Fuck yeah. Better late than never, right?
This, with Final Drive, is one of my rejected interviews. I am, in all honesty, still upset that this one never made it "live", as I was actually very proud of the finished product. And because those kids were just so damned awesome. Seriously, they were the nicest bunch you could ever imagine. I feel like balls because I wasn't able to get the interview published.
I wish them all the luck in the world and hope they make a million fucking dollars. Rock out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Crazy Donkey is a sparsely furnished, parquet-floored nightclub across the highway from Long Islands MacArthur Airport. Sure, the bartender looks a lot like Lita Ford, but the big room lacks the sticky grossness on the floor and the smoky haze that I have grown accustomed to over the years. Before I have a chance to ponder the true hardcore nature of the venue, I find myself being led away to a tiny basement room, packed to the gills with tall guys sporting dark clothes and impressive facial hair, and big plastic tubs stuffed with ice and beverages. In am empty space between the coat rack and some pipes is Final Drive, the Missouri-based act that has been generating quite a buzz since being featured on the MTV oeuvre Battle For Ozzfest.
Only twenty-four hours after a disappointing jaunt to Washington, DC, where the band was met with little more than inaugural roadblocks and miles of backed-up traffic, these road warriors have traveled 400 miles in the space of hours to play a show with friends Sicks Deep and Trauma Concept. They have agreed to meet with me for a bit before the show, since we missed our opportunity to chat after the Satyricon cancellation debacle in December.
Guitarist Nathan Easter, the strangely charming, cowboy-hatted guitarist and Andy Becker, the low-key drummer, have known each other since they attended the same grade school. A few years later, with the help of original bassist Casey Logue and well-spoken guitarist Chris Nanney, Final Drive was born. Mutual friend Pat Martin introduced the vocal power, which came in the form of high-energy Jordan Gaw, who swaggers about onstage like Axl Rose in his prime. When Casey quit the band this past summer, Chelsea Muckerman stepped in with bass in hand to fill the void. She ultimately was chosen to represent Final Drive on MTV, and speaks about the experience with grace and good humor. Though this line-up has only been playing together less than six months, they seem genuinely happy in each others company, both offstage and on.
Mr. and Mrs. Osbourne certainly had their work cut out for them when it came time to select someone to represent Final Drive on Battle For Ozzfest. Each member of the group brings something unique to the table, evident even in the mere 40 minutes I spent in their company. Mesh together these personalities and a fivefold penchant for playing highly kick-ass music, and you can tell that these kids, along with their exceptional manager Monster, are going to conquer the world in approximately 36 seconds. And it couldnt be done by a nicer group of rockers.
Catherine Flecker: Im assuming that this past year has been pretty crazy, with the change in line-up, the release of the album, the touring, being on television, etc. Looking back to when you first started playing music, is this something that you expected to happen, or have you surpassed your own expectations?
Andy Becker: Well, I always knew that this would happen. (nods)
Chris Nanney: You fucking asshole. (laughs)
Jordan Gaw: Well, as far as whats to be expected, who ever really knows? Right now were working hard, doing what we want to do. We dont have any expectations of whats to come, but were certainly not ruling anything out, either.
Nathan Easter: Well said.
CF: How has being part on an MTV series changed your fan base? Do you find that the people attending your shows now are a younger crowd, the 15-year-old Hot Topic set?
CN: Its probably the same people, just more. We have been getting a younger crowd too, a lot of hits on the website from younger kids, telling us how much they love our music and want us to keep going.
Chelsea Muckerman: Or come play a show where they live.
JG: Oh yeah, its kids from all over the place Finland, I think. Australia.
CM: Puerto Rico.
JG: Yeah, Puerto Rico. People from all over, and everything that they say is so well appreciated.
CF: Even though Battle For Ozzfest didnt focus that much on the musical aspect of the Ozzfest tour, do you look at what made it to television and find that it accurately portrays life on the road for a metal act?
CM: We didnt really get to experience that, honestly. If it had been [more true to life], I wouldnt have been there without the guys, getting homesick for them and missing playing with the rest of the band. In general though, we got to see the harder side of what it takes to put on a show. We got to do the work, do the sound, the lights, all of that sort of stuff.
JG: Its too bad that it wasnt more about the music, but I guess [MTV] had to get good ratings so they can sell shit so they can pay shit.
NE: And shit, and all that shit.
CF: (straining to hear over the din of background conversations) Im sorry, what did you say?
JG: Oh, you gotta watch out for that guy, hes got a cowboy hat on, you never know whats going to come out of his mouth. (everyone laughs)
CF: I hate to seem like Im singling you out, Chelsea, but I think youll be able to answer this more accurately. Were any of the bands on the Ozzfest tour especially supportive? Or did you get the vibe that they were looking at you guys like pay your dues? I dont mean these bands (gestures across the room to Trauma Concept and Sicks Deep), but others who were actually playing on the tour.
