PipemanRadio Interviews Byzantine at Culture Room in Ft. Lauderdale

0:04 Hey, you have done too, Yes, that's true. W why crare you young? This is to pipe Man here on the Adventures pipe Man W four c Y Radio. And I'm here with. Oh J from Byzantine. My full name is Chris o'heeda nice. And you know it's funny because I had to tell somebody outside how your band name is pronounced? Okay, and I always do at festivals. We were talking about festivals.

0:53 I always do it where the band introduced themselves. I think the worst thing you could ever do is mispronounce a band's name. You're doing press absolutely like that's embarrassing. And there's some hard ones out there. Oh yeah, there's been some. Now I'm like, I don't really know. So what I do is I'll research and I'll find another interview just to hear them how they say the band name. Yes, that's it. Like I don't want to hear the interview because. Sing with Suga bag. Oh yeah, I. Still can't say. There's some bands I know I say that, still can't say it. No, no shit. And then like nowadays it's so hard to come up with a band name because they're all taken. So they have like weird symbols and backward letters or like, you know, I just interviewed a band that they instead a they had like a V in there instead of yeah, you know, because that's what they could do.

1:46 I feel fortunate to have started the band long enough, long ago enough that we were able to get a one word, cool cool band name that actually was a word and didn't have to come up with a fake word. Right so and actually means something. Just throwing something out there. Like, I think it's cool too when bands like they throw something out there. It's like nobody has a clue or whatever. Like you know, I remember back when nobody knew what nib meant from Sabbath, right like, and it was like this big mystery, yeah. What it meant? And you know, see, I think that's brilliant because then it's like people are going to just like when you know, nineteen sixty nine radio show where they said Paul McCartney was dead, you know, and I know me, I was a kid, I bought every Beatles album just to check out all the clues right him being dead. Yeah, yeah, it's just it's wild stuff. And today I think it's harder than ever for a band, right like to really come up with something brilliant to you know, market people.

2:54 Because people have such a short attentions fan. Very short attentions fan, there is exponentially more. Signal to noise ratio going on. Like there's so many bands and so many platforms to listen to them, and it's like we even we run into it. We're you know, right now, we're currently out with Fear Factory. That's why we're. Here, right but every culture room right at the Colorida. Now, I think we forgot. I forgot to say that this is one of my favorite venues in South Florida. But every show we've done on this run, we're talking to multiple people who are like, I can't I feel ashamed that you've been around twenty five years and we've never heard your name or we've heard your name, never checked it out. And I'm like, don't feel bad. You're here now, I get it. There is a ton of bands that I've slept on too, because there's too much content out there.

3:50 You know, it's funny too, Like I said this to you last time we talked, that I found out about your music from Jose Yeah, listening on serious excitement, I was like, man, they're pretty good. I was like reached out to Liz. I'm like, I want to interview this band. I guess all you got to do is hope that you can land a good tour and and really make an impact with your live show, which I think we've been doing really, really solid on this Fear Factory run. We were perfectly primed for this run, and like the first leg we did was them in Cavalia Conspiracy where we were. An older band. Our fans are that age group.

4:34 We all listen to Kosa D and D Manufacturer, So putting us on this tour actually makes pretty sense from a age perspective. I think it makes sense from a music perspective because it's to me in the same area, you know, the same type of vibe, type of thing. Funny, we were just talking about Cavalier outside and I was saying to somebody, so I did Bloodstock, that's one of my favorite festivals do in the UK, and nail Bomb played. Oh, oh my god. It was like insane crowd that Oh it was insane because I think it was like their first show in twenty years or something.

5:15 I think it's their last. Yeah, it was it. They just played the nail Ball album, and I was like, thank God I'm here because it's like those things that those final things, like who I have thought, going back to the beginning, seventeen days later, we wouldn't. Have Ozzie, right, Like, you don't think of those things and it does happen, you know. So I think people need to go check out more bands all the time because you never know when they might not be the next time. Right right, Yeah, not to get morbid on. Every no, no, but it's the reality. Or if you retire like Megodaths just put out their putting out their final album yep. And I'm kind of laughing too because I went to the first Metallica show ever.

