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METAL RULES!!
How are things?
Chuck
Everything’s all right now, considering what I’ve been
going through. I’ve had 6 weeks of treatment with radiotherapy
in New York and now I’m going back to Florida, where I’m
staying for a month or so, which is great. The doctors are satisfied
up to now, I’m putting some weight on and I should go through
another check up to see if the radiation is working and how. I’m
in good spirits, I’m feeling fine and just waiting for the
future, looking forward to the CD’s release.
MR
It’s good to hear that because everybody here is worried
about you...
Chuck
Me too (laughs). All the support I’m getting from fans and
mags have been great. It’s been really amazing and it helps
me a lot, ‘cause this is definitely hard to go through.
MR
Everybody here was shocked when we received the news through the
Record memo. We always tend to think that this kind of thing never
happens to us or to the people we love. How did you feel at first
and how are you feeling now?
Chuck
You’re right, we never think these things can happen. I was
shocked because I found this out really close to my birthday,
and it sucks. It’s terrible, I thought I had hurt a muscle
in my neck, not a brain tumor. I could never have imagined that.
I went to several doctors and when I finally knew the truth, it
was like a nightmare. But that’s something we have to deal
with immediately, go ahead, try not to be depressed, know that
we have a full life ahead and it’s very important. You start
staring at your life in a complete different way, you have to
concentrate on yourself and not depend only on the doctors to
see any improvement. I try not to think too much about it, ‘cause,
as I said, I have to wait and see the results of the radiotherapy.
The doctors have been very positive and it comforts me. All I
can do is rest, do what I have to do and wait for the future.
We have this CD coming, I’ve already started to write new
songs for the next album, you know, I’m doing my best to
lead a normal life. It’s hard, but it’s something I
just have to do.
MR
Has your way of facing the world and life changed somehow?
Chuck
You bet. We put a different perspective on things, we start seeing
things from a different point of view. Many times we just live
our lives, let it go through us very quickly and when for some
reason, such a thing happens and throws it all away, things get
different. People get closer, in a strange way, and we end up
seeing other people’s sides. Many people came to talk to
me, some of them I hadn’t spoken for years, friends I thought
I had lost sight of, people I don’t even know wrote me giving
support. These things have been really amazing, some of the letters
that arrived really touched me. If there’s anything good
in this whole situation is this approach, people getting closer,
making me think better, enjoy life better. As I said, we are so
used to life that, somehow, we just sit and wait things to happen.
We just live our lives, we don’t enjoy it. When something
like that happens, you start thinking about everything: the things
you say, your future...
MR
How’s the Record Company coping with it?
Chuck
Since the day we signed the contract Nuclear Blast has been fantastic,
really unbelievable. They have given me a lot of support, they
have been very understanding, in short, they are all I could expect
from a record company. I thought this way before and now even
more, because of all these things that are happening to me. I
called them, said I couldn’t guarantee a tour right now and
they understood perfectly.
MR
Meanwhile, what’s happening with the bands?
Chuck
Control Denied is the main thing on my career now. Death is a
separate thing, it’s on hold for some time. Control Denied
‘s CD is coming in the end of September and I’m very
proud of it. We all are, including the company. The CD will be
released and we’ll start giving interviews. We can’t
go on tour right now and the band knows that. Like I said, if
we don’t go on tour for this CD I hope to do one for the
two CDs, as I’m writing songs for the next.
MR
So you’ve already started writing! But are these songs for
Control Denied or Death?
Chuck
Control Denied.
MR
I’ve already listened to it’s album. I’d like to
know the differences between the songs and lyrics of this album
and the Death albums.
Chuck
Musically speaking, the main difference were the vocals, as the
song itself is an extension of what I was doing with Death. The
guitars, drum and bass are very similar to Death, but the vocals
are very different. Actually, these vocals are all I ever wanted
to do in Death but couldn’t. I’ve had this dream of
recording like that for years, and it seems like a dream come
true. Tim is an amazing singer and this is the main difference.
I think people will be surprised at the violence and strength
of the album. Many people are expecting something like Iron Maiden,
but, despite being one of my favorite bands, I didn’t want
to make an Iron Maiden-like album. I wanted to make an unpredictable
album, just like I did in Death, I guess. I don’t like to
make predictable albums.
MR
We’ve heard that Nevermore’s lead singer, Warrel Dane,
would sing in this album. What happened?
Chuck
In 1996, I met Warrel and we talked about working together, but
when we started he was very busy with Nevermore and I wanted to
make Control Denied a full-time band. I thought this would be
very difficult to happen while Warrel was dedicated full-time
to his band. I didn’t want Control Denied to be only a project,
I wanted it to be a band, so I ended up choosing Tim as the lead
singer. Then Steve came, and I had already worked with him some
time ago, and that made Control a real thing. Having Tim as an
official member of the band made things easier, it put us closer,
and we didn’t have to have a singer from another part of
the US, who would come once in a while. It would be hard for Warrel
to do all these things at the same time, and in the way we wanted.
MR
The title of this album, “The Fragile Art of Existence”,
was chosen for a long time?
Chuck
Yes. It was chosen before I knew I was sick. In fact, I’ve
had it in mind since 1995, which is really weird, kind of treacherous,
because now it seems very real.
MR
You said you want to go on tour for this album but, if it’s
not possible, you’ll go on tour for the 2 albums...
Chuck
Right. There’s the right moment to go on tour and if it becomes
too late for “The Fragile...” I’ll have had enough
material for the next CD, go on studio, record it and tour for
the 2 albums. All these things that are happening really suck,
but people will be able to have the CD and listen to it, and as
soon as possible we’ll record another album and we could
go on tour for the 2 albums, what actually would be great.
MR
You’re considered the father of death metal. Do you consider
yourself so important to death metal as Mustaine and Hetfield
are for the thrash metal?
Chuck
I don’t think I should take the credits for this death metal
stuff. I’m just a guy from a band, and I think Death is a
metal band. If you consider the name and the singing style, yeah,
we are into it. It’s very good to receive the laurels of
it, no matter what they are about, but all I hope is to have done
something good for metal. I’m a heavy metal fan and if I
could do something to help, as a fan, that would be good. I hope
that these new things cause great impact and go further, especially
here in America. We really need some help around here! I hope
this CD helps metal in America, because it’s huge in Europe
and we are doing badly here, I mean, the metal scene. We’ve
done a great tour with Hammerfall and we shocked people. It was
a real metal tour, no bullshit, no fake metal or hip hop/metal.
It was just two real metal bands and it was really good, so I
think there’s still hope.
MR
Do you have any message for the Brazilian fans?
Chuck
I just wanted to thank everybody for the support I’m getting
due to my sickness and for my music. I hope everybody likes the
new album, coming in September.
MR
How can people get in touch with you?
Chuck
They can write letters or send e-mails to Nuclear Blast, and they’ll
hand it to me.
MR
Well, we wish you the best, that everything works out fine for
you and we hope that you can come to Brazil next year for a tour!
Chuck
Thank you very much, and I’d love to play in Brazil.
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