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METAL PULP AND PAPER: Hello John. So glad to be catching up with you. Thank you for taking the time to speak with us here at Metal Pulp And Paper. We appreciate it. Now give us a little run down about your band and what we need to know, and especially tell us if you have any new music coming out or any tour announcements you can share here?
JOHN MALKIN: Oh definitely. There’s a lot of exciting things going on with The Simple Radicals. We played some great shows this past summer and were invited to play fests with Stone Temple Pilots and Blue Oyster Cult. We have a great gig to close out the year up at the iconic Cutting Room music club in New York City on December 14th. As a follow up to our first track "Medicate" which features Vernon Reid of Living Colour on lead guitar, we just released the title track to our album, "New Revolution" and video which hit almost 15,000 views on YouTube in just a couple weeks. And we just launched our podcast called Bands We Wanna Open For (which is out on several sites and launching nationally on Rock Rage Radio) where we talk about bands that have influenced us and would love to play with and includes special guests such as Daxx Nielsen of Cheap Trick and Eric Sherman who managed Steven Tyler, and soon we’ll have Vernon Reid and even Jackie 'The Jokeman' Martling who was Howard Sterns' sidekick for many years. Other than that, not much to report.
MPAP: Very nice. So, for anyone new to this, we changed things up doing interviews and are doing something different. We've pulled some recent headlines from the Metal Injection website and get reactions and comments on them from bands all over the world. We did this last month, with different headlines, of course, and it was fun to read each group's different answers. So, please place your seat backs and tray tables in the upright position, and hang on, here we go again.
1. Granny Caught Rocking Out To Slipknot
MPAP: At a recent Knotfest show an elderly woman, even with her cane in hand, is caught on video rocking out to Slipknot. The story doesn’t mention her age, but I would say she’s in the prime of at least her 70s. What do you think of granny rocking out to Slipknot? Have you ever seen any older folks rocking out at any of your shows before? And bonus points, if we were keeping score, have you had any of your grandparents at any of your shows before?
JOHN: Rock on grannie! If my grandmother rocked out to Slipknot instead of Lawrence Welk, she might have lived past 95. Unfortunately, my grandfolks are rocking out in the heavens so no bonus points for me. But we played an all-ages show in Battle Creek this past summer and we had 13 and 70-year old’s staring up at us and rocking out. And both had about the same number of teeth.
2. Metal Guitarist Too Young To Play Bar Plays Outside With Wireless System Instead
MPAP: The band Ancient Burials had a bit of a dilemma when they played a show at the Hawthorne Theatre in Portland, Oregon. Their guitarist was underage and not allowed into the bar to play. Some places will mark your hand with an 'X' identifying you’re a minor and let you play. Not the Hawthorne Theatre with Oregon’s liquor laws. So, instead of them canceling the show, fellow bandmates Paradigm Shift hooked him up with a wireless pack, and he went outside and played. The bar had an open window so you could see the band playing inside and he was outside shredding it out on the street. It’s a great video to watch.
JOHN: Now that’s ingenuity and figuring out how to break through in this tough biz. Instead of a video of the band throwing chairs and busting heads, they thought out of the box and got great publicity for figuring out how to still play the show. And the fact that this kid is a shredder is only icing on the cake. Thank goodness they don’t kick band members out of the bar for being too old.
3. Comedian Gilbert Gottfried Reveals Himself As Slipknot’s Tortilla Man
MPAP: Obviously, someone brilliant out there got him to announce that, probably on one of those Celebrity Cameos or something. In all seriousness, does it even matter who Tortilla Man is? And why do you think Slipknot is so strict on revealing who new band members are? They had this previous issue when Paul Gray passed away and was replaced by Alessandro Venturella, and also when Jay Weinberg replaced Joey Jordison.
JOHN: That’s the beauty of Slipknot. Aside from being killer musicians, they maintain this fantastic mystique that keeps their fans guessing to this day and likely for the foreseeable future. Wait, does this mean that the show The Masked Singer could last for years? Oh shit.
