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Interview with The Exalted
Piledriver
September 2008 by Metal Mark |
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Piledriver (now the Exalted Piledriver) have
an interesting and somewhat unusual background story. They released
two albums back in the mid-1980's and then Piledriver moved on to
other things. However a few years ago he got a band together again
and now they set to release another album this fall.
I am sure that many of have heard the story, but can you please
briefly tell us a little about how this band and “Metal Inquisition”
and “Stay Ugly” came to be.
In the early summer of 1984 I was asked by a former band mate,
Leslie Howe, if I would like to do some metal vocals for a recording
project called Piledriver that he was producing. I was told that
Metal Inquisition was going to be an album that would be released
worldwide, but that there would be no band... it was just a
recording project designed to capitalize on the burgeoning
thrash-metal movement. While I wondered a little bit about the
ethics, the simple fact that my voice would be heard on an actual
album that would be available in actual stores worldwide won out
quite easily. I was 23 years old and anxious to get my career going
full guns. Unfortunately for Leslie and me, the Record Weasel who
put it together decided that he didn't want to put any money into
it, keeping us under the impression that sales were not good due to
piracy, etc., and keeping all the money for himself. He was even
ripping the fans off by taking their t-shirt money and not sending
any t-shirts, a problem that still pokes its head up to me to this
day. Thank the Record Weasel, folks! I had nothing to do with it!!!
He then expertly sweet-talked me into doing it two more times, for
the Convict- Go Ahead Make My Day and Piledriver- Stay Ugly albums.
I thought he was telling me the truth when he told me he would make
me a star. Yeah. I became famous for being a fake-band singer and
famous for being ripped off by a Record Weasel more than any other
artist since the 50's!!! It's been a long hard battle beating down
these labels.
I think I first heard the song “Metal
Inquisition” on the radio in 1985. When were you told that the first
album was getting some notice?
I knew it was getting noticed that very year because of all the
interviews I was doing for it, all the magazines with full articles
and even cover shots and center spreads. And all the stores stocking
it. And all the metal radio shows playing it. The only negative
reports were from our lying Record Weasel whose expertly golden
tongue kept us from knowing the truth.
How shocked were you?
Um... not shocked at all! I knew it was a benchmark album, and tried
my damnedest on my own to put a band together to legitimize it.
Did the band ever do live shows back then or
not?
No. I never did get a band together at the time. I would have the
bass player and the drummer while we searched for a guitarist. We
would find one, work a few months, then lose the drummer to a paying
job. Find a drummer, lose a bassist. Find a bassist, lose a
guitarist. It was a looooong period of ebbing, flowing, changing,
arranging, that sadly, never panned out. At the time, people were
quite wary of the over the top bdsm imagery, and the (offensive for
that time) lyrics. Back then it was next to impossible finding
musicians that could get down with it all... egos prevented them
from even thinking of performing in masks and stage-names. Nowadays,
musicians seem to get it, that the music and the image are more
important than 'look-at-me' self-promotion from within a band.
Who designed that crazy helmet? How many of
those things do you own?
During the dinner meeting at the Westin Hotel in Ottawa where I
signed my first bullshit contract, the Record Weasel, Leslie Howe
and I were discussing what Pile should look like, and I drew him up
on a napkin as we chatted. The Record Weasel then went to George at
LeatherCraft (now Northbound Leather) in Toronto to make it real.
There is only ONE Piledriver outfit, and it's getting trashed. It
was never really designed for actual touring use... it was just for
photos. It really should be retired, but, it wasn't cheap to create,
and I can't afford to make another, yet. Hopefully it will last the
cycle of this album and touring, because I really think the fans
want to see it, the original outfit. For the next album and tour, we
are planning an update of Pile's outfit, to bring him into the
current century. |
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What were some of your favorite tracks off of
those two albums and why?
Ok... this is easy! Alien Rape is my favorite off of Metal
Inquisition, because I've always been a fan of big, bloated,
long-ass power metal songs. I love the sci-fi lyrics, and the
variety of riffs n' grooves. The sound effects. The vibe. To me,
it's a perfect song. Close second there would be The Piledriver if
only for my hilarious accidental burp at the end. On Stay Ugly, I
would have to say The Executioner. It's a really fun song to sing,
to get all growly n' sickly, then get all aggressive and beastly...
really fun to sing! The Fire God is a close second there.
What were you doing after “Stay Ugly”?
