#jan2000

METAL CHURCH

Interview with Kurdt Vanderhoof by Daniel Hinds

(conducted January 2000)

Although bands like Nirvana and Queensryche may have sold more albums, Metal Church has always been the band that came to my mind when I thought of Seattle.  It was 1984 and the band released their monumental self-titled debut, combining speed, power and melody into one incredibly energetic sound.  Though overproduced, the follow-up The Dark kept up the quality and the intensity of the debut and saw the band move to a major label, Elektra.  Sadly, it was at this point that vocalist David Wayne exited the band (to front L.A. band Reverend for a slew of albums) and main song-wrtier/guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof took a backseat position, allowing guitarist John Marshall to take his place.  The succeeding albums, while all certainly listenable, lacked the same punch of the earlier material and the band eventually called it quits in the mid-90s.

Fortunately, the story didn't end there.  In 1998, the original line-up (sans Craig Wells) got back together and recorded the remarkably fresh-sounding Masterpeace.  Kurdt Vanderhoof shares the details behind the reunion and the future of the Church…

Now that it is done and out, what are your feelings about Masterpeace? I'm glad that it's out. (laughs)  The reviews have been fair, some have been mixed.  I think it's alright.  I don't know what to say about it other than I'm fairly proud of it.

How has the reaction been from the fans? It's been mixed.  I'd say about 75% of the people really like it and 25 don't really care for it.

Was the recording process different than the previous MC outings? Well, we did it ourselves.  We did it at my studio and self-produced it.

Will you do that again in the future? Always.  I'm tired of spending lots of money, giving it to other studios.

You and David (Wayne, vocalist) wrote everything on Masterpeace - was that intentional or did it just turn out that way? It didn't start off that way.  When we initially started this thing, Craig Wells (original guitarist) was involved, but he had to back out.  So Dave and I ended up just doing it.  John (Marshall, guitarist) was living in San Francisco and he really couldn't get up here for writing that much.

I was going to ask about Craig, as I had heard that he was kind of the one who got the reunion going in the first place. Yeah, he was the one who instigated it and kind of informed me that David Wayne had moved back [to Seattle].  I hadn't spoken to Dave in 10 or 12 years and thought he was still in L.A.  So, he was kind of the one who instigated it, but as we got started he realized it probably wouldn't have been a real healthy environment for him to be back involved in.  So he had to back out gracefully.  That was fine because John and I have always wanted to work together, so…

What was your reason for taking more of a backseat role in the 80s? I started getting more into the production aspect of it, of music and really wanted to get into building my own studio and working on my songwriting skills and that kind of thing.  And there was a lot of tension and crap going on in the band that I really didn't feel was necessary. (laughs)  At the time, I didn't want to get into interviews and stuff going, 'Well, this guy is a dick and we hate each other,' and blah blah blah.  But I did want to get more into the production aspect of it and learn how to do that.

Were the problems in the band a result of pressure from the label? No, not really.  It was just a lot of it was five guys with very strong personalities (laughs) and the typical 80s, being kids and drugs and alcohol and that kind of b.s. that we fortunately outgrew.

With the cover of "Toys in the Attic," were you really looking to do a cover or did that song just come along and you decided to use it? Well, the cover ideas was like…  I was literally just driving home and I heard that on the radio and I just went, 'That is a great song and that would be a good cover.'  We had messed with a couple or three other ones and when we jammed on that, it was like, 'Let's do that one.'  It just felt right.  It was fun.

It's kind of cool because it isn't what you'd expect from a Metal Church cover. Right. (laughs)  That was the whole idea, we didn't want to do something expected.

Have you done any live shows since the reunion? We just got back from Europe.  We were over there for a month and a half.

Who did you tour with? We were headlining and a band called Thunderhead was opening.

Did that go pretty well? Yeah, actually it did, it went a lot better than I expected.  I didn't think a lot of people would even remember. (laughs)  And I was pleasantly surprised when they did.

When can we expect a live show in Seattle? We're trying to get a U.S. tour going and we definitely want to try, but considering the climate of American rock, it's going to be pretty hard.  Nobody seems to really want to see it or hear it here in America.

Do you think that will get better or not? I think it has to.  I think the Korn and Limp Bizkit stuff is like, 'Oh cool, listen to how noisy it is,' but I think everybody will get over that pretty quick.  I hope - that stuff is garbage.  As far as America is concerned, in my opinion, rock 'n' roll is in the worst state it has ever been in in its history.