4. These Post Malone Fans Are Just Hearing About Ozzy For The First Time Thanks To New Collaboration
MPAP: Recently Post Malone recorded a song called "Take What You Want," and it featured Ozzy Osbourne. Honestly, it’s not a lousy collaboration between the two. Wasn’t expecting it to be a good song. Anyways, what gets me is some people, mainly his fans were saying thanks to Post Malone he just gave this Ozzy guy a career. They obviously have no idea! Even back in 2015, it was almost the same thing, Kayne West did a song with Paul McCartney, and Kayne’s fans were saying Kayne just gave Paul a career in the music business. Really c’mon? So, my question is, should the history of music be taught in school or something? Shouldn’t the younger generation know who Ozzy Osbourne and Paul McCartney are?
JOHN: Hell yes. And it’s an absolute disgrace that they don’t. In fact, they should teach classic rock as part of every curriculum starting in first grade. We teach kids about American history and who our founding fathers are. We should also teach them the founding fathers and mothers of rock and roll who are just as important as George Washington and Alexander Hamilton. And I’ll take Joan Jett over Betsy Ross any day.
5. Sabaton Involved In 'Serious Traffic Accident' In Tunisia, Cancel Tonight’s Show
MPAP: Luckily everyone is ok now, but do you have any scary tour bus accident stories that you can share with us? Or, if no accidents, any close calls where you thought you might die?
JOHN: Thankfully no tragedies to report form the tour bus, but we once had an Uber driver who was foaming at the mouth
6. Slipknot’s Jay Weinberg: The Effects of Climate Change Are Undeniable
MPAP: Some say there is no such thing as climate change, or some say it is getting better. Both sides of the party point fingers at each other. Even back in February of this year, Ocasio-Cortez, the 29-year-old democratic socialist, wanted us to get to the point of where air travel would stop becoming necessary, and believes farting cows are responsible for the climate change and we need to get rid of them. What are your thoughts on climate change?
JOHN: In all seriousness, it’s a definite problem. I was just in Iceland with my family and the glaciers are melting at a rapid pace. It’s no joke. The issue is trying to get a consensus on what is exactly causing it and what to truly do about it. The Simple Radicals contributes to energy conservation by turning our amps to 10 instead of 11. Does that count?
7. Nicole Kidman Attended An Iron Maiden Show with Her Husband, Keith Urban
MPAP: Never would have expected that couple to be into Iron Maiden, but still cool either way. It’s good to know that music can reach anyone. So, have you ever had anyone famous that you know of attend one of your shows? If not, who would you like to leave a ticket for at will call to come to your next show?
JOHN: I’m actually a fan of Keith Urban. The guy is a really great guitarist and song writer. Now if someone can explain to me why he ended up with Nicole Kidman, I’d much appreciate it. We’re not aware of any glitterati attending our shows, but we did collaborate with the guitar-God, Vernon Reid from Living Colour on our track "Medicate." But if we had to leave tix at will call, there will always be an envelope for Dave Grohl, Eddie Vedder and any member of Cheap Trick, AC/DC, and Zeppelin.
8. Yellowstone Police Are Using AC/DC To Clear Bison Off The Road
MPAP: In our previous headlines feature Metallica was blasted to scare away a cougar, and now bison are being blasted by AC/DC. It makes you think, what animal is next, and then how long until the animal kingdom doesn’t put up with this anymore and revolts against humans?
JOHN: If someone has a band that can repel stink bugs, mice, and cockroaches, please let me know. When you think about it, we’ve been using hard rock to scare away mammals for a long time. Look how well it worked on our parents.
9. Vinyl On Pace To Outsell CDs in 2019
MPAP: Buying albums seems to be the trendy hip thing it looks like again. Since streaming services are the popular norm, it’s good that records are making a comeback, but sad in a way, because CDs will become extinct.
