|
Looking back to the late 80’s did you
ever believe that the band would be here discussing a new record
in 2001? Evan: No not at all! In the late 80’s we didn’t
think we’d live to see the 90’s. When we first started this
band we were all out of control and fucked up on drugs, involved
in gangs and violence and just stupid shit. We were living the street
life and we didn’t think about being alive because I didn’t care.
Now we all place such a high value on our lives and our friendships,
the incredible things we’ve seen and done because every day is a
blessing. If you would have asked if me if I thought Biohazard would
still be going 13 or 14 years later I woulda said “Fuck No!” I think
if it wasn’t Biohazard we’d all still be doing music in some way
shape or form though
Do you think it’s kind of eerie that the
lyrics for Business still hold true ever more so today than they
ever did? Evan: I don’t think its eerie I just think its
right on. I think it’s righteous in way in that bands in the 80’s
were trying to live down some whack shit they did but with Biohazard
we still, l stand behind all our lyrics and music because they’re
timeless. We never wrote anything trendy, we just wrote straight
from the heart and our experiences growing up, life and our impression
of things.
How weird is it when bands come up and
say you influenced them? I was reading an interview last week where
the drummer from Nonpoint said Danny heavily influenced him. Evan:
Robb is a great drummer and a super nice guy! We’re actually
talking about doing some touring together. We get that everyday
when we go to these big radio shows and shit. We always rap with
the guys in Linkin Park and Papa Roach and they all tell us that
we were an influence on them. Long before any of these bands ever
said anything to us we’d done 10 world tours with fans all over
the world and tons of ‘em with Biohazard tattoos, which to me is
the highest form of flattery. It’s great to hear from your peers
and other bands but in a lot of ways Biohazard was a band that was
before their time and we never got that commercial success that
a lot of these bands got. For instance Nonpoint’s record sold more
than our last record for sure but I think way more people know who
Biohazard is. Different kinds of success because there is numbers
and then there’s depth.
Is it annoying to know that you’ve been
doing this for over 10 years and been one of the first to combine
hip-hop/metal yet still don’t get recognition? Evan: Well
it can be frustrating at times but we are not responsible for what’s
going on now since Limp Bizkit came along it’s became this whole
groupie fucking thing. I’m not taking responsibility for what’s
out there now because our art is very serious and we only sing about
topics that are very serious and emotional. Now when we get up there
on stage we do a song called “Loss” and dedicate it along with a
moment of silence to our fallen brothers and sisters who died ion
the New York World Trade Center. I’m not up there singing about
“Nookie” nor am I up there singing words that don’t mean anything
like Chocolate Starfish and shit like that. That’s all cool for
them but I’m not going to take responsibility for that kind of thing
and I don’t like calling it “Nu-Metal” or “Rap/Metal”. We grew up
in Brooklyn, New York with hip-hop and disco all around us even
though we were metal kids. We grew up on the metal of Sabbath and
Judas Priest along with early Megadeth and Metallica. When I was
like 13 years old I was really into Motörhead as they were
like my favorite group at that time and a big influence of mine
but at the same time I knew all the words to “Rapper’s Delight.”
We all had mixed tapes with like Run DMC and stuff like that on
it and everyone’s trying to act all cool like it’s Rap/Metal whether
it be Limp Bizkit or Vanilla Ice or any band out there now but believe
me it wasn’t cool to do it back then and metal fans alienated us.
They were all like “What is this fucking rap music!” and they would
call us whatever.
Well back then there wasn’t really any
other band combining hip-hop and metal. Evan: It was just
us! Well in the early days even our management who was Rush Management
was part of Def Jam and there was really no love for us from anyone
except a few cool people like Flavor Flav who was really cool to
us, Chuck D, LL Cool J was really cool to us back in the day.
