This episode is a special joint release between Mars Attacks and Talking Metal. I touch upon this during the episode mentioning that it was put together as a tribute to Pete Steele. We deliberated at great length regarding this as it wasn’t the original intention. If you listen to Episode 306 of Talking Metal you will find part of the Mars Attacks live show I did with John and Mark last month while in the states. That episode contains an interview we conducted with Anthony Esposito from Ace Frehley, Lynch Mob fame. The next episode of Talking Metal, and Mars Attacks for that matter, was supposed to contain the first half of the live show. During this segment Mark and I interview Joey Z from Life of Agony, Stereomud, and Carnivore.

Joey was nice enough to come down to the studio, and sit in with us. He came in early, and sat on the couch while Mark, John and I did our opening monologue if you will. During the podcast you’ll hear me reference a few songs, one by Warrior Soul, and another by Slash. We spoke to Joey off mic while these songs where playing, immediately he started talking about Pete Steele. He mentioned what an honor it was to be asked to play with Carnivore, and he also spoke about how funny, and quick witted Pete was. He said Pete could come up with things right on the spot, and could roll with the punches during any given situation. I mentioned this during the Dan Lorenzo segment. He also started talking about what good man Pete was, which seems to be a common theme with all of the comments that are being posted on the web. Unfortunately this was off mic, and we had so many things to talk about (we spoke almost twice as long as we originally intended), we never really got into Pete or Carnivore on mic, except for a quick mention by Joey. Due to this, I have included part of his previous interview where he talks exclusively about Carnivore.

Joey is a great guy, who will always have an open door on any of my shows. I a big fan of his music, and have come to learn what a genuine, and nice person he truly is. He was the first person I turned to when I heard the rumor of Pete’s passing. He spoke so genuinely about Pete; it was hard not to think of him when I started reading the posts on the web. During the episode I read an excerpt of the response he sent me.

The reason I included Dan was because I read his comments on Blabbermouth.net. I reached out to a bunch of different people from the NY/NJ music scene to see if anyone might be interested in providing me with a statement regarding Pete. People treat death in different manners, I know for a lot of people this has to be a difficult situation. As a result, it would be foolish for me to be upset over people not wanting to partake. Maybe the situation is difficult for them, other are on tour, and couldn’t come on with such short notice, etc. In any event, Dan immediately came forward to share stories, and help celebrate the memory of Pete.

There are no ulterior motives here, like so many others out there we just want to celebrate the life of Pete Steele. By putting this episode together, I feel that we are doing our part to pay homage to the man, and his music. I’m sure some will say that we’re doing this to ride the publicity surrounding his untimely death, but it can’t be farther from the truth. Mark and I spoke at great lengths yesterday deliberating over whether we should release this episode now, or wait a few months. I personally think that we’re doing the right thing by releasing the interview in the format we have chosen. As a fan, I don’t want someone’s memory or music to ever die. I truly believe that both Joey and Dan have helped us to do this by sharing their thoughts, and experience with Pete.

Over the course of the next few weeks/months we’ll start to hear about Pete, hopefully all good things, but I’m sure some bad will come out as well. All I can say is remember him for what he meant to you, and don’t let others sway your judgment.

I’ll close this in the same fashion that I closed the podcast, long live the memory and music of Pete Steele.

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Had the pleasure of interviewing Ivy and Tara from Kittie last night at BB Kings in NYC. I had interviewed Mercedes from the band right at the end of last year. I have to say that her interview was one of my favorites, as we talked for close to an hour, although about half of that was edited out. Although this interview originally aired back in January, I do intend on releasing both of the interviews together as a podcast during the course of the next few weeks. This was the first time I have caught the band, and they did not disappoint. They played fifteen songs total, you can tell that they are extremely happy with their last album In The Black, as they played six songs off of the album. During the interview Ivy and Tara confirmed that Kittie will indeed be touring with Insane Clown Posse.

Opening for the band was God Forbid, this was my second time seeing them, as I had seen them at the Kobetasonik festival in Spain last June. For those of you keeping score I interviewed guitarist Doc Coyle back in November. At the time things were somewhat in limbo with the band, they were looking for new management, a new label, and working a new guitarist into the fold (Matt Wicklund, who I saw back stage). Byron announced during the show that they were recording a new album which should be out at some point during this year. The set list focused on Earthsblood and IV: Constitution of Treason. Aside from songs off of their previous two releases, they played Pantera’s Mouth For War during their set. After their show I had Doc right behind me sporting a Metal Sucks t-shirt, he was watching Kittie’s show and had someone with him at the time. I didn’t see it prudent to walk up to him and bug him, in any event, will be posting his interview shortly as well.

Opening act was Gwen Stacy, unfortunately, didn’t get to catch much of their show, although they did sound great as well.

Thanks to Bill from E1 for making everything happen.

Tomorrow night’s Mars Attacks will go live, I will have interviews with Joey Z from Life Of Agony/Steromud/Carnivore, Anthony Esposito from Ace Frehley/Lynch Mob, and Mark & John from Talking Metal. This is my second go round with Joey; the last time we spoke was right before L.O.A. went out and did the shows in Jersey and NYC commemorating the twenty year anniversary of the band. The podcast version of the interview is available here:

http://marsattacksradio.com/2010/03/audio/podcast-episode-2-life-of-agonys-joey-z/

The show starts at 7PM EST / 4PM PST exclusively on MarkStriglRadio.com