by Metal by Moonlight

Saturday I had several interviews lined up which was wildly exciting. I had been studying and researching the bands and artists to be able to ask insightful and thought-provoking questions that hadn’t been asked before. Prior to my interviews, I was able to catch the Avulsed set on the Market Street stage. This live performance has to be one of the greatest live performances I’ve ever seen in my entire life.

The band was founded in Madrid, Spain back in 1991 and hasn’t taken a break or slowed down in the slightest. These musicians were absolute masters of their craft and had the smoothest headbanging I’ve ever seen. Everyone on stage was headbanging so effortlessly in unison, and nothing in terms of the music had been affected. Dave Rotten, the lead singer, several times got down from the stage and stood up against the barricade and was singing face to face with fans, headbanging with them as well. He made his way across the entire barricade. At one point he’s back on stage during a song transition and says, “I don’t know if it’s possible to crowd surf with a wired microphone, but we’re going to find out.” And true to his word, he gathered up a bundle of wire for the microphone and then went down to the barricade. While singing he climbed up and over the barricade and was being held up by fans. I’ve never seen someone screaming death metal vocals while crowdsurfing using a wired microphone. I was absolutely blown away.

Later on in the evening I saw him and some of the band members hanging around and had to approach them to say that was the greatest performance I’ve ever seen in my life. I was able to snag a picture with some of them, they were all so welcoming and friendly!

After Avulsed I had my interview with Yoni from Grave Miasma based out of London. I’ve been a big fan of theirs and was eager to have the opportunity to meet the lead singer and chat with him for a while. Yoni is such a nice and kind guy, it truly was a pleasure interviewing him. Turns out he is not a big fan of Reggae and would definitely not go see Bob Marley in concert if given the chance. We also chatted about how life on the road is as well as his songwriting process. The highlight of the interview (Aside from the Bob Marley bit) was that he said he was having a really fun time! I was able to get him and the band to sign my MDF poster as well as take a selfie with me.

I took some time to walk along the vendors to see if they had any music or merch that I was interested in. I ended up stumbling onto a tent that had a sign that said “Molder Merch Sold Here”, another band of which I’ve taken a strong liking to. I went in and bought a CD and a patch and asked if the band was around for a quick signature. The person working the table texted them and told me to come back in 15 minutes to meet them. I was pumped, their music is fantastic! I meandered around for a short while and came back to meet them. All of the band members of Molder were incredibly nice and funny. I told them I was a huge fan and would love to set up an interview the next time they go on tour. They told me they were going on tour with Goetia (another band I interviewed on Sunday) and would be making a stop in New Jersey. Turns out they’re going to be playing one of my favorite venues in NJ, The Meatlocker. Which is a literal meat locker basement that’s been an integral part of the NJ underground music scene for decades. Molder’s lead singer also informed me that they will be releasing a new CD sometime during the fall.

Around 5 pm on Saturday, I interviewed Baltimore death metal band Cemetery Piss. It’s a quartet with a unique sound and personality. I met with Dirck and Adam and had a great time chatting with them about the difference in metal scenes between Baltimore and Brooklyn. I also brought up a recent Instagram post from their band account mentioning “Don’t forget your jar of maggots” on their way to a show in Virginia. Both Adam and Dirck laughed at the obscurity of the question and then told me that the drummer still has that little jar in the studio. Dirck then dug his hand into his pocket and said, “I don’t have the jar but I have some other stuff on me”. I was puzzled and intrigued to find out what he had buried in his pocket. After a few moments of digging, he pulled out some small animal bones and a round stone. I ended up seeing them a few more times throughout the weekend and wound up buying some sweet merch, which I had them sign of course.

I had been emailing back and forth with Dismember’s drummer Fred Estby trying to coordinate a time and place to have an interview. Knowing that this is one of the biggest bands on the festival lineup, I knew he was bound to be extremely busy. I ended up meeting the band during their meet and greet/signing session. I introduced myself to Fred and he knew right away that I was the one emailing back and forth with him. They were the headliners for the evening so I wasn’t sure when we’d be able to have the interview. He assured me that we would set it up for the next morning before the band flew back to Sweden. All of the members were really kind and approachable. I was able to chat with the lead singer Matti Karki who confirmed our interview for the next morning. I also made sure to give Matti enough of my business cards for the whole band.

Later on in the evening, I made my way over to Power Plant Live for Vomitory. Vomitory is another old-school death metal icon out of Sweden, formed in 1989. They have an astonishing discography with 9 full-length studio albums. The band members had a lot of energy and passion and were loving every minute of being up on stage. This band is another great example of how you can relentlessly headbang while playing your instrument/singing with no downside. The crowd was having as much fun as the band members.

I made sure to get to the stage early for Dismember and went beyond the barricade to take photos for the set. I had a conversation with the other people taking photos for Dismember. They happen live 20 minutes away from me back in Jersey and are making a documentary about the band. The set was absolutely incredible. There was an ocean of fans jumping up and down and headbanging, it was great to see. It started raining during their set and that only added to the ambiance. They played all of the songs I’d been hoping to hear and it was such an amazing time. I noticed that Fred had on the Trevor Strnad memorial shirt, which made me really happy. I emailed him after the show and mentioned the shirt. Fred said he wanted to bring Trevor to the show to honor him on their first show back in the United States.

What an incredible day. Meeting so many talented musicians that I’ve been obsessing over for the past several months was like a dream come true. I was so excited to have 2 more interviews set up for Sunday.