CM: There was a bit of controversy with a few of the bands, yeah. They were pretty much seeing as little amateur kids that didnt need to be back there with everybody, being in everybodys way. But as we actually showed up and did the work that we had to do, like the stagehands told us, when people saw that we were putting in some 14-hour days like the rest of the crew, we gained a little bit more respect. We had to earn it. If we slipped up even a little bit, that was it, it was all gone and we had to gain it back.
CF: Was there anyone that was particularly helpful that youd like to mention?
CM: The riggers, definitely. Opie, and Rigger Dan, who unfortunately [has since passed away]. The riggers were absolutely amazing. They taught us so much about what it takes exactly to put on a show. Theyll start at 4:30, 5:15 in the morning and wont get done until 11, midnight, one oclock in the morning some nights. They actually showed what it as a person took to get it all done. They were the most helpful. And obviously Big Dave was awesome. Hes the original road dog, he taught us everything like you dont shower, you dont eat, you dont sleep, you dont play until the work gets done. But then when the work was done, we got our benefits from it. He came through with what he said.
CF: Obviously you guys stay in touch with the friends youve made from the show. How did these shows come to be, and do you plan on having more with other bands that were on Battle For Ozzfest?
JG: We would like to do more. These dates with Sicks Deep and Trauma Concept worked out really well with everyones schedule, and it helped that theyre both from [the East Coast]. I think well be seeing Manntis in California, but thats it. Well be out doing our thing, and if anyone else wants to catch up, great, well see them then, but if not well, there you go.
CF: Do you feel as though the experience on Battle For Ozzfest has changed your band dynamic at all?
NE: Can you rephrase that?
CF: Do you think that the public sees your band more along the lines of Chelsea & Final Drive?
NE: Oh. Yup. (there is a momentary silence before everyone laughs)
CN: They see her face on TV, and well utilize publicity like that to get our band known. It all works out.
AB: It cant be avoided, so fuck it.
CF: What is going on with you guys now? You just released an album in the fall, so what projects are you working on right now?
CM: Were in the middle of a project right now. Were going to be on tour for about 2 and a half months.
JG: Yeah, were just touring, touring, touring and more touring. Were using this opportunity to spread our music around to everyone that we can find. Hopefully thatll keep us going.
CN: Were working on writing some new things. And touring. And thats it.
NE: Andy and I are working on a project--
AB: Yeah, were going to be doing some mouth music with Kansas.
CF: Looking back on the nightclub shooting that killed Pantera founding member Dimebag Darrell Abbott, do you find yourselves more aware of what is happening in the crowd while youre onstage? Do you ever worry that something like that could happen again?
NE: I was actually thinking about that recently. But, if youre going to get shot well, youre going to get shot. And if you get shot in the head onstage while playing guitar, well at least youre dying doing what you love. (there is a unanimous declaration of agreement to this statement)
CF: Who are your musical influences?
CM: It goes across the board, the music that I like. Pantera, A Perfect Circle, Tool. I like almost everything. I dont dig rap all that much, and Im not a big country fan, but I can listen to just about anything.
JG: Guns N Roses
CN: Deftones were always a really big influence on me, especially right when they came out. Its going to sounds clich now, but Pantera. How could you not love Dimebag, or the band in general? Im getting influenced by a lot of the new hardcore bands coming out, like Unearth, Every Time I Die, Bleeding Through. And of course you cant ever escape the old shit, because thats where all of this started from anyway. Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Skynyrd-- cant go wrong with Skynyrd. Its so diverse, you can grab a little of something from everybody.
NE: W.A. Mozart, B.B. King, Stevie Ray Vaughn. Hmm, lets see all of the above, such as Pantera. Alice In Chains. Thats about it, off the top of my head.
AB: Ive got nothing that anyone hasnt already said.
CM: Well really listen to most of the same stuff. On the road, well listen to Guns N Roses for an hour, then A Perfect Circle or Hatebreed. We dig a lot of the same stuff. We all respect the classics, and get into a lot of the new stuff thats coming out now.
CF: Is there anything I havent already asked that you guys would like to discuss?
JG: If anyone would like us to come play a show in their town, just get in contact with us and well try our best to come out and see you.
NE: And donations are accepted by Gibson--Flying V, to be exact-- ESP guitars, Pearl drums, Zildjian cymbals, Galle and Krueger bass cabinets and bass rigs, DR strings, Dunlop picks, and Beta 58 wireless microphones.