I had finally gotten a working version of a band line-up by '87, and
I was working on what was supposed to be the third Piledriver album,
Shock. During the mixing sessions, the Record Weasel dropped by to
see how it was coming along. When I was told that there would be no
cash advance (I demanded one, since I hadn't received shit for the
first two albums) I told him to leave the studio, that I wasn't
going to be ripped off again, that this was no longer a Piledriver
album, that the band was now called Dogs With Jobs (a band name I
had in my back pocket for years), and that he had "no business being
in our session, GET OUT"!. That was it. I had shut down the
Piledriver bullshit machine. I then re-wrote and re-recorded 80% of
the lyrics to de-Piledriverize it, make it more normal, and shopped
it as Dogs With Jobs - Shock. (One of those songs, Road Pigs, has
been returned to it's sickly Pileriffic glory, and is on the
Manifesto album!) Canadian independent label Fringe Product picked
it up, and also released Dogs With Jobs second album Payday. I hear
you may still find copies of DWJ albums on e-bay. Not the greatest
productions, but, I really love the material. Real
from-the-heart-metal.
At what point do you decide to resurrect this
band? During the 1990’s were you getting fan mail or anything like
that? Did people still know who you were?
These questions actually all tie together. In 1995 I finally got a
computer and internet access. I figured out what a search engine
was, and for the hell of it typed Piledriver into the search bar...
I was shocked!!! Not only were the fans out there, but they were
still rabid! Site after site, I was amazed. Once I put up my own
website (sofa-q. com) the message came in loud and clear -"Come back
Pile, we NEED you!" After a few years of being prodded by the
loyalest of the loyal, and at the behest of my dear, departed friend
and manager Ray Wallace, I began the process of writing new
Piledriver material, resurrecting 2 old unused Pile songs, and
assembling a band. Again, it's been a loooong slog of auditions and
short tenures, but, Piledriver has finally coalesced into a solid,
tight, unbreakable unit. Together now for almost two years, a new
record in my band!! And truly, if this line-up doesn't work out,
NONE will. There is a trust, love, respect, and bond between the
four of us that none of us have ever experienced in a band before.
No question, the chemistry is there, and it shows in the music.
Your new album “The Metal Manifesto” is due
out soon. Please tell us a little about it and when’s the due date?
The Metal Manifesto is hitting you smack in the face this coming
Halloween!!! I think this album fits right in between Inquisition
and Ugly, and while mostly old-school and Pile-icious, it's
definitely a step forward. Since I only try to please myself when
writing, I'm sure that the fans will enjoy it, as it's not extremely
different from anything I've ever done, just recorded on more modern
gear. I tried this time to get it in-yer-face and tight... Ugly was
really loose and noisy, and I wanted to get back to the precision of
Metal Inquisition... but with some Ugly dirt tastefully smeared on
top. Some fans may be disappointed by the lack of Satanic imagery,
oh, well. Unfortunately, in order for me to believe in a Satan, I
would have to believe in a God. I believe in neither, so I can't
justify singing about them. In fact, there's a song called God
You're Stupid II that says everything I need to say on that subject.
There's a juggernaut of a fighting song called Battle Axe that I'm
dedicating to all the men and women fighting for what's right in the
world. There's sex, gore, anger, violence, and my twisted humour
that I can't seem to hide no matter how I try to be serious and
dark. It's like a 'silliness curse' has been put on me. I blame my
exposure to Monty Python at an early age. And, of course, there's a
metal-anthem in the title song. We recorded the tracks ourselves to
make sure no-one watered us down in the studio, and we strong-armed
none other than Neil Kernon to mix it. We're really happy with it,
and are sure the fans will be too! |
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Who else is currently in your band and where
did you find them?
In 2005 I headed out to legitimize Piledriver with a band of
alcoholics, and that didn't work out too well. In fact, the stresses
of trying to be a 'world-class' band with such non-functional people
drove me to a nervous breakdown, hospitalization, and me completely
quitting the business after a show that April 29th here in Toronto,
when the alco-bastards ruined my music worse than they ever had in
previous shows. I couldn't go on, I needed the fans to hear
Piledriver, not drunken, sloppy, out of tune, barely recognizable
imitations. I felt that I had done everything I could, and that
perhaps it just wasn't meant to be. It just wasn't supposed to be
that damned hard to pull off. I then poured myself into my day job,
determined to put the bullshit of the heartless music business
behind me. 2 months later, I got a phone call. It was a guitarist
who was answering an old ad I had placed looking for a guitarist
half a year earlier. I began to explain all the above, how I was
done with it all... by the end of a 4 hour phone call, Kinky Pork
Cream had completely turned me around, re-ignited the fire in me,
and with his drummer Glace Frothfritter and my bass player Lobo Elf
Snort, we set out to be the band that Piledriver was always destined
to be! Here we are, two years later, having brought Pile across
eastern Canada, the northern States, and into Germany, Italy, and
Greece, about to release what I think is our crowning glory! I've
never been more happy in a band situation, and I truly cherish the
great relationships we all have. I'm sure we'll last for a good,
long time. Professionals all, and funny as hell, no addictions
either, so it's ALL good!
