Hi! Reflecting on your journey from OVERKILL to ‘Dreadful Company’, how have you evolved creatively?
I’m probably not so stuck in my lane ya know. I kinda feel free at this point to do and try whatever is intriguing me at the time. So, Overkill or Big Band or punk rock, and as long as I’m digging it… I jump in.
Can you share the defining moment or experience that inspired the concept behind ‘Dreadful Company’?
I don’t think it was really like that… I had wanted to do an album like this for a long time. So really it was more getting the time to actually be able to do it.
‘Dreadful Company’ explores a range of emotions. How did you navigate weaving these complexities into the album’s sound?
I tried to not make it so complicated. I kept the theme of high energy, regardless of what I was singing about that was my main component. So for a song like All You Need To Know it was easy, just a faster paced song, but a song like Tears on My Heart, even though it’s slower and kind of a 50’s style song… it has good energy.
Were there any unexpected moments in the studio that ended up significantly influencing the album’s direction?
When I wrote it I wrote it with a lot of wide-open Ramones type chords so I could get the melodies and such together. But when I came back to finalize the guitars, I started to play a little more of my style, weaving some thrash palm muting in there and that really became the style of the record, where it was a good blend of genres.
How do you anticipate your longtime OVERKILL fans will connect with this stylistic shift in your solo work?
Honestly, I have no idea. I guess like most things some will love it, and some will not. I think I have done enough things outside Overkill that our fans kind of know that I like to try different things, so they are cool with that. And Overkill has plenty of punk roots in it too… so who knows?
Beyond music, what personal beliefs or values did you draw upon while crafting the themes of ‘Dreadful Company’?
Just trying to comment on things I see around me really. Really kind of all over the place. Lunkhead the first single was about big mouths that just can’t keep their opinions to themselves, Cemetery Safari was about being in a band for so many years and how fun it still is, All You Need to Know was about working hard and not worrying how much it pays…. so just a lot of different observations in the world.
If you were to capture the essence of ‘Dreadful Company’ in a single visual image, what would it look like and why?
Probably the album cover itself. I love the idea of scratching the title over and over again on the wall like a crazy person, more like a single-minded person. Which is how I felt about this record just wanting to do it for so many years.
What creative freedoms did you find particularly liberating during the making of ‘Dreadful Company’?
Probably that it could be fun and funny. With metal and Overkill in particular, we do some of that, but the music is so pounding it mostly does not lend itself to those kinds of themes. But punk you can do a lot of tongue in cheek stuff, and just flat-out funny stuff… at least to me.
Does ‘Dreadful Company’ offer any commentary on contemporary social or cultural issues, and if so, how?
It certainly tried not to. Nothing worse than a movie or album that is “ripped from the headlines” to me. This should be an escape, come and have a beer, a few laughs, sing and shout, get in the pit… just have fun.
Looking ahead, what impact do you hope ‘Dreadful Company’ will have on your musical legacy?
Honestly, I don’t think I really have a concern about my musical legacy.
Collaborating with Jason Bittner on drums, what unique dynamics did he bring to the album’s creation?
Jason always plays with a lot of energy, and so that was really important to me on this record. And he’s quick, not for nothing but some drummers take forever, Jason can get the song and get great parts and stuff quick, and then is quick to record too which is great.
In what ways did creating ‘Dreadful Company’ challenge or inspire personal growth for you as a musician?
Anytime I am singing I learn more and more. About harmonies and what I can and cannot sing. I give so much more credit to singers nowadays. It’s like a whole world as a musician that you really don’t know anything about. It’s like the rest of the world just goes oh I like that singer’s voice etc…. but there’s a lot there just to get to that.
How has your connection with the metal community shaped your approach to crafting solo projects like ‘Dreadful Company’?
The metal community are probably the best people in the world. Very loyal and really open to letting anyone in the club, it’s the love of the music that matters to them.
Where do you see the future of punk and metal genres heading, and how do you aim to influence their evolution?
I don’t know as much about the punk scene but metalheads are metalheads. It’s kinda the same now as it was 40 years ago. Go look at a concert back then, all the fans are wearing black, they all have shirts of their favorite bands on, they are singing, and moshing etc etc…..
Besides music, what other art forms or creative pursuits inspire and inform your approach to composing and performing?
I like to read so there are always cool things in books. Whether it’s titles or cover art, or stories that give you ideas. I like movies a lot too and I think there is a lot to pull from them as well for inspiration and visual ideas.
Looking forward in your solo career, what excites you most about the possibilities that ‘Dreadful Company’ has opened up for you? Thank you!
As always with anything a musician does is the chance to play it live. With this it could be an interesting idea, I would have to put a band together, maybe do some songs from my whole career…. would be a really fun thing to try so hopefully we’ll be coming to a town near you.
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