Why was Sanctuary Records your choice
after you guys had it out with Mercury after New World Disorder? Evan:
Well the whole Mercury thing was a fucking disaster. We got caught
in the middle of one of their mergers and it was basically that
the company in the last 2 years was completely paralyzed by their
own insecurity of putting up bad numbers! While we were putting
out our record we sat there and watched them fire each other to
the point where the only person left was the President that was
there when we signed there. How do you react to that? The woman
who signed us got fired even before we did our album! After that
it was like we had done 2 records for Warner Bros., we did the whole
Roadrunner thing, we did the super independent record label and
we even thought about having our own label but we didn’t want to
be the devil ourselves. I don’t wanna be in a boardroom all day
long trying to figure out how to sell records to kids that they
don’t want. I’m not part of the solution and I’m not gonna be part
of the problem. I just want to make music and have it reach as many
people as possible. When we met the owner of Sanctuary and we’ve
played the Monsters Of Rock festival with Iron Maiden a few times
and those people are so cool! Every year we keep thinking this will
be Biohazard’s year to break through and get a buzz clip and sell
3 million records then it dawned on me that maybe that’s never going
to happen and that doesn’t have to happen! Maybe we’re a band that’s
very similar to Iron Maiden where here is a band who just does what
they do and their fans love it and they been doing it for 20 years
and every one of their records sells a shitload of copies! Sanctuary
is Iron Maiden’s label and they want career band so they stick by
their bands unlike Mercury who bailed on our album after 3 months
because we didn’t get a radio hit.
You still managed to do pretty impressive
numbers on that record though. Evan: That record still did
well considering what we went through but if they would have hung
in there like the way TVT Records hung in there behind Sevendust,
then Sevendust hadn’t sold shit even after the first year but they
keep them on tour and kept supporting them. If Mercury would have
done that for us we would have had a really good chance of breaking
through with that record and it’s a shame because to us New World
Disorder is a real gem with a lot of songs that could have went
a long way. We don’t regret making that record but we do regret
the people who worked with it and on it. You live and learn and
I think with Sanctuary we knew they’re career minded and even though
they’d like to get a radio hit they’re not gonna bail out on us
because they realize it’s a career investment. That was their rap
to me when we signed with them and so far their doing the right
thing but hey if they fuck us over and me and you are doing an interview
for our next record a year from now then I’ll say why they fucked
up because we don’t pull any punches and we don’t cover for anybody.
We had a great thing with Roadrunner for one record and then they
tried being a major label and that wasn’t cool so we went with Warner
Bros. and they did so fucking good for us on State Of The World
Address but when Mate Leo came out they fell apart. They became
paralyzed by their own fear and listened to MTV who was telling
them not to be heavy metal but to be “alternative” and Warner Bros.
fired the whole Metal Dept. and opened an “Alternative Dept.” I
was like “We’re not an “alternative” band! We’re a fucking Hardcore/Heavy
Metal Band with Punk ideals!”
Was it disturbing to find the ironies
in your record being released on Sept 11th and bearing the name
it did? Evan: Yea man that was more than just a little eerie!
A lot of people have sent us e-mails saying we’re like the Nostradamus
of rock! (Laughs)
Do you have any hopes or expectations
with the release of Uncivilization or is it more of you guys just
doing what you always do? Evan: Well in January our record
label is going to try and get one of our songs on the radio but
I don’t get my hopes up. Man I would love for Biohazard to break
through because we have such a positive message and we face all
the harsh realities of life as individuals and as a group. I know
for a fact that we inspire people to stand up for what they believe
in and face their fears while promoting really positive ideals like
friendship, honesty and love. I think there are a lot of bands out
there that don’t realize that they have a social responsibility
but we do. I think now that some of us have kids it makes us even
more conscious of the youth. When I was a kid the bands I loved
were Kiss who were promoting the whole “Sex, Drugs and Rock and
Roll” thing and not that there is anything wrong with that but it
is good to have options.
Well thank-you so very much for doing
this interview Evan. It’s been an honor and a pleasure since you
were the band that got me into heavy music as a whole back in the
Urban Discipline days. Evan: Thank you. Have a Merry Christmas
and a happy New Year.
|