Stereoboard Speak To Municipal Waste About New Album 'The Fatal Feast' & Touring (Interview)
Thursday, 01 March 2012
Written by Steven James
Municipal Waste hail from Richmond, Virginia. Their music is an intense mixture of punk and thrash metal and they love to party. I managed to catch guitarist Ryan for a couple of minutes to talk about their upcoming album 'The Fatal Feast'.
Hi, how's it going? When did you arrive over in England then?
I'm good man, we got here yesterday. Thirty hours without sleep and straight into interviews, it's been pretty tiring.
Oh ok then, not had time to do much else then?
No not really, just been drinking some beers, hanging out in Crobar. Pretty normal stuff,
You gonna be doing much else while you're over here then?
We're heading over to Germany tomorrow so we aren't really gonna have too much time.
Now I understand you're in London to promote your upcoming album, The Fatal Feast. Can you tell us a little bit about the album? How do you feel about the album and does it differ at all from your previous records?
Well for the first time ever we took a year off to write and record the album. We always used to squeeze recording in between shows but we took a much more relaxed approach to this album, I liked it.
How did you go about writing the album? Your music is pretty intense so you must have to be in a bit of a crazy mood when you write your songs.
It just comes naturally man. We've always stuck with the same formula so it's kind of second nature and I don't really have to think about it. Although we always play off each other and try and be more intense!
Ah ok that's cool, so when is The Fatal Feast going to be released then?
It's coming out in the states on April 10th and in the UK on April 13th. It's being released on vinyl too.
Do you have any other plans for the future then? And are you doing any tours or festivals over here this year?
Yeah man, we've got some pretty solid touring coming up. We've got some festivals in the UK in July and August but that's all to be confirmed and I can't really give any details away. We've got a tour with Gwar coming up in a few weeks though.
How does playing over here compare to other places you've played? Do you have a favourite festival or city to play over here?
Well I love London as a city and we played Hellfest in France and that was amazing for me, as a music fan. It was pretty mind-blowing to see bands like Scorpion and Judas Priest. Bloodstock over here was really cool too, I'm really jealous of your festivals over here in the UK.
Now I've seen you guys play live before, and your shows are pretty intense. Ever had anything really weird or crazy happen at a show?
It depends on the crowd, but a lot of people like to bring props or dress up and then jump on stage. Like there's these kids we've kept on seeing at shows for about six years now who always dress up as sharks, I think it's because of our song Terror Sharks. Stuff like that keeps it entertaining for us.
And what about backstage?
Well usually have the classic whiskey bottles and all that but what's really funny is when kids rush back stage and we're all just on our laptops. It's like “Man, please tell everyone there was loads of strippers and cocaine back here”. Although the best shows are the ones where we party before during and after.
Have you been to any mental gigs yourself recently?
Yeah there's shows on every night in Richmond, it's got a great scene. The last great show I went to was Hellfest, I'm still blown away from seeing Judas Priest! I did see English Dogs over in the states though, in Baltimore. It was the proper metal-era line up and it was such a good show, I did like twenty stage dives and it was a me and a load of skin-heads in a mosh pit, it was great.
And are there any bands around at the moment that you'd really like to see live? Or even a band that you'd wanna do a gig with?
My friends band Lecherous Gaze, they used to be called Annihilation. They're really good friends and a good solid band – really good 70s style rock 'n' roll. I'd love to give them some support!
Just before I go, is there anything you need to get off your chest or just something you wanna say to your fans?
I just wanna say that I'm really happy to be here in the UK, it's like a second home to me. I love going into Crobar, sometimes I get a cheer when I walk in.
Well thanks for talking to me Ryan, have a good time in London!
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How does playing over here compare to other places you've played? Do you have a favourite festival or city to play over here?
