Band Interview
It's been a long time in the making, but I'm happy to introduce you to Step To Every Pit-or as our local crowd knows them-STEP! I had the pleasure of meeting the guys earlier this year at Shadefest '08. They put on a great show, and I'm glad to ad STEP to my roster of acts! I tracked down Rodzilla, the group's guitarist, to get some info about the band, and he was happy to fill me in...How and when did you guys get your start? "Step To Every Pit started between 2000 and 2001, but it's origins go back to about 1997, when Jody and I first really started trying to put something together. And since, Jody, Paul and myself have been dreaming about this since we first met, I guess you could say that STEP's origins go back 30 years. How we started? Well, I guess 'rocky' is the best way to describe the beginnings! We had to work our way through some 'personnel' to get the lineup we have now. But we all feel very confident about this group of guys. Everyone is committed to the constant improvement of the sound, and we are all striving for personal growth, as musicians." It's paying off guys, I've been playing your tunes alot while I've been putting your page together, and I really dig your sound-so polished!!! What are you guys all about? "We're all about the sound and the energy. We are all looking for riffs that smack you right in the face...you know, something that grabs you by the nipples and makes you jump up and say 'HEY!' Those are the kind of tunes that people remember, and that make us fucking GO OFF on-stage. We're all about the exchange of energy...we feel there is nothing else in life that compares to that exchange of raw energy that occurs between us and a crowd..it's a cycle that just seems to grow until you fell like you'll fuckin' explode! We fuckin' LIVE for that shit!" Nicely put! If STEP could play with any band in the world, who would it be? "Wow, that's a tuff fucking question, right there! I think we all agree that we would give anything to go back in time and have Dimebag still walking this earth, and shredding metal like nobody else's business! A show with Damageplan and/or the old Pantera would have to top the list! How else could you consider yourself a 'Metal-Head'? Ozzy and BLS would definitely rank up there, of course, but I think Black Sabbath would be the fucking SHIT to do a show with...and Ronnie James Dio...and Metallica, of course! There are SO many!" Remind me not to ask you what you want for dinner Hahah!!! You've got a great line-up in your head, I'd go back in time with you guys to see Dimebag play one more time! "What bands are your biggest influence? "We all love Black Sabbath and all of Ozzy's history, including Randy, Jake E. Lee and Zakk Wylde. And we all fucking thrive on everything that Dime did. He fucking changed the way metal was played! As far as individual members, I am a huge 'Floyd fan. I think David Gilmour is one of the most underrated players out there. His chops are like pure fucking silk! Nobody plays as smoothly as he does. As for RJ, he's a Zakk freak, as if you couldn't tell by the Bulls eye Les Paul! But he really digs a lot of other great players, too, like the guys in Shadows Fall, and other shredders. Jody equals Aerosmith. That's all you can say about Joe. Straighty 'Smith-head. He fucking SNORES Tyler's lyrics! When I first met them, and he was in Kindergarten, he had the Draw the Line poster over his fucking bed! Paul, he's a huge Sabbath fan. He loves Geezer's licks, and Cliff Burton, of course. He's an acid metal fan, to start, though! And then there's Bruce, our newest member, and our favorite drummer...well, he IS our ONLY drummer, but he's still our favorite! He's into a LOT of things, like A Perfect Circle, TOOL, Alterbridge and a lot of progressive bands that have a very solid, yet fluid sound. That's what he's brought to the table for STEP, too. And it's exactly what we needed to round out our lineup and bring us up to the next level." With that shameless self promotion, we'll move right into our next question, what does STEP have out on the market? "Right now, we have our 5-song demo out, and it's self-titled. But we are about half-way into the writing of a new album that we hope to go into the studio with this summer." So, I have to ask you one of my favorite questions, do you see differences in the European music market versus that in America, and if so-what do you see? "Oh, fuck yeah! The European scene, as well as the Japanese market, are completely different! If we could afford to move to Europe, we would probably do it in a heartbeat! The metal scenes are HUGE in both places! A band like STEP can easily survive...and THRIVE in both places. And Indonesia and South America, too. America has gone soft. It's too bad that so much of today's youth are like sheep, and will buy any piece of shit that the American Record industry puts on silver and shoves some fancy label onto. Everything just sounds the same. No variety to speak of in the major label category, anyway. But there are some bright spots out there, like Mastadon. They're fuckin' bad-ass!" I know how you feel my friend, that's why I work with underground acts-there's tons of talent out there, it just needs a better vehicle!!! So, hearing what you think of the US as a whole, what can you tell us about the Colorado Springs scene, do you find your fan base growing? "Yeah, slowly but steadily. It can be hard, sometimes, but we have the best fucking fans. The metal scene here used to be fucking great! It's had some rough times, though...I think the Independent (a local culture paper) hurt us all, at first. There were some comments made by a 'reviewer' about the Union Station, one of the two best metal clubs in town...and it was totally bullshit. The guy came in, was a complete drunken asshole, and then prints some shit slamming the metal scene, because I guess he likes punk and pop...Fuck him for being a biased asshole...Fuck PC. Fuck Trends!!!" For the record, I love the Union Station, I think it's a great bar, and I've had a blast at every show I've been to there! One more chance, Rodzilla-what do you want to tell your fans? "Thank You! The metal fans here in Colorado Springs, and in Denver, are fucking great! We have some really great and loyal fans in Canon City, and La Junta...The scene is steadily growing...and t's the fans that make the scene. And we're now starting to get some collaboration going on between Springs and Denver bands too, so the scene is going to grow a lot over the next year or so. And as a result, the local fans will have more reason than ever to come out and dent some fuckin' skulls with Step To Every Pit, and other great Colorado bands!" I can't even ad anything to that, thank you Rodzilla-I can't wait to catch you guys live again!!! |