JOHN: I showed my album collection to my kids and they thought it was a box of dinner plates. I love putting the needle on vinyl and listening to the crackle of the album. And I hate to say it, my CD’s are all in binder sleeves in the basement since I now listen to all that music on Spotify. Not sure people are going to miss CD’s or CD players when they go away. Although they do make good coasters.
10. Dude Who Tried To Swim Back Into Slayer Show After Being Ejected Immortalized on Beer Can
MPAP: The guy that tried to swim back into a Slayer show is a headline from 2018, but him being immortalized on a beer can is new. This is a two-part question. Which beer can would you like your face on, and while out on tour, what is the craziest thing a fan has done that you have seen?
JOHN: Is that what it takes to be immortalized on a beer can? If that’s the case, then I’ll swim across the ocean to get Zeppelin to do another tour with Jason Bonham on the skins. Put me on a can of Guinness baby. Nothing like a cold can of paint after a show. To date, we have nothing illegal or immoral to report from our fans. But we did spend 30 minutes signing guitar picks for a group of fans who would not take no for an answer.
11. Former Five Finger Death Punch Drummer’s New Gig: A Horror Porn Anthology Series
MPAP: Yep, you read it right, former Five Finger Death Punch drummer’s new gig is in the porn business. Not only is Jeremy Spencer a part-time cop in Indiana now, but now he writes, directs, and even stars in his pornos. Crazy. So, my question is, what is your dream job if you weren’t performing in a band? If you had to hang things up in the music business, what would you rather be doing?
JOHN: I guess that’s one way to score. If I weren’t in a band, I’d team up with Nigel Tufnel from Spinal Tap and sell hats at a haberdashery. Of course, the hours would have to work. In all seriousness, I’d have to stay in the music biz in some capacity. Radio DJ. Record store clerk. Wedding band singer.
12. Flaw Accused of Plagiarizing You Tuber’s Song, Vocalist Said He Had No Idea
MPAP: This isn’t really a question about that headline, but it made me think and want to ask, is there one song out there that some band has recorded, and it’s so good that you wish you could claim it as your own song?
JOHN: There’s just so much great music that’s already been written that I wish I had my DNA on. But let’s start with anything by Zeppelin. I mean how can you not say that you wish you wrote "Stairway To Heaven."
13. Metallica Named 'World’s Biggest Touring Act' According To New Study
MPAP: Even though they’ve released a few records that some fans can’t stand, that still hasn’t stopped them by selling over 22 million tickets and grossed $1.4 billion in touring since 1982. That’s very impressive. So, I guess the question would be, lets rain on their parade for a moment, what’s your least favorite Metallica song that you must turn off or turn down when it’s on the radio? And by no means, this is no disrespect to Metallica at all. I think they are man enough to handle hearing which songs or albums are not fan favorites. It's just for fun and games, until we shot our eye out.
JOHN: You’re putting me in such an awkward position as I’m a huge Metallica fan. And the last thing I want to do is piss off James, Lars and Kirk. But if I didn’t have to listen to "Slither" off the
Reload album again, I think I would be ok.
MPAP: Some great answers. On behalf of Metal Pulp And Paper, I’d like to thank you, John, for taking the time to answer these questions. We look forward to what The Simple Radicals do to finish out 2019 and beyond. Any last words for all your fans out there?
JOHN: Of course. Thank you to our Radical fans for your continued support and please continue to share our music with your friends and enemies (https://www.thesimpleradicals.com/music).
We’d also love to have our fans join us at The Cutting Room in NYC on December 14th (https://tickets.thecuttingroomnyc.com/e/the-simple-radicals-70536140495/). And please check out our podcast Bands We Wanna Open For (https://open.spotify.com/episode/0khBuKtrcm19N0vJfftWg1…) That’s not too much to ask, is it?
The Simple Radicals/ October 24th, 2019/ Headlines #28