6:02 Really Mustaine came out after the show and handed me his business cards and Metallica power Metal. There was no thrashyere Dave Mustaine. And then I'm looking at the song list on that final album, and the last song on the song list is Ride the Lightning. Really yeah, I'm thinking myself just knowing mustain, I'm like, because it's the last song that is a big hello, that's my song. Right right? But what's been what's been the most fun or exciting or crazy thing.

6:43 That's happened so far. Playing that recently, I can tell you for myself what's been the most. What's been the most all inspiring and like U in my hat, is that you know, we're massive fans of Fear Factory. Our band has been inspired by them and to be able to come out here and have Dino asked me from the first day, Hey, you're gonna go up and sing with us. You're gonna sing a song with us every night, and I'm like what.

7:24 He said, Yeah, get your ass up here. O J love it. So he didn't have to. Do that, not at all. And for him to be so welcoming and me Lo then their singer, such a great kid, for him to be like, all right, come up, let's work out of our harmonies, because you know, on our twenty and seventeen release, we released a European version that had two covers on it and one was a Fear Factory song. So that is one of the reasons why we got the NOD for this tour is because Dino heard the pissed christ hover we did and he reached out to me on social media to let me know that we did.

8:08 We did. He got he gave us our stamp of approval. Nice. Yeah, that's that's always good, right. Oh yeah, I never know what the original band's gonna think when Yeah, they'd. Be like, I hating on it, but he loved it. And then when I get out here, he's like, you're singing it every night with us. So I mean I could end it after this tour and be like, man I did. I got to sing with one of my favorite bands on Earth ten nights in a row, you know, So that's been amazing. So if somebody came up to you and told you, like twenty years ago that that was gonna happen, what would you upset to them? No way, No, you're shitting me, no way. You know, I've been blessed.

8:48 The last tour we did was eight years ago because we don't tour a lot, you know, we're domesticated, family oriented band who just so happens. To be on Metal Blaye Records. But eight years ago, when our last album came out, we did we did a month long tour with Sacred Reich and I'm a massive Sacred Rich fan as well. Grew up on independent, you know, like it cut my teeth on it. And the last show Sacred Reich allowed me to get up and play independent on guitar with them. Nice. So I've been very fortunate to come away from these bigger tours. They always say, never meet your heroes. I've been able to come away from the last two and be like, all my heroes are read.

9:32 I've picked the right heroes. See. I love hearing that. And I did see Sacred Rich at Hellfest this year, so I was excited about that. But it's cool to hear because like, people like to talk a lot of shit and I and I've found that myself as a press person, I don't listen to the other press people because maybe you were the asshole is one I'm thinking, right and there. I've been a couple of people that artists that were talked about poorly upon by other press people and then I, you know, and I shut that shit out, and then I would talk to them and be like, what were those people thinking? Yeah, Like, you know, I've heard that about a few people that were people that I was like, oh, and then they turn out to be the nicest people.

10:17 Yeah. I mean to be honest, I was prepped by people friends in the industry, like Deno might not be the nicest guy, and I'm like, okay, well that's fine. We will be uh, we will be respectful, we'll be good boy scouts, we'll play or stuff. Get out of his way. From the get go, he's been all welcome. You know, I'm not listening to any of them. Uh yeah. And conversely, we've run into people on tour, in our tour parties that are not nice guys. But I'm not gonna you know, uh, we don't. We don't spread that word. We'd let people figure it out themselves because they might run into a different situation than we.

10:59 Did exactly, so you never know. And I find I have this scale as a press person. The icons are cool as shit because they have no clue to icons and they're just there for the music. That's why the icons. If you go into this, especially this genre, this type of music to become a rock star, you're not going to become an icon, right, you know. You become an icon because you just love playing music. Period. Then you have the lower bands, the new bands, and they need the promos. So they're cool as hell. It's usually the middle bands that maybe we're famous with one song twenty years ago that nobody cares about anymore.

11:42 And they still have that ego like they think they're gods with the music, you know, And I think just everybody should be humble and be nice and like, if you have bad situations with people, that's one thing, but just you know, just be cool and everybody else will be cool too. Oh yeah, And we're out here doing all this for the love of nobody's making a ton of money, you know, right, I'll make way more money in my day job than I do this. So for me to come out here and give anyone attitude would be uh, you know, it would be very detrimental to the band. And you know, I mean just me as a person. And then you hear you hear fans saying that bands weren't nice to them.

