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I had forgotten that my friend Stu had hooked me up with some tickets to see Slayer and Marilyn Manson (he works for Slayer) on August 9th at Nissan Pavillion.  I had also forgotten that I had invited Kid Congo Powers to the show for one of our ‘not your average’ interviews.  Kid Congo is a former guitarist for the Cramps and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.  A DC transplant, he currently plays with his band Kid Congo and the Pink Monkey Birds.  We were originally going to interview Kid at the show, but when an interview with Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo fell into our lap, it just seemed natural to have Kid Congo conduct the interview with Dave, two musicians discussing their love of music.  And nuclear submarines.  And the eating of human flesh.  Here’s what Slayer’s publicist had to say about Dave:

Dave’s a really good interview, and he’s INCREDIBLY pumped about the new Slayer record.  I’ve spoken at length with him about the recording of the new album, the vibe of the band, and so on, and he’s got terrific things to say.  He is, of course, an original member of Slayer and is considered one of the VERY best heavy drummers ever.  If you’ve ever seen Slayer live,  you
KNOW that, as a drummer, he’s a true freak of nature.

Of course, Dave Lombardo did not disappoint.  Here’s what he had to say:

BYT (Kid Congo Powers): Does it make any difference what brand of cymbals you use?  What about drumsticks?

Dave Lombardo: Absolutely.  The thicker the sticks, you know, the harder the contact with the drumhead (insert Beavis laughter here).  I try to use as many different cymbals or sticks as I can.

BYT: I heard you guys covered a Minor Threat song once.

DL: Yes.  I didn’t do it!  It was when I wasn’t in the band.  Yeah they did, they covered ‘Guilty of Being White’.

BYT: And I guess Ian (MacKaye) had some issue with it?

DL: Yeah, because I guess they ended with Guilty of Being RIGHT (instead of Guilty of Being WHITE).

BYT: Has Slayer ever thought about doing a children’s album or musical?

DL: I don’t think so, maybe as a side project.  Not for Slayer (laughs).

BYT: Is there any Satanism left in Slayer?

DL: No, it’s just part of a shock value.  It’s not a part of life or reality for us.  No way.

BYT: How did you end up in Fantomas?  How was working with Mike Patton?

DL: On one of the last Faith no More shows in Los Angeles I ended up backstage, like I usually do for some reason or another.  And we hung out and he questioned my background in music and said something about avant garde music and I told him how much I was into that type of music.

BYT: Is there any new Fantomas material in the works?

DL: Oh absolutely.  We really want to work together again, you know, we miss each other.

BYT: Where do you bank?

DL: Where do I bank?  (Laughs)  I don’t feel comfortable giving out that information.

BYT: Does Slayer have a joint checking account?

DL: Yeah, but not for long (laughs knowingly)

BYT: If Slayer had a checking account what check design would you order?

DL: Pornographic Pictures

BYT: Do you get good discounts at Hot Topic (Hot Topic sponsored the Mayhem tour with Slayer and Marilyn Manson both this year and last year) now?

DL: No, they don’t know me when I walk in.  I’m glad.

BYT: Does it help to be pissed off when you play live?

DL: Uhhhh, no, I’m always pissed off so…

BYT: What’s the hardest you’ve ever drummed in your life?

DL: The one last night (in Hartford, CT).  Every show is harder than the last.

BYT: Have you ever had to go to a doctor for drumming too hard?

DL: Not to the doctor, no, not yet.

BYT: If Slayer was a boat, what kind of boat would it be?

Slayer’s manager, Jim Carroccio, chimes in: a Nuclear Submarine.

DL: That’s not a boat, it’s a submarine

Jim Carroccio: Submarines are actually boats.

DL: Oh really?  Submergible boats?

Jim Carroccio: They’re boats!

DL: Hmmm, Slayer wouldn’t be a boat.  We’d be a jet fighter.

BYT: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being really bad, how badly does Lars Ulrich annoy you?

DL: Awwwww, Lars is cool.  After all, he got sick so that way I could play a couple of songs on stage in front of 60,000 people.  He’s a very nice guy.  Let me play in his band for a couple of songs.

BYT: If Reign in Blood is the “heaviest album of all time” where do you go from there?  Tell us about the new album.