It's pretty bad… It's really bad.  It is getting better, though.  It's better than it was a couple of years ago, but it's still awful.  Hopefully the millennium will wake people up.  "Oh right, guys who can play!"

What a concept! (laughs) Yeah, who knew?

It seems to be better in Europe.  Was that your impression when you were over there? Oh definitely for metal.  Absolutely.  They're still wearing the leather-arm bands with the studs, the leather jackets and the Motorhead patches - they've got it all still.

Looking back, do you think it was wise to sign with Elektra when you did or not? Oh definitely.  It was more of a bad decision when the band signed to Blackheart Records near the end. (laughs)  Again, though, that was right when everything was changing.  You know, bad management and all those wonderful VH-1 horror stories.

What exactly happened with your band Hall Aflame? Oh, that was a heart-breaker.  We took off really fast, we got a record deal really fast and went on the road with ZZ Top and Blue Oyster Cult.  Then we came back home and were going to do our second record, but realized that I.R.S. Records had really dropped the ball on us and we ended up slugging it out in the clubs around here for a couple of years, until it just burned out.  But we're actually talking about getting together and at least doing what was going to be our second album.  So, every band I've been in my history has put out a record this past year or is going to. (laughs)  We put out The Lewd record last year (Kill Yourself…Again).  We found all our old [Hall Aflame] demos and stuff and our drummer mastered them a bit and put them on CD, and we realized that we've got to get this stuff recorded properly and available, even if it's just on the Internet.  The stuff was really good and we'd just like to have it documented.

Do you have any long-term goals for Metal Church or just one day at a time? With Metal Church, we're going to at least continue to make records, now that we're all here and have a facility to do it at where we don't have to spend all our money.  We can make the records for cheap, make a little bit of dough from an advance and still get to work together and make music.  We're going to try to keep going as long as we can, at least making records, but my main concern is the Vanderhoof thing that I've been doing.  I'm remixing the first Vanderhoof album for American release right now, then we start our second album.

What does the Vanderhoof material sound like? It sounds like 70s rock.  Purple, Uriah Heep…all that stuff.  On the next record, we're going in more of a progressive rock direction, more like Kansas and Rush.  We'll use the Hammond organ, maybe a little Styx-type of vocals - all the stuff that isn't cool now.  We want to do all that.  Big, long songs with lots of vocals (laughs), the Boston thing.  Very 70s rock, which is my favorite stuff.  I just really feel the need to make that style of music available because nobody is doing that at all and it's a hell of a lot of fun. (laughs)

Who will be releasing that one? It is coming out through Nuclear Blast, on a different label.

They seem like a pretty cool label.  Have they been pretty good to you guys so far? So far.  We just started working with them and they seem really on top of it and they're really enthusiastic, which is one thing that I think is great.

I wanted to ask you about a show you did a long time ago.  It was the first time I saw you guys, at a show in Eugene, Oregon called Summer Jam.  Do you have any particular memories of that show? Oh right, with Montrose!  I remember it rained and I remember getting really drunk afterward.  And wanting to go up and talk to Ronnie Montrose and go, 'Dude!  Your first album KICKED ASS!!'  That kind of thing, as I was a total fan of those first two Montrose records.

Have you started on the next Metal Church record at all? No, not yet.  We probably won't do that until I finish up the couple of Vanderhoof things.  We're definitely going to do another record, but not quite sure when yet, 'cause I'm really into the 70s. (laughs)  I love the fact that we're back together and hopefully we can tour here in America and do some shows, but I definitely want to keep Metal Church going, as it is a big part of me, too.

The thing I liked about Masterpeace is that it didn't sound like you were trying to re-create the first album. Everybody loves the first record and everybody wanted this to be the follow-up to The Dark and all that.  The way we approached it, and the only way I said I would do it when it was initially presented to me, was circa 1986.  Let's not try to do something new and modern, or industrial or grungy or alternative - let's do a Metal Church record, the best way we can 16 years later. (laughs)  As long as when people see a Metal Church record, they know what they're going to get.  It's going to be the best that we can do with the style that people expect from us.  And I want to keep it melodic and I don't want it to be Satanic. (laughs)