12:25 Sometimes and you never know it was your fault, right well, or you never know if that band woke up and if they've got COVID running through them and they all feel like shit, yeah, or one of them, one of them has a father at the house with Alzheimer's and they're thinking about them daily. So a great point. Yeah, this is a tough, tough This is a tough job to come out and put the right face on every day. But if you have the right torn party like we do right here with Fear Factory in Byzantine, the. Uh, it's easy to keep your spirits higher. And I think our fans and Fear Factories fans are probably gonna come away from this little run really happy because they've been able to see two bands getting along, famously, working well together.

13:12 And that's how that's how this whole thing stays oiled. And it's such hard work too. I think people don't realize that that just listen. To music or those shows, like like. You're saying, maybe somebody's just tired because they've been on the road every day for months, you know, and like whatever, Right, you just don't know what somebody's going through. And to me, and that's somebody that goes on tour doing festivals, I get it. It's like it's grueling sometimes. Yes, you love it, but it's grueling sometimes and sometimes you wake up in the morning you're like, I don't want to do this today until you do it. Yeah, you know. So if you're listening out there and you know you've ever.

13:54 Had a bad situation. With a touring band, it just once or whatever. It might have just been a Fluke. Yeah, they don't write us off. Sometimes we've we had you know, haven't had a good place to shit in a week and right, yeah, you can imagine how that he is as a grown man. Oh. You know what's funny about that is there's one question I usually ask in the reviews, and that's like one story good or bad that when you're like eighty, you would you would tell people or tell your grandkids that sticks out your mind. The number one answer in like over three thousand interviews, the number one answer was shitting my pants on stage.

14:35 Oh, I bet. I've heard that that can happen, right, God, that hasn't any of us. But we don't do wor a lot. But there's some people out there that are always on the road, always eating restaurant food, three o'clock in that and may or may not have to shit their pants. Y. Yeah, And if you're doing a couple of hours set, like, you can't just walk off stage and go take. Shit, you know, no, you can't. That's crazy. What do you have you played Lauderdale before? Never? Really it's the first time in Lauderdale. First time, first time being in this area. Yeah, we've only we've only toured Florida once I think in in our history, and that was back in two thousand and four or five. Wow, I think we did Orlando maybe somewhere up Tallahassee.

15:24 Yeah, nobody wants to come down here because it's rough. You got to come all the way down here to. Go all the way back there. It's a longer drive. Yeah. We you know, we've done. We've done Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Orlando before and on this run, we were fortunate enough to come from New Orleans, do Destin and then Saint Pete, Orlando, Saint Pete and down here and we love it, love it now. We we we have been the alternate band for the head Banger's Ball Boat, which is leaving on November first. Yeah. Yeah, so that's one of the reasons why we were like, you know, let's end the tour in the. Uh Fort Lauderdale area.

16:06 That way, if they call us for the boat, we're thirty minutes from the dock. There you go. The call hasn't came yet, but uh. Well I'm putting it out there. Yeah. If it doesn't this time, it will be next year. We're ready there you go. Yeah, we won on that boat. Lamb of God. Yeah, that's one I haven't been and been at and I've done ship Rocked. Yeah, but I would like to do that one. I just haven't haven't lined up, timing hasn't lined. Well, maybe we can do it together next year. Yeah, there you go, let's do that. Let's do that. Third interview is somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico. Right, So I have a trivia question for you about Fort Laurderdale. Oh okay, what is our nickname? Our meaning South Floridian's nickname for Fort Lawerdale.

16:52 Okay, this this has to be something you guys have named it. It's not like a state wide thing or a country wide thing. We won't find it in new geography book. No, no, no no, And I'll give you a hint. We were talking outside about spring break. Yeah, it has something to do with stuff that goes on at spring break or anywhere in South Florida. Okay, time I would say, does it have anything to do with wet t shirt contests or. Girls going wild or what? It's not girls, but what goes along with that partying is alcohol. So think alcohol.

17:33 How you could fit that into the name of Fort Lauderdale. For let's see, okay, and I'll give you another hit your hint, I'll give you another hint. If it was referencing girls gone wild, it would have to do with something you would do to that girl down below. Oh God, my mind is racing. I don't I don't know. You're gonna have to just tell me. Fort Liquordale, Fort Liquordale, gotcha. Let me tell you. This is one place I don't know about anywhere else, but this is one place that every morning you will see people going into the convenience store and buying one single beer and one single cigarette.