DL: First of all you cant base your recordings or your art based on a previous work.  At that moment or that time you have to create the best that you can possibly create.  So you can’t go by what you’ve done.  The new record, we had great chemistry in rehearsal, we have this new producer Greg Fiddleman that we worked really well with.  the collective effort of each individual to bring to the table their ideas or their suggestions.  The fact that they were welcomed, that helped in the recordings.   It’s overall in my opinion a really, really good record.  Little nuances that we don’t normally do.  But, it really is a Slayer album.

BYT: What metal bands are the biggest pussies?

DL: Oh, man, you really want to start a fire.  Wow.  You know, I don’t know of a particular band, but the bands that talk shit.  Bands that have no place to criticize are, what was it that you said?  The biggest pussies.  Those guys.  Because they are just trying to degrade you or talk shit about you so they can gain popularity.  So you know what?  It’s like, fuck off.  They are dead in our book, bands like that.

There are some musicians that make me really laugh, because they’ll go on stage in their robes!  They’ll go onstage like they’re boxers or something.  What are you doing?  You’re a musician.  You’re kidding me.  I go onstage like this.  How you see me is how I go onstage, no different.  Just, the wimpiness of some musicians with their fans and their… (makes a sound of disgust).  Come on.  Where’s the fucking balls and the rawness and the playing, where its pure energy.  That’s music, when you connect with a crowd.    What a bunch of pussies.

BYT: Do you ever pull pranks on the other band members?

DL: On the guys in the band?  Yeah, yeah.  We were in Europe and they lay out this cheese.  Really gnarly cheese.  So I got some cheese and you know those things that people buy for the airplane to put around their necks so their heads don’t bobble all over the place?  Well I stuck cheese in that thing.  (Everyone laughs).  You can imagine.

Actually I’ll tell you something, you know Adam Jones from Tool?  We were on tour with Fantasma and him in Europe and he did something similar to us.  He stuck a fish behind the refrigerator.  That shit stunk so bad.  Really, really bad.  And we kept complaining about it to the bus driver.  We were like ‘dude, your bus stinks, the fridge stinks really bad.  And he was saying ‘guys I cleaned it’.  Great fun we had.

BYT: If you had the opportunity while traveling in another country to taste human flesh, would you do it?

DL: Ooh, okay well I have tried alligator, crocodile, a bunch of other stuff, I mean brain, liver.  (Manager  tells us to wrap it up)

Would I (eat human flesh)?  Yes, yes.  The answer is yes.

KC:  Okay, let’s end it on that.

And with the admission of a desire to eat human flesh, our Slayer interview was over.  What more could you ask for?  How about some heavy metal.

Then Kill Switch Engage came out dressed in tuxedo shirts. They were kinda awesome, but unfortunately we missed Corrosion of Conformity.  Bummer.  I heard they were really good.  My brother caught some of a band called Bullet for my Valentine and he said they were amazing.

And then Slayer came out to play:

–

And then came Marilyn Manson.  Who puts on an amazing show, I must say.  We were going to leave early, but once he came on and started doing his thing, it was really hard to walk away.

I was about three feet away from Marilyn in the photo pit, and after being continually spit on by him and having beer thrown at me, I had had enough.  But as I was leaving, he accidentally dropped his microphone at my feet.  I picked it up and put it under my shirt and they brought him another one.  Yes, fanboys, I was now the proud owner of Marilyn Manson’s beer-breath infused microphone.

I’d had enough Hot Topic Metal Fest for one day, so we left.  But fuck
it, wouldn’t you know I ran out of gas on 66 right on some stretch where
there are no gas stations for miles.  Dakota and I started walking along
the side of the highway and finally made it to a point where a marine
picked us up and dropped us at the nearest station.  We bought a can and
some gas but had no ride back to the car.  We were going to have to walk
about 4 miles.  No WAY, No WAY, not evah.  Of course, who walks into the
gas station as we’re about to start our trek?  Two of the biggest Marilyn Manson fans you’ve ever seen stopping on their way home from the
show to get some gatorade or pig’s blood or whatever Marilyn Manson fans
drink.  So I bartered the Marilyn Manson microphone for a ride to my
car.  Mutually beneficial.  I’ve never seen two people so happy about
owning a piece of electronics equipment in my life.  Made it home by
midnight.

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