Home     News     Interviews     Reviews     Photos     New Releases

News

Interviews

Reviews

Photos

Tour Dates

New Releases

Links

Testament were the thrash band to respect in their heyday.  Their subtle brutality and perfectionist songs  put them above the come lately thrash bands and in the realm of the giants of the era.  Even though the line up came and went in the 90’s they never dealt a record that could not match up to their earlier output.  Now back together and more powerful than ever they are poised to retake what was theirs and make it even darker.  On a recent stop in So. Cal I had the opportunity to sit down with Chuck and talk about the new recordings and the life of Chuck Billy, the results are here for you.

 Jeffrey Easton interviewing Chuck Billy.

 Jeff:  How was Europe?

 Chuck:  It was cold but we had some great shows.

 Jeff:  How are the fans reacting to Testament 2007?

 Chuck:  Good, those were some of the first shows. 

 Jeff:  So who is in the band now?  Is it the complete original line up?

 Chuck:  Alex of course is in along with Eric and Greg.

 Jeff:  Louie will not be touring with you guys anymore?

Chuck:   Louie cannot play like he used to as he is dealing with arthritis.   I am sure he could do the gigs but if he had an issue then we would be stuck without a drummer so we have Nick Barker in his place. 

Jeff:  Tell me about this Spitfire Best Of that just came out.

Chuck:  That CD  is a bummer actually. 

Jeff:  Why is it a bummer?

Chuck:  Spitfire sold it to Sheraton Squares so they decided to put a Best Of Testament out.  We were totally against it as we already have several out already.  They did not ask us out opinion on it so we had no input in the song selection or anything,  It was the dumbest idea.   I am telling people to not buy it as I am probably not going to get a penny out of it anyway. 

Jeff:  So you are not going to get anything from this?

Chuck:  We probably should but I doubt we will.  

Jeff:  How is the mostly reformed Testament line up gelling? 

Chuck:  It has been amazing.  Nick has been out here with Eric for a few months working on new material and of course Alex has some new songs so musically we are doing great.  We always have to top the last record and The Gathering was an amazing record so we have to top that one. 

Jeff:  In my world there is the Pre- Ritual Testament and The Gathering era Testament, which one are you leaning towards for this next record?

Chuck:  It is The Gathering all the way.  I am using all of the voices, the sounds, styles and dynamics.  The old stuff did not have what we have now.

Jeff:  What was missing from the old stuff? 

Chuck:  For me it was production because the early stuff still stands the test of time musically.  Over The Wall and Practice What You Preach are classics.  Now we are doing records for a tenth of what we used to spend and they sound much better than they did then.  With pro tools we can do our records at home if we wanted to.

Jeff:  What will you be touching on for the new record?

Chuck:  I will touch on my health issues along with us being big advocates for the earth/saving the planet.

Jeff:  One of my classic Testament shirts was for the Greenhouse Affect and it still garners attention. 

Chuck:  Back then when we started bringing that message we wanted people to listen and now it is more widespread.  It is good that we still have a platform to bring that message to a new generation of people.  People need to take it seriously and where as something might not happen but for future generations it will affect them. 

Jeff:  I know I live in So. Cal but I only remember a handful of cold days this past winter. 

Chuck:  When you were a kid you remember the weather changes and you knew what season it was and that really does not happen anymore.  You always remember Christmas being cold and now it feels like summer, the climate is all fucked up now.  

Jeff: You had cancer of course, is it completely gone now?

Chuck:  Yes it is, they completely cut that out.

Jeff:  What rose out of that as far as inspiration?

Chuck:  If anything it has actually distanced me from music.  I take life differently and music has ceased to be my number one priority in life.

Jeff:  What has become your first Priority?

Chuck:  My family and friends have taken priority in my life.   The music thing is more like a bonus for me.  I get the part if the world that I want with my family along with the music part, travel the world and only sing on stage for an hour and a half.   I get to bring my family and friends with me and take them around the world.  We try to go to places we have not been before like with Australia.  I do not want to live on the road anymore, I did that for over 15 years and I am done with it.  It is a tough business and it is all about timing now and the timing is right for this band again.

Jeff:  What do you think about Testaments relevance right now? 

Chuck:  I think that it is very big.  With the Haunted’s, Trivium’s, Soilwork’s, In Flames etc.  They have all told us that they were huge Testament fans and now I listen and like their music and I am into what is current.  I am learning what these bands are doing and applying what I like that is coming back to me. 

Jeff:  With your comments about the health thing and how the music is secondary, is that why Testament has not had a big profile in the 2000’s?

Chuck:  It has been an issue with the record label and I have not been in a rush.  There has been a drummer issue as well and also the band is spread out across the U.S.  Everybody has to plan to come out and rehearse, it is not like the old days.  I think that it is really healthy now that everybody is more focused now considering what we have gone through.  I think it is healthier now because we are focused.  We are not kids thinking we are going to get bigger and bigger, sell more records and be a big star.   What we ended up was longevity and everybody is grounded.  I think it is healthier this way in the long run.

