. I'm not doing it this year because my son wanted to do some Father's Day thing. But yeah, I love the European festivals and the UK festivals. You guys should play a bloodstock too. We have, we have I love that festival.

31:16 Maybe next year. There you go. All right, Well take it easy brother, and we need a promotion. Just let me know. Thank you so much, you got it. Bye. Thank you for listening to the Adventures of plate Man on w for c UI Radio