METAL PULP AND PAPER: Hello Laura. So glad to be catching up with you again. Always a pleasure speaking with you. So, how are you doing?
LAURA GIERL: I am great thank you, hope you are too!
MPAP: Now give us a little run down about your band The Tex Avery Syndrome and what we need to know, and especially tell us if you have any new music coming out soon.
LAURA: We are called The Tex Avery Syndrome, we play modern metal, and we are from Germany. I am the vocalist and yell a lot. We will release our debut album Origin on October 4th.
MPAP: That's great to hear about new music coming out soon. Looking forward to it. So, we’re going to change up this interview and do something different. I’m going to pull some recent headlines from the Metal Injection website and get your reactions and comments on them. Here we go:
1. Celtic Frost Frontman Wishes Metallica Had Left 'Their Millionaire Fingers' Off His Song
MPAP: So, at a recent Metallica show in Switzerland, Kirk and Rob played one of Celtic Frost’s song "The Usurper" during a break in the show. According to Tom Warrior, vocalist for Celtic Frost, the two of them butchered it. He said, 'Maybe I should go onstage and do a really miserable version of [Metallica’s] "Hit the Lights" with, like, 200 mistakes to set the balance.' What do you think about this? If someone was going to cover one of your songs, do you think it should be done in good taste and without any mistakes, or it’s Metallica, and they can do whatever they want, it's no big deal?
LAURA: Musicians bashing each other in public. I never read those articles.
2. A Fan Died In The Slipknot Mosh Pit This Weekend
MPAP: Very sad. So, apparently, a 62-year-old Slipknot fan died while in the mosh pit at a Chicago show. Corey Taylor had recently stopped a previous show because he saw the mosh pit was getting too violent. Accidents do happen, but do you think mosh pits at metal shows are becoming more dangerous?
LAURA: If you look up some 80s and 90s hardcore and thrash metal moshpits, I think most of the shows nowadays are actually getting more organized and watched over. Many younger people do not remember the news back in the days, though. I think this is not a problem with metal music in general, but a problem organizing and watching over huge crowds during shows. I always tell people to watch out and take care of each other, and to help each other up. Most of the bands do that. No one wants to see people getting hurt during a set, yet I wouldn’t know how to optimize this situation. Less people in the front? More barricades? I have seen shows, where crowd surfing and stage diving was forbidden, but it also killed the vibes of the shows, for the audience and the bands. I have seen violent dancers hurting others on purpose. Honesty, fuck that, how sick in the head can someone be. Moshpits are usually heavy, but not totally out of control. Hard to tell what happened during the Slipknot show. Maybe it’s been too many people in one spot, not enough security to watch over or some stupid fucker violent dancing. As such a big band playing stadiums, you cannot expect the band to have an overall view on everyone in the audience. It requires more security. But, to come back to your question, I firmly believe concerts are safer nowadays, but press is more, social media is more, which makes it feel like things are getting worse.
3. Slayer Pulled As Primary Sponsor Of Nascar Due To Complaints From Other Sponsors
MPAP: Really? C’mon., it’s just a band. It’s not like Satan himself will be driving the car, right?
LAURA: First world problems. I don’t care.
4. Maynard Got Death Threats Over How Long The Tool Album Took
MPAP: Talk about some diehard fans. I think that is going a bit too far, even if you’ve been waiting 13 years, right?
LAURA: First of all, I love Tool. They are a phenomenon. I can’t think of many bands that still fill stadiums after not releasing new music and barely touring for 13 years. Maynard is weird, that attracts weird fans, yet this has nothing to do with fandom. This is a mental health issue. I read that Tool had issues with their label and lawsuits. Sometimes you want to release new music, but you can’t. People need to see the bigger picture.
5. Controversial Video Shows Rob Zombie Grabbing A Female Fan By The Hair After Being Groped
MPAP: His shirt was pulled, but, nevertheless. I guess during a show Rob went out into the crowd, and an enthusastic fan reached out and pulled on his shirt. After this headline was posted, quite a few bands like Shinedown, All That Remains, and Bad Wolves defended Rob’s actions. What are your thoughts, do fans need to keep their hands to themselves?
LAURA: Well, if you play in a band and go right into the audience,you have to be aware of the fact that people will want to touch you. If you really can’t handle it, don’t do it, because people... are being people. Some just don’t think. You have to think for them.
I watched the video. It’s not like she is trying to hurt or sexually offend him, so I think pulling her hair might have been a bit overreacted? On the other hand, if you invade someone’s personal space, you gotta deal with consequences. Hey, I hope they sat down after and talked.
6. Behemoth Frontman Confronted At YMCA For Wearing Darkthrone Shirt & Kicked Out Not Believing In Jesus
MPAP: It was just a shirt, and he was going there to workout. It wasn’t like he was going to sacrifice some virgins and spill blood everywhere. What do you think?
LAURA: Can we talk about how much I want to marry Nergal, witnessed by the church of Satan, of course?