Final Drive is currently on the road until mid-March, promoting their new album Good Things Come To Those Who Refuse To Wait. For tour dates, booking information, and to purchase the album or any of the bands other highly rad swag, be sure to check out www.finaldrive.org
This, with Final Drive, is one of my rejected interviews. I am, in all honesty, still upset that this one never made it "live", as I was actually very proud of the finished product. And because those kids were just so damned awesome. Seriously, they were the nicest bunch you could ever imagine. I feel like balls because I wasn't able to get the interview published.
I wish them all the luck in the world and hope they make a million fucking dollars. Rock out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Crazy Donkey is a sparsely furnished, parquet-floored nightclub across the highway from Long Islands MacArthur Airport. Sure, the bartender looks a lot like Lita Ford, but the big room lacks the sticky grossness on the floor and the smoky haze that I have grown accustomed to over the years. Before I have a chance to ponder the true hardcore nature of the venue, I find myself being led away to a tiny basement room, packed to the gills with tall guys sporting dark clothes and impressive facial hair, and big plastic tubs stuffed with ice and beverages. In am empty space between the coat rack and some pipes is Final Drive, the Missouri-based act that has been generating quite a buzz since being featured on the MTV oeuvre Battle For Ozzfest.
Only twenty-four hours after a disappointing jaunt to Washington, DC, where the band was met with little more than inaugural roadblocks and miles of backed-up traffic, these road warriors have traveled 400 miles in the space of hours to play a show with friends Sicks Deep and Trauma Concept. They have agreed to meet with me for a bit before the show, since we missed our opportunity to chat after the Satyricon cancellation debacle in December.
Guitarist Nathan Easter, the strangely charming, cowboy-hatted guitarist and Andy Becker, the low-key drummer, have known each other since they attended the same grade school. A few years later, with the help of original bassist Casey Logue and well-spoken guitarist Chris Nanney, Final Drive was born. Mutual friend Pat Martin introduced the vocal power, which came in the form of high-energy Jordan Gaw, who swaggers about onstage like Axl Rose in his prime. When Casey quit the band this past summer, Chelsea Muckerman stepped in with bass in hand to fill the void. She ultimately was chosen to represent Final Drive on MTV, and speaks about the experience with grace and good humor. Though this line-up has only been playing together less than six months, they seem genuinely happy in each others company, both offstage and on.
Mr. and Mrs. Osbourne certainly had their work cut out for them when it came time to select someone to represent Final Drive on Battle For Ozzfest. Each member of the group brings something unique to the table, evident even in the mere 40 minutes I spent in their company. Mesh together these personalities and a fivefold penchant for playing highly kick-ass music, and you can tell that these kids, along with their exceptional manager Monster, are going to conquer the world in approximately 36 seconds. And it couldnt be done by a nicer group of rockers.
Catherine Flecker: Im assuming that this past year has been pretty crazy, with the change in line-up, the release of the album, the touring, being on television, etc. Looking back to when you first started playing music, is this something that you expected to happen, or have you surpassed your own expectations?
Andy Becker: Well, I always knew that this would happen. (nods)
Chris Nanney: You fucking asshole. (laughs)
Jordan Gaw: Well, as far as whats to be expected, who ever really knows? Right now were working hard, doing what we want to do. We dont have any expectations of whats to come, but were certainly not ruling anything out, either.
Nathan Easter: Well said.
CF: How has being part on an MTV series changed your fan base? Do you find that the people attending your shows now are a younger crowd, the 15-year-old Hot Topic set?
CN: Its probably the same people, just more. We have been getting a younger crowd too, a lot of hits on the website from younger kids, telling us how much they love our music and want us to keep going.
Chelsea Muckerman: Or come play a show where they live.
JG: Oh yeah, its kids from all over the place Finland, I think. Australia.
CM: Puerto Rico.
JG: Yeah, Puerto Rico. People from all over, and everything that they say is so well appreciated.
CF: Even though Battle For Ozzfest didnt focus that much on the musical aspect of the Ozzfest tour, do you look at what made it to television and find that it accurately portrays life on the road for a metal act?
CM: We didnt really get to experience that, honestly. If it had been [more true to life], I wouldnt have been there without the guys, getting homesick for them and missing playing with the rest of the band. In general though, we got to see the harder side of what it takes to put on a show. We got to do the work, do the sound, the lights, all of that sort of stuff.
JG: Its too bad that it wasnt more about the music, but I guess [MTV] had to get good ratings so they can sell shit so they can pay shit.
NE: And shit, and all that shit.
CF: (straining to hear over the din of background conversations) Im sorry, what did you say?
JG: Oh, you gotta watch out for that guy, hes got a cowboy hat on, you never know whats going to come out of his mouth. (everyone laughs)
CF: I hate to seem like Im singling you out, Chelsea, but I think youll be able to answer this more accurately. Were any of the bands on the Ozzfest tour especially supportive? Or did you get the vibe that they were looking at you guys like pay your dues? I dont mean these bands (gestures across the room to Trauma Concept and Sicks Deep), but others who were actually playing on the tour.