18:16 So the party doesn't stop. No, no, listen. They have the two o'clock bars, then they have the three o'clock bars, the four o'clock bars, then they have the after hours for five and six am, and then when those closed, then there's the private after hours like they're bars, but they're like speakeasy's. Like you have to know because it's illegal, you know, Like there was this place near my studio that that's where you would go when everywhere else was closed, and they'd be doing cocaine lines on the bar because and and the police substation was in the same plaza that was the that's that describes South Florida right there, liquor.

19:00 So yeah, so I guess if I was down here in my twenties thirties, i'd be at the three and four bars. Now in my fifties, I'm at the Granola bars. So yeah, things have changed. It's funny because being in my fifties before we did this interview, I went next door but like a protein bar. Yeah, yeah, that was my bar. There we go, so you don't shit your pants right right? So anything else you want to share with the fans that we haven't covered yet that may be coming up for you guys to look out for. Yeah, well, you know. If you're a fan of our band, then you know that we've just released our seventh album on Metal Blade Records.

19:42 It's called Harbinger, and it's doing very well. We're playing really good thank you, thank You. We're playing a few tunes from that every night where it looks like we're going to go home for the Winner, because we'd like to No one likes torn the Winner. We're from West Virginia, so it's blustery. Uh so we're gonna go home, and I think we're gonna go straight into the studio. It's been eight years since we released like two albums, and the guys are so jazzed up after this Fear Factory Cavalier run that they're like, let's go back in the studio, let's immediately record shit. So I don't know if that means. Cover songs and EP whatever, but we're gonna get right back onto it.

20:26 So and one of my favorite cover songs that you do, believe it or not is a Cars song. The Moving in Stereo. Y. Yes, that is like such a badass thank you. We we uh, you know, we are such big Cars fans, especially like when the bass player sings like Drive and Moving in Stereo. Those some of our favorite songs that he sang, and our guitar player, Brian sounds a lot like him, so we thought, man, let's dig into it. And we had no idea that serious sexim would gravitate towards it so much. And they play the hell out of it. Yeah, if you go onto Apple Music, it's like your second most popular.

21:10 Yeah yeah, so I guess the you know, if if anybody from the Cars is out there listening and you saw a spike in residuals for a month, right, it. Might have been. It's funny because when I was in high school, people used to call and say, oh man, you. Look just like ric Ocasic. Yeah, and I don't know if I took that as I think. You're I was really skinny. Yeah, and I was starting to grow my hair out, so I had that same hairdoo, you know, and and uh. But the saving grace of that is ric Ocasik. Pulled some of the most beautiful people women on earth.

21:50 And so there you go. Yeah, that counts to me. There you go. I'll tell you what one last thing too. You talk about metal clip Blade, I'll I'll tell you a story about Metal Blade. They'll blow your mind. Okay. So I lived in LA. My dad moved me to LA in nineteen eighty. Imagine a time to move to LA, Like right, I mean I went to Slayer's first show ever. I went to like so many people's first show there. So there was this record store in the valley called OZ Records. I love talk about this anybody that's on Metal Blade and me and my friends used to go in there and. This dude that was a record store clerk.

22:32 Would you know, show us an album? And like, you need to get this album. That's how I got my first Venom album. Showed me Venom and he would show us all the gigs to go to. That was Brian Slagel Oh it was Yeah. When he first started Metal Blade. He was working the record store. Yes, and I was like a few years back I saw him. I'm like, man, I gotta tell you think about now, what a brilliant marketing plan. He goes, Shit, I was just a record store clerk. I didn't mean to do that. That's funny. Brian slag was one of the most humble individuals, right, and he changed the face of heavy metal. And not be seen here if it weren't right.

23:14 Yeah, me either. And the interesting thing is the other great thing about Brian Slag was he's a testament that heavy metal keeps you young because he doesn't look like he's aged more in ten years in last forty. Yeah, he looks like he did when he worked at OZ Records. Yeah, very young. It's wild, you know. Yeah, Well there you go. You're gonna be playing a killer set here at Culture Room. I'm super excited and thanks for being on the Adventures of Pipe Man. Thankstin. Good talk to you again, my man. Thank you for listening to the adventures of pate Man. I'm w for Cui Radio.