Jeff:  In the realm of metal you are a big star, everybody knows who you are.

Chuck:  When we were coming up we wanted to be Metallica and Megadeth, selling a million records each time out. 

Jeff:  What was the highest that you sold while you were signed to Atlantic?

Chuck:  It is hard to say because sound scan was not around for the first three records.

Jeff:  I know it was out for the Ritual.

Chuck:  It was out for The Ritual and I think it was out for Souls Of Black.  The Ritual was 485,000 in the States then and who knows, it could be Gold by now but Atlantic is not rushing up to us with gold records.  I am sure it is still selling because kids are buying it at in stores and I see it still on the shelves.  I can picture Atlantic coming up to us and tell us that they have had these gold records for awhile sitting in closets, you want them? 

Jeff:  You guys released the Live In London DVD, what is on it for those who do not have it yet?

Chuck:  This was a long awaited DVD to come out.   We have wanted to put out a DVD for awhile but nobody stepped up to do it so we started putting out our own bootleg DVDs because we filmed every show.   Finally Spitfire decided that it was time to put out a proper DVD.  The set list is really close to what we are doing now and the band is tighter than ever.

Jeff:  What led up to this happening?

Chuck:  It all started when we got together to play with Anthrax at the Dynamo festival.  We were told that they had the original Anthrax booked  and they asked us if it would be possible to have the original Testament play that gig.  I made a few calls and it happened.  After that one show turned into five shows and we decided to film them. 

Jeff:  Did you think that it was going to last? 

Chuck:  I did not know what to expect but nothing surprises me with this band with who comes and goes.   All I know is that you either keep doing it but some people would just hang it up with all of the shit going on.

Jeff:  On that note did it help or hurt Testament with the revolving door line up in the 90’s?

Chuck:  I do not know either or but I did not care.  Musically it did help because it opened up some eyes to different musical directions to where we are now.

Jeff:  You did have Lombardo for awhile, that sounded great. 

Chuck:  Everybody that we had was great and everybody that we had went on to bigger things.  Is it a good thing being a stepping stone though?

Jeff:  Speaking of filming things, was the benefit for you filmed?

Chuck:  We filmed it and recorded it but the guy that filmed it was a dick and he has held the film hostage. 

Jeff:  Is there a chance for getting it back?

Chuck:  Not at the moment.  I heard he has it out there and I am sure it is on you tube but I am sure that it does not sound good because it is just the raw footage.  It is amazing because it is some of the best performances of some bands that have not been together in a long time

Jeff:  What brought the Seen Between The Lines release back out?

Chuck:  That was only available as a VHS but we have been talking about releasing it on DVD for years.  We got a company to get it from Atlantic to get it out and after some red tape and paper work we had it.

Jeff:  Has there been a reaction to this re-release?

Chuck:  Just some younger fans being stoked about seeing the original band back then plus all of the backstage footage.

Jeff:  I remember seeing that tour and I felt so old watching this.   This was filmed after you came off of the Judas Priest tour and on a personal note, why did you only have a 25 minute set for that tour? 

Chuck:  That was the way it went back then but with a high profile tour you took what you could get. 

Jeff:  Looking back what do you think the biggest Testament accomplishment back then?

Chuck:  To get on the stadium tours with the likes of Judas Priest, Iron maiden and Sabbath taking us out and Anthrax taking us to Europe for the first time. 

Jeff:  Speaking of Maiden,  what was it like touring with them? 

Chuck:  It was killer.   People like Halford and Dickinson were my heroes and I was a fan of Bruce before he was in Maiden.   

Jeff:  Considering that ‘92 was the writing on the wall for metal was it the writing on the wall for Testament?

Chuck:  Yeah, members were going in different directions and people were leaving. 

Jeff:  I remember reading that Louie went home from The Ritual tour. 

Chuck:   Yeah, Louie left with the publicist from Atlantic and the next night was Alex’s farewell show. 

Jeff:  Do you have a label to release the new record?

Chuck:  We have some things to sort out but the record is going to be really good and we do not want to give it to someone that really do not care.  We are doing it for the fans and we want to do it right.

Jeff:  There are a plethora of Metal Labels that would want the original Testament.

Chuck:  It is not cheap though.  It all depends on what they want to sell and how they are going to market it.  If they think that they will have Testament and just throw it out and see if it sticks then we do not want them.

Jeff:  What is next for Testament?

Chuck:  We have a lot of things lined up for this year but we need to sit down and finish this record up and see where it goes.

Testament were the epitome of what was right with the metal scene in North America back in the late 80’s and 90’s. Their perseverance has earned them notoriety and the notation of never straying from their metal roots has been entrenched in them from day 1.  Their future with the near original line up is one to be reckoned with.

Advertise

Copyright 2007 JBohatch Designs 

Contact jbohatchdesigns@gmail.com for any questions or comments on site issues.