What should someone who comes to see you live
expect?
Well... first off... we're all faaaat bastards!!! That's usually a
bit shocking for them... hey, I ain't 23yrs old no mo! I'm a fat,
OLD bastard! As such, you won't see us flinging and running
ourselves around the stage like we did when we were kids! But... you
can expect a tight, dynamic, powerful band! You can expect tons of
great old Piledriver favorites! You can expect lots of slammin' new
tunes too! Every once in a blue moon, you might get lucky and catch
us destroying some crappy cover song fer laffs.
What are some of your favorite shows that you
have played in recent years?
One that definitely stands out was our appearance at Keep It True
Festival in Lauda-Koenigshofen, Germany. I was EXTREMELY hung over
(not used to drinking like Eurofreeks), my voice was shot ragged,
but... that crowd sang every word to every song, even the new ones,
headbanged like maniacs for our entire set, and truly made us feel
accepted. Sheer magic for me. I croaked like a frog, and they didn't
pelt me with rocks!!! They actually enjoyed it!!! Another was at Up
The Hammers fest in Athens. Definitely the most rabid crowd we've
played to outside of Quebec City. Maniacs!!!! It was definitely the
hottest damn stage I've ever been on, but, the breeze from the
headbangin' freaks in front kept us quite cool and comfy! Manolis
has a great lil' fest going there, and we can only dream of being
invited back again.
Besides the costumes do you have any props or
sets that you use on stage?
No... no budget yet. I do have lofty dreams, though! If we could tap
even a small percentage of them for stage, we'd really have
something. For now, I rely on my innate ugliness and disgusting
fatness to get me by, ha ha!
Are you hoping to tour much for the new album?
If so do you when and where you will be playing?
Indeed! We want to paint the entire planet Piledriver Black!!!! We
are starting to get a Summer2009 tour of Europe together, that will
hopefully be 10 times as large as our Auf Grosser Fahrt '07 tour,
and hopefully take us up into Scandinavia as well. We've not had
much luck with American promoters yet, only a few gigs have
happened. Hopefully the release of the album will open more doors
for us there. Also, we are reaching out to promoters in Japan and
Australia.
What do you hope to achieve with your new
album?
I hope to please my loyal fans by not straying too far from what
I've always done, while sneaking in a bit of modern production and
sensibility. And I hope to gain new fans, of course! Nu metal kids
and wiggers need to hear old-school metal, even if only to educate
them, if not influence them.
What kind of music are you currently listening
to?
Like I always have, I listen to as much variety as I possibly can.
I'm not just a metalhead. I love ALL music if it's done well. It's a
shame that many people paint themselves into such stylistically
confined corners, like "I only listen to
SymphonicDeathThrashTrashMetal, everything else sucks". So sad. I
couldn't live on just one style of music. I mean, do you live your
life experiencing only one emotion? Music is such an amazingly
diversified language, why limit yourself to hearing only 5 words?
Sure, I looove hamburgers, but I also often eat club-sandwiches,
shish-kebabs, and wonton soup!!! Same with music. So, what's
currently in my cd player? My Metal Manifesto, ha ha ha!!! But the
disc that was in before it was Spewgore. Before that, Joe Jackson's
Symphony #1. Before that, Fight-War Of Words remix/remastered.
Before that, Jason Becker. Before that, the Mentors. Before that
Delirium Tremens. Before that, Iron Maiden. And no single day could
go by without me listening to AT LEAST ONE Frank Zappa piece. I
could go on, but... you get the picture... mostly metal, but not
all.
Is there anything else that you would like to
say about your band or your music?
Naah. I would hope that the album and live shows will tell you what
I've not said here. I hope that people will see the honesty in my
efforts to bring the Piledriver properly to life for them. It's too
funny to me when people say I'm 'cashing in' or 'selling out'...
wouldn't one need to be making lotsa money for that to happen... ha!
I'm still playing for peanuts and working a day job. I'm still 3,000
dollars in debt from bills from our April'07 tour! If that's selling
out, what the fuck??? Also, I think many people are wondering about
the name change to The 'Exalted' Piledriver, and why it's changed.
Well, in my absence, no less than 4 different bands have usurped my
great name, and instead of wasting money fighting them all in
courts, I simply plucked Exalted from the lyrics to help delineate
me from such lesser bands. What else? Most of all, I need to thank
all my loyal fans who have not forsaken me over the decades, and
trust that I will give it my all to bring them the Pile-beast they
always dreamed he could be, until I die onstage from my various
fat-old-bastard health problems. It should be a fun ride for all of
us!!! Will you be there the night Pile croaks??? Hope so!!! Ya
wouldn't want to miss THAT!!!
www.myspace.com/theexaltedpiledriver
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