CM: There was a bit of controversy with a few of the bands, yeah. They were pretty much seeing as little amateur kids that didnt need to be back there with everybody, being in everybodys way. But as we actually showed up and did the work that we had to do, like the stagehands told us, when people saw that we were putting in some 14-hour days like the rest of the crew, we gained a little bit more respect. We had to earn it. If we slipped up even a little bit, that was it, it was all gone and we had to gain it back.
CF: Was there anyone that was particularly helpful that youd like to mention?
CM: The riggers, definitely. Opie, and Rigger Dan, who unfortunately [has since passed away]. The riggers were absolutely amazing. They taught us so much about what it takes exactly to put on a show. Theyll start at 4:30, 5:15 in the morning and wont get done until 11, midnight, one oclock in the morning some nights. They actually showed what it as a person took to get it all done. They were the most helpful. And obviously Big Dave was awesome. Hes the original road dog, he taught us everything like you dont shower, you dont eat, you dont sleep, you dont play until the work gets done. But then when the work was done, we got our benefits from it. He came through with what he said.
CF: Obviously you guys stay in touch with the friends youve made from the show. How did these shows come to be, and do you plan on having more with other bands that were on Battle For Ozzfest?
JG: We would like to do more. These dates with Sicks Deep and Trauma Concept worked out really well with everyones schedule, and it helped that theyre both from [the East Coast]. I think well be seeing Manntis in California, but thats it. Well be out doing our thing, and if anyone else wants to catch up, great, well see them then, but if not well, there you go.
CF: Do you feel as though the experience on Battle For Ozzfest has changed your band dynamic at all?
NE: Can you rephrase that?
CF: Do you think that the public sees your band more along the lines of Chelsea & Final Drive?
NE: Oh. Yup. (there is a momentary silence before everyone laughs)
CN: They see her face on TV, and well utilize publicity like that to get our band known. It all works out.
AB: It cant be avoided, so fuck it.
CF: What is going on with you guys now? You just released an album in the fall, so what projects are you working on right now?
CM: Were in the middle of a project right now. Were going to be on tour for about 2 and a half months.
JG: Yeah, were just touring, touring, touring and more touring. Were using this opportunity to spread our music around to everyone that we can find. Hopefully thatll keep us going.
CN: Were working on writing some new things. And touring. And thats it.
NE: Andy and I are working on a project--
AB: Yeah, were going to be doing some mouth music with Kansas.
CF: Looking back on the nightclub shooting that killed Pantera founding member Dimebag Darrell Abbott, do you find yourselves more aware of what is happening in the crowd while youre onstage? Do you ever worry that something like that could happen again?
NE: I was actually thinking about that recently. But, if youre going to get shot well, youre going to get shot. And if you get shot in the head onstage while playing guitar, well at least youre dying doing what you love. (there is a unanimous declaration of agreement to this statement)
CF: Who are your musical influences?
CM: It goes across the board, the music that I like. Pantera, A Perfect Circle, Tool. I like almost everything. I dont dig rap all that much, and Im not a big country fan, but I can listen to just about anything.
JG: Guns N Roses
CN: Deftones were always a really big influence on me, especially right when they came out. Its going to sounds clich now, but Pantera. How could you not love Dimebag, or the band in general? Im getting influenced by a lot of the new hardcore bands coming out, like Unearth, Every Time I Die, Bleeding Through. And of course you cant ever escape the old shit, because thats where all of this started from anyway. Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Skynyrd-- cant go wrong with Skynyrd. Its so diverse, you can grab a little of something from everybody.
NE: W.A. Mozart, B.B. King, Stevie Ray Vaughn. Hmm, lets see all of the above, such as Pantera. Alice In Chains. Thats about it, off the top of my head.
AB: Ive got nothing that anyone hasnt already said.
CM: Well really listen to most of the same stuff. On the road, well listen to Guns N Roses for an hour, then A Perfect Circle or Hatebreed. We dig a lot of the same stuff. We all respect the classics, and get into a lot of the new stuff thats coming out now.
CF: Is there anything I havent already asked that you guys would like to discuss?
JG: If anyone would like us to come play a show in their town, just get in contact with us and well try our best to come out and see you.
NE: And donations are accepted by Gibson--Flying V, to be exact-- ESP guitars, Pearl drums, Zildjian cymbals, Galle and Krueger bass cabinets and bass rigs, DR strings, Dunlop picks, and Beta 58 wireless microphones.
Final Drive is currently on the road until mid-March, promoting their new album Good Things Come To Those Who Refuse To Wait. For tour dates, booking information, and to purchase the album or any of the bands other highly rad swag, be sure to check out www.finaldrive.org
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