7. Former Weedeater Drummer Arrested For Allegedly Spiking Wife’s Drink With Meth
MPAP: Umm, this doesn’t look like they have a very good marriage going on for this to have happened. Do you think they need some marriage counseling or what?
LAURA: I just Googled that guy, and I am not surprised.
8. Walmart Shoppers Call The Cops On Metal Band for… Sitting In A Van Parking Lot
MPAP: This happened right after the tragic Dayton, Ohio shooting where ten people were killed, including the shooter, and 27 others were injured. The gunman just happened to be a metalhead because he was wearing a The Acacia Strain hoodie. It’s good that people report things, but this could turn out that every traveling metal band that’s parked in a Walmart parking lot are going to get reported now. What do you think?
LAURA: Well, here is the thing, we must understand that America is a country that is traumatized by (mass) shootings. Hearing the news every day and seeing what is going on over there is devastating, and needs a change in the system badly. I understand that the behavior of people changes, they are constantly living in tension, consciously or unconsciously. Of course, not every band on a parking lot is a threat, but we need to understand what trauma means and what it does to humans, and hopefully we will see a change very soon in gun control.
9. People Are Going Wild For This Rant Tommy Lee Shared Against Donald Trump
MPAP: The rant/tweet is quite a bit long, so I'm not going to torture you to read it, but I will say this: should musicians talk or write about politics? In a way, it’s like their forcing their beliefs down our throats. What are your thoughts?
LAURA: I read it, and I think it was a repost. There is free speech, and there is the right to inform yourself. So, I don’t see it as forcing beliefs down someone’s throat. You have a brain, use it. If you are unsure about something, Google, inform yourself, read books.
We have to prevent the world from ending in a racist, homophobic shithole by starting to be a good role model or, even further, speaking up; going to demonstrations. Punk music is a political genre, I don’t listen to much punk, but I am glad it exists. We, as a band, want to make people forget about the terrible things that are going on in the word for an hour when we play, that’s why we do not really discuss political stuff on stage, we agreed on that. But we make sure that people know that right winged, trans and/or homophobic people are not welcome during our shows. If the whole world was silent, nothing would change.
10. James Hetfield Calls Woman Who Used Metallica’s Music To Fend Off Cougar
MPAP: A young lady, was out walking her dog when off in the distance a cougar began to stalk her. She eventually played a Metallica song on her phone to scare it away, and it worked. She definitely had luck and the power of music on her side, right? What song of yours do you think would scare off a hungry cougar?
LAURA: Anything after ...And Justice For All would have scared it away. Can’t blame him. Let the hate comments roll in 3...2...1. No, seriously, I am glad she is alive.
11. While She Sleeps Release Free T-Shirt Design To Clue Fans Into How Much Streaming Doesn’t Pay
MPAP: This is what the design said: One T-shirt is the equivalent to 5000 streams on Spotify. 76% of all music is streamed and not bought physically or digitally. Band merchandise is the most direct way of supporting a band. Sadly, buying music isn’t the same anymore. Back in the day, it used to be fun to buy an actual album or CD, don’t you think?
LAURA: First of all, that’s a great idea to raise awareness for that side of the coin. I still buy vinyl, because I love that it comes with visual artwork. Playing in a band myself, I love the process of finding a matching cover for an album and creating a booklet. To get in touch with photographers and painters. Also, I am an audio engineer, and I hear the difference between mp3 and wav, or digital and analog. Streaming, on the other hand, gives smaller bands the opportunity to reach more people and make their music available easily in order to gain a fanbase. Also, I found so many incredible bands on streaming devices I would have never found any other way.
It has pros and cons, but I agree that not much money flows in the pockets of a band, and since the market for buying cds is decreasing, it is frustrating. There needs to be a better system. In order to survive as a band, you gotta tour your ass off and sell merch. Lots of merch. That’s why many bands sell prints, or VIP packages, create and sell their own technical gimmicks and so on.
12. David Hasselhoff Teams Up With Ministry Frontman For "Sweet Caroline" Cover
MPAP: All I can say is, this should be interesting. Hopefully, it’s not a train wreck for David. Worth a listen to when it comes out though. What do you think of this collaboration?
LAURA: People should stop being narrow minded. If they are having fun doing it, why not? I would team up with David Hasselhoff to eat burgers on a floor.
MPAP: And what tv/movie actor would you like to cover a song with someday?
LAURA: Miley Cyrus, no joke. I have seen live footage, that girl rocks. Her voice live is so strong and powerful. The studio recording barely gives that justice.
MPAP: On behalf of Metal Pulp And Paper, I’d like to thank you, Laura, for taking the time to answer these music headline questions. We look forward to what The Tex Avery Syndrome does to finish out 2019 and beyond.
MPAP: Any last words for all your fans out there?
LAURA: Thanks for reading, check us out on Facebook or Insta. Also, we are on streaming device and we have merch to sell. Hopefully coming to your country soon!
