1. We first saw you 3 years ago at your show in Boogaloo Zagreb, which was your second time in Zagreb. Since than you have played so often here, what is it that keeps bringing you back here?
– We absolutely love playing in Croatia, the crowds are always incredible, and everyone makes us feel so welcome and appreciated! Also, the guys at Hangtime who I now call friends, are top pros and mega easy to work with, and I don’t need any more reasons to keep wanting to come back!
2. This time you are back, but with small tour. In which city are you most excited to play?
– Zagreb will always have a special place in our hearts, not only is the Boogaloo an amazing venue and the crowds are always incredible, but also, it was there that it all started for us when it comes to the Balkans, where now we have a great circuit of venues/cities that we tour every year. Rijeka is also a beautiful city, and Pogon Kulture is an awesome venue too!
Picture by Scott Chalmers
3. How do you prepare for a show? Do you have any pre-show rituals?
– yeah we all do, everyone has their own. We play 5 or 6 shows per week when we tour Europe, it’s very challenging.. In my case, I try to warm-up and stretch as much as I can before every show.
4. What is the hardest part about touring?
– the lack of sleep between shows… when the next show is an 8h drive away, that usually means we’re gonna sleep 4 or 5 hours if we’re lucky, and that really makes all the difference.
It’s also hard to be away from home for such long periods some times, but that comes with the job.
6. What first got you into music?
– my first childhood memories when I was around 4 years old involve me dancing to Michael Jackson haha, so I guess the passion for music has been there since I’ve been a person. However, I started getting into metal around 9 years old, when Metallica’s black album came out. The ‘older’ kids in my street were around 14 years old and they already played the guitar and started a band, so I guess I just wanted to be as cool as they were! Haha
Picture by Scott Chalmers
7. What would you be doing right now, if it wasn’t for your music career?
– very likely I would be working with animals in some way, or I’d be running my own business, or both. Those are my three main interests, drumming / animals / music business.
8. What’s your favourite SOAD and Slipknot album?
– I’ve been a Slipknot fan since their first album came out, and Joey was my biggest influence, I would probably say Vol. 3 would be my favorite album of theirs.
– SOAD is a bit different.. they were my other favorite band from the same era, maybe even my favorite overall, but I really can’t pick a favorite album. It’s actually very hard to pick the CHOP SUEY setlist because SOAD don’t have a bad song!!
9. What is your favourite song to perform?
– with CHOP SUEY it’s probably ‘Dreaming’.. it’s epic and it feels incredible playing it on stage, with Tom and Ash singing the vocal harmonies.. still gives me the goosebumps every time!
– with Slip-NOT I’d say The Blister Exists because it’s fun to play, or Custer because the chorus is so fuckin cool and the crowd goes wild!
Picture by Mathew Edison
10. If you could change anything about the industry, what would it be?
– I’d get rid of about 80% of the people who call themselves ‘booking agents’. More often than not, they’re full of shit and a bit useless, but they’re good at making musicians believe they are God. Unfortunately, a lot of up and coming bands don’t know that and they fall into that trap, creating unrealistic expectations that, more often than not, will never be met.
11. What are your thoughts on the evolution of the metal scene today?
– I have two main thoughts on that actually.
On one hand, metal has once again crossed on to the new generation, there are lots and lots of kids between the ages of 10 and 20 years old who are crazy about Slipknot and the rest of the NU metal era. So I think that’s amazing, and metal has a future!
On the other hand, there are too many new bands coming out every single day since social media became a thing, so I think it might be more challenging now for a new originals band to have a long lasting career, and one hit wonders that can make the most of that one big single for 5 or 10 years will become more and more common.
12. What’s the best advice you have for other bands that are just starting out in the metal scene?
– don’t put all your hopes on going viral, don’t sit around with your amazing songs waiting to be ‘discovered’ by some superior being that’s going to make you a big deal. Keep an open mind, and learn how to make stuff happen for yourself.
Picture by Mathew Edison
